[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker":3,"chapter-hogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker-hogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker-chapter-95":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts: Don't Call Me a Wandmaker",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2292347,4482,"Chapter 95: The Surprisingly Popular Defense Against the Dark Arts Class?","hogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker-chapter-95",95,"\u003Cp>Professor McGonagard kept her word; after finishing lunch in the Great Hall, Silven returned to the common room, where Ginny approached him with a scroll of parchment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is from Professor McGonagard,” Ginny said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you.” Silven took the parchment and unrolled it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over fifty book titles crowded together, nearly filling the entire scroll like an essay, making Silven’s scalp prickle with dread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had expected many books to read, but not this many—he even suspected Professor McGonagard might be deliberately trying to make him give up learning Animagus transformation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then Silven shook his head; Snape might be such a person, but the meticulous Professor McGonagard certainly wouldn’t—she wouldn’t joke about Transfiguration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was just too much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven scratched his head; even if he borrowed all these books from the library, it would take ages—he’d better head to class first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the afternoon was Defense Against the Dark Arts, the class most students looked forward to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the lesson began, Lockhart gave everyone a shock—well, a questionnaire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s favorite color?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s secret ambition?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearly half the students were stunned; Ron even turned the parchment over and over, insisting it must be the final exam paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven knew this was coming, but he couldn’t possibly have read all those books beforehand, so during class he deliberately sat beside Hermione and cheated to earn a decent score, barely preserving his “Lockhart admirer” persona.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What a pity—if Mr. Silven Ollivander had read Travels with a Troll more carefully, he’d have remembered my secret ambition includes selling my own line of hair care products.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven feigned a look of regret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyone who’d copied homework knew copying everything verbatim wouldn’t do—you had to deliberately miss or miswrite one or two answers; that was respect for the helper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like now: Silven left out one answer, making Hermione the only student to score full marks, earning Lockhart’s high praise and ten points for Gryffindor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione was so excited she completely overlooked Silven’s cheating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven sighed inwardly; what a wonderful little witch—too bad that after this class, her idealized fantasy of Lockhart would begin to crumble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hope she doesn’t take it too hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That was amazing—I’ve never had such an interesting Defense Against the Dark Arts class,” Hermione said, her cheeks still faintly flushed as the group returned to the Gryffindor common room after class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, I admit—he’s a bit better than Quirrell,” Ron said, unusually not arguing, “but only a bit, since he just stood there watching.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven trailed behind them, bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Things weren’t quite as he’d expected—Lockhart’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class had unexpectedly become wildly popular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t because Lockhart showed any extraordinary skill—in fact, he hadn’t even touched his wand during the entire lesson, only spoken a few words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven unconsciously recalled the scene half an hour earlier, when Lockhart had released a cage full of Cornish pixies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come on, herd them together—they’re just pixies.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Be careful—don’t provoke them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Excellent job, Miss Granger—just like that. But if it were me, I’d choose a more efficient spell.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Potter, quickly rescue Mr. Longbottom—I’m sure you can handle such a simple task, right?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, don’t worry—during this class, you may use magic freely. I’ve got everything under control.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lockhart stood there, lecturing as grandly as he had at the Welcoming Feast—but he didn’t move, just stood there giving verbal orders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether because of his words or not, the students gradually calmed down after their initial panic and began to recognize the true nature of the Cornish pixies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were merely mischievous magical creatures, incapable of causing real harm—their teeth couldn’t even bite through school robes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon someone remembered: in the Ministry’s official danger rating, Cornish pixies were XX-rated—harmless\u002Ftameable—alongside nifflers and bowtruckles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes—it was Hermione, the only one who had memorized the entire thick volume of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, everyone’s courage grew; once Lockhart permitted them to cast spells freely, chaos erupted. Spells flew everywhere, and excited shouts echoed through the entire floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was hard to imagine such noise occurring during a class—and yet, Gilderoy Lockhart’s first lesson was a resounding success; students praised him for his confidence, calmness, and apparent certainty that he could handle any chaos or consequence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, he hadn’t moved a muscle. Even when Longbottom was dragged up to the chandelier and nearly broke his bones, Lockhart merely told Harry to rescue him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After class, the broken desks and chairs, and the chandelier nearly torn from the ceiling—all were restored by the students’ magic. Lockhart left behind only two rows of gleaming white teeth and a golden back of his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he’d become the most popular professor because of this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm… maybe he really could.