Chapter 55

"Uh, yes, I mean, I'm preparing teaching materials."

Lockhart calmly took the envelope away from his desk. After Percy came in, he closed the door. He didn't know how to cross his hands on his abdomen, rubbing his two thumbs in circles.

John sat in a chair and conjured a chair for Percy with a flick of his wand.

Instead, Lockhart transformed into a waiter-like role, bringing out tea and cups.

"Professor Lockhart and I had some friendship over the holidays. We were pen pals."

Seeing Percy's surprise, John made up a random excuse.

He smiled and said: "After all, connections are an indispensable part of a good wizard, and the same is true for an excellent wizard like Professor Lockhart."

Lockhart straightened his back when he heard the compliment.

Percy nodded in approval. His way of doing things was not favored in the Weasley family. It was rare for someone to agree with his point of view. He had some affection for John.

Picking up a piece of toffee, John put it in his mouth. The sweetness burst out and he took a sip of black tea.

"Similarly, connections should not be limited to outside the school. To be honest, Percy Weasley, I know you want to become the student union president next year. The support of the four houses is essential."

Everyone could see Percy's ambition. John picked up a piece of toffee and put it in Percy's hand. He chuckled and said, "I will take care of Slytherin for you."

"Why, why do you want to help me?" Percy pinched the toffee, a little confused.

He was a little uneasy. Although he was four years ahead of John, he was outnumbered in terms of momentum.

"Connections."

John said meaningfully: "I said, you are an excellent person, and you will be the same in the Ministry of Magic after graduation. In this case, why not make friends with you?"

The easiest way to deal with Percy is to show him real help, John pointed at Lockhart.

He said: "Professor Lockhart will help you establish prestige among the students. You need to show your excellence. Defense Against the Dark Arts Assistant is a good stage."

Defense Against the Dark Arts currently only has one assistant. If there can be one more assistant, it will not only reduce Lockhart's pressure, but also make that assistant stand out among the students.

John used this to bribe Percy, which made Percy very excited.

Percy opened the toffee and put it in his mouth, nodded with a smile on his face and said, "You're right, connections are indeed important."

He agreed to John's bribe. John held out his hand and Percy shook it.

In this Defense Against the Dark Arts office, Lockhart witnessed with his own eyes the deal between the two power players.

After Percy left, Lockhart asked uneasily, "Aren't you afraid that he will find out my secret? I mean, would it be too dangerous to have one more assistant?"

"No, you are his backer, and he will not betray you, as long as you continue to give him power."

John glanced at Lockhart and gave him a shot in the arm, not forgetting to warn him.

"Put away your flashy ideas and make good use of the lesson plan I gave you. Don't use magic."

Lockhart's magic skills were so bad that John even wondered how he ended up at Hogwarts.

Smiling awkwardly, Lockhart liked to show off so much that he couldn't figure out the nature of his magical novice.

He took out the Blast-Ended Skrewt Amulet and a ring inlaid with emeralds from the small bag and placed them on the table. John handed them to Lockhart and said calmly: "Use this when you really need to do something. It contains the Iron Armor Charm and the Petrification Charm." ."

This is a newly made prop that allows Lockhart to support the scene at critical moments.

Lockhart felt like he had found a treasure, and being doubted about his strength these days put him under a lot of pressure.

"Thank you Mr. Wick, I will complete the task well."

John stood up and left. Before leaving, he said calmly: "Call me John. As I said, connections are also an important part of a good wizard."

Lockhart was stunned. He originally thought that John was using excuses to threaten him to show off his power. Now it seems that maybe John really wants to cultivate his connections.

Yes, cultivate.

Just like you did with Percy, give him power, give him fame.

"Okay John, I'll write to you when my term is over," Lockhart said as a gesture of goodwill.

John nodded and left.

…

October has arrived.

The temperature difference was huge, and many little wizards contracted the flu.

Madam Pomfrey prepared some extra refreshing potion for this purpose. Although her ears would smoke after drinking it, it was very effective.

As an outstanding student in Potions class, John was also called over to help.

After delivering a pick-me-up to the school hospital, John heard crying as he passed through the second-floor corridor.

He walked towards the sound and saw Peeves throwing stones into the girls' bathroom.

And inside there is the cry of a female student ghost being bullied.

"Peeves, you can leave now."

Peeves was bullying Myrtle. He turned around when he heard the sound. When he saw it was John, he was so frightened that he knocked down the medieval armor and ran away.

"Isn't it just a matter of fixing you a few times?"

John couldn't help but muttered when he saw Peeves's reaction.

When he walked into the girls' bathroom, he saw the ghost of the bullied female student still crying and asked, "Are you okay?"

Myrtle screamed and flew through John's body. John felt as if he had been splashed with cold water, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I just..."

Before she finished speaking, Myrtle remembered the sad things and started crying again.

