Matching the Names

Chapter 95 Matching the Names

The Weasley brothers' repeated praise and compliments did not make Belvina feel elated; she still remembered her own worth.

Speaking ill of another professor in front of students is something that should never be done, which is why Professor Flitwick and others avoid talking about it.

We are all professors at Hogwarts, colleagues in the workplace. We may not be able to urinate in the same pot, but we can't urinate on each other.

Even though this person was Gilderoy Lockhart, whose moral standards were outrageously low, the professors still managed to remain rational and restrain their urge to hit him.

Belvina, on the other hand, was fearless; her bold life needed no explanation, and at twenty-seven or twenty-eight, she was at the age to cause trouble.

Maybe.

Belvina paused for a moment on the podium, then touched her earlobe and twirled her hair, making one small gesture after another.

If the reporters from Diagon Alley were here, they would immediately see through the purpose of Belvina's series of subtle actions. Whenever she was about to make up a lie to fool the reporters, she would give them a friendly hint with a hidden gesture.

"You might not believe it, but I was a quiet and reserved girl in my student days," Belvina said slowly. "Don't laugh!"

The students didn't just doubt it; they simply didn't believe it. If their Professor Blake could be considered calm and reserved, then...

The Weasley twins were exceptionally well-behaved children.

Belvina Black was a quiet and reserved girl; the students would be a fool to believe that.

These days, nobody believes the truth anymore. Where is the most basic trust between people? Belvina sighed inwardly, blaming all the mistakes on her students, since she hadn't done anything wrong anyway.

"Back then, I was a very quiet girl. You can ask any of the professors except Professor Snape," Belvina explained. "So I didn't know Professor Lockhart at all; I didn't know him at all."

At this moment, the students were disappointed, their emotions were heavy, and even Professor Blake, who was usually outspoken, kept his mouth shut. Where else could they find the truth?

"Professor Black!" one of the Weasley brothers exclaimed. He must have been Fred. "We've heard Dad mention you at home."

"So please stop with the meaningless official platitudes," George added. "Just get to the point, please!"

The students in the classroom had rekindled their hope, fed up with the reading corner-like Defense Against Dark Magic and the role-playing-like classroom activities.

If possible, the students would like to get rid of Gilderoy Lockhart immediately and replace him with a capable professor; they don't want to deal with this useless piece of trash Lockhart anymore.

"My student days overlapped significantly with Professor Lockhart's, but I'm not really familiar with him," Belvina said. "We were a year apart and from different colleges, so it's not unusual that we're not familiar with each other."

This is the truth. During her school days, Belvina didn't really know Lockhart, but she was familiar with all the outrageous things Lockhart had done at school, and the name Gilderoy Lockhart was very well-known.

It wasn't just Belvina; many of Lockhart's contemporaries were the same. They might not have known Lockhart personally, but they were certainly familiar with all sorts of "legends" about him.

"If you have family members around my age, you can write to them and ask," Belvina said. "I'm sure you'd be quite surprised."

The spark that had just ignited in the students' hearts was about to be extinguished again. Their Professor Black had once again betrayed their teacher-student relationship. She chose to protect Lockhart, Dumbledore's accomplice!

"I can't fulfill your requests, but I can tell you a story." Belvina revealed a mischievous grin, making no attempt to hide it. "As compensation, I guarantee this story will be very exciting."

The classroom immediately fell silent, and the students held their breath, not wanting to miss this exciting story.

As for who the main character of the story is, is there even a need to ask? Professor Black's undisguised wicked smile says it all. We can't exactly ask her to just say her name!

"There was once a very handsome little boy in the school. He was smarter than most people. Many professors believed that as long as he studied hard, he would definitely achieve great things."

Belvina slowly began to speak, recounting Gilderoy Lockhart's student days and what she knew about him.

Of course, all the names of the characters in the story have been hidden, and students have to guess and match them up themselves.

Lockhart was very intelligent, much smarter than his classmates, and possessed all the qualities that make him likable, yet he ultimately became someone that everyone disliked.

It all stemmed from Lockhart's fatal flaw: he craved attention too much, wanting the whole world to revolve around him. He said, "Let there be light," and the world must have light.

This is a power that only gods in mythology possess. How could Gilderoy Lockhart, in his student days, have done it? He's not the sun, and the eight planets have to revolve around him.

The stark contrast between his initial and subsequent experiences upon entering university did not silence Lockhart; instead, it fueled his vanity, leading him to devise ways to attract the attention of professors and students, striving to make himself noticed by everyone.

Methods included, but were not limited to, claiming that he could successfully create the Philosopher's Stone before graduation, which made Paul Bernard and Quirinas Quirrell cry in the bathroom.

Lockhart also once said he wanted to lead the England national team to victory in the Quidditch World Cup, eventually becoming the youngest Minister of Magic in history.

However, despite Lockhart's boasting, the attention he desired did not materialize as he had anticipated.

Who hasn't boasted a few times when they were young? Lockhart's boasts weren't exactly fresh or unconventional, so how could they attract attention? People would just laugh it off and that would be the end of it.

So Gilderoy Lockhart embarked on a new plan, proposing to Dumbledore the creation of a school newspaper. Belvina had long forgotten the contents of the newspaper, but Lockhart's bold, cursive signature remained vivid in her memory.

In addition, Lockhart once had his name engraved on a Quidditch pitch, projected his portrait like a Dark Mark over the school, and mailed himself hundreds of Valentine's Day cards, forcing the school to cancel breakfast.

It's important to know that there were no boys who survived great calamities during Lockhart's school days; this was precisely when Voldemort was running rampant in the British Isles.

When Lockhart projected his portrait into the sky using the Dark Mark, the entire school was furious.

His absurd behavior made the already tense atmosphere among teachers and students even more strained.

As Belvina recounted the story, the students mentally identified with the characters, gaining a thorough understanding of Gilderoy Lockhart's student days.

In summary, Gilderoy Lockhart is an extremely vain person who craves attention and fame but is unwilling to do anything substantial and only talks empty words.

Surprisingly, Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't as bad as the students had imagined. Although he was annoying, he was at least somewhat human, much better than the current Professor Lockhart.

"And then what?" Fred pressed impatiently. "What did that boy do next?"

Lockhart's student days were exciting enough, but not exciting enough; the students wanted to hear something even more sensational.

For example, Gilderoy Lockhart was a big fraudster.

"I don't know what happened after that," Belvina shook her head. "Maybe he fulfilled his boast, maybe he became a bestselling author, who knows?"

Belvina didn't say anything more or make things up; she genuinely didn't know what happened to Lockhart afterwards.

Every time I heard Gilderoy Lockhart's name after graduation, it was always about him writing another bestselling book or accomplishing another remarkable feat. Whether these feats were merely the author's imagination or based on fact, I have no idea.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Belvina said, "after hearing this story, I hope you will learn from it and not become the protagonist of the next story."

Don't become the protagonist of the next story, that is, don't become the next annoying Gilderoy Lockhart.

It's not so bad if people just dislike you, but it's worrying if you take risks for vanity and fame and do something stupid that can't be undone.

Punishing Lockhart, inciting students to protest, and driving Lockhart away were just side effects; since Lockhart was already here, they might as well make some contribution to the school.