Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 95: The popular Defense Against the Dark Arts class?
Professor McGonagall did what she said. After Ciarán finished his lunch in the Great Hall and returned to the common room, Ginny came over with a piece of parchment.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to give this to you," said Ginny.

"Thank you." Xi Lun took the parchment and opened it.

More than fifty book titles were crowded together, almost filling up the parchment, just like a thesis, which made Xi Lun's hair tingle.

He had thought there might be a lot of books to read, but he hadn't expected so many. He even suspected that Professor McGonagall was doing this on purpose, trying to make him give up learning Animagus.

Then Ciron shook his head again. Snape might be such a person, but the strict Professor McGonagall would definitely not be such a person. She would not joke about Transfiguration.

But this is too much.

Xi Lun scratched his hair. With so many books, it would take a long time to borrow them from the library. He decided to go to class first.

In the afternoon we have Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is also the class most people look forward to.

Right at the beginning of the class, Lockhart gave everyone a warning... well, a questionnaire.

"What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition."

……

Almost half of the students were confused, and Ron even checked the parchment over and over again. He insisted that this should be the exam paper for the end of the school year.

Although Xi Lun knew that this would happen, it was impossible for him to finish reading so many books in advance, so he deliberately sat next to Hermione during class and got a good score by cheating, which barely kept his identity as a "Lockhart admirer".

"What a shame! If Mr. Ciarán Ollivander had read 'Sailing with Vampires' carefully, he would have remembered that my secret ambition was to sell my own line of hair conditioner."

Xi Lun pretended to look annoyed.

Anyone who has copied homework knows that it is definitely not okay to copy everything verbatim. You should always intentionally leave out or copy one or two incorrectly. This is also a respect for the person who provided help.

Just like now, if Siren had copied one less answer, Hermione would be the only student to get full marks, which also earned her high praise from Lockhart and added ten points to Gryffindor.

Hermione was so excited that she immediately ignored Xiren's cheating behavior.

Xi Lun sighed slightly in her heart. What a good little witch. Unfortunately, after this class, her beautiful fantasy about Lockhart would begin to shatter.

I hope she doesn't feel too bad.

then……

"That's amazing! I've never had such an interesting Defense Against the Dark Arts class." After class, when everyone returned to the Gryffindor common room together, Hermione's face was still slightly flushed.

"Ah, I admit, he's a little better than Quirrell." Ron rarely refuted, "But only a little. After all, he was just watching from the side."

Xi Lun followed the three people in a daze.

Things seemed a little different from what he expected. Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts class was unusually popular.

It wasn't because Lockhart showed any extraordinary strength. In fact, he didn't even touch the wand during the whole class and just said a few words.

Xi Lun subconsciously thought of the scene half an hour ago when Lockhart released a cage of Cornish elves.

"Come on, herd them together, they are just a group of elves."

"Be careful not to provoke them."

"Well done, Miss Granger, that's right, but if it were me I would choose a more efficient magic."

"Potter, hurry up and rescue Mr. Longbottom. I believe you can do such a small thing, right?"

"It's okay, it's okay. You can use magic as much as you want in this class. I'll take care of everything."

Lockhart just stood there, giving a big speech like he was at a start-of-term party, but he didn't run away; he just stood there and gave verbal orders.

Perhaps his words worked, but after their initial panic, the students gradually calmed down and discovered the true nature of the Cornish elves.

They are just magical animals that like to play pranks, but they can't cause any substantial harm to them. Their teeth can't even bite through school uniforms and robes.

It soon occurred to someone that in the Ministry of Magic's official danger level, the Cornish elf is XX, meaning harmless/tamable, and is at the same level as the Niffler and Bowtruckle.

That’s right, it’s Hermione. She is the only one who memorized the entire thick volume of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”.

Now everyone was emboldened, especially after Lockhart allowed them to cast magic freely, things got out of control. Spells flew everywhere in the classroom, and the excited shouts almost echoed throughout the entire floor.

It was hard to imagine that this was the kind of noise that could occur in class. At the same time, Gilderoy Lockhart's first class was a great success. The students all praised him for his confidence, composure, and self-possession, as if he was confident that he could solve all the chaos and consequences.

In fact, he just stood there without moving. Even when Neville was dragged onto the ceiling chandelier by the Cornish elf and nearly broke his bones, Lockhart only asked Harry to help rescue him.

