A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Rita Skeeter hurriedly called to the three peeking wizards, "Do you know where Professor Lockhart's office is? I need to see him." She gave them a stiff smile, but her mind was already elsewhere.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at her in disbelief. Why was this woman back again?

Hermione didn't answer, only glaring angrily at Rita Skeeter. But when Ron saw her gaze shift to Harry, he quickly said, "Next to Classroom 2 in the Underground."

Rita Skeeter left satisfied, but as she walked, a strange feeling lingered in her mind; the girl's gaze hadn't been friendly.

But who cares! She's not some celebrity anyway, otherwise I could have easily written her into the article!

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, looking sullen.

"Listen to me, don't let Harry get involved with that woman. She'll dig up Harry's ancestors for eighteen generations," Ron explained.

The little witch seemed somewhat relieved, and Harry then realized that he seemed to have just escaped a whirlpool unscathed.

……

In a dark underground corridor, Rita Skeeter disappeared for a few seconds, and then a beetle flew out of the darkness, flapping its wings and skillfully flying to the side of Classroom 2 in the underground corridor.

The beetle hovered in mid-air for a few seconds, staring at the sign that read "Defense Against the Dark Arts - Gilderoy Lockhart" in an anthropomorphic manner, before silently slipping through the crack in the door.

Lockhart was pacing back and forth in his office, looking exasperated. Even the row of portraits hanging on the wall seemed to be frowning.

The beetle landed on the edge of a portrait, looking down at him.

"Damn it... "

Lockhart lost his usual composure, constantly rubbing his hair with both hands, making his golden curls even more disheveled.

"Maybe I can do something, like I used to, something I'm very good at, good enough at..."

Lockhart was talking to himself while looking at a life-size portrait of himself. In the portrait, Lockhart was giving him a thumbs up and showing off his white teeth.

"But what about the charge of assaulting the Minister of Magic? Good heavens, this is absurd! It was just an accident, an accident! I won't let anyone frame me, even if he is the Minister of Magic!"

"I'm not someone to be trifled with either. I have a huge readership, and they will all support me."

Lockhart thought about it carefully for a while and concluded that he probably wouldn't be imprisoned in Azkaban, which made him feel a little better.

"But what if my readers found out I was lying to them..." He couldn't help but shudder.

Everything seemed to have returned to the beginning, and he was wondering how to deal with Rita Skeeter's troubles.

Lockhart became agitated again, feeling he shouldn't have agreed to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for the sake of new book sales.

"You old liar!"

After a while, Lockhart sat down in a chair, took out a piece of parchment, and quickly wrote something.

The beetle spread its wings and crept closer from the other side. It landed near a stack of published books, crawled over a white velvet handkerchief, and hid behind an exquisite sippy cup.

This position allows you to clearly see Lohart's text.

"Ms. Rita Skeeter, I write this with a calm heart..." Lockhart wrote only a few words before suddenly crumpling the parchment into a ball and throwing it away.

The crumpled paper knocked over the narrow cup on the table, revealing a beetle hiding behind it.

For a second or two, Lockhart and the beetle's small eyes met, and a huge sense of absurdity welled up in Lockhart's mind—the patterns on its body were exactly the same as those on Rita Skeeter's jeweled glasses!

"How could such a disgusting thing be in my room?"

Under his watchful eye, the beetle quickly made its escape.

Lockhart didn't think much of it; he casually picked up a stack of student assignments and slammed them down.

"Snapped!"

But the beetle was completely unharmed; in fact, it ran even more happily, climbing to the edge of the table, flapping its wings, and taking flight, quickly moving away from Lockhart.

"Hey, I don't believe it!" Lockhart chased after the annoying beetle and beat it.

After dodging several times, Lockhart swatted the beetle to the ground and stomped on it.

The problem was finally solved, and his depressed mood improved considerably.

Wait, this feeling underfoot...

Lockhart quickly realized something was wrong. Dazzling light began to burst from the soles of his feet, and his feet were involuntarily lifted and pushed apart. A woman's head appeared, and soon her limbs also extended out.

He stared in disbelief as the beetle beneath his feet transformed into a woman, a despicable woman named Rita Skeeter!

"Rita Skeeter! You, you, you!" Lockhart was stunned; his foot was still on her shoulder. He stumbled backward in terror, slamming hard against the table.

Rita Skeeter lay on the ground, an embarrassed expression on her face. She never expected things to turn out this way.

Lockhart, that good-for-nothing, managed to stumble upon such an incredibly rare opportunity! What incredible luck!

After years of spying on countless secrets, how could I possibly fall into the hands of a fool?

Does he have some kind of prejudice against beetles?!

Meanwhile, Lockhart's expression was suspicious, his hand rubbing behind him, where his wand lay on the table...

He stalled for time: "Rita Skeeter! I never expected you to be an Animagus, my God! You're an illegal Animagus, sneaking into my room to spy on me..." He turned around and grabbed his wand!

With the wand in hand, he was confident of victory.

But by the time he turned around, Rita Skeeter was already baring her teeth and charging at him.

"Thump!"

Skeeter's obese body slammed into Lockhart, causing him to cry out in pain. The two wrestled, and the portrait of Lockhart on the wall screamed in unison.

"Get away!" Lockhart struggled desperately.

"Huffing and puffing!"

Rita Skeeter gained the upper hand due to her size. She pinned Lockhart down with one hand and pulled her wand from her pocket with the other, pressing the tip of the wand hard against his forehead as she frantically chanted a spell.

"Forget everything, and all is emptiness!"

After a moment, Lockhart's expression became blank.

When he came to his senses, Lockhart felt his mind was a bit of a mess. "Hmm, what was I thinking about? Right, that woman, Rita Skeeter. I have to write to her. I have to agree to her demands, or my career and reputation will be ruined."

"Merlin, one problem after another! I shouldn't have come to Hogwarts!"

Lockhart stood up. The office had been tidyed up again, but the portrait on the wall looked sickly and clearly lacked energy.

……

Meanwhile, Felix followed Dumbledore and the others to the school hospital. Dumbledore summoned Fawkes the phoenix again, and the little guy gave his master a reproachful look before reluctantly healing Fawkes with tears.

"At least there were no lasting effects. If word got out that the Minister of Magic was attacked at Hogwarts..." Madam Pomfrey poured out a bottle of black potion and gave it to Fudge, whose cheeks turned rosy.

"Knowing the minister as I do, he won't tell anyone," Kingsley said. "However, that woman named Rita Skeeter, she's a problem!"

"Don't worry, I'll talk to her," Felix said calmly, scrutinizing Fudge's face and quietly plucking a tuft of his hair.

It wasn't that he wanted to do anything special; it was just that his position was too ideal and the opportunity too rare.

Why not take advantage of it? You never know when you might need it later.