The slacker professor at Hogwarts

It was another day of overcast skies and rain, with the sky hanging low and the drizzle never ceasing.

Lockhart unusually didn't spend time with the young wizards today, giving them all a day off because he had a scheduled interview with Rita Skeeter, a reporter for the Daily Prophet. (Chapter 033)

Having topped the bestseller list for six consecutive years, this is the perfect opportunity to boost one's personal brand.

In fact, the timing has been somewhat delayed, but now that Dumbledore has tightened his control over Hogwarts, Rita wrote seven earnest letters to Dumbledore to get this opportunity.

"Oh, my dear junior, you're really unfair this time! If I can't get in, couldn't you have gone somewhere else to do the interview? Like Hogsmeade Village?"

Rita started complaining as soon as she opened the door.

She was a middle-aged witch in her forties, dressed in a smart and practical dark blue bodycon dress. As she spoke, she casually tossed her small handbag and a crumpled newspaper onto the table and began to fix her long, wavy blonde hair in front of the full-length mirror in the office.

Lockhart shrugged, stepped out from behind his desk, and sat down on a nearby tree stump.

This place was originally a big tree, but it was accidentally destroyed by Goyle in the Duel Club with a spell. Malfoy and his underlings tried to save it but ended up killing it. Cedric, a fourth-year student, couldn't stand it and used magic to turn it into a tree stump tea table, which is perfect for brewing tea and serving as a corner for resting.

At this point, the black tea has lost some of its harshness, making it perfect for tasting.

He poured a glass for Rita and himself, took a sip, and didn't seem to care much about her complaints. "You know, the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was cursed by a mysterious person, so I have to be careful and can't just wander around."

"This is something worth paying attention to!" Rita's eyes lit up. She pushed up her jeweled glasses, grabbed her small handbag, and reached for her notebook.

"Dumbledore obviously doesn't like people talking about this, you know, it causes him trouble recruiting professors every year," Lockhart reminded him with a smile.

"Oh!" Rita rolled her eyes, threw her handbag back on the table, and then curiously looked through the manuscript papers on the table.

Besides being a journalist, she is also a writer. Although she doesn't particularly like Lockhart's writing style, she does have a certain ability to judge the quality of manuscripts.

Yes, her own creative direction...

Rita's most remarkable achievement in the original books was compiling biographies of three headmasters of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and yet she still survived!

Armando Dippet: Master or Idiot?

The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore

Severus Snape: Villain or Saint?

In addition, she wrote a biography of Harry Potter, Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side of Veterans, and Newt Scamander.

She seems to have an innate ability to know who she can mess with and who she can't.

After reading her article, Dumbledore merely remarked that it was "irritatingly charming," and Newt, after she wrote that fabricated biography of herself, only clarified some of Rita's statements in the latest edition of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

Emmm...

Lockhart's assessment of this was that the remnants of Ravenclaw each had their own way of courting disaster.

At a previous Ravenclaw reunion, the students joked with each other that they were unlikely to be sent to Azkaban, but more likely to be killed in some dark corner by a wizard seeking revenge for their heinous acts.

Gilderoy Lockhart is.

Mundungus Fletcher was also one. (Chapter 17, Order of the Phoenix member, thief and treasure merchant)

Rita Skeeter is the same kind of person.

She has always been adept at distorting the facts and presenting newspaper readers with the news they most want to hear.

She reports whatever readers want to read, even if the content is fabricated, and even if readers sometimes know that this information may be fabricated.

But people just love watching it.

Her favorite thing to do is to use celebrities as pawns. Sometimes, in order to get first-hand information, she will even use Animagus to transform into a beetle to sneak in and eavesdrop, or use Truth Potion, which is strictly prohibited by the Ministry of Magic, to influence some people of status to reveal some secrets.

He's a terrible person, but if used properly, he can be very useful.

Rita is the kind of journalist who can easily salvage the sales of The Quibbler magazine with just a casual report.

"Merlin's cow-print underwear!" Rita exclaimed, her eyes fixed on a piece of paper in her hand. "What did I just see?!?"

The manuscript paper didn't contain much content, just the book title and author list. It was almost a scream: "Harry Potter? The Savior Harry Potter?!?!"

Lockhart quietly ushered the disturbed dark magic creatures back to their huts, gesturing for Rita to calm down and sit down for tea.

Rita was so excited that the teacup in her hand wobbled, spilling some tea and wetting her clothes, but she just stared wide-eyed at Lockhart, chattering on and on, "Giddon, you don't know, I've wanted to interview Harry Potter for a long time!"

"Back then, he was just a child living on Privet Road. He seemed to be having a very difficult time. He wore ill-fitting old clothes, and his hair looked like it had been chewed by a dog. He was bullied by his cousin and other thugs."

She rolled her eyes. "The Savior had a miserable childhood, which would make many people cry. I had to let everyone know this. But Dumbledore found me and warned me sternly that if I dared to disturb Harry Potter's life because of this, I would suffer terrible consequences."

Ok.

She knew that not every wizard had the same good taste in clothing as her and Lockhart. Most wizards didn't know how Muggles should dress normally, and many wizards who came to visit Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

She interviewed some wizards at the time, and some even thought Harry's clothes were cool.

Lockhart smiled slightly, raised his teacup in acknowledgment, took a sip, and said, "Obviously you did as I said. I'm glad you're still alive."

"Hey~" Rita pouted unhappily, "This is simply against the basic principles of a journalist. A savior shouldn't live like this. It breaks my heart."

