The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Chapter 374 Secret Gathering

The lively discussion at the "New Era Basin Brilliant Conference Hall" continued late into the night.

Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, who persisted in participating in the discussion, were the last to leave; even someone as powerful as them could feel somewhat tired.

The two walked quietly along the path from the New Age Basin to Hogwarts.

Then Professor McGonagall suddenly said with a strange expression, "I think I just saw a foot growing out from under the bushes."

Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh, his face full of kindness. "We must always give young wizards some freedom."

Honestly, once Harry, Hermione, and Ron reached that level, Dumbledore was really at ease letting these young wizards sneak out at night.

There's no need to worry about them getting hurt; it's good enough that they don't hurt others.

"They never seem to use the invisibility cloak well."

Professor McGonagall was somewhat stern. "You've had it for several years already!"

This is one of the three Deathly Hallows, and it's really unbearable to watch Harry and his friends use it like this.

Dumbledore seemed thoughtful. "Perhaps I could offer them some guidance when I have the chance?"

In fact, the person most skilled and experienced in using such methods in this world today is undoubtedly Dumbledore.

In his youth, he met Gellert Grindelwald, who was tracking the Deathly Hallows and had come to Godric's Hollow. Under Grindelwald's influence, he also became obsessed with the three Deathly Hallows from various mysterious legends.

Today, Dumbledore can be said to have fulfilled their original vision and aspirations.

He currently possesses two of the three Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone.

The last Invisibility Cloak was kept by the Potters after their deaths and was returned to them on the first Christmas after Harry Potter entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Dumbledore once had a period of obsessive desire for an invisibility cloak.

By then, Grindelwald's ambitions had grown so great that his influence on the wizarding world had gone beyond what they had initially hoped for—to "fight for a freer and wider space for wizards"—and had turned into a desire to "conquer the world and enslave Muggles."

Dumbledore couldn't bring himself to attack Grindelwald because they had made a blood pact in their youth, agreeing not to harm each other.

The invisibility cloak, one of the three Deathly Hallows, can solve this problem.

It can even escape death.

Not to mention the alliance that has already changed its mind.

As time passed, Grindelwald missed the greatest opportunity of his life, choosing to adapt to the changing times and change his path. The invisibility cloak had become a dispensable and useless item.

"Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are gone?"

Harry and his two companions peered out into the distance, breathed a sigh of relief, and then cautiously continued their journey towards the New Age Basin, still holding their invisibility cloaks up.

They soon arrived at the Lockhart Building next to the giant station in the basin and took the elevator to the 7th floor of the Duel Club.

There were already several people waiting for them here.

Percy and Cedric—these two older, composed men, each leading a major project, have unwittingly become the leaders of the dueling club, and their words are listened to by all the smaller groups.

Because of Professor Lockhart's indulgence, and because the professors at Beauxbatons School all knew that she would be Professor Lockhart's third apprentice, this crazy girl who didn't fit in at school often stayed out all night, often staying in a mysterious bug house on the 7th floor that belonged to her alone, busy with some very inexplicable things.

Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy somehow developed a very good relationship with Harry's group of four, becoming "friends who are fierce rivals".

Perhaps it's because Draco and Hermione both work at Percy's Quidditch Duel Grounds, or perhaps it's because of the Hakimi Cats project—

Draco, Goyle, and Pansy often need to interact with Harry and Ron; for example, Ron is now a special advisor at the Malfoy family's Hakimi Incubation Centre. (Arthur Weasley was reportedly completely stunned when he heard this news, and George and Fred vividly described the scene.)

Perhaps it was because Draco's father, Lucius, clearly sided with Professor Lockhart, or perhaps it was because Crabbe was the professor's first apprentice.

But no matter what, they ended up mingling with everyone in a way that was both unexpected and natural.

The last one is that many of the daily affairs of the Neville Duel Club somehow ended up in the hands of this honest man. He always seems to have a lot of things to do, but he seems to enjoy doing them.

Right now, he was sitting in a corner buried in a pile of documents, calculating bills. Recently, someone from the Duel Club proposed a Halloween "Werewolf Carnival" party, and he needed to start preparing and accumulating some funds to buy a large quantity of werewolf experience potions and pay for other event expenses.

