I've already become a Hogwarts professor, and the system only just appeared.

Lockhart took out his magic phone, skillfully opened the friend add page, and forcibly added Su Yu as a friend despite Su Yu's reluctance.

Before leaving, Lockhart said to Su Yu, "Su, to be honest, I think among the Ravenclaw graduates, only your talent and appearance can compare with mine."

"I have an idea. Now that I've become a professor at Hogwarts this year, why don't we form a group? How about we call it: Eagle's Nest Beauty!"

"What a perfect title! Let's go with it. I'll go design a set of badges for us right now, just for the two of us. It's fantastic!"

As he spoke, Gilderoy Lockhart walked away on his own, completely unaware of Su Yu's angry words behind him: "I refuse!"

Chapter 85 Opening Ceremony (Edited at the end of the previous chapter)

Watching Gilderoy Lockhart walk away, Su Yu suddenly understood how Snape felt when he was asked to talk about the Snake and Hawk duo. It was truly unbearable.

Shaking his head, Su Yu decided to put Lockhart's matter aside and went to Snape's office. Although it wasn't his first time there, the decor of Snape's office was still so unacceptable:

"Snape, why do you have to make your office so gloomy? You're not a dark wizard."

"If you have something to say, then say it. If not, then get out of here." Snape didn't give Su Yu a friendly look and continued, "I need to finish processing these materials quickly. I have to attend the opening ceremony tonight."

"How's the research on the medicine we got from the Jumping Pot going?" Su Yu asked curiously.

This time Snape was much more serious. He raised his head and said, "I can only say that it's fortunate we didn't drink those potions. There's something in those potions that can corrode the soul, which is very troublesome."

"Corroding the soul? How troublesome is that?" Hearing that it was related to the soul, Su Yu immediately became interested.

“That’s right. I haven’t figured out how this thing was extracted and refined yet, nor have I figured out how to control it. Pure magic can suppress it, but it can’t completely stop or eradicate it. I tried with Dumbledore, but it still didn’t work!”

Snape's gaze grew increasingly serious, while Su Yu grew increasingly excited. If Dumbledore couldn't stop or eradicate it, then Voldemort would most likely be unable to do so either.

Moreover, Voldemort's soul is still fragmented, so this potion should be even more effective against his soul. Su Yu said, "Snape, you must know Voldemort's current state. I think you must invest more effort in the research and development of this potion."

“You don’t need to tell me!” Snape continued to busy himself with his own things.

"By the way, do you still have contact with those Death Eaters who weren't imprisoned in Azkaban?" Su Yu finally got to the point.

Snape looked up and stared coldly at Su Yu: "What do you mean?"

Su Yu quickly waved his hand: "Don't be so sensitive. I got some news that someone went to Lucius Malfoy and asked him..."

Su Yu recounted the general course of events, and Snape immediately realized the problem, saying, "Apart from Lucius Malfoy, I haven't contacted any other Death Eaters."

"In fact, Death Eaters don't completely reveal their identities at gatherings. If you want to hide it, you can wear a mask all the time. As far as I know, the only Death Eaters who haven't entered Azkaban are Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle."

"If that man in black was sent by Voldemort, it certainly wasn't Crabbe or Goyle. Those two are quite strong in combat, but their brains are no different from their sons'. That man would never assign them this kind of mission."

Good heavens, so Crabbe and Goyle are Voldemort's two trusted lieutenants. I wonder how these two families managed to get into the Twenty-Eight Pureblood Saints.

"How much do you know about the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin?" Since the Death Eaters didn't have much information, Su Yu decided to start with the Chamber itself.

In fact, Su Yu had already checked the girls' restroom where Myrtle was using the Marauder's Map several times over the past month, but he found nothing.

Then, on a whim, he went to the Room of Requirement and asked for a room that would lead to the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, but this time the Room of Requirement did not respond to him.

It's worth mentioning that Su Yu also took a peek at the Ravenclaw tiara in the Room of Requirement.

After just one glance, Su Yu had an idea: to take it and use it as research material.

This sudden thought startled Su Yu. He didn't take the crown, or even look at it again, and left directly.

After returning, Su Yu pondered for a long time. Based on his experience as an alchemist, the notebook was Voldemort's first Horcrux, and its crafting techniques and secrecy methods were definitely the worst, making it more suitable as a research subject.

As for Ravenclaw's crown, Su Yu seemed to recall that it was quickly burned by Fiendfire after he discovered it, and Su Yu had no idea what dangerous curses or dark magic were hidden inside.

However, based on his reaction when he saw the crown, it's not hard to guess that it's something that can bewitch people and influence their thinking. Since he's going to use it for research, a notebook is naturally the most suitable option.

