Chapter 256: Conflict at Flourish and Blotts
Chapter 256: Conflict at Flourish and Blotts
After the photo session, Lockhart proudly announced to everyone that he would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
"Whether it's Harry Potter or his classmates, they will all have the opportunity to meet the magical me when Hogwarts opens on September 1st!"
The crowd burst into applause and cheers.
Several middle-aged wizards, fans or not, were so excited that they even shed tears.
It seemed as if Lockhart's presence at Hogwarts would ensure the safety of the students.
As long as Lockhart was there... the curse of Defense Against the Dark Arts would cease to exist!
Amidst the cheers, Harry suddenly felt his arm go numb, and upon looking down, he realized he was holding the complete set of Gilderoy Lockhart's books, making his walk unsteady.
But the good news was that he no longer had to stay there.
Harry struggled out of the center of attention and made his way to the wall.
Kyle was chatting with Ginny nearby.
"These are for you... I'll go buy the rest myself," Harry said, dumping the books into Ginny's new crucible before turning to Kyle and asking, "Where did you go just now?"
"Oh, I saw you guys having a good time, so I went to buy the other textbooks," Kyle replied, pointing to a stack of books on the nearby long table.
When Lockhart called out Harry's name earlier, he had seized the opportunity to slip into the crowd to avoid unnecessary trouble.
He had intended to hide from Lockhart but ended up inadvertently avoiding Harry's backstabbing.
This old guy has learned some nasty tricks.
"What do you want from me?" Kyle asked, his expression unchanged.
"Nothing, nothing at all!"
Harry was already stunned by the thick stack of books, and after counting, he found there were a total of seventeen books.
Although he knew that third year would have two additional elective courses, this was still too much.
"It's just two more classes... do I need to buy so many books?" Harry asked with difficulty.
"Normally, you wouldn't need to," Kyle explained, "but I chose quite a few courses."
"And Ancient Runes alone requires five books. Together with the seven books for Defense Against the Dark Arts, these two subjects account for two-thirds of the total," Kyle added.
"Ancient Runes..." Harry silently vowed to himself that he would never choose that unfriendly-sounding subject next year.
After a brief chat, Kyle took the books to the counter to pay.
Due to the book signing event, Flourish and Blotts had reassigned most of its staff to Lockhart's side, providing a one-stop service for book selection, signing, and payment.
However, this service was only for Lockhart's books; other books still needed to be paid for at the counter.
With fewer staff and the approaching school year, the store was crowded, and Kyle had to wait in line for a long time before finally paying.
When he returned with the books, he saw Mr. Weasley confronting a middle-aged man with golden hair.
Mr. Weasley's face was grim, and he looked extremely serious.
"If you're truly unafraid of inspection as you claim, why did you sneak off to Diagon Alley?"
"Speak with evidence, Weasley," Lucius Malfoy said, leaning on Draco, "I merely brought Draco here to purchase his textbooks for next year, and I have never been to Diagon Alley."
"On the contrary, with all those inspections, they must have paid you overtime," Mr. Weasley retorted.
Lucius Malfoy reached into Ginny's crucible and pulled out a tattered copy of "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration."
“Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, it hasn’t happened yet…
What’s the point of being a disgrace to the wizarding world if you can’t even get a decent reward?”
Mr. Weasley’s face was redder than Harry’s had been on stage earlier.
“Apparently, we have different understandings of the term ‘disgrace’, Malfoy,” he said.
“Obviously,” Lucius Malfoy replied.
He glanced around, his gaze falling on the trembling Granger couple,
“Look at the company you keep… fraternizing with Muggles, Weasley. I thought your family had hit rock bottom already.”
A loud clang echoed as Ginny’s cauldron flew out.
It happened so quickly that even Kyle didn’t see whether it was Mr. Weasley or Ginny who threw it.
But that was no longer important; the cauldron was like a spark that ignited a powder keg, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.
Although Lucius Malfoy dodged the cauldron in time, he was subsequently knocked into a bookshelf by Mr. Weasley.
Dozens of thick spellbooks fell, knocking him senseless.
“You dare to assault me!” Lucius got up, wielding his snake-shaped wand at Mr. Weasley.
However, the next second, a large hand grasped his arm firmly.
Hagrid, trampling through the scattered books, approached in large strides and yanked Lucius up in the blink of an eye.
Lucius Malfoy seemed unwilling to give up, but he couldn’t escape Hagrid’s grip and could only glare viciously at Mr. Weasley.
“This isn’t over!”
“Let’s go, Draco…”
Lucius shook off Hagrid, turned, and walked towards the door.
As he passed by the cauldron, a malicious glint flashed in his eyes, and he tossed the "_Beginner's Transfiguration Guide_" he had been holding into it, his back to the crowd.
“Here, little girl, keep your book… this is the best thing your father can give you!”
With that, he left the Leaky Bookshop with Draco Malfoy.
“Luckily, Kyle called me over.”
Hagrid helped Mr. Weasley smooth out his robes, nearly lifting him off the ground. “You shouldn’t have engaged with him, Arthur. That guy is rotten to the core; his whole family is worthless… their words aren’t worth listening to.”
Mr. Weasley remained silent.
The cauldron had been thrown by Ginny, so he had to intervene, drawing everyone’s attention to himself.
To be honest, he had always wanted to do that… after punching Malfoy, he felt invigorated, like sipping a warm, buttery beer on a winter day – an indescribable comfort.
Hagrid, having adjusted Mr. Weasley's long robes, led the group out of the Leaky Bookshop.
“Let’s go, shall we!”
The store clerk seemed to want to stop Mr. Weasley but, being the tallest at only Hagrid's waist, didn't dare.
As they walked down the street, the Granger couple trembled with fear, with Hermione comforting them.
Mrs. Weasley was still fuming about the earlier incident.
“What a wonderful example for the children… brawling in public… what will Gilderoy Lockhart think…”
“He’s thrilled!” Fred said: “He even asked the _Daily Prophet_ reporter if they could include the fight in the report…”
(End of Chapter)
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