Chapter 1269 Transformation (Part 2)

Lockhart seemed to be glowing.

This was how Hermione felt, and she suddenly understood Elena's description.

Even though his face and clothes haven't changed at all, people can't take their eyes away.

When Elena pulled her forward, she suddenly felt that her steps became uncoordinated.

"Welcome back, Mr. Hanged Man." Elena nodded slightly.

"Good morning, Miss Fool," Lockhart said gracefully.

The two looked at each other for a while, and then they burst into smiles at the same time. Elena said, "So - let's go to the office to talk?"

"Um - of course..."

The three of them passed through the stone statue guards unimpeded and followed the spiraling upward escalator to the oak door of the principal's office.

With a sweet bird chirping, the door to the principal's office opened automatically, and Elena walked in as if there was no one around.

"Well, you guys wait outside for a moment... I need to tidy up the office."

Elena pointed to the row of portraits of the principal on the wall who looked over after hearing the sound, and explained with a smile.

You know, the portrait of the principal in the Hogwarts principal's office only unconditionally obeys the official principal's decision...

As the countdown to Professor McGonagall's "Acting Headmaster" process began, she would not allow those "impertinent" portraits to eavesdrop on the conversations of the Great Arcaro.

"Ah, it's getting late... Let's all take a nap-"

"You rude little girl!"

"Oh. Then bite me."

Hermione and Lockhart stood a little back, side by side, pretending not to hear the quarrel.

While Elena was cleaning up her office, Hermione raised her head and quietly looked at Lockhart next to her.

She noticed that a ring had been put on Lockhart's left middle finger at some point.

Not the exaggerated and vulgar gemstone ring like Umbridge's nouveau riche kind, but a very delicate and simple men's diamond ring...

"It's time for me to get married, right?" Lockhart said.

She looked up and found Lockhart looking at her.

"Hey," Hermione was a little flustered, "You... you found... I don't know... Congratulations -"

"Arkhipovna, you should remember her - Miss Justice," he said.

"Remember, the person in charge of the Hogwarts Off-Campus Research Institute was recently promoted to A-level research director, responsible for the construction of the magic network and the controllable magic energy project."

Hermione answered without hesitation that as a "reserve justice" she did not relax, and every night she fulfilled the official duties assigned to her by Elena.

"Well, Bona is the smartest and dazzling woman I have ever seen...even if she doesn't have magical abilities, she is still like a god."

Lockhart turned his palm and looked at the ring, and said with a gentle expression, "I got engaged to her some time ago, and we will hold a wedding when this mission is over."

"..."

Hermione was silent for a while, and then spoke after a long time.

"Professor Umbridge took over as your grammar teacher, and now the grammar class has completely changed."

"Oh, this is still the alternative I recommend - the Ministry of Magic official is not good at other things, but he is really good at articulating words."

"So...Professor Lockhart, are you really not going back to Hogwarts to teach in the future?"

"Perhaps in many years—"

Lockhart shrugged, looked around at the green-gray castle walls, a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, and said with a smile.

"Of course, not now... My story at Hogwarts has come to an end for now - you can't update your adventure novels by staying in the castle, can you?"

"Elena said you are going to run for Minister of Magic. Is this a task of the Council of the Major Arcana?"

"No, this is my dream."

Lockhart grinned, showing his shining white teeth.

"When I was at Hogwarts, I boasted a lot—"

"For example, becoming the youngest Minister of Magic, leading the British Quidditch team to win the World Cup, and eradicating the power of the mysterious man."

"Oh, and now that I think about it, it's very funny and childish to eliminate evil in the world, and how non-magical people and magical people can one day..."

"- living in harmony. And selling your own line of shampoo."

Hermione glanced at the surprised Lockhart, shrank back in embarrassment and explained.

"You mentioned this in Wandering with Werewolves, where you also mentioned that you wanted a large bottle of Ogden Aged Fire Whiskey for your birthday."

"That's right. Five points from Gryffindor. You see - there are so many things and ideals I want to do, right?"

Lockhart said with a smile, lowered his head, winked mischievously at Hermione, and raised his finger rather proudly.

"But...the two wishes in my book have all come true for this birthday."

"Whether it's harmonious coexistence or that big bottle of Ogden Aged Fire Whiskey. There are many fans who are familiar with my stories——"

When Lockhart returned from the Armenian forest and saw the Russian shrew holding Ogden's old fire whiskey, he knew that he could not escape in this life.

As Hermione asked, Lockhart seemed to open up a chat box and began to talk about the stories between him and Arkhipovna.

Lockhart couldn't believe he had so many stories about Russian shrews.

