Ch 28 HP 5

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This is my P_A_T_R_E_O_N link please support me. thank you guys.

check it out for 5 advanced chapters.

patrèon.com/Tony_stark_3000

remove the è and put a normal e.

If Patrèon is not your cup of tea, then buy me a coffee 😉.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Tonystark3000

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The holiday break was soon over, and the students returned from their homes. Classes resumed, and the routine of homework, study, and occasional play time continued.

Carl continued to make trips to the Room of Requirement in the middle of the night. He had found two amazing abilities the room could provide him. The first was he could replicate a gravity room, so he was spending his workout time there. It was certainly better than relying on his dojo that was only good for the disciple class.

The other thing the Room of Requirement could do was to replicate every book that had ever been housed inside Hogwarts. While the room could store an unlimited amount of items in its lost and found pocket space, anything it replicated through conjuration couldn't be taken outside. But that didn't stop Carl from reading or copying the books while he was inside.

After asking around among the upper years, Carl learned that there were a number of charms for copying books, but that most books sold in the Wizarding World had copyright charms that made it so the copy charms didn't work. So most students simply used it to make a copy of their notes for friends who missed a lecture, or making a copy of their homework for their records.

Carl learned the charm anyway, since he found that while the books in the Hogwarts Library were protected, the copy of the books the Room of Requirement conjured up didn't have the same protection.

Unfortunately the copy spell mimicked the way an actual human would hand copy a book, so the spell wasn't very fast. Carl spent many an hour in the middle of the night setting up several copy stations while he studied or meditated to replace sleep. He started going through so much parchment he had to owl order a large amount to keep up with his demands, after having the Room of Requirement deliver to him all the extra parchment sitting in its lost and found room.

By the time the Easter break rolled around, Carl had his own copy of every book currently in the Hogwarts library, including the restricted section. He then started working on copying the private libraries of the different professors. Of all the professors that ever taught at the school.

Each professor had a journal of their ideas and musings on the nature of their crafts, and some of them had rare books that weren't in the Hogwarts Library. Carl didn't particularly feel bad about making a copy of those personal books. He wasn't planning on publishing their work under his name, but he felt their insights could and would help him gain greater mastery of his magic.

Dumbledore especially had many books hidden away in his rooms that he likely took out of general circulation. Carl found books on Alchemy, rituals, blood magic, and soul magic, to name a few among Dumbledore's collection. Carl figured it would be a while before he really delved into those topics. He had to complete his basic education first.

Carl took a large amount of pleasure from each copy of a "banned" book he made and slotted into his personal library. Circumventing authoritarians who wanted to restrict what he could or could not learn engendered a certain rebel glee in Carl.

After the Easter break, Carl began copying the libraries and journals of the various professors of Hogwarts, going backwards in time from the present. Eventually he would reach the first teachers and founders of Hogwarts personal libraries and journals. Carl would start reading their journals and historical accounts to learn what he could of Hogwarts actual history, starting from the founders.

It would be interesting to see how far the wizarding world's understanding of magic had come in over a thousand years at the very least. And he could read about how everything started for Hogwarts, then continue to read how it and the wizarding world changed over the years.

It would certainly give him a better idea of history than listening to Binns drone on about the same topics.

Carl sat down at their group's table at the library. He noticed Neville and Harry's miserable expressions. Raising an eyebrow at them in silent question, they gestured at Hermione. Carl focused his attention on the girl who was bringing a large stack of books back to their table that nearly towered over her head.

Hermione arrived at their table and set the stack down. The sound of the books landing on the table had a certain gravitas of doom to the young Gryffindor boys. Carl laughed inside as he watched the situation develop.

"We've only got one more month before the year end finals. It's past time we got started revising. The tests are practically here already, we barely have enough time to get everything crammed in."

Carl couldn't help it anymore and laughed out loud at the miserable faces on Harry and Neville's faces. Hermione frowned at Carl.

"Don't laugh. It's not funny!" She hissed. "This is our education here, and I will not allow us to shortchange ourselves!"

Carl sobered up and stopped laughing, even though a faint smile remained on his face. He didn't want her to think he was laughing at her, so much as at the situation. He got from his chair, and pulled her by her hand away from the two miserable Gryffindors.

