Chapitre 127: Chapter 127 Professor Horn Who ‘Ran Away with the Money’
Late at night, deep in the Forbidden Forest.
The sky was as pure as a black velvet cloth, and above, a crescent moon glowed. The chirping of animals and the rustling of leaves in the wind complemented each other, as if they were playing a nocturne.
Suddenly, a sparkling circle appeared.
"Don't worry about it, Coffy, and leave quickly."
With a shout, a blond man wearing a tattered gray wizard robe quickly ran out of the circle, and behind him, a house-elf jumped out directly. Lockhart looked through the portal at the large number of replicas of the Hufflepuff Gold Cup pouring out, as well as the wildly burning fire, with a trace of fear in his eyes.
The moment Coffy escaped, Lockhart quickly waved his hand to close the portal. He let out a deep breath and looked at the tattered Coffy with burned clothes in front of him. There was also the burnt smell coming from his body, and the large number of holes in his clothes, brought a bitter smile to Lockhart's face.
Voldemort is indeed the strongest Dark Lord in the wizarding world. He had underestimated him, or perhaps he had been too smooth recently and had become a little overconfident. Voldemort's magic trap taught him a lesson. The trap that he originally thought could be easily cracked may have touched some points that he didn't know about during the cracking process, causing all the traps to explode, leaving Lockhart in a panic.
Fortunately, his teleportation magic still worked; otherwise, in such a closed environment of the vault, he would have been wiped out long ago. Despite this, Bellatrix's treasury would probably have to be destroyed, and even the dragon outside might be burned to death. If this fierce fire was not stopped in time, Gringotts would suffer significantly this time. That place is the treasury of the entire wizarding world.
But Lockhart looked at the golden cup in his hand, a hint of joy rising on his face. Although the process was somewhat tortuous, his goal was finally achieved. However, when thinking about the sudden trap just now, Lockhart was thoughtful. Waving his magic wand, a small blue cabinet appeared in front of him. Lockhart then placed the Hufflepuff Cup inside.
Click!
The cabinet door closed, and dense dark blue magic lines flashed on the cabinet, completely locking all the magic aura, power, and fluctuations of the Hufflepuff Cup.
Snort!
Looking at the cabinet in front of him that had multiple seals placed on it, Lockhart snorted. When the trap broke out, there was no time to think too much, and he ran away quickly. But now that he thought about it carefully, he realized that there was no sign of intelligence from Voldemort's Horcrux here.
When he thought of this, he felt that the Hufflepuff Gold Cup he had just received was a bit tricky. This soul fragment might be restless. Well, not as good as Young Voldemort in the Notebook. He was also planning to find himself a No. 2 worker.
With his thoughts turning, Lockhart looked at the dim Forbidden Forest and heard the roars of a large number of birds and animals in the distance, as well as the rustle brought by the breeze. Especially the ragged appearance of himself and Coffy. Lockhart gently moved the Sling Ring and opened a portal again, taking one step to return to his home. Coffy in the back jumped directly into the portal.
At noon the next day, Hogwarts cafeteria.
Lockhart sat in the professor's chair, tapping his fork against his plate. A dish of pepper steak appeared on the plate, with some broccoli, cherry tomatoes, etc. scattered around. Lockhart smelled the aroma and nodded with satisfaction. It seems that the recipe he gave to Hogwarts house-elves was not in vain. This level is higher than before. While thinking about it, he picked up the knife and fork, cut a small piece, put it in his mouth, and slowly tasted the tenderness of the beef. Well, it tastes pretty good.
"Lockhart, your steak is well cooked. Is it cooked by the house-elves?" Professor Flitwick asked next to him.
"Yes, Professor." Lockhart nodded slightly and continued, "I gave them a recipe, and they studied it for a few days and then they figured out how to make it." Having said this, Lockhart also gave a small thumbs-up to the elves' learning ability. Although they are not at the level of a genius, they are at least better than the average person. In other words, their character of being proud of labor and ashamed of laziness allows them to focus more on doing things and improves their learning ability. Whether it's a wizard, a Muggle, or any other living being, as long as one focuses, one can achieve results more easily than ordinary people.
Upon hearing Lockhart's reply, Professor Flitwick's eyes lit up. Thoughts continued in his mind, and the corners of his mouth curled up, as if he had received a lot of inspiration. Afterwards, the two started chatting while eating.
"Lockhart, the students have spoken highly of your courses recently." Professor Flitwick praised.
