LRAB Page 173
Page 173
Buckbeak was thrilled by Levin's reaction, taking it as an endorsement.
Before Hagrid could untie it, the eagle happily came to Levin's side and nuzzled his chest with its big head.
"Oh, good boy, good boy."
Levin gently stroked its head reassuringly.
“It really likes you.” Hagrid wiped away his tears of emotion as he unfastened Buckbeak’s chain and leather collar.
All the students cheered, "Levin did it!"
"I knew it! He could tame this monster!"
"He is the man who conquered the Chimera."
"I remember the summer newspaper mentioned that Levin was also involved in a dragon-slaying operation."
"If even Harry Potter of Gryffindor could do it, there's no way Levin could fail!"
"It seems that Malfoy's injury was mostly due to his own overconfidence!"
"I really want to try it too!"
With Levin's successful conquest of the Falcon, the young wizards' views on Buckbeak and yesterday's accident instantly changed 180 degrees.
Update [6/4], Bonus Chapter [36/68]
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Chapter 186 Boggart's Cutting-Edge Research
After calming Buckbeak down a bit, Levin nimbly climbed onto its back, much to the envy of the young wizards watching.
Buckbeak stood up, and Levin skillfully grabbed its feathers, then squeezed its legs together.
These are all skills he learned from Larry.
Buckbeak immediately understood the meaning of Levin's actions, and with a pair of long wings spread out on both sides of Levin, it flapped and flew into the sky.
Although riding a hawk isn't as stable as riding a flying broomstick, it's quite exhilarating.
Buckbeak flew around Hogwarts Castle under Levin's command, gliding over the lake, over the hills, and into the sky, where they glided slowly above the clouds.
The man and his eagle flew around the castle two or three times before returning to the hunting grounds.
Buckbeak landed slowly and bent down to make it easier for Levin to get off its back.
After flying around once, Levin felt an unspoken understanding develop between himself and Buckbeak. He affectionately patted Buckbeak's sharp beak, and Buckbeak, having flown freely for a while, rested its head on Levin's shoulder, clearly enjoying itself.
Sure enough, flying on a broomstick, flying after transforming, and flying on a hawk each have their own fun. No wonder Hagrid likes these big guys so much. Now Levin can totally understand why.
Of course, if we're really talking about it, among the magical creatures Levin rode—unicorns, centaurs, and eagles—Lari was the most comfortable and considerate.
Speaking of which, it seems he now has another dragon among the magical creatures he can ride.
How about we turn Onyxia back to her original form another day and ride her around?
At the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical Creatures Control and Management, the Bureau of Dragon Research and Restriction, Ms. Prestor, who was chatting with her colleagues, suddenly sneezed.
"Ms. Presto, are you feeling cold? Let me make you a cup of hot coffee." At the same time, she immediately seized the opportunity to offer her full of flattery.
“No, I don’t have a cold,” the Black Dragon Princess shook her head. “It’s probably someone talking about me.”
When Levin returned to the paddock with Buckbeak, he received a royal welcome from the young wizards.
His feat of flying on Buckbeak was admired and envied by everyone. Even if Buckbeak was willing, not everyone would have the courage to experience flying.
Then, with Levin's help and coordination, most of the young wizards touched Buckbeak and fell in love with the big guy.
After this class, Hagrid's reputation, which had been damaged by his mistake in the previous class, has now been completely reversed.
This is what makes Levin a KOL at Hogwarts.
Aside from the Magical Creatures class, the Ravenclaw wizards look forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts class the most.
The doubts about the new teacher have long been dispelled.
The young wizards of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have already experienced Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
The teachers were both curious and expectant.
Only Snape himself didn't find it funny.
From that day on, whenever he heard someone mention Professor Lupin's name, a threatening glint would flash in his eyes.
When Levin entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Professor Lupin had not yet arrived.
Professor Lupin didn't arrive until the young Ravenclaw wizards had gradually arrived, sat down, and started talking to each other with their textbooks, quills, and parchments.
At this moment, his face had changed from its previous miserable appearance, and he always had a genuine smile on his face. Although he was still dressed in tattered clothes, he looked much healthier than when he was on the train, as if he had eaten a few good meals.
"Good morning," he said. "Please put your textbooks back in your bags. Today is a practical lesson. All you need are your wands."
“Look at his robes. Honestly, even the elves in our house are dressed better than him,” Malfoy and the Slytherin students whispered, speaking ill of Professor Lupin.
To the eaglets' surprise, Professor Lupin was unexpectedly mild-mannered, merely glancing at Malfoy without offering any further comment.
“Alright,” Professor Lupin said, seeing that everyone was ready. “Follow me.”
The students looked puzzled yet intrigued, and they all stood up and followed Professor Lu Ping out of the classroom.
He led them through the empty corridor, around a corner, and they immediately saw Pippi the Mischief Maker coming towards them.
When everyone thought that Mischief was going to cause trouble again, to everyone's surprise, it turned around and left, practically fleeing in panic.
