Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 96 Conflict in the Auditorium
"Why can't I borrow it?" Siren asked Madam Pince in the library. "I don't think there's a rule that says you can't borrow fifty books at once."

"I can add this rule now." The librarian, Madam Pince, said with a cold face, tapping her fingers lightly on the library book.

The two of them had been in a stalemate for ten minutes. No matter what Siren said, Madam Pince just wouldn't agree to him borrowing fifty books at once.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to borrow this." Xi Lun took out the parchment with the title of the book and tried to reason with her.

Madam Pince took a look and, to her surprise, saw that the handwriting on the parchment was indeed Minerva McGonagall's.

But how could Minerva let a student borrow fifty books? Could he read them all?
"I can allow you to borrow up to five books at a time," Madam Pince said reluctantly.

"Professor McGonagall's face is only worth two books?" Xi Lun found it a little unbelievable.

"Will you lend it to me?" Madam Pince said, as if to take back the library book.

"Borrow it!" Xi Lun said. Madam Pince was too stubborn. It seemed that he would have to go a few more times.

"But I have a request." Xi Lun thought for a moment and said, "If I come to borrow a book that I've returned before, it can't be counted among those five books."

"Okay." This time, Madam Pince did not refuse, but she also made some requests. The first was that the returned books could not be damaged, and the second was that the number of books borrowed could not be too large.

After reaching an agreement, Madam Pince went to find the books in the back according to the order on the parchment.

Xi Lun just leaned over and waited.

At this moment, a familiar person appeared in his sight.

Draco Malfoy hurried in holding two books, apparently to return them.

It's incredible. Malfoy actually comes to the library to borrow books?

At the same time, Malfoy also saw Xiren. In an instant, his whole body became tense and a hint of vigilance flashed in his eyes.

No, as for that?

Xi Lun really didn't expect his reaction to be so big, but judging from Draco's behavior in Flourish and Blotts at that time, he probably didn't know what he meant by what he said.

Lucius Malfoy had told him his family history?
But before Xi Lun could continue thinking, a hand reached out.

"Hello, Xi Lun, I think we had some misunderstandings before." Draco Malfoy took the initiative to walk over, but this time, there was no vigilance in his eyes.

"There is indeed a misunderstanding." Faced with Malfoy who took the initiative to show goodwill, Xi Lun no longer pretended not to see him, and the two simply shook hands.

"Just to be clear, I didn't do anything at Flourish and Blotts."

"What?" Malfoy seemed to recall the scene at that time, and his face immediately became a little tense. "Of course, I know, it's all those stupid Weasleys who relied on their numbers. They are a bunch of shameless scum."

It can be seen that he still cares a lot about what happened in Lihen Bookstore that day.

There were too many Weasleys, and with Potter's accomplice, it was five against two. Draco felt as if countless feet were falling on him. He had never suffered such a big loss before.

Now that Xi Lun brought up the matter again, Draco naturally had nothing good to say. He cursed more and more vulgarly and became more and more agitated.

"Weasley, and Potter, I will make them pay!"

"Keep quiet!" Madam Pince suddenly appeared and interrupted Malfoy's heroic words.

"No noise is allowed in the library. If you can't do that, get out!" she said, placing five books of varying thickness in front of Xilun.

"Here's the book you asked for."

"Thank you, Madam Pince," said Siren. He looked at Draco Malfoy again, shrugged, and left the library with the book.

Dinner was onion stew, which tasted average, even worse than the garlic stew at the Leaky Cauldron, but the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students ate it with relish.

Gryffindor and Slytherin started arguing again because there were better shows around.

As Xi Lun walked into the auditorium, he saw Pansy Parkinson and Parvati Patil confronting each other in a tense situation in the aisle, cursing and arguing with each other.

"Lockhart's class is awful. I don't understand why you find it interesting... Do Gryffindors have unusual brains?"

"Oh? If you don't like it, it only means you haven't taken his class at all!" Parvati Patil retorted in a clear and loud voice, "I think you are just jealous. You are jealous that he is a hundred times better than Malfoy, the person you admire!"

There was a burst of laughter all around, and some Gryffindor students even whistled. Pansy Parkinson's face suddenly darkened.
"I think you did it on purpose!" She took a step forward, her lips trembling slightly. "I'd rather listen to Professor Snape talk about potion recipes for an hour than waste a minute watching Lockhart posing there!"

"My choice is exactly the opposite of yours." Parvati Patil also took a step forward.

Siren walked around carefully, tiptoed to the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to Neville.

"What happened to them?" Xi Lun asked.

"Because of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class." Neville arrived earlier and happened to witness the whole process.

Slytherin had Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the morning, along with Ravenclaw, but the students' feedback after that class was not ideal.

It can't be said to be terrible, but it's not much better than Quirrell who reads from the script.

Compared to Lockhart's fame and everyone's previous expectations, this result really disappointed many people. Only some fanatical fans believed that this was Lockhart's first time teaching and his lack of experience caused the problem.

Although this statement is far-fetched, it is accepted by most people.

As a result, after the afternoon class ended, Lockhart's reputation took a big turn, and he was almost praised to the sky by the students of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.

Now, the Slytherins, who had always been at odds with Gryffindor, suddenly felt that they had been deceived, and in anger, this scene in the hall happened.