Even if some of the content that is not suitable for children is cut out, the content he can talk about is no less than in one of his novels.

Just as Gilderoy Lockhart was telling interesting stories about his and Arkhipovna's vacation in Rome, a slight cough suddenly came from the principal's office not far away.

"Professor Lockhart, maybe you can write a romance novel later."

Elena looked at him with a half-smile, tapping her fingers on the mahogany principal's desk.

"But before that... let's talk about business first. The purpose of your coming to Hogwarts today is not to spread dog food."

"Okay, now you can come in. There are no extra ears or eyes in the office now."

Elena sat on the desk and waved to Lockhart and Hermione.

Lockhart shrugged helplessly at Hermione and strode into the office.

Hermione followed closely behind, looking around curiously.

I don’t know what Elena did, but the walls of the room were empty.

The portraits of previous principals that were originally hanging around have now been put away.

"Okay, Reserve Miss Justice - I hope you can serve as temporary secretary for the time being."

Elena's expression straightened, she nodded slightly towards Hermione, and then looked at Lockhart.

"Well...you should have known about the follow-up plan in advance, right?"

"Well, impeaching the Minister for Magic and running a campaign, right?"

Gilderoy Lockhart put away his smile, glanced at Elena with a hint of complaint, and picked up the black tea next to him and took a sip.

"In fact, that's about all I know. No one told me the specific plan. I just received the news suddenly that the vacation ended early..."

"Yes, I think a honeymoon of nearly two months is very long." Elena said indifferently, "As for extending the vacation, you can find Dumbledore."

"If Dumbledore wants to hide deliberately, no one in the world can find him," Lockhart said, putting down his tea cup, and asked curiously, "What's going on now? Are we going to take over the Ministry of Magic? Will we continue to infiltrate? To start a confrontation? I thought we were pulling the strings and waiting for an opportunity to form a new government?"

"It is inevitable that the Ministry of Magic will be demolished and rebuilt." Elena said decisively, "But the two will be carried out at the same time. I don't want to have a centralized opposition group."

"Do you really insist that we can replace the existing magical government?"

Lockhart frowned, stared at Elena sharply, and gently rubbed his fingers on the edge of the teacup.

"Only based on the discussion of a few of us, we can re-formulate a set of rules and use them as a new administrative system in the new era in the future?"

"That's actually not a new rule," Elena said with a relaxed expression. "There are dozens or hundreds of countries in this world that have tried it."

"The government of the non-magical world. The magical world shouldn't have it yet, right?"

Lockhart said softly, took out a small notebook from his arms, and looked at Elena seriously.

Unlike his cowardice a few months ago, after the Werewolf Night ended, he finally realized what a member of the Major Arcana was.

"So what are my campaign ideas and main points of attack? My words and deeds must be consistent with the direction of governance. I will never tell them directly that I intend to promote the integration of the magical world and the non-magical world. Well, the main direction of attack is the magical world now blood discrimination. Then, he spoke at the International Federation of Wizards: The British wizarding community has withdrawn from the "Statutory of Secrecy". A new era of human civilization has arrived. The original old rules no longer apply to the wizarding community. There are powerful wizards who are dissatisfied. You can just draw your wand and arrest me..."

The magic book belonging to Lockhart floated up, and the pages were opened as if to record something, but the expression on Lockhart's face became serious.

"Of course," he put his right hand on the flipped magic book and glanced at Elena sitting on the table, "Miss Fool's plan won't be that stupid, right?"

"Actually..." Elena replied sweetly, "Miss Fool's plan is just so stupid."

Lockhart glared at Elena, and Hermione was also stunned. The phoenix Fox on the bird stand not far away let out a sweet chirp, spread its wings and flapped.

"You want me to follow Grindelwald's example and use breaking the secrecy law as a point of governance?!"

Lockhart looked at Elena in disbelief. He was just talking casually.

"That's right." Elena said, "It can be understood this way. The target of your attack is the old magical world. Just like Grindelwald."

"But compared to him, the purpose and direction of your attack will be purer this time. We are going to raise a flag, and you will be the first wizard to raise it."

"The Ministry of Magic and the International Federation of Wizards will definitely persecute you crazily. For example, they will imprison you in Azkaban and torture you continuously with the Cruciatus Curse - or execute you secretly."

"Oh, just relax." Elena said seriously, "Of course there is no risk to your life."

As Elena mentioned Azkaban and torture, Gilderoy Lockhart turned pale and almost lost his grip on the magic book in his hand.

"When the magical government loses trust and darkness gradually falls, there must be a fire of hope..."

"And you, Lockhart, Mr. Hanged Man—you are the fire."

"From now on, you are the third generation Dark Lord."

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Great!