r18novel Chapter 113 The Missing Neville
Chapter 113 The Missing Neville
Chapter 113 The Missing Neville
"...You guys really went to rob Gringotts?"
Hermione was a little confused. She had just returned from the Great Hall, and the Daily Prophet hadn't even mentioned getting a copy.
The corners of Kaiharo's and the other two's mouths twitched uncontrollably. What should they say?
"Of course not, this is money we earned from selling hats!"
Ron, who had finally managed to accumulate a large sum of money but was nearly blown away by Hermione's slander that the money was unclean, quickly defended himself.
"The hat...it's not the one you guys made from a compost bin, is it?" Hermione asked in surprise.
"Hmm." Kane nodded.
"So you're telling me that the money-making plan is to sell hats?" Hermione continued.
"What else did you think it was?"
Hermione was so embarrassed that she kept touching her nose, chin, forehead, and lips, as if her whole face was scratching.
There's no other reason than it was just too embarrassing.
"So this money..." Kane took out the 1,100 Galleons check he was still holding. He regretted not rounding it up, perhaps by giving away another 100.
Hermione quickly shook her head: "No, no, I didn't work with you guys, I can't take this money."
"One hundred Galleons for every one who sees it." Kane thought Hermione was just being polite, but Hermione ran off in a flash.
Kane put the money back in his pocket and shrugged at Harry and Ron.
What is Hermione doing...? I don't understand.
The next time I saw Hermione was the Defense Against the Dark Arts class the following day. Perhaps Lockhart and Dumbledore had colluded on some details of the class during this time. Although their magical reserves were still insufficient, at least the quality of the class was getting better and better.
Unfortunately, Lockhart is a bit too proud to be praised. Whenever he has a great success in teaching, he always rewards himself with a "cool lesson," which means he leads the young wizards to perform the plot of his book.
As for the great stage director, after each performance, without exception, every young wizard would scold Lockhart, including Kane. This scolding made Lockhart behave, and he would rush to Dumbledore for extra lessons. After the lessons, he would have another great success, and then reward himself with another stage play, and so on.
Kane, however, unknowingly acquired some strange responsibilities, such as grading all the homework from first to third grade...
Later, out of sheer curiosity, I asked around and found out that I had been appointed as the class representative for both the first and second years of school without even realizing it. This wasn't right... this was very wrong.
However, considering that he sometimes went to Lockhart's office to rummage through some of the treasures Lockhart had confiscated, having this class representative position wasn't so bad. It could serve as a kind of disguise, so he didn't say anything.
Moreover, he wasn't the only class representative; there was another one in the third year. Of course, that class representative mainly helped Lockhart write back to his enthusiastic fans.
As for class representatives and homework assignments for fourth grade and above...
Well, none of them. Lockhart is very cunning and doesn't assign homework for fourth graders and above. This has temporarily restored his human status among the older students. After all, although Lockhart can still fool the younger wizards, he is struggling with the older students' courses.
Some spells, even those cast by junior wizards, are better than his. Apart from the Forgetfulness Charm, almost all the upperclassmen, and even some professors who are not specialists in memory, cannot match Lockhart's deep understanding of the Forgetfulness Charm.
So while the upperclassmen may not think much of Lockhart, they don't exactly hate him either. At least, he's quite skilled with the Oblivion Charm, better than Quirrell was last semester. When it comes to questions about the Oblivion Charm, Lockhart can really give you a lot of useful information.
Most importantly, Lockhart knew he was a mediocre student, so he didn't assign homework. In class, he would just stand on the podium and boast about his own adventures, and he didn't restrain the little wizards from their misbehavior during his lessons.
If last year's Quirrell was like chocolate filled with feces, making you decide to get closer, only to be overwhelmed by the stench, yet still unable to bear the outer layer of chocolate, it was disgusting to eat but a pity to throw away.
Lockhart then used just the first two class periods of the semester to clearly tell them that when it comes to teaching older students, he's like a not-too-stinky pile of manure. He won't emit any odor to disturb their self-study or shorten their study time, and they won't be tempted by Lockhart. In short, it's enough for them to stay far away from each other and keep their distance.
Well, Lockhart actually decided to keep to himself and avoid conflict with these upperclassmen after listening to their advice. After all, Dumbledore was right; Lockhart didn't have much fighting ability. If he really disgusted the upperclassmen, he could use magic to beat them to their knees and then secretly throw them into the centaur camp deep in the Forbidden Forest.
