Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

In the past month, apart from "reviewing" the spells he had learned before and preparing lessons, what Lockhart has done the most is to build a good relationship with his parents and two older sisters.

As a half-blood wizard, Lockhart's advantage is that he can take both sides. He will not give up this advantage easily. Taking the path of pure magic will only make him subject to a family of pure-blood wizards, even if he becomes the Minister of Magic. It will only be treated as a puppet.

Just like Nobby Rich (1962-1968), the first Muggle minister in the history of the wizarding world, it is said that he was murdered by the Malfoy family with the plague.

In the same way, Muggle-born wizards will be regarded by Lockhart as his basic board.

After they graduate and enter the wizarding society, they will naturally hope to obtain a status commensurate with their ability and wealth in the wizarding world, and I will become their most intimate spokesperson for interests.

"Good day, Mr. Mason!"

Lockhart stuck his head out of the car window, and greeted the Mason family waiting on the side of the road.

"Hi, Professor Lockhart."

Mrs. Mason also responded to him with a smile, and looked very good.

Unlike the excited children and his wife, Mr. Mason was full of suspicion, and he hesitated when Lockhart invited them into the car.

Seeing him hesitate, Lockhart didn't care.

"The other eleven children and their parents are in the car. You are the last family. On the way to Diagon Alley, you can chat for a while. I will meet you soon

On the way, I will introduce you to the basic situation of Hogwarts. "He said.

The doubts on Mason's face deepened: "You mean, they're all in the car?"

He subconsciously looked around, wondering where the second car was.

"It's all in this car," Lockhart corrected. "Of course, you can drive yourself if you want to, but I'm not sure your car will be able to keep up. Well, ladies first, Mrs. Mason, please." you…"

Before the words were finished, Mrs. Mason got into the back door of the car with the support of her son, and Sam also got in.

Mr. Mason stared at his big belly, and always felt that the back seat of the Lotus might not fit him.

But soon there was a surprise cry from inside the car: "Dad! Come in quickly, it's super spacious inside!"

Mr. Mason had no choice but to lower his head and stepped into the car.

Then he was shocked by what looked like a classroom in the car: 12 noisy little wizards had already sat together, discussing the wizarding school and the courses to be learned enthusiastically, while the women were In exchange for the beauty products presented by Lockhart and himself.

Although there are a little more people, everyone has their own seat, and there is still room left.

Soon, Mr. Mason asked the question that many Muggle men had asked before.

"How much does this car cost? Where can I buy it?" he asked Lockhart.

Lockhart didn't hesitate: "We won't sell it to non-magic people for the time being, unless the Department of Magical Roads and Traffic Management amends the law...but it shouldn't be too difficult to buy one when your son turns 17."

"That's quick." Mr. Mason didn't take it seriously at all, "but I hope

Hope it looks like a Bentley.

Lockhart laughed silently: "Arthur Weiss of the Misuse of Muggle Substances Division

Lay is looking for ways to change the relevant laws, and you should be able to do so. "

A rich person is a rich person. When seeing a good thing, the first thought is always how to keep it for yourself. Money is just a symbol, and you can have as much as you want.

Very good, he likes this kind of boldness.

Sure enough, Mr. Mason's eyes brightened a little: "You mean, we can also use money to influence... I mean, lobbying professionals who formulate relevant laws?"

"Wizards are people too." Lockhart said meaningfully.

Mr. Mason understood in seconds.

Seeing that he seemed to have realized something, Lockhart no longer mentioned this matter, and he still understood the reason why too much was too late.

So he cleared his throat and cast a loudspeaker spell: "Ladies and gentlemen! I am honored to be the guide and introduce the way to Hogwarts for you.

Although I could take you to Diagon Alley in a more direct way, we will still take the traditional route this time, considering that in the next few years, young gentlemen and ladies may have to come and buy what they need. -Enter the Leaky Cauldron at One Diagon Alley from Charing Cross Road, and enter Diagon Alley through its back door. "

"Charing Cross?" someone protested. "I do deliveries there, but I've never seen a pot pub."

"It's the Leaky Cauldron. You'll see it, I promise," said Lockhart, "and you'll be surprised how many times you've been here without noticing it... sit down, I'm going to Lock the doors and set off."

The man who asked the question seemed dubious, but the car under his butt was more convincing than any argument, so he wisely chose not to express his opinion.

