Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 344, Section 343: Lockhart's Past

Outside the greenhouse.

Snow covered a lawn.

"Yes, Professor."

Sheen replied.

"It only took a little over a month, how incredible—oh, can I see it, child?"

Professor Sprout moved his patched hat up a little, as if afraid it would block his vision.

Soon, as Professor Sprout walked through the snow, a completely black cat perched on her shoulder.

The professor was overjoyed; she hadn't expected this at all...

"I have no idea how surprised Minerva will be."

She murmured to herself, watching the black cat leap and transform back into a little wizard in a black robe.

Professor Sprout seemed to have not seen anything so interesting in a long time. She unusually put away her hoe and ended her day's work early.

And in just a few minutes, it will be dinner time at Hogwarts.

Sheen had nothing to tidy up; he simply checked his little greenhouse one last time, then closed the fence gate, leaving behind a camera that had been set up—it would record the condition of the plants every half day.

However, when he met up with Justin and the others, carrying a bag of potion ingredients, Hermione was already filled with righteous indignation:
"That damn liar, we have to expose him!"

Justin and the others, having also listened to Bruce's explanation, nodded in agreement.

Just now, Bruce, who was tied up by Leon, told them in detail about Lockhart's deeds:

"Interesting. First, I should state that we also tried to send him to Azkaban. But we failed..."

He had good connections with various newspapers, and since we were just students, no one was willing to listen to the facts we knew.

People always believe what they want to believe, and even the rescued witch firmly believed that Lockhart was the one who helped her.

Oh, I've gone off-topic... I was just talking about his deeds, which are of course true, but the main characters have all been replaced.

The Oblivion Spell. We suspect it's this—by constantly practicing this cunning spell, he most likely succeeded in altering the memories of over a dozen brave and accomplished wizards, using their heroic deeds to achieve fame and fortune…

Bruce's words were well-reasoned and supported by evidence. His meticulous logic and bold yet precise assumptions contrasted sharply with his writhing figure on the ground.

Hermione closed her eyes and felt as if she were listening to a wise wizard reconstruct the truth; when she opened her eyes, she had become the writhing Bruce.

"I'll also share some interesting discoveries with you. They may not be useful, but as long as they make Lockhart uncomfortable, that's enough."

Professor Sprout told us:

Lockhart was not without talent. On the contrary, the professors believed that his intelligence and abilities were above average, and that he could achieve great things with hard work.

Even if he can't realize those grand ambitions he boasted about to his classmates—

Lockhart tells anyone willing to listen that he will successfully create a Philosopher's Stone before graduating and plans to lead the England Quidditch team to victory in the World Cup, and then strive to become Britain's youngest Minister of Magic.

As you might have guessed, he was unsurprisingly not very popular.

But Lockhart still managed to achieve his primary goal—to make himself known throughout the school—through a series of attention-grabbing actions.

This guy used magic to carve his signature into a 20-foot-long letter on Quidditch Stadium, and was therefore locked up for a week.

He also managed to create a giant, glowing projection that mimicked the Black Mark projecting his face into the sky.

One year he sent himself eight hundred Valentine's Day cards, and as a result, the auditorium was piled high with owls that day. He had to skip breakfast because there were too many feathers and droppings in his porridge.

Stimulo! (A spell to sting!)

As Bruce was speaking, after Leon fell into deep thought, he unexpectedly attacked Leon.

He had no intention of freeing himself from his constraints; instead, he became amused to see Leon looking just as disheveled as he was. At that moment, Hermione fully understood what it meant to be both reliable and unreliable.

……

"We need to contact the newspaper."

After stepping out of the greenhouse, Hermione frowned and said...
“The Hufflepuff seniors’ evidence is more than enough—I don’t know what the Ministry of Magic is doing to let this fraudster get away with it when the evidence is so easy to obtain!”

"Most newspapers won't report it."

Justin's voice was low.

"There will be those who are willing."

Hermione pondered.

Harry had already rushed off to Quidditch training, Ron went with him, while Neville returned to the greenhouse to work.

Only three people remained in the snow.

"Singing a different tune?"

Hermione reluctantly began to take the newspaper seriously, and upon hearing her words, Justin smiled gently:
“Hermione, my mother told me that a wise person is not always powerful; sometimes, they are better at ‘making good use of’ their abilities.”

Seeing that a few young wizards were about to expose Lockhart and send him to Azkaban, Sheen probably knew how powerful the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts was.

Upon returning to the auditorium, Sheen faced another challenge.

He had to go out for Christmas, but his confinement with Professor Snape wasn't over yet...

If nothing unexpected happens, Uncle Marcus is still waiting for him at McGonagall's little house...

This Christmas will most likely be more unexpected than Sheen imagined.

He then looked toward the main seat, where Professor Sprout was chatting warmly with Professor McGonagall, who responded with a smile to every word, while Professor Snape, as always, had a gloomy face and remained silent.

Christmas is just around the corner.

The auditorium was decorated in a grand and magnificent manner. There were not only a dozen Christmas trees covered with silver frost, and thick ribbons of mistletoe and holly crisscrossing on the ceiling, but also enchanted snow, warm and dry, gently falling from the ceiling.

The elves were working hard to make Christmas puddings, and the wizards were all looking forward to the holiday, their faces beaming with excitement.

This weekend.

Upperclassmen can naturally go to Hogsmeade.

Another year has passed, and they gather together, excitedly discussing what will happen first in Hogsmeade Village, while the younger wizards can only listen.

"Isn't there a banquet going on?"

In the auditorium, Ron pretended to be nonchalant and said...
"You know, the Christmas party."

"yes,"

Harry was actually quite disappointed, but he still chimed in.
"awesome."

The Christmas party is nice, but it would be even better if they could spend a day at Hogsmeade like the older students before attending.

Finally, Harry and Ron listened intently to their conversation until they caught a key word from their words:

"Wait a minute, what's Grimm's Bookstore?!"

Harry whispered.

　Tomorrow at dawn

　　
　
(End of this chapter)