Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 95 Conflict in the Auditorium

Chapter 96 Conflict in the Auditorium

"Why can't I borrow them!" In the library, Siren asked Mrs. Pins, "I don't think there's a rule that says you can't borrow fifty books at once."

"I can add this rule now," said Mrs. Pince, the librarian, her face cold, as she lightly tapped the borrowing book with her fingers.

The two had been at an impasse for ten minutes. No matter what Siren said, Mrs. Pince refused to let him borrow fifty books at once.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to borrow this," Siron said, taking out the parchment with the book title written on it, trying to reason with her.

Mrs. Pince glanced at it, and to her surprise, the parchment was indeed written in Minerva McGonagall's handwriting.

How could Kemera allow a student to borrow fifty books? Could he possibly read them all?

"I can allow you to borrow up to five books at a time," Mrs. Pince said reluctantly.

"Professor McGonagall's reputation is only worth two books?" Celen found it hard to believe.

"So, will you lend it or not?" Mrs. Pince made a gesture as if to take back the borrowing book.

"Borrow!" said Siren. Mrs. Pince was too stubborn; it seemed he would have to make several more trips.

"However, I have one condition." Xiren thought for a moment and said, "If I come to borrow books that were returned before, they cannot be counted as those five books."

"Okay." This time Mrs. Pince did not refuse, but she did make some requests. First, the returned books could not be damaged, and second, the number of books borrowed again could not be too many.

After the agreement was reached, Mrs. Pince went to find the books for the next book in the order listed on the parchment.

Xilun leaned against the side and waited.

At that moment, a familiar person came into his line of sight.

Draco Malfoy rushed in carrying two books, seemingly to return them.

It's unbelievable that Malfoy would actually come to the library to borrow books.

At the same time, Malfoy also saw Celen. In an instant, his whole body tensed up, and a look of vigilance flashed in his eyes.

No, is it really necessary?

Siren really didn't expect him to react so strongly, but judging from Draco's behavior at Flourish and Blotts, he probably didn't know what he meant by those words.

Did Lucius Malfoy tell him about his family history?

But before Xilun could think any further, a hand reached out.

"Hello, Celen, I think we had some misunderstandings before." Draco Malfoy took the initiative to walk over, but at this moment, there was no longer any wariness in his eyes.

"There was indeed a misunderstanding." Faced with Malfoy's overtures, Celen stopped pretending not to see him, and the two shook hands briefly.

"Just to clarify, I didn't do anything at Flourish and Blotts."

"What?" Malfoy seemed to recall the scene again, and his face immediately became tense. "Of course I know, it was all those stupid Weasleys, taking advantage of their numbers, a bunch of shameless scoundrels."

It's clear that he still cares a lot about what happened at Flourish and Blotts that day.

There were too many Weasleys, and with Potter's accomplice, it was five against two. Draco felt as if countless feet were falling on him; he had never suffered such a loss before.

Now that Siren has brought up that matter again, Draco naturally has nothing nice to say, his insults becoming increasingly vulgar and his emotions increasingly agitated.

"Weasley, and Potter, I'll make them pay!"

"Keep quiet!" Mrs. Pince suddenly appeared, interrupting Malfoy's boastful words.

"No noise in the library. If you can't keep that up, leave!" she said, placing five books of varying thicknesses in front of Xilun.

"Here's the book you wanted."

"Thank you, Mrs. Pince," said Siren, glancing again at Draco Malfoy, shrugging, and leaving the library with his books.

Dinner was onion stew, which was rather ordinary, not even as good as the garlic stew at the Leaky Cauldron, but the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students ate it with great relish.

Because there were better shows to watch, Gryffindor and Slytherin started arguing again.

As soon as Siron entered the auditorium, he saw Pansy Parkinson and Parvati Petit standing face to face in the aisle, hurling insults at each other.

"Lockhart's lessons are absolutely terrible, I really don't understand why you guys find them interesting... Are Gryffindors' brains somehow different?"

"Oh? If you don't like him, that just means you've never taken his classes!" Parvati Petil retorted, her voice crisp and loud. "I think you're just jealous, jealous that he's a hundred times better than your idol, Malfoy!"

A burst of laughter erupted around them, and several Gryffindor students even whistled. Pansy Parkinson's face instantly darkened.

"I think you're doing this on purpose!" She took a step closer, her lips trembling slightly. "I'd rather listen to Professor Snape talk about potion recipes for an hour than waste a minute watching Lockhart posing like that!"

"My choice is exactly the opposite of yours." Parvati Petil also stepped forward.

Siren carefully circled around, tiptoed to the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to Neville.

"What's wrong with them?" Xilun asked.

"Because of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Neville arrived earlier and witnessed the whole thing.

Slytherins have Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the morning, together with Ravenclaw, but student feedback after that class was not ideal.

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't much better than Quirrell's rote learning.

Compared to Lockhart's fame and the expectations of many, this result was truly disappointing for many. Only a few fervent admirers believed that it was due to Lockhart's inexperience during her first class.

Although this explanation was far-fetched, it was accepted by most people.

As a result, Lockhart's reputation took a dramatic turn for the better after the afternoon classes ended, and he was almost hailed as a paragon by Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students.