Carl turned Hermione to face him. Putting his hands on her shoulders, Carl looked into her eyes. "Hermione." He firmly said. "Take a moment. Close your eyes. Relax for a moment. Listen to the sound of my voice. Picture yourself on a deserted beach. The crystal clear blue water of the ocean is gently lapping against the beach. The nice breeze is blowing through your hair…" Carl continued to paint a calming picture until he could tell she had relaxed.

"Now, open your eyes and look over at our two Gryffindor friends and tell me what you see."

Hermione looked over and saw with fresh eyes the nervous, almost fearful faces of Harry and Neville peering anxiously their way. Hermione started giggling at the sight. "Okay, maybe I was going a tad overboard." She finally admitted after getting her giggles under control.

Carl smiled back at her. "We know how much your education means to you. And we'll study with you to prepare for the finals. But I know that even if we don't study one bit more from now until the tests, you will still ace them. Especially with our Occlumency helping us to order our minds, we've got this in the bag. So, please, be sure to schedule some downtime for us in your planner, because burning out before the test would be just as bad as not studying at all."

Hermione nodded decisively back at Carl. "Okay, you're probably right. Especially for our two scared Gryffindors." She cheekily smiled at Carl.

Carl chuckled while nodding in agreement. He and Hermione then returned to their table where Hermione started creating a new schedule while Carl gave a reassuring grin to Harry and Neville to show them that everything was okay.

"I can't believe our first year is over just like that." Hermione said as she looked out the window of the Hogwarts Express as they pulled out of the Hogsmeade station on their trip back to London at the end of the year.

Carl looked over from where he was playing a game of chess with Harry. "Time flies when you keep busy or are having fun." Carl commented.

Neville nodded in agreement. "I still can't believe how much better the school and classes were after Snape and Quirrell became 'indisposed'." Neville even did the airquotes.

"And isn't that the truth." Harry commented.

Even though the two teachers had only "taught" them for the first couple of weeks, they had made a huge impression on the first years. And after hearing stories from the upper years all year about how bad Snape really was, they were very happy that they didn't have to experience a full year of his brand of teaching.

Another thing that had turned out for the better was that Draco Malfoy had cooled off his rampant attempts to spread the hate. With both his father and godfather in a coma and unable to get him out of trouble, and with a large group of students that despised him and wouldn't hesitate to retaliate, he had finally learned to keep his head down, even if he hadn't changed his mind on blood superiority ideas. At least he finally learned to keep his mouth shut.

Carl had also enjoyed watching Dumbledore manufacture bread crumbs that were meant to send Harry on a quest to protect the Philosopher's stone. Carl had continued to distract the group from getting involved. With the Philosopher's stone safe in his Warehouse, Carl felt absolutely no need to get involved with Dumbledore's schemes.

Over the year he had managed to get a good scan of the Philosopher's stone and with all the Alchemy books and Dumbledore's notes, he had been able to use a small chip off the original stone to produce his own stone. He had then sent Rover on the mission to contact Nicolas Flamel about his stone.

Nicolas hadn't known that Dumbledore had even "borrowed" the stone, but it turns out it wouldn't have mattered. That stone was only one of a dozen that Flamel had stashed in various "safe" places. If Dumbledore had actually destroyed the stone, like what happened in canon, then Flamel would have simply faked his death and moved on in a different identity. At least, that's what Carl got out of his one time meeting the Immortal Alchemist a few weeks ago to return his stone. He really loved his Sherlock like abilities, they got him all kinds of interesting information.

And he had made sure to show up to the meeting in disguise. He didn't want Flamel to accidentally let slip something about who gave him his stone back if he confronted Dumbledore about the situation.

As a result, Carl wasn't too worried about Dumbledore figuring out it was him that took the stone. He had taken it at the beginning of the year, and if the old man couldn't figure it out after all that time, there really would be no evidence left for him after so much time.

Carl enjoyed the train ride to London spent playing games, reading books, and chatting with his three friends.

Carl was just setting down his package of electronics when a snowy owl came flying into his room at the orphanage. Summer vacation had started nearly a month ago, and he had been spending his time as he usually did, in study and training.

"Hey, there Hedwig. How are you? Harry sent a letter?" Carl inquired.

"Prek prek. Hoot."

"Thanks for the speedy delivery." Carl complimented her as he retrieved the letter from her leg. His animal focus from the Farmville world didn't let him understand everything Hedwig was saying, but he understood the gist. And she was a very expressive owl. Seeing that she was staying put, he asked, "Waiting for a reply? Want some water or some snacks?" Seeing her agreement, Carl set out some water and owl treats he kept on hand.