"It's not much," Lockhart was very modest, and then added a little, "It's all the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who left the foundation."
"Haha." Professor Flitwick understood what Lockhart meant and laughed. Lockhart also had a faint smile on his face.
Suddenly!
"Professor Lockhart, did you hear what happened at Gringotts last night?" Professor Flitwick asked. Lockhart's smile faltered when he heard the question, but he asked with a curious look on his face, "Professor Flitwick, have you heard anything?"
"I read in the Daily Prophet that it was just a fire."
"Fire." A sarcastic smile appeared on Professor Flitwick's face. "What kind of fire would require the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic to be dispatched?"
Then, he revealed the secret in a low voice, "Lockhart, I heard from my friends that it was a fierce fire. You don't need to think about it. Yesterday, another dark wizard definitely sneaked into Gringotts. The goblins probably found traces, and the dark wizard then set off a powerful fire spell to attract attention and escaped."
"Tsk tsk tsk"
After hearing Professor Flitwick's guess, Lockhart felt a little weird in his heart, but he said with admiration, "Professor, you have a keen eye. It is completely logical. It is probably true. If the Daily Prophet does not ask you to be its editor-in-chief, it is simply their loss."
"Haha, no, I just have a lot of friends and a lot of information." Professor Flitwick said with a smile on his face. Lockhart stood and nodded. As a multiple-time dueling champion, Flitwick became friends with many people, and as a Hogwarts professor, he kept in touch with each of them through letters.
Suddenly, Lockhart's heart moved, and he asked Flitwick as if chatting, "Professor Flitwick, I have communicated with Professor Slughorn about something recently, but I have not received a reply. Do you have any news about him?"
Hearing Lockhart's question, Professor Flitwick frowned slightly and sighed softly, "Slughorn, there was news about him at the beginning of the year. As a result, until now, for some reason, there is no news. I sent him a letter before, but I didn't get a reply."
When Lockhart heard this, he kept thinking in his mind. At the beginning of the year, if he guessed correctly, it should be the last semester. The only big thing that happened last semester was that Voldemort possessed Quirrell to steal the Philosopher's Stone. When he thought of this, all of Lockhart's confusion was cleared up.
In the original plot, Professor Slughorn kept avoiding Voldemort because of the Horcrux. And with the news that Voldemort had reappeared, running away was naturally the best choice. No wonder he sold the Liquid Luck Potion because he wanted to 'take the money and run away'.
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Chapitre 128: Chapter 128 The Mysterious Forces Targeting Voldemort
Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office.
"Snape, how much do you know about what happened at Gringotts last night?"
Dumbledore sat in his chair, looked at Snape in front of him, touched his beard, and asked gently.
"Don't let me know which dark wizard did it. If I catch him, I'll make him wish he had never been born."
Upon hearing Dumbledore's question, Snape cursed fiercely. He was in a terrible mood. He received a notification from the goblins this morning. The fierce fire in Gringotts last night caused damage to many vaults, and his vault was one of them. Some items inside were damaged to varying degrees. Now, he wanted to kill the dark wizard who sneaked into Gringotts last night a thousand times over.
Of course, the same goes for the goblins of Gringotts. These goblins, citing an accident as an excuse, did not intend to compensate him for his losses. This made Snape very angry.
Dumbledore didn't react much when he heard Snape's curse. He had already collected all the information about what happened at Gringotts. Of course, he knew about Snape's vault.
"Do you know where the fire started?" Dumbledore asked.
"Headmaster, just tell me what you know without going around in circles," Snape, who was in a bad mood, said calmly. "If you know who infiltrated the bank last night, tell me, and I'll make him regret coming into this world."
Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Snape, there are Aurors to arrest people. However, I believe you can't guess the source of the fierce fire."
Looking at Snape's frown and dissatisfaction, Dumbledore said with a serious face, "It's Bellatrix's vault."
"Bellatrix?" Snape muttered, confused.
"Yes, her," Dumbledore nodded slightly.
Looking at Snape who was deep in thought, Dumbledore suddenly asked, "Snape, has anyone from the pure-blood families been in contact with you recently?"
Regarding Dumbledore's question, Snape pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, "No, there has been no contact recently."
Then he couldn't help but ask, "Headmaster, are you saying that this matter has something to do with the Dark Lord?"
Dumbledore did not answer directly but asked an irrelevant question, "Has Lockhart behaved strangely recently? You went to the auction with him yesterday, right?"
