Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 180 Lunch Together
Xenophilius stood somewhat nervously at the door of 221 Baker Street.

After ringing the doorbell, he reached out and straightened his bow tie.

“Don’t worry, Dad,” Luna said, standing to Xenophilius’s left. “You look great today.”

"Thank you, Luna." But Xenophilius still nervously touched his cotton candy-white hair.

Today, Xenophilius was dressed in a gorgeous gown that looked like it came from a medieval court, while Luna wore a pure white halter dress with floral patterns, and her platinum blonde hair was styled into a bun at the back of her head and tied with a floral wreath.

Finally, as Xenophilius waited anxiously, the door to 221 Baker Street opened from the inside.

The one who opened the door was a young wizard, about twelve or thirteen years old, with black hair and black eyes; it was Tyella.

Today, Tyrell was wearing her Hogwarts school uniform, her hair was styled like an adult's, and she had a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.

“Mr. Lovegood, Miss Lovegood, hello.” Tiera politely shook hands with Xenophilius and Luna and then ushered them into the house. “My father is already waiting for you. Please come with me.”

Luna and Xenophilius followed Tiera to the restaurant, where Gilderoy Lockhart was already waiting for them. Seated next to him was someone...or a creature—something Luna and Xenophilius could never have imagined.

A house-elf sat somewhat awkwardly to Gilderoy Lohart's left.

This clearly startled Xenophius, who froze on the spot.

Luna, on the other hand, had a bright look in her eyes and trembled slightly, looking very interested in Dobby.

“Ah, Mr. Lovegood.” Gilderoy Lockhart emerged from behind the table and warmly shook hands with Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood. “Please come in, please come in.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Gilderoy Lockhart said. “This is Dobby, originally a house-elf of the Malfoy family. I think you’ve already heard about his story from various reports, so I won’t go into details.”

With that, Gilderoy Lohart led Xenophilius to the table.

“And thanks to my lovely adopted son, Tiera’s, Dobby has been freed, so I’ve decided to hire him. His salary is one Galleon a month—” Gilderoy Lockhart said with a smile. “I know this salary isn’t high. I originally planned for ten Galleons a month, but Dobby wouldn’t accept anything higher, so I had to settle for one Galleon a month. Mr. Dobby is now in charge of our daily meals and accommodations. Today’s sumptuous lunch is Mr. Dobby’s masterpiece.”

“My goodness, Mr. Lockhart.” Xenophilius seemed shocked, standing somewhat flustered beside his seat. “I…I always heard that you were a great wizard with lofty ambitions, but I never imagined…I never imagined…I never imagined your ideals were so grand…”

“Then please raise your glasses.” With that, Gilderoy Lockhart raised the glass on the table. “Firstly, to welcome Mr. and Ms. Lovegood’s visit, and to celebrate the upcoming collaboration in advance; secondly, to thank our lovely Mr. Dobby for preparing such a sumptuous lunch for us. Cheers!”

After saying that, "Gidro Lockhart" raised his glass. Then he bent down and clinked glasses with Dobby.

"cheers!"

Tierra, Luna, and Xenophilius spoke at the same time.

"Please take your seats, everyone," Gilderoy Lohart said with a smile.

For lunch today, Tierra made Dobi prepare a large bowl of tuna mashed potatoes, a whole roasted turkey, a pot of pea and lamb soup, and a red wine baked steak for each person.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black was still digging for groundhogs all by himself.

“Mr. Lockhart, you are truly magnificent.” After taking his seat, Lovegood said excitedly again, “You are indeed different from those good-for-nothings in the Ministry of Magic and the Daily Prophet.”

“Mr. Lovegood, we’ve known each other for a long time,” Gilderoy Lockhart said. “I remember that you did my first interview with me in the Daily Prophet, and I said then that my ideal was world peace.”

“Yes,” Xenophilius said, “but I didn’t realize it at the time… I mean, I just thought you were being polite.”

“It’s not your fault, Mr. Lovegood.” Gilderoy Lockhart elegantly cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth—

Mmm, the meat is firm yet tender, and the juice is rich and flavorful.

It must be said that Dobby's cooking skills, honed by the Malfoys, are quite impressive.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black had just eaten his first groundhog, swallowing it whole along with its fur, bones, and dirt.

“At the time, I certainly didn’t show any intention of maintaining world peace,” Gilderoy Lockhart continued. “Maintaining world peace is a long and arduous task. At that time, I was just an adventurer who had just gained some fame. Although I had the ideal of maintaining world peace, I lacked the power to do so. So I devised a preliminary plan.” “What…what preliminary plan?” Xenophilius asked.

“That was to enhance my own strength. At that time, I was just a young wizard with mediocre talent. Seven years of peaceful study at Hogwarts did not change this fact, so I started to travel to various places and constantly hone my abilities through adventures,” Gilderoy Lockhart said. “But as I traveled and as my knowledge deepened, I realized how shallow my previous knowledge was and how naive my previous ideals were.”

"What...what do you mean?" Xenophilius slowed down his eating pace, somewhat nervously.

“Simply maintaining world peace is not enough,” Gilderoy Lockhart said.

At the same time, Tiera fully unleashed her spiritual dimension, her powerful spiritual energy pouring outwards and permeating the dining table.

“Mr. Lovegood, I would like to ask you, what is peace?” Gilderoy Lockhart asked.

“Peace…” Xenophius didn’t quite understand why Gilderoy Lockhart asked that, but he still answered honestly:

"Peace means the absence of war or other acts of violence that endanger life."

"Do you consider the magical world to be at peace right now?" Gilderoy Lohart asked.

“Hmm…I guess so,” Xenophilius said.

“Well, Mr. Nalfgood, I have another question for you. House-elves don’t wage war against each other, nor do they engage in any life-threatening violence. So can we say that house-elves live in peace?” Gilderoy Lockhart asked.

“This…” Xenophilius was speechless.

“Centaur live alone in the Forbidden Forest, living peacefully together. But as their habitat is destroyed, they migrate deeper and deeper into the Forbidden Forest, and the centaur birth rate is decreasing year by year. So, are the centaurs living in peace?” Gilderoy Lohart asked again.

"And what about half-blood wizards and werewolves? Do they all live under the guise of peace created by the Ministry of Magic?"

"One last question, Mr. Lovegood," Gilderoy asked. "If Voldemort had succeeded and killed all the wizards who opposed him, leaving only those willing to accept his rule, and everyone had lived under his reign like puppets, I believe there would have been no war, no violence that endangered anyone's life. But..." Gilderoy Lockhart continued, "would that be called peace?"

“What are you trying to say, Mr. Lockhart?” Xenophilius finally realized the shift in the topic.

Gilderoy Lohart smiled, put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said:

"Mr. Lovegood, have you ever heard of exploitation?"

Xenophilius stopped eating.

Even Lunalovgood stopped using her knife and fork.

Although she didn't understand the meaning of the word "exploitation," she instinctively sensed the carnage and bloodshed it contained.

Because tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve, and relatives will be visiting to have New Year's Eve dinner, I'll be helping my mom prepare the ingredients for the meal today and tomorrow. So, there will only be one update today and one tomorrow.

A special update will be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

By the way, I'm asking for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!

Thank you to Black Cat in the Rain for the 100 Qidian Coins!

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(End of this chapter)