John had a headache when he saw this situation. He really didn't know how to deal with ghosts.

But Myrtle's clothes made him curious, "Are you a student at Hogwarts?"

Myrtle was wearing some different Hogwarts student clothes, which made John wonder if there had been student deaths at Hogwarts?

Or did he forget to take away his body and become a ghost like Professor Binns?

Myrtle wears glasses, has straight hair, and the style of clothes she wears should be from a long time ago.

"Of course I'm a student at Hogwarts."

Myrtle stopped crying and glared at John, then turned and jumped into a broken toilet.

"Well, it seems that not all ghosts are easy to talk to."

Spreading his hands, John walked out of the bathroom.

After picking up the knocked down sign that said 'malfunction' and putting it away, John returned to the Slytherin common room.

"Goyle, don't eat too much, or you'll look like a pig."

"And you Crabbe, stop, don't make me angry, okay?"

Daphne was in the Slytherin common room giving Goyle and Crabbe a lesson. She really couldn't figure out why these two guys were so good at eating.

Pansy scoffed bitterly: "Maybe they were just domestic pigs."

When John walked in, he saw Daphne snatching back the cupcakes that had been taken away by Goyle.

"John, here is your letter, your dog brought it back from outside."

Daphne immediately restrained herself from acting like a lady, and handed the two envelopes to John like a Slytherin mistress.

"Tom brought it?" John raised his eyebrows.

There were three ink spots in the lower right corner of one of the letters that seemed to have been accidentally dropped on it. John frowned. It seemed to be from Johnny Silverhand.

Nodding her thanks to Daphne, "Thank you for taking care of Tom for me."

Daphne looked up proudly, but her ears were a little red.

Back in the dormitory, John opened the envelope, and the contents inside made him frown.

"Mr. Alex Beilby of Bodhidharma will be awarded the medal on October 24."

It seems that my investment is starting to take effect.

John smiled.

Chapter 66 The attacked shop and Luna’s shoes

This was good news and made John smile.

With this feeling, John opened the second envelope.

It was from Donmie Shelby, and the news was not good.

"The store was attacked?"

Staring at the words in the letter, Johnny Silverhand's shop was attacked one night, by three dark wizards.

Although he was repelled by Tang Mi, there were still signs of coming back.

Mr. Borkin was a man who knew what to buy. The store had a low reputation, but the goods inside were excellent.

Tang Mi traced that these people were related to Bo Jinbok.

He sent three wizards to destroy this uninvited guest who threatened the business, but unfortunately they failed.

"It seems that my concerns are right. Tang Mi has recruited three werewolf companions, and it's time to put them to use."

After the last recruitment, Tang Mi successfully found three of his werewolf friends.

They were all discriminated against by the wizarding world and were grateful to John for providing a job.

"It's time to teach him a lesson, otherwise these troubles will only increase after the award."

There was a fierce look in John's eyes. There were no honest people in Knockturn Alley, so he had to beat them until they hurt.

It just so happens that it will be a full moon night in a while, so the werewolves will go out.

"I hope this time, the trouble can be eliminated directly."

John snapped his fingers and the letter burst into flames.

He watched expressionlessly as the letter turned into ashes, and asked Basil to send the letter to Tang Mi, along with the amulet and spell ring he had prepared.

Arming these people to the teeth, he would defeat Bojinbok in one fell swoop.

At the same time, John wrote to Damo Alex, hoping that he could ask the Ministry of Magic to conduct a large-scale search of Knockturn Alley.

With the influence and pureblood status of being awarded the Order of Merlin First Class, Damo Alex can do this.

After everything was done, John began the same work as Lockhart.

The difference is that Lockhart is a book lover in his correspondence, while John is an alchemy expert or rune scholar.

There are also some potion masters who have become his pen pals due to the introduction of Damo Alex, and have responded very well to him.

Maintaining these connections was also a job, and John wrote letters one by one.

"Barty Crouch thank you note?"

The last letter stunned John.

After opening it, it was sent by Barty Crouch, Director of the Department of International Magical Exchange and Cooperation. He was grateful to Johnny Silverhand for giving his former subordinate a good job.

"This director is quite affectionate."

Tang Mi used to be an Auror under Barty Crouch, and he was also saddened by the fact that his subordinates turned into werewolves.

Now that I know that John has given Tang Mi a stable and good job, I personally wrote a letter to thank him.

At the same time, Barty Crouch also knew about John's selling of Wolfsbane potion, and he once again thanked John for his contribution to the werewolves in the magical world.

"He is a person worth getting to know deeply."

John picked up his quill and wrote a reply to Barty Crouch.

…

[Ding, the magic power has been upgraded successfully, the current magic power is level 4]

After taking Neville from the Black Lake to finish the exercise, John saw Neville sit down.