Neville is always stupid, not very smart, and often forgetful.

But he was always so reliable when it came to getting things done. If he couldn't calculate something the first time, he would keep calculating it again and again. If he couldn't remember something the first time, he would take out his notebook and keep flipping through it. Before they knew it, everyone in the Duel Club felt that they could completely trust Neville with anything they wanted to do.

Of course, he wasn't entirely an honest person either.

On one occasion, he purchased a large quantity of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans for the Duel Club, only to find that the candy delivered by Honeydukes Candy Store via owl was not only short of the required weight, but some of it had even become damp and spoiled.

At that time, Neville was in class and could not leave the school. He wrote a sincere letter to Ambrose Froome, the owner of Honeydukes candy store, but all he received was perfunctory and contemptuous words.

Enraged, Neville gathered the young wizards from the Duel Club after class, and a large group stormed into Hogsmeade Village, demanding an explanation from the boss.

This incident caused quite a stir, attracting the attention of not only the Aurors but also the professors at Hogwarts.

In the end, it was Professor McGonagall who stepped in to calm things down.

From then on, the Duel Club members, who liked to give each other titles, also gave Neville the title of "Sword of the Duel Club."

Another similar title is "The Duelist's Whip," which belongs to Crabbe. He is even less eloquent than Neville. No, Neville is just not very good at expressing himself, but Crabbe is simply muddle-headed and sometimes even acts more recklessly than Harry.

The difference between the two is that Neville is the kind of warrior who charges forward, while Crabbe is the kind of butcher who keeps the professor's teachings in mind and is full of restraint. So the butcher's knife becomes a whip, which hurts people but does not draw blood.

At this moment, every young wizard present has just formed a secret covenant spell.

They will keep the information Harry tells them secret. The power of magic will prevent them from passing on this secret to anyone, and they will automatically erase the information from someone's mind if they are subjected to Legilimency.

The wizarding world is full of these strange yet useful spells.

The young wizards easily found this information in the school library.

"Are George and the others ready?"

Harry took the drink Cedric offered and gulped it down, then looked eagerly toward a room in the corner of the hall.

That's one of the Duel Club's projects—the research lab led by George and Fred.

"I just asked, and they told us not to bother them." Percy shrugged helplessly.

Just then, the door was pushed open forcefully, and George and Fred walked in together, carrying a strangely shaped device.

After everyone helped clear a table, the device was placed on it.

"All done, guys!" George announced their success loudly.

"Ding~ Ding~" Fred gestured with his hands towards the device.

This is a very strange device: a black flexible tube runs through the back of a bizarre skull, with a curved horn supporting the top of the skull.

"What is this?" Harry looked at the obviously evil-looking thing with some resistance.

"The Hookah Skull, an invention of Professor Dumbledore," George recounted, describing this magical gadget. "After consulting with Professor Lockhart, we received some guidance on its principles and then sought further instruction from Professor Dumbledore on the specific manufacturing process."

"We made some improvements." Fred tapped the pale and eerie skull in the device with a hint of pride. "We replaced the human skull with a cat or leopard skull. Professor Dumbledore praised our idea, and Hagrid provided the material."

Cat-Leopard, a magical creature of XXXX× Danger Level, has six legs, is extremely fast, can walk upright, and possesses the magical powers of hypnosis and legatomic manipulation.

Next comes the secret time.

Everyone looked at Harry with great anticipation.

George lifted the nozzle on the tube, gesturing for Harry to put it in his mouth and blow air. "It's very simple."

Harry nodded, took a deep breath, went to the front of the device, and took the hose.

"Snap!"

Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound rang out, and the entire floor was plunged into darkness.

"Ahhh"

"~~~"

Many people screamed in surprise.

Soon, a faint candlelight shone, illuminating Fred's face.

He looked at everyone with a somewhat innocent expression, holding up the candle. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I was just trying to liven things up."

Atmosphere – A potentially influential factor raised by the young wizards of the Duel Club while discussing Professor Lockhart's fairy tale theory.

