Once they were in Diagon Alley, it was only natural for Leonard to take Claudia around to eat and shop.
Still, Claudia was not particularly interested in shopping. Compared to the bustling muggle streets, even lively Diagon Alley did not actually have that many kinds of goods.
It was either strange materials or the same old candy, food, and toys.
The first time you came to Diagon Alley, those things could still catch your eye. But after coming a few more times and getting used to the colorful variety of the muggle world, Diagon Alley started to seem pretty underwhelming.
Just think about it. What was so interesting about a shopping street with only one high-end clothing shop and one ordinary ready-made clothing shop?
Even so, Leonard still took Claudia to Twilfitt and Tattings and had two supposedly brand-new formal outfits made for her.
Leonard had plenty of money anyway, so he did not care about the cost of two sets of dress robes.
On the way, Leonard and Claudia also passed by Flourish and Blotts. Although Lockhart had not become Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, the signing event for his new book was still being held as scheduled.
The first time Leonard passed by, and Diagon Alley was only so big, so all you could really do was walk back and forth, he did not see any sign of the main group.
That was normal.
Because of Leonard's meddling, Harry had not become good friends with Ron Weasley. Which meant he was probably still staying obediently at home right now, waiting for his uncle to generously bring him to Diagon Alley.
And since Tom Riddle's diary was in Leonard's hands, the house-elf Dobby probably would not betray the Malfoy family just to go torment the Boy Who Lived.
With his son dead, Lucius Malfoy definitely had no reason to come to Flourish and Blotts either.
Looking at it that way, Leonard really had changed quite a lot of the plot...
But no matter how much he changed, there still should not have been a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor popping out of nowhere.
Leonard kept thinking about it as he took Claudia around for another turn and bought a lot of tasty things.
Then, the second time they passed by Flourish and Blotts, Leonard saw a group of Aurors barge into the shop with tough expressions and drag Lockhart, who was in the middle of signing his new book, right out.
The Aurors may have been forceful, but Lockhart's followers were not easy to deal with either. They blocked the entrance and shouted noisily, refusing to let the Aurors leave.
"What are you doing? You absolutely cannot take Mr. Lockhart away!"
"Dear Mr. Lockhart, don't worry, we'll definitely save you!"
"How can you be so rough? Gilderoy is everyone's treasure!"
A group of women in all kinds of clothes, obviously from very different backgrounds and social classes at a glance, crowded the doorway, making it impossible for the Aurors holding Lockhart to get out.
"Please step aside and stop interfering with Auror business!" the captain of the Auror squad shouted.
But his words had no effect whatsoever.
If anything, they made things worse.
"So what if you're Aurors? Does being an Auror mean you can just bully people and drag them away?" A richly dressed noblewoman, clearly wearing an expensive outfit from Twilfitt and Tattings, pointed a finger thick as a radish right at the Auror captain's nose.
"I'm telling you, no one is taking my Gilderoy away today. Today is the important signing event for his new book!"
This noblewoman was clearly from an important family. With her finger in the Auror captain's face, she actually left him unable to speak properly.
Leonard had not expected to get such a good show out of this.
So, like the surrounding crowd who had no idea what was going on, he stood outside Flourish and Blotts and happily watched the drama unfold.
Leonard truly had not expected Gilderoy Lockhart to get arrested. He had assumed the man was a careful and cunning fraud, but apparently failing to get the Defence Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts had gotten him hauled off instead...
Could this be Dumbledore's doing?
Maybe he had originally thought the guy still had some value and could serve as a sacrificial offering, but now that a replacement had been found, he had simply sold Lockhart out?
That was possible, though not certain.
Leonard remembered that lately there had been constant uproar over the disappearance of pure-blood wizards. For more than half a year now, the headlines of the major newspapers had all been about that.
And not just the papers. Even The Quibbler had run a story on it, titled something like: "Invasion by Other Races: Are the Disappearances of Pure-Blood Wizards the Work of Non-Human Creatures?"
That magazine had always been pretty ridiculous.
Since the Ministry of Magic had never released any official information about the case, every kind of speculation and rumor was flying around the streets, causing no small amount of chaos.
"Maybe the Ministry can't hold it together anymore, so they're planning a big sensational story to bury the issue? Or maybe... he's just a scapegoat?" Leonard watched Lockhart's flustered expression with a cheerful grin.
That was not impossible.
Maybe the Ministry had long known what Lockhart really was, and the reason they had not arrested him was precisely so he could serve later as a scapegoat, or as a bigger headline to bury some other bad news.
It sounded a little like a conspiracy theory, but Leonard thought it was pretty plausible.
After all, when Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban, those people had suddenly approved an honorary award for Damocles's Wolfsbane Potion and let him receive the Order of Merlin.
That was far too convenient.
Leonard refused to believe there was nothing fishy behind it.
The farce at Flourish and Blotts was still going on. That noblewoman was especially fierce. When she spoke, she sprayed spit everywhere like a watering can, splattering the entire Auror squad in the face.
Lockhart, held by the Aurors, looked deeply moved, but his eyes were full of smug satisfaction.
He had no idea why the Aurors had suddenly come to arrest him, but having such fanatically loyal readers protecting him made Lockhart feel extremely pleased with himself.
Just then, a woman suddenly appeared outside Flourish and Blotts.
She had neat short gray hair, wore an Auror uniform, and her face looked as if it were covered in frost.
"Aurors conducting official business. Anyone who attempts to obstruct us will be arrested for assaulting an officer!"
The woman was swift and decisive. The moment she appeared, she overawed the entire scene.
"Madam Bones!" The captain of the Auror squad let out a sigh of relief the instant he saw her.
This was Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
The Auror Office was a department under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so it could be said that this woman was the direct superior of all Aurors.
But this was just the arrest of a fraudster...
Was it really necessary for someone of her rank to show up in person?
"Gilderoy Lockhart repeatedly abused Memory Charms, causing multiple wizards to lose their memories and their ability to survive independently, and stole the research results of other wizards."
Amelia Bones swept a stern gaze across the women blocking the Aurors. Her sharp eyes were like knives, forcing those unreasonable women back.
"He is about to stand trial before the Wizengamot. Do you want to go with him?"
Her fierce, commanding presence made everyone there shiver.
She dominated the whole scene like a queen.