Chapter 220: For Voldemort!
Tonks said she was fond of all fluffy animals. Even if Demiguises looked a little ugly.
So Lockhart was able to relax and enjoy his exquisitely prepared French meal, while Tonks quietly used her constantly changing hair color to amuse the Demiguise in her arms.
After playing for a while, she even started giving the Demiguises names.
"I feel I must remind you," Lockhart said, chewing on a piece of lobster meat. "They are actually a single creature, the same one."
Tonks was baffled. She blinked, looking at the cats in her arms and on her knees with confusion. "The same one?"
Lockhart nodded, naturally explaining it from an academic perspective. "When a creature dies, it unleashes a powerful force, a final, desperate plea for existence. The greatest characteristic of the Demiguise is that it instinctively knows how to use this power to strengthen its presence in the real world."
"And so, people will see it split from one head into three, and with each death, it splits into more. There is no hierarchy in this division; each one is a perfect copy of the original."
Tonks thought this was preposterous. "They can endlessly split into countless copies?"
"I don't know; no one has ever done that research. But I tend to believe in the magical number 'seven,' so I would guess they might stop splitting after the seventh time." Lockhart wasn't the kind of person who had to investigate every single thing. He didn't care about this particular matter.
"In comparison, I'm more curious about your hair," Lockhart said, his expression a little strange. "I'm curious, when your appearance changes, are there any changes in your magical energy?"
He was actually more curious about where her magical bloodline came from, as the Black family's magical lineage didn't have the distinct trait of being a Metamorphmagus. But that was obviously not a question he should ask out loud, as it might suggest that Tonks' mother had cheated, which would cause a misunderstanding.
Tonks frowned for a moment, thinking, then shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not actually very good at magic. You know, the only reason I was able to get into the Auror Office was because of my natural Metamorphmagus ability."
Many people had told her that her ability was a natural fit for an Auror.
"When the ends of your hair change color slightly, I can distinctly feel a tiny change in your magic," Lockhart said, shrugging. "If you're willing to trust me, I'd suggest that sometimes you try not to actively change your hair color. Let your mood change it freely. Your magic might improve very quickly that way."
Tonks became excited. Her mentor, Mad-Eye Moody, and her superiors, Kingsley and Scrimgeour, had all advised her to listen carefully to Lockhart's guidance if she ever had the chance to get it.
It was said that Fudge, the Minister who always seemed so incompetent, had been following some offhand advice from Lockhart while practicing a Bubble-Head Charm, and the results were supposed to be excellent. But exactly how good, few people knew; they just knew it was very impressive. If someone like Fudge could benefit, others would naturally be interested. In fact, some people were already secretly having their children ask Professor Lockhart for help with their problems under the pretense of being a student.
Guidance from a master wizard was extremely rare.
Just think, how many students at Hogwarts could still get personal guidance from Dumbledore? None. Not even Harry Potter, the so-called 'Savior.'
"What should I do?" Tonks asked, her excitement growing.
"Just let your magic express itself naturally, instinctively, and according to your will," Lockhart said. He then looked at Tonks' slightly bewildered expression and suddenly realized that this might be a difficult thing to do.
Yes, it was probably very difficult for Tonks.
He frowned in thought. "Casting a spell by facing your inner self is difficult. You can start by trying it when you feel emotional, like when you're angry. Try to keep your face still and don't say anything angry. Then, let that anger be expressed through your hair color. Use it as your expression."
He said a whole lot more, constantly simplifying the concept in the hopes that she would understand and be able to do it with practice.
Tonks was only half-listening. She started thinking back on bad memories, things that made her angry just thinking about them, but her hair color didn't change at all.
Just then, Lupin walked over with his parents. "Professor Lockhart, I..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Tonks' hair suddenly turned pink, startling him.
"!!"
Lupin froze, then looked around warily. He nervously warned her, "It's best not to do magic in a place with so many Muggles, especially where there might be cameras!"
Tonks' face instantly turned red. These were the words she, an Auror, was supposed to be telling other people.
"Hahahaha," Lockhart laughed beside her, his teasing laughter making Tonks even more flustered.
"We haven't properly introduced ourselves yet. This is Nymphadora Tonks, a member of the Auror Office..."
Lockhart introduced her, then paused, looking at Lupin's expression, which suggested he already knew her but was politely not interrupting. "You two know each other?"
"We met during the train attack on the way to school last time," Lupin said. (Chapter 196)
It was better when Lupin hadn't said anything. His words made Tonks even more embarrassed. During their last meeting, Tonks had almost been ambushed by a Death Eater who was playing dead. She dodged and nearly fell, and it was Lupin who had run over to help her.
"Alright, then no introduction is needed," Lockhart said, not bothering to think too much about it. Everyone had their own fate. He didn't believe that Lupin was destined to be with Tonks, or Tonks with Lupin. If they had a destiny together, he would wish them well. If they didn't, he wouldn't do anything because of the impact of his time travel.
He was more curious about the situation with Lupin's family.
Lyall's happy smile gave him the answer. "He said he'll come help at my lab with you, Professor."
Lockhart understood.
A smile appeared on his face. Before he could say anything, Lupin's expression changed drastically. He cried out in alarm, "Look out!"
BOOM!
A violent tremor, a deafening roar, as if the sky had fallen in an instant.
And it had.
The ceiling of the restaurant came crashing down, carrying the terrifying weight of dozens of floors above it.
The cataclysm happened in a split second, giving no one time to react. The countless screams in the hotel were instantly buried by the roar of the building.
A huge cloud of dust billowed up from the busy street. The horrible weight of the building came down with a force far beyond normal human imagination, sending shockwaves across every corner of the city.
