Professor Kettleburn's greatest joy came from dragons, but his biggest fear was dragons too—what a funny thing.
The old professor's jaw dropped in surprise, and he awkwardly glanced at Professor Lockhart and the young witches and wizards behind him. He scratched his already messy hair with his left-hand prosthetic. "A Boggart?"
Lockhart nodded with a bright grin, eyeing the old professor thoughtfully as a quirky idea popped into his head.
Maybe he could get this old professor to help teach some Defense Against the Dark Arts classes!
After surviving Voldemort's deadly curse, Lockhart had a ton of plans to put into motion and desperately needed someone to share the teaching load so he could free up more time.
Old buddy!
It's not time to retire yet!
You've still got some shine to give!
Get to work!
Anyway, the guy always seemed like he couldn't sit still.
Sure, Professor Kettleburn was fed up with the daily grind of teaching and dreamed of thrilling adventures.
But wasn't that perfect? Lockhart's teaching style, beyond the necessary theory lessons, leaned heavily on "fairy-tale adventure" practical sessions.
And now, after his adventure with Dumbledore, he'd snagged a neat magical artifact—Carrow's Bedtime Story Fairy-Tale Book.
Some of the scenes in there were more than enough for Professor Kettleburn to lead the young witches and wizards on some wild adventures.
Brilliant!
Lockhart's smile grew even brighter.
…
"What?"
"You want Professor Kettleburn to help teach a few Defense Against the Dark Arts classes?"
Dumbledore, finally back at Hogwarts for a rare moment of rest, was happily savoring the crawly texture of Cockroach Clusters in his mouth when Lockhart's suggestion nearly made him spit them out.
He swallowed hard, giving Professor Kettleburn a weird look. "You're on board with Professor Lockhart's idea?"
"Absolutely!" Professor Kettleburn looked thrilled, waving his one good right hand with gusto. "I'd love to, Professor Dumbledore!"
"But, you know, considering Tom… I mean, considering You-Know-Who's curse on that class, this half-buried old cripple doesn't want to tempt fate. I'd rather just be a temporary teaching assistant."
Professor Kettleburn was clearly trying hard to convince Dumbledore. "I'm a teacher by title, after all. It's normal for teachers to pitch in as assistants for professors now and then, right?"
Ridiculous!
Dumbledore could only think: Ridiculous!
My old friend, what kind of Confusing Concoction did Lockhart slip you? Or did he hit you with an Imperius Curse?
Weren't you always whining about wanting to quit?
Didn't you pester me every other day, dragging me into late-night talks with your "wear-the-old-man-down" tactics, desperate to escape teaching?
And now you're acting all proud to be Lockhart's assistant? What's that about?
Plus…
Dumbledore couldn't help but recall how, not long ago, Kettleburn had egged him on to let Lockhart take over Defense Against the Dark Arts every few years. It's only been a few days, and now you're ditching your Care of Magical Creatures classes to be Lockhart's assistant?
And saying if you don't have time to teach the kids Care of Magical Creatures, Lockhart can cover for you?
What!
He didn't get it!
Looking at his old friend, who was as excited as a lovesick teenager, practically bouncing with eagerness, Dumbledore had no answers. He turned to Lockhart.
Lockhart just gave a slight smile. "Maybe there's something even more fun than adventuring in a wild dragon reserve?"
"No, no, no!" Professor Kettleburn shot down Lockhart's words, saying solemnly, "It's something more meaningful! These young witches and wizards are still so green and naive. They need an experienced old wizard like me to teach them some real lessons!"
Uh…
Dumbledore almost wondered if his疗
his Cockroach Clusters had gone bad, causing some toxic hallucinations.
Fine.
He finally nodded in agreement.
But looking at Lockhart, this young guy, Dumbledore felt a tiny pang of jealousy.
Yes, jealousy.
Lockhart's teaching load had already dropped to a quarter of what it used to be, and now he had an old professor eagerly volunteering to help as an assistant.
Since when did being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor get so cushy?
Back when Dumbledore was teaching that class at Hogwarts, decades ago, he didn't dare relax for a second!
Lockhart had only been a professor at Hogwarts for a few months!
Dumbledore suddenly had this wild thought—who knows what Lockhart might pull off next? He could end up being the most laid-back professor in Hogwarts history!
Hey!
Old Dumbledore was actually onto something!
Lockhart had been quietly working on lightening his workload all along, and the headmaster just hadn't noticed.
From the start, Lockhart had his classes set up so the young witches and wizards would come up and act as his assistants. As he got better at this system and explored the "veteran mentors newbies" approach at the Dueling Club—having Harry and Malfoy teach their peers—he'd gotten really good at it.
The sixth and seventh years were the easiest. In the N.E.W.T. classes, tons of students were eager to step up and take charge.
Harry's year was the same.
And now, it was time to expand to the other years.
Like the first-years!
Lockhart had already picked out two young witches to focus on—Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood.
Yes!
He was ready to make a move on Ginny Weasley!
Or, more bluntly, he was ready to take on Tom Riddle in that Horcrux diary!
Before, he'd been cautious about not messing with Tom Riddle, scared of drawing the dangerous Dark Lord's attention and getting dragged into the war.
But now, hey, he was already on the opposite side, so what the heck was there to fear?
Being a wizard was never just about throwing around plasma bolts, or Voldemort would've been torn to bits by Dumbledore ages ago.
What made wizards truly powerful was the "mystery"!
At the height of his power, Voldemort never would've guessed some prophecy would pop up saying a kid would take him down.
After the Order of the Phoenix toppled Voldemort's forces, there were rumors he wasn't dead and was hiding in Albania, but Dumbledore couldn't find him for years.
Azkaban, supposedly the world's most secure prison, and the Ministry never imagined an Animagus could slip past the Dementors' lockdown.
Peter Pettigrew, as a rat, got brought to Hogwarts by the Weasley brothers who-knows-how-many times, prancing right under Dumbledore's, the Order's, and a bunch of big shots' noses, but no one thought a magical map would just list his name.
The wizarding world was full of mysteries, even the most powerful wizards didn't know.
And Lockhart? He was one of those mysteries.
He was a master at playing with memories, and right now, Tom Riddle in that Horcrux diary was playing his game.
"Every craft has its master!"
"Voldemort, the game's on—don't try to call it quits!"
He had plenty of ways to mess with Voldemort until he was crying—let's show you what a Ravenclaw reject can do, not like those Gryffindor Phoenix Order folks you're used to dealing with!
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