Lockhart's Arrangement

As night deepened, the storm intensified.

The light was still on in the Hogwarts Headmaster's office, Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, flipping through the latest issue of "Transfiguration Today" by candlelight.

Beside the desk, a copy of the Daily Prophet lay open, its contents legible by candlelight: Arthur Weasley, Director of the Department for the Investigation of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, was fined fifty Galleon for enchanting a Muggle car.

A car that had been enchanted crashed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, prompting a call from Lucius Malfoy, a board member, demanding that Mr. Weasley resign immediately.

"Mr. Weasley has damaged the reputation of the Ministry of Magic," Malfoy told my reporter.

Mr. Weasley declined to comment to our reporter, but his wife told the reporter to leave or she would unleash her family's Ghoul to bite them.

There's no doubt that Arthur Weasley is in trouble; he's being targeted by a group of people.

Of course, Arthur's actions were largely due to his angering the Pure-blood wizard, led by Malfoy.

Frankly, the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office is not highly valued within the Ministry of Magic, so it's highly suspicious that Arthur was able to obtain a search warrant.

Pure-blood wizard hold important positions in the Ministry of Magic, and they cannot allow Ministry of Magic officials to harass them at will.

It's clear that the search warrant was deliberately orchestrated by someone who pushed things behind the scenes.

Arthur's situation is currently very bad. Although he has not been dismissed by the Ministry of Magic for some reason, his suspension is still pending.

Many wizards who were at odds with Arthur hoped that Arthur would be expelled from the Ministry of Magic Weasley order to prevent the passage of the Muggle Protection Act he had drafted. Many Pure-blood wizards felt that they had been offended by this law.

Just now, Dumbledore wrote a letter to Fudge, persuading him to allow Arthur to remain at the Ministry of Magic as Director of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, by agreeing to temporarily delay the passage of the Muggle Protection Act.

In fact, Fudge was also having a headache over this matter.

No wizard wanted to take over the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. The position was poorly paid, not very well-off, and extremely busy, requiring frequent interaction with Muggle. Most importantly, there were only two wizards for the position.

Only an oddball like Arthur would enjoy this kind of job.

What really bothered Dumbledore was something else entirely.

This morning, Dumbledore received a note from Anderson containing something that Dumbledore concerned him.

Harry Potter can hear sounds that ordinary people cannot hear.

This is not a good sign in the Wizarding World.

Moreover, the note ended with the note saying: Something bad might happen.

Something bad?

Dumbledore couldn't determine whether these words were true or false, but they were certainly not good news.

"Hearing sounds that others can't hear, and something bad happening?" Just as Dumbledore was trying to connect the two things, there was a knock at the door.

Dumbledore put down the magazine, stood up in confusion, went over and opened the door, only to find that the person who came in was Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall placed a document on her desk.

"Is there anything else?" Dumbledore sensed that Professor McGonagall seemed to have something to say.

"I don't know if you've been paying attention to Professor Lockhart," Professor McGonagall said with a hint of displeasure. "He's made a mess of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and a lot of students have come to us to complain about it."

Previously, after Lockhart became famous for his writing, the Hogwarts professors thought they might have misjudged him, believing he was contributing to the fight against Dark Magic.

As a result, Lockhart's true nature was revealed after only one month at Hogwarts, and everyone saw through his true colors.

Lockhart is still the same Lockhart who attended Hogwarts more than a decade ago, unchanged. They have never misjudged him at all.

"I know it's hard to find Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, but I really can't condone what Professor Lockhart does," Professor McGonagall cautioned. "He spends almost all his classes reading from books and having students act out scenes from those books. I find it hard to imagine what students can learn from this vain, fame-seeking scoundrel."

"You can learn a lot from a bad teacher," Dumbledore said calmly. "Don't do certain things, don't be that kind of person."

Professor McGonagall fell silent. She felt that Professor Dumbledore's words did make some sense, but it would cost the students a semester of Defense Against the Dark Arts in exchange. Wasn't that a bit too much of a price to pay?

"I imagine you wouldn't want a student like Lockhart among your students either," Dumbledore smile. "Besides, I really can't find a suitable candidate right now. Minerva, you should know that since Quirrell's death, no one has been willing to come to Hogwarts as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor; its reputation is just too terrible."

"Alright, I'll tell everyone what you mean." Professor McGonagall sighed and left the Headmaster's Office. He knew that Dumbledore would always find a way to convince him.

Watching Professor McGonagall's departing figure, Dumbledore fell into a brief silence. Since he rejected Voldemort, no Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor had been able to teach for more than a year.

Many people say this course is cursed.

Actually, this statement isn't wrong. Once or twice could be an accident... but fifty times is no longer an accident.

As for what Lockhart did, Dumbledore actually knew about it a long time ago. After seeing some familiar content in Lockhart's book, he made a point of visiting his old friend. When he noticed the friend's forgetfulness and confusion, he realized that this was a side effect of being subjected to a powerful Memory Charm.

Lockhart is stealing other people's work.

Dumbledore didn't bother to expose Lockhart's deception, and even if he had eventually, it wouldn't have made much difference.

People who have been subjected to a powerful Memory Charm usually find it difficult to return to normal, and breaking the Memory Charm will only make things worse.

Of course, Dumbledore didn't intend to let Lockhart get away with it so easily; he had already figured out a way to expose the other party's deception.

That's right, as long as Lockhart is placed in a normal school life, his deception will gradually be exposed.

Back when Lockhart was studying at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was already the headmaster of the school. He knew this student, who was collectively disliked by the professors and students, all too well.

That's why Dumbledore went to great lengths to invite Lockhart to become the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. It just so happens that it's very difficult to find a professor for this course every year, and Dumbledore believed that the curse of the Defence Against the Dark Arts would also make Lockhart suffer.

As it turns out, this tactic was indeed very effective, and everyone gradually began to see what kind of person Lockhart was.