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Silven had to admit: a professor who imposed no restrictions and allowed students to cast spells freely in class was genuinely appealing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven suddenly realized his impression of Lockhart had been far too narrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, Lockhart was a fraud—his books’ adventures were all stolen from others; he shamelessly claimed them as his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that didn’t make him a brainless fool; quite the opposite—he was clever, as shown by his Sorting into Ravenclaw, even though he himself hadn’t been sorted into Ravenclaw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Lockhart’s exploits—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silven wondered: if he were Lockhart, could he have tricked others into giving him their adventures?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By tracking them down, questioning them about how they did those things, extracting every detail, then erasing their memories with a Memory Charm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer was: extremely difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because wizards who could drive off werewolves and tame trolls weren’t fools—they were highly cautious and unlikely to trust a stranger easily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Lockhart succeeded seven times, including with several who were Dumbledore’s friends.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he could deceive these renowned wizards, he surely wouldn’t be so easily exposed as a fraud by a few students.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only thing he couldn’t understand: why didn’t the Cornish pixies bother Lockhart? Did standing still make him invisible to them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But… Silven suddenly felt regret—he shouldn’t have rushed to sell that book, The Wizard Who Could Do Magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Allowing free spellcasting in class clearly suited Slytherin better—there were more wealthy witches there; selling it for a hundred Galleons might not be impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this thought, Silven parted ways with the others on the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I need to go to the library,” Silven said. “You go on ahead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to borrow the books listed on the parchment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The library?” Ron snapped his head up. “You’re not actually going to turn into Hermione… oh, sorry, Hermione, that’s not what I meant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Hermione’s hostile look, Ron quickly added: “I mean, why’s Silven suddenly interested in reading? He used to only like fiddling with wood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s a good thing,” Hermione said, stretching her words like Professor McGonagard giving a lecture. “If you two liked reading, you wouldn’t need to borrow my homework every day!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We don’t borrow it every day!” Ron protested.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes—except Saturday,” Hermione sneered. “Because you don’t even do your homework that day!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the three suddenly bickering, Silven shrugged and turned to walk downstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He dared not speak up—he might need to borrow Hermione’s homework too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If possible, Silven wanted to master Animagus transformation before his third year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, that meant dedicating more time and energy to Transfiguration—so Hermione’s textbook-perfect homework became vital, freeing up precious hours for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, faced with Hermione holding their homework, Ron quickly fell silent and changed the subject.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class is fascinating—did you see? I caught five Cornish pixies!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I caught three,” Harry smiled. “Looks like we all misjudged Lockhart—his class really is interesting.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told you he was an extraordinary wizard—you never believed me,” Hermione’s mood instantly improved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still, I think you shouldn’t have kept using the Levitation Charm,” Hermione said, recalling Ron’s performance. “One pixie got stuck on the ceiling by your book—it broke its wings. And Harry, you nearly stepped on one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The pixies stole my glasses—I couldn’t see,” Harry explained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d been searching for his glasses and hadn’t noticed a pixie had landed right at his feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, and the scene was so chaotic—we didn’t mean to,” Ron said. “Don’t worry—there’s Professor Lockhart, right? He’ll take care of those little things.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Remember that book my mum always reads? Gilderoy Lockhart’s Guide to Removing Household Pests—he must know everything about those creatures.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether for homework or some other reason, Ron had switched from calling him “Lockhart” in the morning to “Professor Lockhart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Naturally, Hermione was delighted by this shift, and the three quickly reconciled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1440,"2026-06-20T04:03:11.805Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","803b997c3f556cc916bcda8cff9d880e8bb7e2cc0de160556a3dd7cefe0c37a5","hogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker-chapter-96","hogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker-chapter-94",149,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-don-t-call-me-a-wandmaker-cover.jpg"]