After opening the letter, Carl read that Harry had invited him, Neville, and Hermione to spend a few days over at his new place with Sirius Black around the time of Harry's birthday.

Once Sirius had been cleared from the hospital, he had taken on the guardianship of Harry. And, despite Dumbledore arguing otherwise, Sirius had taken Harry away from the Dursleys immediately. With all of the Death Eaters in comas, Sirius hadn't thought too highly of Dumbledore's reasoning that it was the safest place for Harry. Harry had been very happy to not have to go back to the house of his relatives.

Harry and Neville's birthday was still a couple weeks away, but Carl guessed it was better to send the invitations early. He quickly scribbled a note confirming his reservation. He attached the note to Hedwig's leg and sent her on her way.

"It might be fun to see the Grimmauld place, if that's where they are staying." Carl mumbled before he moved into his Warehouse and started opening his packages of electronics.

His perk, Setup Wizard, gave him some pretty decent knowledge of charms that allowed electronics to work in a magic rich environment. Carl had decided that he would start working on his skills in merging magic and technology. It was a necessary step to accomplish his quest to make 90% of the muggles in the UK and Ireland believe in magic.

Carl spent the rest of the afternoon casting the charms he learned from his perk, and testing the devices as he cast magic around and at them. He had discovered that he was protected from underage magic discovery while in his Warehouse, so he had the whole summer to practice spells and figure out new things to do with his magic.

He was also working on silent casting of the Hogwarts curriculum during his summer months. Once he got the first years spells down with silent casting, he would move on to wandless casting. Judging from what he'd seen of the spells, he would need to learn to cast his spells wandless if he wanted to incorporate them into his fighting style. He moved too quickly, and his wand was wood and too fragile, to be used in combat.

Having his Harry Potter magic added onto his BtVS magic actually made it much easier for Carl to figure out how to adjust his casting from using a wand to wandless. He hadn't used a spell focus for any of his BtVS magic, although he had mostly focused on rituals and controlling the different elements, especially fire and wind since they were so useful for killing undead.

But the different spells available with his HP magic were just so versatile. All the household charms alone were amazing. He would never have to wash dishes by hand again, for which he was duly grateful.

And then there were all the trade skills. If there was a trade or profession, there were spells available for it. Exploring the depths of the ocean, mining for ore or gems, chopping and treating lumber, or skinning and preparing leather? Every profession had a number of spells designed specifically for it, and Carl was determined to become proficient in as much as he could before leaving this world behind.

Carl smiled as Harry and Neville opened up their birthday presents from him. Harry looked happy at seeing the RC car. Neville looked confused at what he'd gotten.

"It's a remote car, Neville." Carl helpfully explained. "Usually muggle electronics don't work long in magic rich environments. But I've got a few family charms that when applied to electronics keep them from burning out. So you can play with your car all you like at Hogwarts."

"You have charms that let's electronics work in magic areas? That's so amazing! Can I read those books? Please Carl?" Hermione got a little excited.

"Oh, well. Those are family books, so I can't share them." Lie. They don't exist. "But I could maybe write down some of the spells. You can't share them with anyone though." Carl warned. Hermione beamed happily at the promise of more knowledge.

"Okay, thanks for the gift." Neville responded. "But what is a car?"

Carl face palmed. "Okay, open up your package, and we'll show you how it works."

They spent the next half hour watching as Harry and Neville raced their cars around and occasionally passing the controller around to the rest of the group.

They didn't have a large number of people around for their 12th birthday. They had invited the Patils, but they were out of the country at the time so they couldn't make it. A couple of Gryffindors showed up for the party, mostly Harry's team mates from Quidditch.

Gryffindor had won the house Quidditch cup that year thanks to Harry's brilliant flying. Harry was a natural flyer, and now that he didn't rely on his old beaten up glasses, the snitch had a much harder time hiding from him.

Carl had enjoyed their flying lessons immensely, since he already had practice. And while he didn't have the natural aptitude that the HP world perk would have given him, his special spatial awareness that he got from his Savant perk let him barely keep up with the sheer talent of Harry's flying.