This made the Slytherins, who had always been at odds with Gryffindor, feel cheated, and in their anger, this scene in the Great Hall occurred.

"Aren't Lockhart's two classes the same?" Siren couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know," Neville shook his head. "But I heard there weren't any Cornish elves this morning...that's good."

His voice was filled with undisguised envy.

Siren understood. After all, in the previous lesson, only Neville was dragged to the ceiling by the Cornish elves and almost broke his leg, so it was normal for him not to like it.

However, compared to Neville, Siron was more concerned about something else.

Pansy Parkinson is also a second-year student, so why do they have different Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in the morning and afternoon, even though they are both second-year students?

He hadn't gotten the Cornish elf yet at that time? But only a few hours had passed, it couldn't be such a coincidence.

Or is Pansy Parkinson a Slytherin? —Shillon never believed Lockhart would prepare specific courses for each house.

It couldn't possibly be because he wanted to put on a big show in front of Harry, the savior.

Just then, Harry walked in from outside, and at the same time, Pansy and Parvati's helpers increased in number.

Celen also spotted Fred and George.

Given the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin, they don't need to know what happened or who is right or wrong. As long as there is a conflict, they can simply blindly side with their own people.

The argument between the two turned into a standoff between the two colleges, and as the number of people increased, more things were said.

Siren even heard someone from Gryffindor shouting:

"In my opinion, the Slytherins don't dislike Lockhart; they're just interested in the 'dark magic' part of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

This statement immediately escalated the conflict on the spot.

All wizards in the wizarding world know that Hogwarts absolutely forbids students from learning dark magic, so regardless of whether this statement is true or not, Slytherin students would never admit it.

They even have to protect their own reputation.

The verbal conflict escalated into a physical one in the blink of an eye, and then rapidly raced toward a magical conflict.

The smarter students from the other two colleges had already taken their dinners and moved to a more secluded spot... to avoid getting splattered with blood later.

Just as a Slytherin was the first to draw his wand... a deafening explosion made everyone instinctively cover their ears.

Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, a wisp of smoke just disappearing from the tip of her wand.

"What a brilliant performance." She pursed her lips tightly, and everyone immediately fell silent. "Gryffindor and Slytherin each lose fifty points and are banned from using the Quidditch pitch for two months!"

"No!"

"Professor McGonagall, you can't..."

"In fact, I can!" Professor McGonagall glanced quickly at Wood and the Slytherin montage. "If this punishment isn't enough to teach you a lesson..."

"Oh, it's quite lively here. What's going on?" Gilderoy Lockhart appeared behind Professor McGonagall with a flippant voice.

At the same time, he also saw two opposing groups of people in the auditorium.

"Ah, a conflict between students," he said to Professor McGonagall. "Leave it to me, Minerva. I've quelled countless snowman riots, and each time I've resolved them perfectly."

Lockhart spoke gleefully, completely unaware that this so-called riot was caused by him.

"No need, Professor Lockhart." A vein seemed to throb on Professor McGonagall's forehead as she looked up, her sharp gaze sweeping across the hall.

"Ah, the stew tonight is really good." Fred was the first to sit back down at the Gryffindor table, followed by George and Lee Jordan.

"Yes, it tastes really good."

Although the Slytherins were dissatisfied, believing that Gryffindor was at fault first and that Professor McGonagall could not deprive them of their right to use the Quidditch pitch, they dared not go against Professor McGonagall at this time.

"Let's go," Monta said. "We'll talk about the rest when Professor Snape arrives."

Soon, the tense atmosphere in the auditorium was restored to order.

Lockhart seemed somewhat disappointed that he couldn't help. After everyone was seated, he continued to chatter on to Professor McGonagall about how he had quelled the Yeti uprising.

He became more and more animated as he spoke, completely unaware that a ghost was lurking stealthily above his head.

"Welcome ceremony, Professor Sparkle!" Peeves suddenly shrieked and threw a bag of flour, which he had somehow gotten his hands on, at Lockhart's head.

With a soft "poof," Lockhart was enveloped in a cloud of white smoke. His meticulously styled golden curls, his playful wizard hat with its angled design, and his favorite violet robe were all covered in a thick layer of flour, making him look like a... snowman.

"Pfft." Someone started it, and then the whole auditorium burst into laughter.

"Wow! Look at Peeves' masterpiece!" Peeves' voice was the loudest. "You're now the whitest professor at Hogwarts, whiter than a ghost, whiter than a snowman, whiter than your teeth..."

"Peeves!" Professor McGonagall shouted, but her lips twitched suspiciously. "Get out of the Great Hall immediately."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall!" Peeves somersaulted in the air, then ran off with a screeching laugh.

"Are you... are you alright, Professor Lockhart?" Professor McGonagall glanced at the unidentified creature beside her, her lips twitching slightly, but she quickly suppressed it and said:

"I was looking elsewhere when Mischievous Ghost came in, so I didn't remind you in time."

"Ah, actually... I noticed that naughty little thing a long time ago." Lockhart opened his mouth and blew out a puff of smoke as he spoke.

He forced a smile, his voice trembling slightly, "This level of sneak attack is far too obvious, isn't it... but I think we need a little laughter right now..."

Surprisingly, even in this predicament, he still managed to flash his gleaming teeth.

……

(End of this chapter)