Chapter 21: Lockhart’s Folly
"Ah Harry my boy, I trust you had a good summer?"
"It was… productive sir, and yours?"
The older man's eyes twinkled happily, "Very good I must say. I am sure you noticed that we have a new Defense teacher."
"I saw, hopefully he is a bit more confident than Professor Quirrell was. I found it quite difficult to understand the man through all of his stuttering."
"Completely understandable, a lapse of judgment on my part in regards to that choice. Would you care for a lemon drop?"
The boy nodded, and took one of the offered sweets, much to the man's delight. "Oh, before I forget sir I have a small gift for you."
"A gift? Harry my boy you shouldn't have, it is the job of adults to provide for you, not the other way around."
"Perhaps, but I suspect this is not something you can normally obtain." With that the boy enlarged a bag he had been carrying, much to the elder Wizard's surprise, and gently laid it on his desk, before gesturing for the man to open it. Inside was a wide assortment of various Muggle candies and chocolates.
"Oh my, I do believe you are correct Harry my boy, it is most difficult for me to find the time to buy treats of such varieties. I do so hope you did not spend too much money on this."
"Hardly sir, with Halloween being the next holiday Muggle stores tend to sell such things in bulk supply, that bag was cheaper than a nice meal would be in a Wizard restaurant."
"Well then I suppose this means I owe you dinner at a nice restaurant at some point my boy. Perhaps over the winter holidays?"
Harry nodded, "I will take you up on that offer sir."
"Now to another topic I wished to speak with you about. I have been attempting to find you a suitable family to live with but with Death Eaters still in hiding or being exempt from prosecution I am afraid that if I try to get involved…"
"The Ministry will relocate me elsewhere. I completely understand Headmaster."
"I wish I could do more for you my boy, I truly do."
"I know, and that is all that matters. If there is nothing else I would like to get some rest. It has been a long day."
"Of course Harry, of course."
The boy rose to his feet, gave a slight bow before departing to the door where he paused for a moment. "Headmaster, if you have any free time in the next few weeks I would not be opposed to another one of these chats. I have always found the company of older, and wiser, individuals to be rather thrilling."
The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes reappeared at full force.
...
"Welcome class to your first day of actual Defense class! My name is 'The Great Gilderoy Lockhart' and I will be the one conducting you through this magical journey."
The boys groaned
Most of the girls giggled
Harry rolled his eyes, trying not to cause the man's intestines to explode in the middle of class… but it was just so very tempting .
"Now then first we shall… oh my, dost my eyes deceive me!? Harry Potter, I thought it was you! It has been ages since our last encounter!" The boy-who-lived idly wondered if the man actually believed that they knew each other, or that if he smiled enough everyone else would just assume he was correct.
"I do not recall ever meeting before." Since if they had Harry was quite sure that the older man would be lying dead in a ditch somewhere.
"Oh of course we have! It was during our encounter with the Vampire of Venice, do you not remember?"
The not-so-subtle wink made the urge to kill the man even greater.
"I do not believe…"
"Well regardless, I am pleased that you have accepted my tutelage once more. We shall begin this class with a light homework assignment, and then a practical demonstration. I want you all to read 'The Vampire in Venice' for your studies this week and write me an essay on how my technique has changed the fundamental ways that we hunt the 'creatures of the night'."
Draco nudged the emerald-eyed boy, before gesturing down at the paper that lay between them. On it was scribbled a short message.
I will give you ANYTHING to murder this prat
Giving a light chuckle the Potter heir returned his attention to the man, who opened a large cage with a flourish. "Defend yourselves!"
Pixies surged into the room, earning screams and shouts from the students while Lockhart suddenly found himself overwhelmed and retreating back to his office, calling out something about not forgetting homework assignments. Papers were being thrown about, children picked up and tossed across the room, obscene gestures drawn on the blackboards. Yet through it all Harry remained unharassed and seated, idly wondering if he should bother stepping in or not. Fortunately for the Pixies themselves, whom he was contemplating just burning alive, a certain bushy-haired witch cast a spell, slowing them down in the air and allowing the class to round them up.
...
"Can you believe her? The first week of class and the know-it-all is already acting like she is better than everyone else. I wish she would have just stayed home and left us in peace. It's not like she has any friends anyway." Ronald Wealsey complained as he made his way through the halls with some of his fellow Gryffindors.
Meanwhile Hermione, who had overheard the conversation, had already ran into a nearby bathroom to hide her tears.
Unbeknownst to the others, a student stood in the shadows watching the entire incident as a smile slowly formed on his face.
...
Harry Potter let out a deep annoyed sigh. Why in the world did it have to be this bloody obvious… again! First year it had been a professor with an obvious dark aura eclipsing his own, and focused around his soul. It had taken less than a day for Harry to figure out it was possession.
This year it was slightly more interesting… but even more blatantly apparent. A young redhead, Ginny Weasley if he recalled correctly, was sitting by herself, muttering and glancing around every few moments in fear before writing a bit in some plainly evil book. Seriously, had no one ever heard of the concept of 'hidden nature'? Why couldn't the 'dark forces' at least try to make it a challenge for him to figure these things out.
The question now was, should he intervene, or wait to see what happened? If he had waited a bit longer the previous year he might have been able to face off against an immortal Dark Lord, the thought of which lit his blood aflame and sent excited shivers down his spine. On the other hand he also would have lost out on a rare magical artifact that, despite not finding a use for it quite yet, would undoubtedly be worth something in the future.
Perhaps the book had some sort of ulterior motive… maybe it was after another powerful artifact he would be able to claim? Or maybe it was just a way of attacking the Weasleys. Either way Harry found himself a bit interested in the situation. He would wait for now, and see how things played out. He could always rescue the girl at a later date and have her indebted to him.
She was rather cute after all.
....
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