I have to admit that the Ministry of Magic has acted quite quickly.
After getting the information from Rita Skeeter, Scrimgeour sent Kingsley and three other Aurors to the United States that afternoon, and Cornelius Fudge also simultaneously passed through the communication channel between the ministers of magic of various countries.
A request was sent to the Magical Congress of the United States of America for assistance in handling the case.
No one can perfectly modify history, especially in a world where magic exists, and disproof from the results is a very easy path.
It turns out that Gilderoy Lockhart's experiences in "Wandering with Werewolves" were all "stolen".
Apart from the grumpy temper and slightly shabby appearance of the old American wizard, whether it was his motives, magical power, traces of surrounding life, witness testimony... all the signs perfectly matched the real historical events. After verifying what Rita said,
After reading the content, Cornelius Fudge wrote the manuscript that night, preparing to convene a ministerial meeting the next day to directly issue an arrest order against Lockhart.
In order to prevent Dumbledore from counterattacking, he emphasized the importance of confidentiality countless times.
Even the "whistleblower" Rita Skeeter temporarily stayed in London - the Ministry of Magic booked a room in the Leaky Cauldron and sent Nymphadora Tonks to "protect" her personally.
, in case this journalist lady deliberately leaks the news in order to gain attention.
However, all Fudge's preparations and ideas were ultimately wiped out by the front-page news of the Daily Prophet the next morning.
"...I admit that I was a little vain when I was young."
Gilderoy Lockhart was very calm in front of reporters and did not deliberately avoid his dark side.
"Therefore, as an author and an ordinary person who wants to be a hero, I tried every means to convince Mr. Robert, and while paying him a certain amount of gold galleons as compensation, I shamefully 'became' the real attacker.
The magical hero who retired from werewolves. As "Wandering with Werewolves" became a hit, I began to worry that the lie would be exposed, so I reached an agreement with Mr. Robert and used the 'Forgetting Curse' to permanently transfer the story."
"But after teaching at Hogwarts for a period of time, I deeply realized my despicability."
"Every day during class, I looked at the immature and adoring eyes of the students under the desk. I felt that I was not qualified to impart knowledge as a teacher before I correctly faced these disgraceful histories, so I took the initiative to lift the forgetting curse.
, and accepted this interview.”
Under the text of the Daily Prophet reporter's interview, there is also a still photo of the "Story Licensing Agreement" provided by Lockhart.
This undoubtedly successfully detonated public opinion in the magical world and directly locked the top spot in today's gossip.
In this case, all the "shocking evidence" of the Ministry of Magic became "an afterthought".
Cornelius Fudge didn't want to become a loser in the eyes of the magical public. The Ministry of Magic had to use other evidence to speak first.
Even if from the information they have, Gilderoy Lockhart has the illegal fact of maliciously casting the Forgetting Curse, when the other party gives an explanation in advance, this matter will not surprisingly turn from an ironclad case to a complete one.
It would be too bad to make a joke that doesn't make sense.
"Huh... time, it's just a little bit short..."
Cornelius Fudge took a deep breath, but the situation was okay for now.
At least Dumbledore probably didn't notice the Ministry of Magic's actions, and he also believed that Lockhart would not be able to destroy and wipe out all his incriminating evidence in just a few days. Using Rita Skeeter
With the information provided, the Ministry of Magic can take a preemptive strike.
There may be procedural flaws, but as long as the final result is not controversial, there is no need to be so restrained whether it is an arrest or a speech.
After pondering for a few seconds, Cornelius Fudge stood up and walked straight out of the minister's office.
He planned to directly skip the cumbersome procedures, first use the intelligence provided by Rita Skeeter as evidence, directly convene a meeting of ministers, arrest Gilderoy Lockhart, and there was no need to cancel the original press conference.
All that is needed is flexibility.
As for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
Cornelius Fudge tapped his fingers lightly on his desk and glanced at the "letter for help" from Umbridge.
Senior investigator? This helped him take some of the pressure off.
Now the Ministry of Magic doesn't have the energy to care about "house competition compliance" and "student cadre power imbalance"... these are cumbersome and ordinary Hogwarts campus activities, and someone has to hold Albus Dumbledore back.
Find a way to dig something out of the Hogwarts staff.
Of course, although Gilderoy Lockhart's "premature surrender" disrupted the Ministry of Magic's plan, it also gave Cornelius Fudge the inspiration to sign "Education Order No. 25" - he could
It is logical to give the "senior investigator" some more privileges.
