The days at Hogwarts

Nick wanted to calm Ms. Grief down, saying that if he touched the fangs with his magic wand, the teeth would change back. But Ms. Grief's screams overwhelmed everything, and the knight in cold armor took away his magic wand and put him in prison without any explanation.

At night, a priest came to Nick's cell to comfort him, but at dawn the next day he escorted him to the execution ground with a stern face.

"I will always remember the pastor saying to me, 'You won't need the fur cap anymore', and the executioner saying to me, 'It might be a little painful'..."

By the time the executioner had made him kneel before the stone, Nick was too frightened and panicked to speak. Worst of all, the executioner's axe was blunt because the stone to sharpen it was missing. So Nick had been struck forty-four times, and even then there was still a little bit of skin and sinew attached to his neck.

"This, but--" Harry was so shocked that he couldn't speak clearly. He simply couldn't accept it.

It was hard to imagine that a wizard courtier with a title was executed so hastily, without a proper trial or a proper execution ground. Even a country butcher would not kill his own cattle and sheep so casually.

Loren could probably guess that in the eyes of King Henry VII, wizards were even less important than livestock, and executing wizards could also demonstrate the king's power.

In short, the world lost a Sir Nicholas of Minsy and gained a Nearly Headless Nick.

"I was afraid of death, so I chose to stay behind. Sometimes I wonder whether I should..." Nick shook his head and didn't say anything else.

Loren and Harry couldn't guess what he regretted. Perhaps he regretted ignoring his friends' advice and becoming the king's courtier; perhaps he regretted not firmly rejecting Ms. Grieve; perhaps he regretted not facing death and moving on bravely.

"I didn't accomplish anything when I was alive, and now I'm dead and become a ghost. I can't join the Headless Hunter Team even if I want to." Nico laughed at himself. After telling the story, his emotions stabilized a lot.

Harry was still immersed in the story and hadn't recovered yet.

Loren consoled him, "Cheer up, Sir Nicholas! The Headless Huntsmen can't play with all the little wizards of Hogwarts."

Nick smiled at him without saying anything. You can figure out the meaning of this yourself.

Haha, who cares about you little wizards? It’s not as glorious as joining the Headless Hunter team.

Hey! This ghost old man. Loren wanted to complain, but after thinking about it, he gave up. It was the concept he brought from his previous life - the dead are the greatest. This man has been dead for hundreds of years, so he is very important.

Nick looked at him suspiciously for a few times, always feeling that the look in the little wizard's eyes was not very polite.

Loren pursed his lips and kept to himself.

Never mind. Nick said something else: "This Halloween Eve is my 500th death anniversary."

Loren immediately congratulated: "Oh! Congratulations--"

He stopped talking halfway through congratulating someone on his death anniversary. It felt weird, like something was wrong.

Nick continued a little nervously, "I'm going to hold a party in a spacious underground classroom. Friends will come from all over the country, and I would be honored if you could join me. Of course, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, and your other friends are also welcome."

He looked at Loren and Harry's expressions, feeling a little anxious. "But I dare say you would rather attend the ghost's party, right?"

How could Loren and Harry refuse such a humble invitation from a ghost who was hundreds of years old? And the last time they sent away the little dragon Norbert, Nick helped them delay time, so they still owed Nick a favor.

They nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my dear children, Harry Potter and his friends are coming to my Deathday party, how great!" Nick's ghost body circled excitedly in the air. Suddenly, he stopped in front of the two people sitting on the window, scaring them so much that they shook for a while and almost fell down.

Nick looked at them expectantly. "Excuse me, could you please tell Mr. Patrick that you find me particularly scary and impressive?"

"no problem."

"of course can."

Harry and Loren sat up straight, forced a smile, and watched Nick fly away dancing.

Harry climbed down the window and returned to the corridor. "No need to pretend. Nick can be scary sometimes. Remember to call Seamus and Neville. They think Nick is really scary."

"How can someone celebrate the day of his or her own death? Is this a happy funeral?" Loren and Harry trotted quickly and continued to rush to Lockhart's office.

"We're about half an hour late. I hope Professor Lockhart won't extend my detention..."

As soon as they opened the door, they saw dozens of Lockhart portraits and photos in the office, large and small, staring at them. Especially the real Lockhart sitting in the middle, his lower half of his face maintained a stiff smile, but his eyes looked cold.

Faced with the weird smile and gaze, Harry took a step back in fear.

