Chapter 167 The disgraced Lockhart

Two vampires fluttered out of the iron cage. The dark clouds above the stage dispersed, replaced by a bright moon. Under the illumination of the magic moon, the true colors of the vampires are revealed.

They wore dirty black cloaks, tattered and edged with mud and dirt. Under the moonlight, the vampire's skin showed the characteristic paleness of the dead, with wrinkles and scars crisscrossing it, like a crumpled old parchment. It seems that with a slight shake, countless skin flakes fall off.

Their hair was tangled in locks and smelled of old decay. The eyes were bloodshot and red, covered with tiny bloodshot eyes; a long purple-black tongue stuck out, dripping yellow water.

"Ugh..." Daphne covered her mouth and pulled off her protective glasses. In order to see the stage clearly, she kept using the zoom mode.

The vampire was so close through her glasses that she could even see the fleas in her hair. It was hard for her to imagine that vampires could be so nauseating.

"That's not like this in the book!" Daphne was on the verge of tears. She vowed that she would never dress up as a vampire again on Halloween.

"The books are all lies. Muggles have never seen a real vampire. Of course, like Lockhart, you can write whatever you want to attract people." Rogge complained. What a lie the aristocratic image of a vampire is. It is really poisonous. shallow.

The vampire let out a shrill cry and bared its long fangs. For the past few days, they were kept in an iron cage by Kettlebo, with only rats as food all day long.

Now finally out of trouble, they are hungry and thirsty for fresh blood to moisten their dry throats. They licked the bloody residue at the corners of their mouths, stretched out their long and thin fingers, and clawed at Lockhart with their black and yellow nails.

"Come on! Lockhart!" Kettlebo was still shouting and urging loudly, as if he really didn't know how much Lockhart weighed.

"Come on, use your weapons to defeat it!" Mag, playing the mentor, shouted from below.

The audience watched with gusto, eagerly anticipating Lockhart's heroic moment. Rogge held the camera and pressed the shutter continuously to record every moment on the stage.

Lockhart uttered the incantation tremblingly, and his wand flashed with light.

"Wow~" The audience screamed in victory as they saw the wand hitting the vampires, thinking they would be defeated by Lockhart.

However, no.

Lockhart's spell frightened the two vampires at first. They raised their tattered cloaks and held them in front of themselves to resist the wizard's attack.

Puff~

The accuracy of the spell is good, at least it hits the enemy. Unfortunately, the hit on the cloak only knocked away some dust on their cloak.

The two vampires looked at each other, never expecting that the power of the spell was so weak and would not cause any harm to them at all. They flew in the sky, tentatively attacking the wizard.

"Many obstacles!" Dumbledore saw the two vampires trying to fly down, and waved his wand to prevent them from coming down.

Dumbledore is also looking forward to this Christmas show. It had been many years since he had seen such a wonderful performance.

Feeling the terrifying power of the old man below, they screamed and rushed towards Lockhart and Harry on the stage.

"Teacher! Come on!"

"Lockhart, you can do this!"

…

Lockhart didn't dare to face the vampire, so he fled off the stage on his hands and knees. But the vampire moved faster, grabbing his gorgeous robe and hoisting him high into the air.

"Help! Help me!" Lockhart shouted, kicking his limbs.

A vampire pressed against his face, its tongue full of yellow water licking his eyes, nose, and mouth.

"Harry! Save me, save me!" He watched as the vampire revealed its yellowed fangs and opened its bloody mouth to pierce his own neck. Lockhart screamed desperately, begging anyone for help.

"Collapsed!" Harry ignored Lockhart's ugly appearance, saving others was the most important thing.

His spell struck the vampire, and it let Lockhart fall from the sky. When the other vampire saw his companion unconscious, he dropped Lockhart and rushed towards Harry.

Lockhart forgot the spell and fell to the ground with both legs broken. He rolled around wailing.

