The first Killing Curse came, but Lockhart, with his uncanny grasp of magic and sharp instincts, had already anticipated the attack. His body dodged before the spell could land.
The second Killing Curse followed, and with a silent, wandless flourish, he summoned a forest gray wolf. It was a simple spell, but it bought him just enough time to escape death.
Now, though, the third Killing Curse came hot on the heels of the second, so fast it was almost impossible to react.
Lockhart finally understood where Snape had picked up that rapid-fire triple-curse technique. The onslaught was relentless, ferocious.
He was on the verge of despair.
Then, a bat dropped from the treetops, perfectly intercepting the curse's path.
As the bat's life faded in a fleeting breath, Lockhart broke out in a cold sweat.
Relief. Overwhelming relief.
Not because of dumb luck, but because he'd made the call to bring all his dark creatures along.
The Wailing Wraith, startled, had floated out from his body unnoticed. Her long rabbit ears stood tall, her form splitting into jagged, toothy maws.
That bat? Her doing. A guardian summoned by the earth.
Little Goldie leapt from his pocket, scrambling onto his shoulder and baring its teeth at Ginny Weasley, who stood nearby.
"Guji?" it squeaked, head tilted in confusion. Why had its fear-and-despair aura failed again? First Lockhart, then Dumbledore, and now a third person?
It let out a sharp cry, urging the Boggart to attack the girl.
But the Boggart only shrieked from inside Lockhart's sleeve, "She has no mind! I can't sense her mind! She's just a shell!"
Indeed, Ginny, under the diary's Imperius-like effect, stared blankly, her eyes empty as if she were hollow.
Lockhart ignored the creatures. With a flick of his ring, a sleek white ash broom appeared in his hand. The moment it materialized, he stepped onto the extended footrest, gripped the handle, and shot into the dense canopy of the Forbidden Forest.
He'd taught Harry and the others how to use brooms for combat mobility, and he wasn't just talk—he knew how to fly.
Unlike the original Lockhart, who'd prattle on without action, he put his knowledge to work. That was his edge.
As he wove through the trees, his arm instinctively drew his wand.
"Wolf Pack!" he cast.
Mist swirled through the forest, and another gray wolf materialized, lunging at Ginny, who was still trying to curse him.
But the move was too basic. She didn't even flinch, waving her wand and soaring into the air, her white dress billowing like a ghost in the woods.
Her speed was unreal—she was catching up fast.
Flight Charm! A spell Voldemort had invented as a student, now known only to him and Snape.
Realizing the Killing Curse wasn't working, she switched tactics, conjuring a cloud of black smoke that twisted into a serpentine shadow, slithering along the treetops like silk.
Dark magic, no question. But what kind? What did it do? Lockhart had no clue.
His memories held the lives of a dozen powerful wizards, but this was high-level dark magic—too advanced for most to even encounter, let alone master.
Thankfully, Little Goldie stepped up. It shot forward in a blaze of golden light, pouncing on the snake shadow. The shadow froze against a tree trunk, letting Goldie tear it apart.
"Ginny" sped up, seeing Lockhart nearing the edge of the forest toward the Quidditch pitch. She waved her wand, and the surrounding trees came alive, their branches snapping together like giant hands, forming a massive wall of foliage.
No way out.
But Lockhart had been waiting for this exact moment.
The Imperius Curse, one of the three Unforgivable Curses, was infamous. Too many dark wizards had studied it, and Lockhart knew its limits.
Sure, it could make someone carry out complex, long-term plans, seemingly giving the caster total control. But as Snape once said, "Magic is an expression of self-will." When someone under the Imperius Curse tried casting a spell requiring deep focus, their true will clashed with the controlled mind, slowing their reactions.
In a magical duel, that lag was deadly.
Magic wasn't a turn-based game—it was more like a Muggle gunfight. One mistake, and you were done.
The moment Lockhart realized Ginny was under the Imperius Curse, he'd been playing three steps ahead, setting up this very opportunity.
Transfiguration? Really, Tom? Casting that spell now was pure arrogance, thinking you could end me so easily.
Lockhart spun his broom in a tight spiral. His wand, already moving through the precise motions during his high-speed flight, was ready. He aimed at Ginny, catching her in that fleeting moment of mental lag.
"Obliviate!"
Yup, one of the three spells he actually knew.
No big deal—he was a master at using what he had in the right place, at the right time.
The spell hit Ginny dead-on.
One shot, one hit!
Her head erupted in a flood of silver light. Strands of memory, like shimmering fish, broke free from her mind, floating into the air.
The extraction was relentless, as if it would never stop.
Lockhart wasn't holding back. Facing a life-or-death crisis, he went all in, pulling every memory from Ginny's mind—down to the lullabies she heard in the womb.
The results were spectacular.
Ginny lost all control. The trees stopped moving, her flight spell faltered, and she drifted down into the grass, her eyes reflecting the forest's dim light, pure and empty.
Then, like an infant, she slipped into a deep sleep.
Rustle, rustle.
Lockhart landed. The Boggart shot from his sleeve, hiding in a bush. The Demiguise burst from his pocket, its ghostly blue wings flashing like lightning as it snatched Ginny's wand and vanished into the canopy.
The Wailing Wraith hovered behind him, wild grasses and shrubs surging around them, concealing the area in a thick green veil.
Little Goldie, clutching two misty snake eyes, crouched on Lockhart's shoulder, ever vigilant.
The creatures hadn't performed flawlessly, but this fight taught them to start acting as a team, not just waiting for orders.
Finally, Lockhart stood over Ginny, glancing down at her before focusing on the silver memory strands floating above.
With a wave of his wand, he murmured, "Let's see when you started targeting me."