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He said, "I think you must be the Kyle that Arthur and Molly mentioned. Hermione also often mentioned you, saying that you are the smartest little wizard in Hogwarts."
"That's too high of an evaluation." Kyle shook his head. "I just used the time others would have spent playing to read."
Harry and Ron listened to Kyle's words and turned their heads away subconsciously.
They feel like they are what Kyle calls “the others.”
But Harry was more concerned about another thing. He walked over to Kyle and asked hesitantly, "The shampoo you just mentioned, is it..."
"Yes, it's your Potter..." Kyle said, "But this brand was sold to someone else a long time ago, and it has nothing to do with your family anymore."
The excitement on Harry's face quickly disappeared, and he returned to Ron in disappointment.
"What's wrong with you?" Ron asked.
"Nothing." Harry shook his head.
For a moment just now, he thought he had an uncle... or some other relative, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
"Get out of the way!"
At this time, a short, grumpy man holding a large black camera squeezed past Ron and said, "Don't block the way. This is for the Daily Prophet."
"Oh, that's amazing!" said Ron, rubbing the instep of his foot that was hurt by the man's step.
Gilderoy Lockhart heard it, and he looked up, seeing Ron, and then Harry.
He stared at Harry for a moment, then jumped up from his seat and shouted, "Merlin, isn't this Harry Potter?"
The crowd made way for him, murmuring excitedly.
Harry watched Lockhart rush over. Judging from his actions, it seemed that he wanted to pull him to the front for a photo.
Between the lightning and flint...
Under the threat of social death, Harry's brain suddenly awakened wisdom far beyond its usual level.
"Kyle's back there!" he yelled.
"Could it be Kyle who was awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class?" Lockhart became even more excited and immediately looked in the direction of Harry's finger.
But there were only two middle-aged men and an excited witch...
Harry froze.
Where's Kyle... He was clearly there just now, how come he disappeared in the blink of an eye!
"I think the kid probably hid because he saw that I was too nervous."
Lockhart showed his shiny teeth. "You must know that I have won the Witch Weekly Most Charming Smile Award five times."
This reason was obviously not enough to convince Harry. Although he didn't know what the Witch Weekly Smile Award was, it was definitely not as good as the Order of Merlin.
Besides, Kyle had seen legendary wizards like Nicolas Flamel, so how could he be nervous?
"Kyle must have run away because he didn't want to be photographed!" Harry thought to himself.
He wanted to do the same, but Lockhart didn't give him the chance.
Although they didn't see Kyle, one Harry Potter was enough for them to make the front page.
Harry was dragged forward like a puppet, and Lockhart shook his hand affectionately while the photographer took the picture.
The short man pressed the shutter button frantically, and puffs of purple smoke drifted towards the Weasley family.
The applause from the people around him and the sound of camera shutters made Harry feel a little at a loss, and his face turned redder than Ron's hair.
He still can't figure out why Kyle suddenly disappeared.
……
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 256: Conflict in Flourish and Blotts
After taking the photo, Lockhart then announced to everyone in a high-profile manner that he would soon become the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts...
"Both Harry Potter and his classmates will get a real me who can do magic when Hogwarts starts school on September 1st!"
The crowd immediately applauded and cheered.
Several middle-aged wizards, who were not sure whether they were fans or agents, even cried with excitement.
It seemed that as long as Lockhart went to Hogwarts, the students there would be safe.
As long as Lockhart goes...the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class will no longer exist!
Amid the cheers, Harry suddenly felt his arm feel heavy, and when he lowered his head he discovered that he had received the complete works of Gilderoy Lockhart, which were so heavy that he was a little shaky when he walked.
But the good news is that he finally doesn't have to stay here anymore.
Harry trudged out of the center of attention and over to the wall.
Kyle was here chatting with Ginny.
"These are for you... I'll buy some myself." Harry poured the books in his hand into Ginny's new cauldron, then looked at Kyle and couldn't help asking, "Where did you go just now?"
"Oh, I see you guys are having a great time chatting, so I'll go buy some other textbooks first." Kyle pointed to a pile of books on the long table next to him.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he took the opportunity to dive into the crowd when Lockhart called out Harry's name.
