The little wizards whispered in the auditorium with breakfast.

Hermione borrowed a newspaper from the seat next door and pointed to the text on it, saying, "Look here, 'Lowhardt tampers with the memory of the wizards, and after obtaining their stories, he used all the forgetting to make them forget everything. There are only seven victims that can be found, and their memories have been permanently damaged.'"

Ron's chicken legs were no longer fragrant, "So, I almost lost my memory forever?"

He still felt incredible that with the magic level that Lohart showed on weekdays, he could successfully attack repeatedly.

Harry also said with lingering fear: "You may not even know that you have lost your memory. Who would have thought that he was a true master of forgetting spells?"

"It's so scary. I've been in the same office with such a person for a week." Ron took a big mouthful of pumpkin juice.

"I don't know who caught Lohart?"

"Aren't it the Auror of the Ministry of Magic? I heard Dean said."

"Impossible, I asked Fat Lady, and she said no outsiders came that day." Hermione said casually.

"How did she know?" Ron looked shocked, "It was just a portrait."

"Ron, the portrait also retains her own character. Fat Lady is keen on opera and chatting. She often visits other portraits when there is no one." Hermione narrowed her eyes, "As long as you praise her for singing a few more lines, she will be happy to share some gossip with you."

"And to be fair, her song is not bad."

...

In the afternoon of the same day, Felix and Dumbledore sat face to face in the principal's office, and the two discussed the aftermath of Lockhart's arrest.

There were a few dishes of small cakes and biscuits, as well as two cups of pumpkin juice on the table.

"Sadly, the person who was hurt may have exceeded the initial expectations," Dumbledore said softly.

"More than his adventures?"

"Yes, he can't guarantee that every story he encounters is attractive enough."

Felix looked through the newspaper on the table and said, "Why didn't you see Rita Skitter's report?" This is not like her.

Are you afraid that the attack on Lockhart would be exposed? But memories are hard to be used as evidence, especially the criminal himself is a memory master. Even if Lockhart accuses Rita Skit in court, it doesn't make much sense.

"She's having some trouble." Dumbledore used a small fork to plug a piece of cake. "It tastes pretty good, Felix, I highly recommend it."

Felix inserted a piece and sent it into his mouth, "Will she put herself in trouble? That's a smart person."

Dumbledore glanced at him, "Smart people make mistakes, and they are more likely to find loopholes in rules than ordinary people, so they may make bigger mistakes."

"So her trouble is-"

"According to the information I received, she tried every possible way to inquire about Lockhart's arrest, and then rushed to the Ministry of Magic to register Animagus that day."

"Animagus." Felix swallowed the cake and repeated. "Yes, Animagus, the illegal Animagus..."

He finally understood why Rita Skitter attacked Lockhart.

"I guess, her deformation must be some kind of small creature." Felix's tone was very certain.

"It's a beetle." Dumbledore said calmly, "If the facts are as we think, there's a reason for her years of well-informed knowledge. From your previous judgment, Lockhart had been involved in the forgetting spell, but he had escaped the influence of the spell, which put her in a very embarrassing situation."

Memory can be forged, but magic will not lie. If Lohat really verifies Rita Skit as an illegal Animagus, there must be many people in the Ministry of Magic who are interested in checking it.

Rita Skit has acted unscrupulously in recent years and I don’t know how many people he has offended.

"I don't think she will do it easily," Felix said.

After a moment of silence, Felix said, "Principal Dumbledore, there are still five months before the next school year. What should I do with the school's Dark Magic Defense Class?"

Dumbledore also showed a distressed expression. He couldn't help but smack his lips and sighed: "The professors of this course are consumed so quickly."

"So, is the Dark Lord's curse real?"

"I think yes, since I rejected Voldemort, no teacher of black magic defense has been able to teach for more than a year," Dumbledore said. "I think he must have been very angry and was rejected twice."

"Twice?" Felix looked at him with a strange expression. "Have you rejected him twice?"

I was rejected three times and was still eating cakes in the principal's office.

"No, Felix." Dumbledore said with ease, "Principal Dippet thought he was too young and refused him. He disappeared for ten years since then, and when he came to work again, I could hardly recognize him, and I explicitly rejected him."

