Even with the coordinates Andrews had sent and a map of Albania purchased from the wizard pub, finding the destination within the vast Llogara National Park was no easy task for Lockhart.
Especially since he was a fraud of an adventurer, with no actual jungle experience and thoroughly unprepared before even entering the forest.
On the very first day, Lockhart already got lost!
Although he was once a top Ravenclaw graduate, after so many years, most of the magic he had learned was long forgotten. His spellcasting was now clumsier than that of a high-level Hogwarts' student.
Like the sneak attack on Angelo… if he hadn't first lowered his guard and struck suddenly at the dinner table, even two Lockharts combined might not have been able to defeat him.
After entering the forest unprepared and getting lost, Lockhart was completely clueless about his whereabouts.
However, his mind was still sharp. From the map, he deduced that Andrews's location was beside the forest's main river. So, upon realizing he was lost, his first thought was to find a river.
Whether it was a tributary or the main stem, as long as he followed it, he could eventually figure out his exact location.
Yet, he overestimated himself once again.
By nightfall, he hadn't found a single river!
As darkness completely fell, Lockhart slumped onto the grass. A squirrel even jumped onto his head before scurrying away.
Without even a tent, and having only brought some bread and water, Lockhart began to have second thoughts.
He considered returning to the pub for the night, coming back fully prepared the next day.
But soon, due to his lack of confidence in Apparition, he dismissed the idea.
As a pampered celebrity author, most of his travel after fame was via the Floo Network. He had used Apparition only a handful of times since graduating from Hogwarts.
Even those few times he used it impatiently, two resulted in Splinching.
Fortunately, those Splinchings only cost him a leg or an arm, allowing him to immediately return and visit St. Mungo's to have the parts reattached.
But that was just luck. Next time, if he Splinched his head and no one was around, his life could be over!
Leaving Angelo's house, he had been too excited and Apparated without thinking. Upon reflection, he felt a wave of lingering fear, also grateful for his luck.
Now, asking Lockhart to Apparate out of the forest and back in the next day made him highly hesitant.
Not long after sitting on the grass, a gust of cold wind woke him up. He gritted his teeth and stood up again.
If he couldn't find Andrews successfully, his plan to publish a new book in the second half of the year would be completely ruined, damaging his reputation. And if he couldn't produce work continuously, people would start doubting his creative ability!
Therefore, he had to find Andrews as soon as possible. He couldn't give up now.
But willpower was one thing, while figuring out how to find the right path was another problem facing Lockhart.
He thought for a long time before finally recalling a spell in his mind.
A simple spell for the Ravenclaw he once was, but one he wasn't sure he could still perform effectively.
Lockhart placed his wand flat on his palm and uttered the incantation for the Four-Point Spell.
"Point Me."
The wand spun rapidly in his palm, like a compass needle disturbed by a magnet. After twenty or thirty seconds, it slowly stabilized, its tip pointing in a direction.
According to the spell's principle, a successful cast should make the wand point north.
But Lockhart wasn't sure if his spell had worked. He could only try his luck and temporarily assume this was north. He then pulled out the map, determined that the river was generally leaning toward the eastern part of the forest, figured out where east was, and started walking continuously.
Thus, he endured the hardships, walking through the forest for two full days, finally seeming to enter the magical creature nature reserve established by the Albanian Ministry of Magic.
Here, he saw traces of magical creatures, not just ordinary animals anymore.
This boosted the spirits of Lockhart, who had become disheartened.
He immediately pulled out the map again. Assuming his initial direction was correct and he had been walking east the whole time, combined with his contact point with the nature reserve,
Lockhart quickly circled an area on the map, confirming his current location should be within this range.
According to the map's markings, he just needed to cross a Dragon Nature Reserve ahead to reach a valley inhabited by a troll tribe. Following the valley's stream would eventually lead him to the main stem of the forest river.
Having determined the route ahead, Lockhart felt more motivated.
He found a large tree, spent another night beneath it, and continued east according to his marked location.
As he ventured deeper, the number of magical creatures he encountered didn't increase but instead decreased.
But this didn't raise Lockhart's alertness. He even felt there was nothing wrong with entering the Dragon Nature Reserve alone and unarmed.
Until he came upon a small hill and a huge deep pit.
The hill was very short, maybe only a hundred or two hundred meters high, with sparse vegetation. From a distance, it looked like a bald little mound.
The hill itself wasn't particularly remarkable. What struck Lockhart as odd was the large pit beside it.
Upon closer inspection, it looked more like a dried-up lake.
But there wasn't a drop of water left in the lake. The lakebed seemed to have been gnawed clean by some unknown massive creatures, leaving only sun-dried earth!
This strange place made Lockhart marvel. He walked around the dried-up lake, deciding in his heart that if he wrote another story later, he could include this lake and hill, portraying it as the dark lair of a Dark wizard.
And just as he walked under a huge but withered fir tree, intending to lean against it, eat some bread, drink some water, and then continue westward, he vaguely noticed a rusty bronze object hidden in the dry grass beside the tree.
