Saviour of Magic

Daphne's Helping Hand

"Accusing without evidence?" repeated Sirius, his eyebrows raised, not at all falling for the trap. "Oh dear, it seems our new Senior Undersecretary is not capable of hearing and seeing what is right in front of her. We have had so many witnesses testify against Mr Lockhart, including the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Chief Warlock. Perhaps you need to look for a new secretary, Minister Fudge. Madam Umbridge seems to be not qualified for the job ... or know her place."

"How dare you?" shrieked Umbridge.

"When I said know your place, I meant it," spat Sirius, harshly, his face turning red with anger. "Suggest something so disgusting again and I will declare a blood feud against you and your family for the intentional harm of the heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."

"That will not be necessary," said Dumbledore quickly, putting an end to the discussion before Umbridge ended up dead right there in the Wizengamot chamber. He knew that she was not capable of defeating Sirius in a duel. James and Sirius had been personally trained by Alastor Moody and he didn't want anyone dead over something as trivial as this. In fact, he didn't want people dead, period. There had been enough deaths caused because of Voldemort and his Death Eaters in the last war.

The resolution to give Veritaserum passed by a majority and after Lockhart was dosed, he sang like a canary. He explained what happened that night and why he picked the victims as well. When asked about any other victims, he began listing his future targets, two of which were Daphne Greengrass and Draco Malfoy.

Cyrus Greengrass and Lucius Malfoy were horrified.

When the issue of obliviation came up regarding the victims, Lockhart also slipped out about his books. Further clarification revealed that they were all fake, and that he had Obliviated the original people who had done those feats of magic and had taken credit for it so as to boost his popularity. The books he had sold gave him a lot of money and that was the only reason he had applied for the Defence post at Hogwarts. Hundreds of students buying his entire collection of books had increased his sales revenue drastically.

Finally, Harry got what he wanted. Sirius Black, Cyrus Greengrass and Lucius Malfoy did not like what Lockhart had done and had planned to do. His entire monetary assets were seized and were to be divided among the four victims equally. To someone like Harry who came from old money, the amount he received was insignificant to count, but to the Weasleys, it would greatly alleviate their financial strain, especially since they got half of Lockhart's fortune.

When it came to the punishment, Cyrus Greengrass gave a speech about how the man's crimes against the boys were a violation against Mother Magic herself and as such, it shouldn't go unpunished. Lucius Malfoy also agreed, pushing for the verdict. Surprisingly, Dumbledore did not try to stop it and Lockhart was sentenced to the Dementor's kiss, but he did suffer intense disapproval and backlash at hiring Lockhart in the first place. When the next edition of the Daily Prophet was released, people were shocked to stillness about the extent of Lockhart's crimes. Some of them felt ashamed in believing the worst of a twelve-year-old boy when the man himself was a monster, but they were still digesting the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived was a Parselmouth.

No one sent any letters of apology.

HP*SAVIOUR OF MAGIC*HP

A week later, Harry came back to Hogwarts. Having already finished breakfast, he slowly made his way over to the Potions classroom when he literally ran into someone.

"Uff!" cried Daphne as arms wrapped around her waist to stop her from falling. "Get your hands off – Harry!"

She immediately rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly. Harry smiled softly as he hugged her back. He had really missed her over the past several days.