However, he had to remind Ms. Umbridge not to waste too much energy on students.
…………
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Castle Great Hall.
Even as Cornelius Fudge was furious, the breakfast table was extremely busy that day.
As the owl messenger delivered today's "Daily Prophet", the young wizards also learned the reason for Professor Lockhart's absence.
Elena, Hannah, and Luna were eating breakfast while listening to Hermione read the news. Compared to the little ones who were so excited and shocked that they were not even in the mood to eat breakfast, the reaction of the four of them was obviously dull.
Much more...they heard about these things weeks ago.
"So, will the Ministry of Magic summon or put Professor Lockhart on trial?" Hermione frowned and looked at Elena.
"I think so, but not for this reason."
Elena shrugged and said casually, "But not necessarily, it depends on the adults' appetite."
She is not an omniscient and omnipotent god, she just sprinkles enough sweet bait in some places.
As for whether the Ministry of Magic will take the initiative to bite the bait, it still depends on their desire for power. If they stop decisively after seeing Lockhart's "confession" and choose the safest follow-up trial, then the Ministry of Magic will at least
You can extend your destiny for a long time.
"But there's a reflection monster in each of them, right?" Hannah asked Luna.
Luna nodded seriously. Among her best friends, she had the best relationship with Hannah.
Unlike Granger, who liked to argue, Hannah truly believed her and the stories in "The Quibbler."
Although this silly senior sister may sometimes have misunderstandings, Luna does not dislike her - as the "deputy" monitor of Hogwarts' second-year class B, during the more than half a year of campus life, Luna and
Hannah has formed a fairly close "symbiotic" relationship.
"The Reflection Monster will never have enough to eat," Luna said softly. "The Ministry of Magic may illegally arrest the professor."
"No way," Hermione said immediately.
"In this world, there is a difference between many things only once and countless times. Don't forget, just a few months ago, Dolores Umbridge even planned to go directly to Hogwarts to arrest the full professor.
And there was still no such strong evidence at the time—Professor Lockhart voluntarily admitted that he had problems casting the Forgetting Curse. This testimony was quite subtle during a magic trial..."
Elena mercilessly shattered Hermione's illusions.
Unless Cornelius Fudge is under the Imperius Curse, with his attachment to power and his hidden fear of Dumbledore, he would hardly refuse such an opportunity. This kind of real and reliable evidence, even if it is reckless
Firth Scrimgeour couldn't see the flaw either.
"But……"
"Let's put it this way, the Ministry of Magic must respond, but it is impossible for him to accept that he is slower than the Daily Prophet."
Elena shook the fork in her hand and glanced at the newspaper in Hermione's hand.
"Anyway, Professor Lockhart probably won't be able to return to his teaching position at Hogwarts in the short term."
"But what I'm more curious about is what happened to the senior investigator... The temporary professor of the grammar class is now replaced by Nick, who is almost headless. She will never examine a ghost, but the Ministry of Magic
She will definitely take the opportunity to do something..."
Elena's eyes moved on the head teacher's desk, and Umbridge's face was not surprisingly ugly.
However, she didn't care about the toad's current mood. Elena wanted to know which professor Umbridge was planning to operate on.
The faculty and staff of Hogwarts already have many weaknesses that can be explored deeply. After all, no one is perfect. If it were not for Grindelwald's sake, Elena's original plan would have even planned to directly
Sacrifice a wave of Dumbledore's dark history.
On the other hand, she is also looking forward to Lockhart's self-salvation and transformation in this confrontation.
After all, this outgoing wizard is actually more suitable for those broader stages than teaching at Hogwarts.
As for Umbridge, the Ministry of Magic will definitely give her more rights under pressure... and uncontrolled rights, coupled with loose rules, will inevitably breed those ugly thoughts in her heart - this is also
What Elena most wants to see.
Someone has to take the blame for this farce. With Umbridge's current authority, she cannot take all the blame for the time being.
…………
However, the Ministry of Magic's response was obviously faster than Elena expected.
Just when they finished their herbal medicine class that morning and returned to the auditorium from the greenhouse outside the castle, they were about to start having lunch.
Where the "College Competition" news was originally posted, two-thirds of the space was covered by an announcement - in fact, it almost blocked most of the content on the announcement board outside the auditorium.
The new notice was printed in large bold letters, with an official-looking seal at the bottom and an impartial signature next to it.
This time, Elena could clearly see the announcement title without tiptoing: