The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Chapter 194 Taking the Initiative

Chapter 194 Taking the Initiative

Harry Potter had no idea what books Professor Lockhart had written, or even that a 10 Galleon bounty had been placed on his head.

The bookstore was right in front of him, but he obviously didn't have the chance to go in and buy a book to take home and read.

But he soon found out.

As he boarded the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry once again, before he even got on, he heard many adult wizards who were bringing their children to school huddled together in small groups, whispering about something. As he casually walked by, he often heard the name of Professor Lockhart.

Many adults who noticed him passing by would immediately fall silent, as if afraid that others would know what they were talking about.

This situation continued to spread to the train.

Unlike the usual noisy start-of-school scenes, there were whispers and murmurs everywhere. Everyone's expression looked so strange, and sometimes they seemed to accidentally say something that would cause their group to gasp in surprise.

"What on earth happened?!" He was so curious that he couldn't wait to ask after finally meeting Hermione and Ron.

"Don't speak!" Hermione glanced warily around, leading the two of them to an empty carriage. After closing the door, she looked outside cautiously again before turning to them with a serious expression and saying, "Professor Lockhart has written a book!"

"I know he wrote a book, but what is it?!" Harry's voice grew louder, causing Hermione to anxiously turn her head to look at the carriage door again. After being glared at, he quickly lowered his voice and asked again.

Hermione walked over quickly, opened her trench coat, and quietly took out a book that wasn't very thick, placing it in front of Harry.

She clearly treasured this book greatly, carefully making a cover and inlaying copper borders at the corners to prevent any pages from bending.

Harry opened the book cover and gasped.

—Voldemort the Mysterious Man: A Pureblood Supremacist with a Muggle Father?

He was clearly very curious about Voldemort, but he had no intention of looking at it at the moment. Instead, he looked at Hermione with a serious expression and asked, "Professor, are you alright?"

"I don't know!" Hermione frowned and shook her head. "Luna sent it to me secretly. I live in Muggle society and have no chance to access information about the wizarding world!"

So Harry began to tell them about his summer adventures, including what happened after he finally lifted his Invisibility Cloak and was discovered by Professor Dumbledore and his colleagues, who then Apparated him.

She spoke with a tone of astonishment, "Professor McGonagall and the others were very surprised. They had always thought that the Dark Lord's minions were all imprisoned in Azkaban, but they didn't expect that there were still so many loyalists and followers outside. They all said that if it weren't for Professor Lockhart's book, they would never have realized that the Dark Lord's influence was so terrifying."

"He's already dead. Although we know he's not dead, many people think he is. The Ministry of Magic has been insisting on this view, yet there are still so many loyal people."

Harry looked particularly angry when he talked about it.

He didn't understand why so many people would be willing to follow a ruthless, murderous demon king and become villains.

Harry's message was obviously helpful, but it didn't answer Hermione's question.

So they both looked at Ron, who always knew a lot about the wizarding world.

Then they realized that Ron seemed a little distracted.

Seeing their gaze, Ron sighed, placed the newspaper he was clutching on the table, and gestured for them to look at the picture in the center.

The image features a huge headline: Death Eaters Break Out!

Hermione quickly snatched the newspaper and skimmed through it. Ron, seeing Harry looking over, gave a concise account: "The Aurors haven't caught the fugitive yet. This supposedly most dangerous Death Eater was only ever spotted when he was buying a book (he gestured to the book Hermione had brought)..."

"Many people believe that he wanted to escape Azkaban because of the book that Professor Lockhart published, and to take revenge on Professor Lockhart for writing the book and bringing bad influence to the Dark Lord."

Harry's expression turned serious. "We should find a way to help Professor Lockhart!"

"I think so too!" Ron looked down at his wand. He would never forget how Professor Lockhart had encouraged him in a gentle tone at the entrance of Ollivander's wand shop, saying that a warrior could not be without a good wand. No one knew how much those words affected him, and no one knew how excited he was at that moment.

"I..." He tried his best to keep his voice from trembling and getting too excited, wanting to act like a mature guy and properly discuss with his good friends how they could help the professor.

Before he could finish speaking, Hermione slammed the newspaper on the table, stared intently at them with a serious expression, and said, "I disagree!"

"Hermione!" Harry looked at him in disbelief.

"You're his biggest fan!" Ron felt that Hermione was a complete stranger.

Hermione rolled her eyes and pointed to the photo on the front page of the newspaper. "Didn't you guys notice? If this Death Eater can't find Professor Lockhart, who is he planning to go after?"

Harry looked somewhat bewildered.

Ron gasped, looking at Harry. "Dude, Hermione's right, you're in danger!"