After class, the broken tables and chairs in the classroom, as well as the nearly fallen chandelier, were also restored to their original state by students using magic. Lockhart was left with only two rows of shiny white teeth and a golden back of his head. Did this make him the most popular professor?
Hmm...it seems to be possible.

Even Xi Lun had to admit that a professor who did not impose any restrictions and allowed students to use magic freely in class was really attractive.

Xi Lun suddenly realized that his impression of Lockhart seemed a little too one-sided.

Indeed, Lockhart was a fraud, and the adventures in his books were other people's stories, which he shamelessly stole and claimed for himself.

But this does not mean that he is a fool with an empty head. On the contrary, Lockhart is very smart. This can be seen from the fact that he was sorted into Ravenclaw when he was in school. He himself was not sorted into Ravenclaw.

And Lockhart's experience,

Xi Lun wondered, if he were Lockhart, could he trick these adventures out of others?

Track down those people, ask them how they did those things, get the whole story out of them, and then use a forgetfulness spell to erase the evidence.

The answer is difficult.

Because a wizard who can drive away werewolves and tame trolls cannot be a fool. They are all very vigilant and it is difficult for them to easily trust a strange wizard.

But Lockhart succeeded seven times, and some of the people he met were even friends of Dumbledore.

He was able to deceive these famous wizards, so it wouldn't be so easy for a few students to find out that he was a fool.

The only thing he couldn't understand was why the Cornish elves didn't bother Lockhart. Wouldn't standing still attract their attention?

Maybe.

But... Xi Lun suddenly felt a little regretful. If he had known that Lockhart's teaching level was like this, he should not have rushed to sell the book "My Magical Me".

Being able to use magic freely in class is obviously more to the Slytherin's liking. There are more wealthy witches there, so it is not impossible to sell it for a hundred Galleons.

With this mood, Xiren separated from the others on the stairs.

"I have to go to the library." Xi Lun said, "You guys go back first."

He was going to borrow the book on parchment.

"Library?" Ron looked up suddenly and blurted out, "You're not really going to turn into Hermione, are you... Oh, sorry, Hermione, that's not what I meant."

Seeing Hermione's unfriendly look, Ron quickly explained, "What I meant was, why did Xi Lun suddenly like reading? He obviously only liked to tinker with wood before."

"That's a good thing." Hermione deliberately dragged out her tone, sounding like Professor McGonagall lecturing her, "If you could also enjoy reading, you wouldn't need to borrow my homework every day!"

"We don't borrow it every day!" Ron retorted.

"Yes, except Saturday." Hermione sneered, "Because you don't do your homework that day!"

Looking at the three people who suddenly started arguing, Xi Lun shrugged and turned to walk downstairs.

She didn't dare interrupt because he might also want to borrow Hermione's homework.

If possible, Xi Lun hopes to learn Animagus transformation before the third grade.

Of course, this also means that he needs to focus more time and energy on Transfiguration. At this time, homework with the same standard answers as Hermione is very important and can help him squeeze out more time.

On the other side, facing Hermione holding her homework, Ron quickly stopped talking and began to change the subject.

"This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class was really interesting. Did you see that? I caught five Cornish pixies!"

"I caught three," Harry said with a smile. "It seems we all misunderstood Lockhart before. His class is really interesting."

"I've always told you he's a great wizard, but you never believed me." Hermione's mood brightened immediately.

"But I still think you shouldn't keep using the Levitation Charm." Hermione thought of Ron's behavior in class and said, "You pushed an elf into the ceiling with a book and broke its wings. And Harry, you almost stepped on an elf to death."

"The elves took my glasses and I didn't see them," Harry explained.

He was looking for his glasses and didn't notice that a little elf had fallen right at his feet.

"Yeah, and it was such a mess at the time, we didn't do it on purpose," said Ron. "Don't worry, isn't there Professor Lockhart? He'll take good care of those elves."

"Remember that book my mother used to read? Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Keeping Your House Pests Out? He must have known a lot about those little things."

I don't know if it was because of homework or for some other reason, but Ron's way of addressing him changed from Lockhart in the morning to Professor Lockhart.

Hermione was naturally the happiest about this change, and the three of them became friends again.

(End of this chapter)