It wasn't very useful to Professor Lockhart, but the young wizards still firmly believed that it must have some use.

Regardless, with a few candles faintly illuminating this hidden corner, everyone felt it was a good atmosphere to uncover secrets in the dim light.

Hermione rolled her eyes and urged Harry, "Ignore him, hurry up!"

She always remembered the teachings of her idol, Professor Lockhart: young wizards who don't sleep at night are less likely to grow tall.

She wanted to finish quickly so she could go home and sleep.

Call ~

Ha blows air forcefully.

It was quite amazing that the air he exhaled, which was expelled through the curved horn on the top of the cat-leopard skull, turned into a large amount of smoke.

The smoke quickly rose towards the ceiling, a mysterious force surging within, subtly revealing secrets hidden in the shadows.

"To prove you are indispensable!"

Voldemort's voice came through the smoke.

Everyone was so frightened that they quickly covered their mouths, as if afraid that their screams would be heard by the black devil.

The scene depicted in the smoke is familiar to everyone; it's Professor Lockhart's small house in Hogsmeade Village, which was supposedly provided to Voldemort for his research in the Bloodline Hall of the Department of Mysteries.

Whether he turns to good or evil, he is the most valuable asset in the wizarding world. Tom is clearly the wizard of our time who understands this kind of magic best—this was the reason Professor Lockhart gave when the young wizards asked him about it.

Everyone was convinced and remained vigilant against Voldemort at all times.

At this moment, many figures appeared in the small building, including Peter Pettigrew, whom everyone was most familiar with and had tortured together. Oh, I mean, I interrogated him together.

Harry had already put down the blowing hose, and after the figure appeared on the screen, he looked at Ron with some concern.

Not only him, but Ron also felt the kind looks from everyone.

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"I know what you're thinking," Voldemort's voice was deep and suppressed. "You're weighing whether you're useful to me, worrying about whether I'll abandon you."

"Wrong!"

"It's even more serious!"

Voldemort stood up, his voice rising in agitation. His towering frame looked down at the assembled group, his expression cold and stern as he walked around the long table. "The question now is whether we are useful to the wizarding world, whether we are an indispensable force within it. Only then will we not be abandoned by the wizarding world!"

"I know, I know, many of you are still stuck in the past, thinking that you are the wizards, and that you are the wizards."

But times have changed!

"The wizarding race is no longer limited to pure-bloods!"

"Wizards who are half-Muggles, and wizards who sprang from among Muggles—" Voldemort sneered at everyone, "slowly, they became the vast majority!"

This is a kind of "indigenous" despair, just like the French Ministry of Magic's despairing discovery that its color is rapidly turning black. They are no longer French; they are just one of the French, and even political correctness prevents them from expressing their discontent.

"Voldemort is trying to ignite the anger in their hearts!" Hermione stared at the scene in the image with disgust. "He's using people's arrogance to twist the truth!"

Hermione looked at everyone. She knew clearly that most of the people in the Duel Club were pure-blooded, and she didn't want them to be influenced by Voldemort.

"I've discussed this issue with Professor Lockhart!"

Professor Lockhart's authority in the Duel Club made the young wizards willing to listen with a sense of conviction.

Hermione clearly understands the power of a powerful endorsement.

Of course, she had indeed consulted the professor about this issue and dared not use Professor Lockhart's name casually.

"The professor believes that the definition of a wizard has always been simple: a human being with the ability to cast spells. Conversely, a Muggle is a human being who cannot cast spells."

He said that when he was young, he deeply felt the fundamental problem with the so-called "pure-blood theory," which was simply a rhetoric used by powerful, hereditary pure-blood families to maintain their rule.

"Lockhart's mother was a pure-blood wizard, from a very ordinary pure-blood family. Although they were pure-bloods, they weren't accepted by those who constantly preached 'pure-bloodism,' as if those people were nobles and his mother's family were commoners."

In the darkness, Hermione's eyes shone brightly. "I never understood why the Weasleys were pure-blood traitors."

"The Malfoy family also had close ties with the Muggle community, participated in Muggle wars, possessed titles and fiefs bestowed by Muggle kings, and Lucius I was even known for his pursuit of Muggle Elizabeth I."