"I even suspect he's on this train right now!" Hermione looked around warily. "This is the best time to strike, after the adult wizards have seen the young wizards off and before they arrive at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

She quickly grabbed the books and stuffed them into her bag, then drew her wand. "Many people might think this train is safe—and it's been running for over a hundred years without anyone daring to attack it—but folks, this is war!"

Ron thought Hermione was making a fuss over nothing. Although he agreed that the Death Eater might attack Harry, on the Hogwarts train?

If Hermione could think of something, surely the professors at the school couldn't?

But once Hermione made a decision, they could never argue with it.

"I need to gather the members of the Duel Club and discuss how to help Professor Lockhart. I also need to find the student representative and have him convene the prefects of each year to check this train!"

During the year that Professor Lockhart taught, Harry changed, Ron changed, and Hermione changed even more.

Her expression was so serious. "Guys, let's get moving!"

Harry habitually drew his wand; he relied more and more on it during his summer adventures, knowing exactly how to use his abilities.

Ron, however, looked puzzled. "I agree to find other dueling club members, but forget about the student representative; he's completely useless."

Hermione paused, startled. "Who?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Percy!"

"Your brother became a student representative this year?" Harry exclaimed in amazement. All of Ron's brothers were so outstanding.

"Yes, he was really smug about it. He spent the whole summer listening to everyone talk about it (actually, the twins teased him about it every day), but I think he..."

Before Ron could finish speaking, Hermione had already pushed open the door, glanced back at him, and said, "Then let's go find Percy!"

She wasn't willing to wait for an attack to happen before reacting; she wanted to do things before the danger occurred.

She could never forget the death of Crabbe's parents; it was the first time she had faced the cruelty and horror of the wizarding world.

Death is not far away in the wizarding world, where magic exists.

Sometimes when she was on vacation, she would walk down the Muggle streets and even feel a sense of dread, as if she could easily kill everyone on the street if she pulled out her wand.

The dangers of magic are no child's play.

Soon, the members of the Duel Club gathered together. Strangely, Neville seemed to be talking to Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe, his eyes bloodshot.

But when the three of them walked over, everyone kept quiet. At this crucial moment, it was not the time to investigate.

Then they found Percy.

Contrary to Ron's guess, Percy's expression was so serious. "Professor Lockhart is in the car. I just visited him in his compartment."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed in unison.

"He'll be teaching the elective course 'Magical Creatures Protection' this school year." Percy called on everyone to start checking the carriages, and then went to find the prefects and some upperclassmen, seemingly more concerned than Hermione.

Soon, they caught a dwarf adult wizard who was hiding among the young wizards.

While everyone was nervously discussing Professor Lockhart's book, this guy hid in a corner of the crowd and was completely unnoticed.

The adult wizard was clearly surprised to be discovered. He drew his wand to make a move, but was easily subdued by a concentrated attack from the young wizards who had experienced numerous magical adventures.

"I have to write to Professor McGonagall; this is clearly not a normal thing to do!" Percy looked at the fierce gaze of the wizard who had been subdued by everyone, his expression unusually serious, and called to his girlfriend Penelope Crivart, "Go and inform Professor Lockhart of this situation."

Clearly, he had just visited Professor Lockhart with his girlfriend.

However, before anyone could say anything, a terrifying silence quickly filled the carriage.

Unlike the terrifying influence of the three-armed golden retriever, a creature of dark magic, this dreadful aura seemed to be rapidly draining the joy and vitality from everyone it affected. An older student standing near the carriage door suddenly shivered and began to tremble.

Darkness swept in, pressing down heavily on everyone's heart.

"Protect the Gods!"

Silver smoke swirled around, and a silver, translucent rat scurried out, quickly running around everyone in mid-air within the carriage.

Magical power surged, dispelling the gloom.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ron, who was casting the spell.

Ron, a little embarrassed by the stares, grinned. "Professor Lockhart said that when faced with a problem like this, no matter what happened, you should summon your Patronus first!"

Yes, he is always the first in the crowd to draw his wand and cast a spell, a true warrior from Gryffindor!

Percy then looked around at the older students with great pride and shouted, "Look, this is my brother, Ron! Ron Weasley!"

But his smugness didn't last long.

As the terrifying dark power grew thicker, the guardian spirits Ron summoned seemed to dim in light and suddenly became ineffective.

"Protect the Gods!"

"Take protection from God!" "Take protection from God!" "Take protection from God!"

Everyone quickly drew their wands and began casting spells.

The other older students who came to help looked at them in disbelief. "How come you all know the Patronus Charm?!"

This scene was clearly outrageous. It was one of the oldest spells in the legend, extremely difficult, and most people couldn't make their guardian spirits take shape. But seeing the guardian spirits taking shape one after another in front of them was simply too exaggerated.

Even among this group was a young wizard who was about to enter second grade, who could also do it?

Doesn't magic adhere to basic common sense?

This thing can be wholesaled?

(End of this chapter)