I originally wanted to avoid Lockhart, but unexpectedly, I just happened to avoid Harry's backstab...
This old guy has learned very bad things now.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Kyle asked without changing his expression.
"No, it's nothing!"
Harry was stunned by the thick pile of books. He counted them and found there were seventeen in total.
Although he knew that there would be two more elective courses in the third grade, this was still too exaggerated.
"It's just two more courses...do I need to buy so many books?" Harry asked with difficulty.
"Normally it's not necessary, but I've chosen too many courses."
Kyle explained, "And you need five books on Ancient Runes, plus seven books on Defense Against the Dark Arts. Just these two courses take up two-thirds of the total."
"Ancient Runes..." Harry secretly swore in his heart that he would never choose this course with an unfriendly name next year.
After a brief chat, Kyle took the book to the counter to pay.
Because of the book signing event, Flourish and Blotts transferred most of the staff to Lockhart and opened a one-stop service for book selection, signing, and checkout.
But this only applies to Lockhart's books, other books still need to be paid for at the counter.
Due to the short staff and the fact that school was about to start, there were a lot of people in the store. Kyle waited in line for a long time before he finally paid.
When he packed the books and came back, he saw Mr. Weasley confronting a middle-aged man with blond hair.
His face looked extremely ugly and he looked extremely serious.
"If you are really not afraid of being checked, as you say, why did you sneak to Knockturn Alley?"
"Speak with evidence, Weasley." Lucius Malfoy said in a long voice, "I only brought Draco to Flourish and Blotts to buy his textbooks for next year. I have never been to Knockturn Alley."
"But you... with all the raids, they must have paid you overtime."
Lucius Malfoy reached into Ginny's cauldron and pulled out a tattered copy of The Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.
"I'm afraid that based on the current situation, there is no...
What good is being a wizarding scum if you can't even get a good reward?"
Mr. Weasley's face was even redder than Harry's on the stage just now.
"It seems we have very different ideas about 'scum', Malfoy," he said.
"Apparently," said Lucius Malfoy.
He rolled his eyes and looked at the Grangers who were watching them anxiously.
"Look at the friends you keep...hanging out with Muggles, Weasley. I thought your family had fallen to the limit."
With a clang, Ginny's cauldron flew out.
Because it happened so quickly, Kyle didn't even see whether it was Mr. Weasley who threw it or Ginny herself.
But it didn't matter anymore. The crucible was like the fuse that lit a powder keg, and the scene instantly became chaotic.
Although Lucius Malfoy dodged the cauldron in time, he was knocked into a bookshelf by Mr. Weasley who followed him.
Dozens of thick spell books fell down and knocked him unconscious.
"How dare you bump into me!" Lucius got up and hit Mr. Weasley with the snake-shaped cane in his hand.
But the next second, a big hand grabbed his arm tightly.
Hagrid strode over, stepping on the books scattered all over the floor, and pulled him up in the blink of an eye.
Lucius Malfoy didn't seem ready to give up, but he couldn't break free from Hagrid's hand and could only glare at Mr. Weasley fiercely.
"This is not over yet!"
"Let's go, Draco..."
Lucius shook off Hagrid and turned to walk out the door.
When passing by the crucible, he had a vicious light in his eyes, turned his back to everyone and threw the "Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration" that he had been holding in his hand into the crucible.
"Yes, little girl, keep your book...it's the best thing your father can give you!"
After that, he took Draco Malfoy and left Flourish and Blotts.
"Luckily Kyle called me over."
Hagrid reached out to smooth Mr. Weasley's robes and almost lifted him up. "You shouldn't pay attention to him, Arthur. That guy is so bad, there is no good person in his family... What they say is not worth listening to."
Mr. Weasley said nothing.
It was Ginny who threw the cauldron, so he had to take action just now to draw everyone's attention to himself.
And to be honest, he had always wanted to do this... After beating up Malfoy, he felt refreshed.
It felt like drinking a cup of hot butterbeer in winter, and I felt indescribably comfortable all over.