Chapter 129. Start of Term
The Sorting Ceremony proceeded in an orderly fashion.
"Now, when I call your name, you will put on the hat, sit on the stool, and await your Sorting."
Professor McGonagall's voice echoed through the Great Hall.
As in the original story, Ginny was Sorted into Gryffindor.
That was only to be expected; everyone from the Weasley family ended up in Gryffindor.
Besides Ginny, there was one other first-year who drew Adrian Wesson's attention.
That was Luna.
When Luna's name was called, she had her wand tucked behind her ear and was smiling up at the candles floating beneath the ceiling.
In the end, she was Sorted into Ravenclaw, just as Adrian remembered.
After the Sorting Ceremony concluded, there was a segment to introduce the new professors.
As expected, this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was Gilderoy Lockhart.
To be honest, Adrian had rather underestimated how popular Lockhart was among the students.
The moment the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's name left Dumbledore's lips—
The entire Hall erupted into deafening cheers. Many of the girls leapt to their feet, clapping and shrieking as if overcome.
At that moment, Lockhart—who happened to be seated right next to Adrian—rose and inclined himself slightly to the students.
He kept a fixed smile on his face the whole time.
"Ah, thank you, everyone." Lockhart's voice was absurdly loud—louder even than Dumbledore's. "As your new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, I promise—this will be the most exciting year yet! After all, who better than me—Gilderoy Lockhart, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—to teach you how to stand against the threats of darkness?"
In truth, Adrian failed to see what the Most Charming Smile Award had to do with Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Another round of frenzied applause followed.
Adrian watched the staff table with interest.
He saw Professor McGonagall clapping stiffly; Snape's face was thunderous.
Even Lockhart's former Head of House, Professor Flitwick, wore a complicated expression.
It looked as though even the professors found Lockhart somewhat unreliable.
Of course, that impression came largely from Lockhart's schooldays at Hogwarts.
Lockhart, however, could not see the staff's reactions; his attention was fixed on the students.
Seeing their enthusiastic response, Lockhart sat down, well pleased.
The Start-of-Term Feast officially began.
Lockhart obviously wasn't the taciturn sort.
From the moment he sat down, he had been rattling on—about his adventures, his books, his shampoo…
And the person seated beside him, Adrian, became the first target of Lockhart's self-promotion.
Naturally, Adrian had little interest in any of that.
All right… apart from the shampoo.
When Adrian asked—with genuine enthusiasm—about the formula of Lockhart's shampoo, Lockhart was taken aback—it was the first time he had ever met someone so focused on his shampoo.
He couldn't help feeling a little moved.
"I'm terribly sorry, Professor Wesson," Lockhart said with a smile. "Much as I'd love to tell you, it's my exclusive formula—you know how it is. My shampoo works unbelievably well; plenty of people want the recipe. I've never told anyone, and I won't be telling anyone in future."
"No problem," Adrian said, looking a touch regretful.
Seeing this, Lockhart patted Adrian's shoulder in a friendly way. "Ah, but—Professor Wesson—if you'd like the shampoo itself, I can give you two bottles; they're both new fragrances."
"In that case I'll gladly accept your kindness, Professor Lockhart." Adrian took a sip of pumpkin juice, smiling.
Lockhart's shampoo wasn't cheap; Adrian recalled that a single bottle cost over ten Galleons.
"Ha! 'Professor'!" Lockhart nodded, satisfied. "I do like the sound of that."
The Feast ended in a cheerful atmosphere.
The arrival of a new term also meant Adrian was busy once more.
On the first day of classes,
Adrian again chose the thunderbird, Rai, as the subject for the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson for the third-years.
As he had expected, the students were fascinated by a legendary magical creature like the thunderbird.
Quite a few had picked Care of Magical Creatures specifically for the chance to observe and interact with Rai up close.
However, while Adrian's class went smoothly, some professors were less fortunate.
Professor Sprout, who taught Herbology, for instance.
A troublesome fellow had latched onto her.
For reasons unknown, Lockhart had been buzzing about her ears all morning.
Fortunately, while she was teaching, Lockhart borrowed Harry for about two minutes and then left.
As for Harry—after Lockhart bombarded him with a jumble of remarks about "fame," "self-restraint," and "sharing a front-page cover again sometime," he felt rather dizzy.
He wasn't much interested in fame.
More than fame, he cared about Professor Sprout's class.
Today's Herbology lesson covered a plant called the Mandrake.
It was a plant whose root looked like an ugly, wrinkled baby.
Harry, of course, recognised it—Adrian's plantation had some.
"Today we'll be repotting these Mandrakes," said Professor Sprout. "Who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"
Hermione's hand shot up.
"Miss Granger?" Professor Sprout prompted kindly.
"The Mandrake, also called mandragora," Hermione said fluently, "is an ingredient used in restorative potions, and hearing the Mandrake's cry is fatal."
"Very good," Professor Sprout said with satisfaction. "Ten points to Gryffindor."
"Hearing the Mandrake's cry is fatal…" Harry muttered under his breath.
In fact, the Mandrakes Adrian grew…
How to put it?
They didn't cry, but they would occasionally yank themselves out of the soil, flip off a few backflips, or run a couple of laps round a tree.
It seemed that normal Mandrakes weren't supposed to behave like that…
Next, Professor Sprout handed out gloves and earmuffs to everyone, put them into groups of four, and had them begin repotting the Mandrake seedlings.
Harry and his two friends were grouped with a boy from Hufflepuff.
The Hufflepuff boy's name was Justin Finch-Fletchley, and he was very talkative.
While they worked,
"About Lockhart," Justin said excitedly, "he's a brave man—you've read his books, haven't you?
Wanderings with Werewolves. They even sing 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love' together under the full moon."
For some reason, after hearing Justin's words, Harry found himself disliking Lockhart even more.
Like this story Leave a review ; it would really help me out a lot.
Want to Read Ahead in Advance?
Join my Patreon!
+75 Chapters
Support me in
Patreon.com/BestElysium