The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Pushing open the door to the office, which also served as the professor's bedroom, the two saw an owl standing on the windowsill and a large box beside it.

This may be the biggest owl Hermione has ever seen, bigger than an eagle.

The owl glanced at them, then continued eating the delicious food that was placed on the plate on the windowsill, specially prepared for the mail carriers.

Lockhart walked over and picked up the box, where he saw a letter hanging on it. The envelope read: "Congratulations to Gilderoy Lockhart on becoming the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The signature is from the Hibiscus Ravenclaw Alumni Association.

"A Ravenclaw alumni reunion?" Hermione asked curiously, standing on tiptoe to peek inside. When she saw Professor Lockhart about to open the envelope, she wisely turned her head away.

"It's a club organized by Ravenclaw graduates. I asked the alumni association to help me find some dark magic creatures as teaching materials for my classes." Lockhart only found this information from his memory after seeing the package.

He opened the letter and raised an eyebrow as he saw a familiar name—Alastor Moody.

Mad-Eye Moody.

A retired old Auror, who is said to have sent half of the prisoners in Azkaban's current prisons.

He helped prepare everything in this box.

Moody was a Gryffindor, but his wife was a Ravenclaw and one of the founders and the first president of the Hibiscus Ravenclaw Alumni Association.

It is said that tough men have tender hearts. Moody was eccentric and stubborn, but he was extremely gentle with his wife. He often accompanied his wife to help out at the Hibiscus Ravenclaw Alumni Association, working hard without complaint for decades.

His wife has passed away, but Moody remains at the club where she dedicated most of her life, and everyone knows it's because of his love for her.

Lockhart opened the box, and two-thirds of its volume was occupied by a large birdcage containing a group of dark blue elves.

— Cornish elves.

His expression turned strange.

Knowing the original story, he was all too aware of the chaos these little elves brought and the enormous damage they caused to his reputation.

But to his surprise, it was Mad-Eye Moody who prepared it for him.

Lockhart, whose past experiences almost define him as a dark wizard, and the old Auror Moody, who hates evil as much as he does.

What an interesting relationship!

Lockhart thought for a moment, then sat down at his desk, took out a gilded quill pen and some fine parchment paper, and began to write a reply to Moody.

First and foremost, I would like to thank them for helping to prepare all of this.

The most important question, however, was about the general scope of the Common Wizarding Level (OWL) exams for fifth-year junior wizards and the New Wizarding Level (NEWT) exams for seventh-year junior wizards.

Both of these important exams are administered by the Wizarding Exams Authority of the Ministry of Magic; perhaps Moody can help find out more.

Out of a sense of responsibility and an awareness of his own abilities, Lockhart felt that the greatest thing he could do for the young wizards of Hogwarts was not to hinder their future.

He has some methods for helping students consolidate their knowledge and practice targeted exercises to improve their exam scores.

"There's actually quite a lot I can do, isn't there?"

At least one thing is certain: apart from those big shots, there are probably not many wizards in this world who are more knowledgeable than him.

Whether it was the original owner's target of the magical world, or his target of the Muggle world as a transmigrator.

After writing his reply, Lockhart continued packing the boxes.

There weren't many things inside, just three items.

Besides a large cage of Cornish elves, the second item was an old-fashioned red cosmetic box, its paint peeling off to reveal the wooden structure inside.

dong dong dong.

Someone tapped on the lid of the makeup box and asked cautiously, "Is anyone outside? Please help me! I'm locked in."

Hermione, who had been curiously observing from the side, widened her eyes and covered her mouth to prevent herself from exclaiming.

"It's Boggart." Lockhart flipped the box over and saw the label on it.

"I've read about this monster in a book. It says it can transform into someone's deepest fear," Hermione said, lowering her voice as if afraid the monster inside would discover her. "But I didn't know it could talk."

Lockhart casually set the box aside and explained to the curious boy, "Boggarts are probably the most common monsters in the wizarding world. Some Boggarts that like to live in wizarding families will mimic human speech, or wander around the house in tattered robes in the middle of the night. If you're brave enough, you can even chat with them to relieve your loneliness at night."

Hermione leaned back. "I don't want to talk to it! How could anyone be so bored as to chat with a monster!"

Yes, I have.

And it's right in front of us.

Lockhart once talked with Boggart all night, not because he found it interesting, but because this big boy who left his family in Muggle society and ventured into the magical world alone, despite making friends from all over the world, was actually very lonely deep down.

