met free Chapter 97 Lockhart's Lesson
Chapter 97 Lockhart's Lesson
Chapter 98 Lockhart's Lesson
Over the next few days, Celen practically treated the library as a second common room. Every day after class, he would sit at the long oak table in the library and stay until curfew.
He used to borrow books to read in his dorm, but later Hermione told him that there was no limit to the number of books he could borrow in the library, and he could borrow as many as he wanted as long as there was enough space on his desk.
"That's what I do," she said. "I borrow ten books at a time, and then choose two of my favorites to read slowly."
Then Siren started going to the library more often, and Hermione would sometimes go with him. Ron, like Harry, only came when he was doing his homework.
However, Harry has been coming to the library more often in the past few days, because it is one of the few safe zones where he won't "bump into" Lockhart.
Harry had to admit that he quite enjoyed Defense Against the Dark Arts class, especially the first lesson, in which Lockhart made a very good impression on him.
However, Lockhart's exaggerated self-aggrandizement and affectation in his daily life caused this good impression to plummet.
And for some reason, Lockhart always liked to cause trouble for Harry, and he would always say strange things in front of a lot of people, making Harry feel ashamed.
Yesterday, in front of Malfoy, he said that Harry shouldn't get carried away with fame and hand out autographed photos everywhere.
"I don't want to be on the front page!" This was the umpteenth time Harry had complained. "And I don't want to post any autographed photos, they're all Colin Crevey."
Incidentally, Colin Creevey is a first-year student in Gryffindor, a fervent admirer of Harry, and also the second person Harry least wants to meet.
But Colin Crivey was persistent, not only waiting for him early every day in places like the common room, classroom corridors, and auditorium entrance, but also always trying to take pictures of him.
This enthusiasm tormented Harry, who thought more than once that if Colin had admired Lockhart, they would both have been perfectly happy!
"Alright, stop complaining," Siron said. "Otherwise, you'll be kicked out of the library by Mrs. Pince, and then you probably won't even have your only refuge left."
Harry quickly shut his mouth.
However, he soon noticed that Xilen had tidied up all the books and returned them, leaving only one.
Aren't you going to watch it anymore?
"Class is about to start."
"Oh, right, it's only Friday." Harry scratched his head, feeling increasingly irritable lately because of Lockhart and Colin's situation and Malfoy's mockery.
The two walked out of the library.
"What classes are we having today?" Harry asked.
"Defense Against Dark Magic," Siren said. "That way we don't have to change floors."
They walked through two corridors, and just around the next corner, they would reach Lockhart's large classroom.
But just then, Harry's body tensed up suddenly, and he instinctively said, "It's coming."
"What—"
Before Xilun could speak, a lithe figure suddenly jumped out from the other side of the corridor, waving excitedly.
"How are you, Harry?"
"Hello, Colin." Harry sighed helplessly.
Then the other person ran away happily.
"It's always the same," Harry sighed. "Colin seems to know my schedule by heart; I run into him in almost every class."
this--
Xiren patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. "No one can help you with this. You'll get used to it."
"That's probably going to be difficult." Harry looked a little annoyed. "And Lockhart, I really don't want to run into either of them right now, because every time they pull me aside and say something weird, Malfoy appears like a ghost nearby and then embellishes and spreads those words around."
"Do you know how Hagrid sees me now?"
Siren shook his head; he had been in the library lately and hadn't visited Hagrid in a long time.
"Hagrid thinks I sell autographed photos in the castle and even started a Harry Potter fan club. He even complained that I didn't invite him."
Harry's face turned bright red when the name Harry Potter Fan Club was mentioned, but he still forced himself to say it.
"I bet Hagrid is just kidding you," Siren said, trying not to laugh. "He knows you're not a vain person."
"I understand," Harry said. "I just didn't expect Hagrid to know. It's all Malfoy's doing!"
"I have an idea for you," Celen said. "If Malfoy makes fun of you again, just give him a good beating, and I guarantee you'll have far fewer of these kinds of troubles."
"No, that will get us points deducted." Harry's shoulders slumped, looking a little deflated.
"It's just a deduction of points; it's not like we haven't been deducted points before," Siron chuckled. "Besides, is Professor McGonagall going to deduct another two hundred points from us?"
They lost 200 points in their first year, but still won the Academy Cup.
"No, that still won't work." Harry thought for a moment, then shook his head. "What if Professor McGonagall gets too angry and disqualifies Gryffindor from Quidditch? Oliver will kill me."
"Oh, that?" Siren chuckled and said, "Professor McGonagall got so angry last time because there were too many people. As long as you keep the number of people under control and don't use wands, you don't have to worry about being disqualified."
At Hogwarts, the worst thing is magical conflict, but if you don't use a wand and it's just a simple fight, it's not a big deal at all. Even if you get injured, going to the school hospital is just a matter of getting a bandage and a handful of white cinnamon essence.
Harry, however, has grown up in Muggle society and is unaware of this yet.
"Time to go to class." Sirens continued walking forward, and Harry quickly followed.
After the two entered the classroom, Lockhart followed closely behind. He designed a wizard's hat to wear, which hung diagonally on his fluffy golden hair.
"Good afternoon, students." As if rehearsed, Lockhart himself, along with the portraits of him around him, spoke at the same time, with a majestic air.
He seems to come up with something new and interesting in every class.
"Good afternoon, Professor Lockhart." Hermione's face was already turning red.