The vampire was flying in the air like a piece of black cloth, chasing the escaping Harry Potter. Harry's tight corset made it difficult for him to move.

He managed to cast a few spells, but the vampire dodged them. Its sharp teeth were only a stone's throw away from its own neck.

"The world is spinning!" A cold voice came from behind, it was Snape!

At some point he stood on the stage, his wand pointed at the vampire biting Harry. The spell rubbed Harry's hair and hit the vampire, sending it flying and spinning in the air.

"Split into pieces!" Snape chanted the spell again, tearing the vampire into countless pieces.

Large and small, colorful parts and liquids were spilled everywhere. To put it bluntly, his teacher was not as particular about handling potions when he was fighting.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, Snape's appearance saved his life. Lockhart lay wailing on the ground, his legs twisted at strange angles.

"Ah! Ah!" The vampire's head fell into his arms by chance, and Lockhart threw it out like crazy.

Kettlebo had a wry smile on his face. His last theatrical performance before retirement was messed up again. When he was still worried about his 63rd probation, the bright moon on the stage turned into the sun, and the auditorium became bright again.

Everyone fell into silence as they looked at the mess above. I don't know who was the first to applaud, bringing an end to Lockhart's absurd and funny performance.

Lockhart's incompetence was finally exposed, and everyone saw his true face. In the audience, some cheered for the performance, while others cried bitterly at Lockhart's true appearance. Many girls stayed in school to see him, but they never expected to witness such an ugly behavior. Who knew he was such a giegie.

Lockhart's face turned red and he made the biggest fool of himself in front of everyone. But what scared him even more was that Rita Skeeter had witnessed the show.

Lockhart has fans all over the world in the wizarding world. Even if the British wizard knows his true identity because of this incident, other fans in the wizarding world will still defend him. But if Rita makes it known to the public, his reputation will be ruined.

Rita took a delicate and compact camera and took a close-up of Lockhart's embarrassment. She put the camera elegantly into her bag and smiled sweetly at Lockhart.

She knows Daily Prophet readers, who love contrast and the uncanny.

"I like this dramatic reversal so much. A well-known writer who has won numerous awards and is an honorary member of the Anti-Dark Arts Alliance cannot deal with a vampire." Rita stood in front of the stage on high heels.

"Oh, dear Lockhart, your performance is so wonderful. I swear, this is the most gorgeous Christmas performance I have ever seen." Rita chuckled and interviewed with a sympathetic fake smile. Lockhart with a broken leg.

Lockhart looked at Rita in horror and begged her not to report.

"No, Miss Skeeter, please!" He shook his head desperately, his voice trembling with fear.

But Rita was unmoved. She took out the photo from the camera and looked at it with a satisfied smile.

"Please don't report this, I beg you!" Lockhart clasped his hands together, his eyes full of pleading, "This will ruin my reputation and career!"

"Miss Skeeter, you must have a way to protect my privacy, right?" He continued in a pleading tone, "I'll do anything you want, as long as you don't publish this report!"

"If you report it, my fans will be heartbroken. Even for their sake, please! I can kneel down!" Lockhart had lost his mind. He wanted to kneel down and worship, but the two lines were broken. His legs forced him to crawl on the ground.

Rita looked interested, but not affected by Lockhart's plea. She pushed up her glasses and said proudly: "Oh, that's not possible. My dear, you know that I am a reporter and a serious person with professional ethics. It seems that I am the only one attending your dinner tonight."

"It's a pity that we can't talk about the snowy scenery of the Scottish Highlands and the style of the Alps. However, we can have a good discussion about your books." Rita adjusted her glasses. For the first time, Lockhart felt that a smile can make people so happy. nausea.

Others were busy picking up the vampire's broken limbs. Kettlebo complained to Snape over there: "Severus, can't you just faint like Harry?"

"Damn, even if you use Shen Feng Wuying, you can still get a good potion material. Really, I don't understand you."

Snape hummed. He had been in a very complicated mood these days because of Harry's Parseltongue. Having killed the vampire just now made him feel a lot better.

