Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

Not only was the meal full of meat, peas, and vegetables, but Lockhart was kind enough to bring out a good bottle of wine to reinforce Rita Skeeter's notion of "reward"

However, Rita Skeeter was obviously very hungry. During the month of turning into a beetle, although she consumed a lot less, she also ate a lot less.

She didn't have time to taste the deliciousness of the food served by Lockhart, and she didn't care about her own image, she just ate without thinking, which was very different from her previous attitude of putting on airs in everything she did.

In other words, she has broken the pot.

In front of true psychological masters, if they just want to make others obey themselves, they actually don't need the Imperius Curse at all.The Death Eaters who rely on the Imperius Curse to do their work have already fallen into the lower ranks.

Just like the general concept of DND mages, it is the true ability of mages to solve problems without using spell slots.When you have to use spells, the mage has already lost.

After the food on the plate was wiped out like a storm, Rita Skeeter let out a sigh of relief, and her IQ flowed back to her brain along with the nutrients in the food.

After hitting a stick, of course he had to give her another sweet date, so Lockhart gave her another 100 Galleons, and told her to report to him every week who contacted her.

He kicked Rita Skeeter out the door.

He is not afraid that Rita Skeeter will change her mind, because she has no reason to change her mind whether it is from the perspective of psychological hints, handles or interests.

It is believed that as long as her anti-lion media banner is still alive, Lockhart and Dumbledore's political enemies will use her to handle affairs, and Lockhart can use her to grasp all the movements of the opposition.

Just as he cross-examined a little, Rita Skeeter betrayed Umbridge behind her back.

At first, Lockhart wondered why even Fudge had made peace with him, and someone still wanted to screw him, but when he heard that it was Umbridge who wanted to screw him, Lockhart understood everything.

This woman is greedy for power, superstitious about authority, ruthless, and even disregards IQ and family affection in pursuit of power.And judging from the fact that she instructs the dementors to attack Harry Potter in the original book, her obsession with power has reached the point of insanity

Lockhart would not be surprised if she realized her threat and acted aggressively.

What puzzled him was how Umbridge made the dementors obey.

Because dementors and the Ministry of Magic are theoretically only a cooperative relationship, they are not obedient, and they will not sell news that is not good for them just because of simple coercion, especially the "delicious" that they have eaten.

Although the Ministry of Magic allows them to suck the happiness of prisoners, it strictly guards against them sucking human souls, lest they get worse after tasting the sweetness, so Lockhart thought that he used a piece of Voldemort's soul to bribe the dementors. will be exposed

But it now appears that Umbridge has more control over the dementors than he imagined.

Deeper, and the method she used to command the dementors was by no means simply threatening with the Patronus Charm.

This is interesting.

Regardless of whether he will be exposed in the future, Lockhart does not intend to "sell out" Dumbledore before Voldemort returns, he will kill Azkaban who only went to Azkaban by himself.

This will certainly put him under more pressure, but when the victory comes, he can also get more benefits from it, so this risk can still be taken.

After figuring it out, Lockhart immediately started writing the letter.

Now that he has figured out that it is only Umbridge's personal behavior to mess with himself, he might as well take this opportunity to sell favors to Fudge and leave this matter to him, while he frees up his hands and takes Deng The benefits promised by Bullido will be discussed first after getting the hands.

Soon, Fudge received the letter from Lockhart's owl.He read the content and was furious.

He immediately called Umbridge over, scolded her, and ordered her to stop.

It wasn't that he was annoyed that Umbridge had taken on Lockhart, but that she had dared to take matters into her own hands and disrupt Fudge's own arrangements.

"But, Minister...I'm helping you," Umbridge argued.

"You're sending me to the fireplace." Fudge answered bluntly, "Politics is not like that, Dolores, the purpose of the fight is to better compromise, not to drive people to death .”

II "■■■

"Nothing to do" but' Bai Shao, this is how the game is played, whoever breaks the rules first must rebuild a set of order, otherwise no one will go with you. "

Maybe it was because he found himself talking too much, and Fudge felt that he shouldn't be too much to his "loyal" subordinates, so he started to take back the words.

