Adventurer Lockhart? Fraud Lockhart?

"The Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago?" Lockhart gripped the quill tightly, his almost vanished thirst for knowledge suddenly resurfacing, making him want to know about the Chamber of Secrets.

He glanced nervously at the door, wondering if it was just his imagination, but he felt as if the door was trembling.

He slowly wrote down a line of text, "What kind of monster is inside?"

What the monster is doesn't matter, because it may have already been destroyed. If I'm not mistaken, Dumbledore will do what he did back then: find another scapegoat.

"What did you say?" Lockhart's eyes widened. "Dumbledore found a scapegoat?"

That's right! Pansy Parkinson is the scapegoat.

Lockhart recalled, "Snape also mentioned Pansy Parkinson at that time!"

New handwriting emerged from the notebook.

I hope Dumbledore and his companions never came looking for you, otherwise you might end up like me, forced to do nothing to protect yourself and wait for future generations to uncover the truth.

Upon seeing this line, Lockhart's mind raced with countless conspiracy theories. He wrote down, "What do you mean? What exactly did Dumbledore do?"

Mr. Snape, you can also go to the Trophy Room on the fourth floor. There's a special contribution award medal there that belongs to me; it's the result of my choice to comply.

[Back then, I was just an ignorant child, misled by Dumbledore, and made a mistake I'll regret for the rest of my life—I accused Rubeus Hagrid!]

The honor I received tormented me, like being trapped in a whirlpool from which I could not escape! Yet, I was also afraid; I feared someone would discover that I was Dumbledore's accomplice.

I felt guilty towards the victim from back then, so I decided to give my life to express my remorse. But before that, I left behind a notebook to expose Dumbledore's crimes.

Lockhart couldn't help but sigh, "Deeply entangled in the vortex of honor..."

Looking at the string of words appearing on the notebook, he could empathize and understand that feeling of torment.

Especially at Hogwarts, this feeling of torment grew stronger as his fanbase dwindled...

Lockhart jolted awake, abruptly putting down his notebook. "No! I can't get myself into any more trouble! It's more important to escape!"

Just as he was about to close the notebook, stuff it into his suitcase, and leave, new content appeared on the notebook.

[Gilderoy Snape... sir? I remember Pansy Parkinson telling me they had a professor named Gilderoy Lockhart.]

This professor is quite amazing. Despite having written so many books, he has never demonstrated any real magic in class...

Upon seeing these two lines, Lockhart felt a chill run down his spine and immediately picked up his notebook, attempting to tear it in half.

After finding it difficult to tear, he tried stabbing it with a letter opener and splashing ink, but to no avail.

[Mr. Lockhart, those books must have brought you a considerable income... Do you really think you can escape unscathed?]

Perhaps the adventurer Lockhart in the book could indeed do that. But... isn't it a bit too much to assume that Lockhart is a con artist much like the Squib?

Lockhart frantically scribbled down a line: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"I am not your enemy, Professor Lockhart. I can help Pansy Parkinson become the Heir to the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets, which will also help you become a normal wizard."

"Real?"

[A drop of blood on the notebook is all it takes for us to communicate better.]

Lockhart's lips trembled, his gaze shifting back and forth between the letter opener and the notebook.

As if he had made a decision, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and picked up the letter opener, stabbing it into his finger.

As the blood dripped, he also felt a sensation of falling, as if he were weaving through the pages of a book, flitting among a strange array of colors and light.

At the end of the eerie colors, there seemed to be a figure. Only after he regained his balance could he finally see the figure's exact appearance.

He was a handsome young man with black hair and black eyes, dressed in a Hogwarts school uniform, exuding a cold and unhurried aura.

"Mr. Lockhart ... so this is why you can't cast spells?" The young man snapped his fingers, and a mirror appeared in front of Lockhart.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Lockhart let out a terrified scream, "Who is this? What have you done to me! I'm getting out of here!"

The mirror showed a human figure that looked like stained glass, with every inch of skin appearing as if pieced together, and it looked extremely distorted.

However, what terrified Lockhart the most was the large rift in the middle of the humanoid figure;

The crack looked extremely fresh, as if it had only recently opened; the edges were even twitching and wriggling, as if trying to close up and heal...

"So that's how it is..." The young man snapped his fingers again, making the mirror disappear. "Mr. Lockhart, you should calm down and listen to me!"

"He stuffed other people's memories into his own, but because he couldn't integrate these memories, his suppressed magical talent deteriorated further, and he became a stitched-together monster."

Unable to see that strange expression, Lockhart calmed down a bit, opened his mouth, and trembled as he asked, "How... how did you know?"

"What? You're willing to talk now?" The young man wore a smug smile. "Want to take it a step further? For example... eliminating those who know your secrets?"

After lunch, Wizet and Luna walked out of the castle gate one after the other.

Wizet appeared to be carrying a Mandrake, but in reality, she used Wandless Silent Levitation Charm to make the pot move with her, so it didn't take much effort.

Luna walked ahead, her waving wand like a joyful butterfly, clearing a path through the snow on either side.

The rainy weather at Hogwarts finally ended, and the snow arrived just in time, blanketing the Hogwarts in a thick, white blanket.

After the heavy snow, free from the worries of overcast and rainy weather, the sun reappeared in a flash.

It struggled for a while with the lingering clouds before finally breaking through, casting brilliant sunlight through the edges of the wispy clouds.

Sunlight spilled onto the ground, reflecting off the snow on both sides of the road, making it look as if two golden mountain ranges had been created out of thin air.

Luna would occasionally raise her wand and pick out a few beautifully colored leaves from the "Golden Mountains".

If the leaves are hidden treasures, Luna is the Niffler who can always spot them immediately, dig them out, and stuff them into her pocket...