"Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts?" Gilderoy Lockhart sneered. "That's a cursed job. For decades now, no teacher who took it has ever lasted more than a year."
"Three were severely injured and could only spend the rest of their lives at St Mungo's; six became disabled; eleven could never find work again after leaving the post... and one died. Quirinus Quirrell, my prefect when I was studying at Ravenclaw, died for no apparent reason, and Dumbledore never gave any explanation... Even if you offered me ten thousand Galleons, I wouldn't apply for that position!"
"Then why did you become our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Jon had already guessed part of it, but his face still wore an expression of confusion.
"A thoroughly dreadful accident, about a year ago." Lockhart curled his lip before continuing.
"I must have been mad at the time. I actually wanted to write a book about A History of Magic, and so I set my sights on a witch living in Godric's Hollow: Bathilda Bagshot... You'd never dream that such a shabby, ugly witch in patched robes would be friends with Albus Dumbledore. And, even more unfortunately, just as I was about to use a Memory Charm on Bagshot, Dumbledore happened to come to visit her!"
Jon was already observing a moment of silence for Lockhart in his heart. His experience was almost exactly what Jon had guessed.
"Dumbledore caught me red-handed!" Lockhart tossed his suitcase aside and collapsed onto the sofa. "At first, I thought Dumbledore would send me straight to Azkaban, but instead, he made me a proposal!"
"Make you the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts?" Jon suppressed his laughter.
"That's right!" Lockhart shook his head weakly. "If not for that, what fool would accept this