Fudge didn't hear it, he was still immersed in the pleasure of exercising his power.

The little wizards didn't hear it either. They were arguing. Some of them started to explain for the principal, while others cursed.

The professors didn't hear it either. They clenched their wands, fearing that the basilisk would rush out from some unknown place at the next second.

Harry heard it.

Although Dumbledore did not hear it, he noticed the strange magic.

"Help... help me..." Below the sound of footsteps, there was a faint shouting, getting closer and closer.

Someone noticed this movement.

When he turned his eyes, he screamed in surprise.

It was Professor Lockhart.

His face was pale and his body was hunched, but the most eye-catching thing was his cut open and almost hollowed-out stomach, which could not be hidden even when he was bent over.

The remaining organs were neatly stacked, as if something had been placed there before.

That trace is like a book.

It suddenly dawned on Harry that he knew where Lockhart had hidden the Dark Artifact.

The screams were contagious, coming out from the mouths of little wizards one after another.

Fudge's eyes widened in disbelief.

A message was sent to me last night saying that someone was murdered at Hogwarts today.

result……

Is it him?

Isn’t this way of making headlines a bit too desperate?

"Gilderoy, what's going on?" He came forward and asked with concern.

Lockhart raised his hand: "Hurry, save me."

But halfway through his words, his tongue got tied and he shouted in a weird tone: "The secret room, the secret room has been opened!"

After saying that, he fell headfirst and hit the ground heavily.

Fudge's face changed and he looked a little at a loss. He opened his mouth and looked at the person in the teacher's seat who was just threatened by him.

He has already reacted.

"All deans, take the students back to the common room. Classes will be suspended today." Dumbledore waved his wand, "Prefects and senior students, please protect the junior students."

Scrimgeour, the head of the Auror Office, also gave orders: "Now, all Aurors, cooperate with the professors, and the rest of the people will search for dark magic items."

In the auditorium, the huge crowd dispersed.

Only Dumbledore, Harry, Fudge, and Scrimgeour were left.

And Lockhart, who was lying on the ground, his life or death unknown.

Fudge waved his hands in panic, calling on those he could command: "Quick, send him to the school infirmary..."

"Cornelly, I don't think this is necessary." Dumbledore spoke slowly, his eyes cold.

Fudge was stunned.

"Tom, aren't you coming out?" Dumbledore looked at Lockhart lying on the ground, raised his wand and pointed it at him.

Fudge was confused: "Dumbledore, what are you talking about? He just..."

He hasn't finished speaking yet.

The fallen man supported himself on the ground, bent over backwards, and stood up with a clack, with a calm smile on his face that Lockhart could never have: "Professor Dumbledore, long time no see."

Dumbledore looked at the ruptured stomach and squeezed his wand fingers to exert force: "This is something you are capable of."

"Keep that thing in your stomach."

"Put down your wand, Professor." "Lockhart" still smiled, "What's the point of holding up something you don't need at all?"

Dumbledore didn't listen to him.

"You're making me very worried." "Lockhart" said in a gentle tone, "Professor Dumbledore, you haven't improved at all compared to fifty years ago."

"You couldn't catch me then."

"You still can't."

"Do people become more incompetent as they get older? It seems I am a bit like you."

Dumbledore responded to him: "Your attainments in soul magic are truly unexpected. Have you merged with Lockhart's soul?"

"No, should I say that Lockhart's soul was fused together by you?"

"No wonder……"

"Lockhart" interrupted him: "No wonder you even used your least favorite dark magic, but only detected a complete soul, without other scraps, and couldn't confirm where I was?"

"You are too kind, my dear Professor Dumbledore. If you can be cruel, just like... Mr. Grindelwald, an incompetent professor, what's wrong with sacrificing him for the greater good?"

"So now, what should you do?"

As he spoke, he dragged his heavy body forward and took a step forward: "My dear professor, this is your best chance."

He raised his hand and gently stroked the face: "I stand before you defenseless."

"The killing curse?"

"Lihuo?"

"Or other dark magic. You know what I mean. Those can easily kill Lockhart and me who is parasitic in Lockhart's body. The crisis of Hogwarts can be resolved!"

"Come on, you still have your wand raised, don't you?"

"It's just a spell. It's easy for you to cast, and you can even cast it silently."

"It only took a second."

Dumbledore did nothing.

Lockhart was fearless and sneered: "Professor Dumbledore, you are great."

"But your weakness is too obvious. Are you protecting your weakness by confining yourself in this castle?"

"You obviously have such a powerful force, but where is your courage to burn my cabinet and threaten me with it?"

Dumbledore thought back to the past.

"Rules are used to restrain the weak." "Lockhart" looked at Fudge with contempt, "The weak must naturally obey the words of the strong."

"You taught me that."

"But as the strongest wizard, you choose to suffer and be bound by the rules set by the weak, and you are willing to bind yourself."

"An incompetent man wearing the hat of the Minister of Magic can step on your face and give you orders, and you actually obey his orders?"

“It’s ridiculous.”

"My dear professor, this is ridiculous."

"If it were me, he would kneel down right now, kiss the back of my feet, and call me master devoutly."

"This is what the strongest deserves."

Fudge's face turned pale. He looked at Dumbledore in panic. Compared with the unknown dark wizard named "Tom" who was using Lockhart's body and causing great danger to Hogwarts, he was more afraid of what he feared day and night: "Dumbledore is going to replace him and become the Minister of Magic."

Harry said nothing.

He looked at "Lockhart" with fear, wary of the soul that resided in this body.

Language is one of the most powerful magics in the world.

He was obviously very proficient in this kind of magic, wielding an invisible blade and tearing the space between Fudge and Dumbledore.

"You still have time to think about it, to wake up and change your ways." "Lockhart" bravely opened his arms and displayed his cut open belly nakedly to Dumbledore without reservation.

"Come on, kill Lockhart, kill me."

"You know very well that Lockhart deserves what he gets."

"A criminal who stole the lives of others. As the greatest white wizard, the chief wizard of the Wizengamot, Professor Dumbledore, you have the ability to defy the laws of the Ministry of Magic and make the most just execution you think."

Dumbledore's face changed.

Fudge became even more frightened.

Lockhart waved his wand.

An hourglass appeared out of nowhere, fell to the ground with a thud, and fine sand slid down like silk.

"You only have so little time to think about it."

"The magic I left in Lockhart can only last so long."

He stopped talking.

There was only the sound of the hourglass falling.

Dumbledore still did not move. Tom brought up the issue, making it difficult for him to take action. The thing that had made him feel most at ease in the past few decades now became the strongest shackles that bound him.

Breaking decades of principles and no longer following the rules?

Still bound...

"Professor, everything is for Hogwarts and the students." Harry reminded, his hand reaching into the Sorting Hat and grasping the hilt of Gryffindor's sword.

Dumbledore said nothing, his expression was painful.

It seems that I am thinking of many past events.

"Scrimgeour, this is the duty of you Aurors." He finally put down his wand and spoke slowly, saying, "But Tom."

"Where's your thing?"

"I'm sure it's not on Lockhart."

"You and I both know exactly what that is."

"Even if I kill him, I can't kill you. You can't lie to me again."