Somehow, Harry, Ron, and Hermione also arrived. Hermione still wore the huge mask and knitted hat, but her eyes had reverted to brown.
This meant that she had become more proficient in her light morphing - or, of course, it could be the effect of Madam Pomfrey's potion.
Ron pulled Harry and Hermione as they hid behind a pillar. He leered, " Cornelius Fudge, Lucius Malfoy, and Rita Skeeter! What a day, three nasties all at once!"
Harry asked, "Who's Cornelius Fudge?"
"He's the Minister of Magic and my dad's boss. But he's a big shot, so he looks down on my father's line of work, you know, dealing with muggle stuff and such, and my father has been underappreciated ..." Ron muttered.
Hermione's eyes were fixed on the woman, Rita Skeeter, and she carefully sized her up in the back.
"That woman is Rita Skeeter? She looks like she has rather bad taste." Hermione spat at her outfit.
"I agree with you, if you ask me, even Lockhart is superior to her in that regard, it's not like she doesn't have any money ... Oh, Merlin!!" Ron suddenly wailed.
"What's wrong?"
"There, look over there," Ron pointed in the other direction, "here comes Lockhart as well, the four nasties are gathered together!"
Sure enough, Harry found Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in a magnificent robe, with a charming smile on his face, passing the young wizard to meet Fudge and Lucius.
"He's like a peacock with an open dress." Ron's expression wore a very resistant one - as he is going to report to Lockhart's office tonight.
Lockhart gave a graceful salute with a very wide smile, "Minister Fudge, Mr. Malfoy, it's an honour to meet you."
Fudge froze for a moment, then extended his hands with a big smile, "Hello Mr. Lockhart, I have read your entire book, and I must admit, it's a big harvest ..."
Lockhart said modestly, "I just did what I had to do, Minister, I can't always turn a blind eye to the pitiful people who get into trouble."
Fudge had an expression of sentiment: "There are not many adventurers like you who have a sense of responsibility."
Lockhart wanted to say something else, but Dumbledore stepped forward and said with a smile, "Fudge, let's take a look at the Basilisk first." He waved his wand and made the invisible protective barrier around the Basilisk disappear.
"Oh, Dumbledore, ah, yes, that's right." Fudge's fingers squeezed the bowler hat in his hand as he turned to the tall, dark-skinned man next to him and gave the order, "Kingsley, you go check it out."
The man named Kingsley took a few steps over the barrier and walked over to the Basilisk, wearing a pair of gargoyle gloves as he carefully examined the remains of the Basilisk.
Felix didn't step forward when he saw a familiar figure, the Ravenclaw witch named Luna.
He paced over and stood next to her, "Luna."
"I love the gift you sent me, Professor Hap." Her eyes fixed dead on Rita Skeeter's jewelled glasses, and she said in a singing voice, "I don't think she has a good recollection."
"Why do you say that?"
"She forgets something important at home, she is regretting that," Luna said.
Felix looked at Rita Skeeter, who kept directing her assistant to take pictures, and he dismissed it.
"Did you became friend with that little girl with the flaming hair?"
Luna gave him a surprised look, "We're already friends." She said thoughtfully, "I think the rooster doll I gave her played a small part."
"Yeah, I guess it did." Felix smacked his lips.
Not long after, Kingsley reported to Fudge, "Minister, it's confirmed that it's a Basilisk, and there's no more danger."
"Very good, Kingsley." Fudge prepared to get a closer look at the Basilisk, and before he could take a second step, he stopped by Rita Skeeter's voice.
"Minister Fudge, I think we should take a picture together for tomorrow's front page," Skeeter said with a heaping smile.
"Oh, sure, no problem."
Several Adults in the room stood in a row as Rita Skeeter rushed over and yanked Lockhart, who had seized the center spot, aside, "That's your spot!"
Lockhart reluctantly stood at the edge.
"Professor Flitwick?"
Flitwick waved his hand and stepped back.
"Click!" A shutter sounded, and the picture frozen.
Fudge, Dumbledore, Malfoy, Professor McGonagall, and Kingsley stood together, with the giant Basilisk in the background.
Having completed the day's task, the few stood next to the Basilisk, Fudge took a few steps forward, holding his belly, and looked closely at the Basilisk, "This is the thing that has been at Hogwarts for thousands of years, how does it hide from being discovered?"
Professor McGonagall explained, "Through the pipes all over Hogwarts - the school has experienced several transformations, the interior is densely packed with pipes, not many people can get the full picture, and never thoroughly checked out."
Fudge did not speak, and Lucius on the side whispered in the discussion.
Lockhart also came over, he surveyed the Basilisk, "looks like it's not that hard to deal with, I once encountered a water monster, it can cover half of the lake." He tapped the Basilisk's fangs with his wand and was about to make a playful remark, but his wand immediately made a "zipping" sound, "Oh, my!" He waved his wand frantically.
The young wizards who were watching had the foresight to quickly retreat a dozen meters or so as if fleeing the famine.
But the Minister of Magic, who was looking down at the head of the Basilisk, suffered when a drop of something mixed with saliva and venom flung across his face, causing him to let out a terrifying scream.
Lucius Malfoy quickly put up a magical barrier and watched the drama with cold eyes. He maintained his magic and stepped back, but just two steps back, he got blocked by a ring of golden light.
Felix raised his wand at some point, "Little wizards, back off."
Several professors were doing the same, and the protective magic of Flitwick, McGonagall, and Dumbledore mirrored the center of the yard in colourful splendour.
Hagrid stretched out his big futon-like hands, lifting the fallen young wizards up in one hand and pushing them far away.
But Lucius, like Fudge and Lockhart, standing closer, so he's separated by layer after layer of magic, and a drop of saliva mixed with venom is thrown on his protective spell with a "zippy" sound.
He shouted with a pale face: "Stop, you fool!"
Lockhart flung his wand a few more times before he realized what he had done, and stood in front of Fudge in a panic, trying to do something, "Oh, Minister Fudge, I'm sorry!"
But Fudge's screams grew louder and louder, and his face became pitch black, and the range expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The scene is like a mess.
"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted, he dispelled the magic in front of him, a few steps forward, with a wand against Fudge's face, from the tip of the wand spread layer after layer of golden light, the expansion of the black trail stopped.
Dumbledore took a closer look, "further treatment is needed, Fudge, I'm going to send you to the school clinic."
"No, send me to St. Mungo's! My face is ruined! Gilderoy Lockhart!, I'm going to put you in Azkaban#$%&...#&...#" Fudge spewed a string of profanities out of his mouth.
"Oh, God." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and glared at the frenzied Fudge, resisting the urge to bestow a Stupefy on him. Finally, the Transfiguration professor yelled at the young wizards around her, "You, all little wizards! Get out of here and go to your classes!"
The little wizards scattered like flies.
Rita Skeeter excitedly grabbed the camera and kept pressing the shutter like crazy, her mouth open wide and her two huge gold teeth glistening in the sunlight.
"Look at that woman, I can see her back teeth!" Ron, who was hiding by a pillar in the yard, pointed at Rita Skeeter and said, "She's got the big news today!"
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