When Harry received word that Lockhart wanted him to come to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, his first instinct was to refuse.
He did not want to spend time with that useless idiot.
The monster attack had once again made Lockhart synonymous with uselessness. Of all the professors and other staff in the school, he was the only one who had ended up laid out in the Hospital Wing.
He had not even been among the first to wake up in the Hospital Wing.
He had regained consciousness a little later than quite a few seventh-year students.
Harry felt there must have been some special reason why Lockhart's Magical Flame and Soul Projection had been so enormous. The man himself was useless.
As for everything that had happened before, it had all just been coincidence.
In the wizarding world, a few bizarre coincidences were hardly impossible to understand or accept. Even his devoted fans, those young girls, could not make excuses for him this time.
Hermione, at any rate, had already given up her worship and admiration of him.
Although Harry really did not want to see Lockhart, Lockhart was still a professor, so he could only hold his nose and go.
Yet when he reached the door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, what he found inside rather surprised him.
The entire office had been cleared out. The large photographs on the walls, showing Lockhart in all sorts of poses, makeup, and outfits, were all gone.
All the lavish, ostentatious decorations were gone as well.
Only two large trunks remained in the room, standing by the door.
Harry raised his eyebrows, unsure what this was all about. Was Lockhart changing offices? Surely not?
Besides, before coming, he had assumed Lockhart had summoned him to help