"...That's it, either don't do it, or don't be discovered if you do it. If you are discovered, there must be a remedy. If there is none of these, then the destroyed person will definitely not be our opponent, but our opponent." .”

Although Fudge really lacks courage, he has always handled politically well, and this is also the best part he has done in the past ten years as a minister.

From this perspective, after the "Goblet of Fire" plot, Dumbledore and Fudge's parting ways cannot be said to be all Fudge's fault.

Because from the perspective of the Minister of Magic, Dumbledore was trying to re-establish a new order, and his purpose was to end his own rule. It was Dumbledore who broke the "rules" first.

Even if Voldemort really came back, Dumbledore should not have announced that Voldemort had returned just after the Triwizard Tournament was over and guests from home and abroad gathered together, because it would be easy to be misunderstood.

According to the rules, Dumbledore should first cover up this matter, then secretly come to Fudge to discuss it, and then use Fudge to convene a group of highly respected "elites" to make a collective decision, and finally declare martial law through the Ministry of Magic, instead of making his own decision .

Outsiders may not be able to understand Fudge's thinking, but Lockhart is very able to understand this politician's thinking.

If Lockhart were Dumbledore, he would have stabilized the Diggory family immediately, and then notified the Ministry of Magic's senior management, making a clear statement, saying, "Now the wizarding world is in a critical moment, and I call on everyone to join hands Come, unite closely under the central banner of the Ministry of Magic represented by Fudge, and overcome the difficulties together."

Only by being the first to show that he has no intention of seizing power can Dumbledore win Fudge's support, instead of surrounding him with a group of Lions at the awards ceremony of the Triwizard Tournament, forcing Fudge to make an immediate decision in front of everyone. decide, it's easy to let

People thought that Dumbledore was pushing for power.

Therefore, although no one will deny that Dumbledore is a great wizard, Lockhart still believes that Dumbledore does not understand what power struggles are, and he lacks this sensitivity to power.

And what Lockhart is doing now is in line with Fudge's philosophy: fighting without breaking is the correct form of political struggle, rather than pretending to turn the table at every turn.

"Tell you, Dolores. Lucius has already told me about Lockhart's entry into Azkaban." Fudge confessed to Umbridge.

Umbridge's eyes widened in such a way that Fudge thought her eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

"Already?" Umbridge repeated.

"Yes, I said it. It's just that their pure-blood family is going to take advantage of it."

"Idle funds' are used for investment, so I found a way to get the gold out of those people's hands. Anyway, idle is idle, and it will only be cheaper for those goblins if they keep piling up in the vault."

"Why hasn't anyone told me about this before?" Umbridge's disappointment asked.

The emotion is beyond words.

Fudge answered her angrily: "If it were you, would you talk about how to make a lot of money?"

Chapter 140 Three Job Arrangement

Fudge scolded Umbridge, and then called the spokesperson of the Ministry of Magic's Public Information Office and asked them to issue a statement, saying, "The Ministry of Magic is planning to conduct a large-scale review of newspapers and media recently. Take care of the unscrupulous rumor-mongering by the irresponsible media", which can be regarded as an explanation to the people of Dumbledore's faction.

Of course Lockhart knew what Fudge meant, so he followed suit and took the opportunity of holding a new book signing in Diagon Alley, surrounded by reporters, to announce his entry into the Ministry of Magic in a high-profile manner.

When he was in school, he had already finished writing his new book "Dancing with the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets", and Whiz-Hard Company also confirmed the publication and publicity with amazing efficiency, and planned to use the Quidditch World Cup During the window period before the qualifiers, new books were put on the market.

Although the sales volume of the new book is not yet known, according to Ms. Logan, the editor-in-chief, judging from the pre-order situation alone, the sales volume must be "unprecedented".

In addition to the number of pre-sales, even publishing houses in Germany, France, the United States, Italy, Greece, and Spain have purchased the translation rights and copyrights of this book, and started simultaneous promotion, which also gave Huiz Harder Company with great confidence.

