The man shook his head sadly, "But the little Wizards and Witches, the children, they really do believe them. They think you are rich. They think you are spoiled. They think you have a loving foster family who dotes on your every wish, spoiling you shamelessly. And when you don't live up to those expectations, they hate you for ruining those expectations. Everything you say or do that reveals you know nothing about Wizardkind, Wizard traditions, and Wizard lore, they take as an indication that you really do know those things but are too arrogant to pay attention to them! You really don't know those things, but it is easier for them to believe you do but don't care. Otherwise they would have to admit that the books were lies — and nobody likes to admit they fell for a lie because it makes them look foolish."
The boy was looking more and more astonished with every sentence.
"And the publishers are continuing to feed that image that you don't care by putting out new books every year telling them how their hero, The-Boy-Who-Lived, is still being a hero when in truth you are just a student trying to make the best of a bad situation."
Harry leaned back, blinking.
"And the reason they are doing that is that you have let them steal your name and likeness, and make up these fantastical stories. You have done nothing to say, 'But those books are all lies.'"
The boy's eyebrows shot up.
But before he could say a word, the professor continued. "I know, I know what you're going to say, but here's the deal. By not saying anything to them, by not complaining about what they've done, you have tacitly given them permission to continue in what they are doing. By not talking to them, you have given them permission to continue making up lies about you, to continue selling dolls with your face, to continue stealing money from you. And while you might not think the money is important, given your family's great wealth, by doing nothing you give the impression that it is perfectly fine for them to continue to lie about and steal from you!
"Now, I know your guardians have been somewhat lax in that regard, that your family lawyers have ignored the problem, but that doesn't excuse last year. Last year you had ample time to tell everyone the books are lies and start correcting the record. You had ample time to contact the publishers and tell them to stop. And you didn't. That you didn't know you should is not an excuse they are willing to accept.
"By the way, did you know they released three, three books about your first year in Hogwarts? And not one of them even comes close to matching what really happened, except that you are the youngest Seeker in a hundred years. And they have you single-handedly winning every game with your teammates cheering you on from their brooms.
"And by not saying anything you let people think you are an arrogant braggart with delusions of perfection and grandeur."
He paused and let Harry think about that. Lockhart could see the boy getting angrier and angrier. And the angrier the boy became, the easier it became for Gilderoy to do what needed doing. And he had somehow missed Gilderoy's references to his family's wealth. The professor decided to let that lie for the moment.
"And I bet you're thinking, 'but what can I do about any of that? I'm just a kid!'"
"Well, Harry, what I propose to you is to let my legal firm — Fleecem, Cheatem, and Beatem — take care of this for you."
Naturally, on hearing the firm's name, Harry's eyebrows repeated their climb to his hairline. Lockhart had to suppress a smile and pretend not to notice Harry's incredulous reaction. Wizards really were oblivious, not to mention naïve, in many areas. Most wouldn't even blink on hearing that name.
He wasn't going to mention that he actually owned that firm. He had set it up last month and staffed it with hand-picked sharks.
"What they will do, at no charge to you, is go after these scoundrels and make them pay the royalties they should have been paying you all along. I realize you don't care about the money — if you cared about money you wouldn't wear those atrocious muggle clothes and you'd dress like a proper gentlewizard. Or at least dress in a manner that didn't suggest you were a homeless gypsy who accidentally wandered into the castle by mistake."
He pretended not to notice the blush that lit up boy's face.
"That's one of the reasons people don't take you seriously, and why the Slytherins make fun of you. If you don't take yourself seriously, why should they? They think you are insulting them by ignoring proper dress traditions, so they get mad at you for dressing like a homeless person."
Harry looked startled at that. And well he should. By the time future Harry had learned that lesson it was far too late to be useful, he was too busy dodging Snatcher squads and muggle strafing and bombing runs.
"Now, then, knowing you are rich, a lot of people will be outraged that you would dare to attack the books that every, and I do mean every, Wizarding child owns. To combat this, to control the narrative, that is, I suggest you set up a foundation that will use the funds those scoundrels give you to provide Muggle-borns, and underprivileged Half-bloods and Pure-bloods with adequate schooling materials.