great-warnovel Chapter 137 The Vanishing Lockhart
Chapter 137 The Vanishing Lockhart
Chapter 137 The Vanishing Lockhart
"Welcome to Malfoy Castle thirty years ago," Lockhart said in an enigmatic tone.
"Are we at the entrance to the city?" She looked around at the familiar stone walls and archways of the outer city, unchanged from thirty years later.
However, the crowd here was much larger than what she had seen during the summer vacation. They were densely packed at the city gate like locusts, craning their necks in anticipation.
Thirty years ago in Malfoy Castle, the nobles used their own strength to complete the first integration and large-scale construction.
However, their desire to expand faltered, and the city faced a severe shortage of labor and talent. They turned to the whole of Europe to recruit those interested in joining Malfoyburg,” Lockhart explained.
"A large number of wizards and Muggles who could come gathered here, some even clinging to anything that could float."
Crossing the icy English Channel, simply to survive here.
He looked at the people craning their necks, waiting for approval: "My family, too, is facing this situation at this time..."
Joined Malfoyburg.
"Thirty years ago, Professor, you weren't even born yet, were you?" Hermione suddenly realized that the professor was born in 64. If it was exactly thirty years ago, then he shouldn't have been born yet.
As a fan, she naturally knew Lockhart's age and other information.
How do you have memories of this time?
"To be precise, it was twenty-nine years ago." Lockhart smiled slightly.
"Yes, I shouldn't remember these things." He didn't explain further, and Hermione didn't press him further; there might be another story behind it.
"If you are a pure-blooded wizard with a traceable lineage, you will be invited to join Malfoy Castle without any conditions. However, if you are not a pure-blooded wizard, you will have to pay a considerable entry tax. This amount is calculated per person and is enough to drain a wizarding family that was originally healthy."
"As for those Muggles who don't know magic, they can only wait to be chosen by the wizard lords, even if they are slaves."
They only want those who are strong and healthy.
The bustling crowds rose and fell with the wizards' selections, and the chosen ones would cheer jubilantly and strut into the city with their masters.
"There are too many Muggles. Even though the city is empty, a lot of work needs to be done by lower-class slaves."
But the men don't need that many mouths to feed. Even if the potion makers worked overtime to produce expansion potions, there probably wouldn't be enough food to feed so many people. They were destined to be abandoned outside the city.
Hermione followed Lockhart through the crowd. She saw well-dressed wizards with haughty expressions and a hint of disdain, carrying exquisite little suitcases that were filled with enough stuff to fill an entire square.
In stark contrast to them were the Muggles, cowering and hiding, their eyes filled with fear. Most of them were poorly clothed, emaciated, and scarred and deformed. The steaming bread from the city's bakeries, with its sweet aroma, seemed to be casting a spell on them.
She had read in the book that initially, there were Muggles who gathered to rob the wizards' settlements, but the result was extremely tragic. The upturned earth buried thousands of people in an instant. There was no massacre, no warning; the silent, blood-soaked soil was the best lesson.
"Those are my family members." Lockhart pointed ahead, where a young couple was holding two naked infants and being checked at the city gate.
"A wizard? How did she end up married to a Muggle?" The wizard in charge of the examination looked Mrs. Lockhart up and down with disgust, sweeping his wand over her as if testing something.
In this day and age, the divide between wizards and Muggles is like a chasm, but Mr. Lockhart is so handsome that perhaps that can bridge many of the gaps.
"Surname? Is it pureblood?"
Lady Lockhart tried to remain calm. She took out her wand and casually changed the color of her clothes: "I'm not a pureblood, but I'm a wizard. I'm qualified to join Malfoy Castle, aren't I?"
Behind her, Mr. Lockhart was holding one of his two daughters in each arm, keeping his head down as much as possible to minimize his presence.
But Mr. Lockhart was a handsome man; he had no tumors, no deformed hands or ears, and his skin was so smooth that it didn't seem like that of someone from the wasteland. Witches often looked at him.
"Oh, that's not cheap," the wizard in charge of the inspection chuckled.
"Besides, there are so many people in your family." He glanced at the man and the two babies.
"We have money!" Mrs. Lockhart said quickly.
"Four people, right? We're all ready!" She opened her briefcase, which contained a mix of Galon, Sikor, and Nat, along with more common potions and materials from magical plants and animals.
The wizard knocked on the box, and coins and other valuables flew out one by one, which he examined one by one.
"Not enough!" He looked up and said in a half-smile.
"There's another one in your belly, making it five people." He pointed his wand at Mrs. Lockhart's belly. The examination had been very thorough; there was no way to hide the fact that she was pregnant from him.
The woman's face changed drastically. She turned to look at her husband and stammered in shock, "I—"
We don't know! But does a fetus count? It's only a month or two old, right?
"Ha!" the wizard chuckled mischievously. "If every woman sneaks into Malfoy Castle this way, the city will have countless more mouths to feed in a few months!"
Mrs. Lockhart stood frozen in place, while her husband could only shrink back and silently wait for instructions.
"Is the professor still inside Mommy's tummy?" Hermione looked up and saw Lockhart watching everything calmly.
She was now certain that this was definitely not Lockhart's own memory; even a wizard's unborn child could not remember things before birth.
"Hurry up and decide! The line is still long!" the wizard urged impatiently.
"The city entry tax is for four people, so only four people can enter! Or do you have anything else of value? Hand it over now!"
Even Hermione could see that the Lockhart family had no assets left. What they had in front of them was probably all they had managed to scrape together. Even though wizards seemed to be omnipotent, it was still too difficult for a pregnant woman to take care of such a large family on the wasteland.
"What are you hesitating for? Get rid of the baby! It's only been a few months. You can get pregnant again once you get to the city," someone suggested.
But some disagreed: "Her children will be wizards too, far more noble than her good-for-nothing husband. What good are good looks? I'd say it's much more comfortable to go in with her kids now—a family of wizards—than to have a Muggle! And she won't get any dirty looks!"
Hermione looked at the silent professor beside her; she probably knew what choice Mrs. Lockhart had made.
The woman turned around abruptly and snatched her two daughters from her husband's arms.
She lowered her head and said in a trembling, low voice, "I'm so tired."
After saying that, she grabbed her two daughters and rushed into the cold stone archway as if fleeing.
Mr. Lockhart stood there blankly in the crowd, gradually disappearing into the distance.
The snowflakes fell heavier and heavier, and the memory gradually faded, turning into a dim yellow and pale hue.
Lockhart's voice rang in my ears: "Later, he built himself a stone hut in the shantytown outside the city and made a living selling his body. Witches often came to his place, but everyone knew that he had a wife and children in the city, so even though the witches liked his appearance, none of them were willing to bring him into the city, not even to be their lover."
"Finally, one day, people never heard the name 'Explicit Lockhart' again. He died quietly, without a trace, and his body was never found."