The slacker professor at Hogwarts

With my backpack on, the seagulls are already calling out.

Mom, I'm about to embark on my journey and set sail!

I will fight monsters in the dangerous sea, and I will set foot on a new continent full of flowers~

I will fight on, covered in wounds, and fearlessly forge ahead.

My dearest mother~

Please believe me, I will return with a full load, placing the most beautiful laurel wreath in the world on your head!

Because that glory belongs solely to you~

Instead of...

It's not mine!

……

Lockhart grew up surrounded by praise from others. His mother told him how special he was, which fostered a level of confidence and pride that most people could hardly imagine.

Such pride even made him indifferent to jewelry and money left behind by others on the ground.

It wasn't because of high moral character, but because of pride.

Pride wouldn't allow him to do that.

However, he eventually became a thief, the most despicable thief.

All for the sake of perpetuating their own pride.

How pathetic and ridiculous this is.

Lockhart was not happy, even though he had won The Witcher Weekly's Most Charming Smile award multiple times.

He once used his network of contacts to get in touch with a forest witch known as "the most wary witch in the Magical Congress of the United States," who lived a simple life in Manhattan.

The witch, with her gray hair, had lived in Muggle and human society for countless years, yet her face still bore the neuroticism characteristic of a true wizard. She spoke to him mysteriously, "Child, if you cannot find joy in magic, you may completely lose yourself."

How ridiculous! If you can't be happy, you can't have a self?

Lockhart inwardly sneered at the time, but for some reason, those words would always suddenly come to mind in the middle of the night.

People have to keep living, so he has to try to comfort himself and reconcile with his pride.

He did it.

He is no longer in pain.

He began to indulge in the praise of others and began to frantically pursue every possible laurel, because he knew that there was no turning back.

All the dark things he had done in the past seemed to have transformed into a terrifying beast, constantly chasing after him and devouring everything in its path. If he stopped even for a moment, he would be doomed.

Enjoy everything, so that he will be happy even before the possible destruction that comes.

The forest witch was right; he had to go find happiness.

He truly found joy in magic. The unprecedented sense of accomplishment and pleasure filled his soul after so easily taking the memories of a powerful and fearsome wizard.

Then he heard another version of the story from an old wizard.

A master of defense against dark magic.

That old wizard supposedly knew Dumbledore, and they had some kind of acquaintance before.

During the interview, the old wizard said that using black magic does not make one a black wizard, nor does not using black magic mean one is not a black wizard.

He said that when a wizard falls into darkness, the most obvious sign is that he will be able to steal magical power, and will also be gradually devoured by magic.

Just as the oldest legends tell, the wizards traded power for demons, but had their souls taken away.

Not every wizard can become a ghost or enter the world of the dead. The souls of fallen dark wizards are devoured by magic, leaving not even ashes.

Lockhart immediately lost his composure. In fact, he even kicked over the small tea table between the two of them, frantically drew his wand, and frantically cast the Oblivion Charm while the other party looked on in astonishment.

He thought the other person had figured something out and was subtly criticizing him.

It turned out that after exploring the other party's memories, they discovered that what the old wizard actually wanted to say was—if you resist such a curse, the power of magic will be completely integrated into your soul and even your bloodline. This may be the origin of pure-blood wizards.

That's an interesting point. Just think that every member of Dumbledore's family is accompanied by a powerful phoenix, and that every member of the Slytherin bloodline is a Parseltongue who can easily obtain the help of snakes.

What if his Oblivion Curse also became a bloodline power, passed down from generation to generation...

This would probably be the greatest honor a mother could ever desire—she would be the mother of the first Lockhart of the Pureblood family.

hiss~

Just thinking about it makes me excited; it's such a wonderful future!

Lockhart, who had begun to grow greedy, had no reason to stop.

He wants to become a member of a top wizarding family!

Even if it might be the old wizard's baseless delusion, he chose to believe it!

He frantically stole memories, frantically published books to gain more honors, began to make contact with high society, and even joined the massive Anti-Dark Magic League, where he was even awarded the title of honorary member.

Going one step further!

He was unwilling to stop, so he won another laurel wreath—the Order of Merlin, Third Class!

They successfully infiltrated the Order of Merlin, the oldest organization in the wizarding world.

What else?

He craves more honors.

Then Dumbledore approached him, hoping to hire him as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, to become the teacher of the savior Harry Potter.

Yes, no matter how powerful the Anti-Dark Magic League is, or how ancient the Order of Merlin is, in this day and age, magic schools are the core organizations of this wizarding era.

He agreed.

But what followed was like a nightmare; he seemed to be cursed, and all the glory he had gained in the past seemed to be crumbling.

No, it wasn't just him who was cursed; the entire school seemed to be cursed as well.

The locked room was opened, and students kept getting into trouble, sparking heated discussions in society.

Then Rupert Hagrid was taken away by the Ministry of Magic for investigation, Dumbledore was dismissed by the Board of Governors, and the entire school faced the terrible fate of being closed.

then……

Almost all the professors agreed that they hoped he was as powerful as he boasted and could face the Chamber of Secrets monster alone, a problem that even Dumbledore couldn't understand.

Just kidding, he's not stupid.

Run away!

