Chapter 126. The Second Horcrux, In Hand!
Adrian Wesson had always known Gilderoy Lockhart's temperament: anything that could bring him attention, he would pursue tirelessly.
He had seen it countless times back at school.
Naturally, the results had never been ideal.
It was obvious that appearing in the newspapers alongside Harry was an exposure opportunity for Lockhart.
Sure enough, after greeting Wesson, Lockhart turned his attention back to Harry and clamped a firm hand on his shoulder.
Then Lockhart hauled Harry in front of an uncountable number of cameras.
"Everyone, today is a very special day!" Lockhart flashed a dashing smile and raised his voice. "Because not only am I announcing the release of my new book, 'Magical Me,' I also have an even more exciting piece of news!"
Harry wanted desperately to bolt, but Lockhart's grip was strong; he couldn't move an inch for the moment.
And Wesson—standing quietly to one side—looked very much as if he were waiting to watch the show.
Lockhart paused theatrically, making Harry falter as well.
At last, he declared, "Starting this September, I will serve as Hogwarts's Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor!"
The crowd erupted into a deafening roar of chatter.
Grinning smugly, Lockhart pulled Harry even closer. "And this young gentleman has just told me himself how much he's looking forward to my lessons!"
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Lockhart's louder voice drowned him out: "To celebrate this wonderful news, I'm giving him a complete set of my signed works!"
Immediately, Harry felt a whole set of Lockhart's books appear in his arms—hardback, signed editions.
In fact, though he hated to admit it, he had read most of them.
To manage the weight of the heavy volumes, Harry had to sneak out his wand and quietly use a Levitation Charm.
When Harry finally fought his way out of the flashbulbs and fans to the bookshop door, he found Wesson leaning against the wall.
"How does it feel," Wesson asked with a smile, "regarding Lockhart?"
Harry let out a heavy sigh. "More exhausting than dealing with a dragon."
To be honest, the rosy filter through which he'd viewed Lockhart had cracked a little.
Of course, it hadn't shattered completely.
After all, his books made one thing quite clear—Lockhart was absolutely a fellow who loved praising himself and showing off.
That said, the content of those books was still worth some acknowledgement.
So although Lockhart's behaviour today had left him a bit at a loss, it hadn't strayed too far from Harry's overall impression.
"You'll get used to it," Wesson patted Harry's shoulder. "Lockhart is more trouble than you think."
Just then—
"Bang—crash—stop!"
A sudden clamour burst from inside the shop, sounding thoroughly chaotic.
Harry and Wesson exchanged a glance and stepped through the door.
The bookshop was in a shambles.
Books that had been neatly arranged lay scattered all over the floor, several bookcases had toppled askew, and quills and ink were splattered everywhere.
The crowd had recoiled to either side in panic, spontaneously clearing a patch of open space.
At the heart of the chaos, Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy were grappling with each other like a pair of street toughs.
Mrs Weasley was screaming, while Fred and George were pumping their fists on the sidelines, cheering for their dad.
…All right, so they had ended up brawling, just like in the original story.
Naturally, Wesson sided with Mr Weasley in this fight.
He shook his head and quietly twitched his fingers.
A transparent spell shot toward the ground by Lucius's feet.
Lucius's foot suddenly slipped. He toppled backwards and crashed against a fallen bookcase with a heavy thud.
Arthur seized the opportunity, flipped over to straddle Lucius, and brought his fist down hard several times into Lucius's face.
"Hiss—"
Harry winced and put a hand to his own face.
That had to hurt…
"Stop! All of you, stop!"
Hagrid's booming voice exploded over the din.
His enormous frame forced its way through the crowd; he hoisted both men off the floor like a pair of chicks and set them on opposite sides.
Lucius's cheeks were swelling on both sides, and a trickle of blood lined the corner of his mouth—clearly Arthur's handiwork.
Arthur, aside from a crooked tie, was nearly unscathed.
Panting heavily, a victorious grin on his face, he allowed Molly to drag him backwards by the arm.
As she hauled him away, Molly scolded, "I can't believe you—look at the example you're setting for the children—brawling in public… The children must be heartbroken!"
The Weasley children, however, did not see it that way.
George and Fred punched the air in excitement.
"Way to go, Dad!"
"You didn't embarrass us, Dad!"
After taking two affectionate thumps from Molly, the twins wisely shut their mouths.
Staggering to his feet, Lucius viciously thrust a tattered textbook into the hands of a trembling Ginny beside him. "Take it, girl. This is all your father can give you."
Then, without looking back, he swept out with Draco.
At the same moment, Wesson strode quickly to Ginny's side and said soothingly, "Don't be afraid, Ginny."
Clearly unused to such scenes, Ginny lifted her tearful face and clutched at Wesson's sleeve.
"I'm all right," she sniffled. "Dad won."
"Mr Weasley is truly formidable," Wesson nodded in reply.
Then, quite naturally, his gaze settled on the book in Ginny's hands—a second-hand Transfiguration textbook.
"May I have a look at your textbook?" Wesson asked gently.
"All right, Professor."
Ginny didn't know why Wesson wanted to read her book, but she still handed it over.
"Let's see… ah, this was your brother Percy's textbook. He does very well at school; you'll learn a lot from the notes he made…"
Feigning casual page-turning, Wesson in fact checked every inner fold with care.
Sure enough, tucked among the pages he found a black-covered diary.
Needless to say, it could only be Lord Voldemort's Horcrux.
"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley's voice called from the side. "We're leaving."
Taking advantage of the moment when Ginny turned her head, Wesson deftly slipped the notebook free and slid it up his sleeve without drawing a flicker of attention.
The second Horcrux, in hand!
After that, Wesson returned the second-hand textbook to Ginny and encouraged her, "Don't waste the notes your brother wrote—they'll be a great help to you."
Ginny nodded timidly.
Afterwards, everyone filed out of the bookshop,
while Wesson remained inside; he felt he ought to help the poor, helpless shop assistant.
The clerk looked as if he wanted to stop Hagrid, but he wasn't even as tall as Hagrid's waist and could only watch Hagrid's party leave.
Under the assistant's grateful gaze, Wesson helped him with a few Repairing Charms.
The toppled bookcases stood themselves back up, and the scattered books flew neatly back to their shelves.
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