206 Chapter 206
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-Headmaster Dumbledore's Office-
[POV - Third Person]
"Good morning Amelia, good morning Rufus" Dumbledore said with his grandfatherly smile, greeting the two people who had just emerged from his fireplace.
"Good morning Dumbledore" Amelia said as she brushed the ashes from her robes, nodding to the other professors who were in the office.
"Good morning Albus" Rufus said, looking around the room with interest.
"Come, have a seat" Dumbledore said, pointing to the two chairs in front of him.
"Oh no, we won't be long" Rufus said, refusing the seat, "We just came here to get Lockhart and take him to the ministry for trial"
"In fact, I didn't think this situation with Mr. Lockhart was so important that the Ministry needed to send the head of the DMLE and the head of the Aurors in person," Dumbledore said, looking at the two of them with a raised eyebrow.
"Well... Gilderoy Lockhart is a very famous public figure, and after the scandal and the recent news about him a lot of owls came to the ministry with a lot of letters from people asking about what would be done about him" Rufus said, with a slightly awkward expression on his face.
"But couldn't the ministry send some ordinary Aurors?" Professor McGonagall who had been quiet all this time asked.
"Send two ordinary Aurors to arrest one of the few wizards who received the Order of Merlin: Third Class?" Rufus huffed, "Lockhart is currently almost as famous as the minister himself, and if the media found out that the ministry sent simple Aurors to 'escort' him to the ministry, they would have a very busy day talking about our incompetence and about how we don't care about safety and laws" he finished, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
"I see..." Dumbledore said, but then he looked at Amelia, "That explains why the head of the Aurors is here, but it doesn't explain why the head of the DMLE came too"
"I came here as the most senior person in the DMLE, and as the Head of this department I am also the best choice to analyze the case, and with me here the minister can show everyone that we are taking this Lockhart case seriously," Amelia said, looking professional and serious, but Dumbledore continued to look at her with his eyes shining, crossing his hands in front of his face.
"And..." Dumbledore said.
"And I also decided to come because I was worried about my niece being in the same place as this... fraud" Amelia admitted, acting like a nervous student in front of a teacher after doing something bad.
And Dumbledore seeing this looked with amusement and nostalgia at Amelia, since back when she was a student at Hogwarts she loved to preach about laws and rules, even though she was one of the people who broke them.
"Don't worry about Miss Susan, she is fine" Professor Sprout said to reassure the worried aunt in the office, "Right now she must be playing with her friends from Hufflepuff and the other houses"
"I'm glad to hear that" Amelia said looking at the plump teacher with a small smile on her face.
"Well, as you now know why we're here, we're going to get Lockhart to take him to the ministry. We don't want to take up any more of your time" Rufus said, looking at all four Heads of House who were in the office.
"Oh don't worry about it, we've already canceled our morning classes and now the students are probably enjoying this free time they have" Professor Flitwick said nonchalantly waving his hand.
"It eases my worries, but we still can't stay here for long. When we left the ministry, Fudge was already summoning the Wizengamot and preparing a hearing to judge Lockhart.... And you, Dumbledore, will likely receive a letter notifying you about the audience, as you are the Chief Warlock" Amelia said.
"So the hearing of Gilderoy will be today" Dumbledore nodded, "Well, in that case I won't hold you here anymore then. Severus, where is Gilderoy?" he asked, turning to the only emo in the room.
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"In the Hospital Wing," Professor Snape replied after a while, looking with intense interest at one of the knickknacks on a shelf.
""""???""""
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-Hospital Wing-
"Err... Why is he so hurt?" Amelia asked in surprise and confusion, and she saw then that the other teachers and the matron turned to look at Professor Snape.
"He tried to resist" was all Professor Snape said.
'And he has a punchable face,' he thought, looking contentedly at Lockhart's disfigured and bruised face.
"Understandable" Rufus nodded, unaware that he was probably the only one who believed Professor Snape's lie.
Of course, it's not his fault. In fact, of everyone present he was the one who had the least interactions with Professor Snape, and therefore was unaware of his vindictive and somewhat cruel personality.
"Oh, you're still here" Dumbledore said after walking through the Hospital Wing doors.
He then reached the others who were around a bed, but he felt a strange mood in the air, and following their gaze Dumbledore saw what must have been a human, only the face was not quite recognizable.