It seems that everyone wants to know about the Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets.

The circle of the wizarding world is really not very big, and any dragon that raises a nest of eggs can become news for half a week, not to mention Hogwarts, which used to be T0P7 and is now the head of TP0 (the British call it themselves). Every move, no matter how small, cannot but become news.

However, at the new book signing event, Lockhart showed rare humility, did not overemphasize his "credit" and "achievements", but focused on looking forward to his future.

"Since that person left, the wizarding world has ushered in the most prosperous decade ever, and this is inseparable from the joint efforts of the Ministry of Magic."

"On the road to eradicating black magic, what one person can do is limited. Only the power of an organization can kill black magic in its infancy."

"This is a new topic for me, because my enemy is no longer concrete, but an abstract force."

"I sincerely hope that the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets is the last dark magic creature I'll ever deal with."

His rhetoric was quite satisfactory on the whole. Apart from flattering the Ministry of Magic, he completely avoided talking about his position in the Ministry of Magic, expressing that he would obey the assignment.

Many people, especially the fans who came to the scene to ask for autographs felt sorry for Lockhart, and there were even many people who thought that Lockhart's appointment was a great loss for the magic world.

None of them could figure out why Lockhart had retired at the peak of his career and turned to politics, which was not a glorious job in the eyes of wizards.

In this regard, Lockhart can only think that these wizards are still too ignorant

Best-selling authors, social activists, and lawyers, it is very normal for people in these professions to turn to politics in the Muggle world, especially those who go through the parliamentary and party systems.

For example, Czech President Vaclav Havel was a playwright before he became prime minister. The current British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is actually a writer. If you count the time when the United States was founded, there are not a few presidents who have written books. .

As for lawyers, there are more. For example, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, British Prime Minister Lloyd, and more than half of the presidents of the United States are actually lawyers. These countries under the Western system can be said to be genuine "rule the country with lawsuits."

So, when Rowling finished the seven parts of Harry Potter and said Hermione

When coming and going to "become a lawyer", many Chinese expressed regret for this, thinking that such a smart person should play a greater role instead of spending the rest of his life in legal provisions and litigation.Later, when they learned that Hermione became the Minister of Magic, some people would feel incredible because of this, and asked, "Didn't you become a lawyer?"

This is the misunderstanding caused by differences in civilization, customs, and systems. If ordinary people in Western society want to get ahead, it is natural to switch from a lawyer to a politician. It is relatively normal for people from the industrial system to rule the country Weird existence.

This is the reason why Lockhart chose to join Dumbledore. In addition to such illusory things as values ​​and political ideals, the more important thing is that as a best-selling author, Lockhart's foundation lies in "common people" rather than "Superstructure", so it is easier to rise to the line of the lion faction.

Conversely, if he is a "pure blood" wizard and his family has many contacts in the magic world, even if he appreciates Dumbledore's political ideals, he will not hesitate to choose the Snake faction to join him.

This is politics, where positions and interests always take precedence over ideas and feelings.

It is unknown how far Lockhart will go in the future, but at least for now, even the Ministry of Magic dare not wear shoes for him, because it will cause a large number of wizards and civilians to protest.

Even if it was Lockhart's own wishes.

In the office, Fudge went up against the police.

"What? Amnestics? What are you kidding?"

Cuthbert Mockridge, who is in charge of the Personnel and Goblin Liaison Office, shrugged: "This is Lockhart's own wishes. He said that he has a very good relationship with Peasegood, and that Peasegood will soon To be promoted, he will be promoted faster if he fills in...

"Absolutely not!" Fudge refused without thinking, "What would the outside world think of the Ministry of Magic if it were known that we had assigned this 'hero' the job of an amnestic? "

Because of the existence of the "Wizard Secrecy Act", amnestics can be said to be low-level employees of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and their status is far inferior to that of Aurors, Strikers, and members of the Law Enforcement Team.

The work they do is tiring and complicated, and they are on the go all year round, and their salary is not very high.

