Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 157 Truth-Flavored Tea and Snacks

Seeing Dumbledore's pensive expression, Tyrell knew—

He's lame, he's lame, Dumbledore's lame.

Tyrell didn't expect Dumbledore to believe her completely, nor did she expect to fool the centenarian. Tyrell only needed to offer a seemingly reasonable explanation before everyone else could come up with one, and then everyone's thoughts would be led astray by this seemingly reasonable explanation—

This is called a cognitive bias, which means that once you know something, it's very difficult to go back to the state of not knowing it.

In any case, they couldn't possibly verify the lies in Tiera's explanation, especially since Tiera had presented two rather compelling arguments—

One is the Balrog attacking Hogwarts, and the other is the mutated creatures in the waters of the Inner Hebrides.

Once the Ministry of Magic officials have dealt with the remaining mutated creatures in the Inner Hebrides, the credibility of Tiera's story will likely increase to another level.

After that, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Cornelius Fudge, Alastor Moody, Rufus Slyjack, and Barty Crouch asked Tierra a few more detailed questions, which Tierra answered fluently. When they had nothing more to ask, Tierra spoke up—

“Minister, and Headmaster,” Tierra said, “I think I deserve a Second Class Order of Merlin, don’t I?”

Cornelius Fudge glanced at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed, nodded, and said, "I will write your application."

Seeing that Dumbledore had agreed, Cornelius Fudge naturally had no objections. Before leaving, he warmly shook hands with Lockhart and even extended an olive branch to Gilderoy Lockhart, offering him a position at the Ministry of Magic.

He fully displayed his politician nature.

However, Tyella politely declined.

Although Tiera now bears the identity of "Gidrolockhart," the actual "Gidrolockhart" is merely Tiera's "parasite."

Currently, Tierra's main body is affected by the petrification curse and is lying stiffly in bed, which is fine. However, once Tierra recovers, if Gilderoy Lockhart goes to work at the Ministry of Magic while he himself attends Hogwarts, simultaneously controlling two bodies to perform complex activities will distract him and slow down Tierra's progress in analyzing some magic. Paying such a high price for only gaining a little bit of power at the Ministry of Magic is really not worth it for Tierra.

In any case, for Tiera, preserving the name "Gidrolockhart" was equivalent to seizing the power he wanted.

Moreover, the "parasite" will be of great use to Tierra in the third year, requiring the "parasite" to stay at Hogwarts for an extended period, so it's impossible to have it clock in at the Ministry of Magic every day.

"Professor Lockhart, please stay for a moment."

Just as Tyrell was about to leave the headmaster's office with the other teachers, Dumbledore suddenly called out to him.

Snape and Professor McGonagall exchanged a glance, then quickened their pace and left the room.

Tiera could only sigh and remain where she was.

He knew that the real battle was just beginning.

"Have a seat, Professor Lockhart." Dumbledore waved his hand, and a chair flew over from the corner, landing steadily opposite the table. At the same time, the teapot on the table floated up automatically and poured a pot of hot tea into an empty cup.

Tiera sighed and sat down in the chair with a nonchalant air.

"Have a cup of tea." Dumbledore poured himself a cup, then took a sip. "You must be thirsty after talking for so long, right?"

“You know what, there’s definitely a bit of that.” Tierra picked up her teacup and took a small sip.

This tea is not right!

Tiera tasted it immediately. Tiera was now using the body of a "parasite," which was naturally different from her original body. Many things that were colorless and tasteless to humans were very different in the eyes and on the tongue of the "parasite."

This tea tastes exactly like truth serum.

Tierra took another big gulp of tea and said, "This tea is really delicious."

Anyway, the Veritaserum is useless against "parasites." Even if Tiera used her original body, she could resist the effects of the Veritaserum with her mental barrier. "Have another snack. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning, have you?" Dumbledore waved his hand again, and plates of cookies, cakes, and tarts appeared on Dumbledore's desk.

“Indeed, I’m hungry too.” Tierra picked up a piece and took a big bite—

Well, it still tastes like truth serum, so strong it almost completely masks the sweetness and aroma of the cake itself.

After Gilderoy Lockhart had finished eating, Dumbledore's eyes gleamed with a strange power, and he said:
"Is it tasty?"

“It’s delicious,” Tierra replied.

“Gilderoy… Lockhart, right?” Dumbledore asked.

"Well, what happened?"

“I have read all your works,” Dumbledore said. “Did you write all those stories?”

“I wrote it all myself, word by word,” Tierra said.

"Is the story also true?" Dumbledore asked again.

“Yes, it’s true,” Tierra said. “It all really happened.”

Did this really happen to you?

“Real…” Tiera’s expression suddenly turned serious, her lips trembled slightly, and she only managed to utter one word before suddenly falling silent.

"It seems you're quite reluctant to answer this question." Dumbledore smiled, the strange magic emanating from his eyes growing even stronger.

“Then let’s change the subject. There were loopholes in the story you just told, right?” Dumbledore asked. “As the saying goes, the perfect lie is made up of seventy percent truth and thirty percent lies. So, Mr. Lockhart, how much of your story was true and how much was a lie?”

Tierra's lips moved slightly, but she remained silent.

“Alright, let me rephrase the question.” Dumbledore straightened his expression and said, “Our little wizard Tyella was controlled by Voldemort before she even entered her first year, right?”

Tiera pursed her lips and remained silent.

"He stole the Philosopher's Stone from Hagrid's pocket on his way to school, right?"

Tierra remained silent.

"Last summer, Voldemort ostensibly parasitized Quirrell to steal a fake Philosopher's Stone, but in reality, he wanted Tyrell to secretly brew him an elixir of immortality, right?"

Tiera: "..."

"But the elixir of immortality was still not enough to fully resurrect Voldemort, so he began to plot his next plan, right?"

Tiera: "..."

"Everything was going smoothly until, as you said, Voldemort didn't expect Ravenclaw's crown to give Tierra the power to rebel. This caused Tierra to become closer to you and reveal some... things to you." Dumbledore looked through his half-moon spectacles at the still silent Gilderoy Lockhart, smiled, and a sudden surge of power flashed in his eyes—

“But you didn’t intend to help him; on the contrary, you attacked him! Tierra’s outstanding performance aroused your greed! You despicable, shameless, and vicious robber! You ignored the plea for help of a poor child! You let your greed take over your heart, and you stole Ravenclaw’s crown!” Dumbledore’s hair and beard bristled, like an enraged lion.

He's crippled, crippled, Dumbledore is completely crippled!

Tierra was overjoyed.

But on the surface, he still put on a look of mixed fear and panic, as if his last line of defense had been breached.

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(End of this chapter)