Lockhart

Soon, Voldemort sensed what was inside him.

Can you not be familiar?

Avada Kedavra!

You dare to use my own method against me!

"You even defend against me!" he pointed angrily at Tewell.

Tewell "Eh" sound, moving his fingers away.

"It's just a little trick. As long as you don't do anything weird, this crystal has no effect on you."

"But now should I call you Voldemort, or Tom Riddle?"

Voldemort's expression changed unpredictably. Tewell completely saw through his mind, but he also knew it wasn't the time to confront Tewell.

So after a moment of thought, he reluctantly said, "You can call me whatever you want, anyway, I am now under your control."

Why does it feel a bit resentful?

Tewell withdrew his gaze oddly.

"I can't call you Voldemort in front of everyone, scaring a bunch of wizards, can I?"

"I can't just call you Riddle directly, some Death Eaters know your real name."

He hesitated for a moment, "But hardly anyone knows your middle name, Malvolio. Let's change it a bit, I'll call you Malvolio!"

"Malvolio Fawley, how does that sound?"

"Whatever."

Malvolio spread his hands indifferently, resisting Tewell's control with a lazy attitude.

But Tewell didn't bother with his temper, glanced at the time, it was already half-past eight in the evening.

"You stay here obediently, adapt to this body slowly, remember, don't try to escape."

He had agreed with Dumbledore, if he had time, to interview Lockhart tonight at nine.

Perfect, with the Horcrux problem solved, he also had time to see the style of this best-selling author.

Soon, he returned to Hogwarts again.

Without the chattering students, Hogwarts in the night seemed quiet, except for another mischief-maker who was not willing to be lonely.

"Peeves, if you keep attacking the armor with that sword, I'll tell Bloodman Barro!"

Filch chased after Peeves, but compared to the poltergeist Peeves, his speed was much slower.

"Don't worry, let me handle it!"

A man dressed like a peacock suddenly stood up.

Lockhart flipped his wand in many fancy ways, but obviously, no one, neither the people present nor the ghost, paid attention to his movements.

Accustomed to this embarrassment and neglect, he cleared his throat and raised his wand in a standard posture.

"Immobulus!"

...

After a moment of silence, Peeves looked at this strange man with a frown.

"When did you pop up? Whoever you are, to be honest, your skills are not even as good as that annoying ghost Filch hahaha——"

Peeves immediately raised the much larger sword in his hand and threw it at Lockhart.

Lockhart was scared witless, just like he was hit by the spell he had just used, his mouth wide open in place.

Even Peeves was frightened, it was the first time it had seen someone not even dodge when a sword flew towards them.

Although the school tolerated its mischief in the castle, it wouldn't let anyone get hurt, otherwise, Dumbledore would have a way to lock it up.

But before it could react, the sword stopped in mid-air.

A slender hand gently grasped the hilt of the sword, and the other hand wiped away the scratches Peeves had made.

"Professor Fawley," Filch gasped as he caught up, "Why did you return to the school at this time? I'm not questioning, just..."

He explained incoherently, but Tewell simply placed the sword into his hand.

"I came back to interview the new professor," Tewell then turned to the now conscious Lockhart, "I assume you're ready, Mr. Lockhart?"

But he held no expectations for this interview anymore.

Actually, Lockhart was immobilized earlier because of his magic.

Tewell wanted to test what this "internationally renowned" wizard was capable of.

The result was obvious, Tewell suspected; he hadn't even sensed the magical fluctuations from his own spell just now.

The only consolation was that this honorary member of the Anti-Dark Arts League didn't have any tools to identify or resist dark magic.

Suddenly, Lockhart burst into laughter, clapping Tewell on the shoulder with a big hand.

"I was still thinking about how to deal with this sword, but you've stepped up. Young people may be a bit quicker in their actions, but if there's a more ingenious way..."

Seeing Tewell's smile, he didn't know how to continue, "Yes, yes, I was just about to go for the interview. Shall we? Are you the one the Headmaster sent to welcome me?"

Sort of, Tewell thought.

"I'll take you up. As for Peeves, don't do anything harmful next time."

Before leaving, he glanced at the obedient Peeves.

"Yes, Professor!"

It saluted, staying until Tewell and Lockhart disappeared from its sight.

"Didn't expect to see you here." Filch sneered.

Peeves, however, changed tactics, snatching the sword from his arms and flying back into the air.

"The professor said not to harm people, but he didn't say not to harm armor hahaha—"

Tewell didn't know about Peeves's mischief again; he was annoyed enough.

"I heard that you're a professor from that person? But you're so young, just graduated? Which college? I wonder if you've heard of my achievements at school? Back in my days, I was..."

"I did just graduate a year ago, but not from Hogwarts, it was from Durmstrang."

Tewell turned to Lockhart with a sinister smile, scaring him enough to stop boasting about his "great achievements."

"Cockroach cluster."

Tewell recited the password for the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore intentionally told him the password to bring Lockhart in.

"These candies are quite interesting," after a moment of silence, Lockhart's quirks resurfaced, "But I think they could be more realistic, like the large pile of fake rats I created in London, successfully resolving trouble in a whole district."

Tewell regretted joining this interview deeply, he forcefully pushed open the door to the Headmaster's office.

"Headmaster, I've brought Lockhart—" he looked around the empty office in confusion, "Where's Headmaster Dumbledore?"

The answer came from a portrait on the wall, the former Headmaster—Armando Dippet.

"A child performed magic outside the school and was warned by the Ministry."

"But does Dumbledore need to handle it personally?"

It's said that every year there are young wizards inadvertently breaking this rule, but so far, no student has been expelled for using magic outside the school, especially since Dumbledore became Headmaster.

"You don't need to worry about that. Albus said you can conduct the interview for Lockhart yourself. Anyway, if he doesn't pass, you'll be teaching the students by yourself next year."

"...Can I say no?"