He looked at Harry's face: stained with black and red blood, with pus from the stump on his clothes, and he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.

Especially Harry's maid outfit reminded him inexplicably of James Potter. The person he hated the most seemed to overlap with Harry at this moment.

Snape couldn't help laughing, and couldn't help but thank Lockhart. At least he did something good for himself before he was ruined, giving him a chance to make up for the pleasure of revenge against James.

"Professor, you clearly defeated the basilisk!" A senior girl cried bitterly while holding Lockhart's cloak.

"That was not what Lockhart defeated." Hermione stood up and exposed the disguise of Lockhart, whom she once admired most.

"He obviously has the eyes of a basilisk!"

"It was Fox who defeated the basilisk. That was the principal's phoenix."

"Why? I don't believe it!" The girl cried desperately.

Dumbledore clapped his hands, and Fawkes flew from the headmaster's office. It waved its flame-like wings, warming up the slightly cold auditorium.

"Wow, is this the principal's bird?" Colin's eyes widened and he quickly took a photo of Fox.

"Ahem..." Rogge, who was drinking juice, almost choked to death on these words. The principal's bird? There seems to be nothing wrong with saying that.

When an idol falls, the most painful thing is the fans. Faced with irrefutable evidence, their feelings for Lockhart were in vain, and their hearts were cut into pieces at this moment.

Lockhart's face turned red and he made the biggest fool of himself in front of everyone. The farce ended in his defeat, bringing joy to many people.

What's even more terrible is that all this was recorded by Skeeter. Lockhart looked at her in despair, knowing that his reputation was in jeopardy.

"Rita, you should apologize to our principal!" Hermione sternly accused, "The Daily Prophet's report is a rumor. It was not Lockhart who defeated the basilisk. It was the principal who protected us!"

"Well, I..." Rita looked at Dumbledore's half-smiling expression and felt panicked: "Of course, Dumbledore is the greatest white wizard, there is no doubt about it. Hogwarts has his protection. , is the safest place in the entire magical world."

"Mr. Albus, please forgive me. I was deceived by Lockhart's rhetoric. It's all my fault..." Rita cried a few tears. I am also a victim!

"It doesn't matter." Dumbledore smiled, "Everyone will be deceived, but the truth is there. No matter what gorgeous words are used to wrap the lie, it will eventually be exposed."

"What you said is so good. I will definitely use this sentence as the title of tomorrow's report." Rita put away her tears and turned to look at Lockhart.

The witch just now threw her cloak to him angrily and ran out of the auditorium crying. No one in Hogwarts believed him.

"Lockhart, you have a book called "Traveling with Vampires". Now I doubt its authenticity."

"My wand has failed." Lockhart looked for an excuse in a panic.

"Oh, that's really unlucky. Didn't your wand break when you faced the snowman?"

"This...me!" Lockhart panicked. He really wanted to cast an oblivion spell on everyone now. I was so confused that I couldn't put together a theatrical performance on Christmas.

This is an unforgettable Christmas Eve, and his embarrassment makes everyone unable to extricate themselves for a long time. This performance will become a legend in Hogwarts, and I am afraid that I will disappear from the scene.

While Lockhart was thinking about how to eliminate the influence and try to come back, Rogge calmly added the fatal blow: "Professor Lockhart is very good at forgetting spells, the kind that makes wizards forget forever. How can you be with such a professor?" How about learning magic well?"

"If Miss Rita doesn't mind the trouble, you can compare the time when the story happened with his itinerary. Or you can interview the local wizard. I think there will be different versions."

Rogge waved to Lockhart, "Professor, please allow me to still call you this. You can deceive everyone for a period of time, and you can deceive some people forever. But you are so greedy that you want to deceive everyone forever. people."

"You...how did you know?" Lockhart looked at Rogge in horror. He never thought that his secret would be discovered.

