The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 159 Lockhart's New Book (Please Subscribe!)

The mornings in England are always shrouded in a thick fog. In the office of the Minister of Magic, Millison Bagnore sat in a down-filled armchair, waiting for her assistant and advisor to bring her that damned document.

In the early hours of the morning, Bagno received a shouting message from the Director of the International Department of Magical Cooperation.

The soon-to-retire director told her that the British Ministry of Magic had been sued by the International Confederation of Wizards and the European Wizarding Association.

Also among the defendants was Moriarty Slytherin, a second-year student at Hogwarts.

The British Ministry of Magic is accused of sending wizards into French territory without going through any normal diplomatic channels.

Moriarty Slytherin was accused of using dark magic to freeze the Eiffel Tower, a national treasure of France.

After the roaring letter was burned, Bagno immediately received the director's resignation letter.

Barty Crouch was the designated next director, scheduled to take office next year. Now it seems he'll have to start earlier than planned.

But that's not the point!

Lucius Malfoy's body hadn't even been buried yet, and the British Ministry of Magic hadn't even demanded an explanation from the French Ministry of Magic, but Van Wee Capet was already making false accusations?

As for the Eiffel Tower being frozen?

Bagno just wanted to say, "Is this even possible?"

She dared to say that British wizards were absolutely delighted with this matter.

If Moriarty really did this, the people will regard him as a hero!

However, there is a problem.

Bagno frowned. She knew von Wee Capet well; he was tough, shrewd, and never did anything without a plan.

So did Moriarty actually freeze the Eiffel Tower?

To this day, Bagno has not reached a conclusion, so she has asked her assistants and consultants to investigate the turmoil that has occurred in France over the past month.

"Knock knock knock." The office door rang, and two assistants and five consultants walked in, each carrying a large stack of documents, with several thick books floating behind them.

Bagno asked incredulously, "So many accidents have happened in France in just one month?"

"Believe me, there are far more accidents than these." The assistant was sweating profusely.

Bagno took a deep breath; it looked like he'd have to work overtime again today.

Just then, another assistant rushed into the office, panting, waving a newspaper: "The latest issue of the Paris Times! On the front page, von Wee Capet, representing the Ministry of Magic, officially announced that the Eiffel Tower's anomalies are not a natural phenomenon, but rather the result of dark magic by a British wizard!"

Bagno took the newspaper, glanced at it quickly, and slammed it onto his desk with a "thud".

"Does Feng Wei want war? Look at how he describes us and the Ministry of Magic in his words!" Bagno was trembling with anger, his head throbbing with a migraine.

That's what she said, but she had no desire to go to war with the French wizards.

Please, Merlin, spare her. Don't let fate torment her any longer.

Her political career is nearing its end; she will be leaving office in about six months, and she only wants to make the most of the rest of her term in office.

It seems that this wish cannot be fulfilled at present.

"Minister! Minister—"

An employee from the Ministry of Magic's Public Press Office ran over, breathless, but still waving a pale yellow newspaper in his hand.

Bagno sat dejectedly in her chair; needless to say, she knew it was going to be another troublesome matter.

However, the wizard happily placed the newspaper on his desk and said, "Look, my minister, look! Mr. Lockhart held a book launch in Paris, how amazing he is!"

Bagno didn't react for a moment. So what if Lockhart?

Wait, Paris, France?

She suddenly lunged at the newspaper and read it aloud.

"Les Deutschland front page news—Gidero Lockhart arrives in Paris, France with his new book, Dancing with Vampires at the Eiffel Tower!"

In the second edition, Mr. Lockhart claimed that wizards could find the answers to all their questions in his new book.

We might find clues from this that led to the Eiffel Tower being turned into an ice sculpture.

The third edition of "Dancing with Vampires at the Eiffel Tower" is now on sale. As Mr. Lockhart's sole authorized distributor in France, this newspaper enjoys priority discounts.

The new novel, originally priced at 7 Galleons, is now only 4 Galleons and 16 Sickles!

The fourth edition, featuring an exclusive interview with Mr. Lockhart, will be held at noon today on Rue de la Rose in York, France.

In the fifth edition, a large number of fans flocked to Paris and complained that Mr. Lockhart had not informed them in advance.

This tabloid, spanning several pages, was entirely about Lockhart. Bagno read it twice, word for word, taking several deep breaths to keep his tone calm.

"According to this newspaper, Gilderoy Lockhart got into a fight with a vampire over a woman, and their magical battle caused the strange phenomena at the Eiffel Tower?"

"Hmm... Les Desires is just an obscure tabloid in the French magical world. Because its editor-in-chief is a half-blood wizard, it was once suppressed by Les Le Parisien."

The employee carefully chose his words and explained them so that his manager could quickly understand the whole story.

"I think Mr. Lockhart must have specifically sought out Les Des Ponts in order to compete with Les Les Parises."

Finally, he added his own thoughts.

Bagno remained unmoved; as Minister of Magic, she had a certain understanding of Lockhart's background.

Lockhart is a master at marketing, but was he really the one who cast the spell to freeze the Eiffel Tower?

"Buy his new book immediately."

"Okay, Minister, I'll be right there! But you might have to wait a while, since the sales location is in Paris! We suggest you have breakfast first."

At the same time, The Daily Prophet reported on Lockhart's new book and the war of words between the two French newspapers.

The young wizards at Hogwarts finished reading the Daily Prophet at the dinner table, their hearts filled with respect for Lockhart.

"Sir," Marcus said in a voice only he and Moriarty could hear, "you sent Lockhart to France for this very reason, didn't you?"

Moriarty put down his newspaper, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

"It's time for Lockhart to take this a step further."

He closed his eyes and tapped his index finger lightly on the table.

Sending Lockhart to France to finish off the Hogwarts pure-blood army was a plan he had made before deciding to go to Paris.

However, because Hogwarts was under Dracula's control, he had to send Lockhart out ahead of schedule.

This is too suspicious.

Every wizard in Hogwarts knew that Moriarty had led 35 pure-bloods to France.

Lockhart, however, came forward and claimed that he was responsible for the series of events that occurred in France, and even wrote a novel to prove his innocence.

It's practically an admission of guilt!

Dumbledore must be starting to suspect the relationship between Moriarty and Lockhart.

But that's alright, Moriarty has plenty of ways to dispel Dumbledore's suspicions, or rather, to make Dumbledore reduce his suspicions to a minimum.

Dumbledore's suspicion alone cannot affect Lockhart's reputation—with the promotion of the new book, Lockhart will soon gain a large following, and this time, even the pure-blood families may owe him a favor!

Lockhart's status in the British magical world can now rise even higher...

He stood up for the pure-blooded British, exterminated the Quinlan vampires, and froze the Eiffel Tower.

Any one of these three things would be enough to make British wizards cheer, but what will happen when all three happen to Lockhart?

Moriarty had no idea what would happen, because he hadn't told Lockhart how to handle things. Now that they were in a foreign country, everything was up to Lockhart to figure out.

Clearly, Lockhart chose what he did best: writing.

He picked up a shorthand quill and wrote down his half-true, half-false story. At the press conference at noon, will Lockhart be able to perform perfectly and resolve the friction between France and Britain?

To ensure Lockhart's success, Moriarty invoked the system.

"System, list the spells I can exchange to enhance others' strength!"

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(End of this chapter)