Finally, this year's sorting ceremony, which had many twists and turns, ended. Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief and handed the rest of the ceremony over to Dumbledore.

As usual, Dumbledore first introduced this year's new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart.

In fact, there is no need for Dumbledore to introduce him too much. In recent times, Lockhart has been the most popular wizard in Britain.

After Dumbledore finished his introduction, Lockhart stood up, first showing his signature smile and greeting everyone, then he suddenly said: "Dear students, as a recipient of the Order of Merlin, third class, and an honorary member of the Anti-Dark Arts League, I have always been committed to maintaining order and peace in the wizarding world."

"But now I realize that it is difficult to accomplish this task relying on my own strength. I need help, and the best helpers are you! Because you represent the future!"

"As you all know, the Central Bank of the Wizarding World that I founded is about to open for business! Here, I promise everyone that in order to help students from poor families solve their worries, all Hogwarts students will be able to apply for interest-free loans from my bank in the future. I will name it a student loan!"

Hearing Lockhart's words, thunderous applause broke out in the Hogwarts Great Hall.

And Lockhart seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of thunderous applause.

Lockhart's eyes swept across the room triumphantly until they met Wentworth's. He then raised his hand and signaled for everyone to be quiet.

Then, Lockhart continued, "Not only that, our Central Bank of the Wizarding World will also provide a sum of Galleons every year as a gift to Hogwarts free of charge. We will set up a new fund to reward those students who have excellent grades while studying at Hogwarts!"

"Moreover, we are also very happy to provide jobs for those students who have excellent grades during their studies at Hogwarts after graduation. We promise that the salary from our bank will definitely allow you to live a decent life!"

After hearing Lockhart's words, the entire Hogwarts Great Hall fell into a state of discussion again.

Until Wentworth took the lead in applauding, and then the Hogwarts Great Hall burst into applause again.

Watching everything happening before his eyes, Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, had a calm look without any ripples, but there was a hint of depth in his gaze towards Wentworth.

At this time, Cedric came close to Wentworth and asked in a low voice:

"Wentworth, why did we pay such a high price? Even if you spend more money, Dumbledore will not allow you to mess around in Hogwarts!"

After hearing Cedric's words, Wentworth continued to applaud and said calmly, "Cedric, let me ask you, do you know who supports Hogwarts' huge annual expenditure?"

Cedric nodded and said, "Of course I know, it's the Hogwarts Board of Directors!"

Wentworth nodded, then turned to look at Cedric and said softly:

"Yes, it is the Board of Directors. However, when Hogwarts was first established, there was no Board of Directors. Why can't we become the Board of Directors of Hogwarts?"

After hearing what Wentworth said, Cedric suddenly realized.

After the sorting ceremony and welcome dinner were over, the students of Hogwarts returned to the lounges of their respective colleges amidst the chatter of discussions. There was much that happened tonight that was worth discussing.

Dumbledore also walked quickly towards his office. At this time, Professor McGonagall suddenly caught up with him from behind and said, "Albus, regarding Lockhart's plan to set up a foundation at Hogwarts..."

After hearing what Dumbledore said, Professor McGonagall had no choice but to say goodbye and leave.

Afterwards, Dumbledore returned to his office, called out Fawkes the Phoenix, picked up the latest copy of the Daily Prophet, and disappeared into the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

When Dumbledore appeared again, he had already arrived at Nurmengard Castle in Austria.

Gellert Grindelwald, sitting alone in an empty room, was now accustomed to Dumbledore's sudden visit.

"Please sit anywhere! Don't be polite to me!"

Grindelwald said, pointing to the empty room.

Dumbledore didn't think anything of it and handed the newspaper directly to Grindelwald.

Grindelwald took the newspaper and read it carefully. After a long while, Grindelwald put the newspaper down and said doubtfully, "You think you can defeat my wizard party with just two wizards? I don't believe any wizard can do it except for the two of us working together. The current magical world does not have the conditions to create two wizards like this."

"So, at least one of these two people is from our Wu Cui Party! I don't know, am I right?"

Dumbledore nodded noncommittally, then he actually found a relatively flat ground, used the "Clean Up" spell, sat down slowly, and said, "I don't know either, but I tend to think that both of them are members of the newly developed Witch Party in Wentworth."

Hearing Dumbledore's words, Grindelwald said in surprise:

"Is he... planning to abolish Gringotts?"

Dumbledore spread his hands and said thoughtfully:

"Not only that, you grandson..."

Grindelwald frowned, interrupted Dumbledore, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Speak nicely and don't curse!"

Dumbledore: "...your grandson is really ambitious! Not only does he want to take over Gringotts' business, he also wants to get involved in Hogwarts and replace the Hogwarts Board of Directors!"

Then, Dumbledore told Grindelwald everything that happened at the Sorting Ceremony and the Welcome Dinner. Finally, Dumbledore said, "Moreover, the wizard named Thomas Revell has now become the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the British Ministry of Magic. If he is really a member of the newly developed Witch Party in Wentworth, congratulations, your Witch Party has already grasped nearly half of the power of the British Ministry of Magic!"

At this point, Dumbledore paused, then added: "By the way, Thomas Revault's daughter, Cassandra Revault, has a tendency to develop into the mistress of the Witch Party."

After hearing what Dumbledore said, Grindelwald was silent for a long time, but he finally said unexpectedly: "Wentworth, you've taken the wrong road!"

(End of this chapter)