"Aren't Lockhart's two classes different?" Xi Lun couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know." Neville shook his head, "But I heard there are no Cornish elves in the morning...that's great." There was undisguised envy in his voice.

Xi Lun understood very well. After all, in the class just now, only Neville was dragged to the ceiling by the Cornish elf and almost broke his leg. It was normal for him to not like it.

But compared to Neville, Xi Lun cared more about another thing.

Pansy Parkinson is also a second-year student. Why are the morning and afternoon Defense Against the Dark Arts classes different even though they are both second-year students?

He hadn't gotten the Cornish Pixie yet? But it was only a few hours later, so it couldn't be such a coincidence.

Or maybe Pansy Parkinson was a Slytherin - Siren never thought that Lockhart would prepare corresponding courses according to different colleges.

It couldn't be that he wanted to put on a big show in front of Harry, his savior.

Just as he was thinking about it, Harry also walked in from outside, and at the same time, more and more helpers came around Pansy and Parvati.

Xi Lun also saw Fred and George.

Given the relationship between Gryffindor and Slytherin, they don't need to know what happened, nor do they need to care who is right or wrong. As long as there is a conflict, they can just stand on their own side without thinking.

The argument between the two turned into a confrontation between the two houses, and as the number of people increased, more words were spoken.

Xi Lun even heard someone from Gryffindor shouting:
"From what I can see, the Slytherins don't dislike Lockhart. They're just interested in the 'dark arts' part of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

This sentence directly escalated the conflict on the scene.

All wizards in the wizarding world know that Hogwarts absolutely prohibits students from learning the dark arts, so no matter whether this statement is true or not, Slytherin students will never admit it.

They even have to protect their own reputation.

The verbal conflict escalated into a physical conflict in the blink of an eye, and then quickly moved towards a magical conflict.

The smarter students from the other two colleges had already taken their dinner and hidden away in a farther place...to avoid being covered in blood.

Just when a Slytherin took out his wand first... a deafening explosion made everyone subconsciously cover their ears.

Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, a puff of smoke just vanishing from the tip of her wand.

"What a wonderful performance." She pursed her lips tightly, and everyone immediately fell silent. "Gryffindor and Slytherin will each receive fifty points deduction, and they will be banned from using the Quidditch pitch for two months!"

"No!"

"Professor McGonagall, you can't..."

"In fact, I can!" Professor McGonagall quickly glanced at Wood and Slytherin's Montague. "If this punishment doesn't teach you a lesson..."

"Oh, it's so lively here. Did something happen?" Gilderoy Lockhart appeared behind Professor McGonagall with a frivolous voice.

At the same time, he also saw two groups of people confronting each other in the auditorium.

"Aha, student conflict," he said to Professor McGonagall. "Leave it to me, Minerva. I've quelled snowman rebellions countless times, and I've always managed to resolve them perfectly."

Lockhart spoke cheerfully, completely unaware that this so-called riot was caused by him.

"No need, Professor Lockhart." A vein on Professor McGonagall's forehead seemed to twitch. She raised her head and quickly swept the auditorium with her sharp eyes.

"Ah, the stew tonight is really good." Fred was the first to sit back at the Gryffindor table, followed by George and Lee Jordan.

"Yeah, it tastes really good."

Although the Slytherins were dissatisfied, believing that Gryffindor was at fault and that Professor McGonagall could not deprive them of the right to use the Quidditch field, they did not dare to confront Professor McGonagall at this time.

"Let's go," said Montaigne. "We can discuss other matters after Professor Snape arrives."

Soon, order was restored in the auditorium which had been tense.

Lockhart seemed disappointed that he couldn't help, and after everyone was seated, he was still chattering to Professor McGonagall about how he had quelled the snowman riot.

He spoke more and more excitedly, not noticing that a ghost was sneaking up above his head.

"Welcome, Professor Twinkle Twinkle!" Peeves suddenly screamed and threw a bag of flour he got from somewhere at Lockhart's head.

With a puff, Lockhart was completely enveloped in white smoke. His carefully styled golden curly hair, the playful wizard hat with a deliberately adjusted angle, and his favorite violet robe were all covered with a thick layer of flour. He looked like a... snowman.

"Puchi." I don't know who started it, but the whole auditorium burst into laughter.

"Wow! Look at Peeves' masterpiece." Peeves' voice was the loudest among them. "You are now the whitest professor in Hogwarts, whiter than ghosts, whiter than snowmen, whiter than your teeth..."

"Peeves!" shouted Professor McGonagall, but the corner of her mouth twitched suspiciously. "Leave the Hall immediately."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall!" Peeves somersaulted in the air and ran away with a shrill laugh.

"Are you okay, Professor Lockhart?" Professor McGonagall glanced at the unknown creature beside her, and the corner of her mouth twitched again, but she quickly restrained it and said:
"I was looking elsewhere when Peeves came in just now, so I didn't warn you in time."

"Aha, I actually... I noticed that naughty little thing early in the morning." Lockhart opened his mouth and blew out another cloud of smoke as he spoke.

He tried hard to pull the corners of his mouth into an arc, with a noticeable tremor in his voice, "This level of sneak attack is too obvious, isn't it... But I think a little laughter is needed at this time..."

But surprisingly, even in this predicament, he still did not forget to show off his sparkling teeth.

……

(End of this chapter)