Carl had no plans to play Quidditch though. He had a number of advantages that made the game entirely unfair to anyone else playing. When he had gone to some of Harry's matches, his tier 4 senses and Probing Eye observation skills had let him know exactly where the snitch was hiding at all times. His physique, reaction times, and senses gave him such an unfair advantage, no matter which position he played, he would dominate the other team.

And since the only thing Carl would get out of playing Quidditch was bragging rights and a trophy, he didn't feel like the time spent in practice instead of training or studying was a decent use of his time for the payoff. If there was a more substantial payoff than he would have seriously considered it.

Eventually the party ended and the guests departed. Carl, Neville, and Hermione stayed on at Grimmauld place, since they were staying for the week with Harry. Sirius had gotten them some tickets to a Quidditch game in France. They were going to visit some sights in the French Wizarding world while they were there for the game.

Carl was somewhat interested in seeing what the Wizarding world over in France was like, so he was enthusiastic about the trip.

Carl arrived at Kings Cross station at 10:15 in the morning by the Knight Bus. He took his time strolling to the portal to platform 9 3/4. Upon arriving on the platform at 10:30, Carl made his way to the compartment he and his friends had used on their two previous trips.

Now that Carl thought about it, it made sense for upper years to have a compartment that they considered "theirs" if they've stayed in the same compartment each trip several years in a row. Which explained why Hermione had been chased out from the compartment she had originally been in.

It didn't excuse those upper years for being asses for being unnecessarily mean to his friend. But that was the general nature of teenagers, to be unthinking jerks to each other.

It also didn't mean he hadn't gotten back at them for making Hermione cry though. Just because teenagers were predisposed to being jerks didn't mean he couldn't act his age once in a while.

Upon arriving at their compartment, Carl saw Hermione already sitting in it, reading a book. "Hey, Hermione. How was your summer break after our trip to France?"

Hermione blushed red. "I thought we agreed not to talk about what happened in France!" She hissed at Carl.

Carl laughed while sitting next to Hermione and putting an arm around her. "Hermione, I didn't mention anything about our trip to France. Why? Has it been on your mind a lot?"

Hermione scowled at him, before slugging Carl on the shoulder. "Prat!"

Carl chuckled as he backed off and gave Hermione some space. "Yup." He easily agreed with Hermione. "I promise I'll drop it, you're just so fun to tease, cause you're cute when you're angry."

Hermione just started mumbling some random words as she retreated back into her book, her cheeks tinged red.

Harry and Neville soon joined the two in their compartment, and they settled into a familiar routine of chatting, reading, napping, and playing games on the way to Hogwarts.

"Ravenclaw!"

Carl watched the small and spritely figure of Luna Lovegood as she almost danced to the Ravenclaw table. He could already see the looks on the faces of their housemates as they mentally labeled Luna as an outsider. Someone to mock. And, if things didn't change, someone to bully.

He didn't want that. But how to intervene? How to smoothly orchestrate things so it seemed natural that he befriend her? It wouldn't do to be too conspicuous, right? He needed to think up a cunning plan.

"Hi there, Luna Lovegood. My name is Carl Edwards. Want to be friends?" Carl asked the blonde girl.

Or he could just straight up ask her.

She looked at him for a moment. "Okay!" She smiled and sat in the space Carl made for her next to him.

Hermione looked at Carl, looked at Luna, then questioned Carl with a raised eyebrow. Carl nodded significantly at their housemates in answer to her unspoken question.

When Hermione noticed how there were already several unfriendly stares being sent Luna's way, Carl could see Hermione's face set into the stubborn look that meant she wasn't going to put up with any nonsense from anyone.

"Nice to meet you Luna. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione introduced herself to their new friend.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Luna airily replied with a big smile, her slightly protruding eyes looking over Carl's shoulders.

The way Luna wasn't looking at who she was talking to was a bit odd, but Hermione didn't let it bother her as she started a whispering conversation with the blonde girl. Carl was impressed how Hermione didn't bother to wait until the sorting ceremony was over before being social with their new friend.

The past year of friendship, disappointment in authority, and the summer adventure in France had done a lot to relax her from her previous attitude of respecting authority.

Carl smiled on the inside. He bet it was especially because of their time spent in the French Veela brothel. If she had known what the establishment was before entering she would likely have never gone in.