The Ravenclaws looked at the ragged Professor Lupin with admiration. They had all heard about how Professor Lupin had dealt with Peeves; he had precisely blocked Peeves' nostrils with just one [Shoot Charm], a rare sight indeed, as it was someone else's way of playing a prank on Peeves.
Professor Lupin was somewhat surprised by Peeves' reaction, then continued leading the young wizards through the second corridor, stopping outside the faculty lounge.
“Come in,” Professor Lu Ping said, opening the door and taking a step back.
The faculty lounge was a long room with wooden panels on all four walls, filled with mismatched old chairs. There were no teachers inside; students filed in.
“Thank you so much, professors. They are all very supportive of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and even made room for me in this lounge.” Professor Lupin closed the door.
"Alright," Professor Lu Ping said, gesturing for the students to walk towards the other end of the room.
There was only an old wardrobe there, in which the teachers kept their spare robes. Professor Lupin walked over and stood next to the wardrobe, which suddenly shook and slammed against the wall with a thud.
“No need to worry,” Professor Lupin said calmly as he saw several students jump back in fright. “There’s a Boggart inside.”
Most of the students seemed to think that this was exactly what they needed to worry about. With the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff wizards spreading the word, everyone knew that it was a Boggart, but the little lions and badgers described it so thrillingly that the little eagles and snakes couldn't help but feel nervous.
No one wants to reveal their weaknesses and private matters to others.
“Oh, Professor Traorini said I might encounter something ominous this week!” Padma Patil looked at Professor Lupin with alarm.
Malfoy stared nervously at the clicking cabinet door handle.
“Boggart likes dark and enclosed spaces,” Professor Lupin said. “Wardrobes, gaps under beds, cupboards under sinks, and once I even met one that lived in a grandfather clock.”
“Now, the first question we need to ask ourselves is: What is a Boggart?” Professor Lupin looked around at the young wizards in the room.
The Ravenclaws all turned to look at Levin.
This left him somewhat amused and exasperated. Most of his classmates should have known the answer, but they had become accustomed to making him answer the first question.
This has almost become a Ravenclaw tradition, and they consider it a sign of respect.
Professor Lu Ping followed their gaze and was surprised, yet also felt it made sense.
He never imagined that the outstanding student he met on the train would hold such a high position in the academy.
"…" Levin, it seems only you can answer this question.
"Boggarts are special magical creatures, unlike most other creatures. Recent research suggests that they are most closely related to Dementors and Pranksters—the Peeves we just encountered—as they are all products of emotional power."
After Levin finished speaking, he paused and added, "Boggarts can see into people's hearts and become what people fear most. Their purpose in scaring people is to feed on human fear—similar to Dementors, whose food is happiness—that's why Boggarts are considered dark magic creatures."
In fact, in Levin's understanding, Bogut's magic goes beyond that.
The Boggart's transformations are not essentially metamorphosis, but illusion; their transformations are fundamentally illusory and false.
However, to a certain extent, Boggart's transformations still possess a certain degree of realism.
For example, most of the things that Boggart conjures will have a minimal level of physical existence.
For example, the moon that Boggart transforms into can actually transform werewolves.
While the Dementors that Boggart transforms into cannot actually absorb happiness, they can still instill fear in people to the greatest extent.
In short, it has a wonderful quality of being both fake and real.
Professor Lupin nodded approvingly: "He truly deserves the title of the most popular candidate. Mr. Green is extremely knowledgeable and even knows a great deal about the cutting-edge research on Boggart. We should all learn from him. Ravenclaw is very capable."
The young Ravenclaw wizards were already quite used to Levin's answers being accompanied by various profound and elaborate explanations.
But smiles appeared on their faces; they were beginning to like this poorest professor at Hogwarts.
At least he was neither biased nor stingy when it came to giving extra points.
The Lyttonians listened attentively, none of them wanting to embarrass themselves in front of their classmates later.
“That means,” Professor Lupin continued, “that we have a significant advantage over Boggart. Have you noticed this advantage?”
This time, Levin didn't raise his hand, but the other eagles became more enthusiastic.
Professor Lupin seemed somewhat surprised: "It seems that Ravenclaw has changed a lot in the years since I graduated. You have begun to learn to take the initiative instead of habitually observing from afar—just like I did when I was in school—that's good."
Everyone present knew that this was the change brought about by Levin.
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Chapter 187 The Boggart of Malfoy
Next, Lupin chose Morag McDougal.
“I think it’s because we have a lot of people, and it has decision-making difficulties, not knowing what shape it should become,” Morag said, expressing his thoughts.
“Absolutely right,” Professor Lupin said, then added two points to his score.
When dealing with a Boggart, it's best to go in pairs. Otherwise, you'll confuse it: will it become a headless skeleton or a carnivorous slug? I once saw a Boggart make this mistake—it tried to scare two people at once, and ended up turning itself into half a slug, not scaring at all.