Chapter 425: Lockhart's Arrest
"It appears one of us has taken a rather spectacular tumble, wouldn't you say?"
Dumbledore entered the room with a serene smile. His tall frame blocked the bright light from the corridor, plunging the Room of Requirement back into the dim, flickering orange glow of the torches.
"Tumble? It's a catastrophe!" Gilderoy Lockhart, fueled by the Veritaserum, was unable to stop his tongue. "I should never have come here! The legendary Harry Potter, and then Green—the boy the entire Wizarding World is hunting for, hiding right under our noses... I thought it would be the ultimate opportunity to boost my fame! My name would have been immortalized!"
Lockhart clutched his jaw in terror, but his lips continued to work against his will, spilling every selfish thought.
"Oh, Gilderoy. It seems your lying tongue has finally found its limit," Dumbledore noted, his long, silver-white beard trembling slightly.
"I wanted to lie! I had it all planned out! I'd blame those 'crazed fans' for a terrible accident, or perhaps that little wizard over there—the one who's been dabbling in Dark Arts when he thinks no one is looking. Hogwarts doesn't allow such things, you know! I had so many reasons, and now... mghph..."
Lockhart looked as though he were trying to physically tear his own mouth off his face.
"Your mask has slipped, Gilderoy. Whatever clever excuses you have left, save them for the Ministry... or perhaps for the Dementors?"
Dumbledore spoke as if he were dealing with a minor nuisance. With a flick of his fingers, Lockhart was bound hand and foot in shimmering magical cords.
The Headmaster looked up as a massive silhouette appeared in the doorway. Hagrid stepped in, spared a quick wink for Sean, and then hoisted Lockhart up.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir, I'll take 'im to the Aurors waitin' outside the gates," Hagrid grunted.
He turned and marched away, carrying the struggling Lockhart as if he were a particularly scrawny chicken.
"The Ministry has officially re-evaluated Rubeus Hagrid's case," Dumbledore said, looking at the group. He seemed to be in high spirits. "It was no easy feat, I assure you."
"Hagrid's conviction has been overturned?!" Hermione gasped.
To overturn a fifty-year-old case was a monumental achievement in the Wizarding World. Hermione knew that whether in the Muggle or magical world, such a victory was almost unheard of.
"Indeed, Miss Granger. And I suspect you shall all receive more good news shortly. But for now, pray allow me to keep a few secrets."
"There it is again..." Hermione whispered to Sean. "Grown-ups always think keeping us in the dark is for our own good."
"Mmm," Justin agreed. He had been lost in thought, but he quickly nodded in support of Hermione.
Sean remained uncharacteristically silent.
"Very well," Dumbledore noted their whispering with a knowing look. He strode to the door and pulled it wide. "Now, I suggest you all find your beds. Perhaps a large mug of steaming hot chocolate is in order; I have always found it does wonders for the spirits."
He looked down and gave them a grandfatherly wink.
"As for myself, I must draft a letter to Azkaban—I believe Professor Lockhart is due for a change of scenery. And I suppose I must also draft a fresh recruitment advertisement for The Daily Prophet," he added thoughtfully. "We seem to go through Defense teachers at a rather alarming rate, don't we?"
The trio nodded like a row of synchronized toys. This was exactly what they had hoped for.
"Professor Dumbledore, if I may..." Justin asked, still dwelling on the Headmaster's earlier comment. "What exactly is a Dementor?"
Dumbledore paused, his expression shifting into one of gravity.
"A Dementor," he said softly, "is perhaps the foulest, most terrifying creature in our world."
With that, he turned and vanished into the shadows of the corridor.
Hermione was still reeling from the Headmaster's tone. She bit her lip and edged closer to Sean. "Sean... do you know what they are?"
Justin looked equally stunned by the answer. "I didn't expect him to sound so... grim."
"The guards of Azkaban," Sean explained, his voice low and clinical. "They are dark creatures that literally feed on human happiness. They are perhaps the only known beings capable of rendering a wizard unable to cast magic. You cannot kill them physically; you can only drive them away."
"You can't kill them?" Hermione whispered.
Even though the room was sealed, she felt a sudden, icy draft.
"How do you fight something you can't kill?" Justin asked cautiously.
"The Patronus Charm is the primary defense," Sean replied. "And occasionally, eating chocolate is used as a form of first aid for those who have suffered a Dementor's touch."
"Chocolate?!" Justin asked. He trusted Sean implicitly, but the jump from 'foulest creature' to 'sweets' was a bit much.
"Consuming chocolate, or a mug of hot chocolate milk, helps restore the wizard's emotional baseline. It counters the despair they leave behind," Sean clarified.
"You really are..."
Hermione paused, looking between the empty doorway and Sean. She turned to Justin and whispered, "Did you hear that? Sean just said almost exactly what Professor Dumbledore said earlier. Have you noticed? Sean has always been a bit like the Headmaster... but now he's almost a mirror image."
Justin nodded, looking slightly dazed. They stepped out of the Room of Requirement together.
Far in the distance, a flash of fire erupted over the Forbidden Forest before vanishing. It looked as though a dragon had been causing trouble before its keeper finally caught it. Sean watched the spot for a moment, then vanished into the shadows before Hermione or Justin could bid him goodnight.
"He's getting faster," Hermione muttered, scanning the empty hall. "Coming and going like a phantom..."
When Sean reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he found Hagrid and Will the Pukwudgie locked in a silent, wide-eyed standoff.
"This is my hut, sir," Hagrid was saying, his voice a rumbling growl. He looked as though he had only just finished his errand with Lockhart and was now faced with a new problem.
Lockhart's arrest would be front-page news by tomorrow, and Hermione and Justin were already busy coordinating with Luna and Rita Skeeter to ensure the fraud's confession reached every corner of the Wizarding World.
But Sean wasn't focused on the headlines. Neither was Will.
"Until the honored Lord Green arrives, no one enters," Will declared, holding his bow at the ready. He looked perfectly prepared to loose an arrow at the slightest provocation.
Pukwudgie archery was legendary. William—the elder after whom this steward was named—had famously saved Isolt Sayre by putting an arrow through a dark wizard's heart.
"But I'm the Gamekeeper!" Hagrid huffed.
"And I am the Steward!" Will countered, not yielding an inch.
"Sean didn't tell yeh..." Hagrid began, his voice softening. He was genuinely curious about the strange creature, but he mostly just wanted to sit by his fire.
[End of Chapter 425]
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