The next morning, the Great Hall at Hogwarts suddenly became lively.

The changes in Hogwarts Castle were still somewhat subtle, but the news in *The Daily Prophet* was far from discreet.

Perhaps eager to reverse his declining fortunes, Cornelius Fudge ostentatiously introduced the arrest operation against Lockhart and its rationale.

Accompanying him were officials from the International Confederation of Wizards and a solemn-looking Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was temporarily serving as the head of the Auror Office. However, a new appointment had not been made, as Cornelius Fudge was in the process of being impeached. Of course, the arrest operation against Lockhart was still personally directed by him.

"Developing werewolf potions, advocating that werewolves and wizards are on the same level, and attempting to equate Squibs, other beings, and wizards..."

Cornelius Fudge appeared righteously indignant in front of the reporters, his chest heaving dramatically, like a gladiator in an arena.

"These are appalling, outrageously mad ideas, to which the Ministry reacted immediately upon learning of them."

"Under the command of Acting Director Kingsley Shacklebolt, we successfully arrested Gilderoy Lockhart at a tavern near St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in Salzburg. Current information indicates that Mr. Lockhart seems to have close ties with several werewolves, and he even advocated that werewolves are harmless and can be cured—as for how he fell from a Dark Arts fighter to this state, the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office, the International Confederation of Wizards, and other parties are continuing to investigate and gather evidence."

Perhaps the young wizards of Hogwarts could not yet comprehend the subtleties of magical politics, but they could see the changes from the content of the professors and the newspapers.

Umbridge's arrogance had returned somewhat. Besides her Charms class time, she was constantly inquiring everywhere with her notebook in hand.

"Professor Lockhart" had many glorious achievements at Hogwarts, and she intended to dig up more dirt in order to find an opportunity to return to the Ministry of Magic.

Professor McGonagall ignored her, as the aged cat animagus was more concerned about another issue: Eileen hoped to recruit werewolves next year.

The news of the two "juvenile" headmasters was limited to McGonagall's knowledge, so the decision of the recruitment list would ultimately be shouldered by the publicly recognized Deputy Headmistress McGonagall.

Professor Lupin began to communicate frequently with Professor McGonagall. People did not know what the two were discussing, but some students overheard Professor McGonagall and Professor Lupin talking about the word "werewolf." Unsurprisingly, the professors were also paying attention to the Lockhart incident—at least, in the students' eyes, this deduction was very reasonable.

Moreover, with the subsequent reports in *The Daily Prophet*, everyone learned more about the details of the "arrest operation."

Gilderoy Lockhart did not surrender passively; he put up a tenacious resistance in that tavern far away in Austria.

According to the Ministry of Magic, Lockhart's true magical strength was at the "Demon King level," on par with Dumbledore.

Faced with a wizard whose strength was at the "Dumbledore" level, the British Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards assembled nearly forty wizards.

After a fierce battle, the Ministry of Magic Aurors successfully arrested Gilderoy Lockhart, but only after paying the price of more than a dozen wizards being knocked down.

Since the battle took place at night, and the "arrest operation" was conducted in secret, people could only imagine the intensity of the battle through Kingsley Shacklebolt's Q&A session with reporters and the "battlefield photos" from the next day. People had rarely seen such a terrifying and intense scene:

The tavern belonging to the "Abbott-Leaky Cauldron Catering Group" was almost razed to the ground.

The surrounding area was filled with deep pits, and charred wooden debris was still smoking, while in some places, it looked as if it had been struck by lightning.

According to subsequent feedback from local Ministry of Magic officials, most of the building fragments and debris were destroyed by magic to such an extent that the Repairing Charm could not restore them.

As more details and comments from prominent figures in the magical community were gradually disclosed, people's focus began to shift.

For the first time in the history of the Ministry of Magic, a case of "ordinary Aurors" challenging a "Demon King level" wizard appeared.

This meant that the claim that Cornelius Fudge and the magical government had been insisting on was confirmed—Aurors could also arrest and restrain top wizards.

Of course, on the other hand, Lockhart's personal magical strength also became the focus of discussion.

Without any prior preparation, he was able to knock down more than a dozen people while facing the siege of more than forty elite Aurors.

"Professor Lockhart is too awesome. I knew most of his autobiographies were somewhat modest,"

Seamus said excitedly. He had now become a loyal fan of Lockhart and tirelessly promoted him everywhere.

"'Demon King level' wizards—I didn't expect there to be such a level. If Umbridge had encountered Professor Lockhart back then—"

"She probably wouldn't even be able to find half a speck of her ashes. That meddling woman..."

George Weasley said resentfully, chopping at the steak in front of him, looking very dissatisfied.

Although the "Acting Headmaster" farce had temporarily come to an end, some of the school rules promoted by Umbridge continued to be implemented.

Now, the love affairs of male and female students at Hogwarts began to be regulated. All "premarital sexual behavior" was expressly prohibited, and parents would supervise it.

