Chapter 45: Dumbledore's Heartbeat
In the morning, the downpour had just stopped.
Sunlight spilled across the land, but the smile on Lockhart's face was even brighter than the sun breaking through the gloomy weather.
This wasn't due to the original Lockhart's influence; his mood was genuinely cheerful.
Last night, he hadn't stopped for a moment, continuing to digest all the memories he could, all of them related to Defense Against the Dark Arts creatures. This was something he should be able to digest, he knew.
The results proved him right; he had successfully handled it.
The noisy clamor of those memories in his mind had begun to quiet down a lot.
Delightful.
When there was something happy, he was happy; he never suppressed himself.
In comparison, Dumbledore's mood was not so pleasant.
Recently, the two major factions of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, represented by Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy, were mutually attacking and fighting. The incompetent Minister of Magic, Fudge, came to him for help every day, causing him endless annoyance.
He couldn't advise Arthur to take a step back. This was a great situation that the Order of the Phoenix had finally fought hard to achieve. Many wizards from Muggle and half-blood families were integrating into the Ministry of Magic in unprecedented numbers, building a new balance.
If he made any slightly inappropriate statement, it would all be in vain.
Similarly, he couldn't advise Malfoy to take a step back either. This faction had already made too many concessions after the war.
So many members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight had been imprisoned in Azkaban, so many had resigned from high positions in the Ministry, and even Barty Crouch, who should have been the most likely successor to the Minister of Magic, had chosen to obediently stay in the quiet retirement department of the Department of International Magical Cooperation.
But no matter what, the pure-blood family forces were still the most solid foundation of the British wizarding world. He even had to make some concessions on certain matters to appease their emotions, lest these forces become desperate enough to fight to the death.
Headache.
The Ministries of Magic in other countries were all closely watching the infighting in this corner. Everyone was observing the direction of the wind.
Damn Fudge, that spineless fellow, couldn't he handle this matter!
But he had chosen the man himself, so what could he do?
The reason for choosing Fudge over Arthur to be Minister of Magic in the first place was precisely because Fudge's weakness was more likely to ease the contradictions between the two factions in the coming period, eliminate potential large-scale conflicts, and allow the construction of a new balance to have a relatively stable period.
Difficult, ah~
And just at this time, something happened at home again.
Professor Kettleburn came to him again and again to propose his resignation and retirement.
Frankly speaking, Professor Kettleburn was not a particularly qualified professor. The former Headmaster of Hogwarts, Armando Dippet, had given him the evaluation of 'too reckless, unreliable.'
But unreliable as he was, where could they find a more knowledgeable expert in magical creatures than Professor Kettleburn?
Heh, nowhere.
Otherwise, why would two generations of headmasters, Armando and Dumbledore, have tolerated Professor Kettleburn for so many years? That was the reason.
Practical ability didn't matter; the most important thing for a professor was erudition, and in this regard, there was no better candidate than him.
Well, perhaps there was.
Newt Scamander!
But Newt had refused invitations to professorship. Compared to teaching children at school, he preferred to do his best to save more endangered magical creatures that had lost their living space.
This was a great cause, far more important to the wizarding world than being a professor at some school.
Dumbledore sighed, trying his best to persuade his old colleague to stay—frankly, he was actually a bit angry.
Old friend, don't think I don't know what you're thinking!
Retire?
You're younger than me, and you want to retire?
You just want to go on adventures in dangerous places like the wild dragon reserves. Don't you look at your own abilities? Have you forgotten that your ability to deal with magical creatures isn't actually very reliable because people praise you every day?
You're just bored of staying in the safe school and want to fool around every day!
Sooner or later, you'll die in a dragon's mouth!
Dragons are already very pitiful in this era, constantly having their tendons pulled and blood drawn, or being chained up to guard houses. They finally have a wild reserve, so why do you go and harass them!
Why don't you even learn from your student Newt? His ideals are so lofty!
No!
This stubborn old mule in front of him refused. He just wanted to go on adventures, just wanted to bravely fight evil dragons like a knight.
Heh.
I think you're the evil wizard!
Dumbledore internally grumbled at Professor Kettleburn, but he had to say nice things. "We both have such deep feelings for Hogwarts, old friend. If you just retire like this, can you bear to watch Hogwarts lose its Care of Magical Creatures professor?"
"Come on!" Professor Kettleburn gulped down the special raspberry honey iced drink provided in the headmaster's office, finishing it in one breath. He tapped the table, prompting old Albus to quickly refill his cup. Only when the cup was full again did he curl his lip. "I'm not a professor, I'm a teacher."
Hogwarts had many professor reserves; the teacher ranks were actually quite numerous.
Like Quirinus Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor last school year, he had previously been a teacher, teaching Muggle Studies.
Now, among the teaching staff, the more suitable candidate to succeed the Care of Magical Creatures professor should be Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank.
