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

In this way, although Bella was still suspicious of Lockhart, and she didn't eat the food and wine he brought, she finally got the hook on Lockhart.

Chapter 61: Lockhart's Performance

For Lockhart, it's easy to see from the other side's movements and gestures whether they're on the defensive.

Bella had selectively accepted some of his rhetoric, and it was immediately reflected in her posture—the body language of defensiveness and avoidance was now relaxed and attentive.

After seeing these actions, Lockhart was like a singer after hearing the judges say "please start your performance".

In order to strengthen his persuasion, he took out dozens of domestic and foreign newspapers marked with red circles and highlights, and then explained to Bella with a kind of "sick child-like (Snape glee. Fan, said how he judged that the Dark Lord was hiding in the great forest of Albania.

These things are well-founded and logical, and many details can't be faked as soon as you hear them—of course, these are all summed up by Dumbledore, and have nothing to do with Lockhart, but it's a pity that Bella doesn't know.

In order not to raise Bella's suspicions, Lockhart did not use any magic when speaking about this, but used a series of psychological hints.

For example, he comes up with "I've done everything else, but now I need a little help from you anyway" to increase Bella's guilt. Although he didn't think Bella would feel sorry for anyone but Voldemort, she was equally imprisoned by the "subconscious";

For another example, when Lockhart expressed his views, he always used the inductive inquiry commonly used by MLM experts to make hints, so that Bella mistakenly thought that his remarks were generated by her own ideas;

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

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

In addition, when expounding his point of view, Loha kept using his body language, such as gently nodding to induce Bella, using his eyes to strengthen his tone, and using "selective cues" to induce Bella's thinking... These are all required courses for a public-facing civil servant, and it's really overkill to deal with these wizards with little knowledge.

After gaining trust, the next thing is much easier.

As the ultimate purpose of this trip, Lockhart took out the "great achievements" that Quirrell had done last year, and took it for himself. Even have summed up the routine in the diary.

With a flamboyant look, Lockhart showed Bella a copy of last year's Daily Prophet, pointing to the news of the theft of Vault 713, saying that it was all his own doing—how he planned it so carefully , found out where Nicole LeMay's vault was; how he tricked the terrifyingly fat Ukrainian iron-bellied dragon from Gringotts; and how he avoided the door that sucked people in, and finally Got the Philosopher's Stone...

He speaks so vividly and vividly that in order to deceive Bella, Lockhart can be considered to have used all his writing skills.

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

Bella's eyes widened when she heard this - because she did hear about it last year, and some Death Eaters had tried to get her the news, but she didn't know who it was and how it turned out. .

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

Lockhart shrugged when he heard this, then cast it on himself in front of Bella.

He took out a red stone from the pocket of the Traceless Expansion Spell and pointed it towards Azkaban.

A single stroke on the wall of the prison turned a large piece of stingy brick into gold.

And just when Bella touched the golden brick in surprise, Dumbledore, who was hiding aside, also secretly took back the wand in his sleeve, so as not to reveal any flaws.

He was the one who used the substitution spell just now, replacing a large piece of gold given by Lockhart with a brick of the wall - and Lockhart really paid a price 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 are not comparable to those with a wand.

After confirming that the wall tiles had indeed been permanently "turned" into gold, Bella finally gave up her suspicions - since Lockhart "used" to invade Vault 713, then it was natural to invade the Lestrange's vault It's not a problem, but he is still willing to come to him, which shows that he really doesn't mean to lie to himself.

U!

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

It will come very quickly. ' Lockhart told Bella: 'Everyone will see the sun again soon

, the problem now is only one of this great master..."

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

Under Lockhart's eloquent words, Bella finally agreed to write an authorization document: agreed 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 gold cup, he said it was important to him, and he could sense it at any time. As long as you take it to the Albanian forest, you will—surely find the Dark Lord...

By the way, I also cast a permanent copy spell on everything in the vault, and the master's magic is left on the cup, so be careful. But only in the vault

Mark the Dark Lord's mark in it—you know which spell it is—and shout out your allegiance, and those protective spells will be temporarily ineffective. "

"It turns out that you are really very careful, and you deserve to be the "loyal first" person, I heard all the companions say so. said Lockhart "moved".

Although he had already set out what he wanted, in line with the professionalism of an actor, Lockhart decided to play this play to the end. If it wasn't for the fear that it would be too much to act again, he would have shed two tears for the occasion.

"If all the Death Eaters were as loyal as you, the Dark Lord's cause would be unstoppable... Unlike the **** Lucius, who wouldn't even pay for the trip and said we were wasting our time, but he But I didn't know that I got the Philosopher's Stone, so I could fight against Han Fengnai

LUstzJ

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

She let out a sneer: "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 overjoyed to hear this—because it was also her point of view.

"Take it, go quickly, every minute we delay, our master and our hearts will suffer for another year." She handed over the signed power of attorney

"The Dark Lord will certainly appreciate your contributions in the future," Lockhart said solemnly.

After hearing that Voldemort had indeed given something to Bella, and that he had already learned the location of the thing, Dumbledore did not go to find Sirius Blake, who was also imprisoned in Azkaban, because he had already There is no need.

Everything that followed was logical - they came to Gringotts with their group,

Then Lockhart found Ragno and used Bella's authorization document to obtain permission to enter the Lestrange family's vault.

Seeing Snape staring at him all the time, Lockhart made an interesting excuse to say that he was still busy, and after handing Bella's power of attorney to Snape, he didn't get off in the car, and returned directly through Floo fans. When he got to his own office at Hogwarts, he didn't know anything about 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 politician who is "smart tongue and acting", and through Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and the establishment of the dueling club, he showed Dumbledore that he was obsessed with power despite his fascination with power. , but at least it is indistinct and quite capable.

