Hermione, join me as Minister of Magic!

If there is a sufficient source of magic power, they can even cast the traceless expansion spell on all the houses, but the price is that after the spell expires, everything inside is crushed, and so are people.

Therefore, the Ministry of Magic has always prohibited the use of the traceless stretching spell in the private field, especially in buildings. Only manufacturers that are supervised by the Ministry of Magic or have obtained a production license are allowed to produce items with the traceless stretching spell.For example, tents used for camping in the Quidditch game, official vehicles of the Ministry of Magic, and suitcases produced by Weizeac, etc., as well as important wizarding publics such as the Ministry of Magic, St. Mungo’s Hospital, and Hogwarts. place.

Strictly speaking, things like Lockhart and the Weasleys' car, and Hermione's beaded purse are illegal to cast the Stretching Charm.

So Lockhart would suggest that Rosmerta expand the house instead of casting a spell on the existing house.

"Why is it the fifth floor?" Rosmerta asked mockingly, "Can't it be higher?

■

"No, if it exceeds the fifth floor, the height of the water tower will not be able to generate enough water pressure." Lockhart replied solemnly, as if he didn't hear the irony in her tone at all.

Rosmerta almost lost his patience.

"You're crazy!" she asked violently, "Why build so many houses? Usually no one lives there."

Because the wizarding population is too small, the wizarding world doesn't even have a dedicated "hotel". Travelers can only stay at the homes of friends they know, or in pubs.Rosmerta's tavern, like the Leaky Cauldron, is responsible for half of the hotel.

"I must warn you that there will be many people next..."

"You mean your damn tournament, right? Even if it attracts hundreds of rich foreign tourists to our place, how long will they stay here? Half a month? A month? Three months?"

"Maybe more than half a year." Lockhart replied dryly.

"Well, that's half a year."

Rosmerta didn't want to entangle Lockhart in such details. Even if she wanted to entangle, she would only entangle him in the thicker places: "Then what about half a year later? I will guard the vacant three floors and go upstairs every day." Clean it twice? Now I'm tired enough of cleaning these two floors!"

"Well... if you believe me, I'll find customers for it in the future, and they will definitely be rich customers." Lockhart promised.

Rosmerta didn't believe it at all. Although she knew that Lockhart was good at fighting against black magic and all kinds of gestures that excited her, as for his administrative ability...she had never experienced it.

"You'd better keep hiding it from me until I know that there are still a group of me in the wizarding world."

Rich people I don't know. ' she said mockingly.

Lockhart shrugged: "Look, don't you already know who I'm going to invite?"

Chapter 160 IX Rejected

Because Rosmerta didn't believe he could do it, Lockhart decided to spend the night at the Three Broomsticks in order to punish her.

He wanted to use practical actions to force her to forgive her, but the proprietress was obviously someone who had seen big waves, so she easily put this internationally renowned wizard who had never been knocked down by a black wizard on the wooden couch.

After the "defeat", Lockhart couldn't help thinking, if the Death Eaters were half as capable as her, then he would never dare to be an enemy of them, but would switch to the enemy camp early.

After the cloud cleared, Lockhart leaned on the back of the bed and entered the sage time when he began to think about life.

"Rosmerta." He asked very abruptly, "Have you ever thought about... oo er, that... lifelong event?"

Rosmerta looked at him in surprise: "What do you want to say?"

"I mean...you see, I'm not young anymore, and everyone tells me that I should start a family..." Lockhart stammered, "I think it's better for people to settle down early, and you Similarly, I also have enough conditions for two people, or even more people to have a good life..."

Rosmerta looked at him blankly, then burst out laughing.

"Are you proposing to me? Here?" she asked amusedly. "Do you know how old I am?"

"Does it matter?" Lockhart dismissed it. "As wizards, we have plenty of ways to live until we don't want to. In the long years, the gap of teenagers and the gap of a day or two are nothing. The difference. Besides, even on the Muggle side, there are examples of 82-year-olds marrying 28-year-old partners. I don’t think it’s an obstacle

"No, no, you didn't understand what I meant." Rosmerta chuckled, "Since you know my age, you should think about why I haven't gotten married until now."

"Whatever, anyway, I feel that you look younger than my second sister who is only two years older than me..."

"Don't play tricks, don't interrupt." Rosmerta interrupted him, "For our family, there are always only two things to worry about, and that is "wealth" and housing and education"

"Could it be, birth, ooo"

' does not include 'family'. "Rosmerta smiled, "Before "The Three Broomsticks", the name of this bar was "Two Broomsticks: It was run by my mother."At Hogwarts, only the veterans like Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn know about this... Oh, I forgot, Professor Slughorn has already retired. "

Does this have any meaning? " Lockhart couldn't help asking.

