Chapter 251: A Serious Incident!
Sunshine and sand. Seagulls soared, and a gentle breeze rustled. Lockhart lazily lifted his head from the lounge chair, patted the slightly cool Cursed Fairy curled up in his arms, and glanced at the figures of bikini-clad beauties on the beach, who were starting to thin out in the setting sun. "Come on, let's go get some seafood."
The Cursed Fairy opened her eyes a little groggily and nodded. Sleep was a very interesting experience for her. Most Dark creatures in the world didn't need sleep, and she was no exception. Yet now, she was showing more and more signs of a unique 'biological nature,' even beginning to experience sleep.
Throughout this journey, she had followed Lockhart everywhere to see all sorts of things and taste all kinds of delicious food. Unknowingly, her face, which had once looked like an exquisite mask, had gained a few hints of liveliness.
And so, she began to have desires. Desire was a characteristic of living beings. Dark creatures were essentially phenomena, and phenomena only changed in response to environmental factors. But desire was an internal, autonomous driving force that propelled a change in behavior.
"I want lobster, just like the one we had yesterday, can we?" The Cursed Fairy rubbed her small head against Lockhart. She had seen the golden-furred monkey do this to please Lockhart and had copied the gesture. It worked well. "Ahem~" Lockhart gave an awkward cough. "Okay, get up first, we'll go have lobster."
Changes were relative. When one thing changed, others would follow. Before, when the Cursed Fairy had copied the golden-furred monkey and nestled in his arms, Lockhart's mindset had been that of holding a small pet. Now, it was a little different.
"Hehe~" The Cursed Fairy giggled, covering her mouth. "You should find a mistress for us." Lockhart rolled his eyes. "Go on, don't talk like Kreacher."
He rested on the chair for a moment before flipping over and jumping down. He stretched, took the hat the Cursed Fairy handed him, and called out to the golden-furred monkey, who was blissfully hugging a coconut on a nearby table, "Come on, let's go eat."
He didn't have a clear route or plan for this trip. He would just go wherever and have fun. Rather than a vacation, it was more about fulfilling some regrets from his previous life. In his previous life, he had been a miserable office worker. As an orphan, he had carefully saved every penny he earned. How could he have been willing to spend on such luxuries?
Back then, someone told him that going to many places didn't cost much money; the rich had their way of having fun, and the poor had theirs. But he still hadn't gone out to play. He knew that as long as he went out, there would always be somewhere he would need to spend money. Playing while dragging his tired body from work was less worthwhile than just getting a good night's sleep at home, waking up naturally, and comfortably lounging in bed to read a novel, play a game, or watch short videos.
Was he satisfied? Of course, he was quite satisfied. But when death came, and even during the last period of his life lying in a hospital bed, some regrets inevitably came to mind. Living in that world, it seemed as though he had only come to suffer.
Now that he had the ability, leisure, and no worries about money, Lockhart was naturally going to have a blast. He'd eat whatever he wanted. He'd eat as much as he wanted. He didn't even have to worry about his stomach not being able to handle it. In the magical notebook, The Inheritance of the Black Family, that Sirius had given him, there was a spell to help with that very problem. The wonder of magic was sometimes in these small details.
The spell Scourgify might not seem like much, the Levitation Charm might seem optional, the Reparo charm wasn't used that often, and the Aparecium charm was only used once or twice. But when these spells, which covered all the small details of life, came together, they collectively created a living experience that was completely different from a Muggle's.
After they finished their meal and went out for a stroll, a sudden downpour started. Lockhart took his companions to a pub and only then, by watching the news on television, did he learn a hurricane was coming. And so, he simply took everyone back to the flying car and flew in the opposite direction of the hurricane.
That night, looking down from the sky, the prosperity of the cities came into view. He picked a place that looked the most brightly lit, walked into the liveliest Muggle commercial street, and on a whim, took everyone to see a movie.
The Fantastic Adventures of Jacob. The name and the poster's description suggested it was a standard Hollywood special effects film. Lockhart, the Cursed Fairy, and the Boggart, who had taken on a human appearance, each held a large portion of popcorn and a drink as they entered the cinema.
