Albus Dumbledore sat motionless at his claw-footed desk, staring at the roster before him, seemingly lost in thought.
Neither the rhythmic snores of the surrounding magical portraits nor the occasional soft cooing from Fawkes, the phoenix perched behind the door with his head tucked under his wing, could rouse Dumbledore from this peculiar tranquility; he seemed to have become one with his surroundings.
This serenity continued until the gargoyle at the door finally broke the silence with a sound.
"Headmaster, Gilderoy Lockhart is here to see you and is waiting at your door," a booming voice announced.
Dumbledore stirred slightly, as if he had been startled awake by the sound.
"Please show him in," Dumbledore said.
As the griffin-shaped handles lifted to either side, the wooden door to the Headmaster's office slowly opened, and the person at the threshold stood still until the door was fully open before striding in with his head held high.
The visitor was impeccably dressed and well-groomed; his tailored trousers and crisply ironed long-sleeved shirt set him apart from the commonly disheveled appearance of many wizards. The velvet wizard's robe he wore over them was gleaming, complementing his waxed golden curls perfectly, giving him an overall clean and sparkling impression.
Combined with his graceful demeanor and charming smile, he would undoubtedly captivate everyone from eight-year-old girls to sixty-year-old women.
"Good day, Headmaster! Long time no see, I've missed you dearly."
Gilderoy Lockhart walked up to within a few steps of Dumbledore, then bowed deeply to him.
Dumbledore stood up and slowly extended his right hand, appearing as if he intended to shake hands with the visitor.
Lockhart quickly took two steps forward, removed his white gloves, tucked them into his pocket, and clasped Dumbledore's right hand with both of his own.
Dumbledore frowned slightly, whether because he was unaccustomed to such formality or because he caught a faint scent of cologne from Lockhart.
"Long time no see, Lockhart. I hear you've been at Loch Ness for the past few months?"
Gilderoy grinned, revealing his dazzling white teeth: "You don't have to be so formal, you can call me Gilderoy, or 'Gil' if you prefer."
Dumbledore subtly withdrew his right hand: "As you wish, Gilderoy, please sit… I personally also believe that some unnecessary formalities can be dispensed with from now on."
Lockhart no longer stood on ceremony, but obediently sat in the spot Dumbledore indicated.
"Indeed, I've been around Loch Ness recently, partly because Loch Ness is also in the Scottish Highlands, allowing me to be closer to Hogwarts, and partly to help my old classmates maintain order. You know, with summer here, there are many more Muggles looking for the monster, and we have to spend a lot of time casting Memory Charms every day…"
"Yes, I know that," Dumbledore interrupted him. "Very excellent Memory Charms, with no side effects, and all the Muggles believe they enjoyed a wonderful lakeside picnic. Pisgood speaks very highly of you."
"That's delightful," Lockhart's smile grew even brighter.
"You just said 'closer to Hogwarts,' does that mean you've decided to accept Hogwarts' offer?" Dumbledore asked again.
"Of course!" Lockhart dramatically spread his arms. "Do you actually doubt that anyone would refuse? Refuse an offer from the world's number one magical school—Hogwarts? It's a dream for so many during their student days."
"I'm pleased you still hold your alma mater in such high regard ten years after graduating, Gilderoy, but I must remind you again, this position is for the Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore cautioned.
Gilderoy Lockhart's smile diminished slightly: "Hmm, I know that, of course."
"And you also heard what happened to Professor Quirrell last year, and the legendary curse that person placed on this subject."
Lockhart clasped his hands together: "Of course! Poor Professor Quirrell, what a tragedy! And the Dark Lord's curse is indeed a problem; as far as I know, no one has managed to last more than a year in that position in recent years."
As Lockhart said, Voldemort applied for a job at Hogwarts and was rejected in 1954, and he cursed the position that same year. "This year" was 1992.
This curse had been dormant like a viper since it was cast, quietly accumulating energy for many years until it began to take effect only recently.
If it had truly taken effect immediately, it would mean that Hogwarts had gone through 38 teachers for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position—but that was impossible.
Many said that if the curse had been discovered earlier, it might have been salvageable. But once it truly began to manifest, even Dumbledore, the most skilled anti-Dark Arts practitioner, could only say, "Perhaps we could have done something then, but now it's too late."
In any case, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship was a very dangerous job, even more dangerous than being the President of South Korea, and Lockhart was well aware of this.
Dumbledore's gaze began to turn playful.
"In that case, I'm quite curious, Gilderoy. Of course, it's possible I'm just an old fool and my memory is failing me, but in my impression of your student days, you weren't exactly… uh, I mean to say, since the Sorting Hat placed you in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor…"
"More cleverness than courage, so not someone who would take this job," Lockhart finished his sentence.
Seeing Lockhart openly address the point, Dumbledore felt a little relieved: "…Of course, I hope that didn't offend you."
"Not at all, Headmaster," Lockhart said, his expression unchanged.
"And when I was chatting with Mr. Ollivander recently, he told me a very interesting piece of news—your original wand no longer suited you, so you went to him to replace it. That's very rare," Dumbledore continued to probe.
