Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 115 Lockhart Under Attack: The Wand-Wielder, Beware
The sudden appearance of Dobby, the house-elf, upset Harry.

Lockhart was equally troubled.

Ever since the last Quidditch match, he's been held up high by the Gryffindors, but only the Gryffindors.

The remaining three colleges all had some doubts about him, after all, directly removing a student's bones didn't seem like magic a professor could use.

At the same time, his attempt to establish the image of a "heroic professor" has not been very successful.

He wanted to conduct a live interview with the Daily Prophet to extend the impact of this event from Hogwarts to the entire wizarding world.

The other party agreed, but when the appointed time arrived, the reporter Rita Skeeter did not show up, and subsequent letters went unanswered.

Moreover, his student, Siron Ollivander, was uncooperative. Despite being saved, Ollivander never offered thanks and even publicly contradicted him on more than one occasion.

Lockhart's face contorted, as if he truly believed the lies Lockhart had fabricated, convinced that he had revived Siron with the Restoration Charm... even though he didn't know the spell at all.

In an attempt to salvage his declining reputation, Lockhart hatched a bold decision... to expose the Basilisk!

The reappearance of the Basilisk at Hogwarts after disappearing for hundreds of years is sure to cause a sensation, and he, as "the first person to discover this," will definitely make headlines.

Not only that, he can also use this to write a new book, and he has even thought of a title: "Dancing with the Basilisk".

By then, no one will remember that little thing he did—taking the student's bone.

Lockhart's eyes flickered, but a few minutes later, he had to abandon the tempting idea.

Dumbledore wouldn't agree to him doing that, and that night he specifically asked all the professors who knew the truth to keep it a secret, arguing that it would not cause panic.

Lockhart saw this as utter nonsense; he simply didn't want to admit his incompetence and dereliction of duty. He even believed that the Basilisk story itself was a lie fabricated by Ollivander.

If the Basilisk really existed, wouldn't Dumbledore be able to catch it?
Lockhart stared out the window.

When Dumbledore invited him to Hogwarts, he intentionally or unintentionally revealed some information that terrified him, so he dared not go against him—at least not until his damn Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship was over.

"A bunch of idiots, Dumbledore is the biggest idiot of all, they have no idea how big a commotion this will cause," Lockhart screamed hysterically in his mind.

Even if it's made up, as long as Dumbledore says the name of the Basilisk himself, it's enough to make Hogwarts dominate the front page of the newspapers.

They didn't even take such a good opportunity; what a bunch of idiots!
He has been dragged down and will have to find another way to regain his approval rating.

Lockhart couldn't help but stand up and start pacing around the room. The walls were covered with his self-portraits, and all the "Lockharts" in them were looking at him, their eyes moving left and right.

About an hour later, Lockhart finally came up with a good idea, decisively turned around and left the office, heading towards the principal's office on the eighth floor.

……

The next day, on his way to the Charms classroom, Siren suddenly noticed a group of people gathered around the bulletin board, reading a notice that had just been pinned up.

He vaguely heard someone shouting something about a duel club.

No way.

Xilun looked a little strange, and then squeezed in.

“Sirlen, you’re really something.” Simon said excitedly when he saw him, “They’re opening a dueling club to teach students how to protect themselves.”

"So what does this have to do with me?" Siren asked. "It can't be related to the attack I was attacked, can it?"

"You've already read the announcement beforehand?" Ximo blurted out.

Xilun also saw the contents of the announcement, especially the middle part.

[…Sirlen Ollivander's experience tells us that learning some combat skills is very necessary…]

Well... well, Xilun should have thought of that.

But he couldn't understand why Lockhart couldn't find someone else to mooch off him.

Has the boy who survived such a close call lost his fame? Why insist on focusing on this trivial incident of him being attacked?
Thanks to Lockhart's efforts, everyone in the school now knows that he has been petrified in a corner of the corridor, and some of the more sentimental witches even look at him with a hint of pity in their eyes.

It was as if he had been petrified in the corridor for three days and three nights and no one had paid any attention to him.

This feeling was so strange; in fact, he was petrified for no more than five minutes.

Moreover, for a second-grade student to be petrified for only five minutes after encountering a basilisk head-on is practically a miracle.

"Sirlen, Sirlen, will you join this dueling club?"

Upon hearing Seamus's question, Celen, regaining his composure, immediately nodded and said with a cold laugh, "I will. I'm quite curious to see what tricks Professor Lockhart has up his sleeve."

"That's great, we can go together then."

The entire day revolved around the dueling club, and Professor Flitwick was asked several times whether he would serve as a teacher at the club.

Many people know that he won the dueling tournament twice in a row when he was young, and he was a true dueling master.

However, Professor Flitwick did not answer the question directly. He only shook his head with a smile after being asked the question many times, indicating that he did not know either.

By 8 p.m., Xilun had arrived at the auditorium early and was waiting.

The place has completely changed. The long dining table has been moved to the far end, and a huge golden stage has been added at the front against the wall.

"Hey, Celeste, what brings you here so early?" Seamus walked up from behind, and Harry, Hermione, Ron and the others were there too.

“I just arrived too,” Xiren said.

"What are you holding in your hand?" Harry noticed something dark in Shiron's hand that looked familiar.

“This is the camera I borrowed from Colin Crevy,” Celen said.