The movie's plot wasn't complicated. An evil guy was looking for a "Soul Gem," and the gem was hanging from the female protagonist's neck. The hero, Jacob, was the protagonist's admirer, and so a fantasy story with a modern urban setting began. The movie wasn't very good. The male protagonist, Jacob,'s acting was exaggerated. The female protagonist, though rich and generous, had a personality that seemed a bit like a bitch. She even went and slept with her ex-boyfriend in the middle of a tense and exciting part of the plot after hiding at his house. Of course, in keeping with the principle that the male and female leads must end up together, the ex-boyfriend was killed by the pursuing villain in a very tragic way.
Lockhart almost fell asleep watching it. If it weren't for his companions watching so intently, even the Swooping Evil was very curious, he would have left immediately.
Until, "Avada Kedavra!" A curse of the Killing Curse resounded in his ears. With a pop, the Sack Monster instantly appeared over everyone's heads, its red cloak swirling to cover them all.
Lockhart reacted instantly, drawing his wand and looking around with a grave expression, wanting to quickly confirm where the attack had come from. But there didn't seem to be one. The people around him all looked like they were just watching the movie. A young couple in the corner was squirming around, and everything seemed calm.
"That's a line from the big bad guy in the movie," the Cursed Fairy said soothingly, seeing his wary expression. "Movie?" Lockhart was stunned and turned his head sharply to look at the big screen in front of them.
The movie had reached its middle to late stages. The protagonist, Jacob, had made contact with another world hidden in the dark corners of their own. Together with the female protagonist, he followed a female Auror with wavy hair to the Magical Congress to report the villain's situation to the Chief Wizard of the Congress.
Hiss~ Lockhart stared at the scene and took a sharp breath. In the row in front of him, a chubby little boy was curiously asking the adult next to him, "Mommy, is there really a Magical Congress in this world?"
The mother smiled and wiped the corner of her son's mouth. "Of course not, we have to believe in science."
"Oh..." The little boy looked very disappointed. The mother suddenly realized she had said the wrong thing and quickly tried to mend it. "I mean, maybe in places we can't see, there really are these wizards?"
The little boy's eyes immediately lit up.
They didn't see the strange expression on Lockhart's face as he listened to them talk from behind. He smacked his lips and looked up at the movie screen. The Magical Congress in the movie was different from the real-life Magical Congress of the United States. It looked more like the architectural style of the French Ministry of Magic. The department signs hanging on the walls, while not appearing in the film's plot, were all departments that genuinely existed.
"Dumbledore might be in big trouble!" Lockhart exclaimed.
The existence of wizards wasn't just kept a secret by the International Confederation of Wizards and the Ministries of Magic in various countries. The official governments of Muggle countries were also among the secret-keepers. And now, this movie had brazenly appeared in a Muggle cinema. Who knew what had happened behind the scenes?
Especially since this was a Hollywood movie, produced in America! And Lockhart wasn't in America right now! My God, this movie couldn't be a simultaneous global release, could it? If it were, Aurors from various countries probably wouldn't be able to completely erase the memories of everyone who had watched it.
Lockhart's eyes were dark as he watched the movie screen, his mind racing. Just as the movie was about to end, a group of grim-faced Aurors rushed into the cinema and began casting Memory Charms and Muggle-Repelling Charms on everyone inside. The lead Auror was looking at the scenes in the movie with a solemn expression, trembling all over.
Not far away, Lockhart, shrouded by the Sack Monster, watched the scene with a strange expression, remarking to the Cursed Fairy beside him, "The existence of wizards can't be hidden anymore!"
The Cursed Fairy looked puzzled, pointing at the Aurors. "Aren't they handling it?"
"Ha~" Lockhart laughed. "The more they try to handle it, the more problems will arise. There's no way they can erase the memories of every Muggle who has seen this movie. Muggles will start to notice that some people remember, and some don't."
"Do you know what news spreads the fastest?" "It's mysterious events that happen around people. This is more attention-grabbing than discussing a movie plot."
"What's more—" Lockhart's eyes narrowed. "If they've made a movie, they'll also make DVDs. Under the influence of this 'mysterious event,' the news will definitely spread to all corners of the world even faster."
He even began to worry that this movie incident would become a bucket of dirty water thrown on himself. He himself wasn't afraid and was even happy to meet this challenge, but he didn't want any of this to affect his students.
The mere thought of the terrible outcomes these students would have had in their original timelines, and then looking at how he was leading them toward their new futures, gave Lockhart a sense of satisfying accomplishment. This was the fruit of the tree he had painstakingly planted! No one should even think about messing with it! The wand in his hand was already itching for action!
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