Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

In addition, Lucius Malfoy also revealed the news of "finding the Dark Lord" a few days ago. Although Bella thinks that these people are unreliable, it is very likely that her master has revealed his traces. .

In this way, although Bella was still suspicious of Lockhart and did not eat the food and wine he brought, she still fell into Lockhart's hook after all.

Chapter 61 Lockhart's performance

For Lockhart, he could easily tell from the opponent's movements and posture whether he was defending himself.

Bella was selectively accepting part of what he said, and it was immediately reflected in her posture—body language that had been defensive and evasive was now relaxed and concerned.

After seeing these movements, Lockhart, like a singer after hearing the judges say, "Please start your performance", immediately regained his energy and started to work hard.

In order to strengthen his persuasion, he took out more than a dozen domestic and foreign newspapers marked with red circles and highlights, and then explained to Bella with a kind of cheerfulness "like a mentally ill child (Snape)" Fan, how he judged that the Dark Lord was hiding in the Albanian forest.

These things are well-founded and logical, and many details can't be faked after listening to them. Of course, these are all summed up by Dumbledore and have nothing to do with Lockhart. It's a pity that Bella doesn't know.

In order not to arouse Bella's suspicion, Lockhart did not use any magic when he said this, but used a series of psychological suggestion methods.

For example, he starts by adding to Bella's guilt with "I've done everything else, but now I need a little help from you anyway."Although he didn't think that Bella would have the idea of ​​being sorry to anyone other than Voldemort, she also couldn't escape the "subconscious" imprisonment;

For another example, when Lockhart was expressing his views, he had always used the leading questioning methods commonly used by MLM experts to give hints, so that Bella would mistakenly think that his remarks were all derived from her own thoughts;

Not to mention that every time she finished saying a sentence, Lockhart would repeat it again,

To enhance Bella's confidence - this is called "repetitive psychological suggestion" in psychology;

In addition, when explaining his point of view, Loha also kept using his body language, such as inducing Bella by nodding gently, using his eyes to strengthen his tone, and using "selective hints" to induce Bella's thinking... These are all compulsory courses for civil servants who need to face the public, and it is really overkill to deal with these little-knowledgeable wizards.

After gaining trust, the next thing is much easier to handle.

As the ultimate goal of this trip, Lockhart took out the "great achievements" made by Chirlow last year, and unceremoniously took it for himself—anyway, the original owner Lockhart is also very familiar with this kind of thing, They have even summed up the routine in the diary.

Lockhart took out a copy of last year's "Daily Prophet" to Bella with a showing off expression, pointed to the news about the theft of No. 713 vault, and said that he did it himself-how he planned it carefully , inquired about the location of Nicole Flamel's vault; Got the Sorcerer's Stone...

He spoke eloquently and vividly. In order to deceive Bella, Lockhart can be regarded as using all his writing skills.

Except for the last step, all the experiences he just said come from the diary in Professor Quirrell's personal belongings, which was confiscated by Dumbledore after his death. The details are full and the process is extremely detailed.

Bella's eyes widened when she heard this—because she had indeed heard about it last year, and some Death Eaters tried to give her the news, but she didn't know who it was and what the result was .

"Prove it!" she called to Lockhart, "You got the Philosopher's Stone?

Lockhart shrugged his shoulders at this, and then gave himself the blow in front of Bella.

He took out a red stone from the pocket of the Untraceable Expansion Curse and pointed it at the prisoner of Azkaban.

A stroke on the prison wall turned a large chunk of brick into gold.

And when Bella touched the piece of golden wall tiles in surprise, Dumbledore, who was hidden by the side, also secretly put back the wand in his sleeve, so as not to reveal any flaws

It was he who used the replacement spell just now, using a large piece of gold that Lockhart gave to replace the wall bricks—Lockhart really paid a lot for this action

Although Bella has lost her wand, these die-hard Death Eaters have a little skill in casting spells without a wand, but the power and effect cannot be compared with when they have a wand

After confirming that the wall tiles had indeed been permanently "turned" into gold, Bella finally lost all her suspicions—since Lockhart "had" invaded the vault of No. 713, then the vault of the Lestrange family Naturally, it wasn't a problem, but he was still willing to come to him, which showed that he really didn't mean to lie to himself.

U!

"With the Philosopher's Stone and Snape, the potion master, the potion of immortality can be prepared.

Come very soon. "Lockhart told Bella: "Everyone will see the light of day soon.

, now the only problem left is this great master..."

That is, I don't know how to meet the Supreme I"

Under Lockhart's eloquent tongue, Bella finally agreed to write an authorization document: agreeing to let Lockhart and Snape enter their own vault, and told them the location of the things in detail.

"The Dark Lord handed me a golden chalice, he said it was important to him, and he could sense it at any time. If you take it to the Albanian forest, you will find the Dark Lord...

By the way, I also cast a permanent copy spell on everything in the vault, and the cup has the owner's magic on it, so be careful.But as long as in the vault

Mark the Dark Lord's mark in it - you know which spell - and shout allegiance, and those protective magics will be temporarily disabled. "

"I see, you are really very careful, you are worthy of being a "loyalty first" person, I heard all my companions say so. said Lockhart "touched".

