Confidant Teacher

Still failed? Albert put away his wand in frustration, plopped down in an armchair, and flipped through the notebook Lockhart had given him.

In the past few days, Albert has looked at it several times and tried countless times to use the Human-Shape Restoration Charm, but he has been unable to use the spell successfully, let alone make the Human-Shape Restoration Charm appear on the Skill Panel.

Albert can learn any magic spell that appears on the Skill Panel, no matter how difficult it is, but the Human-Shape Restoration Charm just won't appear on the Skill Panel, Albert quite helpless.

With his current Magical Power, even learning a difficult spell like the Patronus Charm wouldn't take him long. But he still couldn't learn the Human-Shape Restoration Charm, so it's worth suspecting whether Lockhart's notes to him were fake.

Albert was confident that Lockhart wouldn't deceive him. Even if Lockhart was a conman, he was just a conman who didn't understand Occlumency and couldn't possibly lie to him. Moreover, Albert had used language to manipulate and confuse Lockhart, making him obediently hand over the items. In return, Albert would keep the secret and wouldn't cause Lockhart any further trouble with questions.

Okay, I'll keep it a secret for now.

Therefore, there must be a problem in some aspect.

Was there something wrong with the notebook Lockhart received? Albert didn't dwell on these questions any longer. He planned to ask other wizards about it, such as Nicolas Flamel, who might be able to see the problem.

Albert is indeed far behind these elderly wizards.

As they prepared to pass through the hole in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, they encountered Hermione.

"Um... Professor Lockhart, is it in private..." Hermione glanced at Albert's profile and asked cautiously, "I wonder if I can go with you too?"

"What are you saying?" Albert turned his head to look at the girl beside him, not understanding what she meant.

"I often see you coming out of Professor Lockhart's office," Hermione said, her face flushed. "I wish I could..."

"Are you going in or not?" The Fat Lady glared impatiently at the two people in front of her.

"Sorry." Albert gestured for Hermione to go inside and talk. He had already understood the implication in her words and was quite speechless. Was this what idol worship was all about?

The two went into the Gryffindor Common Room together and found a secluded corner where no one was around to sit down.

"You admire Professor Lockhart a lot?" Albert asked Hermione curiously.

"Um..." Hermione's cheeks flushed red. "Don't you think he's very brave?"

"I don't know if he's brave or not, but I do think Lockhart is handsome and charming." Albert gave Hermione a knowing look. "It's okay, you don't need to be shy about it. Just like boys like beautiful and confident girls."

"Is something wrong, Ginny?" Albert asked, turning to Ginny, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Nothing?" Ginny shook her head.

"Speak your mind."

Do guys all like beautiful and confident girls?

"Yes, girls like that are usually very charming," Albert said softly. "Harry Potter is no exception."

Ginny's face immediately turned as red as a ripe apple.

"Perhaps you shouldn't focus most of your attention on Potter. Giving up on him for now is a good choice. Be confident, show your charm, and Potter will notice you one day." Albert said to Ginny, who seemed to understand but not quite. "Most people don't know how to cherish things that are too easy to get."

"Thank you," Ginny muttered, then got up and left.

"What's wrong?" Albert asked casually when he noticed Hermione looking at him.

"Nothing, I was just a little curious," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Fred and George's sister seem to idolize Harry Potter, but she's too shy and lacks confidence, so Harry always ignores her," Albert explained. "By the way, you're probably going to be disappointed about what happened earlier. Lockhart didn't give me any extra help; I mean, he didn't teach me any extra knowledge."

"Oh." Hermione was disappointed. She had actually wanted Lockhart to give her extra lessons so she would have a chance to spend more time with the person she admired.

"Of course, if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask Lockhart himself. Those stories still have their value; you can study them carefully and you'll definitely gain something from them," Albert reminded him. "For example, what to be careful about when facing Werewolf, vampires, and other Dark Creatures Dark Creatures, the spells used to deal with them in the book, and various tips and tricks. You should be open-minded and look for knowledge that is useful to you. If you don't understand something, ask Professor Lockhart; I believe he will be very willing to help you."

"Thank you, Albert." Hermione walked away excitedly.

"You're welcome," Albert said softly, watching Hermione's departing figure. He suddenly felt a little anticipation for how Lockhart would handle Hermione's barrage of questions.

He certainly wouldn't bother Lockhart with questions, but others could, especially Lockhart's admirers. How could he possibly turn them away?

"I heard everything just now."

A voice interrupted Albert's thoughts.

Shanna sat down in the armchair where Hermione had been sitting and looked at Albert, saying, "Is this really the right thing to do?"

"Hermione idolizes Lockhart, and I was just giving her a suggestion to have more opportunities to interact with the person she admires," Albert said calmly.

"You know that's not what I meant." Shanna looked at Albert and suddenly laughed. "Don't you know what kind of person Lockhart is?"

"Don't you like him?" Albert asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not everyone will like someone just because they're handsome!" Shanna said quietly.

"I thought..."

"I already have someone I like," Shanna said softly. "Unfortunately, that person has a girlfriend."

At that moment, Albert suddenly looked a little embarrassed. He understood what Shanna meant, and in the end, all he could say was "I'm sorry."

"This isn't your fault." Shanna hesitated, then let out a deep sigh, got up, and walked away.

In Shanna's view, Albert's actions were malicious.

Given Lockhart's teaching level, Hermione would probably Exposure him very quickly if she asked him the questions Albert had just mentioned.

Over time, Miss Granger will begin to have doubts about Lockhart, and eventually discover that he is just an ordinary novelist whose books are all fictional stories, and that Lockhart himself is not as remarkable as he is portrayed in his novels.

Yes!

Books can also be deceiving.