Late at night, deep in the Forbidden Forest.
The sky was as pure as a black velvet cloth, and above, a crescent moon glowed. The chirping of animals and the rustling of leaves in the wind complemented each other, as if they were playing a nocturne.
Suddenly, a sparkling circle appeared.
"Don't worry about it, Coffy, and leave quickly."
With a shout, a blond man wearing a tattered gray wizard robe quickly ran out of the circle, and behind him, a house-elf jumped out directly. Lockhart looked through the portal at the large number of replicas of the Hufflepuff Gold Cup pouring out, as well as the wildly burning fire, with a trace of fear in his eyes.
The moment Coffy escaped, Lockhart quickly waved his hand to close the portal. He let out a deep breath and looked at the tattered Coffy with burned clothes in front of him. There was also the burnt smell coming from his body, and the large number of holes in his clothes, brought a bitter smile to Lockhart's face.
Voldemort is indeed the strongest Dark Lord in the wizarding world. He had underestimated him, or perhaps he had been too smooth recently and had become a little overconfident. Voldemort's magic trap taught him a lesson. The trap that he originally thought could be easily cracked may have touched some points that he didn't know about during the cracking process, causing all the traps to explode, leaving Lockhart in a panic.
Fortunately, his teleportation magic still worked; otherwise, in such a closed environment of the vault, he would have been wiped out long ago. Despite this, Bellatrix's treasury would probably have to be destroyed, and even the dragon outside might be burned to death. If this fierce fire was not stopped in time, Gringotts would suffer significantly this time. That place is the treasury of the entire wizarding world.
But Lockhart looked at the golden cup in his hand, a hint of joy rising on his face. Although the process was somewhat tortuous, his goal was finally achieved. However, when thinking about the sudden trap just now, Lockhart was thoughtful. Waving his magic wand, a small blue cabinet appeared in front of him. Lockhart then placed the Hufflepuff Cup inside.
Click!
The cabinet door closed, and dense dark blue magic lines flashed on the cabinet, completely locking all the magic aura, power, and fluctuations of the Hufflepuff Cup.
Snort!
Looking at the cabinet in front of him that had multiple seals placed on it, Lockhart snorted. When the trap broke out, there was no time to think too much, and he ran away quickly. But now that he thought about it carefully, he realized that there was no sign of intelligence from Voldemort's Horcrux here.
When he thought of this, he felt that the Hufflepuff Gold Cup he had just received was a bit tricky. This soul fragment might be restless. Well, not as good as Young Voldemort in the Notebook. He was also planning to find himself a No. 2 worker.
With his thoughts turning, Lockhart looked at the dim Forbidden Forest and heard the roars of a large number of birds and animals in the distance, as well as the rustle brought by the breeze. Especially the ragged appearance of himself and Coffy. Lockhart gently moved the Sling Ring and opened a portal again, taking one step to return to his home. Coffy in the back jumped directly into the portal.
At noon the next day, Hogwarts cafeteria.
Lockhart sat in the professor's chair, tapping his fork against his plate. A dish of pepper steak appeared on the plate, with some broccoli, cherry tomatoes, etc. scattered around. Lockhart smelled the aroma and nodded with satisfaction. It seems that the recipe he gave to Hogwarts house-elves was not in vain. This level is higher than before. While thinking about it, he picked up the knife and fork, cut a small piece, put it in his mouth, and slowly tasted the tenderness of the beef. Well, it tastes pretty good.
"Lockhart, your steak is well cooked. Is it cooked by the house-elves?" Professor Flitwick asked next to him.
"Yes, Professor." Lockhart nodded slightly and continued, "I gave them a recipe, and they studied it for a few days and then they figured out how to make it." Having said this, Lockhart also gave a small thumbs-up to the elves' learning ability. Although they are not at the level of a genius, they are at least better than the average person. In other words, their character of being proud of labor and ashamed of laziness allows them to focus more on doing things and improves their learning ability. Whether it's a wizard, a Muggle, or any other living being, as long as one focuses, one can achieve results more easily than ordinary people.
Upon hearing Lockhart's reply, Professor Flitwick's eyes lit up. Thoughts continued in his mind, and the corners of his mouth curled up, as if he had received a lot of inspiration. Afterwards, the two started chatting while eating.
"Lockhart, the students have spoken highly of your courses recently." Professor Flitwick praised.
"It's not much," Lockhart was very modest, and then added a little, "It's all the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who left the foundation."
"Haha." Professor Flitwick understood what Lockhart meant and laughed. Lockhart also had a faint smile on his face.
Suddenly!
"Professor Lockhart, did you hear what happened at Gringotts last night?" Professor Flitwick asked. Lockhart's smile faltered when he heard the question, but he asked with a curious look on his face, "Professor Flitwick, have you heard anything?"
"I read in the Daily Prophet that it was just a fire."
"Fire." A sarcastic smile appeared on Professor Flitwick's face. "What kind of fire would require the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic to be dispatched?"
Then, he revealed the secret in a low voice, "Lockhart, I heard from my friends that it was a fierce fire. You don't need to think about it. Yesterday, another dark wizard definitely sneaked into Gringotts. The goblins probably found traces, and the dark wizard then set off a powerful fire spell to attract attention and escaped."
"Tsk tsk tsk"
After hearing Professor Flitwick's guess, Lockhart felt a little weird in his heart, but he said with admiration, "Professor, you have a keen eye. It is completely logical. It is probably true. If the Daily Prophet does not ask you to be its editor-in-chief, it is simply their loss."
"Haha, no, I just have a lot of friends and a lot of information." Professor Flitwick said with a smile on his face. Lockhart stood and nodded. As a multiple-time dueling champion, Flitwick became friends with many people, and as a Hogwarts professor, he kept in touch with each of them through letters.
Suddenly, Lockhart's heart moved, and he asked Flitwick as if chatting, "Professor Flitwick, I have communicated with Professor Slughorn about something recently, but I have not received a reply. Do you have any news about him?"
Hearing Lockhart's question, Professor Flitwick frowned slightly and sighed softly, "Slughorn, there was news about him at the beginning of the year. As a result, until now, for some reason, there is no news. I sent him a letter before, but I didn't get a reply."
When Lockhart heard this, he kept thinking in his mind. At the beginning of the year, if he guessed correctly, it should be the last semester. The only big thing that happened last semester was that Voldemort possessed Quirrell to steal the Philosopher's Stone. When he thought of this, all of Lockhart's confusion was cleared up.
In the original plot, Professor Slughorn kept avoiding Voldemort because of the Horcrux. And with the news that Voldemort had reappeared, running away was naturally the best choice. No wonder he sold the Liquid Luck Potion because he wanted to 'take the money and run away'.
=========================
[Up to 50+ Chapter available and 10 chapter Weakly Update at p@treon.com/goldengaruda]
=========================