Late at night, just after the curfew in the castle, Lockhart put on his cloak and held an oil lamp, and began to patrol the corridors.
Ever since the unfortunate Colin Creevey was attacked by the Slytherin heir in the middle of the night, Dumbledore had asked the professors to patrol in the middle of the night to prevent something like this from happening again.
It is said that the targets of the Slytherin heir's attack are all wizards born in Muggle families, so Lockhart is not worried at all that he will be attacked. He is a mixed-blood wizard and a professor in the school. No matter how courageous the opponent is,
If you are big enough, you won’t go to the professor to start.
In fact, what made Lockhart irritated was not that he got up in the middle of the night to patrol, but that the first half of the semester was almost over, and he himself had never achieved the purpose of coming to Hogwarts Academy.
Being a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts requires taking a lot of risks. Lockhart originally hoped that he could gain higher popularity by becoming the teacher of the "famous Harry Potter", but this wish
Never been able to go any further.
Lockhart knew he had to do something, otherwise the first half of the semester would really be over.
Today, Lockhart did not patrol according to his usual route. Instead, he stopped in front of the stone monster on the third floor. After reciting the correct password, he took the stone stairs to the top floor.
It's just past eleven o'clock, and Professor Dumbledore must not have rested yet. Maybe he can...
Lockhart raised his hand and knocked on the door of the principal's office. After a moment, the door opened from the inside.
Lockhart was a little surprised to see an unexpected guy here. He recognized Snape at a glance. This guy is the most unpopular professor at Hogwarts. It is said that Harry Potter also hates it.
Snape.
After noticing Lockhart's gaze, Snape raised his head and met Lockhart's gaze, frowning slightly.
"Good evening Gilderoy, did you find anything?" Dumbledore cast a doubtful look at Lockhart.
"No, not at all." Lockhart showed his signature smile to the two of them and stated the reason for his visit, "That's right, I noticed that the last attack made the students very tense.
It's tight, maybe we should find ways to alleviate this situation."
Snape frowned when he heard this, obviously he couldn't compliment Lockhart's high opinion, and he felt that there must be no good thing brought up by Lockhart at this time.
"We can give students some confidence." Lockhart immediately stated his plan: "I hope Professor Dumbledore will allow me to open a dueling club in the castle so that students can have the opportunity to train their self-defense abilities."
"You mean you're going to duel with that so-called monster?" Snape said softly, as if he was holding back his laughter.
"Of course not, that is very unrealistic, but I think it is quite necessary for students to have some self-defense capabilities." Lockhart turned to Snape and said, "I have used magic to protect myself from harm countless times, and
You can try to change the depressive and tense atmosphere in the school through a small activity, and I think it is necessary to try it."
"This is a good idea. Tell me about your plan, Gilderoy." Dumbledore noticed Snape's confused look and explained with a smile: "The atmosphere in the school is indeed a bit depressing, and
It doesn’t hurt to let the students learn something useful.”
"This is just an idea. Please give me a few days and I will definitely be able to come up with a concrete plan." Lockhart was very excited. He didn't expect that Professor Dumbledore would actually agree to let him organize a dueling club in the school.
"After you prepare the specific plan, come and talk to me about this matter."
"Severus." Lockhart turned to look at Snape and invited, "I hope you can serve as my temporary assistant then."
At this moment, Snape's expression was gloomy and terrifying, as if he would pull out his wand at any moment and hit Lockhart with Avada Kedavra.
"Then I'll bother you then." Dumbledore looked at the two of them and said with a smile, not giving Snape a chance to refuse at all.
"You shouldn't agree to his stupid decision."
As soon as Lockhart left, Snape immediately complained to Dumbledore that he didn't want to be Lockhart's assistant at all.
"Stupid, no, no, this is a good opportunity." Dumbledore said meaningfully, "Also, I think Gilderoy's words are very reasonable. The atmosphere in the school is indeed a bit bad. Maybe he can help everyone liven it up.
atmosphere."
For some reason, Snape heard something else from Dumbledore's words.
"With all due respect, people like Lockhart will only make things messy." Snape made no secret of his disgust and contempt for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. "If we really want to hold a dueling club, it will be totally unacceptable."
You can leave it to me to organize it.”
Based on Snape's understanding of Lockhart, that guy definitely didn't organize the dueling club to teach students dueling skills, but to attract everyone's attention.
Lockhart had been doing this all semester, much to Snape's disgust.
"No, Severus, Gilderoy is more suitable than you." Professor Dumbledore looked at Snape deeply and said softly, "However, with your help, I believe the students can gain something.
"
There is no doubt that Professor Dumbledore also knew who Lockhart was, so he asked Snape to help him.
Dumbledore really couldn't find any reason to refuse Lockhart's proposal.
Since the last attack, the atmosphere in the school has indeed become very depressed, and everyone is worried that they will be the next unlucky person to be attacked.
Dumbledore also believed in Lockhart's ability, and there would definitely be a way to liven up the depressing atmosphere in the school.
And, most importantly, Dumbledore thought this was a good opportunity for other students to see Lockhart's true face.
The more Lockhart reveals himself, the easier it is to reveal his flaws.
He believes that after the first half of the semester, many students in the school have doubted Lockhart's ability, but this is not enough. After everyone sees Lockhart's poor performance in the dueling club, I believe the students will really
Realized that Lockhart was not as brave as his book said.
This is one of the reasons why Lockhart was invited to Hogwarts to serve as Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Ordinary school life allowed Lockhart to gradually reveal his true self. His ego and desire for fame overcame his caution. Dumbledore believed that Lockhart's scam would be exposed soon.