Anthony reached out and poked the little pixie who was still quacking. "Professor Lockhart, we'd like to see too."
Noticing Vizette's expression, Lockhart became even more animated.
He knew very well that his actions had successfully caught Vizette's attention.
Lockhart checked his hat for a moment before saying seriously, "Aren't you going to start the next class? It's almost time!"
"Go to class first... Mr. Lovegood, if you have time, you can come to my office and I'll demonstrate it for you! You should know where it is, right?"
...
As Vizette and the others left the classroom, Anthony quickened his pace and stood in front of Vizette.
He walked backwards, looking Vizette up and down.
Michael, seeing Anthony's strange behavior, reached out to touch Anthony's forehead. "What's wrong with you? Were you affected by the Memory Charm? Don't you recognize Vizette?"
"It's just a little unfamiliar…" Anthony slapped Michael's hand away. "It's the first time I've seen him… Vizette wants to leave class on time."
"Now that you mention it, it's true!" Chris said thoughtfully. "It seems that, except for History of Magic class, he never really leaves on time."
"That's right! Either stay behind to write a reflection, or ask the professor questions…" Michael scratched his head. "The reason the History of Magic class ends on time is because Professor Binns leaves before us!"
Hearing this, Terry laughed. "Professor Binns can just easily leave class by crawling into the wall and coming out from the other side."
"You guys just love to ramble on!" Anthony smiled, but still launched into a serious reprimand. "How does it feel? Lockhart seems… better than I expected…"
"Your relative is Newt Scamander! And you know Slughorn! Since you think that way, what can we say?" Michael retorted.
Terry nodded in agreement. "Anyway, that Memory Charm is amazing enough! And his theories seem to make a lot of sense..."
Anthony looked at Vizette and asked, "Vizette, what do you think?"
Vizette was still savoring the peculiar forgetting spell when he murmured, "Perhaps he's better suited for adventure than teaching?"
"At least what he presented in the book is still of great research value... Let's see what happens next! Let's hurry to the Charms classroom!"
...
Lockhart let out a long sigh of relief as he watched Vizette and the others leave the classroom.
He pulled a small mirror out of his pocket, looked at his face from side to side, and a smug smile appeared on his lips.
"Such a sophisticated Memory Charm will surely attract his attention..."
He then took out a comb and meticulously groomed his hair in front of the mirror in preparation for the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
Not long after, another group of students walked into the classroom and excitedly greeted Lockhart.
Lockhart waved back to each of them.
He mentally revised the lesson plan, deciding that it wasn't necessary to use a cage of pixies; he could simply take out one of them and demonstrate the Memory Charm.
A lesson could be completed quickly by using a pre-prepared questionnaire and demonstrating how to control a pixie.
Perfect!
I'm such a genius!
The school bell rang, and Lockhart flashed his signature smile, his eight teeth gleaming brightly. "Hello, students! I am Lockhart! I am the recipient of the Order of Merlin, Third Class..."
-------------------------------------
In the afternoon, at Hogwarts Castle, in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore stood in front of the bird perch, holding a small box of berries, feeding the phoenix Fawkes.
Fawkes's bright red feathers had become dull, his once piercing eyes had lost their luster, and his drooping eyelids were filled with an indescribable weariness, making him look much older than before.
Dumbledore picked up a berry and carefully put it into Fawkes's mouth.
Fawkes stretched his head forward, nuzzled Dumbledore's cheek with his beak, then turned to look at the desk, his eyes blinking slowly.
"Alright…alright…" Dumbledore waved his hand, and the box of berries flew to the bird perch.
"You're just getting older now... but you'll be young again soon. How can you keep pushing me like this and not let me relax for a while?"
Fawkes spread his wings, as if he wanted to pat Dumbledore's head.
"Alright! Alright! I know you're getting on in years, I'll be lenient with you." Dumbledore walked to his desk, where there were documents piled almost to the ceiling, all awaiting his approval.
These documents included not only those from Hogwarts School, but also those from the International Confederation of Wizards and Wizengamot, all of which required his approval.
Dumbledore sat in his seat, looking at the documents and pondering for a moment.
He picked out a small stack of documents, all bearing the emblem of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: a capital "H" surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.
With a light snap of his fingers, a box of candy flew out of a nearby cabinet. The packaging featured a Viking warship attacking a mint leaf.
This was a mint licorice candy from Sweden. It had a very unique flavor and had replaced Cockroach Clusters as his favorite candy while working.
"Once we've finished eating, we'll have to ask Vizette where he bought it..." Dumbledore stuffed the candy into his mouth, instantly gasping for breath, a layer of frost spreading from his mouth to his beard.
"Refreshing and invigorating, truly delicious!" Dumbledore hummed a soothing tune as he began his work, sucking on a peppermint and licorice candy.
The sun in the sky gradually turned orange as the Sorting Hat cracked open and roared with all its might, the whole hat wrinkling up as if it was really trying very hard.
"Hogwarts under the moonlight, magic is beckoning! Facing that bottomless black lake, we must bravely swim across it!"
Its singing voice was hoarser and harsher, like the sharp noise of fingernails scratching glass.
Fawkes, who had been taking a nap, woke up instantly, leaving behind a few slightly dull feathers.
The feathers didn't fall to the ground; instead, they gradually burned in mid-air, turning into ashes and disappearing.
After singing that line of lyrics, the tip of the Sorting Hat swayed up and down, as if panting heavily. "Albus, how do you feel about these two lines of lyrics? I've been thinking about them for days!"
"Hmm…" Dumbledore stopped writing and looked up at the Sorting Hat.
He thought about it very seriously for a moment before slowly saying, "I don't know anything about this technique, but the lyrics are very good..."
"Faced with that bottomless black lake, we must be brave enough to swim across it..." He recalled the lyrics from earlier and hummed them softly.
However, he sang in a country music style. "What I want to say is... I really like these lyrics, they're great!"
"That's wonderful!" The Sorting Hat twitched, as if pleased that Dumbledore had praised it. "However, your singing is too pleasant and doesn't quite match the lyrics."