Even though Mrs. Weasley didn't like Umbridge at all, she still sided with Umbridge on the matter of George and "Peach Girl."

George would not graduate for more than two years, and Molly didn't want her son to become a father while he was still in school.

At the same table, Percy and Charlie exchanged a smug look, refraining from mocking George at this time.

Charlie picked up a glass of juice and took a careful sip—juice was limited in Gryffindor—and said seriously.

"I heard that Professor Apocalyps originally suggested that Mr. Lockhart take over as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but after careful consideration, Professor Lockhart chose to continue teaching literature in Charms class rather than teaching magic. It seems that he felt his magic was too powerful, and it might be too advanced for teaching lower-grade students—Professor Dumbledore is the same. The theories and strengths of those top wizards are too high, and it would be a waste to even teach seventh-graders."

"Well, then, who else do you think we know who is at the 'Demon King level'?"

Ron asked curiously, his attention focused on other aspects. "'Demon King level'—what does it even mean?"

In fact, most young wizards were more interested in this—they found the glorious achievements easier to understand than politics.

"Demon King level" seemed to have become a goal, and everyone was discussing its definition and which wizards had reached that level.

"Capable of dominating small wars, potentially capable of overthrowing small countries... almost impossible to overcome by sheer numbers."

Ginny Weasley's voice floated from the side as she glanced at her curious brothers.

"The Witch Association's internal publications have an introduction. The so-called Demon King is a walking natural disaster."

"Lockhart's Demon King level... either he hasn't truly reached that definition, or he hasn't fully unleashed his power—"

"For wizards of Dumbledore's level, the number of elite Aurors is meaningless. Top wizards can destroy a city with a single spell at full power. Do you think there's any difference between fifty and five hundred people in the face of such powerful, unreasonable strength?"

Ginny said excitedly, her eyes shining with bright yearning, vaguely resembling the four witches of Hogwarts.

"There are quite a few known 'Demon King level' wizards. There are several at Hogwarts—"

She turned her head to look at the staff table at the end of the Great Hall, counting on her fingers.

"Besides Professor Dumbledore, Professor Nicolas Flamel, Professor Newt Scamander, Professor Otto Apocalyps..."

"The three of them are definitely not much weaker than the headmaster. In addition, there's the Dark Lord Tom, who was publicly killed, and Grindelwald, who is self-imprisoned in Nurmengard."

"Many of the famous wizards recorded in the history of magic are at the Demon King level. When you want to compare whether someone is at the Demon King level, you just need to imagine whether that person can sit at a table with the above wizards and negotiate on an equal footing, or draw their wands against them, and you will understand whether they qualify."

"Hmm? So, the heads of the four houses and the Minister of Magic... they are still far from it?"

At this moment, Ron raised an eyebrow, looking at his youngest sister with suspicion.

"I don't think Professor Lockhart can reach that level—"

"I'm not sure, but even if he hasn't reached it, he should be quite close."

Lee Jordan suddenly interjected, looking mysteriously at the others at the table, and shook a newspaper from his arms.

Unlike the usual publications, the layout, text, and even the color scheme looked somewhat unfamiliar.

"This is an Armenian daily newspaper. I have a distant cousin who happens to be helping Gringotts explore ruins there."

"Do you remember the werewolf encirclement operation not long ago?"

"Umbridge's one?" Ron asked uncertainly.

"Heh, of course not that thing," Lee Jordan snorted, quickly unfolding the newspaper in his hand. "I'm talking about the pan-European operation."

"You remember, the Ministries of Magic in various countries were breached that day—because most of the Aurors gathered in the Armenian forest, intending to take advantage of the werewolves' gathering to encircle and suppress those guys, but you definitely don't know why the werewolves gathered there, right? They were there for revenge, or rather, a final showdown—"

"A final showdown? Did those werewolves plan to gather together to elect a great chieftain to lead all the werewolves in Europe?"

Seamus also leaned over, looking at Lee Jordan with a curious expression, excitedly making wild guesses.

"No—"

Lee Jordan pointed his finger at the center of the cover.

"Professor Lockhart, you remember that book *Wanderings with Werewolves*, right?"

"Werewolves from all over Europe gathered to find trouble with Lockhart, but they didn't expect—"

"The Ministry of Magic played the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?" Ron said in realization.

"More or less... from our reports, that's how it looks..."

Lee Jordan shrugged. He didn't continue to explain, because everyone could now see the contents of the newspaper in his hand.

【1vs500?! Young Legendary Wizard from Britain Single-Handedly Defeats European Werewolves!】

"The Ministry of Magic... I mean, all the Ministries of Magic..."

"Are just clowns who usurp credit."

Lee glanced at the surrounding students, and confidently put the newspaper on the table, saying with certainty.

"Professor Lockhart solved the werewolf problem. I believe Professor Lockhart would never collude with werewolves."

"Just wait and see. Cornelius Fudge and the International Confederation of Wizards won't find it so easy to bring down and discredit Professor Lockhart."

――――

――――

Goo Ah