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

Lockhart could imagine that Dumbledore would continue to test himself. You have to show your "usefulness" to not be considered an outcast, and at the same time show your slickness appropriately to tell Dumbledore that he is someone who can be used, but not someone who can be used for free. man, 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, at dinner, Dumbledore took the initiative to talk to Lockhart about what happened next.

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

When Dumbledore entered the Lestrange's vault, he saw that

Gold Cup—he knew it was Hufflepuff's Gold Cup, and it was lost years ago

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

Now it seems, where did those two things go...

Diaries, and Hufflepuff's Gold Cup...what else is out there? Where did the locket that disappeared at the same time as Jinbei go?

Of course, Dumbledore wouldn't take the initiative to tell Lockhart about these questions, and Lockhart was far from reaching the point where he could trust him, so he could only talk on the side.

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

Chapter 62 Accept this sweet control

Before coming to the headmaster's office, Lockhart really didn't expect Dumbledore to ask such a straightforward question. But after thinking about it, he also understood - Dumbledore looked down on power at all, and I'm afraid he didn't think that this kind of thing was worth his time wasting, so of course he cut the mess quickly and solved it quickly. wonderful.

Lockhart put down his fork and took a sip of wine while thinking about how to deal with the headmaster's questioning. When he put down the wine glass, a set of rhetoric was already prepared in his heart.

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

Dumbledore interrupted his chatter: "So, you're going to fix this? That's a good idea, but you should know, that's not what I'm asking."

"Then what do you hope for?" Lockhart asked rhetorically. "If I remember correctly, if you wanted to get the job as Minister of Magic, you could have done it just by virtue of your reputation. I can't imagine it. You will have ten needs in this area."

"People don't do the same thing in every way, Gilderoy, and after seeing how you did today, I'm even more convinced of this idea—even though I may be nearly four times your age, in In that case, I may not be able to do a quarter of what you have shown." Dumbledore said as he cut the calf liver from the plate.

You are over the top, Headmaster. Lockhart nodded humbly.

He knew that Dumbledore was talking nonsense. As long as Dumbledore wanted to, he could secretly give Bella the Veritaserum, or use Legilimency, or even Imperius on her directly, and Bella obviously wouldn't have anything. Resistance.

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

"If you wanted to tell me, of course you would." 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—like the money, We can use it to invest in oil.

"Then what would you think if I told you that maybe one day you'll pay a higher price for it?"

"I am willing to admit defeat, Headmaster. I have gained your favor from this matter, obtained the qualification of Lucius Malfoy's partner, and at the same time obtained more wealth for myself, if it really puts me in prison one day Disaster, or worse - such as death or torture, that's my fault, adults need to learn to be responsible for themselves."

Hearing the words "die or be tortured", Dumbledore stopped cutting himself - judging from the food that had been cut into pieces on the plate, his mind was obviously not on eating.

"You seem to know your situation very well," he said.

"Of course, Mrs. Lestrange seems to be certain that You-Know-Who will return, which surprises me enough...or rather, the fact that You-Know-Who is alive. Although unlikely, if it does happen, my deceit today will definitely cost me dearly. "

While speaking, Lockhart frivolously lifted the ham on his fork, signaled it, and put it into his mouth.

"You're braver than I thought...or more like a gambler." Dumbledore

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

"The odds of winning the bet are better if you're willing to give me some guarantee." Lockhart hit the snake with his stick.

Dumbledore sighed after hearing this.

"Although you can no longer be regarded as 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 too - I have always been very curious, 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 'struggle for power', and I prefer to call it 'self-actualization'" Lockhart said generously: "I have an ideal, an ideal to eliminate the trade in black magic items, an ideal to eliminate pure blood , the ideal of a half-blood war, an ideal that aspires to restore order in the wizarding world, which cannot be achieved without power."

"That does sound much better." Dumbledore smirked, "if they're all true."

Lockhart asked seriously: "Only my own heart knows whether this kind of thing is true. But for you, why should you stick to the truth of the "purpose"? As long as I do all these righteous things, then what is the original intention or purpose of doing this thing, does it really matter? "

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

"If that's your wish, Headmaster," Lockhart said lightly, "Life is precious, but sooner or later we will lose it, if we can't

What traces are left during this period, then what is the meaning of our afterlife? "

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 praise me for being erudite, I haven't tried to understand it from the beginning to the end, or I subconsciously think it is too tempting, or to put it another way, I am cowardly face it."

"But under your rule, there have been many great statesmen at Hogwarts.

Lockhart raised his cup and gave the headmaster a symbolic toast: "The reason why society has a division of labor is because everyone has what they are good at and what they are not good at. If the genius is those who can find A and directly see Those who reach E, then we ordinary people are responsible for filling up the existence of B, C, and D in the middle."

"Very novel statement, Gilderoy, it seems that we need to talk more in the future, and Hogwarts is not the best stage to show all your abilities."

To hear him say that? Lockhart knew it was more than half done: "Thank you

:headmaster. "

"You're welcome, you deserve 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 and profitable approach all these years?

I mean, of the people you've "visited", there are just two of my old friends, and I know a thing or two about their experiences. But when I went back to them, they didn't Not having any memory of those experiences at all, 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 the principal in the eye, "because I do need fame and money, but I don't want to get them.

Spend too much time on things. "

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 could not 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 was meant to be on Dumbledore's side.

In other words, it may not be a bad thing for Dumbledore to know that this handle is just like in British politics. Politicians have the handle in the hands of people with real power, and people in real power can feel more at ease when they use this person.

Anyway, Lockhart believes in Dumbledore's character or wisdom. He will never talk about this nonsense, but will use this handle to try to control himself, which is his own purpose.