Lockhart's smile froze. He was not an evil Dark Wizard, but he was a liar…
"You've got to be kidding me," Lockhart said sheepishly.
"Of course not! Professor Dumbledore even gave Gryffindor a hundred points for it," Colin said admiringly.
Harry's defeat of You-Know-Who was great, but these young wizards had no idea who You-Know-Who was or how scary he was…
By contrast, riding a dragon, defeating a troll, and killing an evil Dark Wizard disguised as a professor seem more like the fantasy of a normal young wizard.
Lockhart began to panic. He had never known that the last Defence Against the Dark Arts professor had died an accidental death at the hands of two young wizards.
Lockhart found this absurd, and could not help but look at the two culprits.
"Harry did most of the work," Ivan said without hesitation when Lockhart looked at him.
"He performed a charm with both hands, and Professor Chino's face flaked off like butter on a hot iron…"
Ivan deliberately made it sound extremely terrifying, specifically describing how Chino's burned and pitted face had disintegrated into pieces.
"Professor Chino was clearly alive at the time, and it was you, Ivan, who blasted him to dust with the Smashing Charm!" Harry protested.
"Perhaps," Ivan said with a shrug, and then turned to Lockhart, whose expression was growing strange.
"Actually, even without us, Professor Chino would have been unlucky for all kinds of reasons. According to the seniors, the position was cursed, and no Defence Against the Dark Arts professor could have stayed at Hogwarts for a year!"
Lockhart's face turned green as Ivan went on and on. He had thought that being a professor at Hogwarts would be a good thing, gilded and prestigious. He hadn't expected it to be so dangerous…
"This year is bound to be an exception. How could Professor Lockhart be overcome by a mere curse?" Hermione couldn't resist asking.
Hermione had also heard rumours of this from older students, but had always scoffed at them, not to mention the fact that Professor Lockhart had solved countless problems before, and would never fall victim to a curse.
"Don't you agree, Professor Lockhart?" Hermione asked the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's the professor?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I saw him heading for the Headmaster's office." Ivan pointed down the corridor, where he could just make out Lockhart's back.
Hermione was left speechless for a long moment…
Yvonne and Harry looked at each other with a smile on their faces, confident that Lockhart would not bother them again.
Ivan wondered if Lockhart would resign and who would be the next Defence Against the Dark Arts professor…
However, Lockhart's silence made things more difficult for Colin, who stalked them like a shadow, trying to take their pictures.
Ivan was forced to cast a small spell when Colin wasn't looking, blocking the camera's view so that Colin would think there was something wrong with it.
"That's not a very nice thing to do, is it?" Harry asked, looking worriedly at a certain imp who was on the verge of tears.
"Don't worry, the spell will wear off in a couple of hours," Ivan explained. He was a pain in the neck when it came to Colin's enthusiasm, but he didn't want to spoil things.
Ron quietly fell in behind them, curious about what was going to happen to him if his two friends were so famous.
"Colin, did you hear about me while you were at the house?" Ron asked curiously.
Colin, who was holding his camera in frustration, looked at Ron blankly for a while.
'Who are you?'
…
At the same time, Lockhart hurried to the Headmaster's office and gave the password, allowing him to see Dumbledore, who was reading a book.
The old headmaster stopped what he was doing and put his long fingers together.
"Professor Lockhart, you have less than ten minutes until your first lesson. Is there something important that brings you here?"
Lockhart, who had been intimidated by Ivan, was no longer in the mood for class.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, before taking up this post, you never told me that the position of Professor in the Defence Against the Dark Arts had ever been cursed and that it was dangerous… I even heard that the last Professor died in his post…"
Lockhart began to panic, wondering if he had offended Dumbledore in some way, and wondered if he should run.
"Professor Lockhart…" Dumbledore had to interrupt Lockhart to prevent him from continuing.
"The so-called curse is just a rumour, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that most wizards in this position are alive and well… and that the school year's Chino was an accident."
'What about the few that remain?'
Lockhart wanted to question him, but Dumbledore did not give him the chance. The centenarian pointed to the open page in his hand and spoke meaningfully.
"Besides, if I remember correctly, you mentioned in your copy of Break with a Banshee that no one in the wizarding world knows better than you how to lift a curse!"
Lockhart then had a clear view of the book on the table, which was one of his autobiographies, Break with a Banshee.
On the page that Dumbledore opened, there was a moving picture of himself with a refreshing smile on his face, repeating the same words over and over again — No one in the wizarding world knows how to lift a curse better than I do!
"Ah, yes, it seems so!" Lockhart tried to defend himself, embarrassed, but Dumbledore's blue eyes under his half-moon spectacles were fixed on him, giving him the impression that he was being read.
Lockhart felt uncomfortable for a moment, but he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and quickly expressed that a small curse was nothing to him…
Dumbledore's tone relaxed a little as he tried to reassure Lockhart that he was actually quite safe in his post at Hogwarts, and that he usually taught and attended classes…
Not dangerous at all …
When Lockhart left, Dumbledore sighed in exasperation and wondered who he should replace next year…
It has to be said, there are fewer and fewer suitable candidates…