The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 216: Diagon Alley Boxing Match

A week had passed since they flew across England in a turquoise Ford car, which meant that Harry Potter had also lived in the Burrow for a week.

Everyone here welcomes Harry's arrival. Mrs. Weasley will help him mend his socks and add more food. Mr. Weasley always has a lot of questions about Muggles, and these questions are transferred to Harry. Shy Ginny always blushes or knocks something over when talking to Harry.

Percy always stayed in his room alone, doing no one knew what he was doing, and he would only come out of the room at mealtimes; explosions could be heard from Fred and George's rooms from time to time, and the two brothers would often take Harry and Ron to the paddock on the back hill to play Quidditch games.

As for Ada, she was busy with work from morning till night. Harry had already learned about Ada from Ron. Compared with the others, Ada was the first person Harry knew, but she was the one who spent the shortest time with Harry.

This morning, the weather was fine, and the Hogwarts owl appeared at the Burrow, bringing a new list of supplies. Harry's letter was also delivered, as well as Ginny's acceptance letter.

This year's letter seemed longer than previous years, so Ada opened it and read it carefully. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read. What did that long list of Gilderoy Lockhart's works mean?
Fred finished his own list, then craned his neck to look at Harry's, then at Ginny's.

He said: "We all have to buy Gilderoy Lockhart's books. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be his admirer, maybe a witch."

Mrs. Weasley looked at her son unkindly, and Fred quickly lowered his head, not wanting to meet his mother's gaze.

"It increased the sales of Lockhart's books, but it ruined his reputation." Ada said, "I really don't know what this new professor is thinking."

This behavior of forcing students to buy Gilderoy Lockhart's works is really stupid. Forcing people to buy Gilderoy Lockhart's works often makes people feel bored and disgusted. No matter what others think, forcing others to buy what they like, can people who do this really teach and educate people?
Perhaps at this moment, the new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts is feeling smug about coming up with such an idea, but he never thought about how much he would ruin his popularity by doing so.

"Those books aren't cheap," said George, with a quick glance at his parents. "Gilderoy Lockhart's books are really expensive..."

Writing novels is a dead end, but Lockhart has turned this dead end into a great road. His works are not only popular, but also sold at a high price.

If it were one or two, it would be acceptable, but the problem was that each student needed to buy a whole set. This was a big burden for families with limited financial resources, and the Weasleys were even worse off, as they needed to buy five sets.

"Oh, we'll find something," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked a little worried. "I think a lot of Ginny's things could be bought second-hand."

Ada put down the list of items and said, "My school robes from first and second grade, and some clothes are upstairs. Ginny can choose what she likes to wear."

As Ada grew taller, she changed her clothes almost every year. Ginny could take any clothes that she couldn't wear, except those given by Professor McGonagall.

It is very common for children with older brothers or sisters to wear their older brothers or sisters' old clothes, and Ada did not think there was anything wrong with it. Moreover, Ada's clothes were almost all purchased from Madam Malkin. Although they would become second-hand in Ginny's hands, they were still better than those in second-hand robe shops.

Ada does not yet have the ability to lead the Weasley family to a well-off life. This is all she can do.

Ron and Ginny were both younger than Ada, so Ada would give her clothes to Ginny (Ron could wear them if he wanted), buy Ron a wand, and buy some things for his younger siblings. This was Ada's way of repaying the Weasleys for taking her in.

A week after receiving the letter from Hogwarts, the Weasleys took everyone to Diagon Alley. It was Wednesday, and Mrs. Weasley woke up all the children early in the morning, and after a quick breakfast, the family went to Diagon Alley via the Floo Network.

This was Harry's first time traveling by this mode of transportation, and he didn't know whether he chose the wrong furnace door or didn't explain it clearly enough, but Harry managed to lose himself.

When they arrived at Diagon Alley, the Weasley family found that Harry was missing, which made everyone very anxious. Mrs. Weasley even cried. So everyone went to look for the lost Harry separately, and finally found the lost Harry in front of Gringotts.

