Seeing Lockhart's stern expression, Master Newt took the initiative to explain it to him.

"The basilisk is afraid of rooster crowing because it is fatal to it - but rooster crowing is not easy to learn, because you have to simulate not only the sound of the rooster, but also an emotion in the sound This kind of longing for the arrival of light, and at the same time declaring that this is the domineering of your own territory, this is very important... I'll teach you."

\"I..." Lockhart didn't know how to respond.

Just when Mrs. Scamander came over with her afternoon tea, the two old and young men were outside the sunny house, like madmen, learning to croak.

During this period, many people in the village passed by, and when they saw the actions of the old and the young, they all laughed and bent over.

Lockhart felt a fever on his face, but in order to take care of the old urchin's mood, he could only force himself to study hard.

After about a dozen voices, Newt finally said it was almost done, remembering this feeling should make the basilisk immobile.

And Lockhart also secretly made up his mind that even if he was bitten to death by the basilisk, he didn't want to learn how to croak in front of anyone again.

Even so, after seeing Newt's excited look, he still didn't know how to refuse.

He knew very well that if he dared to talk about politics and magic with Newt, the other party would definitely kick him out. Only when it comes to magical creatures, they have some common language.

It's just that he really didn't expect that the old man is so old that he can still remember his original intention, which is no different from him in his twenties.

Lady Scamander rescues Lockhart.

She brought refreshments and let the two of them have a good rest, saying that if they continued, the hens in the chicken coop would be so noisy that they couldn't lay eggs, and Newt stopped in a hurry.

You have a good understanding and learn quickly. Your hunting ground keeper told me that a family of horned camels have recently moved into the forbidden forest, and I will teach you the horned camel courtship dance..."

Thanks, will never come again. Lockhart said heartily.

Dumbledore introduced Newt to him because Newt had many disciples and grandchildren in the Department of Magical Creatures of the Ministry of Magic, and if there were no surprises, Newt would be responsible for editing the textbooks for the next ten years of magical creatures. All Hogwarts students who take the Protection of Magical Creatures class are his apprentices.

In addition, this big man has also fought on the front line against Grindelwald. If such a person is willing to become a banner against Voldemort, the effect may be no less than Harry Potter joining the Order of the Phoenix.

Unfortunately, it took Lockhart half an hour to confirm that Newt would never join the Order of the Phoenix

Rather than a Hufflepuff, he is more like a Ravenclaw cynic, who just wants to study for life in his favorite field, and doesn't like participating very much.

and politics.

This is of course the reason why Dumbledore likes this student, but it is a bit reluctant to count on him to take the initiative to participate in any political events. If the Voldemort group did not harm his close relatives or friends, I am afraid that Newt would not react at all.

It is better to maintain a certain goodwill as it is now.

Probably because Lockhart didn't say anything "off-topic", so the old man also seemed very talkative 5 After entertaining Lockhart after afternoon tea, he wanted to keep him for dinner 5 but was waited by Lockhart as Dumbledore The excuse to speak back declined.

Before leaving, Lockhart also saw the legendary Sniff.

At this time, it seems to be dying. Judging from the fact that its eyes are abnormally cloudy and the color of its claws has changed from a healthy T to dark brown, its lifespan is probably running out.

Don't look at it inconspicuous, but it was the one who stole his marriage certificate with Dumbledore from Grindelwald...that is, the blood alliance, otherwise Dumbledore really couldn't turn against Grindelwald.

Seeing Lockhart staring at the Sniff, Newt was a little sad. After all, there were fewer and fewer people and things that could commemorate the war, and there were very few people who could accompany him.

"That's the law of nature, the longer you hold on, the more pain you'll have to lose your loved one, until one day you can't take it anymore, if it wasn't for Tina..."

But the old lady gave him a push: \"Don't spoil the fun, others are guests."