He planned to take pictures of Lockhart later and sell them to The Witcher Weekly; he might even make a small profit.

Five minutes later, the door was opened again. Gilderoy Lockhart walked onto the stage, radiant in a crimson robe, next to Professor Flitwick, the dueling champion.

However, Professor Flitwick didn't seem very happy. He was still wearing the same robe he wore to class, and standing in front of the meticulously dressed Lockhart, he looked like a house-elf... and even in stature.

But no one had ever told him before that he had to wear formal attire for a duel.

If it weren't for the fact that both Minerva and Pomona were busy, and Severus had to temporarily leave the school because of Malfoy, he would never have become a teaching assistant.

When he saw Professor Flitwick, Siron was also surprised for a moment, and then began to suspect that Lockhart was doing it on purpose... Compared to Professor Flitwick, he looked even taller and more handsome.

“I knew it! It really is Professor Flitwick who’s going to teach us,” Ron said excitedly. “He was a dueling champion when he was young.”

“If you had listened carefully, you would have known he was Professor Lockhart’s assistant,” Hermione corrected. “Professor Lockhart is the one who truly taught us how to duel.”

"So you mean Lockhart is better than Professor Flitwick, the dueling champion?" Ron countered.

"Professor Lockhart is also very good at dueling, as he wrote in 'Walking with Trolls'."

"Come on, he's good at everything, yet he's good at nothing..."

The two then started arguing again.

Xilun continued to stare at the stage. By this time, the two professors had finished their basic introductions and stood on the left and right sides respectively.

“To be honest, I didn’t really want to do this. It wouldn’t be good if you misunderstood and thought I was stronger than the Duel Champion.” Lockhart flicked his blond hair at his forehead. “In fact, I also participated in the Duel Tournament, but I received a letter for help from Bulgaria before the finals, and I had to give up the rest of the competition. This has always been a regret of mine.”

He wiped his eyes. "What I want to say is, don't worry, I will definitely return you to a fully recovered Charms professor."

Flitwick's face darkened further; these words sounded like premature celebration of victory.

But Lockhart also participated in dueling tournaments? And even made it to the finals? How come I've never heard of him?
But since they were colleagues, Professor Flitwick decided to give them enough respect.

He held his wand upright in front of his chest and bowed to Lockhart.

His movements were unexpectedly precise, and now Professor Flitwick truly believed he had participated in a dueling tournament.

"one two three!"

The two raised their wands over their shoulders at the same time. Lockhart was still muttering incantations when he was suddenly sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the wall and passing out on the spot.

"Um……"

Professor Flitwick stood there blankly, as helpless as a house-elf.

Isn't this supposed to be a demonstration of a duel? Why is Lockhart chanting a spell...? What kind of duel is it if he just chants a spell?

Oh, right, it's for showing to the students!
Professor Flitwick slapped his forehead in frustration; he shouldn't have habitually started with a Stunning Charm.

However, there shouldn't be any problems.

He glanced at the unconscious Lockhart, and after confirming that he was alright, he had him taken to the school hospital.

But the dueling club had to continue, so the rest of the work had to be done by him, the assistant coach.

"The Stun Spell may be difficult for some of you, but it is one of the most effective spells. It can render your enemy incapable of resistance for a short period of time."

"Also, the disarming spell is a good option..."

After Lockhart was sent away, the dueling club seemed to get on track all at once. Professor Flitwick led everyone in a basic lesson on the Stunning Charm and the Disarming Charm, and then divided everyone into pairs to practice with each other.

The club didn't close until almost 10 o'clock, and Xilun left the auditorium reluctantly.

He came here to laugh, but unexpectedly learned more than an hour of real knowledge, making a huge profit.

“I really hope this dueling club can keep going forever.” Harry was also very happy. “He loves the Disarming Charm so much, and it’s a very simple charm. He was able to use it successfully after only two tries.”

"I just don't understand why Hermione keeps failing. This curse should be easier for her..."

At this moment, everyone was happy, and no one cared about Lockhart being sent to the school hospital.

Lockhart didn't show up the next day either, and his classes were all changed to reading.

"Maybe he feels too ashamed of what happened yesterday and is too scared to come out," Ron said with a smile, still completely unconcerned.

Last night, Lockhart's defeat at the hands of Professor Flitwick became a source of amusement at Hogwarts, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter every time he heard someone mention it.

In his opinion, it would be better if Lockhart never showed up. Although reading was boring, at least he could do something he liked or catch up on other assignments.

Anyway, it's much better than performing in his kind of stage plays.

Hermione did go to the school hospital to visit Lockhart, but Mrs. Pomfrey told her that Lockhart had woken up and left the previous night.

Hermione went to the office again, but still couldn't find him.

Lockhart finally appeared in the evening.

Hermione was the first to find him. Lockhart was lying on the steps of the foyer, his body stiff as stone, his face and exposed arms deathly pale. He looked exactly like the Muggles in the illustrations of his books who had been attacked by vampires.

The few young wizards who saw them afterward were almost scared to tears.

What's even more chilling is that there were several lines written in blood on Lockhart's blue robe.

The secret room has been opened!

[Those who spread power, prophets who should not appear, the beginning and end of all calamities.]

Beware of those wielding wands.

……

(End of this chapter)