Harry was standing with Hagrid and Hermione. He failed to reach Diagon Alley accurately, but appeared in Knockturn Alley instead, and met Draco Malfoy and his father.

All the boys except Percy envied Harry because they also wanted to hang out in Knockturn Alley, but the Weasleys did not allow them to do so.

An hour later, the whole family appeared in Flourish and Blotts bookstore, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his new book. After taking a photo with Harry, he announced in a high-profile manner that he would become the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts in September.

After hearing the news, Ada's face darkened visibly. Judging people by appearance is wrong and impolite, but Lockhart gave Ada a very bad first impression. Ada wanted to go home and burn all her blue clothes because Lockhart was wearing a forget-me-not blue robe. Because of Lockhart, Ada felt that she might be allergic to the color blue.

Seeing that cocky look and that smile with all white teeth, Ada felt a little nauseous. She really wanted to ask how such a disgusting smile won the "Witch Weekly" Most Charming Smile Award?

Most of the people waiting in line for Lockhart's autograph were middle-aged witches, with a few young witches. This was probably the power of mom fans and girlfriend fans, who worked together to send such a "charming" Lockhart to "Witch Weekly".

There are almost no men in the team. After all, male mothers are not popular now.

"I think he smiles like an idiot." Fred said, "Why would Dumbledore choose him? Isn't he afraid that the school will be full of idiots like him in a year?"

Recruiting for Defense Against the Dark Arts has always been a difficult problem. The rate at which one professor is consumed every academic year is indeed too fast, and it is normal that we cannot recruit the person we want.

Ida wanted to know why the school couldn't just give up this course or change its name. If that didn't work, it could just start a new similar course, which would be better than letting this course die.

"Although I think he's an idiot," George said, "you'd better not let Mom hear this, or you'll be in trouble."

"I hope he can be as talented as he is described in his books." Ada sighed, "After Quirrell, if there comes another teacher who misleads students, I'm afraid I won't be able to help but curse him."

Just when the three people were dissatisfied with their future teacher, chaos broke out in Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. Bookshelves were knocked over, and customers who came to buy books retreated in panic to prevent themselves from being affected.

After separating the crowd, Ada and the twins saw Mr. Weasley and Lucius Malfoy rolling on the ground. Once again, the melon was eaten by herself, and Ada felt that she might not be worthy of eating the melon.

Fred and George shouted, "Hit him, Dad! Right hook, yes, that's it!"

At the same time, the twins looked at Draco Malfoy with ill intent. If young Mr. Malfoy was the same age as his brothers, he would be the same as his father now.

The first Diagon Alley unregulated boxing match officially kicked off. The red side was the balding red-haired Arthur Weasley, and the other side was the white peacock-like Lucius Malfoy.

The two middle-aged men forgot their identities as wizards and chose to solve the problem in the most primitive way. With adrenaline rushing through their bodies, they punched each other and even picked up the thick spell books scattered on the ground and smashed them against each other.

Gradually, the Weasleys, who were busy all day, gained the upper hand, and the pampered Malfoy was very annoyed by the continuous losses.

This no-rules boxing match did not last long, and the tall and strong referee Hagrid separated the two fighting fighters.

Both of the two old but young-at-heart fighters were injured, but overall Weasley won the no-rules boxing match with a points lead. It was a pity that he was not awarded the gold belt.

The unwilling Malfoy player stared at everyone fiercely, and even Ada received a contemptuous look.

If Malfoy said "I'll be back" before walking out of the bookstore, the villain's momentum would be enhanced. His eyes really have no killing power.

Mrs. Weasley complained that her husband shouldn't fight in front of the children while cleaning the corner of her husband's mouth. Mr. Weasley let his wife scold him without saying a word, as if he already knew he was wrong.

Fred and George were very excited. They gave their father a thumbs-up sign when their mother couldn't see them. Mr. Weasley also secretly winked at his twin sons when his wife wasn't paying attention.

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(End of this chapter)