The slacker professor at Hogwarts

bang~

Inside Hagrid's hut, the middle-aged wizard was roughly thrown to the ground by the young wizards.

His expression remained sinister as he glared at the proud and smug young wizards, his teeth practically grinding to dust with hatred!

Did you defeat me?

Am I the one you captured?

What are you so smug about!

what?

I'm asking you!

Look into my eyes!

George Weasley kicked him, glaring at him angrily. "Killing Curse! Crucifixion! You evil dark wizard, prepare to spend your life in Azkaban!"

The middle-aged wizard just sneered at him.

George was furious; he had just almost lost his brother forever and wanted nothing more than to kill him right then and there.

"George!" Lockhart called out to him. "You and Fred go and look after the students. Heal those who can be healed with anti-curses, and arrange for everyone to send the rest of the students to Mrs. Pomfrey's place."

He's been keeping an eye on them the whole time. Apart from Derian Puse, who was initially cursed with the Crucifixion Curse, the other young wizards are all fine.

But it's obviously not appropriate to have these little wizards huddled together here in such a chaotic way.

Lockhart then looked at Cedric.

The handsome young man looked somewhat guilty; he was clearly aware of the professor's disappointment with his performance and appeared quite dejected.

"Cedric, could you please go and fetch Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall? They need to know about this as soon as possible."

Cedric quickly stood up straight.

"Also..." Lockhart smiled at him, "You did a great job just now. Whether it was your decisiveness in leading everyone to attack the Slytherin party, or your way of directing your classmates to release the Ironclad Charm in battle, it was all excellent."

Cedric became immediately excited, his eyes lit up, and with a slight sob in his voice, he said, "Professor, I...I..."

Professor Lockhart simply smiled and nodded at him.

Honestly, it's already pretty good.

Children need encouragement.

"Go quickly and get Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall here."

Soon, all the little wizards who had crowded Hagrid's hut had left. Lockhart patted Tooth's head and told it to watch the door.

This is the affinity with animals that comes from the Forest Witch's "Forest Darling" state; of course, some help from the wand is needed to do this well.

After doing all this, Lockhart finally looked at the dark wizard.

"You haven't answered my question yet."

The black wizard was stunned for a moment.

Lockhart, seeing this, reminded him, "I just asked, where did you come from?"

The black wizard just sneered and remained silent.

Seeing that he hadn't gotten an answer, Lockhart wasn't in a hurry. He simply sat down leisurely on a chair to the side, looking at him with a smile. "Let me guess."

"Were they arranged for you by the school board?"

This character didn't appear in the original Harry Potter books during his second year, which is strange.

Lockhart had to broaden his thinking and step outside the framework of the original work to consider all the possibilities.

When the Hogwarts Board of Governors' pure-blood families choose a path that contradicts their own and they are powerless to stop the headmaster, they will definitely send some of their own people to the school to keep an eye on things.

If Dumbledore intended to promote his anti-pure-blood approach in the school, influencing generations of young people who would eventually become the backbone of the British wizarding world, and creating a force that would completely bury them, and then they would stupidly support the school with huge sums of resources, wouldn't they be fools who are just suckers?

Wouldn't it be better to cut off the resource supply and provide it all to Durmstrang College, which supports them?

"No, no, that's not right."

Lockhart himself denied this claim, saying, "If the board of trustees wants to place their own people among the faculty, there's no need to pretend to be a student."

"Such a despicable act..."

He had a new guess: "Was it arranged by Fudge?"

It's also possible that the Minister of Magic might seize upon a dark wizard's weakness and get them to do something for him.

As a seasoned politician who lacked ability but was promoted to a high position by Dumbledore, he must have been filled with an indescribable sense of insecurity. It is reasonable for him to have someone keep an eye on the school in order to get more information about Dumbledore, who could affect his entire future.

The middle-aged wizard just sneered.

"Is that wrong again?"

Lockhart chuckled. "It couldn't possibly have been sent by some mysterious figure, could it?"

"Correct answer!" Boggart, who had transformed into a centipede and was coiled around the dark wizard, suddenly shouted. "I sensed a change in his emotions; this is the answer!"

"!!!"

Lockhart was shocked. He stood up in disbelief, staring intently at the figure on the ground. "It really is Voldemort?"

The dark wizard's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He struggled and twisted his body, his face contorted with rage, roaring, "How dare you! How dare you call my master by his name! I'll kill you! Kill you!"

Owner?

Clearly, this is not the Tom Riddle who plotted the famous resurrection in the Horcrux of the diary.

Instead, it was Voldemort, who had been cursed by his own professorship last academic year and failed in a comical way, escaping as a ghost, and was now hiding somewhere.

Lockhart narrowed his eyes, looking at him with an uncertain expression.

He trembled slightly as he stroked the wand in his hand, a crazy urge surging within him to strip the guy in front of him of all his memories and turn him into a complete idiot.

Erase all his memories and let him become an idiot who can't even walk!

However, this doesn't change anything.

Voldemort is eyeing Hogwarts!

With so many young wizards involved in this battle, even if Voldemort were as brain-dead as he is, he would definitely realize the role he played in it.

Got caught!

He's about to be targeted by Voldemort!

