章 26: 026 Lockhart
The opening dinner ended with an embarrassingly cold joke from Dumbledore, and the young wizards dispersed in groups. Until the end, they failed to understand Bryan's purpose for returning to school. It was expected that a grand detective campaign would take place in the school during the first week.
Bryan had already left before the young wizards. He hadn't forgotten that he didn't come here for vacation when he returned to Hogwarts. When all the young wizards gathered neatly in the auditorium, his task officially began.
In the following time, until he found the secret room, he would probably live an upside-down life, sleeping during the day and working at night. It would be a challenging period.
In the monitoring room, Bryan sat on a chair, staring at the gradually filling scene of people's heads. He focused on the young wizards who were alone and observed whether their behavior contradicted common sense. Professor Lockhart was also one of the subjects of his attention.
The Chamber of Secrets didn't appear sooner or later, but it happened to be opened when Lockhart was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, which raised doubts in Bryan's mind.
After dinner, under the leadership of the prefects, most of the young wizards from each house returned to their common rooms. However, about a dozen young wizards sneaked out while everyone wasn't paying attention.
Among them, more than half were Gryffindor students.
Harry and Ron went to the school hospital, and the Weasley brothers took advantage of Filch's inattention to explore and rushed into the passage leading to the Hufflepuff common room located underground. They manipulated the fruit oil painting on the wall a bit before entering.
Bryan also noticed Penelope Clearwater entering the Ravenclaw common room but returning shortly after, and Percy Weasley left Gryffindor around the same time to visit multiple common rooms. It could be predicted that there would be another secret rendezvous somewhere in the castle.
Except for Professor McGonagall and Professor Lockhart, who returned to their offices to work overtime after dinner, the rest of the professors mostly stayed in the staff dormitory. Before entering his office, Headmaster Dumbledore turned and playfully blinked his blue eyes at the corridor thirty feet away, as if saying hello.
Bryan pursed his lips and looked away from the screen.
Nothing unusual happened, everything was normal, and the result didn't exceed Bryan's expectations. Unless one was very lucky, one couldn't expect to find anything in just ten days or half a month.
The fireplace with exquisitely carved patterns crackled with flames. Bryan leaned back in his chair, holding a cup of bitter hot tea. His gaze occasionally swept across the entire wall, his expression calm.
About half an hour later, the figure on the monitoring screen remained active and transformed into a ghostly form. Bryan observed Peeves, wearing a comical round hat and smirking, as he hurried into a bathroom on the second floor that had been abandoned for many years. After a while, water began to seep out from under the bathroom door, flooding the corridor outside.
The long night had just begun, and Bryan was already feeling bored. He walked over to his desk and retrieved a copy of "Basic Model of Spells and Structural Optimization," a compilation he was working on. He casually flipped through the pages, hoping to find some inspiration.
Suddenly, movement caught his attention on the lower right corner of the monitoring screen. Professor Lockhart appeared, now dressed in a purple robe, and held a few books in his hands. He wore a charismatic smile as he headed in the direction of his monitoring room.
Both of their offices were on the first floor, and within two minutes, Professor Lockhart arrived outside his office.
Tuk Tuk - as the knock on the door sounded, Bryan waved his wand. A huge black curtain covered the wall, and the stool under him hopped back to the desk like a tap dance, returning to its normal position.
"Professor Lockhart?" Bryan, who opened the door, feigned surprise. "What brings you here?"
Bryan invited Lockhart into the office, his intentions unknown. He poured him a cup of tea, but Lockhart didn't seem interested in drinking it.
"—Actually," Lockhart began to explain his visit but got distracted when he noticed a copy of "W
andering with Werewolves" on Bryan's bookshelf. The smile on his face became even brighter. "Ah, my mistake, my fault. Mistake, Bryan. I should have realized it earlier," he winked at the slightly bewildered Bryan. "An ardent and daring admirer, right? Surprised me in an unexpected way!"
"Sorry, Professor Lockhart, maybe I'm a bit slow to understand what you're trying to express..."
"No need to hide it anymore, Bryan. Trying to get close to me by pretending to be interested in werewolves, right?"
Lockhart smiled gleefully. "Professor McGonagall told me that the Board of directors sent an investigator to look into the Chamber of Secrets. What a waste of money!"
Bryan glanced at the bookshelf in the direction of Lockhart's gaze and blinked.
"If you mean 'Wandering with Werewolves,' then yes, I had some unpleasant encounters with a group of werewolves, and to deepen my understanding of them, I researched a few of the most famous ones."
"Ah, finally exposed, right?" Lockhart seemed to have finally caught Bryan's secret. "Just like Miss Granger from the second year, who knows me well. Yes, yes, many people are amazed at the calmness and bravery I displayed when trapped in a telephone booth with werewolves. But you, Bryan, you want to learn how I managed to tame the werewolves, don't you?"
An hour later, Lockhart left Bryan's office contentedly. He stood in front of the door and lowered his voice, addressing Bryan.
"Don't worry about explaining it to the Board of Directors, Bryan. The Chamber of Secrets attack won't happen again. And you know the reason, right?" Lockhart winked at Bryan once again. "Because I'm here!"
Bryan watched Professor Lockhart walk away, closed the door, and stood in front of his desk, staring at the gift Lockhart had given him—a set of hardcover signed books.
"What an interesting fellow!" Bryan chuckled to himself.
Later that night, when Bryan and Professor Snape discussed suspicious individuals in the school, Snape's tone was filled with disdain and sarcasm when Lockhart was mentioned. Bryan found it puzzling, as he didn't think there was anything wrong with Lockhart.
"However, as a well-known celebrity writer in the magical world, he's at least a friendly wizard."
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