"Professor Lockhart, what can I do for you?" Severus Snape greeted the uninvited guest coldly.
"Nothing, nothing, Severus!" Gilderoy Lockhart shook his head again and again, "It's just that a lovely lady told me that you seemed to be punishing a student I like very much in the office, so I came here to check it out. What's going on?"
"Lovely lady?" Snape repeated sarcastically, glaring coldly at the girl standing behind Lockhart.
Astoria Greengrass stood there at a loss, not daring to look the batman in the eye.
"You did a great job, very good, Miss Greengrass!" Professor Snape's voice was emotionless: "Punishment... No, I just invited an ordinary student in my Potions class to help me with a small favor and have a cup of afternoon tea... Now, it's over!"
"You can go now, Hart!" After saying that, Severus Snape roughly pulled Jon up and pushed him out the door.
"Then I won't bother you Severus." Lockhart still had that cheerful voice.
The moment Professor Snape closed the door of his office, Astoria trotted over in panic.
I only heard her stammering, "Jon... I heard from Daphne that you were going to Professor Snape's office to be punished... I didn't know what to do... I went to find Professor Sprout, but I didn't know where her office was.... And just then Professor Lockhart met me and said he could help me..."
...
...
"Of course!" Lockhart said proudly, "I met the sad-looking Miss Greengrass, and she told me what was going on... I am happy to help a lovely lady and solve a small problem."
"Astoria, thank you..." Jon said gratefully, gently stroking the girl's golden hair.
"I..." The girl's face flushed instantly.
"Excuse me for interrupting you..." Professor Lockhart's voice sounded at an inopportune moment: "But Mr. Hart, are you interested in having a cup of afternoon tea with me now? I don't have much time..."
Lockhart's last words were spoken in a low voice, totally unlike his usual frivolous tone. Instead, his voice was extremely steady.
Afternoon tea again?
Jon frowned, glanced at Astoria, then at the stern-looking Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
He patted the blonde girl's shoulder gently, then turned and said, "I think I have time, Professor Lockhart!"
…
This was not the first time Jon had gone to Gilderoy Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom office on the fourth floor.
But this time, the photos of Lockhart on the wall and the table no longer showed the frivolous smiles as before. Instead, they were thinking with very serious expressions.
"Thank you for your help, Professor!" Jon walked into Lockhart's office behind him and said calmly.
"It's nothing." Lockhart shrugged his shoulders. "Just this morning, Professor Snape asked me about something. He asked me whether I had taken three books from the restricted area of the library on September 5 last year. They were: "Close Your Brain", "Vicious Disfiguring Spell" and "Powerful Potion"... "
Jon frowned slightly and couldn't help but take a few steps back.
"Then I told Severus that I had indeed borrowed them, and enthusiastically discussed the contents of the three books with him; I'm sure he thought I was talking nonsense!" Lockhart winked at Jon gently: "Besides, he would never suspect you."
"Why are you helping me, Professor Lockhart..." Jon reached into his pocket with his left hand, tightly grasping the Pistol inside.
Lockhart lazily threw his wand into the bed beside him, and then nodded to Jon: "Jon... I've said it before, you are my best student... No teacher would mind helping his best student!"
Jon pursed his lips and did not answer.
"In the entire Hogwarts castle, there are so many students... but only one student has listened carefully to every one of my classes, and that is you. I am not a fool, Jon... although I act like one." Professor Lockhart laughed, as if he had heard a very funny joke.
"I don't understand, Professor..." Jon suppressed his curiosity and pretended to be confused.
"There's something even more surprising for you!" Professor Lockhart continued:
"In fact, I am a liar. My books and my deeds are all fake! ... It seems that you are not as surprised as I thought, Jon; I think you must have guessed it a long time ago, at least part of it."
"That's true, Professor!" Jon said hesitantly, "Your performance is indeed very different from the description in your book..."
"This is indeed easy to guess. I think almost all students have noticed this, but you still listened carefully to every one of my classes. This is what I admire most about you, Jon!" Professor Lockhart picked up the suitcase beside him and began to stuff photos, clothes and other things into it little by little.
"The hero who freed a village from the scourge of werewolves was not me, but an ugly old American wizard; and the one who expelled the ghost of Wanlun was a Scottish gap-mouthed witch; the one who traveled with ghouls, vacationed with hags, and lived with Tibetan snowmen... none of them were me..." Gilderoy Lockhart talked freely:
"My task is just to track and find these outstanding wizards, gain their trust, and ask them how they were able to do those things... Then I will cast a sophisticated forgetfulness spell on them, so that they will forget the incident completely."
"Why are you telling me this, Professor Lockhart!" Jon had quietly opened the safety of the Pistol.
Lockhart slammed the lid of the suitcase shut and locked it.
Then he sat down on the sofa:
"It makes no difference, kid..." He looked a little decadent. "In a few hours, the Daily Prophet will publish the truth about my past glorious deeds. The whole world will know that I am just a liar who abuses the Forgetfulness Spell. The Ministry of Magic may even think that I am a criminal and send me to Azkaban."