At this point, Snape said, "That's just a legend. No one has ever opened the so-called Chamber of Secrets. Even if they had, I don't think Slytherin would have left any terrible monsters in his Chamber of Secrets."

Su Yu shook his head inwardly. It seemed that Snape didn't know much either. However, his words reminded Su Yu that Voldemort had once opened that secret chamber and had two victims.

You won't get anything out of Myrtle, but Hagrid might know something. Looking at the time, it's too late. Let's wait until after the opening ceremony.

After Snape finished his work, the two of them went to the Great Hall of Hogwarts. All the students except the first-year students had arrived, and the professors' seats were almost full.

According to the original plot, Harry and Ron should be getting a good beating from the Whomping Willow right now, but with Su Yu's help, the two little ones are sitting at the Gryffindor long table, chattering away with Hermione.

Gilderoy Lockhart saw Su Yu and Snape and immediately waved excitedly, saying, "Su, and Snape too, come over here and sit with me!"

Su Yu looked in Lockhart's direction. There was an empty seat on each side of him, so he obviously wanted to sit between Su Yu and Snape.

No, I absolutely can't sit with this guy. Su Yu's eyes quickly scanned the entire room, and he took the lead, sitting down in a separate empty seat next to Professor Flitwick.

As a result, only the two seats next to Lockhart remained. Snape glared at Su Yu, then sat down next to Lockhart expressionlessly, ignoring Lockhart's rambling boasts about his adventures over the past few years.

Not long after, Su Yu's phone rang. It was a message from Snape: "You bastard!"

At this moment, Dumbledore entered the Great Hall and took his seat as Headmaster. He waved to Professor McGonagall, who was standing by the side door, signaling the start of the opening ceremony.

Similar to last year's process, Professor McGonagall first led the first-year wizards in the Sorting Ceremony, where Su Yu saw Luna, Ginny, and Colin, who loved taking pictures.

After sorting the houses, Dumbledore stood up and said to the young wizards, "It's a new year, and we welcome new classmates. I believe you will fill your heads with magical knowledge this year."

"Of course, we also have a new teacher. Let's welcome this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart!"

Lockhart rose to his feet amidst thunderous applause from the young wizards, maintaining his signature smile. However, his remarks nearly caused Su Yu to die on the spot.

Chapter 86 Opening Ceremony (Part 2)

"Hello everyone, I think many of you here know me. My name is Gilderoy Lockhart."

"That's right, I'm a bestselling author. I have many books, such as 'Breaking Up with the Female Ghost,' 'Traveling with Ghouls,' and 'Vacationing with a She-Devil,' among others."

"But some students will definitely ask, what makes a writer qualified to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? My answer is, because my books are all based on my own personal experiences."

"In addition to being a writer, I also hold the Order of Merlin, Third Class, an honorary member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, and have won the Most Charming Smile Award from Wizarding Weekly five times."

"But I won't spend all my time talking about these honors. I will only prove myself with my own abilities, and I will become one of the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professors in your history!"

Gilderoy Lockhart's speech was very persuasive, especially to the young witches. Some of them almost fainted when they saw Lockhart's charming smile.

If Lockhart's speech had ended there, Su Yu would have at most pursed his lips and muttered a few complaints to himself. But Lockhart's next words directly caused Su Yu's social death.

"As you all probably know, I come from Ravenclaw House. As far as I know, there is another genius at Hogwarts Castle who is just as handsome as me, also from Ravenclaw, and who once taught Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

"You're not talking about me, are you?" Hearing this, Su Yu looked at Lockhart warily, while Lockhart gave him a reassuring look.

Beside Lockhart, Snape stood leisurely, a mocking expression on his face. From the upturned corners of his mouth, it was easy to tell that he was thinking: Kid, you got what you deserved for abandoning me earlier!

The next moment, Lockhart pointed at Su Yu: "That's right, he is the inventor of the magic phone, the reformer of wizarding life, and also my good friend from my student days, Professor Su Yu!"

The young wizards held Su Yu in high regard, and when they heard that Lockhart and Su Yu had been friends since their school days, they cheered and gave him even more enthusiastic applause than before.

Lockhart was very satisfied with the young wizard's performance. He stood up, walked behind Su Yu, and continued:

"In fact, during my school years, Professor Su Yu and I were a duo, and we had a very catchy duo name: Eagle's Nest Shadows."

"Now that I've taken on the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, I've decided to establish a dueling club in the name of Eagle's Nest, where we'll hold a dueling tournament every week so that everyone can truly improve their combat skills!"

Upon hearing this, the young wizards were overjoyed, and Lockhart received the loudest applause since the ceremony began.