Although he had figured out what he wanted, but with the professionalism of an actor, Lockhart decided to carry out the play to the end.If it weren't for the fear that it would be too much to continue acting, he would shed two tears to meet the situation.

"If all the Death Eaters were as loyal as you, the Dark Lord's cause would be unstoppable... Unlike that bastard Lucius, who refused to pay for the travel expenses and said we were wasting time, but he But I don't know that I got the Philosopher's Stone, so I can play with Han Fengnai

LUstz J

His gnashing of teeth was so realistic that it even resonated with Bella

She sneered: "Hmph, I knew the Malfoys were unreliable."

Lockhart nodded again and again: "One thing to say, indeed. That family will never be loyal to anyone, they will only shout "Long live the victor""

Bella was very happy to hear this-because it was also her point of view.

"Take it, hurry up, every minute we delay, our master and our hearts will suffer for an extra year." She handed over the signed authorization letter

"The Dark Lord will definitely appreciate your contribution in the future." Lockhart said solemnly

After hearing that Voldemort had indeed given something to Bella, and that he knew the location of the thing, Dumbledore did not go to find Sirius Black, who was also imprisoned in Azkaban, because he had already It's not necessary anymore.

Everything that followed was a matter of course—they and their group came to Gringotts,

Then Lockhart found Ragnor, and used Bella's authorization document to obtain the Lestrange family's vault access permit.

Seeing Snape staring at him all the time, Lockhart wisely excused that he was still busy, and after handing over Bella's power of attorney to Snape, he didn't go down in the car, and returned directly via Floo powder. Once in his own office at Hogwarts, he knew nothing of what happened next.

Lockhart thought about it several times, but he didn't find any flaws in himself.

In front of Dumbledore, he perfectly played the image of a "slick tongue and excellent acting" politician, and he showed Dumbledore through Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and the establishment of the dueling club that although he is obsessed with power , but at least it is non-distinctive and quite capable.

The next step is to see if Dumbledore is willing to support himself.

Lockhart could imagine that Dumbledore would definitely continue to test himself.I must show my "usefulness" so that I will not be regarded as an abandoned child, and at the same time, I must show my slickness appropriately to tell Dumbledore that I am a person who can be used, but not a person who can be used for free. That's enough for Lockhart.

As for how much Dumbledore can trust himself, it depends on how much he is willing to reveal to himself.

Sure enough, during dinner, Dumbledore took the initiative to talk to Lockhart about what happened later—

On the other side, despite the reluctance on his face, Snape still cast a "Bone Reappearance" in the vault, and shouted the slogan "Magic is power, my loyalty will always be dedicated to the Dark Lord" Ra's defensive magic was temporarily frozen.

When Dumbledore entered the Lestrange vault, he saw the

Gold Cup - he knew it was Hufflepuff's Gold Cup and it was lost many years ago

Because its previous owner, Hepzibah Smith, was a distinguished guest at Hogwarts, and the two things she treasured most were Hufflepuff's gold cup and Slytherin's locket, and also Showed them off to Armando Dippet, then headmaster of Hogwarts, and lost them when she died unexpectedly

Looking at it now, where did those two things go? I'm afraid...

The diary, and the Hufflepuff's cup...what else is left?Where did the locket that disappeared at the same time as Jin Bei go?

Of course, Dumbledore would not take the initiative to tell Lockhart these questions, and Lockhart was far from reaching the point where he could trust him, so he could only make sidelines.

"I heard that you plan to go into politics after resigning, can you tell me why?"

Chapter 62 accept this sweet control

Before coming to the principal's office, Lockhart really did not expect Dumbledore to ask such a straightforward question.But after thinking about it, he understood—Dumbledore didn't look down on power at all, and he probably didn't think that such things were worth wasting too much time in his heart, so it was natural to cut the mess quickly and solve it quickly. better.

Lockhart put down the fork in his hand, took a sip of the wine, and at the same time his mind was racing, thinking about how to deal with the headmaster's cross-examination.When he put down his glass, he had already prepared a set of arguments in his mind.

"After working for almost two months, I deeply feel that the teaching tasks of Hogwarts teachers are heavy, and the expansion of the teaching staff is imminent... and as far as I know, many passages and secret passages are in disrepair, such as the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. The secret passage to Hogsmeade collapsed, but the Ministry of Magic's repair funding has been delayed, and the Malfoy family has been stuck on this aspect..."

Dumbledore interrupted his chatter: "So, you plan to solve this problem? This is a good idea, but you should know that this is not what I want to ask."

"Then what do you hope to get?" Lockhart asked back, "If I remember correctly, if you wanted to get the position of Minister of Magic in the first place, I can't imagine that you could do it just by relying on your own reputation." What needs do you have in this regard?"

"People can't achieve the same achievement in every aspect, Gildero, after seeing your performance today, I am more firm in this idea-although my age may be nearly four times your age, but in In that case, I may not be able to do a quarter of what you have shown." Dumbledore said while cutting the calf liver on the plate.