That thing was buried in the soil, with only a fingernail-sized part exposed. If Lockhart hadn't turned his head, wanting to pick up some sort of trinket as a keepsake, he never would have discovered its existence.
After hurriedly finishing the hard bread and water, he carefully came to the pile of dry grass, pushed the grass aside, dug through the dirt, and finally found that it was actually a handle of a circular ring, completely covered in verdigris!
Lockhart pulled out his wand and used a simple little charm to clear away the soil around the handle, revealing a hidden trapdoor beneath!
This brought a flash of delight to his eyes, but soon they were filled with doubt.
As a fake adventurer whose every story was stolen from others, Lockhart knew his own abilities all too well.
He was fully aware that he had no real adventuring experience. From a magical standpoint, apart from the Memory Charm, he was nothing more than a third-rate wizard barely scraping by.
This trapdoor was clearly unusual, but if there was any danger below, there was absolutely no way he could make it out alive.
Thinking this, Lockhart ultimately decided not to open the trapdoor. He covered it back up with soil,
then restored the dry grass to its original state.
He memorized the location, planning in his heart that later, he could trick some other fool into coming here for the adventure. If there was danger, he'll just let them die, but if there was treasure, he could swoop in and steal it for himself.
After settling that matter, Lockhart passed by the dried-up lake, intending to circle around the hill ahead and continue east.
Soon, he noticed that on that barren hill, there were many animal corpses.
Not only ordinary animals, but also quite a few magical creatures!
Bundimuns, Mokes, Knarls, Clabberts… there were even large patches of dead Puffskeins!
Such a sight sent a chill through Lockhart's heart.
He didn't dare linger and quickened his pace. Yet before he could take more than a few steps forward, suddenly, a dazzling red light struck him squarely!
Lockhart's eyes were filled with terror.
All his life, he had been the one ambushing others… he never imagined that deep in this forest he himself would fall victim to an ambush.
The Petrificus Totalus left him completely immobilized. He stood frozen, wide-eyed, as more than a dozen wizards in Auror uniforms emerged from behind the trees.
One of them cast another spell, Incarcerous, and ropes flew out, binding him tightly.
At the same time, another stepped forward and seized his wand. Only then was the Petrificus Totalus lifted from him.
The leading Auror stared coldly at Lockhart.
"Tell me, what have you done to this place?"
The question, asked in Albanian, left Lockhart utterly bewildered.
"What are you saying! I don't know anything! I don't know anything!!"
"Stop pretending! Ever since the dragon riot, only you have come here. You must have something to do with the disturbances in this area!"
This time, the leading Auror spoke in English, his expression dark and foul-tempered.
Because it wasn't until this intruding wizard had approached the hill that his subordinates had even noticed him. Before that, none of them had realized a wizard had entered their secured perimeter.
That made him furious… angry at his men's incompetence and suspicious of the intruder before him.
The other Aurors clearly sensed their superior's mood as well. They nervously confiscated Lockhart's suitcase and carefully rifled through its contents, while one female Auror kept staring at Lockhart's face with suspicion, as if trying to place him.
"You'd better tell me everything you know right now! Otherwise, once I take you back to the Ministry and get authorization to use Veritaserum, then you won't have a choice anymore!"
Hearing that, Lockhart truly panicked!
"I really don't know anything! I'm Gilderoy Lockhart! A famous writer from Britain! Surely you've heard of me! I'm no dark wizard! I only came to this forest to find a friend! A friend!"
At that moment, the Aurors searching his suitcase found a jumble of things.
His self-authored books, the Order of Merlin Third Class medal issued by the Wizengamot, the [Most Charming Smile] award from Witch Weekly, piles of fan letters, a Muggle airplane ticket from France to Albania, and so on.
And from these items, the female Auror, who had already thought he looked familiar, finally recognized him.
"Gilderoy Lockhart! Yes! Captain, it's him! He's my idol! I've read every one of his books… he's a famous adventurer and writer from Britain!"
The female Auror grew excited.
"You're here for adventure, right? You mentioned in your fan letters that you'd publish a new book later this year… you're searching for inspiration now, aren't you?"
But she quickly noticed her superior's expression stiffen, and wisely fell silent.
The Albanian Aurors did not drop their suspicion simply because of the suitcase's contents or the female Auror's recognition.
Instead, they carried out further examinations, even forcing Lockhart to drink a potion to check whether he was someone transformed with Polyjuice Potion.
At last, when all the tests revealed nothing unusual, the leading Auror finally let down his guard toward Lockhart and muttered an apology.
"This was a failure on the part of my men. They should have stopped you before you entered this restricted zone."
His tone was far from friendly, more laden with resentment toward his subordinates than concern for Lockhart.
After apologizing, he turned and left, angrily ordering his people to redeploy their defenses.
Only the female Auror remained, her eyes shining as she approached Lockhart.
"Mr. Lockhart, could you sign my robe? I've bought every one of your books! I'm your devoted fan!"
Hearing this, Lockhart's face instinctively broke into that dazzlingly charming smile. He pulled a quill from his pocket.
"Ah-ha! But of course, my dear!"