Many young wizards with magic phones also captured Gilderoy Lockhart and Su Yu's historic moment together in a photograph, to record this beautiful instant.

Faced with so many students, Su Yu was so embarrassed he could dig a three-bedroom apartment out of his toes, but he still maintained a smile. Even Professor Flitwick leaned over and asked:

"You already had such a title back then? I've never even heard of it!"

“No…” Su Yu was about to speak when Lockhart interrupted, “That’s right, Professor Flitwick. We don’t often use such empty titles, but we do have our own combination badges!”

As he spoke, Lockhart pulled out two aged badges from somewhere. The badges were shaped like eagles with outstretched wings, protecting the two flamboyant boys. They really did have a bit of the Pretty Shadow vibe...

Su Yu no longer wanted to argue. No, the Voldemort Horcrux matter could be put aside for now. He had to find evidence of Lockhart's crimes and nail him to the pillar of historical shame.

The rest of the ceremony proceeded without any major incidents. Dumbledore delivered a rather unoriginal speech, and everyone then proceeded to the much-anticipated school song segment.

I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking. It was such a serious matter as a school song, but he didn't set a fixed tune and let everyone improvise. As a result, the whole auditorium was a mess, as if we had returned to a vegetable market in China.

Once everything was over, Lockhart came to Su Yu's side and said, as if to take credit, "Su, how does it feel to be the center of attention? If you want, I'm always willing to be your supporting role."

“Excellent!” Su Yu said through gritted teeth.

Lockhart failed to realize that people always judge others' needs based on their own likes and dislikes.

Lockhart was the same; he liked to be in the spotlight and assumed Su Yu did too, viewing his actions as helping Su Yu. Seeing that Su Yu seemed to be doing him a favor, he finally revealed his true colors:

"Su, it's like this, I heard that you are the behind-the-scenes boss of Toutiao. Do you think it's possible for Toutiao to do an exclusive interview with me, the kind that's on the front page?"

"Sure, of course. Since you have a need, I'll definitely fulfill it. But I'm afraid it's not possible right now. You'll have to wait a while," Su Yu said with a forced smile.

"No problem, thank you very much! I suddenly had some inspiration, and I think my next book should be 'Lockhart Teaches You How to Use a Magic Phone'."

Lockhart was overjoyed and even offered Su Yu a lucrative deal. Little did he know that Su Yu was already pondering what the news of Lockhart's image collapse could bring to Toutiao.

After Lockhart left, Snape came again. Su Yu knew that this guy was definitely coming to humiliate him. He had already rehearsed it a hundred times in his mind and made countless predictions about what Snape would say in a mocking way.

Su Yu originally thought he would never break through his defenses, but who knew that after Snape came over, I didn't say anything, but just raised my fist and said with a half-smile, "The Snake and the Hawk!"

Ah... Su Yu was dumbfounded on the spot. It would have been better to just mock him verbally. Who would have thought that Snape, that big-eyed guy with thick eyebrows, would also play the trick of using the other's methods against him.

But this was their agreement, so Su Yu had no choice but to raise his fist and say the second half of the sentence: "Victory is assured..."

Snape finally laughed, a hearty laugh. He hadn't laughed so happily since Lily's death, though his hoarse voice would surely keep many young wizards awake at night.

Watching Snape's dashing departure, he shook his head helplessly. Oh well, as long as it makes his brother happy, it's nothing to suffer a little.

Composing himself, he strode toward Hagrid, who was about to leave, and said, "Hagrid, wait a moment, I have something I want to ask you."

Chapter 87 Secret Words (Part 1)

At Hagrid's hut, Su Yu recounted Dobby's situation to the Hogwarts game field keeper. Hagrid looked very worried and said, "My God, that's terrible."

Su Yu said, "Yes, it's terrible, so I need to learn something about the secret room from you."

"A secret... a secret room, what secret room... I don't know," Hagrid denied instinctively.

“Don’t deny it, Hagrid. I know you were a victim of that incident, and your wand was broken because of it, wasn’t it?” Su Yu glanced at the umbrella in the corner.

Hagrid sighed and admitted, "Okay, okay, I do know a little, but not much. I was in third grade at the time, and I had a pet, an eight-eyed giant spider named Aragog."

“Aragog is very well-behaved. I usually keep it in my dormitory and let it sneak out to hunt in the forbidden forest at night.”

"That year, the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin was opened, and several monster attacks occurred. Several students were attacked and petrified, and finally, a girl died. She is the one who is now crying in the school, Moaning Myrtle."

“These things originally had nothing to do with me, and I didn’t know who that person’s Slytherin successor was.”