"I'm fine, thank you for your concern." He winked and gave a playful smile.
"Alright, let's begin the lesson." He walked to the podium, bowed slightly, and said, "First of all, please allow me to apologize to you. I only just found out that you had such a big conflict with Slytherin because of the different course content."
The conflict with Slytherin?
Silen didn't react at first, but then he realized that it had happened last week. Even Oliver Wood was gradually accepting the punishment of not being able to use the Quidditch pitch, while Lockhart had only just found out.
"Professor, why are the courses different?" someone asked.
"This brings me to my time at Durmstrang, where I helped them deal with the snow fairies." Lockhart smiled slightly. "To thank me for solving a big problem for them, the headmaster of Durmstrang invited me to stay and teach several times—don't worry, I declined them all, because at that time I had just promised Albus that I would go back to Hogwarts to help him."
Several students applauded enthusiastically. "Although I declined, in order not to disappoint those children, I also shared some experience with the teachers there."
Lockhart suddenly adopted a tone of frustration, "That's right, just as you think, it's what the Slytherins learned in class—I greedily wanted to teach you all of this, but I didn't expect it to cause such serious consequences. It's all my fault."
"Therefore, I have decided that all courses will be taught equally from now on."
Someone applauded again, and Xiren even suspected that Lockhart had paid someone to do it.
At the same time, Siron also witnessed the "treasure" he left for Durmstrang—the stage play.
He copied the content of "Wandering with Werewolves" into his class.
Harry was to play the werewolf, and (I knew it would be like this) Harry reluctantly stood up.
"Next—Miss Granger, would you be willing to temporarily assume my identity?" To Siren's surprise, Lockhart didn't want to defeat the Savior himself, but instead gave the opportunity to Hermione.
Hermione, of course, couldn't refuse. Amidst pairs of piercing gazes, she resolutely walked up, without even taking the book.
She can already recite "Wandering with Werewolves" from memory.
Then, Lockhart acted as the narrator, vividly recounting the scene, while Hermione and Harry performed in the background.
However, Xilun knew why he had made this arrangement.
Because Hermione was standing in a position completely blocked by Lockhart, who was standing in front of her, all that could be seen from below was a wand.
As for Harry, he made no attempt to conceal his identity, vividly portraying the image of a defeated werewolf—simply taking the beating.
Because Lockhart insisted on realism, he wanted Hermione to use the true spell (of course I know you can't restore your human form with the Charm, but that's okay).
You know how to use a cleansing spell, right?
Then Harry was "cleaned up" for a class period, and when get out of class ended, Siron felt like he was glowing.
"I swear, I really don't want to study Slytherin's curriculum," Harry sighed softly.
"Then you might be disappointed, the lesson went quite well," Siren said.
Lockhart seems to have a talent for acting, describing things with great emotion. Although his movements were a bit exaggerated, the addition of Hermione's "true magic" made the visual effect even more impressive.
Hermione was quite cooperative, alternating between the Cleansing Charm and the Warm Breeze Charm, greatly enriching Lockhart's diverse performances.
Therefore, whenever magic exploded on Harry, the "werewolf," the students below would gasp in surprise.
Hearing what Sirens said, Harry was completely distraught.
"Really?" He looked hopefully at Ron, who had just run over.
Ron hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. After all, even he had been captivated for a while, and Seamus Finigan was also saying something beside him, "It's like watching a movie."
Ron didn't know what movie he was talking about, but he knew Seamus should be quite satisfied.
Harry's heart skipped a beat. He had a feeling that if the course was this popular, Lockhart would definitely continue it.
He might have to act out all the monsters in his books himself.
"Why can't we continue with our previous classes!" Harry couldn't help but ask. "I wouldn't mind catching Cornish elves for a year."
"I heard that Slytherin caused trouble in the last class," Ron said. "When they were catching house-elves, they deliberately aimed their spells at the students, causing quite a bit of trouble. I heard that someone even had to be sent to the school hospital."
"Professor McGonagall was very angry and forbade Lockhart from doing that again."
"Is that so?" Xilun asked. "How did you know?"
“It wasn’t me, it was Fred and George,” Ron explained. “They overheard Professor McGonagall’s conversation with Lockhart a few days ago when they went to see her. I wanted to tell you, but you were both in the library.”
As Ron said this, he looked at Harry with a somber expression, as if accusing him of betrayal.
Harry turned his head away embarrassedly. He hadn't abandoned Ron on purpose; it was just that the library was the only place where he could find some peace and quiet.
It was only then that Xiren realized why Lockhart had suddenly brought up what happened a week ago and even changed the way he taught the class—he had gone too far.
That makes sense, of course. How could the Slytherins possibly just honestly go and catch house-elves? But Siron was curious about how Lockhart handled that chaotic scene.
Speaking of which, Lockhart's transformation was quite successful. Although his new course still relied on empty talk and deception, it seems that apart from Harry, no one had any major objections.
Ron didn't know what to say to comfort Harry, so he just patted Harry on the shoulder and said, "At least—well, Hermione's magic won't really hurt you."
Harry was at a loss for words.
What devastated him even more was that, not long after the three of them left the classroom, a familiar figure came running up quickly and started waving vigorously from a distance:
"Harry, how are you?"
"Oh, he's here again, let's go!" Harry felt a chill run down his spine, grabbed Siron's arm and dragged him downstairs.
"Harry, where are you going?" Ron asked from behind.
"I need to ask Mrs. Pince if I can stay at the library for the next few days."