Lockhart's "feat" of being defeated in a single move by an upper-year student quickly spread throughout Hogwarts—
"Have you heard? Lockhart can't even block a Leg-Locker Curse properly!"
"That's not all! The stories in his books were probably all things he heard from other people, then he used Memory Charms to make the real owners forget them!"
"My cousin's neighbor's uncle is a Curse-Breaker. He said he treated an adventurer a few years ago whose brain was damaged by a Memory Charm. The symptoms were exactly like those of the victim in one of Lockhart's 'exclusive experiences'!"
"Really? Then why did he come to Hogwarts? To scam children?"
As Lockhart walked through the corridors, the admiring gazes and excited shrieks that had once surrounded him had turned into whispering gossip, pointed fingers, and undisguised looks of mockery.
The dazzling smile that had always been his trademark grew increasingly stiff, until it was almost nothing more than a twitching mask at the corners of his mouth.
What drove him even crazier was that the younger students, especially the red-haired Gryffindor twins, seemed to have turned this into a new form of entertainment.
Before nearly every Defense Against the Dark Arts class, George and Fred would solemnly raise their hands and issue "friendly duel invitations" in the most innocent tones imaginable, while bold students from other Houses joined in the heckling.
At first, Lockhart forced himself to maintain a professor's dignity, sternly refusing and emphasizing "classroom discipline."
But the rumors only grew worse. He desperately needed a victory, even if his opponent was just a young wizard, to prove that he was not completely useless.
When Hermione Granger stood up as well and calmly, clearly stated that she "wanted to learn from the professor about the practical applications of the Disarming Charm,"