Sirius really did have a bit more to go before he fully recovered his mental facilities if he thought it was appropriate to book rooms for the week long stay they had in the Veela brothel for four 12 year olds, and one of them a girl. Remus had nearly had a coronary. But, as Sirius said, all the other inns were full due to the Quidditch game.

Not that Carl really believed the inns were full when Sirius made his reservations in a Veela brothel. And there were always wizarding tents. But Carl was so amused at the situation he had just gone along with it, instead of offering alternatives.

And while none of the young 12 year old quartet had availed themselves of the services the ladies offered, a scandalized Hermione had taken the opportunity to grill the Veela about their lot in lives in a brothel, and as what the British classified as a magical creature. After the stories the Veela shared, it was no wonder Hermione didn't have much respect left for the British authority figures.

Through talking with the…employees…Carl and Hermione had learned that the brothel was owned and operated by the Veela themselves. Many of the single Veela needed the place as an outlet for their needs and appetites, and they got paid while doing so.

There were many muggle myths from olden times of the Maenad, the female followers of Dionysus that would have wild orgies of great passion. That the women would be so inflamed with their appetites that they would tear apart bulls with their own hands and feast on the raw beef. Not to mention wearing out any man they could catch. And that was putting it politely.

The Veela that Hermione interrogated actually bragged about those facts quite proudly. They were comfortable in their heritage, and even reveled in their unique skills. They loved having a place to go where they got paid for something they would have done anyway, to relieve their urges.

That week had definitely been an eye opener for Hermione, Harry, and Neville. Carl had enjoyed the eye candy around the place and enjoyed the red faces of his friends being teased by the sensual women. Hermione hadn't been left out of the teasing by any means, which amused the hell out of him.

It had also been an educational week as they learned everything they didn't know about cleaning and grooming spells, as well as magical cures for diseases. The brothel reserved the right to refuse service to any clients that wouldn't have a medical checkup and healing before availing themselves of their services. The Veela were surprisingly matter of fact and open about biology and sexuality. It was a learning experience that Carl couldn't forget.

Carl watched as Dumbledore got up to introduce their new teacher for DADA, one Gilderoy Lockhart. Carl was not impressed by the stupidly grinning fop. And he wasn't about to put up with sub-par teaching.

'Time to do some investigating.' Carl thought when the feast was over as he, Hermione, and Luna trooped up to the Ravenclaw tower.

Carl made his stealthy trip to the Room of Requirement after curfew. The Room plus the Marauder's Map made sneaking around Hogwarts afterhours so much easier. He almost didn't need to use his stealth spells. But he didn't get overconfident and still cast the sound, sight, and scent masking charms. A little bit of precaution prevented accidental discovery.

When Carl saw that Lockhart had settled down in one corner of his room, that he assumed was the fop's bed, Carl made his move. He requested a door to just outside Lockhart's rooms.

Carl quickly cast diagnostic spells on the door, to determine what spells kept it locked. Much to his surprise, there was only a simple lock keeping the door shut. A quick unlocking charm let him in.

Carl kept casting his spells all around, making sure there weren't any alarm charms or defensive wards. Finding nothing, Carl shrugged and made his way inside. The sitting room was filled with all the memorabilia associated with Lockhart's heroic author persona. It was a bit creepy to see so many posters around with sleeping Lockhart's in them.

The bedroom door creaked open. Carl ducked behind a couch before he could be spotted.

"Who's there? Is it one of my lovely fans come around for a little one on one time with their favorite adventurer, me, Gilderoy Lockhart?" The man suggested in what he thought was a sexy manner while posing.

Carl almost snorted in laughter. The ponce thought he was some fangirl come to jump him in bed? Deciding not to beat around the bush, Carl peaked out from behind the couch and cast a stunner on the fop. He then caught Lockhart before he fell to the ground with bands of air.

Levitating Lockhart back to his bed, Carl did a quick scan around the room. He was wondering how Lockhart had known someone was entering his suite. He spotted a little trinket that was flashing and sounding a low alarm next to Lockhart's bed.

Carl cast some diagnostics on it, and soon found out that Lockhart had some monitoring spells cast on his posters in his sitting room linked to his alarm trinket.

"Huh, that is actually decently clever. The intruder will think once they got past the door that there wouldn't be any alarms or defenses. Then with the number of posters Lockhart puts up, it would be nigh impossible not to be spotted by the alarm. And since everyone would just think it's a bit of his narcissism, they wouldn't think too much about the number of posters he's got up." Carl considered Lockhart for a moment. The man had a certain amount of cunning to him. He would have to, to be able to fool so many as he had for so long.

