Chapter 61: Lockhart's Last Day

Fawkes was still flying in circles at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets as he waited for them.

But before they could get out, they saw Hermione and Lockhart stumbled, Lockhart looked terrified and his body kept shaking, and Hermione was pointing her wand at his back, her face just as pale.

Lockhart turned his head to look at Hermione and said, "Miss Granger, it may already be too late, we can't save your friends, I'm sorry, you know me and Mr. Mason...."

Before Lockhart's words were finished, she saw the huge body of the basilisk, and her knees buckled, she fell to the ground and in panic she screamed, "Snake, snake, big snake!".

Hermione then saw Ivan, Harry and Ron, who were standing next to the basilisk's corpse, ran up with red eyes and hugged them all while saying, "Oh my God, are they okay?"

Ivan was weak, he felt his hug was longer than the other two and changed the subject somewhat awkwardly, "We're fine Hermione, but if you keep hugging me so tightly, I won't be safe. By the way, how did you get in here with Lockhart?"

"That's..." said Hermione, then blushed slightly as she ended her hug.

Having listened to her explanation, Ivan now knew that after the basilisk took them, Professor McGonagall and the other teachers ran to the common room where the incident occurred, they had intended to go to Dumbledore, but the headmaster was tangled up with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy.

When the chamber was opened fifty years ago, the first victim was Weeping Myrtle and, with that information Hermione speculated that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was in the girls' bathroom on the third floor, and then decided to ask Professor Lockhart for help.

"But he didn't want to come down with me to save them, he even tried to escape when he heard that the basilisk was attacking the students. So I forced him to come with my wand, I couldn't find anyone else to help me, I didn't want to delay, I was afraid that if I did, you....," Hermione said as she looked down at Lockhart, who had collapsed on the floor.

Ivan rushed over to hug Hermione and patted her head, as she looked frightened.

"But why was he trying to run away? I mean, he's the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he wrote so many amazing books," Harry said in disbelief.

The four of them turned and looked at him, and Lockhart muttered, "Now that you mention it.... books can be forged."

Hermione looked up in astonishment, "You lied? Didn't you write those books?"

Lockhart moved to the side and said, "My dear Miss Granger! Think about it for a moment, if you don't let people think it was all me, it would be bad for sales. Readers won't be willing to read the stories if they know it was an ugly old American wizard who saved a village from the scourge of a werewolf. Put my picture on the cover, and it's not hard to fool people. And the witch who banished the Banden Banshee had a hairy chin. I mean, think about it..."

"So you're taking credit for everything other people have accomplished?" said Hermione.

Lockhart shook his head impatiently and moved a few feet to the side as he said, "It's not as simple as it sounds! I do a lot of work, I have to find these people and ask them how they achieved these feats. And then erased their memories with an incantation to make them forget."

"Memory enchantment?", Ivan was secretly wary, he had almost forgotten that this guy was a master of Memory Enchantments.

"Yes, yes I do have something to be proud of, it's my dememorizing enchantments. You know I have to work hard, I have to sign books and pictures. If you want to be famous, you have to be prepared to work hard for a long time," Lockhart said and, as if he had touched something on the floor, he stood up with a gasp, he had Ron's wand in his hand and flashed a peculiar smile revealing his gleaming teeth.

"Well, children, it's over, I'll bring the corpse of this snake back to the school and tell them that I saved them and that they lost their heads because of fear," said Lockhart

"Professor, how can you do this!" said Harry, Ron and Hermione in astonishment, Ivan was going to knock him down with a stun spell, but when he realized he had Ron's broken wand in his hand, he gave up.

Ivan could feel Hermione trembling in his arms, so he patted her shoulders and gestured for her to relax.

Lockhart wasn't Tom Riddle, he couldn't cast spells without a wand and he didn't have that much magical control, and the only thing that would happen if he rashly used a wand broken into two sections was....

"I'm not stupid enough to let you expose me, so say goodbye to your memories, children!" said Lockhart as he raised the broken wand above his head and shouted "Obliviate."

Auge!

Suddenly, the wand exploded with the force of a small bomb.

Lockhart was hit by his own magic and flew backwards so fast that he landed hard on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets.

Seeing the effect, Ivan knew that the Obliviate charm was very powerful.

Hermione looked at the scene in front of it and said, "Oh my God, is he okay?"

"He was hit by his own dememorizing charm, he shouldn't remember who he is anymore. It might not be a bad thing for him, or Professor Lockhart will go mad when we expose him," Ivan whispered.

Lockhart looked at them kindly as he said, "Professor?! who are you talking about? This place is so strange, do they live here?"

"No!" said Harry as he shook his head.

Ivan stepped forward and said, "Well, let's get out of here, we've been here all night, and we all need a good rest. Besides, Professor Dumbledore is still waiting for us, let's not let him worry too much."

His head ached as he thought about Dumbledore's interrogation.

Who knows what the greatest wizard of the modern era would think, although he didn't mind helping Harry with Voldemort, it's not good to be manipulated by others.

After defeating the basilisk and Tom, there was little to do.

First, he must be careful with Dumbledore, he did not want to be controlled like Harry, but this did not concern him too much.

Second, the four founders left some secret treasures.

"I don't know what they are, but from what the four founders said, it must be something that can be of great help in the fight against Voldemort and to save Hogwarts. But the question is where the four keys are hidden," Ivan thought.

Now that Lockhart had lost his memory, he will be exposed and ruined.

This is not good news for the Hogwarts Magic newspaper, Ivan had to find something new to attract people.

Ivan saw Ron standing there with a confused look on his face, Harry was next to him. Hermione wondered what to say and wanted to ask them about Tom. But Ivan stopped Hermione hurriedly as he whispered, "Leave Ron alone for a while, it can wait until tomorrow."

Ivan believed that after this incident, Ron and Hermione will learn not to completely trust what is written inside the books.