Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 294: Impressing Lockhart! Assigning Teaching Tasks!

It happened almost in an instant.

Lockhart, who was slumped on the ground, stopped muttering to himself, put away his confused and desperate expression, and changed his body from slumped to a carefully designed and handsome side-lying position.

A set of bright white teeth was revealed along the naturally upturned corners of his mouth.

The flash of the magic camera shone through, then vanished in a flash.

He spat a new photo into Dali's hand.

Dudley had a premonition. When he picked up the photo, Lockhart was indeed elegant, smiling brightly, her eyes sparkling as she moved, showing off her big white teeth, and even winking with her left eye.

There was absolutely no sign of him being in a sorry state.

Dudley put the portable magic camera back into his personal space, casually tossing away the photos in his hand as if they were worthless.

Then he looked at Lockhart in the distance and slowly walked over.

When the camera disappeared, his perfect posture and feigned expression gradually faded. He wanted to continue his panic and despair, but after the interruption, his emotions were somewhat disjointed, and it was difficult for him to return to the state of his previous delirious muttering.

In this state, Lockhart saw Dudley approaching him and was so frightened that he tried to get up and run away.

Looking around, there was no way out; the door to the House of Requirement was sealed by magic.

Panic and with no hope of escape, Lockhart endured a series of stimuli, which in turn brought out another side of him.

As a renowned bestselling author who can reorganize and restructure the chaotic experiences told by others into first-person stories;

As someone who could get outstanding wilderness survival wizards from many countries to open their hearts and share their experiences, he was ultimately tricked into losing his memory by the treacherous Lao Liu.

Gilderoy Lockhart is not just a showy, pretentious celebrity; he also has a sharp and intelligent side.

Just now, Dali took his picture, which reminded him that he can't live without cameras, flowers, honors, and applause.

He didn't want to spend the rest of his life forgotten or even despised.

Now we can neither fight nor run away, and they have leverage over us. We can only negotiate and compromise, and exchange benefits.

After analyzing everything that happened after he met Dudley, he also figured out some of the causes and consequences.

Lockhart's rationality gradually returned to his mind, and he became more lucid.

He quickly got up and, facing Dali who was approaching him, asked in a trembling voice, "What exactly do you want?"

You know my secret, but you're not a fan of mine, and you don't care about my charm and captivating smile. Why don't you just go to a newspaper and expose me, ruining my reputation?

You've brought me here and are interrogating me privately. Are you trying to blackmail me into doing things for you?

Or is it that one of the wizards I fought in the past is a friend or relative of yours, and you want to capture me and...torture me as revenge?

Upon hearing this, Dudley stopped and stood two meters away from Lockhart.

His eyes held a hint of admiration for Lockhart, and then he slowly spoke:

“Mr. Lockhart, you are indeed a smart man at heart, no wonder you are a Ravenclaw alumnus.”

"If you hadn't neglected your other magical training for so long, and hadn't become obsessed with fame and the adulation of others, you probably wouldn't have turned into this pretentious show-off you are now."

"What exactly are you trying to say? Assistant Professor Dursley, if you promise to keep this a secret, you'll gain my friendship, and I can write your biography and publicize your story extensively..."

Lockhart, unsure of Dudley's meaning, quickly spoke up, offering some of his bargaining chips.

"I just said you were smart, how come you've lost your mind again? I can have fame anytime I want, and unlike you, I don't think fame is anything worth caring about."

Dudley interrupted Lockhart's desperate ramblings and got straight to the point, "Actually, you were right about one thing just now. The reason I didn't publicize your secret was indeed because I wanted you to work for me."

To be precise, I want you to be a dedicated and sincere professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, rather than just using it as a means to boost your reputation and doing it half-heartedly.

I'm not some absolutely impartial judge or a saint. The sins you committed in the past weren't to the point where I couldn't tolerate them and wanted to kill you outright, nor did they directly offend me or anyone connected to me. Therefore, I'm willing to give you this chance.

“Really? Drsley’s assistant professor, all I have to do is be a good professor? I will! I absolutely will!”

Lockhart was overjoyed, feeling that Dudley's demands were very simple and that his reputation was preserved.

"hehe!"

Dudley sneered, laughing at Lockhart's naiveté. "You don't actually think being a good professor is easy, do you? And who told you I only asked you to do this one thing?"

Lockhart's smile faded, and the light in his eyes dimmed again. He forced himself to respond:

“Teaching Assistant Dursley, just tell me what you want, and I’ll do whatever it takes as long as it’s within my power.”

"That's exactly what I was thinking! First, tell me what I need you to do, and what you should do about it."

Dudley gathered his thoughts briefly and began to make arrangements for Lockhart, "First, you need to curb your temper and keep a low profile at Hogwarts."

Forget about fan clubs, taking the lead in group photos, or having a dedicated owl messenger team.

Your correspondence with your fans and pen pals should not be delegated to students, and should not interfere with the normal teaching and living conditions at school.

Don't try to build a fan base among students; instead, teach them to be rational, avoid blindly idolizing celebrities, and focus on their studies.

Upon hearing Dudley's first point, Lockhart's mood instantly darkened further.

This completely robbed him of his greatest joy at Hogwarts.

But he didn't dare to refute it.

“Secondly, it is important for a person to know their own limitations,” Dudley continued. “You must never forget that you are just a pretty face who only knows the Oblivion Spell.”

In Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I hope you will always keep this in mind and not mindlessly follow other professors' example by bringing in small to medium-sized dark creatures to fight in class and demonstrate to the students.

Don't even dream of starting any dueling club. My classes already have practical training programs; you don't need to add anything unnecessary.

And, most importantly, your Defense Against the Dark Arts class will focus primarily on theoretical instruction.

Aside from the Oblivion Charm, you should not teach your students any other spells. The teaching of spells is the responsibility of the other Defense Against the Dark Arts professors.

Moreover, when you teach theoretical knowledge, this theoretical knowledge is not your birthday, the honors and awards you have received, your hobbies, etc.—all that useless junk information.

Rather, it's the real experiences and combat skills you wrote in the book, from outstanding wizards of various countries, on dealing with all sorts of dangerous dark creatures.

I believe that if you can write these experiences into a bestseller, you will definitely be able to use vivid language to impart this content to students' minds!

After Dudley finished stating the second point, Lockhart was even more shocked.

He couldn't understand how Dali knew his secret, or how he could guess his ideas so accurately before he even had a chance to implement them.

Could it be mind control or teleportation? Or perhaps foresight?