Around Charles Cross Road, Lockhart first put down the passengers, and then

The car turned a corner.

Taking advantage of no one around, he quickly used the Shrinking Charm to shrink the car and stuffed it into his pocket, and then joined the freshmen again.

But when he parked the car, the new wizards had already found a place

"The Leaky Cauldron...here it is, Daddy, right here!"

"What are you talking about, Enoch? Isn't this a record store?"

"It's right here! Take a good look, it's between the record store and the bookstore! It's so tattered, it's very conspicuous, isn't it?"

Io I think you must be too tired, child, these two stores are obviously next to each other. "

"No! Obviously, there's an old drunk pointing at us and laughing at us," Enoch argued.

Lockhart quickly walked a few steps: "Please keep your voice down! Don't draw the attention of others, I forgot to counter-curse you just now, I'm really sorry!"

He reached into the side pocket of his coat and gripped his wand tightly.

"The hint is lifted!" he yelled in a low voice.

The Muggle parents were shocked to find that a dilapidated and dirty tavern suddenly "squeezed" out between the two shops, and through the window they could still see the figures of people in the tavern, with glasses intertwined and The bustle of conversation was faintly audible.

Judging by the dust on the sign, it's clear the bar hasn't been here for the first time.How could I not notice this before?

"The name of the bar owner here is Tom. He is a good man, much better than the other Tom. The road into Diagon Alley is behind, please follow me." Lockhart greeted

Chapter 10 Professor Severus Snape

The sudden influx of a large group of Muggles immediately attracted the attention of the wizards in the bar.

丿亠",

They are also experienced, basically thinking about it, they know that there is a high probability that the Muggles who are coming now will be new Hogwarts families, but they are still unavoidably curious.

Yes, not only Muggles are curious about wizards, but wizards are also curious about Muggles.

The freshmen seemed a little cautious under the gaze of the wizards around them, and the parents were not much better, even though no one liked being surrounded by people like this.

"It's too impolite." A woman said in a low voice.

Tom, the owner of the bar, had noticed them when they were standing outside the shop, and had the waiter open the back door of the bar early.Seeing Lockhart come in, he immediately pointed to a corner of the store.

"He's waiting for you there, big star."

Lockhart knew who he was referring to, but he still greeted Boss Tom very friendly, and then looked at the man who stood up slowly in the corner.

The man was wearing a black wizard robe, with a serious expression, and his long hair hung down like kelp covering most of his face. Full of "keep close to strangers"

Lockhart walked over quickly: "Hi, Severus, I've kept you waiting.

"I don't think our relationship is good enough to call you by our given names...and Lockhart, you're five minutes late." Severus Snape said coldly.

Obviously, he doesn't like Lockhart.

Not only because Lockhart snatched his coveted Defense Against the Dark Arts professor

It is not a good fit for a "peacock" like Lockhart.

Lockhart didn't take offense at all, and the smile on his face remained undiminished: "I offended, Professor Snape. It rained yesterday, and weeds grew a lot. One student insisted on fulfilling the contract." , came back after mowing the neighbor's lawn, so I took a little time to help him."

"Understandable, but I thought that the flexibility of your brain was enough to make up for this time, but now it seems that it is not." Snape still had no good voice.

"Okay, enough time has been lost, let's go quickly, the next time my Yu will mess up is four hours later."

"But I want you to say hello to the parents of these new students first." Lockhart insisted, "This is the minimum courtesy."

Snape was about to turn around, but stopped after hearing this.

Lockhart could see clearly that Snape's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything in the end.

Then he gave Lockhart a hard look, and walked up to the group of new parents with his head held high.

"Parents of new students, I am the head of Hogwarts Slytherin House, Severus Snape, and also the professor of Potions at Hogwarts. Because your children are destined not to enter Slytherin, you can ask the person who brought you for the reason.

But no matter which house they are assigned to in the future, even if they are assigned to Hufflepuff: I also hope that they will pay more attention to the homework of Potions, because I usually don’t show much sympathy when it comes to deducting points and exams . "

After all, he nodded curtly as a salute.

The parents rushed to return the salute, but Snape turned away without waiting for them to finish.

Lockhart knew that Snape was actually not a rude person, but as the head of Slytherin House in the "Pure-Blood Wizard's Private Land", he couldn't be too affectionate with Muggles, otherwise those pure-blood wizards would Have an opinion on him.