Upon hearing this, Lockhart displayed an expression other than a smile for the first time since entering the Headmaster's office.
Typically, when Ollivanders chooses a wand for a wizard, it considers the wizard's personality, values, intelligence, and so on, to better match the wizard's soul.
Different cores and woods complement the types of magic a wizard excels at, their magical power, and their personality, which Ollivander calls "the wand chooses the wizard." A wizard's wand usually accompanies them throughout their life, even being buried with them.
Unless some particularly significant accident stimulates the wizard's soul, causing a change in the wizard's personality or values.
"I graduated over 10 years ago, Headmaster," Lockhart said thoughtfully. "In these past ten years, I've traveled the world, encountered many interesting and dangerous things, which have greatly helped to enhance my life experience and temper my character… I wonder if you've read any of my books? Like 'Gadding with Ghouls'?"
"Of course, that's one of the reasons I decided to hire you," Dumbledore said gently.
"So, you can't expect me to have the same personality as I did in school after experiencing so much; wouldn't that mean I haven't grown at all?" Lockhart added.
Dumbledore gazed at Lockhart, who sat there, quietly meeting Dumbledore's eyes.
Finally, Dumbledore was the first to look away: "…I see. Please forgive an old man's curiosity about new things."
"No offense taken at all, Headmaster. Considering the incidents of the past few years, it's only natural to scrutinize the background of new professors," Lockhart said.
As he said this, Lockhart let out a huge sigh of relief inwardly—it seemed he had managed to keep it a secret.
Because he wasn't Gilderoy Lockhart at all, or rather, not the original Lockhart himself, but merely a minor civil servant from the Great Britain of the 21st century who had read the "Harry Potter" series, and who had died suddenly from overwork.
The original Gilderoy Lockhart had experienced a deviation in this timeline—he had attempted to ambush a wizard who had let down their guard with a Memory Charm and steal their achievements, but a protective amulet the wizard wore had reflected some of the spell's power, causing his own soul to become disoriented, which allowed him to be supplanted.
"Alright, everything seems to be in order. If we have time later, I'd be happy to chat with you about your travels."
Dumbledore said, taking out a letter of appointment.
"If you're ready, please sign this employment contract. Once signed, you will officially become a Hogwarts teacher, and will have your own private office, as well as the power to award and deduct points from students… I hope you won't abuse it."
Lockhart accepted the letter of appointment and began to read the terms with interest.
He had always been curious about the salaries of Hogwarts staff. Slughorn, as the newly hired Potions Master, even after haggling with Dumbledore, still hadn't reached a salary level where he wouldn't be interested in 100 Galleons/pint of Acromantula venom.
But at the same time, Professor McGonagall, who taught Transfiguration, bought Harry a Firebolt 2000 without batting an eye, which indicated that even among professors, salary levels varied. However, considering the abundance of expensive potions in Snape's private collection, it might also be due to the particularly generous salaries for heads of houses.
Of course, Lockhart was merely curious, as the original owner of this body had earned quite a bit of money from selling books, possessing considerable wealth, and thus wasn't very demanding about his monthly salary.
However, when he glanced at the salary column, Lockhart couldn't help but let out a whistle, even though he immediately realized he had been a bit impolite.
"You're certainly generous," he made an apologetic gesture.
"You seem very satisfied, which is good, after all, it's the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and I must consider some… extra expenses, you understand," Dumbledore said vaguely.
"So, this salary includes personal accident insurance and advance severance pay, which makes the figure quite normal," Lockhart nodded knowingly.
Dumbledore seemed somewhat puzzled: "Personal… what?"
"Nothing. I'm ready to work. I wonder if you'd like to see my lesson plans first, or test my magical abilities?" Lockhart appeared confident and swiftly signed his name on the employment contract.
"Neither is necessary. I usually don't interfere with professors' teaching duties. All you need to do is provide the list of textbooks students need to buy this year and choose your office location. Also… there's another task I need to give you."
"What task?" Lockhart asked.
Dumbledore stood up and handed Lockhart a piece of paper.
"Every year at Hogwarts, we enroll many new students with magical talent. Some come from wizarding or half-blood families—we usually don't have to worry about these.
But unfortunately, non-magical people are usually skeptical of Hogwarts, and convincing the parents of these young wizards to agree to let their children enroll is a very difficult job.
Last year, we had a wizard from a non-wizarding family named Justin Finch-Fletchley. He was supposed to go to Eton College, and his family thought so too. But then his mother read your books, and her view of Hogwarts seemed to change."
"So?" Lockhart opened the envelope.
"So, I think you must have a great talent for persuasion. This is a list of children from non-wizarding families and their addresses for this year. I need you to take the acceptance letters and persuade their parents, but of course, not by using scare tactics like 'Obscurials'."
"No problem," Lockhart agreed immediately without any hesitation.
Dumbledore showed his first smile of the day: "Excellent, it seems you've already settled into your role."
"Of course, the moment I walked into this office, I already considered myself a teacher here," Lockhart replied with an even more dazzling smile to Dumbledore.
This was, after all, a smile that had won the "Most Charming Smile Award" from Witch Weekly five times!