Chapter 1304: Trial and Acceleration
"Gilderoy Lockhart! Stop!"
Almost as soon as Lockhart burst into action, Kingsley charged forward.
Because Hogwarts' grounds restricted Apparition magic, the Aurors' encirclement was slightly slower.
Under everyone's gaze, Kingsley darted out like a cheetah, instantly appearing in front of Lockhart. He drew his wand, his expression serious, and stood between the Wizengamot court members, Ministry of Magic senior officials, and Lockhart. A light-gold magical shield quickly lit up, like an enlarged version of a medieval siege tower shield.
"Put down your wand, Lockhart! Otherwise, I will arrest you on the spot for charges of arrest, disrupting the court... and so on!"
Kingsley shouted righteously, fearlessly facing Lockhart's flames.
The dark blue magic flames surged, incessantly striking the invisible amber barrier—echoing through the Quidditch pitch was a heart-palpitating thunderous roar.
Dozens of Aurors successively arrived around the trial site, drawing their wands and aiming them at the interrogation table as if a man-eating fire dragon was crouching there.
No, more accurately, perhaps a large group of violent fire dragons: even the weakest "Dark Lord-level" wizard required twenty wizards to defeat.
"Relax, Head Auror—I'm not an enemy of the ordered world."
Lockhart said with a smile, his smile as radiant as ever.
He unhurriedly walked onto the stone platform, raising his wand in his right hand, pointing it straight at Fudge and the others.
Squeak—
Cornelius Fudge and the others subconsciously retreated.
The chair legs of the high-backed chairs scraped against the ground, emitting a somewhat grating noise.
Even with Professor McGonagall's repeated assurances and prior testing of the "amber" barrier's effect, Fudge was still somewhat afraid.
In fact, the "arrest content" published in *The Daily Prophet* was not the complete picture.
Kingsley Shacklebolt and others had not been able to defeat Lockhart.
It was more accurate to say that Lockhart chose to "surrender" rather than being "arrested" by the Ministry.
After consecutively defeating seventeen Aurors, Lockhart took the initiative to lower his wand, allowing the Aurors to imprison him and await trial.
"Verified by the British Ministry of Magic, Gilderoy Lockhart is a true 'Dark Lord-level' wizard."
This was a note written in a special booklet of the International Confederation of Wizards.
Since Grindelwald nearly destroyed the world, the International Confederation of Wizards redefined "Dark Lord-level" wizard.
Very simple, with only one line of description: Dark Lord-level wizards can only be repelled, not defeated.
Cornelius Fudge looked at the wand pointing at him with a mixture of fear and trepidation, and swallowed.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, you—"
"Shhh—"
Before he could finish speaking, Lockhart raised his left index finger to his lips.
At the same time, he easily released the wand in his hand, and the wand he had taken from Dorcus floated quietly in mid-air.
"I said earlier, wands shouldn't be pointed at people's heads—it's very impolite."
Lockhart pointed his left index finger forward and said with an elegant smile.
The next moment, the wand began to spin at high speed like a drill, slowly piercing through the "amber" barrier.
"Damn it! He has a way to break through that protection—"
Cornelius Fudge widened his eyes and stumbled to the side, shouting.
"Grab him! Quick, grab him! Don't let that guy—"
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
Kingsley and the others shouted loudly.
Dozens of dazzling red beams lit up the field.
The spells streaked through the air, intersecting and striking the area around the stone platform where Lockhart was.
However, all the magic seemed to hit a soft sponge, silently dissipating into the air.
And that wand finally broke completely through the barrier, shooting forward like a sharp arrow.
"Watch out, Minister!"
Kingsley Shacklebolt dashed out like a cheetah.
He waved his wand, like a shield, to meet the whistling wand tip.
"Reducto—"
"Orchideous—"
Two spells sounded at the same time.
Kingsley's wand shot out a dazzling magical beam, hitting the tip of the whistling wand head-on.
Just when everyone thought there would be a loud noise, the arrow-like wand suddenly turned into petals of scarlet roses.
The magic beam passed through the petals, and the agitated air currents made the petals swirl and dance in the air.
"So, now—"
Amidst the flying petals, the clicking of camera flashes rang out incessantly.
Lockhart stood elegantly in front of the interrogation table, smiling brightly, and said softly.
"Can the public trial begin? Gentlemen—I believe you must have prepared quite a few questions, haven't you?"
"Ah," Fudge said, looking completely at a loss, looking left and right, "Lockhart, yes, that is, you—uh—uh—you are now ready to face the Wizengamot's questioning, right? You should know that you have committed so many shameful, despicable crimes, um, with irrefutable evidence..."
"The trial on March 22nd—"
Amelia Bones said in a booming voice, looking calmly at Lockhart.
"To hear the case of Gilderoy Lockhart violating the *International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy*, the *Wizengamot Charter*, the *Law for the Restriction of Dangerous Dark Creatures*, and multiple other laws. Interrogators: Minister for Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge; Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Susan Bones..."