"Well, let's get to it." Carl tied up the man to make sure he couldn't move. "Legilimens." And he dove into Lockhart's memories.

Carl soon learned the basics of the man's life. How he was considered barely above being a squib throughout school. He didn't have a lot of power as a wizard, so he could never become the great wizard he dreamed of being. He was decent at the non-wand subjects, like potions, but he would never be a potions master.

Lockhart seemed to be destined for a life of mediocrity. He wasn't powerful enough to be an auror, and he didn't have the connections to put him on a track to become a department head at the ministry. So he was relegated to the obliviation squad, where even his meager power could easily overcome the unprotected muggle minds and adjust their memories so they wouldn't remember their encounters with magic.

And that's where Lockhart would likely have stayed his whole life, in a dead end job in the ministry. But one day, while on duty, he was sent to Obliviate a group of muggles who saw something they shouldn't have. He arrived first on the scene, and when he saw that it was a werewolf that was the cause of the incident, he almost pissed himself.

Luckily for Lockhart, the werewolf was dead, stabbed to death by the muggle it was attacking with the family's silverware, but not before the werewolf got a fatal bite on the muggle.

And that's when Lockhart's path in life changed. He looked around at the muggles on the scene, and thought, "I could Obliviate them all and take credit for stopping a werewolf." He would get a bonus from the ministry, and get some respect from his fellow employees.

So he acted on that impulsive decision. He arranged the scene, changed the memories of the witnesses, and had the scene set when more ministry workers showed up.

He got his bonus for taking down a rogue werewolf. He got respect from those around him. And he got quite a bit of attention from the ladies that worked in the ministry. He was enjoying life and all the attention for the first time.

But as time passed and he didn't do anything more interesting, life slowly went back to what it was like before. Boring. Mediocre. He was just another faceless employee.

And after getting a taste of the respect he craved, he couldn't give it up. He began seeking out opportunities to take credit from people, using his hard practiced skill in Obliviation to ensure his story was the only one told.

Lockhart soon sought out a publicist, and wrote his first book. He eventually quit the ministry, and began traveling, promoting his book and himself, all while looking for more opportunities to steal heroic feats and pass them off as his own deeds.

Carl learned that Lockhart had grown a bit delusional over the years and started believing his own press and lies. His only goal in coming to Hogwarts was to profit off of his book sales and put another feather in his cap as the premier defense professor.

He had thought that one of the lovely lady professor's had visited his quarters that evening when his alarm went off.

Once Carl was done sifting through Lockhart's basic life story, he stood over the tied up unconscious man for a few moments as he contemplated what to do with the man. He was a thief and a glory hound and completely unqualified to teach DADA. But he had never done unredeemable crimes like murder or taking advantage of women before Obliviating them, like was speculated in some fanfics. Why would he need to? He was a celebrity, and many witches threw themselves at him.

So Carl was a bit conflicted about exactly what to do with the man. He wasn't bad enough to require the death penalty, but he needed to be stopped before he ruined even more lives, and wrecked an entire year of Carl's education.

Maybe he would take a page out of J.K.'s book in dealing with the man. There was a certain amount of poetic justice in Obliviating the man that made his career by Obliviating other witches and wizards until he was a drooling mess.

Or better yet, Carl would take evidence of all those hidden deeds and thefts, and make them known to the Wizarding world. Lockhart loved the fame and fortune he got from stealing other people's efforts. It would only be right to make him infamous for something he actually did.

With that thought, Carl got to work. He began fishing out copies of memories from Lockhart's mind of all the times he stole credit from the real heroes before Obliviating them. Carl put the memories in a series of potions flasks that he then put in a box.

He attached a note onto Lockhart for Madam Bones, the head of the DMLE, explaining what memories she could find in the box and what crimes Lockhart committed. Carl then wrapped up Lockhart like he had Pettigrew at the beginning of last year, and arranged for Rover to deliver the package to Madam Bones' office just before she arrived in the morning.

And if, for whatever reason, Madam Bones couldn't do anything about Lockhart with the evidence she had, Carl kept a copy of the memories that he could send in to the Daily Prophet to break the news to Lockhart's adoring public that he was a fraud. If his plan A went through, it was important to have backups available.