"Yes, it's a guest, haha." Newt laughed, "By the way, little guy, I might go back to Hogwarts in a while... Let the headmaster prepare dessert, Tina always won't let me I eat too much sweet."

The last words Newt said in a very low voice.

Chapter 87 Response from the Ministry of Magic

With Newt's message, Lockhart returned to Hogwarts and reported to the headmaster.

Dumbledore expressed regret for the conclusion that "Master Scamander will likely not be involved in political activities against Voldemort", but claimed that he was willing to trust Lockhart's judgment.

"He's a good boy, and it's right to keep him out of it... oh, I'm not saying you guys are bad, just different personalities," Dumbledore added.

As for the way to deal with the basilisk, Dumbledore didn't ask at all. It seemed that there was a more suitable way in his mind, but he didn't say it.

Since he didn't say it, Lockhart didn't mention it either, and he didn't like to talk about his rooster crow very much.

When the Christmas holidays ended and the little wizards returned to Hogwarts, they immediately got two big news.

Said to be two, but in fact it was only one.

The first thing is that the Quidditch game is temporarily canceled, and it will resume conditionally after everything is checked out.

The second thing is that their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Merlin's 3rd Class Medal recipient, and master against the Dark Arts, Gilderoy Lockhart, was actually attacked by the Chamber of Secrets monster during Christmas!

The students were thankful that it was Lockhart who was attacked, so the monster was temporarily repelled, but if it had chosen another professor, it would be hard to say.

The first time was a cat, the second time was a first grader, the third time was a

A ghost, and the target of the attacker this time was actually a professor, and he was also a professor whose combat power was far above the average level.

This is not good news for students who have just gone through a Christmas break. Everyone has the courage to come back to class because they believe that Dumbledore can solve the problem during this period.

But now it seems that the problem is not only unresolved, but also seems to be getting worse.

If even the school's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher dared to attack, who else would the monsters in the secret room dare not attack?

Although Dumbledore is still well-known in the wizarding world, noise has begun to appear in the newspapers, euphemistically saying that Dumbledore is "isn't too old"

-An old "respected" social commentator claimed in "Wizard Politics" that people who know how to fight against the dark magic do not necessarily know how to manage a school, and those "lambs" who regard Dumbledore as the sun tend to think of Dumbledore as the sun Imagine being an omnipotent person, but that's not true.

On the "Daily Prophet", which has always been regarded as the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic, an article by Rita Skeeter directly opened the prelude to the attack on Dumbledore.

Unlike other editorials that still "leave room", she not only bluntly said that "Dumbledore is not as capable as you think", but also sinisterly mentioned the fact that Grindelwald was defeated by Dumbledore.

"It is well known that Grindelwald was heartbroken by the betrayal of his lover Dumbledore, and hardly had any will to resist in a duel..."

In short, "Dumbledore is not true".

In addition, for Gilderoy Lockhart, Rita also mocked in the report.

It's too ironic for someone who announced on Christmas that he had found a clue to the Chamber of Secrets to be attacked by the Chamber of Secrets monster that night.

Even though none of us took Lockhart's words seriously, it now appears that the Chamber of Secrets is taking it seriously... In fact it doesn't have to worry so much, because all the work of this travel writer is on his pen and mouth. "

If Rita Skeeter's article was not inspired by someone inside the Ministry of Magic, Lockhart would never believe it.

It is no small matter to openly question the significance of Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald, and the British wizarding community's voice in international wizarding affairs depends to a large extent on it.

Whether it is competing for the right to host the International Quidditch Competition or the Triwizard Tournament, whether it is competing for international students at the wizarding school or setting standards for wizard transportation, this requires Great Britain to fight for more right to speak.

So politics is universally linked, and if it wasn't for Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald, the British Ministry of Magic would have no way to prevent Middle Eastern magicians from selling flying carpets to Europe.