"Professor Snape has always been obsessed with this course." Felix beat the side drum for his dean.

"Severus..." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows: "I won't give him this class."

"Why? During the years I went to school, no one died, only one or two were slightly injured, and it seemed that the curse was not very affected."

"That's because no one has been in this course for more than a year." Dumbledore sighed softly. "This is the only way I came up with, but over thirty years later, the reputation of this course has been getting worse and it is getting more and more difficult to find a qualified teacher."

This is indeed true.

The reason why Felix rejects the Dark Magic Defense class is, on the one hand, because the term of employment for this course is one year, and it is never exceptional, which does not meet his purpose; on the other hand, this position is really evil, and every professor has more or less accidents at the end of the term.

But in his opinion, the risk this time is not great. Snape can serve half a year, and at worst, he can hand it over to the new professor next year.

Felix gave his advice.

"But Severus will stay at Hogwarts to teach next year, right?" Dumbledore looked at him meaningfully.

"You mean, as long as this person is still in school, the curse will not stop?" Felix asked keenly.

"According to my observation, this is true. I have also invited several resigned professors of the Black Magic Defense class to switch to other positions, and a serious accident occurred..." Dumbledore fell into memories, "but it doesn't matter if he took one or two classes in a while."

The information he revealed was amazing, almost saying that once he was contaminated with a curse, he had to escape from Hogwarts for up to one year, otherwise you would not be spared even if you stepped down as a Black Magic Defense class.

No matter who Dumbledore is looking for, he will not look for Snape.

Felix completely gave up the idea of ​​helping him find a teaching post in the Black Magic Defense class, and the two began to discuss the curse itself.

"How did he do it?" Felix asked.

This seemed incredible to him, because Voldemort's curse and the school were a little too close.

But Hogwarts itself actually has a very excellent defense system and is difficult to be affected by external influences.

"The next one is my guess, just treat it as a tea time chat."

"certainly."

"I think Voldemort cleverly used the identity of Slytherin's heir, and he himself was very good at cursing... In short, when the two were combined, the effect was amazing," Dumbledore said.

"Can Voldemort affect the operation of Hogwarts?" Felix asked in a terrifying manner. This statement is amazing...

"No, the order of Felix Hogwarts has been around for thousands of years, and even if Salazar Slytherin returns, it will not be able to reoccupy the school."

"That--"

"Voldemort paid a huge price. From all signs, he forever gave up Hogwarts's protection against him - a power that belonged to the descendants of the four founders, and imposed this curse with his hatred."

After a long silence—

"What is the way to lift the curse?"

"Voldemort's death." Dumbledore lowered his eyes.

"So you knew very early on that he wasn't dead?"

"Yes, I always knew." Dumbledore murmured: "The existence of the curse says it all."

Next, the two discussed the curse for a long time, and Felix learned a lot of information about Hogwarts.

When Felix said goodbye and left, Dumbledore sat quietly in the chair, on the slender table, a group of strange silverware was swaying, spewing out small waves of smoke.

The portraits of the old men and women on the wall were whispering and discussing the topic they just said.

On the cabinet shelf opposite the table, there was a ragged, wrinkled wizard hat. At this moment, a crack near the brim of the division hat opened like a mouth: "Dumbledore, this is not like you."

Dumbledore's slender fingers were put together, "Do you have any opinions, the branch hat? I'll listen carefully."

"You said a lot today, and I thought... you would bury these in your heart."

"Maybe I was just being piqued off, and Felix is ​​a good listener."

"Maybe...but you are revealing the secrets of the school little by little, that is the authority of the principal. Dumbledore..."

Portraits on the wall stared at Dumbledore.

"...I guess, do you want to raise that boy?"

Dumbledore smiled, his beard trembling slightly: "Sorting hat, how do you view him, from your own perspective?"

"He wanted to study me, I could see that even though he hid this idea. He was such an excellent wizard that reminded me of Ms. Ravenclaw, and I was looking forward to his growth."

Dumbledore showed a surprised expression. He had been with the Sorting Hat for nearly half a century. Naturally, he knew that although the Sorting Hat respected the four founders, it had the most special feelings for two of them, one was Gryffindor and the other was Ravenclaw.

This is a very high evaluation for the branch hat.
Chapter completed!