Chapter 124: Lockhart's First Lesson

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Hermione snatched the schedule back, her face flushing red with anger...

The young wizards around them gasped at this brilliant scene; after all, the visual impact of a peacock fanning its tail was quite strong.

Harry and Ron dodged Allen's suddenly fanned tail feathers in some disarray, still clutching food in their hands.

"Why did you suddenly fan your tail?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Exactly! This morning I asked you to fan your tail for us to see, but you said peacocks only do it when courting; why did you suddenly do it now?" Harry also asked puzzledly.

Allen instantly realized his loss of composure and said casually, "Something just poked my butt..."

Then he quickly retracted his tail feathers, calmly continued eating lunch, while Hermione's face turned even redder...

Afternoon classes were about to begin soon.

Gilderoy Lockhart's eyes lit up upon seeing Allen's appearance; he walked over enthusiastically and put an arm around Allen's shoulders.

Allen was somewhat bewildered by Professor Lockhart's enthusiastic attitude; after all, in their previous encounters, Professor Lockhart had always been indifferent toward him...

Then Allen somewhat understood what was happening: Professor Lockhart asked Colin Creevey, who was passing by, to use his camera to take a group photo of Allen and himself, and after taking it, he instructed Colin to make sure to give him a copy once the photo was developed...

Allen felt offended...

However, Professor Lockhart paid no attention to the change in Allen's attitude and instead began announcing the start of the lesson...

Allen also composed himself and prepared for class; after all, this was a lesson he had long awaited...

"I notice you have all purchased my complete works, so let us conduct a little pop quiz—do not be afraid, it is merely to understand how much you have learned from my books..." Lockhart held up a copy of "Gadding with Ghouls" and flashed his signature smile at the entire class.

Speaking of exams, Allen had never been afraid, and he had indeed read through Professor Lockhart's works once; although he skipped many parts, he had carefully studied the combat sections he liked several times, so he felt fully confident about this quiz.

After distributing the papers, Professor Lockhart returned to the podium and said, "You have thirty minutes; begin now—"

Allen hurriedly opened his paper, but upon seeing the questions, he was completely dumbfounded...

1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

54. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what is his ideal birthday gift?

Similar questions filled three full pages, including inquiries about Lockhart's hair care routine; there were fifty-four questions in total, and Allen could not answer a single one...

He clearly remembered every spell Professor Lockhart used in every battle described in each book, but he knew nothing about these fan-oriented details...

Allen looked around somewhat helplessly; Harry and Ron were also staring blankly at the questions before them, and judging by their expressions, they certainly knew nothing either...

To his right, Hermione was writing furiously; Allen saw that she had already filled the first page of her exam paper completely.

At this moment, Allen suddenly began to miss the giraffe's neck he had randomly obtained during the summer vacation; that would have been a natural cheating tool—if today's random attribute had been a giraffe's neck, he could have easily copied Hermione's answers...

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Allen let out a long sigh and once again focused his attention on the exam paper, but all was in vain; he still could not answer anything, and since there were no multiple-choice questions, he could not even guess; finally, he handed in a nearly blank paper.

After collecting the papers, Professor Lockhart surprisingly began critiquing them on the spot; Hermione naturally received the most praise from him, while Allen's paper was disdainfully tossed aside.

Allen felt as if black lines were covering his entire head...

By the time Professor Lockhart finished critiquing the papers,

only half an hour remained until the end of class; Allen felt every second dragged like a year; he had never expected that the lesson he had anticipated for half a month would turn out like this...

However, at the end of the lesson, Professor Lockhart brought out a mysterious cage.

"Cornish Pixies, freshly caught!" he announced loudly.

Allen's level of expectation suddenly surged again...

Could it be that the main event was finally arriving? he thought with some excitement.

As a result, Professor Lockhart suddenly released all the pixies, and the classroom immediately descended into chaos...

Professor Lockhart also sensed something was wrong; he attempted to cast a spell to control the situation, but nothing happened, and then he abandoned his students and fled in disarray all by himself...

This formed a stark contrast to the image portrayed in his books.

Allen observed all of this; he suddenly understood what was going on; although he did not know how those battle descriptions in Lockhart's books were written, judging by Lockhart's performance today, he was undoubtedly a fraud dressed in fine clothes who could do nothing but boast!

Allen felt deceived; his heart was bleeding, and he now felt immense pain over those twenty-eight Jin Jin Jialong he had spent!

He angrily kicked away a pixie trying to grab his tail, then used the Petrification Spell to immobilize another one.

"Perhaps Professor Lockhart merely intended to give us an opportunity for practical practice," Hermione whispered beside him, waving her wand to deal with the pixies while offering a small defense for Professor Lockhart...

Allen glared fiercely at her, then knocked down several more pixies before finally venting some of his anger...

From then on, Allen's impression of Lockhart underwent a earth-shattering transformation...

After afternoon classes ended, Allen took out the address of Newt Scamander given by Professor McGonagall, wrote a long letter, and sent it off with Hedwig.

In the letter, he first introduced himself, then expressed his admiration for Newt, followed by a detailed introduction of his own situation, and finally sincerely requested the opportunity to learn knowledge about magical creatures from him.

Watching Hedwig's figure disappear into the distance, Allen suddenly felt he had made the right decision...

Although Lockhart's class was terrible, the other professors' classes still maintained a very high standard.

In the first Charms class of the second year, Professor Flitwick taught the Duplication Spell, whose effect was to duplicate an object into an identical copy; however, the duplicated item was merely superficial; the incantation was simple, and under Professor Flitwick's patient guidance, Allen quickly mastered this spell.

However, Allen believed this spell was useless, as it could not be applied in combat and was only suitable for daily life.

Therefore, he did not pay much attention to this spell.

But a later incident caused Allen to retract his previous opinion.

It was September 11th; Allen, as per his routine, drank Professor Snape's potion on the 10th, and on the 11th transformed into the eyes of a Thunderbird.

Then he returned to that long-abandoned girls' lavatory he had not visited in ages and began practicing all the spells he had recently learned.

And within the Thunderbird eyes, the Duplication Spell revealed a different aspect.

Looking at the dense ancient runes on the light screen, Allen felt a surge of wild joy in his heart.

The second piece of the puzzle for his DIY path had been filled in!