In that moment, Lupin felt only despair. His life had just reached its most beautiful moment. He was back with his parents, they were sharing all the memories of the past decade and more, and the estrangement of the past had been washed away by time and affection. All that was left was the gentle warmth of being together.
He didn't know how long it had been since he had felt such warmth.
But fate always seemed to play a cruel joke on him. Everything beautiful in his life was one by one being completely destroyed, tormenting and crushing his soul.
He watched in despair as a diner at a nearby table suddenly stood up, took a bundle of something from their pocket, and threw it at the ceiling, a terribly cruel, manic laugh on their face.
Then, the violent explosion happened.
It was so fast that there was no time to react. No matter how much he had trained during the war and his time wandering, he couldn't do a thing.
He could only manage to cry out and turn to grab his parents, intending to Apparate them away, but the horrifying building came crashing down.
He could only faintly hear a whooshing sound, as if from the river of time itself, a sound that twisted the constraints of space and time and echoed strangely in his mind.
"Reparo!"
Suddenly, it was as if time flowed backward. He could still feel the phantom pain of being crushed as he watched everything in front of him fly rapidly upwards.
Reassembling, piecing together, and reattaching.
"Ahhhh~"
A Muggle at a nearby table had not stopped screaming. She suddenly looked around in shock, then touched her head, looking up at the ceiling in disbelief. "Was that a hallucination?"
Oh, it was definitely not a hallucination.
Because everyone had seen it!
Almost every person was screaming, and many ran out like mad. The sound of thousands of people running came from the distant stairs, as if countless people were fleeing from the floors above.
Screaming in terror, crying, laughing... the raw emotion of life in the face of death. Everyone had gone mad.
Lockhart slowly stood up from his chair. He stretched out his left hand and caught a colorful, paper-wrapped, ostrich-egg-like object that drifted down from the ceiling.
"What is this?"
Lockhart looked at the thing in his hand with some confusion and turned to look at the others.
Tonks still seemed to be lost in the horror of her brush with death, standing like a statue. She shook her head blankly.
"A Cellar Hopper!" Lyall Lupin's voice was shaky. "It's a prank toy!"
"A prank?" Lockhart was unable to comprehend.
"It will suddenly vibrate in the middle of the night or after being left for a while. Many people put them in cellars to scare others—" Lyall Lupin swallowed hard. "The one in your hand is either specially made or no one knew it had such destructive power against a concrete structure."
Goodness.
Lockhart looked at the little thing in his hand with a sense of wonder. It couldn't even be called a weapon of war; it was just a prank toy? And it could cause such a terrifying attack?
He casually shoved it into Tonks' hand. In the midst of the chaotic crowd, he slowly walked towards the person who had caused this terrifying attack.
It was absolutely ridiculous!
Truly! The person standing before him was a Muggle!
"For..." The Muggle woman looked at the wand in Lockhart's hand with terror. She tried to take a step back but found herself unable to move.
She couldn't even see the giant werewolf shadow behind Lockhart, its hand wrapped around her throat, its head lowered, and its mouth full of fangs staring covetously at her head.
"For Voldemort!"
She yelled loudly, fumbling to pull the gun completely from the edge of her coat pocket where it was stuck.
But she seemed to be too nervous. There was a clatter as the gun in her hand fell to the ground, sliding a short distance before stopping at Lockhart's feet.
"!!" She gulped nervously.
Finally, Lockhart stood before her, looking down at her face, which was a mix of exhilaration and fear. He asked softly, "You know Voldemort?"
The Muggle woman shrank her neck and nodded, her body hunched over in fear.
"He sent you?" Lockhart asked again.
She shook her head blankly.
"You know me?"
She shook her head blankly.
"Then why did you launch this attack?" An extremely terrifying aura emanated from Lockhart's body, like the pressure of a top predator, crazily eroding the Muggle's mind, suppressing her so much that she dared not feel any resistance. She answered every question she was asked.
"My husband... my husband!" The Muggle woman's voice began to thicken with emotion. "He followed Voldemort to do great things. They say he was persecuted and sent to Azkaban prison. I don't even know where Azkaban is!"
Was this about the train attack on the way to Hogwarts?
Lockhart asked a few more specific details, and finally confirmed his suspicions.
Soon, a large number of Aurors and Ministry of Magic employees surrounded the area.
This time, their reaction was incredibly fast, as the Muggle hotel was not far from the Ministry of Magic building.
Then, Rita Skeeter quickly arrived, having caught wind of the commotion.
"Professor Lockhart, can you tell me..." Rita excitedly gestured for her photographer to quickly take pictures, and she asked loudly, quill in hand.
"No comment!" a roar came from the side. Fudge and a group of people pushed past Rita and came directly to Lockhart. He waved his hand, signaling to his Undersecretary, Umbridge, to deal with the annoying reporter.
"Professor Lockhart, thank goodness for you!" Fudge was so nervous that he was constantly wiping sweat from his face. He watched the Aurors busy casting Memory Charms on the Muggles around him. Once he was sure the situation was under control, he let out a sigh of relief, but was still filled with lingering fear.
Lockhart shook his head. "I was just saving myself."
His expression was a little strange as he gestured towards the Muggle woman. "The criminal who carried out this attack was a Muggle. Have you ever seen an attack like this before?"
Fudge looked at the Muggle woman, his eyes filled with coldness. "Of course not! I can't even imagine that this was done with a single toy! No."
Indeed.
Times were truly changing quietly. A magical attack perpetrated by a Muggle—this incident would likely send shockwaves through every wizarding power in the world.
"You'd better go back to school immediately!" Fudge pulled Lockhart aside and whispered a warning. "I suspect this isn't as simple as it seems. Let Dumbledore worry about this. You'd best not get involved."
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