"Come on," Lockhart said, too lazy to argue with her about that, and steered the conversation back to the book. "What do you think of this book?"

"very good!"

"Yes, nothing could be more perfect!"

Rita didn't care about the contents of the book; she just stared intently at the list in her hand, turning it over and over again.

"Malfoy...Parkinson...Weasley...Longbottom..."

She knew the value of this list, and after glancing up at Lockhart, she felt even more that this junior's importance had increased significantly.

Being a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry gives you that opportunity to build relationships with the successors of various families.

As expected, Lockhart immediately set his sights on these people upon arriving, and he was also very capable of leveraging his strengths to elevate the relationship to a higher level through publishing a book.

Her fingers, painted with red nail polish, slid across the list, finally stopping at Hermione Granger. She looked at Lockhart with some eagerness. "Granger, is she a descendant of Hector Dagworth Granger?"

Lockhart paused, then asked, "Who?"

"Mr. Granger, the founder of the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association, is mentioned in the Tales of Beedle the Bard," Rita said urgently.

Lockhart shook his head. "Probably not. Miss Granger comes from a Muggle family."

"Oh, I see." Rita was momentarily disappointed, but her eyes darted around as she looked at the list. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Hey, Gilderoy, I noticed that she's the only wizard on this list who comes from a Muggle family!"

Lockhart wasn't sure what Rita was trying to say. Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused. "Yes, what's wrong?"

"I think you could start your new book's promotion by focusing on her!" Rita's face was flushed with a kind of feverish excitement. "How's she usually? I mean, academically? Is she also one of us in Ravenclaw?"

Lockhart shrugged. "No, she's from Gryffindor. An exceptionally bright student, a genius that even Ravenclaws envy. She has immense talent in all areas of magic. Rita is a rare all-rounder, not someone who can be defined solely by her school affiliation."

Rita blinked, let out a silent "wow," and then a smile suddenly appeared on her face. "What do you think of this? Using her as a selling point—yes, Muggle-born, yet she overshadows a whole host of pure-blood children, even making Harry Potter pale in comparison..."

She even stood up excitedly and paced around the office. "Giddro, I don't know if you've been keeping up with what's happening in society since you started teaching at Hogwarts. Lately, Dumbledore brought a Death Eater to Wizengamot for trial, and everyone's been talking about pure-bloods and Muggles..."

"And this too!"

She pulled the Daily Prophet, which she had just brought, from the table and gestured for Lockhart to look at the front page headline—Gringotts has been robbed again! Insiders claim Dumbledore was present at the scene!

The photo in the center of the report is blurry and appears to be a candid shot.

Gringotts...

Another theft? Oh, the last theft was last year when Dumbledore put Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone in Gringotts, which attracted Voldemort's attention.

As for this time, if Lockhart is not mistaken, it is probably one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, Hufflepuff's Cup!

Old Voldemort entrusted it to his most trusted subordinate, Bella, for safekeeping. Bella then placed it in Gringotts Vault, which was known as the safest place in the world.

He listened intently as Rita excitedly shouted in his ear, "You don't know? Apparently, another Death Eater who escaped arrest more than a decade ago has been captured!"

"This is the most intense moment of the struggle between the pro-Muggle faction and the pure-blood supremacist faction..."

"Haha, no one dares to say anything. Many people in positions of power are keeping quiet, which is the best time for us to promote ourselves."

"Hermione Granger, the Muggle wizard among the pure-bloods, will rise to prominence, becoming the most dazzling star, igniting all the media frenzy, and becoming the focus of everything. Your new book will therefore become a bestseller!"

She turned to look at Lockhart, her eyes bulging with excitement, her voice sharp, "What do you think?"

"great!"

Lockhart gave a thumbs up, "I'll write 'Your great public opinion campaign' on your epitaph after you're buried by an angry Dumbledore!"

"!!!"

Rita felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, leaving her feeling chilled to the bone.

She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't say anything at all.

Rita had a good relationship with the Malfoy and Parkinson families, and was even planning how to make them bleed after she stirred up public opinion. But she suddenly realized that she didn't have the power to get involved.

Not only her, but probably none of the Malfoy family members would dare to offend Dumbledore from this angle.

too painful.

She sighed with regret, folded the manuscript and put it in her handbag, saying somewhat helplessly, "Then we can only warm up the book from the most conventional angle. Don't worry, apart from Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, I will ask the family heads or parents of the other people on the list to do personal interviews for them. I believe they will be happy to help the book sell well."

I knew you were going to do this.

Lockhart smiled and pulled a manuscript from a nearby bookshelf. "This is an interview transcript of Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry Potter's professor, internationally renowned author, and magic master, on his favorite student, Harry Potter. I think you need this."

"!!!" Rita was stunned. This is my job!

Today's interview was just a formality; she had already written the article before the interview was scheduled, and she was just here today to see if there was any news.

She stared at him blankly for a moment, then whistled, "As expected of you, Gilderoy Lockhart!"

What she really meant was that the old Gilderoy wasn't nearly as good as he was.

Being a professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry really makes a difference.

The two then had a pleasant conversation. They both knew what information the other wanted to know and were mindful of their own boundaries.

only……

This seemingly mundane and leisurely chat between old classmates ended with a terrified scream.

Lockhart turned his head with a surprised expression toward the direction outside the office door, where a lot of noise from young wizards could be heard, as if something had happened.

Rita jumped up with a start, her eyes shining, and the quill pen and notebook in her handbag floated out, like a cat that had smelled fish.

"What happened?"