"It turns out that you also have something you don't know-in fact, only witches ride brooms at first, not wizards...By the way, my child will definitely not be a man." Rosmerta pointed.

Lockhart: "!"

"In short, if I have a child in the future, I won't let you know who her father is...No one will know." Rosmerta added.

"Wait!" Lockhart began to have a headache, "If you don't know who the father of the child is, who will be responsible for her?"

"It depends on the men's sense of responsibility." Rosmerta said lightly, "It's best for all men to think that it's his child, or at least keep such a "possibility". ;No matter who this child asks for help in the future, the other party will not refuse...just like me. "

What she added at the end made Lockhart think a lot—it’s no wonder that an ordinary tavern proprietress has such a wide network of contacts. It seems that "Rosmerta" is not uncommon as the god of wealth and fertility in Celtic mythology reason.

"So, I can't agree to your marriage proposal, Gilderoy, and I can't accept your surname, and besides..."

Having said that, Rosmerta was silent for a while.

Lockhart couldn't help but look at her, only to find that Rosmerta was rubbing his temples, his mouth tightly shut.

"What else?"

Rosmerta hesitated, but opened his mouth again.

"In addition, you should find someone with feelings to marry, not for the so-called responsibilities imposed on you by society and family, you have the ability to refuse. Unlike those pure blood, and not like me, there are some things that cannot be refused. You There is no reason to jump back after standing at a height that others cannot reach."

Probably because she spoke the truth, so Lockhart was too embarrassed to say those false words to fool and prevaricate her.

She is right, she and she have never had so-called feelings, and now she wants to get married only because of the "well-intentioned persuasion" of her mother, colleagues and friends

"I just feel that I will never find the so-called 'perfect person' in my life

, so... see a good one and want to... hmm. ' explained Lockhart.

"Don't tell me this, and I don't want to hear it." Rosmerta stopped his words, "It's unnecessary, we've already talked too much."

The reason why ambiguity is ambiguous is because everyone knows that it will make things worse if they are clear, so they pretend to be stupid.

Seeing her resolute attitude, Lockhart had no choice but to change the subject.

"Okay, but to be honest, you really need to expand the tavern, and at least five viewing rooms need to be built. After the tournament is over, I won't let the infrastructure built by Hogsmeade go to waste, After all, this is the only pure wizarding village in the UK, and my future political base will depend on it, so I won't joke about it... okay?"

Rosmerta glanced at Lockhart, and reluctantly agreed to him after seeing that he really wasn't joking.

"Ok."

After sneaking out of Rosmerta's tavern through the back door, Lockhart realized that the morning seemed unusually cold.

The distance between the Three Broomsticks and the Screaming Shack is not too far away, and it can be said that they are the two buildings closest to the train station in Hogsmeade, so Lockhart was surprised when he walked on the path. His office was crowded with people.

As soon as these people saw Lockhart, they greeted him from a distance, and their expressions were anxious.

"Lockhart, where have you been! Take care of these guys!" a young wizard yelled at Lockhart.

Lockhart recognized it as an employee of the Owl Post Office.

"Sorry, I went to have breakfast... what happened?" he asked the group

"What else? Dementors! You didn't say they could still enter the village!

said the post office clerk angrily. "My owls have been restless for a long time!"

"Yes!" The owner of Zuko's joke shop was also very dissatisfied, "How can I do business with this kind of thing in the village?"

Lockhart sighed.

The Ministry of Magic's decision to use Dementors to "defend" Hogwarts was a collective decision, as the Ministry simply had no more manpower

Although Lockhart disapproved of the resolution deep down, he had to agree with the Ministry of Magic in front of these "outside the system".

He has been taught by others, but there is no way, as long as he is still working in the Ministry of Magic, he must bear the blame, even if he is actually a member of the Department of International Magical Affairs Cooperation.

"Gentlemen...and ladies, unfortunately, until Sirius Black is re-arrested, this place will probably remain like this."

Chapter 170 The Dementors Settle in

The people in Hogsmeade had no objection to the use of dementors to defend Hogsmeade, or they had no feeling at all.Because in their view, it is the same whether the Ministry of Magic sends people or magical creatures to guard them.

But it wasn't until the dementors settled in the village that they realized that the difference was really too big

Even if they don't enter the village, they can have a huge impact on the life and business of the villagers, let alone wait until they enter the village.

So they immediately began to surround the only representative of the Ministry of Magic in Hogsmeade - that is, Lockhart.

"Gidero, you have to find a way to deal with them!" They all complained to Lockhart.

Lockhart didn't mind having these people around him, although it would keep him busy and troublesome, but...it also added to his authority, didn't it?