Accompanying Ms. Bones' voice, Cornelius Fudge quickly regained his composure, cleared his throat, and began to lead the trial again.
However, the preemptive measures planned by the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot court naturally could no longer continue.
Lockhart stood politely in the center of the stone platform, as if he was being interviewed rather than interrogated.
…………
"Professor Lockhart... I didn't expect him to be quite handsome."
In the distant stands, Hermione looked at the blond wizard below and said softly.
The Great Arcana Council's records do not record everyone's strength, and of course, this cannot be quantified.
Come to think of it, this seemed to be the first time she had personally seen Lockhart cast spells.
Compared to Aileen's barbaric magic, Lockhart's magic was undoubtedly much more elegant in terms of visual effects and atmosphere.
"Ahem, Professor Lockhart is engaged—"
Aileen coughed lightly and casually reminded.
"However, his magical strength was originally not bad... otherwise Dumbledore wouldn't have invited him to teach at the school."
"As... a grammar professor?"
Hermione glanced at Aileen, her eyebrows twitching slightly.
Since there were parents and other wizards nearby, Hermione couldn't directly retort to Aileen.
If she remembered correctly, whether Lockhart came to teach at Hogwarts or joined the Destiny Group...
Aileen seemed to be the one who orchestrated these things single-handedly. That white-haired little devil was very bad, and Professor Dumbledore didn't know how much blame he had taken.
"What is that magical protection? Lockhart—that guy can actually withstand so many Aurors' attacks?!"
Lucius Malfoy looked down in shock. He had graduated slightly earlier than Lockhart.
Back in school, Lockhart was just a big talker, but he didn't have the magical strength he had now.
More importantly, that was a full dozen Aurors! A barrage of dozens of spells!
Even the Dark Lord—uh—the one who had been publicly killed not long ago—probably couldn't have dispelled so many spells so lightly, right?!
"Amber, Hogwarts' exclusive magical protection."
Aileen explained solemnly, glancing at the adults in the box.
"This is the result of Professor Dumbledore's joint effort with some top wizards. I heard that it borrowed some of Hogwarts Castle's magic."
"The specific magical principles are only known by the Headmaster. All we can do now is open it, and we have to wait until the time is up to close it..."
The same explanation appeared in Professor McGonagall's box and in the whispers of the Wizengamot bench.
The "vanished" Dumbledore was undoubtedly the most ideal "scapegoat" choice.
As this public trial ended, the "amber" magic would be firmly imprinted with the labels "Product of Dumbledore" and "Hogwarts."
On the other hand, before anyone cracked the mysteries of the space amber, this almost absolute defensive magical barrier could also be used as a major safety feature of Hogwarts for external promotion, for subsequent expanded enrollment, academic seminars and linkages inside and outside the school, and even for the publicity and explanation of important magical conferences.
Of course, at this point in time, its most important use was...
To provide "Mr. Hanged Man" with an undisturbed, uninterrupted, super-large public speaking environment.
…………
Not far away, the members of the Wizengamot were still talking to each other.
The visitors from the International Confederation of Wizards and the celebrities of the magical society were equally uneasy.
However, when Cornelius Fudge spoke, everyone quieted down.
Not because of authority, but because everyone wanted to know how Lockhart would respond when faced with the Wizengamot court's accusations.
"Well then—" Fudge said, somewhat uneasily, "Now it is... the indictment, yes."
He stood up, pulled a parchment from a pile of documents, took a deep breath, and read aloud.
"The International Confederation of Wizards, the Wizengamot court, and the Ministry of Magic accuse the defendant of the following crimes:"
"The defendant deliberately and knowingly violated the *Statute of Secrecy*, revealing the secrets of the magical world in front of multiple Muggles and werewolves;"
"The defendant has, over the past six years, repeatedly attacked innocent wizards, stealing their deeds as content for his autobiography;"
"The defendant..."
"Oh, hold on a moment."
Lockhart suddenly interrupted Cornelius's statement.
He looked at the Minister for Magic and shrugged helplessly.
"Well, to be honest, my crimes in the past few years have been far too many."
"If I read them all out one by one, the audience present, even myself, might not be able to remember..."
"This is a necessary process, Mr. Lockhart."
Ms. Bones frowned unhappily and said coldly.
"As the defendant, you have the right to know your charges and refute or explain some of them."
"Oh, I understand these legal clauses very well—in fact, you see, I once wanted to run for Minister for Magic."
Lockhart smiled softly, straightened his back, and looked around at the members of the Wizengamot.
"I'm just saying, maybe we can skip some unnecessary steps..."
"For example—"
Lockhart said unhurriedly, slowly.
"Yes, I admit all the crimes..."
"The Wizengamot court's accusations against me, those unread content—whatever they are."
"At the same time, I accept all the judgments of the Wizengamot court against me."
Lockhart clapped his hands with a smile, looking at Cornelius Fudge and the others with a relaxed expression.
"Oh dear—you see, doesn't this save a lot of time? You can pronounce the sentence directly now."