- Once a more comfortable flying carpet enters the European market, the traditional dominant industry of British wizards, the broomstick manufacturing industry, will be in crisis. Businesses like Comet, Sweep, and Black Forest are likely to plummet, and a lot of broomsmiths will lose their jobs, which is a huge blow to the Ministry of Magic.

It stands to reason that no matter what kind of political turmoil occurs, no one should question Dumbledore's achievements. To question him is to question the British Ministry of Magic, which in turn will harm the interests of all British wizards. Dumbledore is a British flag: not to be discredited.

That's why Lockhart guessed that this article was written at the behest of the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, even if the wizarding world had free speech, Rita's article would probably have been eliminated during the review stage.

Now the Ministry of Magic can stay out of the way, and in the future, it will only be necessary to ask Rita to send another tofu-sized apology. This kind of small trick was also used when Lockhart was a civil servant before, but I didn't expect it to be in the wizarding world see it again.

Fudge has been trying to eliminate Dumbledore's influence at the Ministry of Magic, which is almost well known, and even if he does not want to get rid of Dumbledore's control, the following Snake politicians will force him to do so.

So sure enough, after the Daily Prophet published the editorial, several other newspapers dismissed it lightly.

"The Skeeter woman is talking weird again, but that's how she is. We're used to it, but as far as the matter itself is concerned, Dumbledore's handling was really ill-considered."

After all, these media are specialized in this field, and they are more sensitive to the attitude of the Ministry of Magic than Lockhart. Seeing that this kind of news was published in the Daily Prophet, how could they not know that the political trend had changed, so they Begin to render and zoom in on the matter.

Lockhart was completely affected by this. Maybe some people dare not speak harshly to Dumbledore.

To ridicule him of "golden and jade, but ruined in it" is already the lightest. As for his professional quality and personal morality, there are more attacks.

In the final words of the Daily Prophet, "We can't have any expectations of an idol who only lives on books when he handles practical affairs", and is almost on the verge of saying that "he is not suitable for politics".

Fudge, I've written down this hatred! Lockhart said heartily.

Of all the media, the only two that speak for Lockhart are Witch Weekly and The Quibbler.

"Witches Weekly" can understand, because they have been publishing photos and interviews of Lockhart for a long time, maintaining close business ties with Lockhart, and even signing regular exclusive reports, so naturally they refused to Let these peers destroy their cash cows.

They fought fiercely with the mainstream media and tried their best to defend Lockhart's

image, and organized a group of witch fans, protested around the Daily Prophet newspaper, and threw Rotten Tomatoes and Stinky Pumpkins at their windows.

As for "The Quibbler," Lockhart felt they were completely counterproductive.

The editor-in-chief Lovegood swears that Cornelius Fudge is using the Department of Mysteries to develop a terrible poison, secretly drugging people who disagree with him, so he wants to destroy Dumbledore and Lockhart, because as long as These people who fight against black magic are gone, and he can do whatever he wants.

Even ghosts wouldn't believe this kind of bizarre theory, and his objections had little effect other than making it more ridiculous.

Although "Witches Weekly" and "The Quibbler" are speaking for themselves, Lockhart can only thank his fan base, the fighting power of those witches is terrible.

Especially in "Those Witches", there is also a person with fire in his eyes who is determined not to give up until the end - Hermione Granger.

The first day of school is Wednesday, and two days later is Friday, and the little wizards don't have to take a long class to get another weekend.

On Friday afternoon, Harry and the others were called by Hermione after class, saying that they had an important discovery to tell them.

She slapped a thick book in front of both Harry and Ron, and deftly turned the page to the basilisk.

There's no waiting for anyone, we're going to get this sorted out before the final exam. "she says.

After hearing "final exams", Ron suddenly felt that if Ginny hadn't been involved in it, maybe it would have been fine.

Chapter 88 Strategies

When Hermione held the Iron Triangle party again with the information she found, Ron, who had never been interested in "detective", suddenly became the most enthusiastic of the three.

It's not his fault, after all, it's none of his business, just hang up. But now that he learned that the matter had something to do with his sister, it would be strange if he could still take it lightly.