Lockhart is in for a lot of trouble. It's not like other professors have gone through this before. There have been predecessors, and it's likely that others will follow suit.
Time passed day by day, until the day before Halloween. After dinner, Kane yawned and headed toward Lockhart's office.
Lockhart finally found an opportunity to confiscate the shorthand quill he had wanted, and now he has to go pick up the package.
It's so wonderful!
Kane soon arrived at Professor Lockhart's office, knocked symbolically on the door, and then pushed it open and went inside.
Lockhart's greatest pastime each day is sitting at his desk reading some strange fan mail, like right now.
Kane walked up behind him and glanced at him: "By the way, why do you...like reading these letters from your readers so much?"
"Perhaps it's a common problem for all writers? After all, writing books doesn't involve much social interaction. Although I have a lot of social interaction now, in the early days when my books weren't famous, my daily social interaction was really just a few letters from fans. Whether they praised me, criticized me, or pointed out my mistakes, I cherished them all."
"So I still have this habit now."
After Lockhart finished speaking, he put down the reader's letter, bent down, and took out a huge cardboard box from under his desk. These were all the good things he had recently confiscated.
Kane is free to pick and choose, and if he wants, he can take it all by the box.
Kane simply picked out the quill pen, and then very discerningly selected a few other items to give to Harry and the others later. In addition to these, he also specifically chose a small item that could be considered a dark magic tool: a black and yellow cat's eye ring that could be opened and closed at will.
After submitting his work to Advanced Alchemy, he received a payment of 170 Galleons and was also granted a lifetime free subscription to Advanced Alchemy.
I saw this little thing in Advanced Alchemy. It was an interesting little thing made by an Egyptian alchemist called the Eye of Medusa. If an enemy sees this thing for more than five seconds, he will be petrified. It can be used ten times. Each time it is used, a crack will appear. After ten cracks, the entire ring will shatter.
Judging from this cat's eye ring, it seems to have never been worn before, which is quite nice.
It was only recently approved by the British Ministry of Magic, and was only allowed to be put on the shelves after it was confirmed that there would be no irreversible damage.
Kane could give this little thing to Neville, so that if he encounters other young wizards who bully others in the future, he won't be completely helpless.
The evolution from a punching bag that everyone can hit twice to a cactus that you can still hit if you want, but you might get hurt yourself, is a huge improvement.
"Is this all you want? Why don't you pick something else? Like this notebook? You might like it." Lockhart said, taking a black notebook out of the box.
"Hmm...this notebook looks familiar. Could it be Ginny Weasley's?" Kane asked instinctively when he saw the notebook.
"Yes, you are good friends with the Weasleys, but it's not that I have a problem with them. It's just that last month Ginny used this notebook to break another young wizard's nose. It was confiscated as a weapon. Of course, if you mind, you can take the notebook back to her."
As he spoke, Lockhart picked up the notebook and was about to hand it to Kane.
The latter took the notebook and flicked the cover with his finger: "A used notebook in a second-hand bookstore is worth no more than five nut, and it's not worth much. Besides, it's been a month, and Ginny has probably already bought a new notebook. Giving this back to her is a bit of a waste."
After saying that, Kane put the notebook back on Lockhart's desk: "You could perhaps write your lesson plans, or... draw a self-portrait or something."
"Ah~ Would you like it? If you do, I might be able to give you an oil painting." Lockhart said excitedly.
Kane quickly waved his hand: "Seriously, it's not necessary, really."
"Hmm... alright then, but I think it's still very necessary to draw a self-portrait. Let me think, which reader should I send it to first?" Lockhart picked up a quill pen from the table, opened the notebook in front of him, and began to brainstorm ideas.
"Hmm, happy drawing." Kane said, then left Lockhart's office and returned to the Gryffindor common room. After distributing the gifts he had picked out for Harry and the others, he went back to the dormitory floor to look for Neville, only to find that... Neville... was missing.
"I hope nothing bad happens," Kane frowned, worried that he might be bullied by some other little wizards and secretly locked in that strange classroom.
This kind of scenario was all too familiar to Neville, and Kane and his companions were practically experts at it, since they had found Neville by accident during many of their nighttime outings.
With that thought in mind, Kane returned to that familiar little corner. He felt it was essential to rally his friends together to search for poor Neville.