Chapter 426 "Getting Lockhart"

At Hogwarts castle.

At the girls' bathroom door, the stone wall squirmed, and Sean pushed the door and walked out. He glanced casually, and it turned out to be the girls' bathroom where Moaning Myrtle was located, but due to the basilisk accident, Dumbledore sealed it up, and it had not been opened until now.

A quarter of the authority of Hogwarts is still hidden in the Slytherin's secret room below, but Sean dares not go down because Gormlaith said that Salazar Slytherin is returning. Sean suspected that this also had something to do with the Returners. Before, he was sure he was not going to go down and ask for trouble.

Not long after, Stephanie walked out from the stone wall. She had calm eyes and even held a book in her arms.

Without unnecessary nonsense, Stephanie said, "After notifying the professors, I will monitor Professor Lockhart."

"Huh? Did he notice something?" Sean asked.

"Yes," Stephanie nodded, "He is very different from before. He looked restless and was already packing his luggage when I first came."

"Sure enough, he also left a memory switch that can notify himself..." Sean thought about it, "but he's not sure if he will be discovered, and Hogwarts is strict about entering and exiting now. He doesn't have that much of an option.

Stephanie shook her head, "Not necessarily. I thought the same as you at first. But slowly, I felt something was wrong."

Sean said, "Oh? How so?"

"Professor Lockhart packed things too slowly. You can say that he didn't think about whether to run away because of hesitation. Still, in such a long time, he only put away his robes, tucked in a few letters from admirers, and most importantly, he's been looking at the door, at the windows in the little way possible, but he's still looking around."

"Looking around?" Sean was a little puzzled.

Stephanie nodded, "He's looking to see if there are any watchers. Once someone walks past in the corridor, Professor Lockhart will immediately speed up his packing and show an anxious expression."

Sean raised his eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up a little, "He's pretending? Or he wants to delay time."

"Yes, Professor Lockhart should have sensed that his identity has been exposed, but he is pretending. His disguise won't work; no one knows this, then there is only one possibility. He is delaying time to stall for another person to complete something, such as sending away that prophecy memory that you and the professors have never found."

Sean smiled, "I didn't expect Lockhart to have such awareness."

Stephanie's expression was still calm, "But you expected it."

"I'm just used to making all the preparations..." Sean spread his hands, "Looking at the time, Professor McGonagall and the others should have dealt with it, right?"

As soon as the voice fell, footsteps came from the stairs next to him. Professor McGonagall led several people up, each holding a wand in their hands.

They saw Sean and Stephanie, and Professor McGonagall trotted, "Sean, are you here?"

"I'm here. I found some evidence. Professor, has your office has been checked again?" Sean said with a smile.

Professor McGonagall nodded, "When you asked Miss Ollivander to notify me, I asked someone to go there. Sure enough, another student was looking for something in my office."

"It seems that the thing they lost is really important." Sean hooked the corner of his mouth, "However, it's time for our professor to be laid off."

As soon as this was mentioned, Professor McGonagall's face became gloomy. She had always hated Lockhart, an idiot who could only talk big but could not teach the students actual knowledge. Now, he turned out to be an insider, posing a threat to the safety of all the students.

"Let's go."

Professor McGonagall took the lead and opened the office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class with a spell without any greetings. The wooden door slammed into the wall, and the scene of the room inside was exposed to everyone's eyes.

Countlessly framed pictures of Lockhart are hanging on the wall, which are illuminated by many candles. However, he smiles more elegantly and confidently in the pictures than the real one right now.

Lockhart was standing in the middle of the office. Several large suitcases were open, and he was anxiously stuffing various things into them.

Lockhart saw Professor McGonagall and others barging in. He slowed down the movement of his hands and deliberately tucked a robe behind his back.

"Is there anything I can help you with? As you can see, I have to tidy up my room every once in a while. After all, I have too many admirers who send me gifts," Lockhart kept his stiff smile, speaking at a fast speed, "Professor McGonagall? Why are you bringing so many people with you? Do you want me to start a big Defense Against the Dark Arts class? I would, but please give me some time. I need to sort things first."

"Stupefy." A red light shot out, hitting Lockhart directly.

Professor McGonagall had a sullen face, not wanting to listen to Lockhart's nonsense at all. Lockhart hit the wall heavily. The photo frames fell and smashed. Lockhart and the other painting were in a mess.

Sean and Stephanie exchanged glances. He took a step forward and threw a few more spells on Lockhart, who had already passed out. Now that he has something to do with the Returners, Sean will not let his guard down.

Professor McGonagall was satisfied with Sean's spells, "Good execution, Mr. Wallup. Ten points for Ravenclaw."

Lockhart was tied up, and the others began a quick search of his office. However, nothing useful was found even if the ceiling was turned over.

"That memory has been sent away." Sean glanced at Lockhart and said to Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall's expression was not good, and he sighed, "Wait for the news from Filius; I hope he is the last person here."