All the words I have in my heart, I can only say to the monster, and I only dare to say them to the monster.

Because humans are far more terrifying than monsters.

Hermione didn't think so, especially when Lockhart took out the last item from the box—a small jar with weird, colorful patterns painted on it like a child's doodle. She got goosebumps all over her body, just like a cat with its fur standing on end.

An indescribable fear crept up from the depths of her heart, choking her throat and rising to the back of her throat.

She wanted to scream in terror, but she found that she couldn't make a sound when she opened her mouth.

She wanted to flee in a panic, but her legs felt like wood and wouldn't obey her commands.

"Oh no, the lid isn't on tight!" Lockhart's voice seemed to come from a great distance, the tone fragmented and drawn out.

She seemed to hear the professor running around in a panic, perhaps looking for his wand, because she hadn't seen him holding one before.

Hurry up, please, hurry up.

Hermione was about to cry.

She could feel a furry little hand gripping her trouser leg and climbing up little by little, then another hand, and then yet another.

She didn't know what kind of monster it was, and her heart was almost completely filled with fear. She wanted to resist, but the instinctive fear of humans facing a great threat made her unable to move at all.

She couldn't even tremble.

The monster moved quickly, rummaging through her trouser pockets and wizard robe pockets, then grabbing the robe and climbing upwards, causing her eyes to widen in terror.

Finally, she saw a pair of dark eyes.

It blinked its eyes, and upon closer inspection, one could see many dark gold patterns inside its black pupils, making it look like a pair of beautiful gemstones.

Oh no, she didn't know why she had this illusion—it seemed like the monster was looking into her eyes the same way.

Then two fluffy little hands reached out and cupped her head, and then another fluffy little hand reached up to her cheek, up to her eye socket, and gently tapped it.

boo~

She seemed to hear the sound of a wine bottle being popped.

Then her vision became very strange. The left eyeball, still in its socket, maintained its original field of vision, while the right eyeball's field of vision swayed from side to side with the movement of that little hand.

! ! ! !

The monster ripped out her eyes!

Do not!

Hermione wanted to scream, but she couldn't do anything.

Just as she was about to completely break down, a warm, large hand suddenly reached out in front of her, its palm flat, revealing a pile of buttons made of cat's-eye stones, perhaps just torn off from her clothes, one of which still had some of the clothes' seams still attached to it.

"Hey~" Lockhart's voice came through, "Maybe you'll prefer this. Cat's eye stones are much prettier than eyeballs, aren't they?"

"Gurgle~" The monster's voice was soft and eager.

The hand gestured, "Here, take it, don't be shy, but you have to give her back her eyes, okay?"

The monster seemed to hesitate for a moment, then finally nodded, pinched the eyeballs, and put them back into Hermione's eye sockets.

My vision has returned to normal!

She didn't know how much time had passed, but the fear that filled her heart gradually dissipated. Hermione trembled and looked around sharply. She could see Professor Lockhart pinching the back of the neck of a small, golden, fluffy monkey and stuffing it into a jar.

The little monkey is small; when curled up, it's smaller than a soccer ball and has three tiny arms.

If she hadn't just experienced that terrible attack, she might have seen this and exclaimed how cute it was.

But she doesn't want to get close to the monster at all right now.

pat~

Finally, the monster was completely stuffed inside, and Professor Lockhart tightened the lid.

The fear completely vanished from her heart, and Hermione gasped for breath, panting heavily.

"Sorry, I didn't notice that the lid wasn't closed properly."

Lockhart apologized, ran to the closet to rummage through it, took out a row of chocolates, unwrapped them, and handed them to her. "Eat some of these; they'll help you."

"What is this?" Hermione asked timidly in a low voice, taking small bites of chocolate.

"A three-armed creature, not very common in dark magic. It can fill a human's heart with fear, rendering them immobile so it can easily find its favorite gems. If a human doesn't have any gems, it will steal their eyes as a collection."

Lockhart carefully placed the small jar on the shelf beside him, explaining, "St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries has specialized dark magic biologists who raise these monsters so they can harvest patients' eyeballs or other organs to soak in healing potions. Of course, knowledgeable dark wizards also use them to help create some evil dark magic tools."

Hermione swallowed hard, suddenly gaining a new understanding of the magnificent and dazzling magical world. Besides the wonderful magic, it was also full of countless terrifying and bizarre things.