He knew he was completely embroiled in this mess!

"Hahahaha..." The dark wizard laughed maniacally, watching his face change color. His laughter was hysterical, accompanied by a peculiar panting sound. He roared viciously, "You're dead! Gilderoy Lockhart! You're dead! The Dark Lord is watching Hogwarts! He'll find out you ruined his plans!"

"He'll kill you! Kill you!"

Lockhart looked up at the sky and sighed helplessly, "Damn it, what did I do to deserve this?!"

It wasn't me who ruined your infiltration plan, it was that idiot Voldemort. He cursed my position, and that's what caused everything, understand?

He was really annoyed and angrily waved his wand at the dark wizard.

laugh!

Laugh at your mother!

"Forget everything, and all is emptiness!"

The black wizard began to tremble violently, his body convulsing involuntarily. A violently shaking silver light appeared on his head, and strands of silver threads were pulled out as if his intestines were being torn apart.

This is the most brutal way to use a high-level forgetting spell.

The extraction method is extremely damaging to the brain, a method that Lockhart, who considers manipulating memories an elegant art, would never use.

Inflicting damage is indeed the best way to vent anger; no wonder those dark wizards love to do it so much.

Lockhart's face lit up with a bright smile. He gently shook his wand, removing the parts of the extracted memories that he didn't need, letting them dissipate into the air.

"Since we're inevitably facing a terrible attack, it's not unreasonable for me to take something from you that can enhance my strength, is it?"

The black wizard was unable to speak. His entire body was burning terribly, and every nerve in his body was emitting intense stimulation signals. He was in so much pain that he almost completely lost consciousness, but because he was so mentally tense, he was unable to trigger his body's self-protection mechanism to faint.

The Crucifixion?

Huh~

The Oblivion Charm can also produce this effect, you know? This is the kind of method that wizards who walk the line between the law would explore!

Lockhart finally managed to manipulate the memories floating in mid-air, extracting all of the other party's knowledge about magic.

This is simply the most perfect memory surgery.

Without damaging most of the other person's life memories and personality, it simply extracts the wisdom in terms of skills.

Just then, a sigh sounded from behind.

Lockhart turned around and saw Dumbledore's tall figure standing in the doorway, looking at him with a deep gaze. "Lockhart, I don't recommend you do this."

"Heh~"

Lockhart chuckled coldly, waving his wand so that the memories in mid-air would curl into a ball and flutter into the pocket of his wizard's robes. Then he looked at him. "Professor Trelawney made a prophecy for me, saying that if I didn't distance myself from all this, Voldemort's curse would target me, and that I would die!"

He sighed in annoyance. "I didn't leave. I did my best to fulfill the duties of a professor. But, Professor Dumbledore, I'm very unhappy. I'm cursed, and I face the threat of death every moment!"

"You have to let me vent!"

Dumbledore stared in astonishment at his suppressed emotions, wanting to say something, but then turned around and saw that Professor McGonagall was already approaching. In the end, he remained silent and pursed his lips.

He knew, knew that Lockhart had stolen the wisdom of so many people in the past, including his old friend.

But so what?

For the greater good, some things can be sacrificed.

For example, Severus Snape, the Death Eater leader who harmed so many wizards during the war, was also protected by him.

He doesn't actually have that high moral standards.

If Snape can do it, Lockhart can too.

Lockhart didn't really have much of a choice; everything anyone does leaves a trace. An international Auror organization was already investigating wizards losing their memories, but Lockhart used his influence to suppress it—finding a suitable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was incredibly difficult.

Perhaps Professor Kettleburn's suggestion is good; having Lockhart occasionally fill in for a year would greatly reduce his workload as principal.

Ultimately, Lockhart's attitude towards teaching, his dedication to the young wizards, his academic rigor, and the improvements he brought to Hogwarts' teaching in the field of Defense Against the Dark Arts completely impressed him.

People are inherently selfish.

Hogwarts is his home. He is first and foremost a headmaster, then the chief of the International Confederation of Wizards, and finally the chief of the Wizengamot Inquisition of the British Ministry of Magic.

Moreover...

Dark wizards don't necessarily have to do evil.

Environment and choices really matter.

And now he can offer that choice.

He believed that Lockhart, if he stayed at Hogwarts, would end up becoming a respected and good professor, just like Snape did at Hogwarts, helping and influencing many people's lives, and playing a beneficial role, rather than becoming a dark wizard who caused a lot of trouble for society.

Professor McGonagall's hurried arrival broke the brief silence in the cabin.

She looked down at the dark wizard and exclaimed, "Amicus Kalo?"

Amycus Caro, one of the earliest Death Eaters to follow Voldemort.

During the First Wizarding War, Amycus escaped capture and was not imprisoned in Azkaban, disappearing without a trace.

Professor McGonagall felt a lingering fear. This powerful dark wizard, whom she had fought many times before, had actually infiltrated the school and attacked so many students. It was truly fortunate that no one was hurt.

Lockhart, standing to the side, raised an eyebrow; he knew this guy.

After Voldemort's return in the future, this guy became the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, forcing Neville to cast torture spells on his classmates, spitting in Professor McGonagall's face, and even participating in one of the murders that led to Dumbledore's death.