Without waiting for Lockhart to ask why he was late, Loren walked into the office naturally and said as if to take credit: "Professor Lockhart, we know that a world-scale ghost gathering will be held in Hogwarts. I think maybe you can write this into a book, or even discover the ghost's story before his death, making Hogwarts more famous. We spent some time to find out the news, so we are late."

bloody hell! what the hell!

Harry's eyes widened and his pupils trembled violently.

Is this Loren?

It's obviously the same thing, but it becomes completely different when it is expressed in a different way.

The coldness in Lockhart's eyes melted away visibly, and his smile became warm again: "Oh! Really? I've been waiting for you for a long time, but I didn't see you. I thought you were in trouble and was worried about you!"

Yes!

Ghost! Ghost!

Why didn't he think of that? He had already written about banshees, ghouls, hags, trolls, werewolves, and vampires. There weren't many magical creatures left for him, and he was worried about what materials he would come up with in the future.

Ghosts can be used as both material and as readers. A book with ghosts as the theme will make his fame grow again.

Lockhart suppressed his excitement and pretended not to care, asking, "When will this ghost gathering be held..."

Chapter 186: Seamus's Wonderful Imagination

Participating in ghost parties can be a selling point for the book. If some legendary stories can be dug out from the ghosts, then the famous adventurer Lockhart will have another legendary experience.

Loren guided Lockhart's fantasy in this direction: "Professor, you know, ghosts think differently from living people. If you want to know something from them, you have to follow their meaning..."

"Yes, yes, that's right!" Lockhart smiled more brightly as he listened to Loren's words. He was already immersed in the fantasy of his new book selling well, as if he saw another Order of Merlin waving to him.

"This party is held by Count Nicholas to celebrate his 500th anniversary of his death. I think if you can help Count Nicholas make the party more perfect..." Loren said.

Harry thought he might be dazzled, as he saw a fox tail swaying behind Loren.

For the next hour, Harry did not copy the envelope. He just watched Loren fool Lockhart. He tricked him into helping Nick hold a party and warned Lockhart not to act on his own and to follow the ghost's wishes.

"Come... come here... let me... tear you into pieces... kill you..." A creepy, breath-stopping, cold and vicious voice suddenly sounded.

Harry started with fear. It was this voice. He had heard the same voice last time.

It was definitely not an illusion, nor was it any sound from the castle. While Lockhart wasn't noticing him, Harry looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.

All I could see were portraits of Lockhart, each of them sporting a smile.

Noticing the look Harry was giving them, the Lockhart portraits grinned at him, showing their teeth, and their smiles turned into wide grins.

Harry felt a deep chill, as if these suspicious smiles were not directed at him, but at some invisible existence beside him. So fake, so weird.

"There must be something wrong with this Lockhart!" Harry said silently in his heart.

On the other side, Loren, who could no longer hear the Parseltongue, completely led Lockhart into the pit, poured cement on it, and sealed it tightly.

He had no idea that Harry behind him had already imagined a big drama in his mind and accidentally came to the conclusion that there was something wrong with Lockhart.

After finishing their conversation, Loren politely said goodbye to Lockhart, and as soon as the office door closed, he sighed deeply.

Lockhart had a perfect plan and Harry escaped from detention, but he was the only one who lost out. He had been fooling people all night and his progress in learning the Oblivion Charm was zero.

After walking a distance and completely out of sight of Lockhart's office, Harry looked at him seriously: "Loren, Lockhart is an evil dark wizard!"

Loren was a little surprised. He thought that Harry would not be able to see Lockhart's true identity until the end of the school year. He became interested and asked curiously, "How did you know?"

"Remember the strange noise I mentioned last time in the corridor? I heard it again in the office just now. It must be the dark magic items hidden by Lockhart that are causing trouble."

Loren fell silent. This reasoning was not wrong, but it was extremely wrong.

Harry frowned tightly: "We must tell the professor and Headmaster Dumbledore immediately!"

"No, without evidence, the headmaster and professors won't believe us. We need evidence and need to find out Lockhart's true identity!" Harry talked to himself, and quickly sorted out his thoughts and smoothly came to the conclusion that he had to act on his own.

That's totally fine, it's very Harry Potter and very Gryffindor.

"You have a point," Loren groaned. "How about this, you tell the others about this and discuss how to investigate Lockhart. I will deal with Lockhart to prevent him from noticing and guarding against you. By the way, I will find an opportunity to test him indirectly."

Loren thought secretly that Dumbledore hired Lockhart as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts with the intention of letting the young wizard reveal his true identity.

Harry's investigation of Lockhart also fits Dumbledore's plan. He will guide the investigation of Lockhart and the investigation of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets together. He will not participate in the specific actions, which is the task of the savior Harry Potter.