When a group of people rely on and can only rely on you to do things, isn't power coming?

Lockhart raised his hand, signaling for everyone to be calm.

"Please be quiet... Can anyone tell me where the dementors are gathered now?" he asked.

"At the train station." The boss of Wenrenju replied with a steely face.

It's the end of August, but the boss's upper and lower teeth were still shaking when he spoke, as if winter hadn't passed yet

"I just came back from my relatives in Gloucestershire, and I was surrounded by them and 'examined' for ten minutes... But my luggage has already been passed back through the fireplace. Could it be that my robes seem to be able to hold What does the next wanted man look like?" He

questioned.

"I'm so sorry." Lockhart hastily cast a happy spell to make him feel better, "Have some more chocolate later, it will make you feel better. oo I'll go and talk to Rosmer later Ta said to ask her to increase her supply of hot cocoa for a while."

Lockhart wanted to pass by sloppily, but failed to do so, and someone immediately added:

"This won't solve the problem, you have to come up with a plan... At least not let them gather at the station."

The man's words aroused the approval of the onlookers.

Although wizards can disapparate, walk by the fireplace, sit on the broom, touch the door key, or take the knight bus, the boss of Wenrenju obviously doesn't like any of these ways of moving

Apparition is a relatively advanced magic, not everyone can do it, and if you apparate over a long distance, the risk of splitting is particularly huge, and the rough driving method and long journey time of the knight bus are not liked by some wizards. Riding on a broom and because of the "Secrecy Act", it is necessary to fly at high altitudes in a state of invisibility, and the icy air in the high altitudes is obviously not very suitable for older wizards like the boss of Wenrenju.

Although the fireplace and portkeys are relatively safe, there are indeed wizards with Floo powder and halo teleportation in this world, and there are quite a few of them. Harry Potter himself hates portkeys and apparition very much. He would not have traveled this way at the time.

So they would rather take the train, at least more stable.

—Once the station is occupied by dementors, at least the number of wizards coming to Hogsmeade by train will definitely decrease a lot, which will have a huge impact on the village's economy.

"Why do they occupy the station?" Some residents asked their companions strangely.

Without Lockhart answering, the owner of the joke shop answered for him first: "Because it's the woodland closest to the lake, dementors like damp, dark, and rotten smells.

"Then why don't these bastards go live in the swamp?"

This time it was Lockhart's turn to explain: "Because there's no...um...food."

Then he found that everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to give himself an explanation.

Well, what should I say? "Because the Ministry of Magic's finances are tight, so they invited free dementors to help guard them. For this reason, they secretly borrowed official business to obtain some "food", and the Ministry of Magic will not care"?

Just kidding, if he was really "honest", these people would definitely beat him up without saying a word, even if they couldn't beat Lockhart.

This is like marching and fighting in ancient times, the general sometimes had to turn a blind eye to the occasional massacre of villages and indiscriminate killing of innocent people by his subordinates." Even if he knows that this is "wrong", but if the subordinates cannot get enough Good thing, that ghost will work hard for you.

No, even if ghosts work for you, ghosts will still benefit from it.

So Lockhart knew that as long as the dementors didn't kill people, Fudge would never care about such trivial things as they went to the village every now and then to search for a little "food".

And Dumbledore couldn't object violently - because it was protecting Potter.

In other words, no matter who handles this matter, it will not go well. If it is done well, it will be blamed, and if it is not done well, it will be blamed.

In this case, the first thing he had to do was to clarify his position—whether he was on the side of the Ministry of Magic, the side of the Dementors, the side of Hogwarts, or the side of Hogsmeade.

...Do you even need to think about it?

"Obviously, this bunch of garbage from the North Sea is getting carried away." Lockhart frowned and said, "Although the Ministry of Magic hasn't informed me yet, I don't think they mean it...I'm going to talk to you later. The dementors "talk to the heart", telling them that dogs should behave like dogs. "

Lockhart's credit was not bad, and his decisive statement quickly appeased the residents of Hogsmeade.

However, the residents also know that it is impossible for the dementors to completely withdraw from Hogsmeade, not to mention that they are also very worried that Sirius Black will enter Hogsmeade and wreak havoc—that guy has blown up the entire Hogsmeade. A ruthless character in a street.

"We trust you to handle them," they said.

Back in the room, Lockhart stretched out his hand and pulled Sirius up from the carpet without saying a word.

Because it was still morning, the big black dog hadn't woken up yet, and after Lockhart suddenly called him up, he was dragged out of the door from the cushion before he could figure out the situation.

"Dobby, keep it under control, I'm going to take it with me to find the dementor!" Lockhart yelled, "If I get entangled by a dementor, you'll have to drag me back with this dog. "