"So Jon, even if I don't tell you now, you will know it soon..." Gilderoy Lockhart said faintly: "Why do you think...I accepted this damn job?"
"Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Gilderoy Lockhart said sarcastically, "This is a cursed job. Since decades ago, every teacher who accepted this job could not last more than a year."
"Three were seriously injured and had to spend their lives in St. Mungo's; six became disabled; eleven could not find a job after leaving this position... and one died. Quirinus Quirrell, my prefect when I was studying in Ravenclaw, died inexplicably, and Dumbledore did not give any explanation... Even if you gave me 10,000 Galleons, I would not apply for this position!"
"Then why did you become our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Jon had already guessed something in his mind, but there was still a confused expression on his face.
"It was a terrible accident, about a year ago." Lockhart curled his lips and said:
"I was probably crazy at the time, wanting to write a book about 'History of Magic', and then I set my sights on a witch living in Godric's Hollow: Bathilda Bagshot... You would never have dreamed that the slovenly, ugly witch in patched robes would be a friend of Albus Dumbledore; and what was even more unfortunate was that when I was about to cast the Oblivion Charm on Bagshot, Dumbledore came to visit her!"
Jon was already mourning for Lockhart in his heart, as his experience was basically the same as he had guessed.
"I was caught by Dumbledore, red-handed!" Lockhart threw his suitcase aside and collapsed on the sofa. "I thought Dumbledore would turn around and send me to Azkaban, but he made a suggestion to me!"
"Let you be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts?" Jon held back his laughter.
"That's right!" Lockhart shook his head helplessly. "If it weren't for this, who would accept this damn position... I once thought about escaping, but Dumbledore's magic was beyond my imagination, and his informants were all over Europe... I had nowhere to escape!"
...
...
"I also told Dumbledore that, apart from the Oblivion Charm, my understanding of other spells is not very advanced, and I cannot teach his students much."
"But Dumbledore told me that it didn't matter. He told me that I didn't need to teach the students anything and that I only needed to play the role of a clown. In short, I should look like a Squib who knows nothing except being famous... At least I need to behave like this in front of Harry Potter and successfully arouse his disgust!"
As he spoke, Lockhart waved his wand, and the pictures on the wall were peeled off one by one and flew into his suitcase.
"After all, I got 7 Os in the OWLs exam. How is it possible that I can't even deal with a group of Cornish elves? How is it possible that I can't even use a disarming spell..." He seemed to be talking to himself.
Jon now understood everything... No wonder Dumbledore chose a "charlatan" like Lockhart to be the teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts. It turned out that it was still part of his "Potter Development Plan".
Through a negative example and personal experience, young Harry developed a dislike for him, and then stopped indulging in his existing fame and grew up quickly.
The logic is quite reasonable. This has put a lot of trouble on the students who wanted to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts this year.
However, Jon suddenly realized something else. "Professor Lockhart, didn't Professor Dumbledore say that he would not send you to Azkaban? Why…"
"I overacted!" Gilderoy Lockhart sighed, "Many students and parents have opinions about my teaching. Before, no one paid attention to me because of the attack on the Chamber of Secrets, but as the Slytherin monster was eliminated, more and more letters of opposition and even shouting letters about me were sent to the school."
"Among the parents of students at Hogwarts, there are many wizards with extraordinary status... They have their own special channels and connections. There is no doubt that after I was exposed in the Howler, my secrets were quickly dug out!"
"Dumbledore told me that many parents of students have written a joint letter to the Daily Prophet, which describes in detail the truth about my glorious deeds... In a few hours, after the Daily Prophet is published tomorrow, wizards all over Britain will know that I am just a liar who abuses the Forgetfulness Charm; the Dementors sent by the Ministry of Magic to capture me will also be on their way to Hogwarts..."
"So... Professor Lockhart... you..." Looking at the former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who was packing his luggage quickly, Jon seemed to understand something.
"Yes, I have to go!" Lockhart nodded: "Before the Ministry of Magic reacts."
"Where are you going?" Jon asked curiously.
"I'll go to France first. Romantic Paris and the Seine beach full of bikini beauties are quite suitable for me..." Lockhart said casually, "But if the Dementors continue to hunt me, I'll have to go to Spain, Gibraltar, or even Algeria. Dementors don't like hot weather."
He has already packed his luggage.
"Then goodbye, Jon, my student!" Gilderoy Lockhart saluted and walked to the door.
Then he stopped again.
"As a teacher, I feel ashamed that I didn't teach my students anything useful except signing a few autographs for them..." Lockhart felt carefully in his pocket and finally took out a white booklet.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Lockhart threw the thin booklet over:
"This may be the only magic I am good at, although I don't know if it is useful to you!" Lockhart walked out of the office and showed his frivolous smile again: "But it is useless to me, isn't it?"
After saying that, he disappeared into the darkness without looking back.
Jon stood there for a few minutes. And muttered with a smile, "Thankyou Professor".