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Chapter 539: Lockhart's Exploits
Chapter 539: Lockhart's Exploits
Creating the live-action map was much simpler than Albert had imagined. It didn't take him long to successfully create a prototype.
However, due to his lack of proficiency, he was unable to expand the map's coverage to the entire Hogwarts Castle, nor could he focus solely on Ginny Weasley.
The only consolation for Albert was that after the successful creation of the map, a skill called Monitoring Map appeared on his skill panel.
All that remained was to optimize and modify it to his liking.
"I wonder if I can mark the Basilisk on the map as well," Albert mused as he examined the live map in his hands.
He tucked the map into his shirt pocket and left the Room of Requirement. Ever since Isabelle lost her Time-Turner, the amount of time they spent together had significantly diminished, and even their dates had to be scheduled in advance.
Although Albert could use his own Time-Turner to send himself and Isabelle back an hour, it was still inconvenient in many ways.
After having breakfast in the Great Hall, Albert headed directly to Hagrid's hunting cabin.
Oh, and his roommates?
Early in the morning, Fred and George had eagerly accompanied Wood to the Quidditch pitch for training.
Lee Jordan was still asleep.
He had gone a bit overboard with the Unboxing and Unsealing Charms the night before.
Come to think of it, Fred and George, who had also gotten a little too enthusiastic, were actually quite pitiful. They had to start pitch training in the very first week of school.
Perhaps with the arrival of September, the weather around Hogwarts had cooled down compared to before, and the approach of winter was becoming evident.
Albert walked along the gravel path to the hunting cabin and knocked on the wooden door. Soon, the sound of Hagrid's dog, Fang, scratching at the door could be heard from within.
"Who is it?"
Hagrid, wearing an apron and holding a rooster, saw that it was Albert outside the door and couldn't help but tease him. "Come in, our Quidditch champion."
"Here you go!" Albert handed a box to Hagrid.
"What's this?" Hagrid wiped his hands on his apron and took the box from Albert, asking curiously.
"Cream candies."
After handing over the box, Albert squatted down to rub Fang's head and took out a packet of fish jerky from his pocket to feed the boarhound.
"Actually, you don't have to specially buy these things for me." Hagrid sighed and admonished, "Don't waste your galleons in the future."
"No, I didn't buy these. After the newspaper incident, a lot of people sent me packages. I opened them all last night and found a bunch of snacks, so I brought some over for you." Albert often gave away snacks he received from strangers, as he didn't usually eat them himself.
Hagrid looked at the cream candies in his hand and then back up at Albert, unsure of what to say.
"Do you want one?"
Hagrid put down the rooster, fetched a bucket of water from outside to wash his hands, and then opened the package, pouring the candies into a bowl.
Albert wasn't sure what to say either. Was it inappropriate to eat directly from the box? When he saw Hagrid's sausage-like fingers picking up the candies, he realized that Hagrid probably just found it more convenient this way.
"You really don't want any?" Hagrid started to make tea for Albert.
"I just had breakfast," Albert shook his head. "By the way, I wanted to ask you about something."
"What is it?"
"About Lockhart, why did Dumbledore choose him as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Albert fed the rest of the fish jerky to Fang. "To be honest, his classes are dreadful. I've only attended two, but they were unbearable."
"It's difficult to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher these days." Hagrid popped a few more candies into his mouth and waited for the water in the copper kettle to boil before pouring a cup of amber-colored tea for Albert. "People don't want to take the job, thinking it's bad luck. You know what I mean."
"Oh, so do you have any impressions of Lockhart?" Albert asked again, "I get the feeling that most of the professors at school don't like him very much."
"Lockhart?" Hagrid took a big gulp of tea and recalled, "To be honest, I don't think anyone expected Lockhart to become a somewhat famous writer."
"What kind of person is he?"
"An extremely narcissistic and vain individual." Hagrid seemed to emphasize his point by nodding heavily. "That's why he's not well-liked. When he was a student at Hogwarts, he caused no end of trouble."
"Trouble?"
"For example, before a Quidditch match, he carved his name onto the pitch, with each letter being enormous in size, practically taking up the entire field." Hagrid reminisced, "I was the one who had to fix it overnight, so I remember it vividly."
"That does sound like something Lockhart would do." Albert laughed, "Are there any other exploits?"
"Well, Lockhart once secretly projected his portrait into the sky at night, just like the Dark Mark..." Hagrid's words trailed off as if he were recalling some unpleasant memories.
"The Dark Mark?"
"Okay, so you know about the Dark Mark." Hagrid couldn't help but smile wryly, "Lockhart startled everyone that time. Imagine the uproar caused by his portrait suddenly appearing in mid-air."
"It seems he's indeed very narcissistic and loves to promote himself to others." Albert suddenly asked, "Has Lockhart come to see you?"
"No, why?"
"I think he'll be coming to chat with you very soon!" Albert said, "Are there any other stories about Lockhart?"
"There was also the time he sent himself a bunch of Valentine's Day cards." Hagrid didn't understand what Albert meant by his previous statement. "I wasn't there at the time, but I heard from the professors that a large number of owls flew into the Great Hall to deliver a pile of cards to Lockhart. It was quite a spectacle."
"Right, how was Lockhart as a student? I mean, in terms of his personal abilities." Albert briefly recounted some of Lockhart's exploits from his books to Hagrid.
"I don't know. Maybe Lockhart does have some talent, but he definitely wasn't a hard-working student, or else the professors wouldn't have disliked him so much." Hagrid didn't believe for a second that Lockhart could have accomplished the feats Albert had just mentioned. "I remember that when he graduated from school, everyone breathed a sigh of relief."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Hagrid went to open it and was stunned by the person standing outside.
"You really called that one," Hagrid muttered under his breath. When he turned back, he found that Albert, who had been sitting there a moment ago, had disappeared.
(End of Chapter)
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