"Unfortunately, someone saw the female ghost. "Breaking with the Female Ghost", you still have an impression of this book. You know, most of the wizard's spells are ineffective against ghosts."

"Real heroes lose their memories, and clowns show off their stories in front of others." Rogge waved his wand and used funny tricks on Lockhart.

His nose became large and red, and his mouth was painted to look like a sausage. A circus clown hat was tied on his head, and his gorgeous costume turned into a colorful suspender suit.

Everyone was amused by his appearance, even Snape couldn't help laughing.

"Lockhart, I'm sorry." Dumbledore stepped forward, "Hogwarts will end your status as a professor. We cannot allow a clown to become a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I...Dumbledore, I..." Lockhart was incoherent.

"I originally thought you had only temporarily lost your ability to recite spells. The stories in those books are still true, and you still have excellent and rich experiences."

"But I didn't expect that you turned out to be a thief. As the chief mage of the Wizengamot, I think you need to be questioned."

Lockhart trembled with fear, his head sank suddenly, and he fainted to the ground.

"What a perfect Christmas." Rogge muttered. "The teacher will probably wake up laughing at night."

After Lockhart left Hogwarts, Snape would definitely take up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. This is something he has been thinking about for many years, but he didn't expect it to come true this year.

"A nice Christmas gift."

As for that curse, look at the disgraced Lockhart, it has already been fulfilled. At least you don't have to worry about curses until school starts next year.

Lockhart was carried to the campus hospital, where he would at least have his broken leg treated before being sent to the Wizengamot.

Rita keenly smelled the smell of scoops, and she decided to investigate Lockhart's "heroic deeds" in depth.

In the following days, she conducted a detailed analysis of Lockhart's books and visited the places where he had "adventured". As expected, there is always an amnesiac wizard everywhere. The local tavern tells the same story, but the protagonist happens to be the man who lost his memory.

Rita proudly wrote the title "Lockhart: Liar or Liar?" "'s long and in-depth report exposed in detail the truth about Lockhart's exaggerated and fictitious deeds.

This report caused a sensation throughout the wizarding world, and everyone was discussing Lockhart's hoax. His fans tore up the posters in despair, and Lockhart became a notorious name.

Lockhart's book contract was canceled by his publisher, and he was left with no place to stand. This Christmas farce became the grave of Lockhart's career.

After Rita apologized for her previous report that disparaged Dumbledore, the conversation changed and she began to question Dumbledore's selection ability. She listed in detail the tenure of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors over the past decades, and found that no one could safely serve for a full academic year.

Not to mention the recently disgraced Lockhart, last year's Quirrell was neither alive nor dead. This further cemented the curse. Rita begins her long story on Hogwarts, and nothing sells out newspapers faster than questioning Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore is the greatest white wizard. He always wears a pair of half-moon glasses to avoid seeing the wrong person. I think he must have lost his glasses when he hired Lockhart."

"To this day, that curse is still in effect. Please allow me to question whether he is really capable of protecting all the teachers and students in the school.

As far as I know, some students were attacked by the basilisk before the Christmas party. Colin, who came from a Muggle family, was unfortunately petrified by a basilisk. According to an anonymous source from the Ministry of Magic, the murderer from fifty years ago is currently serving at Hogwarts. "

Rita's eloquent reports put a lot of pressure on Hogwarts and Dumbledore. The Ministry of Magic and the school board had to suspend the vacation to give an explanation to this public opinion storm.

After sleeping for 3 hours, I woke up and saw that the Middle East was doing it again? If there was a real fight, Da Mao at the gambling table could be considered the winner. After all, he was Ying Jiang's unrelated biological father and eldest son.

Hey, I guess I haven’t adapted to the change of seasons, so I’d better try my best to make sure I get 10,000 per day. Everyone, please protect yourselves. I heard that it takes 9 months for the body’s immune system to recover.

As for whether the new coronavirus is harmful, I only know that a colleague had a different cold once a week for two weeks in a row, and each time was a new experience.