"Yes, what's wrong? Everything has been normal with Lockhart recently," Snape replied, dissatisfied. "Headmaster, don't change the subject. Tell me, is Bellatrix's matter related to the Dark Lord?"
Facing Snape's question, Dumbledore sighed and said slowly, "Bellatrix is the Dark Lord's right hand and his most loyal subordinate. Do you know what I saw in her vault?"
Without waiting for Snape to ask questions, he continued regretfully, "The looted treasury, the replica of the Hufflepuff Cup, and the fierce fire. Obviously, this definitely has something to do with the Dark Lord."
At this point, Dumbledore stopped speaking, and Snape seemed to be pondering something, full of confusion.
Is this action by Voldemort, or is it an action directed at Voldemort?
If it is Voldemort's action, doesn't it mean that Voldemort is making some moves? But that's not possible because he hasn't received any relevant news.
And if it is an action against Voldemort, then who, or which force, dares to target Voldemort?
After thinking for a while, Snape shook his head slightly. The amount of information was too little to make an effective judgment.
"Headmaster, what do you think?" Snape, who couldn't think of an answer, asked Dumbledore directly, "Do you think it was done by the Dark Lord, or was it done by other forces?"
"I'm not sure," Dumbledore hesitated, "However, I am more inclined to think that there are other forces targeting the Dark Lord. After all, these traps have all been triggered. If they were the Dark Lord's people, they shouldn't be so reckless."
At the end, Dumbledore also hesitated. Because as far as he knew, there were quite a few fools among the Death Eaters. Especially when faced with so much treasure, it is possible for them to trigger the trap with their greed. However, after all, it is other forces that may be the greater threat.
"Other unknown forces?" Snape murmured to himself. For some reason, Lockhart suddenly came to mind. A lot of wealth, unknown magical materials, mysterious magic, buying potions in large quantities, buying house-elves. It would be more reasonable to say that a mysterious force owned these.
Shaking his head slightly, Snape suppressed the suspicion in his heart because he had no evidence to support his thoughts. And he worked so closely with Lockhart. When he thought of Lockhart's latest large order and the large amount of unknown magical materials, Snape did not study it in detail. Just targeting the Dark Lord, he wished that the Dark Lord would be besieged by all the wizards.
Although he was on Dumbledore's side, he was only cooperating and not his servant.
Afterwards, Snape chatted with Dumbledore for a few more words and then said goodbye.
Dumbledore looked at Snape's leaving figure, then withdrew his gaze and rubbed his temples in distress. The reason why he mentioned Lockhart just now was because the goblins had provided him with a piece of news. It was Lockhart who took away all the treasures from his vault on the day the fire burned. This was such a coincidence. That was why he asked Snape if Lockhart was attending the auction with him. If it was because participating in the auction would cost a lot of gold galleons, this reason would make sense.
Wednesday night, Defense Against the Dark Arts office.
Click!
With the slight sound of the door opening, Harry walked out of the office and walked briskly towards the Gryffindor lounge. Harry had been in a nervous mood when he arrived at Lockhart's office on Sunday. However, as he walked out of the office, his attitude suddenly changed, and after some exchanges with Professor Lockhart, he had been thinking about how to translate the evil language "Parseltongue" for the past few days. He even thought that he was making a contribution to the entire wizarding world.
When he thought about it, Professor Lockhart said that he would write a research paper on Parseltongue in a while, and his name would also be written on the paper, and it would be published in the top journals in the wizarding world. Harry felt very excited.
Suddenly!
Meow!
Harry, who had just reached the top of the stairs, suddenly spotted a small figure. Taking a closer look, it was Filch's pet cat, Mrs. Norris.
"Students over there, stop!" Along with the cat's meow, a figure holding an oil lamp suddenly appeared.
"Mr. Filch, this is my permission slip. I just went to Professor Lockhart's office."
Harry held up the note in his hand proudly. He had often heard from Ron that Filch liked to catch young wizards wandering at night and punish them by wiping trophies and mopping floors. However, this time he was not wandering at night. To be precise, with the note in his hand, Filch had no reason to capture him.
"Oh."
Seeing the note in Harry's hand, Filch sighed with regret.
"Go back to the lounge quickly. Don't let me catch you in the future," Filch said viciously.
Harry obviously didn't care about Filch's attitude. However, when he thought of Professor Lockhart's previous instructions, Harry thought about it and said to Filch, "Mr. Filch, Professor Lockhart said that if I meet you, you should go find him. Because Professor Lockhart said that he has an experiment that, if successful, may allow you to gain certain magical abilities."
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