But it was precisely because of this that he was sent by Dumbledore.Although the pure-blood wizards dare not openly harm these Muggles, it is not impossible to play tricks on them a little bit. With Snape here, they can save a lot of trouble.

He hurried forward to smooth things over: "As he said, this is my colleague, Professor Snape, who has always been very strict in educating students, perhaps second only to Gryffindor's dean, Professor McGonagall... Please Follow us, everyone, we are going to go shopping."

The freshmen were momentarily overwhelmed by Snape's aura, and it wasn't until Lockhart came over that they remembered what they were here for and hurriedly followed.

Coming to the back alley of the pub, Snape took out his wand and stopped in front of a wall.

"Come here to watch! I only do it once, if you can't remember, next time you can only ask others!"

The little wizards hurried up and tried to see more clearly.

"There is a trash can here, it won't move, then count three yuan up from here, and then count two yuan down the horizontal, click on it."

As his words fell, Snape's wand also clicked on the brick of the wall

After being touched by the magic wand, the brick seemed to be pulled out suddenly, revealing a gap.Then the bricks on both sides of the gap began to roll along the wall to both sides.

"Simple, right? I bet even a watery troll can remember seeing it once."

Ignoring the staring little wizards and parents behind him, Snape continued

Go forward.

"Come with me if you remember, first go to Gringotts to exchange coins, and then buy textbooks, robes and wands. As for their potion materials and garbage, I will check them this year, so as not to have bad copper garbage. Only to be burned by adding porcupine quills to the scabies potion without removing it from the fire."

Everyone was still looking at each other, obviously not understanding what Snape was talking about.

At this time, Lockhart can only come forward: "As I said at the beginning, Professor Snape is more...serious, but his attainments in potions can also be ranked among the top three in the entire wizarding world. Alright, let's Follow up!"

Everyone hurriedly followed Lockhart and Snape to the legendary Gringotts Bank.

Walking on the road, several freshmen who met in the car have secretly muttered in the back:

"Did you hear that, Mason? He said that the Potions professor was Head I of Slytherin"

■

"Also said the head of Gryffindor was stricter."

"I remember it mentioned in "I Can Be Magical" that Hogwarts has four major houses, besides them, there are Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

"I'd like to be sorted into Ravenclaw, sounds like an elite house... Hufflepuff would be okay if that doesn't work, I don't want to be sorted into that professor's house

"By the way, how are the schools divided? The professor chooses. Should we ask Dad to operate it in advance?"

"You mean bribery? I don't recommend acting rashly when you haven't figured out the nature of the professor. It's very risky."

Lockhart didn't know that his introduction had influenced the choice of a large group of young wizards for the branch, but he knew that he must consciously safeguard the honor of Hogwarts in front of outsiders.

Yao, and showed "consistency" with other professors, so even if he disagreed with Snape's cold attitude in his heart, he would not say it in front of outsiders.

Whether he likes it or not, after he borrows Hogwarts' influence to enter the Ministry of Magic, he will be labeled as a "Hogwarts Department".That being the case, what good would it do him to have a bad relationship with a Hogwarts professor?

Chapter 11 On the Muggle Attraction of the Wizarding World

Although in previous years, Gringotts Bank only allowed parents of Muggle students to exchange 200 Galleons, but this year's situation is quite special, because of the relationship between Lockhart and Ragnol's transaction, Gringotts suddenly also has the ability to exchange [-] Galleons. demand.

“200加隆以内按照5英镑1个加隆的汇率来计算，200到500之间的部分按照6:1的汇率，500到1500的部分要7英镑一个加隆，暂时不接受1500加隆以上的兑换。”妖精拉环向麻瓜父母们这么介绍说。

Snape was obviously a little strange when he heard this, but he still chose not to express his opinion after raising his eyebrows.

After the Goblin Rebellion, the wizards handed over control of Gringotts Bank to the goblins as a price for not letting the goblins have wands. As long as the bank still provides services to wizards, wizards cannot interfere with the goblin's business.

So as long as they don't hinder the enrollment of new students, no matter how the exchange rate is adjusted, it's the goblins' own business, and Snape has nothing to do with it.

On the way to Gringotts Bank, out of curiosity, the parents of these students also looked at the price signs in the window shop on the roadside, and had a preliminary understanding of the purchasing power of the wizarding world's currency.

"I'll exchange [-] pounds, and I'll give you the extra as a tip." Mrs. Mason said richly.