Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Gilderoy Lockhart stood at the podium, dressed in a pale gold robe adorned with medals. He held up a book, pointing to the photo on its cover. The image and the man himself wore identical smiles.
"Although this is my first time teaching you, I believe you already know who I am. Out of respect for teaching, I will formally introduce myself: Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award…"
"Hehe, of course, a charming smile cannot repel a werewolf."
Lockhart was about to continue boasting about "his" experiences, but when he noticed Lucien sitting below, he inexplicably felt a hint of unease.
"Ahem, let's begin with a small quiz for the new term. Don't worry, it's just to see whether you've done any advance reading."
Unlike other professors who used magic to distribute test papers, Lockhart handed them out one by one. This action drew small cheers from a few fangirls.
After receiving his paper, Lucien began writing.
However, upon closer observation, it would become clear that it was actually the quill guiding his hand as he wrote.
This was a reading-and-answering quill Lucien had developed himself. Once knowledge had been input, it could automatically answer questions, though it was limited to multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.
Still, that was more than enough to deal with Lockhart's quiz, as the questions were all along the lines of:
"What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite flower?"
"Which adventure led to Gilderoy Lockhart receiving the Order of Merlin…"
These were all questions taken directly from his "autobiographies."
To be fair, the adventure stories in those books were indeed quite exciting, and the methods used to deal with Dark creatures had some practical value.
After all, the original protagonists of those stories had truly experienced them. Lockhart had merely stolen their memories.
However, he had also added far too much personal nonsense. Who cared what he wanted for Christmas?
Lucien had no desire to fill his mind with such useless information.
Before long, the automatic answering quill had completed this strange and tedious test for him.
After collecting the test papers, Lockhart began marking them on the spot.
To his surprise, the only student who achieved full marks was Lucien.
Lockhart hesitated for a moment. Could it be that this boy was actually his admirer, just too reserved, which made him seem distant and unapproachable?
When announcing the results, Lockhart awarded Ravenclaw ten points.
Because of the Cornish pixie disaster in his previous lesson with Harry and the others, Lockhart did not bring any magical creatures this time, not even low-risk ones, since he couldn't control them.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts is a very profound subject. Theory is important, but practice is equally indispensable…"
Hearing this, some uninformed students looked on with anticipation. They had grown tired of Quirrell reading straight from the textbook last year. An entire year had passed, and they hadn't even learned a single proper counter to the Dark Arts.
It seemed that this year, Lockhart, a professor with such rich experience, would finally bring something different.
"So, I will personally recount my experiences in dealing with Dark creatures. Although I am a writer, written words can never match the vividness of spoken storytelling. That trip to Tibet, the savagery and stupidity of the yetis…"
Those students who had been full of expectations were almost speechless. Was this really it?
However, a few of Lockhart's admirers listened with great interest.
His storytelling was certainly more engaging than Quirrell's dull reading, and his stories were more entertaining than the textbook.
As he continued, Lockhart became increasingly enthusiastic.
"Are there any students willing to re-enact that adventure with me? I believe it will give everyone a unique experience!"
Noticing Lucien with his head lowered, Lockhart decided to call on this "introverted" student, thinking it would be a good opportunity for him to get close to his idol.
"Grafton, would you be willing to come up and play the role of the Yeti? We'll re-enact the struggle on the snowy mountain."
At this, Lucien looked up and smiled at Lockhart.
"Professor, there's no need for that. If you need a Yeti, I can conjure one for you."
As he spoke, Lucien drew out his wand, a faint glow gathering at its tip.
Seeing this, Lockhart's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly raised his hand to stop him.
"Oh no, there's no need to use wands in class. That… wouldn't be very elegant."
Lockhart was worried that, although students of this age couldn't cast particularly powerful magic, an accidental hit to his handsome face would damage his image.
Lockhart quickly switched to another student and carried out a rather clumsy performance.
When the bell rang, he offered the student a few words of encouragement and praise before assigning homework.
"For homework, write an essay reflecting on my feat of defeating the Yeti. The best piece will receive a signed copy of Magical Me."
With that, Lockhart dismissed the class and returned to his office next door.
He spent several minutes in front of the mirror, adjusting his hairstyle, collar, and cuffs from every angle, and practicing his signature smile a few times before nodding in satisfaction.
"Another perfect lesson."
Lockhart failed to notice that a common robin had perched atop the cabinet at some point, its dark, bright eyes carrying a distinctly human-like expression of exasperation.
He was even more self-absorbed in private.
Lucien, transformed into the robin, complained inwardly, already beginning to grow impatient.
After brewing himself a cup of black tea, Lockhart finally sat down at his desk and took out a faded diary from a locked drawer.
The moment the diary appeared, a sharp glint flashed in the robin's eyes.
Lockhart held a large peacock-feather quill, writing in the diary while pausing from time to time.
At the same time, he muttered to himself,
"There's actually a Chamber of Secrets in the school… and the monster hidden inside…"
"Oh, so the monster can be controlled…"
"That's right. Control the monster, create a few incidents, stir up panic, and then I, the great Lockhart, will appear as the hero and eliminate it!"
"Haha~ Nice. A visible, real adventure. I'll save a group of young witches and wizards, save the future of the wizarding world. Oh, this might even earn me another Order of Merlin. Third Class is still too low…"
The robin perched atop the cabinet quietly listened to Lockhart's plan.
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