About Gilderoy Lockhart

About Gilderoy Lockhart

"Perhaps once you've grown stronger and started to develop your own fighting styles, you can choose your wand position, grip, and battle stance based on the magic you're best at. But right now, you have no practical experience, and some of you have only just started learning magic..."

"So today we're learning the most versatile, standard stance, one that even plenty of Aurors are happy to use: the 'Sword-Holding Stance.'"

"Hook your thumb around your wand, curl your index finger in front of it, and grip the wand with your remaining three fingers. Keep your shoulders relaxed and lower your wrist..."

"Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Shift your weight onto your left leg, and rest your relaxed left hand against your waist so you can make auxiliary gestures..."

"Tuck your chin in, keep your eyes level with the front, and lean forward slightly..."

Professor Baker moved the lectern aside and demonstrated the standard stance. "This posture ensures you can move nimbly at any moment and control your distance from your opponent..."

Like a fencer, he made a few light, springing steps. "It also lets you quickly cast spells that don't require a long time to prepare, giving you the upper hand in battle. And once you've mastered spell deflection and the Shield Charm, your outstretched wand will also be your best shield. Even if your opponent strikes first, you'll still be able to defend yourself effectively."

"Now,"

He returned to a normal standing position and waved his wand. In an instant, all the desks in the classroom disappeared. "Everyone, take out your wands, spread out, and start practicing the stance!"

"I know this may seem a little dull compared with your other classes, but it's something you absolutely have to learn—the most basic of basics... How about this? If your performance in this lesson satisfies me, I'll consider speeding up the curriculum and sharing a few simple but useful spells ahead of schedule..."

Professor Baker looked at the eager young wizards and continued with a smile, enticing them: "Some of them even came in handy during the battle I demonstrated just now."

That was all it took. The young wizards scattered in a flurry without waiting for Professor Baker to say another word. Fixing their eyes on the stance diagram he'd left on the blackboard, they carefully practiced while comparing their postures to it. Professor Baker also left the lectern and began making rounds, correcting people's movements from time to time.

"Your hand's too high. Your entire right side is exposed!"

"Relax your shoulders. This stance is meant to help you move nimbly, not turn you into a statue!"

"You don't have to grip your wand that tightly. It's your assistant, not your enemy!"

"Don't twist your waist like that. You'll get a stitch in your side if you do that in a real fight!"

"Shift your weight back. You're standing like you're doing a horse stance!"

When it came time to practice, Professor Baker became strict. He spotted and corrected even the slightest mistake. Everyone, including Avada and Cho, who had exceptional athletic ability, was corrected several times.

Once everyone could hold the stance properly, Professor Baker led them through some combat movements: jumping forward, retreating, dodging, attacking, defending... After a whole series of drills, even the energetic young wizards were sweating and panting.

Finally, with just over ten minutes left before the end of class, Professor Baker waved his wand, bringing the desks back, and signaled for them to stop practicing.

"Very good. You've improved faster than I expected!"

Once all the students had sat down, Professor Baker clapped his hands in satisfaction and smiled. "I thought it would take you at least the whole lesson to master this stance, but you've already reached the standard with ten minutes to spare."

"There's not enough time left to teach you any new magic... So, if you have any questions about Defense Against the Dark Arts, you can ask them now, and I'll answer them."

The moment he finished speaking, almost everyone in the classroom raised their hands in unison, looking eager.

"Hmm..."

Professor Baker casually called on a Hufflepuff near the front row. "Mr. Summers, what's your question?"

"Professor, I was wondering: you're an adventurer and a council member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts League, so you must have a job. Why did you come to Hogwarts to teach?"

He asked somewhat shyly, since it wasn't a question about Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Professor Baker didn't fault him for it. He smiled and replied, "The main reason is that I've hit a bottleneck in my magical development, so I've decided to put my adventures and council duties aside for a while and carefully review the fundamentals of my magic. And being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is undoubtedly the best job for me during this time. It lets me go over what I know in the textbooks, while also contributing to education... What's that saying? Teaching and learning go hand in hand. That's the idea."

"Even a powerful wizard like you can hit a bottleneck, Professor?" Summers asked.

"Of course. Everyone hits a bottleneck, even Dumbledore." Professor Baker smiled and gestured for Summers to sit down, then called on another student. "Miss Chang, what's your question?"

Cho stood up, blushing slightly. "Professor, may I ask if you know Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart?"

Professor Baker was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "We've never met, but I've long admired him, and I've read quite a few of his books. I have to say, they're excellent—both practical and literary. I've learned a great deal from many of the techniques he describes."

"Then, Professor, which of you is stronger, you or Mr. Lockhart?"

"Hmm..."

Professor Baker hesitated at the question, then carefully chose his words. "He and I... each have our own strengths."

"Though I've never met him in person, his books suggest that Lockhart is the sort of person who's well-read, quick to react, and familiar with plenty of obscure but useful knowledge. He's good at relying on his wits to survive all sorts of dangerous situations and encounters with wild magical creatures—in other words, a typical adventurer."

"As for me, I'm more like an Auror in the field, or an ancient dark wizard hunter. I specialize in going to dangerous places to take on dark wizards and dark creatures. Compared with wilderness adventures, I'm better at fighting in all kinds of man-made perilous situations. Of course, I do occasionally go somewhere remote to relax and enjoy the scenery."

"Then do you have any exciting adventures of your own, Professor?" another girl asked curiously.

"Me?"

Professor Baker gave a rueful laugh. "All I can say is that if I published a book about my experiences, it probably wouldn't sell even a tenth as well as Lockhart's. The things I have to deal with require a very high level of expertise, and a layperson wouldn't understand them. Besides, the stories wouldn't be as full of twists and turns. Most of them are complicated—or, you could say, bloody..."

"Take Lockhart's new book from last year, A Year with the Tibetan Yetis, for example."

"It's basically about Lockhart going on an adventure in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where he accidentally fell into a crevasse and ended up in a hidden world beneath the ice. His wand was broken and his supplies were running out, so he used Transfiguration, simple Potions, and his extensive knowledge of magical creatures to disguise himself as a Tibetan Yeti. He joined the local group to stay alive and look for a way out."

"Then, in an accident, one of the Tibetan Yetis discovered his identity. But with his wit and experience, he befriended the creature and persuaded it to help him conceal who he was, beginning a remarkable story of a human and a Yeti living together."

"But later, as the glacier shifted, the crevasse began to close, and the Yetis' habitat was about to collapse. Lockhart and the Yetis worked together, using all kinds of knowledge and a bit of luck to escape the world beneath the ice and return to the surface. Lockhart then said goodbye to the Yetis and returned to human society. That's more or less how it went, right?"

Professor Baker paused again, carefully choosing his words, hoping not to disappoint the girls who idolized Lockhart too much. "If I'd run into the same situation... Uh..."

"I probably could've climbed out of the crevasse on the very first day. Wandless Magic isn't particularly difficult for me."