We're running away right now!

Unfortunately, the savior "caught" him and forced him to face the monster together.

Okay, let's face it then. After all, he got pointed at by Harry Potter's wand.

They found the legendary secret chamber without any trouble.

There was nowhere to escape, nowhere to avoid.

There was no way back.

So...

It's time to prove myself!

I already possess so much wisdom, I should be incredibly powerful!

Lockhart stood smartly in front of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, confidently waving his wand at the enormous snake-like shadow that snaked out from the shadows.

For my glory, for everything!

"Disappearing like smoke and clouds, ascending to heaven!"

This magic is very effective!

Even such a powerful basilisk was thrown into the air and crashed into the ceiling of the secret chamber, causing the entire chamber to vibrate.

However, he seemed to have completely enraged the monster.

The snake-like shadow opened its massive jaws and lunged at him.

He opened his eyes wide in terror, listening to the little wizard's exclamation and seeing the basilisk's huge green vertical pupils.

then……

He felt his whole body turn icy cold, a bone-chilling cold creeping out from between his bones, and he felt his body stiffening.

Bang!

He heard the sound of his body hitting the ground. He looked back at his corpse in disbelief, then looked down at his pale, translucent hands.

"I……"

"Am I dead?"

He felt as if the whole world had gone dark, and everything around him seemed to be fading away, leaving only his cold, ghostly body that seemed to never warm up, and his own corpse on the ground.

He suddenly realized a truth—when your virtue is not worthy of the glory you have gained, everything will only bring disaster!

original……

Everything he possessed, everything he stole that didn't originally belong to him, he never truly owned.

Everything seemed as illusory as a fleeting dream.

"No, you're wrong!"

The corpse suddenly opened its mouth and spoke.

He stood up and quickly transformed into his likeness, giving him the most standard, radiant smile. "I merely used a bit of your memories to evolve within the fairy tale book, completely immersing myself in your life, and dying once in your identity."

The corpse waved its wand at him, and strands of silver threads drifted out.

Lockhart knew what was going on. He was all too familiar with what was happening before him. This was the scene where he stole other people's memories, and now, he was the one having his memories stolen.

What an irony!

Lockhart quickly stopped thinking.

Because his memories were completely stripped away.

It was as if he had never existed, as if he had always existed in a state of "defying common sense." After his memories were extracted, he discovered that he had never existed, and thus completely vanished from this world.

"Just one more step..."

The "corpse" forced the memories back into its mind, rubbing the wand in its hand with some struggle.

Voldemort's self-curse essentially contained a dual force—his curse on the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and his curse of killing because he knew the other's secret.

The confusion from the previous one has clearly been completed.

The confusion of the latter also requires a process of separation.

That is to extract the part of your memory about Voldemort's Horcruxes from your mind.

—Thus complete: Lockhart, who knew Voldemort's secret, is dead.

"Damn it!"

"Voldemort! This feud is now set in stone! You just wait!"

Lockhart grimaced unhappily, took a crystal from his pocket, pressed his wand against his temple to extract the memory, and then put it into the crystal ball.

Then he gazed at the crystal ball with a deep, lingering look for a long, long time.

Tom!

Do you think this will shut me up completely?

Do not!

We'll see!

Let me compete with you and see who is the master of memory!

Finally, he waved his wand, "Disappear and ascend to heaven!"

bang~

The crystal ball struck the ceiling of the sealed room at an extremely high speed, shattering into countless sparkling fragments that drifted away like smoke.

……

Night had fallen at the Carlo family's ancestral home, and the hall was once again plunged into darkness.

Dumbledore was consumed by deep remorse, his mind replaying Lockhart's words to him.

"Professor Trelawney prophesied for me, saying that if I didn't distance myself from all this, Voldemort's curse would target me, and that I would die!"

Many people do not believe Trelawney's prophecies, but he has experienced their power firsthand.

Yes, I'm sure Tom felt the same way.

He stood motionless in the darkness, gazing at the fairy tale book on the ground, which radiated a hazy glow, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Maybe……

Is there still hope?

Finally, after an unknown amount of time, the fairy tale book burst into light, as if the gate to the final level of the fairy tale had been opened, and a passage filled with white light stretched from the pages to the front.

Lockhart's figure gradually changed from the tiny size of the illustrations in the book to the size of a normal person.

The only problem is—he floated out.

The pale, translucent body was so glaring.

"!!!" Dumbledore pursed his lips, a hint of tears glistening in his aged eyes, gripping the Elder Wand tightly with both hands, his heart filled with rage towards Tom.

If Tom dared to show himself in front of him now, he really wouldn't mind casting a killing spell on him!

However, at that moment, the Lockhart ghost floated in front of him, flickered rapidly, and the translucent pale color in its body surged quickly, becoming intense.

Yes, it was a very special kind of intensity, an intensity full of life.

It began to burst forth with the vibrant colors of life.

And so, in his presence, everything became completely real.

It's vivid and realistic, with clear and compelling emotions.

This isn't a ghost, it's clearly a human!

"Lockhart?" Dumbledore looked at him in disbelief.

"Hehe~ Done!" Lockhart grinned, flashing him his signature perfect smile. "This was no problem for me!"