What is your mission?

Oh, and test the eyesight of the awakened basilisk.

Loren cursed the old man with a white beard in his heart.

……

In the Transfiguration classroom.

Professor McGonagall was speaking about the theory of Animagus on the stage, and the audience was full of members of the Transfiguration Club. The quill Hermione was holding in her hand was almost shaking, attracting the surprised eyes of the little wizards around her.

"Animagus cannot transform into any animal at will. Can anyone tell me what factors are related to the animal that a wizard transforms into?" Professor McGonagall asked the question, her eyes wandering among the group of young wizards.

Hermione held the quill in her hand and raised her hands high.

Professor McGonagall's eyes were drawn to her, and then she passed by her and looked at the little wizard at her table: "Mr. Morgan, you tell me."

Hermione's mouth suddenly pursed and she glanced at Loren angrily.

Feeling the little witch's gaze, Loren sighed and stood up helplessly: "It has something to do with the wizard's personality and weight, Professor McGonagall."

Don't call on him again. This is the third time he's been called on to answer a question in this class. If you keep calling on him, Hermione will get jealous.

"That's absolutely right, but there are no extra points for club courses." Professor McGonagall smiled, "Personally, I will give you 5 points in my heart, even though it's useless."

"Hahahaha..." The little wizards laughed. They loved Professor McGonagall who was so humorous.

Except for a certain Granger classmate, Hermione gritted her teeth, the ink from her quill pen soaked through the back of the paper, and she muttered viciously, "Why don't I have Professor McGonagall's heart?"

The bell rang, it was break time.

The little wizards gathered together to chat. Some were discussing the knowledge they had just learned in class, some were copying notes, and some senior little wizards were dating.

"Nick invited us to go to the party to celebrate his 500th death anniversary, which is on Halloween Eve. It is said that ghosts from all over the world will come to the party. Will you join us?" Loren looked at the little wizards around him.

"Ghost Deathday!"

"Awesome!"

Seamus and Dean raised their hands excitedly, showing their strong desire to participate.

"Why would someone celebrate the day of his or her own death?" Ron was puzzled, but he also expressed his intention to go.

Neville was very hesitant. He scratched his head and looked at them embarrassedly: "I want to go...but, I, I'm a little scared."

Seamus and Dean were on each side, and they put their arms around his neck: "Don't be afraid, we'll go together, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Well, that's fine."

Everyone in the group laughed and expressed their desire to participate.

Turning around, Loren saw the little witch who was still making a fuss. He shook his shoulder and bumped into her, then leaned over and asked in her ear, "How about it, are you going?"

"Go!" Hermione turned her head away, not wanting to pay attention to him.

"Hehe, lend me your notes after class so I can copy them."

"understood!"

"Remember to mark the knowledge points by grade and underline them. I will only copy the most important parts."

"You're such an annoying person!" Hermione said to him with a stern face, but the quill pen in her hand was honestly marking on the notebook.

Seeing the awkward expression of the little witch, Loren suddenly became in a good mood and turned around to join the conversation of Harry and others.

Harry had just finished telling them about the strange noises he heard in Lockhart's office and his guess, hoping that they would help investigate Lockhart.

"It must be him! There's no doubt about it!"

Seamus said confidently: "All the roosters raised by Hagrid had their necks twisted and killed. He thought it was done by the foxes in the Forbidden Forest. But there were no such strange things in previous years. It happened when Lockhart came to school. In my opinion, it must be an evil curse that needs blood as the material!"

Neville suddenly opened his eyes wide and said with some stammering: "Last...last Wednesday night, I changed into new clothes that day and forgot my password list in the dormitory, so I was locked out by the Fat Lady. I...I saw a group...a ​​group of spiders crawling out of the castle in a line!"

When Ron heard the word spider and thought of that scene, he shuddered in fear.

"That's right. Lockhart has only been at Hogwarts for a month and all sorts of strange things have happened. He must be an evil dark wizard!"

Seamus' eyes were shining with excitement and he was dancing with joy. He couldn't wait to reveal Lockhart's true identity.

In his first year, he missed the troll and missed Quirrell, and this time he would definitely not miss Lockhart.

He had already thought about how to brag to his friends and parents:

On the surface, he is a best-selling author and adventurer, but in reality he is an evil dark wizard. Lockhart sneaks into Hogwarts with ulterior motives.

The Boy-Who-Lived - Harry Potter, his roommate Seamus, and their friends used their wisdom and courage to expose Lockhart's true identity and brought him to justice!

That's it! Seamus Finnigan will be a Gryffindor champion too!