Lockhart’s luck was fairly good.
By the time they returned to Hogwarts Castle, the feast had only just begun.
Seeing Lockhart arrive, Dumbledore, who had just finished leading the school song and was about to sit down, stood up again.
“He has finally arrived!
Staff and students, please allow me to formally introduce—though many have already heard of or know him—Gilderoy Lockhart, who will be Hogwarts’ Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year!”
The Great Hall immediately erupted into enthusiastic applause, especially from the female students.
“Thank you!
Thank you!”
Lockhart beamed, gracefully bowing to the four house tables.
“Having been away from Hogwarts for so long, I can’t wait to revisit this familiar ground and contribute what little I learned during my school days and travels to all of you.
I hope you achieve great learning and, more importantly—a safe and peaceful life!”
After speaking, he bowed again, eliciting even more fervent applause from below.
Once the applause finally subsided, Dumbledore spoke again: “What an excellent speech.
Only with a safe and peaceful life can we enjoy more delicacies and unique scenery…
Considering everyone is ravenous, I shall only say this: please eat heartily!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the four house tables and the staff table were laden with delicious, aromatic food.
Though the girls’ gazes still lingered wistfully on the staff table, the protests of their stomachs forced them to focus on their plates—though they continued to chat while eating.
Lockhart wasn’t in a hurry to sit down.
He first went to see his Head of House from his student days—Professor Flitwick.
Flitwick looked at him with satisfaction.
“Good, you understand prioritizing important matters.
Although you still enjoy showing off, at least you’re on the right path now.”
“I hope not to bring shame to Ravenclaw.
Today’s students are even cleverer than before,” Lockhart said modestly.
Next, he went to pay his respects to Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout, who had also taught him.
Don’t be fooled by Professor Sprout’s seemingly low profile; she was a veteran from the era of Armando Dippet.
After Herbert Beery resigned following the incident involving teaching Voldemort, she had been the Herbology professor at Hogwarts.
In terms of seniority, she wasn’t far behind Dumbledore.
Professors McGonagall, Sprout, and Flitwick—these three pillars held positions at Hogwarts second only to Dumbledore.
After he was gone, it was these three who upheld the school.
No matter how many times Dumbledore himself was driven out, as long as they remained, the school wouldn’t fall into chaos.
As for Snape, he was still too young, only four years older than Lockhart, making him the least senior and authoritative of the four Heads of House, even if his power likely made him the second strongest at Hogwarts after Dumbledore.
Regarding Lockhart, a student who had always sought the spotlight through various means during his school days, these three professors had initially found him somewhat of a headache.
Although Dumbledore had also hinted that Lockhart “might be unreliable,” because they didn’t know the full story, they sometimes wondered if this student had changed.
After making his rounds, Lockhart finally sat down and picked up his knife and fork to eat.
Harry and Ron wanted to seize the chance to slip over to the Gryffindor table, but Snape appeared behind them with a cold sneer, tossed them a newspaper, and began ruthlessly humiliating them.
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall ate quickly.
As they were no longer young and didn’t have large appetites, they left after only a few bites to deal with the matter of Harry.
Lockhart wasn’t worried at all that the “Boy Who Lived” would be expelled from Hogwarts.
As long as Dumbledore was there, even if the castle were demolished, they would have to remain Hogwarts students.
So Lockhart continued eating heartily.
Shortly after, Snape storming back to his seat and roughly pulling out his chair confirmed Lockhart’s thoughts—Harry and Ron were only given detention, without even a single point deducted, which somewhat annoyed Snape.
Especially when Snape saw the feast was over and nothing remained on the tables, Lockhart thought he looked like steam might come out of his head.
Although Hogwarts ensured no one went hungry year-round, grand feasts like the Start-of-Term Feast only happened once or twice a year.
Missing it meant waiting until Christmas—though it was unclear why wizards also celebrated Christmas.
“Want a cupcake?
You didn’t take one outside earlier.
I bought these on the train and have two left.” Lockhart kindly offered them to Snape.
Snape turned and left in a huff.
Soon after, Professor McGonagall reappeared in the Great Hall, and Lockhart took the opportunity to ask her for “detention students,” saying he needed help replying to fan mail.
Professor McGonagall agreed readily—it was just replying to letters; it shouldn’t cause any irreversible physical or mental damage to the students.
Finally, the cupcakes Lockhart hadn’t managed to give away found a destination.
When the hungry Harry and Ron returned to the Great Hall to find nothing left on the tables, their dismay was palpable.
“Have these cupcakes first…
By the way, which of you has better handwriting?” Lockhart asked kindly.
Though unsure why Lockhart asked, Ron quickly looked at Harry—he came from a wizarding family.
While he could read, he hadn’t attended primary school and didn’t have many occasions to write.
Harry’s handwriting was clearly more practiced.
Seeing Ron look at him, Harry had to raise his hand.
“Good.
Harry, you’ll come to my office for detention this Saturday.
Ron, you’ll go to Mr.
Filch,” Lockhart decided immediately.
Judging by Ron’s expression, he was surely regretting not practicing his handwriting more diligently before.
Giving the Savior such lenient treatment would surely please Dumbledore, Lockhart thought.
…
Dumbledore was indeed quite pleased with Lockhart at the moment, especially after the Head Boy submitted Lockhart’s proposal.
It seemed this year’s appointment wasn’t entirely a waste.
If Lockhart truly accomplished what was stated in the proposal, the Boy Who Lived would at least mature significantly, and Hogwarts’ graduation rates would look much better.
Indeed, even a venomous snake had its uses.
However, Dumbledore wasn’t without questions regarding Lockhart’s actions.
“You said he asked you to brew a magic-resistant color-changing potion?
For glasses?” Dumbledore wanted to be absolutely clear.
“For contact lenses,” Snape said impassively.
Hungry people were generally irritable, especially someone like Snape who spared no one’s feelings.
“Contact…
lenses, is that how it’s spelled?”
“You haven’t grown that senile yet…
It’s a type of glasses invented by Muggles, worn inside the eyelids.”
“How interesting…
Is it a coincidence?”
Snape shook his head.
“He shouldn’t be aware.
Even if he saw Lucius’s actions in Diagon Alley, he wouldn’t know what that thing was…
Even I still don’t understand what it is.”
Dumbledore looked down at his desk, seemingly deep in thought.
After a long while, he spoke again.
“I have a bit of a hypothesis about that diary…
though it’s only a hypothesis.
Regardless, this adds an insurance to our actions.
At least it will prevent many accidental injuries, won’t it?” he said slowly.
Snape smiled sardonically.
“If there were accidental injuries, would you stop because of them?”
“No,” Dumbledore answered seriously.