The start of the school year is fast approaching.
After a month-long barrage of news about the new Wizengamot Britain Representative, a more heavyweight replacement has finally emerged.
His name was once renowned throughout Europe.
He was charming, talented, and the dream lover of countless witches.
But all of that is in the past.
He is now a heinous criminal who attempted to open Chamber of Secrets to plan a campus massacre.
On the morning of August 29th,
The dimly lit Courtroom Ten was filled with prominent figures from the British Wizarding World.
Rita was there, of course; she was among the first to arrive.
The most eye-catching person in the room was Lockhart, who was sitting in front of the judge's bench.
More than half a year has passed, and his condition is very bad.
His hair was messy, dry, and dull, and there was a large bald patch on the back of his head.
His expression was terrified, as if he had been subjected to severe interrogation.
The witness stand included more than a dozen wizards who had been cursed with the Memory Charm by him, as well as several Hogwarts teachers and students.
Sitting at the front was Dumbledore, followed by Vincent and Sprout, then Snape, the staff representative, and Harry, the student representative.
In addition to the Wizengamot members, the jury also included representatives from the International Confederation of Wizards.
The expanded gallery was packed with people.
A small number were die-hard fans who still believed Lockhart was innocent, but the majority were renowned wizards invited by the Ministry of Magic.
For example, Damocles Belby, who invented the Wolfsbane Potion during the First Wizarding War and was awarded the Order of Merlin.
Another example is the Scamander Family, which made significant contributions to the British Wizarding World.
Lucius sat with his wife and children in a seat near the center.
Next to them were the Flint family and several others, Madam Zabini also arrived with her son, Blaise Zabini.
Greengrass and Rosier Family sat in the row in front of them, Weasley, Longbottom, Abbott, Macmillan, and others sat in the row behind them.
As for Carrow, Travers, Avery, and others, they were almost all sitting in the last row.
Of course, not all of the Sacred Twenty-Eight were present.
Gaunt, Rowle, Black, Lestrange were not present, nor was Horace Slughorn Slughorn, who revealed the truth about the Horcrux.
Seeing that it was almost time, Fudge, dressed in a black robe, stood up from the judge's bench.
His expression was extremely serious. "Please keep quiet, everyone. This is the trial time of the Supreme Wizarding Court in Britain."
Lockhart looked up at the judge's bench.
The presiding judge was Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, and the deputy judge was Amelia Bones Bones. Even the judges were high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Magic.
Such a lineup has not appeared for more than a decade, and it is destined to leave a strong mark on history.
Lockhart was in a daze, and all he could do was nod repeatedly in response to Fudge's questions.
His eyes were lifeless, as if he already knew the ending.
Faced with the stern questions from the victims who had personally cast the Memory Charm, he simply nodded in silence.
It was as if they had completely lost hope, like a walking corpse.
"Mr. Lockhart, do you admit to appropriating the victims' stories and profiting from them by publishing a series of books?"
"I admit it." The answer was devoid of any emotion.
The fans in the gallery instantly erupted in excitement.
Some shouted that it was a conspiracy, while others cursed Lockhart as if their faces were changing.
The guards quickly drove them away before they could fight.
An eerie calm returned to the Courtroom Ten.
Fudge looked to the other side of the witness stand.
"Mr. Albus Dumbledore, what was your purpose in hiring Mr. Lockhart to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore stood up, surveyed the room, and then smiled slightly.
"Your Honor, I had the pleasure of meeting an old friend by chance—Mr. Colbert, the witness sitting next to me."
Through our conversation, I discovered he showed signs of being affected by Memory Charm, and then I found the caster at the Order of Order of Merlin's investiture ceremony last year.
Fudge looked at Lockhart with a cold gaze. "Mr. Dumbledore, was it because of the other party's reputation at the time that you didn't report the news to the Ministry of Magic?"
Dumbledore maintained his smile. "Yes, Your Honor."
One person gave a reason, and the other cooperated tacitly.
Next up is Sprout.
According to her description, Lockhart was "incoherent" at the time, and in a panic, she knocked him unconscious and left.
"Mr. Wayne, please describe what you saw."
Vincent stood ramrod straight and recounted the events naturally:
Mr. Lockhart returned upstairs with his luggage, as if he didn't want to be recognized.
He was hiding in the Trophy Room; he looked very scared when I saw him...
Lockhart then bumped into a trophy and passed out, Vincent had to take him to the safe Great Hall.
"I admit I was a bit rough, but when I found that Mr. Lockhart's legs were bleeding from being rubbed against the floor, I stopped dragging his legs."
As for how he got such a big bald patch...
A certain little witch who went from being a fan to a hater is terrifying; if I told her, I'd get beaten up and sent to the hospital.
Fudge twitched his lips.
In such a serious setting, to actually...
Judge Umbridge seemed to have something to say.
He's just a kid, so I won't hold it against him this time.
As Vincent sat down, he winked at Dumbledore, who was looking back at him.
I've cooperated with everything that was supposed to be cooperated with; I was just venting a little bit of my dissatisfaction.
Fudge composed himself and asked Harry:
"Mr. Potter, you are the student who has been taken hostage. Please tell us how you feel."
Harry stood up nervously. "He was like a completely different person then. He grabbed my throat tightly, and I thought he was terrifying."
Fudge nodded slightly, gesturing for him to sit down.
"Mr. Snape, you once had a wizarding duel with Mr. Lockhart and Mr. Wayne. Do you acknowledge that the three of you fought to a draw?"
Snape stood up, staring intently at the back of Vincent's head.
It doesn't matter if I lower my own level; the key is that I improved this little rascal's level.
His lips trembled. "Yes, it's a draw."
"So what do you think of Mr. Lockhart's magical abilities?"
One Stunning Spell knocks two people away, sounds pretty good.
Snape's lips twitched slightly again. "He ambushed me and Wayne. It's hard for me to make a judgment."
"You two fought to a draw, is that right?"
His face was grim. "Yes."
Fudge gestured for him to sit down, then looked at the jury.
The entire trial was just for show.
Even if the diary is restored and the soul of 16-year-old Tom Riddle is resurrected, Lockhart cannot escape the fate of becoming a scapegoat.
"I now declare, in my capacity as the presiding judge—" Fudge looked at Lockhart again with a cold expression.
"Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart is found guilty on all counts, and because the impact of several things was too egregious, he will spend the rest of his life in Azkaban."