Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Lockhart's Book Signing (Edited)
Tom looked at the Journal and flashed a friendly smile: What a great searcher, it's not easy to find a tutor who doesn't get tired! Sometimes a tutor costs hundreds of dollars an hour, and you can't always find a reliable one.
As to whether or not Riddle had mixed up personal things, Tom didn't think there was any chance of that. After all, with the speed of his speech and the amount of instructions, it's hard to lie. And Tom would go over it with his own head afterwards, to see if there was anything wrong.
It took Riddle about three hours to finish his study of the runes. The lecture was a real chore, and by the end, Riddle's ink had vanished, literally to the point where there was no drop left!
Journal, "This is my understanding of the runes."
"Thank you, sir! You've done a lot of work, sir" Tom wrote.
Diary: "It's nothing, since you call me senior, I will naturally take care of you..."
"You must be tired, right? I'll leave you alone, get some rest" Tom wrote.
Diary: "Wait..."
Tom closed the Diary.
Riddle's journal, which could control others by amplifying negative emotions, could also gain power by simply chatting with him. In the former case, Tom had nothing to worry about. The latter, as long as Tom kept Riddle's absorption of vitality and magic under control, the more he talked, the more his power would be depleted, and the weaker he would become as a whole.
There was no longer anything to fear.
After putting the journal away, Tom transformed into a unicorn and wiped away the darkness, then stretched, sat down at the table and worked through "Tom's Runes".
After reading it for a while, Tom felt so inspired that he found a block of wood and began practicing carving the runes "created" by Riddle.
Tom couldn't sleep that night.
The next day, when Hermione saw Tom, she was surprised: Tom came to work in the bookstore with two dark circles under his eyes.
"Have you been up all night?" asked Hermione with concern.
"Yes, I've been learning a bit of new stuff, so I went to bed a bit late." Tom then told Hermione about the runes, which left Hermione fascinated.
"Here, take this." Tom handed Hermione the small toy he had made earlier: "A little application of the runes."
Hermione smiled, her eyes turning into crescent moons as she played with the little coin and asked slyly, "Is that the girl you came in with yesterday, the one Professor McGonagall asked you to visit?"
"Yes, her name is Peggy, and I have a hunch she must also be a Ravenclaw" Tom said.
"Oh," Hermione fiddled with the coin, saying nothing, just replying.
But Tom leaned in, "See, this way, it will light up and can float."
"That's good" Hermione replied.
"It's actually about the application of the runes, I'll tell you little by little..." Tom took a piece of parchment, and began writing as he went along, the sequence of the class was actually the same as Riddle's yesterday. When he had filled an entire sheet of parchment with writing and drawings, Tom stopped.
"Actually, I didn't want to go there, it's too far away, but, who asked Professor McGonagall to give too much?" Tom pulled out two notebooks, "Look, Professor McGonagall's notes!".
But there would be no notes to read today.
For Lawrence had come over and given Tom a new task: set up the place for the book signing.
The great Mr. Lockhart would be arriving at his trusty Flourish and Blotts bookstore, Wednesday, and would be holding a book signing from 12:30-2:30 p.m., this time selling his autobiography, "My Magical Self."
Hermione was excited to hear, "Are we going to meet Lockhart in person? Almost every book on the school's list is written by him!"
Tom: Boring!
But even if Tom felt annoyed, he had to finish setting up the store.
But it wasn't much, just a few shelves needed to be moved aside, an empty space cleared, a table and desk procured, and finally the banners put up.
Tom thought about how Muggle stars do their fan meetings, so he went back to building a bunch of fences, first to separate Lockhart's table with a fence, in the hopes that people would see the monkey in a civilized way. Next, the fence was used to create a curved path along the trail.
The goal was to divert traffic so that the number of fans in contact at any given time would stay within reasonable limits.
Wednesday arrived.
Lockhart was one of the most important figures in the magical world today, a man who probably didn't even know what academic wizarding journals were, but that didn't stop him from being admired by middle-aged women like Mrs. Weasley and innocent girls like Hermione.
These days, Diagon Alley welcomed a wave of Lockhart fans, most of them witches of Mrs. Weasley's age, who flock to the Flourish and Blotts Bookstore. In her experience, all Lockhart's signings are filled to capacity, and if you don't get there early enough to get a good spot, you'll have to wait until the end of the day to buy a book.
But this time was different, as there were just as many fans as usual, but this time they were lined up in a long, winding queue by a fence that, although crowded, was much neater, and even left a small aisle in front of the bookstore for the students who normally come to buy books.
This orderly queue also made the book signing much more efficient.
Lockhart himself was already sitting in the bookstore, waiting.
The walls of the bookstore were covered with large photographs of him, each showing Lockhart winking at the outside world and showing his dazzling white teeth. As Tom hung the photos, these smiling Lockhart made an indelible impression on him: a mental contamination. Think about it, dozens of the same faces, looking back at you with smiles on their faces...
Hermione was eager to help, but Tom refused in all seriousness.
Surrounded by pictures of himself, Lockhart didn't feel the least bit embarrassed, wearing a forget-me-not-colored robe and a top wizard's hat. Whenever his fans approached, he tirelessly flashed a big smile and signed his name in the new book.
It must be said that, as an idol, Lockhart was as good as ever, and no matter how many people came, his smile was as big as it had been from the beginning.
Lockhart wasn't alone, he also brought along a short photographer from the Daily Prophet, who was hopping around with a big black camera in his hand. Every time he pressed the shutter, the camera's flash glowed brightly and emitted a cloud of purple smoke.
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