As the bell rang to mark the end of class, the young wizards in the classroom watched Professor McGonagall leave the classroom. They all let out a sigh of relief and started to go for meals in twos and threes.
After putting away the notebook full of strange knowledge, Light went for lunch with Harry Potter and Hermione while Ron was complaining about his own wand.
However, during the meal, Hermione became very lively. She expressed her anticipation for Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts more than once.
Although Harry Potter and Ron didn't quite like Lockhart himself, they were still looking forward to his Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Listening to the three of them expressing their anticipation for the upcoming class, Light almost couldn't help making sarcastic remarks.
On the way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ron saw Light with a strange expression in their group and couldn't help but ask:
"Light, why do you have this expression like you want to laugh but can't? It's so weird!"
"Nothing. I just thought of something funny!"
Just as Light gave this vague answer, a high - pitched scream rang out on the path inside the castle.
"Good heavens! Harry Potter, the legendary savior!"
When the scream first rang out, the young wizards in the corridor first looked towards the source of the sound. After hearing Harry Potter's famous name, they then turned to look at him.
A thin little boy with gray hair was holding a very old - fashioned camera. In the eyes of everyone, he quickly walked up to Harry Potter.
"Hello, Mr. Potter. I'm Colin Creevey. I'm a freshman who just enrolled this year and also a member of Gryffindor!"
"May I take a picture of you?"
Colin held up the camera hanging on his chest and looked at Harry Potter, who was at a loss, with bright eyes.
"Taking a picture? I'm not sure that's a good idea!" Harry Potter's hesitant refusal didn't dampen Colin's enthusiasm.
Instead, it seemed to arouse his spirit as a gossip reporter. Immediately, he started chattering away about Harry Potter's legendary stories.
He talked all the way from Harry Potter's defeat of the Dark Lord to his glorious feat of racing in the air yesterday, and even mentioned the howler from this morning!
Watching Harry Potter being pestered by Colin to take pictures and ask for an autograph, Light suddenly felt that this scene was very familiar, just like a crazy fan meeting their idol.
Just as Light and his group were blocked in the corridor by Colin, a loud and hearty voice sounded, and at the same time, a man in gorgeous clothes walked quickly over.
"What on earth are you doing?"
Lockhart, who had just walked closer, happened to see Harry Potter signing an autograph for Colin.
His initially hearty voice gradually turned lower. It seemed that he was very dissatisfied that someone was giving autographs without his permission.
When Colin saw Lockhart, he let out another scream and ran towards him with the camera in his hand.
"Let's go. Don't wait to be pestered again!"
After seeing Colin change his target, Harry Potter beckoned to Light and the other two and then quickly left and ran towards the classroom.
After the four of them reached the classroom, Harry Potter clearly looked unhappy. It seemed that he felt that the upcoming Defense Against the Dark Arts wouldn't be easy.
After Light sat down in the classroom, he heard many young wizards expressing their great anticipation for Lockhart's class. Hermione was even more restless and chatting with others around the classroom.
Before long, to the anticipation of most young wizards, he appeared!
Lockhart had a hearty smile on his face, and his large white teeth glinted with a strange light. Then he appeared in the classroom.
He quickly strode to the podium and began to introduce himself like he was giving a speech.
"Hello, everyone! I'm the famous Gilderoy Lockhart!"
"A recipient of the Order of Merlin, Third Class, an honorary member of the Dark Magic Defense League, and also the winner of the 'Most Charming Smile Award' from *Witch Weekly* five times."
Hearing this, applause rang out from the audience, mostly from the young witches. Hermione was so excited that she nodded and clapped vigorously.
Light looked at Lockhart on the podium, who was full of confidence and talking eloquently, with a half - smile. He couldn't help but sigh.
'This guy's got talent, but he's wasting it! If he were a self - help coach, he'd probably make billions!'
After Lockhart finished his self - introduction (boasting), he handed out a questionnaire. He claimed it was a diagnostic test that everyone had to fill out.
Even Light, who was mentally prepared, twitched the corner of his mouth when he saw this questionnaire.
The questionnaire was three full pages long, with dozens of strange questions, such as:
"What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?"
"What are Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambitions?"
"What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?"
"When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday?"
...
After roughly looking through the questions, Light quietly turned his head to look at the perplexed expressions of the others in the classroom and silently thought that everyone was normal.
Even Lockhart's fan club looked completely bewildered when they saw this thing.
Looking at the questionnaire on the table, Light started to worry. Although he had read all of Lockhart's books and memorized the knowledge in them.
But Lockhart's personal hobbies were really outside the scope of that knowledge!
Although Lockhart didn't prohibit looking in books, Light just didn't feel like moving. He was starting to act rebellious.
Suddenly, Light had an idea! He turned his head to peek at Hermione's questionnaire.
"What are you guys doing!"
Hermione, who was writing furiously, keenly noticed three ill - intentioned gazes.
"Hermione, we just wanna take a peek. We really don't wanna write! And Lockhart didn't say we couldn't share answers."
Light glanced at Harry Potter and Ron, who were also furtively peeping over, and said with an embarrassed smile.
Seeing the three of them looking like they had no other choice, Hermione sighed and laid her questionnaire flat on the table for them to see.
Light and the other two didn't hesitate to "borrow" from Hermione's questionnaire.
After a class, Lockhart collected the questionnaires.
Then he picked up a book and started reading long passages from it.
In the heat of the moment, he called Neville up to the podium to play the part of a Troll and demonstrated how he subdued Trolls, scaring the young wizards into thinking he was going to do it for real.
Almost all the young wizards thought Lockhart was going to pull off a great performance, but instead, he made a complete mess of it!
There were no Spells as expected, just awkward lines and clumsy movements as he performed a kind of Chinese two - person act (Errenzhuan) on the podium.
Hermione stared blankly at the farce on the podium and murmured, "This can't be real. This can't be real..."
"Unbelievable! Are all our Defense Against the Dark Arts classes gonna be like this from now on?" Harry Potter and Ron both looked utterly devastated!
Light, who was mentally prepared, said it was totally fine!
"What a pity there's no acting profession in the wizarding world. Otherwise, with Lockhart's professionalism, he'd surely make a mark!"
Watching Lockhart so engrossed on the podium, Light couldn't help sighing that he was in the wrong line of work.
The bell rang for the end of class. In the disappointed expressions of the young wizards, Lockhart left Neville, who was playing the Troll, behind and hurriedly left.