Chapter 52 The Cold Beginning

Time goes by day by day, and those crises lurking in the darkness will not be noticed for the time being.

The relaxed and free summer vacation, like a refreshing breeze, quietly smoothed out the critical incidents of the last semester without leaving too many waves.

Everything seems to be peaceful, but no one can know how many undercurrents are raging and entangled under this tranquility.

Anyway, Hogwarts is about to start.

On the eve of the new semester, Diagon Alley is always quite lively, because most of the students need to come here to buy things they need for the new semester.

At this time, Lihen Bookstore was even more crowded and crowded. It's all because of that star writer in the wizarding world named Ghideroy Lockhart.

We can see him in person! cried Hermione. I mean, he's written nearly all the books on the list!

Although most of the crowd were middle-aged women, it was obvious that Mr. Lockhart's charm was very effective in the circle of little girls.

Harry, Ron and Hermione slipped through the gap.

A long line has formed inside the bookstore, curving and extending to the street outside the door. They each grabbed a book signing and sneaked to where the Weasleys and the Grangers were queuing.

And just outside the gate of Lihen Bookstore, there is a large banner hanging. The words on it are not only bright and eye-catching, but it can even move - Gilderoy Lockhart signs and sells his autobiography I Can Magic today 12:30-16:30 in the afternoon.

Oh, it's great that you're here! said Mrs. Weasley.

She was short of breath, and kept stroking her hair, trying to smooth everything out, We'll see him in a while...

As the team continued to move forward, they finally saw the protagonist of today's Lihen Bookstore.

He sat behind a desk, surrounded by photographs of varying sizes, all faces winking at the crowd, their teeth gleaming with dazzling whiteness.

The real Lockhart, on the other hand, wore robes the same blue as the forget-me-nots - matching his blue eyes, and a pointed wizard's hat playfully tilted on one side of his curly hair.

In front of him, there was a short man with a camera. He was bouncing around, looking for various angles to take pictures. The flashes were almost connected, and puffs of purple smoke kept coming out of the camera.

Get out of the way, the short man yelled at Ron, who was blocking his angle, stepping back a few steps to get a better angle. This is for the Daily Prophet.

It's amazing. Ron said with difficulty lifting his foot in the crowd, rubbing the sore instep of the man's step.

Lockhart obviously heard the words. He looked up, first at Ron, then immediately at Harry. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said happily, Isn't this Harry Potter?

The crowd got out of the way, and amidst the whispers among the crowd, Lockhart rushed up and grabbed Harry's hand, dragging him to the front.

Come on, take some pictures of us, Lockhart showed his neat white teeth, Gideroy Lockhart and Harry Potter, this is sure to hit the headlines!

There was a burst of enthusiastic applause from the audience, but Harry's face was flushed red by the scene.

When he finally let go of Harry's hand, Harry felt his fingers go numb. He tried to sneak back to the Weasleys, but Lockhart's arm was still on his shoulder, holding him firmly at his side.

Ladies and gentlemen, cried Lockhart, waving to silence, what an extraordinary moment this is! I would like to take this wonderful occasion to make a small announcement which I have been holding back for some time. Never said...

Lockhart took advantage of this opportunity,

He told about his going to Hogwarts to be a teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Immediately, the crowd applauded even more enthusiastically.

But in the crowd behind, two little wizards were squeezing out from the crowd. Hermione, who happened to hear Mrs. Weasley speaking, turned her head and glanced inadvertently.

That's... Maca? Hermione asked in surprise, Who is that girl he's pulling?

She turned her head and pulled Ron in front of her, but when she turned her head again, he had disappeared into the crowd.

Maca? Where is it? Ron stood on tiptoe to look around, and then asked in doubt, Did you read it wrong? There are so many people...

Hermione looked at it for a while, and finally shook her head, I don't know...is it possible?

In fact, Hermione could see clearly. It's just that the Maca she saw made her a little suspicious—she wondered if she was really wrong.

No, Maca's eyes will be softer, it can't be that... Hermione muttered softly, It can't be that cold.

Also, who is that girl with light blonde hair next to her? She looks weirdly dressed.

