Dumbledore's voice was filled with "heartbroken" lamentation. "Did you all hear that? This is the children's instinctive vigilance, and it forms a chilling echo with Mr. Lockwood's painful accusations. Perhaps this explains why Professor Lockhart displayed such 'heroic feats' during the Chamber of Secrets incident..."
"Although the power he displayed was beyond doubt, certain details in his account still felt... unnaturally 'perfect.' Had he perhaps... developed a habit of 'creating' heroic narratives for himself, even concealing truths unknown to others in the process?"
Dumbledore's purpose was obvious:
Reopening old cases: using Lockwood, this "tainted witness," to completely expose Lockhart's true face as a "fraud" and destroy the foundation of his public credibility.
Linking the new case: using the fact that Harry and the others discovered Lockhart's intention to cast a Memory Charm as crucial corroborating evidence that Lockhart's account of the Chamber of Secrets incident might have been false, implying that he might have engaged in some form of "narrative editing" during that incident as well.
Transferring prestige: portraying Harry and the others as brave youths who "defied authority and exposed suspicious behavior by a professor"—especially given that Lockhart had concealed the truth of the "Basilisk incident"—then smoothly redirecting Lockhart's collapsing reputation and "heroic halo" onto Harry, the "true savior who dared to question."
The tide in the courtroom shifted in an instant. The Wizengamot members whispered among themselves. Their gazes toward the three children were full of approval, while their looks at the "evidence" Dumbledore had presented were filled with scrutiny. Lockhart's glittering image had been viciously splashed with a bucket of foul-smelling filth in such an authoritative setting.
However, just as public opinion seemed poised to crush those supporting Lockhart, a voice rose, carrying a deliberately cultivated "rationality":
"Headmaster Dumbledore," said one of the Wizengamot members, a wizard