In addition, because the Quidditch match was canceled, Harry suddenly had a lot of free time, so the three of them were going to do something big. How could Gryffindor not do it?

"Come and see..." Hermione called the two to the bushes, and after repeatedly confirming that there was no one else around, pointed to the book she had found.

"The Basilisk...was discovered and bred by the Greek wizard \"despicable Hellbo\', and only needs to put the egg laid by the rooster under the toad to hatch, and only Parseltongue can control it, afraid of the rooster's crowing... Well, we now know why Hagrid's roosters were all killed... The food is mice, lizards, and spiders, etc., especially poisonous spiders, which are his best. "

Ron's eyes lit up when he heard this: "I think if it doesn't hurt people, it's also a good choice to keep one at home to prevent spiders... Oh, I'm joking, I know this is illegal."

Hermione glared at Ron who was interrupting in dissatisfaction: "If you want to live with your eyes closed every day, or if you want to suffer a violent death, you can continue to interrupt me."

Ron raised his hands in surrender.

Seeing him shut up obediently, Hermione continued: "Looking at a basilisk can kill people, and its sense of smell is extremely sensitive, it can smell wizard and Muggle blood.

The difference in the smell of liquid - I think this is probably what it is used for - the principle of Hogwarts, because we Muggle-born people, the smell of wizards in the blood is not strong enough

"But... no one has died so far?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but that's because no human or animal has ever looked directly at it.

Hermione had clearly thought about it: "Mrs. Norris saw it from the puddle, Colin was still wearing dueling club protective glasses, and had a camera in his hand, and Nick saw it, but he was already there." Ghost, it's impossible to die again... Speaking of which, everyone's luck is not bad this time. "

"Good luck...?"

Harry instinctively felt that something was wrong, but couldn't think about it for a while, because Hermione had already started to come up with a solution.

"Now that we can be sure that Ginny entered the Chamber of Secrets from Myrtle's bathroom, and the snake itself can move through all the pipes at Hogwarts, we must ensure that before the Basilisk enters the Chamber of Secrets, and Ginny enters the Chamber of Secrets, Do it when you are separated from the basilisk, and keep Ginny and the basilisk under control at the same time."

The two useless men looked at each other and said, "How do we do this?" Hermione took something out of her schoolbag shakily. Such a thing Harry was familiar with, but Ron was inexplicable when he saw it.

\"What is this?\" he asked.

"Stethoscope," Harry replied for Hermione, "Muggle doctors use it to see patients.

"This thing can also treat a doctor...I mean, what's the use of it." Ron looked even more confused. "Are we going to use it to examine the basilisk?"

"Yeah, you can put the stethoscope on its chest and let it take a deep breath." Hermione teased.

Ron didn't get the joke, but the irony in Hermione's words meant he could.

heard.

"Don't play dumb, I admit I'm an idiot, but for Ginny's sake, please tell me quickly."

Only then did Hermione realize that her attitude just now was a bit wrong.

So she stopped talking nonsense: "Using this stethoscope against the wall, we can monitor the activities of the basilisk - it is so big, it must come out at night to find mice, birds, spiders or something to eat, we confirm that it eats Enter the secret room when you are full and there is no movement."

"What about Ginny?" Ron was most concerned about this.

"I'll watch Ginny quietly for a while, find the culprit who controls her, and then, Ron, you ask her out, saying you want to help her with her homework, and I'll take the opportunity..."

"But this will require at least two people." Harry seemed to understand something. "That is to say, I want to enter the secret room alone."

Hermione looked surprised: "No! Why do you think that, Harry? We'll go to the back room together after we catch the killer."

"No, in that case, the killer and Ginny will be screaming, the professor will arrive soon, and if we don't have evidence in our hands, the professor won't believe us.

Harry continued to talk while thinking, and as he continued to talk, the ideas in his mind became more and more formed.