If the Ministry of Magic arranged for Lockhart to do this job, the newspapers would definitely not speak well of Fudge, and it would be the mildest to ridicule him for his small belly.

"I really don't understand that the Auror office is the most suitable position for him." Fudge complained, "I can elevate him and let him attend some pro-people activities from time to time to show the public the Ministry of Magic's efforts to maintain peace and tranquility." Determination. It is safe, the salary is high, and you can often show off..."

Mockridge also sighed: "Perhaps this is exactly what he wants to avoid. He wants real power, even if it is just the real power of the memory cancellation office, it is better than being made a puppet."

"Yeah, that old lion Scrimgeour...he won't tolerate any indiscipline in his subordinates." Fudge nodded repeatedly.

"In that case, how about putting him in my goblin liaison office?" Mockridge had an idea, and the relationship between Wuye and Gringotts was said to be pretty good.

"No." Fudge said angrily, "I remember that you and the goblin have negotiated many times, but there seems to be no results, right?"

Mockridge was a little embarrassed: "That's because..."

"So, you want to see him come into your office and quickly fix everything to shame you?" Fudge asked rhetorically.

Now Mockridge was silent again.

I heard that Ragnor of Gringotts hardly invited any humans to the promotion banquet, only Lockhart and his brother-in-law were invited. This relationship is obviously much better than the relationship between himself and Gonuk.

For the sake of his position, he really couldn't lure wolves into his house, and Fudge would not allow his trusted position to be taken away by outsiders.

In the end, it was Fudge himself who made the decision.

"Let's promise Barty Crouch and let him join the Department of International Magical Cooperation! Let Crouch worry about this problem," he said.

"Wonderful! This way he won't have access to specific domestic affairs." Mockridge praised, "It's just that Crouch is too old-fashioned, and I'm afraid he won't get along well with that peacock man."

Immediately, he saw the meaning from Fuji's blooming smiling face—this is what I want!

Chapter 140 Four Flexible People

In mid-June, when Lockhart returned to London after finishing his new book promotion tour in several wizarding settlements such as Diagon Alley, Godric's Hollow, Foley Village, and Hogsmeade, he was very pleased to learn that Two new news:

The first one is the exams at Hogwarts—although almost every year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts final exams have some small problems, but in the two exams of W.Ls and NEWTs, Hogwarts of students maintain a very high pass rate.

For example, in the fifth grade, the pass rate of this course is 100%, and the excellent rate has reached nearly one-third of the students.In the seventh grade NEWTs, the pass rate is also 100%, and only one person did not get it.

It seems that whether it is a wizard or a Muggle, as long as the review is systematic and sufficient, getting good grades becomes a matter of course, and it is not in vain that Lockhart copied his own experience of being admitted to Oxford University.

The only fly in the ointment is that because too many people passed this year, Ms. Geselda Marchban said that next year's exam will be more difficult, which is bad news for this year's seventh graders.

In addition, the sixth graders who took Lockhart courses last year will also be promoted to seventh grade this year.It is conceivable that no matter who is the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, he is probably going to be very busy

But no matter what: Lockhart can take this glorious teaching resume to take office, and it is the kind that is full of confidence.

The second thing is that the Department of Personnel and Administration of the Ministry of Magic sent a notification letter, saying that after ""passing a strict review", he has been allowed to enter the Ministry of Magic and asked him to go to the Ministry of Magic before July 7st. , reporting to Director Barty Crouch of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

Outside the dagger, "recite knowledge and letter l~i do not note the sun and the moon-TlW: Fugan I3's arrival is generous; husband" also enters the well

From the red phone booth next to the Prime Minister's office, dial 62442 to enter the basement five of the Ministry of Magic, and register your wand.

However, he has entered the Ministry of Magic countless times in the last year, and he has become very familiar with the employees there, so this is somewhat redundant. into the office fireplace

Moreover, according to the regulations of the Ministry of Magic, only high-ranking officials such as the Minister of Magic, the Deputy Minister, and the Director, or Aurors in emergency situations, can enter the Ministry of Magic through apparation.