[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-learning-panel":3,"chapter-hogwarts-learning-panel-hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-344":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts Learning Panel",{"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},2250582,4210,"Chapter 344: Lockhart","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-344",344,"\u003Cp>Outside the greenhouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snow covered a patch of lawn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Professor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just over a month—that’s incredible—oh, may I see it, child?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Sprout shifted her patched hat slightly upward, as if afraid it might block her view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, as Professor Sprout walked through the snow, a jet-black cat perched on her shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The professor was delighted—she had never expected…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can’t even imagine how surprised Minerva will be.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She murmured, watching the black cat leap and transform back into a small wizard in a black robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Sprout seemed to have not seen anything so amusing in a long time; she uncommonly put down her hoe and ended her day’s work early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And just minutes later, it was time for dinner at Hogwarts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wizard Sean had nothing to pack—he merely checked his small greenhouse one last time, closed the gate, and left behind a suspended camera—it would record the plants’ condition every half-day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he joined Justin and the others with a bag of potion ingredients, Hermione was already furious:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That damn fraud—we have to expose him!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Justin and the others, who had just heard Bruce’s account, nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just now, Bruce, bound by Leon, had told them in detail about Lockhart’s deeds:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Interesting. First, I must say we once tried to send him to Azkaban. But we failed…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had good connections with every newspaper, and we were just students—no one wanted to listen to what we knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People always believe what they want to believe—even the witch he supposedly saved firmly insisted Lockhart was the one who saved her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, digression… I was just talking about his deeds. Of course, the deeds were real—but the protagonists were all replaced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Obliviation. We suspect it’s this—through constant practice of this cunning spell, he likely succeeded in altering the memories of a dozen brave and accomplished wizards, stealing their heroic feats to build his own fame…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bruce’s words were logical and well-reasoned; his meticulous reasoning and bold, precise hypotheses stood in stark contrast to his wriggling form on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione closed her eyes and felt she was listening to a wise wizard reconstruct the truth; when she opened them, she saw only the wriggling Bruce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me add a few more of my interesting findings—may not be useful, but as long as they make Lockhart suffer, that’s enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professor Sprout told us:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lockhart wasn’t without talent. On the contrary, the professors believed his intelligence and ability exceeded the norm—he could have achieved great things with effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if he never fulfilled the grand ambitions he bragged about to his classmates—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lockhart told anyone who would listen that he would successfully create a Philosopher’s Stone before graduation, plan to lead the English Quidditch team to win the World Cup, and then strive to become Britain’s youngest Minister of Magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, you can guess, he naturally became unpopular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Lockhart still achieved his primary goal—making the whole school know him—through repeated, attention-grabbing stunts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He used magic to carve his signature in twenty-foot-tall letters across the Quidditch pitch, and was put in detention for a week because of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He even managed to create a massive glowing projection, mimicking the Dark Mark, to project his face onto the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One year he sent himself eight hundred Valentine’s Day cards; that day, the Great Hall was piled high with owls, and he had to skip breakfast because his porridge was full of feathers and droppings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stimulo! (Stinging Jinx!)”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Bruce spoke, and Leon fell into thought, he suddenly launched a surprise attack on Leon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no intention of freeing himself; instead, seeing Leon as miserable as he was, he grew cheerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Hermione fully understood what “reliable yet unreliable” meant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We need to contact the newspapers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving the greenhouse, Hermione frowned and said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Hufflepuff seniors’ evidence is more than enough—I don’t know what the Ministry of Magic is doing, letting this fraud walk free when proof is so easy to gather!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Most newspapers won’t report it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Justin’s voice was low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Some will.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione pondered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, Harry had rushed off to Quidditch training, Ron followed him, and Neville had returned to the greenhouse to work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the three of them remained in the snow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Quibbler?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hermione reluctantly took the newspaper seriously; hearing her, Justin smiled gently:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hermione, my mother told me a wise person isn’t always strong themselves—sometimes, they’re better at ‘strategic use.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the young wizards nearly expose Lockhart and send him to Azkaban, Wizard Sean now understood just how strong the Dark Arts Defense curse was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And back in the Great Hall, Wizard Sean faced another difficulty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to leave for Christmas, but his detention with Professor Snape wasn’t over yet…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unsurprisingly, Uncle Marcus was still waiting for him at McGonagall’s cottage…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Christmas would likely be far more unexpected than Wizard Sean imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked toward the head table: Professor Sprout spoke warmly with Professor McGonagall, who laughed in full agreement, while Professor Snape sat scowling, as always, silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Christmas was coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Hall was decorated magnificently: over a dozen Christmas trees dusted with silver frost, thick garlands of mistletoe and holly crisscrossing the ceiling, and enchanted snow—warm and dry—gently drifting down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>House-elves worked overtime on Christmas puddings; wizards anticipated the holiday, their faces alight with excitement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This weekend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upperclassmen could naturally go to Hogsmeade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again this year, they gathered, gleefully shouting about what they’d do first in Hogsmeade, while younger students could only listen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But there’s the feast, isn’t there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Great Hall, Ron pretended not to care and said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know—the Christmas feast.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah,”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry was truly disappointed but still nodded along,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Great.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Christmas feast was nice enough—but if they could spend the whole day in Hogsmeade like the upperclassmen before attending, it would be far better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, Harry and Ron still strained to listen until they caught one keyword:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait—what’s Grawe’s Bookshop?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry exclaimed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five more chapters tomorrow\u003C\u002Fp>",997,"2026-06-19T10:00:41.888Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","173c72fb3d0c374f926fc836272d40af2f23f758d4e084fa47d94d10de2f5559","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-345","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-343",526,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-learning-panel-cover.jpg"]