Lockhart certainly wasn't playing some kind of game.
The person who had tied him to the chair was none other than Professor Snape's werewolf assistant, Gillian Nicholas.
"Gilderoy Lockhart!"
Old Wizard Fiennes sat on the desk opposite the chair, turning a bright green apple over in his hands as he gazed at Lockhart. "I hear you're good at digging secrets out of other people's heads?"
Lockhart struggled with all his might, but the Vines binding him only tightened, squeezing him until he could hardly breathe. "Th... that's all... in the past!"
Fiennes glanced over at Gillian. She merely shook her head at him. "I'm sure Mr. Lockhart, who once served as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, knows that you shouldn't struggle when you're caught in Devil's Snare. If you stop, the Vines will loosen on their own."
Lockhart froze for a moment, then hurriedly stopped struggling. Sure enough, before long, the Vines constricting him loosened a little.
But only a little. After all, the fearsome plant was under the control of the witch Gillian.
"Good. There's something I'd like to ask you to help me with." Old Wizard Fiennes looked down at Lockhart in the chair. "You should know that a lot of Witch Hunters have suddenly appeared in Europe. I need someone to help me follow the trail and drag them out of their hiding places, one by one."
"No!" Lockhart cried in terror. "We all know those people were sent by the Dark Lord. Dumbledore also said that keeping them around might have some benefits. I can't afford to offend both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore!"
"Is that so?"
Fiennes chuckled. He gently stroked the green apple in his right hand, then pulled a pale, creamy-colored worm out of one of the holes in it.
He