"Even though the Weasley family still insisted on pure-blood marriages, and there wasn't even a single instance of a family member marrying a Muggle in their history, and even though the Weasley family couldn't find any definite Muggle friends at the time—"

"Logically speaking, shouldn't the Malfoy family be the traitors to the purebloods, and the Weasley family be the supporters of the purebloods?"

Hermione shrugged. "Everything made sense until I followed Professor Lockhart's advice and replaced the word 'pure-blood' with 'ruler of the rentiers'!"

She gestured towards Voldemort, who was inciting his men in the scene, and sneered, "Look at these again, and you'll see that they're nothing but outdated, corrupt, and old-fashioned ruling rent-seekers!"

"But anyone with a sound mind would know that!"

"No one can hold power forever. All families and interest groups will one day lose power, because a new era and new groups will replace them!"

"Pureblood!"

"It's nothing more than a sacred robe donned by the old ruling rentiers!"

"So that everyone would be willing to believe that they naturally possess the legitimacy to rule over everyone."

"Prying open the robe, all I saw was this!"

"They control the Ministry of Magic, monopolize the skills of wands, cauldrons, spells, Floo powder, and more, and manipulate the channels for herbs, potion ingredients, and various finished products —"

Hermione shrugged. "These are the reasons for becoming one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Pureblood Families, not the so-called superior blood flowing in our veins."

"The most obvious examples are the Dumbledore family, whose bloodline includes a phoenix, and the Grindelwald family, whose prophets are constantly emerging—neither of them are among these so-called twenty-eight pure-blood families!"

"Gentlemen!"

She looked intently at everyone, "A new era! We shouldn't be controlled by these decadent things anymore!"

"Professor Lockhart is setting the best example for us!"

He generously shared his painstakingly researched theories on fairy tales, his new findings on relationship magic, and his Guardian Charms.

The powerful wisdom that could have formed a magical monopoly, including the Anima Guardians, has all been made public!

"When he was writing these manuscripts, he wasn't thinking about flaunting his glory or making everyone believe he was the most powerful wizard. He focused on how to describe things in a way that everyone could understand!"

"This is the new era!"

"This is the future!"

"The professor said this is just the beginning!"

"He expects our young wizards in the Duel Club to not only follow the path he walked, but he expects us to continue to engage with power in various fields."

"Perhaps one day, we will be able to develop a magical tool that is more suitable for wizards to cast spells than a wand, or even just make a slight improvement to make it more powerful."

"He said it was inevitable, because we use wands every day, and we will gradually begin to understand the secrets of the wand, and someone will definitely try to improve it."

"Then!"

Hermione stood up, her voice growing increasingly excited. Imitating the professor's gesture, she vigorously waved her arm, "Make these skills known to the public, spread them far and wide, let more people know, let more wisdom participate, and let the power of magic continue to advance!"

"And not just in the hands of the Ollivander family, one of the so-called Twenty-Eight Holy Pure-Blood Families!"

"this!"

"This is the new era!"

"this!"

"That's the meaning behind our journey!"

"Gentlemen!"

In the hookah scene, Voldemort's voice grows increasingly loud.

"It's time to take back everything that rightfully belongs to us!"

"The first step is to find a way to integrate into their society!"

"Leverage your inherent advantages, utilize the resources you possess far exceeding those of ordinary wizards, and wield the power that only we have!"

"Entering this new era!"

"Go and let them all know that the power of purebloods is indispensable!"

"Reclaim the power that is rightfully ours!"

-

"Then·"

Voldemort's voice was cold and deep, "Sweep them all into the rubbish heap and set them on fire!"

applaud!

In the hookah scene, excited people are clapping.

Off-screen, excited people were also clapping.

Ultimately, it all boils down to one sentence: "Gentlemen, the future belongs to us!"

Click~

Lockhart cracked sunflower seeds, chuckling as he watched the projection on the wall. He raised an eyebrow at Snape, Sirius, Lupin, and Tonks, who had come over to invite him for a late-night snack and were then watching the secret gathering of the young wizards downstairs.

He laughed and said, "That's really interesting!"