There was a precedent in Hogwarts' history of hiring professors from Azkaban, but this was the first time the Ministry of Magic had taken Lockhart without even signing a contract on the first day of class.
Lockhart was taken away by the Ministry of Magic official with a shocked look on his face, he opened his mouth several times to say something, but in the end he couldn't say anything: he couldn't say that it wasn't him who had driven the car, and that he had manipulated the memories of the two young wizards, could he?
After taking Lockhart away, Professor McGonagall looked at Harry and Ron, "Sit down." Professor McGonagall pointed to the chairs around the room and motioned for them to sit down first; even Snape's office had several chairs set up.
"Tell us what happened" Professor McGonagall's glasses glittered with uncertainty, while Dumbledore and Snape remained speechless, Dumbledore's expression unusually serious, Snape's still indifferent, but with a vague sense of gloating.
"It's the wall at King's Cross, it's..."
"Professor McGonagall, there was no other way, we couldn't get on the train."
The two hurried to explain to Professor McGonagall.
"Then why not send a letter? Potter, you have an owl, don't you? even if you do nothing and wait for the Weasleys to come back?" said Professor McGonagall coolly.
Ron and Harry were instantly struck dumb. In fact, the two options Professor McGonagall had given them were much better than going by car.
"It is outrageous that you follow Lockhart so blindly, with no ability to think for yourselves." Professor McGonagall said.
Harry froze, and the look on Dumbledore's face beside him made him feel uneasy. He would have preferred if Dumbledore had shouted angrily at them, or even slapped him. Those actions would have been far more bearable than silence.
"Tell us how it happened." Dumbledore looked at him and Ron for a moment, his expression growing more and more serious, and finally spoke after a while of silence.
Harry told Dumbledore everything he remembered.
When he finished, he slumped down on the stool. Ron was desperate, he was ready to pack up and go home.
"Are we going to be expelled?"
"Not today. But next time something like this happens, not necessarily. Professor Lockhart is largely responsible, he has failed in his duty as an adult wizard, but you must also realize your mistakes." Dumbledore rubbed his eyes and decided Harry and Ron's fate with a stern warning, a parental notification, no demerit points and no confinement.
Snape now looked like he had been called in by his boss for unpaid overtime during the vacations.
"Professor Dumbledore! Not only are you ignoring the law, you are breaking..."
Dumbledore shook his head, "They are not the ones to blame, a false example can sometimes lead to blind obedience, and many times adult wizards, myself included, make those mistakes" He looked at Harry, "Flawed people can also be your teachers, but you can still learn a lot from them, like what not to do and what not to be."
With those words, he walked out of Snape's office.
He warmly invited Snape to join him for dessert, Snape gave a very reluctant look and despite his reluctance was dragged out of the office by Dumbledore.
Once Snape and Dumbledore had left, Professor McGonagall's expression was less stern as she chatted with Harry about the day's sorting and offered them a plate of sandwiches and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. Once the two were settled, Professor McGonagall left.
Of course, thanks to the cooperation of several people, Gryffindor didn't lose a few points at the opening ceremony.
...
This year's ceremony was strange, with interruptions and distractions.
Before the ceremony began, the whole school was talking about "flying cars," especially when the young wizards discovered that Harry and Ron were not actually at the Gryffindor table, and it was almost confirmed that the two had flown into the school in a car.
The staff table also seemed a bit sparse at the beginning of the opening banquet - Snape, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Filch were absent, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore were a bit distracted, and later, the two simply left.
It's not like they were a fairy clan trying to get a potential disciple, and the British magical world doesn't have wizards with "ancient bodies" and "special pupils" that would be stolen by the deans of the four houses. But when Peggy was assigned to Ravenclaw, the young Ravenclaw wizards cheered: the more pretty girls, the better.
Peggy's sorting process was as tedious as her choice of wand. The Sorting Hat thought for five minutes before assigning her to Ravenclaw.
The next day, everyone was shocked to learn that Professor Lockhart had been taken by the Ministry of Magic. And the news made the front page of the Daily Prophet.
The news was so shocking that Professor Lockhart was at the center of controversy, not only within the school, but also outside of it. Harry and Ron, those involved, were inevitably questioned again and again by curious young wizards. Ron was a bit shy at first, stumbling over his story.
But after one morning, the adventures of he, Harry and Professor Lockhart were booming. If it hadn't been for Mrs. Weasley's roaring lunchtime letter, Ron might have made a good storyteller or writer in the future.
For the next few days, news of Professor Lockhart made the front page every day, in a way he hadn't expected.
The Ministry of Magic handled the matter with the utmost speed: the trial was held on Friday for a crime committed on Wednesday, without any delay.
It did not actually send Lockhart to prison-after all, he was a professor at Hogwarts and a best-selling author-but only fined him three thousand gold galleons for the offense, though by the time the money reached the first line of memory drafts, only one hundred galleons remained.
It was worth 3,000 galleons for 3 days of headlines, and only Lockhart knew if it was worth it - Arthur had also made headlines when he won the Daily Prophet's Golden Galleon Award for a trip to Egypt.
In any case, Lockhart lost a single room in Azkaban, which the British Ministry of Magic would have paid for. Tom was a little chagrined to hear this; after all, he was a nice guy who just wanted to find his professor a steady job with food and no work, so he could go in and concentrate on writing.
But he failed.