But clearly, Dumbledore was not very satisfied with this teacher who only knew how to follow procedures step by step.
Old Albus was somewhat helpless. "I was going to promote you to professor the year before last, but you yourself weren't willing."
Professor Kettleburn shrugged, picked up his iced drink and took a sip, looking at Dumbledore, who was even older than him, and sighed. "Professor McGonagall and the others would have objections. I can't make things difficult for you."
Good, this reckless man actually knows how to play the sentimental card with me, going soft, is he?
Dumbledore played the rogue. "Anyway, you can't resign unless you can find me a professor I'm satisfied with to take over your job!"
"There is one."
Professor Kettleburn raised an eyebrow, having waited for this sentence. He chuckled. "I've found a good candidate and was just about to recommend him to you."
This...
If there really was a good candidate, it wouldn't be impossible.
Dumbledore couldn't show too much agreement, otherwise it would hurt the old friend's feelings. He just frowned and asked, "Who?"
Who could replace our Kettleburn the Encyclopedia?
I can't believe there is such a person.
This attitude made Professor Kettleburn extremely satisfied. He said cheerfully, "Professor Lockhart."
"Who?" Dumbledore was truly stunned.
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" Professor Kettleburn had his own persistent sincerity in the formal way he addressed living beings, saying Lockhart's name very seriously.
He squinted his old eyes, recalling his interaction last night, clicking his tongue in wonder. "I felt a kind of spiritual connection between him and nature that was incredibly harmonious. Believe me, Albus, he is the most suitable person I have ever seen to be a Care of Magical Creatures expert."
"He will be competent in this position."
Dumbledore didn't think so, simply saying, "He is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"I know," Professor Kettleburn shrugged indifferently. "But isn't our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor a yearly turnover? Tom's curse, you know, can you really let him do it for another year?"
Mentioning this, Dumbledore felt somewhat helpless.
As the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, before taking up this position, he would never have thought that his most important annual headmasterly duty would be to find a suitable successor for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Every year!
Lockhart had only just started teaching for less than two months, and he was already looking for a replacement.
What could he do?
Tom's curse was so powerful that it was difficult to lift.
So, many people had been saying before that the Dark Lord Voldemort hadn't really died, and many were secretly advising him to be wary of this.
Heh~
No one knew better than the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
If Tom had really died, would he need to work so hard every year to find a replacement professor?
Wouldn't it be better to find a reliable one to teach properly for decades?
He had watched one Defense Against the Dark Arts professor after another encounter various problems during their teaching, so how could he not know whether Tom was completely dead?
Only...
"Gilderoy Lockhart?"
Dumbledore began to seriously consider Professor Kettleburn's proposal.
"Yes!" Professor Kettleburn gulped down his iced drink again, urging old Albus to quickly refill his cup.
Dumbledore looked at this old fellow who always wanted to take advantage of him, feeling somewhat helpless, and waved his wand to cast a refilling charm on his cup.
Only then did Professor Kettleburn continue with satisfaction, "He gained the friendship of a Dragon Burrow Rabbit, Dumbledore. You probably don't quite understand this, but most Care of Magical Creatures experts find it very difficult to do such a thing."
"Dragon Burrow Rabbits are particularly proud animals. They only live near the most powerful creatures. This habit has made them develop particularly strong vigilance. Many wizards may never see such an animal in their entire lives because they will have run away before the wizards even get close."
Dumbledore didn't quite agree with the idea of letting a rabbit judge whether a wizard was suitable to be a professor.
It was as absurd as using a unicorn to confirm who should be the leader of the wizarding world, something he had wanted to laugh at back then.
Too ridiculous.
But this was very wizarding.
Dumbledore said somewhat helplessly, "Are there any other reasons?"
Professor Kettleburn spread his hands. "Does the fact that he raised a Billywig count? You know, you can't raise that kind of magical creature. You would only have to reluctantly kill it when it attacks other wizards."
Dumbledore couldn't hold back anymore and really wanted to kick this fellow who was full of nonsense out of his headmaster's office.
I'm very busy, okay?
Don't come here to amuse me.
"Why don't we call it a day for now? I have a lot of things to do here, you see..."
Dumbledore's words were euphemistic, but his attitude was pretty much—get out!
Professor Kettleburn, that shameless old fellow, stubbornly refused to leave, his face animated, looking exactly like a good buddy giving bad advice to a lovestruck friend. "Think about it. If you make him the Care of Magical Creatures professor and keep him at Hogwarts, hehe, if you can't find a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor any year, you can just ask him to fill in for another year."
As he spoke, he playfully raised an eyebrow.
This...
Dumbledore was tempted.
Compared to the ridiculous idea of Lockhart becoming a Care of Magical Creatures professor, he was quite satisfied with Lockhart's performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
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