She thought about it, then shook her head again, Maybe I'm really wrong?

Hermione was thinking about it when she heard an annoying voice behind her.

You must like that, Potter? It was Draco Malfoy, with his usual sarcastic grin.

Famous Harry Potter! said Malfoy, even going into a bookstore would be front-page news.

Don't talk nonsense, he doesn't want that! exclaimed Ginny, who was standing next to Harry.

This was the first time she had spoken up in front of Harry, and she was usually shy and silent.

Potter—you've got a girlfriend— Malfoy drawled.

Ginny's face turned red all of a sudden.

Ron and Hermione pushed forward from behind, each holding a stack of Lockhart's books, separating her from Malfoy.

Ginny is the baby of the Weasley family. Malfoy dared to bully her, and Ron naturally didn't buy it. He and Malfoy despise each other, and your sarcasm sarcasm each other.

After a while, Ron was so excited that he wanted to rush up and punch Malfoy twice in the face. Harry and Hermione quickly grabbed the hem of his clothes tightly.

Ron! Mr. Weasley squeezed Fred and George over, What are you doing? Everyone here is crazy, let's get out—

Oops - Arthur Weasley.

Just as Mr. Weasley was trying to pull the children out, someone from the crowd behind Malfoy stepped out.

Lucius. Mr. Weasley looked at him coldly and nodded slightly.

It was Lucius Malfoy, with one hand on Draco's shoulder, and the sneer on both father and son's faces was almost identical.

I hear dude has a lot of business! said Mr. Malfoy. So many raids... I suppose they're paying you overtime?

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a tattered copy of The Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration from among the shiny new Lockhart books.

Hmph, it doesn't look like that. My goodness—what's the good of being the scum of wizards if you can't even get a good paycheck? Ni is still red.

We have very different ideas of what it means to be the scum of a wizard, Malfoy! he said angrily.

Of course! Lucius raised his head and said disdainfully.

His light-colored eyeballs rolled, and his eyes fell on the Grangers, who were watching them with trepidation.

Look at the friends you've made, Weasley... I thought your family had fallen to the limit?

Mr. Weasley lunged at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him against a bookshelf. Dozens of thick spell books fell on them, and even Ginny's cauldron was sent flying with a loud bang.

Twin brothers Fred and George yelled things like Hit him, Daddy! while Mrs Weasley screamed, Don't do that, Arthur, don't do that!

The crowd backed away in panic, knocking down more bookshelves, causing the shop assistants to look bitter.

At this time, a loud voice overwhelmed all the voices.

Scatter, gentlemen, all scatter!

It was Hagrid, striding over with his books strewn all over the floor, pulling Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart in the blink of an eye.

Mr. Weasley's lip was cut, and Lucius had been smashed in one eye by a thick book, still clutching Ginny's battered Transfiguration textbook.

Ginny next to her had already picked up the cauldron. Seeing this, Lucius stuffed the book into her cauldron, with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

Here, little girl—take your book! This is the best thing your father can give you. He broke free from Hagrid's arm, waved to Draco, and rushed out without looking back. shop door.

You shouldn't be talking to him, Arthur, said Hagrid, reaching out to smooth Mr. Weasley's robes, but almost lifted him up with such force.

This guy's bad, they're all in the family, everybody knows it - the Malfoys are not worth listening to! The blood in them is bad, that's all. Come on, let's get out.

The clerk on one side seemed to want to stop them from claiming compensation, but with Hagrid's physique, most people really dare not stop him casually. After a while, they went out from the store, leaving a group of shop assistants crying and staring at each other with mournful faces.

They walked quickly into the street, Hermione's parents, both ordinary Muggles, were shaking with fright at the moment, while Mrs Weasley next to her was mad with rage.

Good head for the boys! Fighting in public? What would Gilderoy Lockhart think—

He's so happy, said Fred, didn't you hear when we came out? He asked the guy at the Daily Prophet if he could put the fight in the story! He said it'd make a splash... ...

And in the stream of people not far from them, a young man was looking over there indifferently, with a pair of deep black eyes staring at Ginny's cauldron intentionally or unintentionally—to be exact, it was a book in that cauldron. Black cover diary.