Sean nuzzled at Lockhart, "Try to open his mouth first."

Professor McGonagall nodded, and soon, Snape came to the scene. After Snape came in, he first glanced at Sean. Sean was shocked, and after subconsciously taking a few steps away from Stephanie, he looked away.

Snape went over to examine Lockhart, and Lockhart opened his eyes. He groaned in pain, and after shaking his head, he regained some consciousness, and his face immediately turned pale.

"Merlin's beard. What are you going to do to me? How can you attack your own colleagues? I know my talent is always dazzling; it is easy to get yourselves thrown under the bus, but don't blame me for it." Lockhart yelled in panic, but what came out of his mouth made Snape's eyes darken even more.

"Don't try to delay us, Mr. Lockhart," Sean said lightly.

Lockhart's expression froze and forced a smile, "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Wallup. You have to call me a professor, don't you? Professor Dumbledore hasn't fired me yet..."

"Do you feel that you haven't gotten too many points from me? It's a trivial matter. You are already very good. Of course, I don't mind sharing my successful experience with you at all..." Lockhart was talking nonsense, trying to delay it a little longer.

Sean shook his head, "Lockhart, I'm really curious. What price did they offer you, or how did they threaten you? So a coward like you would do these things regardless of your safety."

Lockhart was stunned, forced a smile, and said, "I don't know what you are talking about. Oh, yes. I have a Medal of the Order of Merlin; you can't do this to me!"

He yelled, "Get me Dumbledore! Let me see the Minister of Magic! You can't do this to me!"

Sean frowned. He didn't have time to listen to his nonsense; Snape pressed Lockhart's chin directly and poured the veritaserum into it. Lockhart's chest trembled, and his eyes became lifeless and confused.

Sean asked directly, "Who are you working for?"

Lockhart shuddered, and the look of pain spread again.

"I don't know...I don't know..."

There was no mercy on Sean, "Are you and Max Dawson in the same group?"

Sean looked at the professors, "He hit himself hard. If I'm not wrong, Lockhart has already woven most of his memories about these things. He is like now because of this."

Professor McGonagall frowned, and she asked, "What is the task you are receiving now?"

Lockhart calmed down, took a deep breath, and replied in a dry voice, "When I'm discovered, delay your time so that other things can have a chance to be sent out. In addition, I will do my best to take back the things you seized and, if necessary, expose myself and send the things back."

Is that crystal so important?

Professor McGonagall continued to ask, "Who is your contact person? How do you send it out?"

"I don't have a contact person. I just need someone to send everything out." Lockhart drooled from the corner of his mouth, "I used the Imperius Curse to control Madam Puddifoot, and she will be responsible for sending things out ."

"How?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Lockhart showed a painful look again, "I don't know."

Sean took out a note and shook it in front of him, "You did all the previous memories? Just left some things to remind yourself?"

Lockhart nodded blankly, "Yes, this will ensure my loyalty."

"Tch, loyalty..." Sean mockingly said, "But your loyalty probably won't be delivered; Madam Puddifoot should have been under control."

There was a shock in Lockhart's eyes, and even Professor McGonagall sighed and looked at Sean.

"How do you know?"

Sean spread his hands, "Nick told me that he met Professor Trelawney when he was following Dawson. At that time, I focused on Dawson. When I found out that Lockhart could be involved, I thought of what Nick said at the time."

"Saying that Dawson didn't go to Madam Puddifoot's teahouse where Lockhart came out. If he did, he would have to deal with him. After thinking about it, I know that Madam Puddifoot might also be under control, so I asked Stephanie to inform you. I even suspect that Madam Rosmerta is just a cover as the one who really sent it should be Madam Puddifoot."

After speaking, Sean glanced at Lockhart. At this time, his eyes had completely lost their luster. At this time, footsteps were heard outside the house, and Professor Flitwick ran over.

His voice was sharp, "Madam Puddifoot is also under control. Fortunately, you notified her in time. When I arrived, she was about to leave Hogsmeade."

"How's it going?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"We didn't let her escape," Professor Flitwick said sharply and showed some annoyance, "But the Imperius Curse controlled her. We couldn't do much, and in the end, we caught her, but she had apparently been ordered to destroy the thing."

As he said that, Professor Flitwick took out a broken bottle, and only traces of silver flakes were left in it.

Sean frowned and said, "At least they didn't get that prophecy. Although we don't know what prophecy they will get, an incomplete prophecy may not be useful to them."

"It's a blessing in misfortune." Professor McGonagall sighed and looked at Sean again, "Do you want to ask him any more questions?"

Sean shook his head, "No, you can ask him."

He also has a lot of experience in memory spells, knowing that there is a high probability that she will be unable to ask anything given his circumstances. He is good at meddling with memory. Fortunately, there was no big problem; he found it weird a person like him had infiltrated Hogwarts.