You deserve it, principal. Lockhart nodded humbly.

He knew that Dumbledore was talking nonsense, as long as Dumbledore wanted, he could secretly give Bella Veritaserum, or directly use Legilimency, or even the Imperius Curse on her, and Bella obviously would have nothing Resistance.

"You don't seem to care what we get from the Lestrange vault, do you?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

"If you want to tell me, you will tell me." Lockhart didn't seem to care about it, ""It's just a deal anyway, and it's not that I can't get benefits from it-such as the money, We can use it to invest in oil.

"So, what would you think if I told you that maybe one day you would pay a higher price for this?"

"I would like to admit defeat, Principal. I gained your favor from this matter, obtained the partner qualification of Lucius Malfoy, and at the same time obtained more wealth for myself. If it really makes me fall into prison one day Disasters, or even worse—such as death or being tortured, that is what I ask for, adults must learn to be responsible for themselves.”

Hearing the words "die or be tortured", Dumbledore stopped cutting himself - judging from the food on the dinner plate that had been cut into pieces, he obviously didn't put his mind on eating .

"You seem to be well aware of your situation," he said.

"Of course, Mrs. Lestrange seems certain that You-Know-Who will return, which makes me...or, 'You-Know-Who is alive' enough to surprise me.Although unlikely, my deceit today would certainly cost me dearly if it happened. "

While talking, Lockhart frivolously lifted the ham on the fork, gestured for a moment before putting it into his mouth.

"You are more brave than I imagined...or, more like a gambler." Dumbledore

Lido commented, "But you can't win every time you bet

"If you are willing to provide me with some guarantees, then the probability of winning the bet will be even greater." Lockhart hit the snake with the stick.

Dumbledore sighed after hearing this.

"Although you are no longer a student, I still want to say something more—do you really think it's worth it? Paying the price of your precious life for illusory power? I don't think the two are equal."

Lockhart smiled.

"Then please answer me a question - I have always wondered why "career and love" are worth pursuing, but "money and beauty" are not? Obviously they are the same thing."

"what do you mean…"

"You call it 'power struggle', but I prefer to call it 'self-realization'" Lockhart said generously: "I have an ideal, an ideal that is determined to eliminate the trade of dark magic items, and an ideal that is determined to eliminate pure blood , the ideal of the half-blood strife, an ideal that is determined to rebuild the order of the magical world, and these cannot be achieved without power."

"That does sound much better." Dumbledore chuckled, "if they are all true."

Lockhart asked seriously: "Whether this kind of thing is true or not, only my own heart can know. But for you, why do you have to stick to the truth of the "purpose"?"As long as I do all these righteous things, does it really matter what my original intention or purpose is? "

Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, Dumbledore became more serious: "Are you really going to do it?"

"If this is your wish, Headmaster." Lockhart said lightly, "Life is precious, but sooner or later we will lose it.

If there are any traces left during this period, then what is the meaning of our coming to this world? "

This time it was Dumbledore's turn to be silent.

Finally, he finally opened his mouth again.

"I don't know much about politics. Although people in the world praise me for being knowledgeable, I have never put in the effort to understand it. Either I subconsciously think it is too tempting, or to put it another way, I am cowardly. Go face it."

"But under your rule, Hogwarts has produced many great statesmen

Lockhart raised his cup and gave a symbolic toast to the principal: "The reason why there is a division of labor in society is because everyone has their own good and bad things. If geniuses are those who can discover A and directly see People who reach E, then we ordinary people are responsible for filling in the existence of B, C and D in the middle for them."

"It's a very novel statement, Gilderoy. It seems that we need to talk more in the future. Hogwarts is not the best stage to show all your abilities."

Hearing him say that? Lockhart knew that the matter was more than half successful: "Thank you

:headmaster. "

"You're welcome, this is what you deserve for taking the risk... However, I have one more question to ask."

"You ask."

"Since your goal is not money and fame, then why have you taken... such a quick way over the years?

I mean, among the people you've 'searched', there just happen to be two old friends of mine, and I know a thing or two about their experiences. But when I went to them later, they were Haven't the slightest memory of those experiences, and I'm not sure if some kind of amnesia is starting to catch on in the wizarding world..."

"I stole their deeds for myself." Lockhart said, looking directly into the headmaster's eyes, "because I really need fame and money, but I don't want to get them

Spending too much time on stuff. "

As he spoke, he lamented in his heart that this bad debt was the biggest time bomb left to him by this body, and he couldn't avoid it no matter what.

But it doesn't matter - as long as Dumbledore doesn't die, he will always have the handle in Dumbledore's hands, even though he intended to side with Dumbledore

In other words, it may not be a bad thing for Dumbledore to know this handle, just like the British political arena, politicians have handles in the hands of powerful people, and powerful people can feel at ease when they use this person.

Anyway, Lockhart believes in Dumbledore's character or wisdom, he will never talk about this matter, but will use this handle to try to control himself remotely, and this is his goal.