'Is this Gilderoy?' he asked himself confused. He then turned to look at Professor Snape, and seeing a small smile on his face Dumbledore immediately knew what had happened.
'Sigh… I knew I shouldn't have sent Severus after Gilderoy' he thought, resisting the urge to rub his temples.
He then shook his head and returning to his calm appearance he turned to Rufus and Amelia.
"Well, a letter from the ministry just arrived at my office notifying me about the hearing, so I guess I'll accompany you in escorting Gilderoy to the ministry," he said, his characteristic smile on his face.
"Has the notification about the hearing arrived yet?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow, "Hmm, Fudge must be desperate to get this Lockhart issue resolved as quickly as possible," she said.
Hearing her Rufus huffed, "With the amount of complaints that were reaching the ministry I would probably do the same if I were in his shoes."
As soon as he finished saying that, he turned to the injured and unconscious Lockhart on the bed.
"Only we have a problem. We can't take the Lockhart to the ministry with him all bruised up like this," he said with a scowl.
Amelia who overheard him also grimaced, knowing they wouldn't be appreciated by the public if they were escorting Lockhart with him injured.
Amelia then had an idea and turned to Madam Pomfrey.
"Madame Pomfrey, can you heal his face?" she asked.
"Sigh... I already tried, but some of those wounds were caused by some spells, and it would take a long time to heal him completely" she said, more upset that she had wasted her time and potions trying to cure Lockhart than that she had failed to cure him.
As soon as she finished speaking everyone again turned to look at Professor Snape.
"He tried to resist a lot," he said.
'''Tried to resist my ass''' was the thought of some of the people who were there.
"Sigh... So what do we do now?" Amelia wondered.
"If you want, we can use some potions I made up," Professor Snape suggested, and no one noticed the vengeful look he was giving Lockhart.
"Oh, and what are the effects of these potions?" Rufus asked with interest.
"I don't know, they haven't been tested yet" Professor Snape replied dismissively.
"And you want us to use untested potions on someone else?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He would be testing the potions for us," Professor Snape said, as if this was the perfect solution.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"You know, I'm starting to think you don't like Lockhart, Professor Snape," Amelia said dryly.
"You think?" Professor Snape asked, as dryly as she was.
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-Stone Courtyard-
"Sooooo?" Ron said smiling, looking at Hermione satisfactorily.
"So what?" she asked impatiently.
"Lockhart is a fraud and a criminal," he said, still with the same smile on his face.
"We don't know if he's a criminal, he hasn't been tried yet" Hermione defended him, but not as voraciously as before.
"But you didn't deny that he's a fraud" Ron said, glancing at her, "So does that mean you've finally gotten over your crush on the idiot who loves lilac?"
"I didn't have a crush on Professor Lockhart!" Hermione denied it.
"Oh no? Then why does your book have his name written with hearts around it?" he asked.
"The book was already like this when I bought it" Hermione replied quickly.
"Yeah... But as I recall, the books you bought weren't secondhand" Ron said, and Hermione opened and closed her mouth to respond, but after a while decided to remain silent.
Seeing Hermione in silence, a victorious smile appeared on Ron's face.
Knowing he had the upper hand Ron continued to mock Lockhart and Hermione's fixation on him.
"Professor Lockhart is so perfect! Everything about him is amazing, from his pearly smile to his perfectly and symmetrically coiffed hair" Ron said in a high-pitched, passionate voice, placing a hand on his chest.
Harry had been quiet this whole time, but seeing Ron imitating Hermione he let out an amused little huff, trying to hold back his laughter so he wouldn't receive a punishment from his thick-haired friend.
Harry was easily managing to hold back his laughter, but then he saw Ron imitating one of Lockhart's 'heroic' poses and then imitating Hermione fainting dreamily, and he couldn't help but laugh.
Hermione was all the time looking annoyed at Ron, but when she heard Harry chuckle she turned to him with a scowl.
But she saw Harry's gleeful smile, and all her anger faded, as after the end of first year she rarely saw Harry laugh or truly enjoy himself.
Looking at Harry who was still chuckling at Ron's impersonations, Hermione let a small affectionate smile spread across her face, unaware that some strange feelings were welling up inside her chest.
End.
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(End AN: I have a question. If Harry Potter characters had become Animagus, which animals would they have turned into?)
