Chapter 35 Gilderoy Lockhart
Just as Howard had said before, the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class was a by-the-book subject.
The annual change of teachers severely disrupted the teaching plan, and each teacher's teaching style was different; some preferred to focus on theory, while others preferred practical teaching.
However, after the previous teacher had accustomed students to confronting Dark Arts creatures with their wands, the next teacher forcibly changed the style, making students sit back in the classroom to study books, which not only made the students uncomfortable but also made it difficult for the teacher to grasp the pace of instruction.
This formed a vicious cycle. Additionally, each Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher only had one year, and teachers felt they couldn't teach anything substantial, leading to negative and lazy attitudes. The Defense Against the Dark Arts Class teacher Gary had in his first year was invited out of a favor to Dumbledore; he would sluggishly and listlessly lecture definitions from the textbook every day.
Continuing like this would lead to a lose-lose situation for both students and teachers. It's important to remember that the OWL exam setters each year are not Professors from Hogwarts, and their exam difficulty would certainly differ from Hogwarts. If teachers don't teach well and students don't study well, it will affect Hogwarts' overall academic performance in the future.
In early August, Alfrina and Gary finalized the article's theme. This project primarily aimed to propose constructive suggestions on how to improve the quality of Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching at Hogwarts. The content was extremely complex, and Alfrina and Gary alone would certainly not be able to complete it.
They planned to find more people to join. Gary first wrote a letter to the recently graduated Lucy Shafiq, asking for her opinion, and then consulted some materials.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts Class teacher position had been cursed since Dumbledore first took over as Principal of Hogwarts in 1956. By 1972, sixteen teachers had been replaced, one each year. For these sixteen years, Dumbledore could only ask old friends or close graduated students to take on the teaching position.
In 1956, Gary's father, Mr. Shafiq, was in his sixth year at Hogwarts, and he had some vague impressions of this matter.
"Right after my sixth year, Mr. Kohler, the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class teacher who had served for a year, fell seriously ill and was admitted to St. Mungo's Hospital. Professor Merles, who had taught us in fifth year, returned to Hogwarts. She had already retired, but she only taught us for one year. Before I graduated, Professor Merles retired again, reportedly due to an old-age illness." Mr. Shafiq had graduated many years ago and could only recall these details.
Lucy's letter quickly arrived. As the Head Girl, she was very clear about how poor the current Defense Against the Dark Arts level at Hogwarts was; many students couldn't even cast a decent Shield Charm before the OWL exams.
She strongly agreed with Gary's view, encouraging him and Alfrina to continue with this project. She would provide all the help she could, and at the end of the letter, she included her new contact information. After graduating, Lucy was hired by the American Magical Congress's International Affairs Department and was preparing to leave for the United States in a couple of days.
Once Gary confirmed that updating the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching syllabus was a promising endeavor, he began preparing materials with great enthusiasm.
He went to the Bones at the end of the village. The eldest brother, Edgar Bones, graduated last year. He was a handsome and charming Hufflepuff with a lot of personal charisma, working in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. His younger sister, Amelia Bones, would be enrolling in September.
Gary's main interviewee was his elder brother, Edgar. He carefully recalled each of his Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers during his time at school. Gary noticed that Edgar was clearly a bit proud when he spoke of diligently studying and earning an 'O' in his Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT exam, thus successfully entering the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Gary guessed that Edgar might even be grateful for the chaotic state of Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching at Hogwarts, as it allowed him to easily get an 'O' and secure a good position in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
At the end of the holiday, he asked Mr. Potter to find Mr. Arthur Weasley, who had also graduated only a few years prior. He was a somewhat eccentric Gryffindor with a head of red hair and a slender build, and a rather familiar personality. He was quite talkative during Gary's interview, and Gary filled three whole parchment sheets with his quill.
On the last weekend of the holiday, the Ravenclaw quartet met in Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies and books for the year. The Shafiq Couple, seeing Gary's previous interest in interviews, gave him an additional thirty Galleons to buy a good automatic quill at Scribbulus.
Al and Howard also needed one. Al was good at taking notes in class, accumulating several thick notebooks each semester, and she was also responsible for writing the thesis, which involved a lot of writing; Howard had to taste every food in the Hogwarts kitchen and offer his opinions. According to Howard, writing with one hand and tasting food with the other was a desecration of the food.
Kona originally didn't want to buy one, but Al's words tempted her to grit her teeth and give up a moon-gazing scope. "Imagine, Kona, in the future, when you observe the celestial phenomena with a brass telescope, you won't have to pick up paper and pen back and forth to record with one hand!"
September 1st arrived quickly, and the group boarded the clean and tidy Hogwarts Express, heading towards Hogwarts.
The train arrived at the station in the evening. The first-year Wizards were led by the gamekeeper Hagrid to the Black Lake, while students from other years walked to the end of the road and took the "auto" carriages, heading towards Hogwarts Castle.
...
"Regulus Black!" A handsome Black-haired boy, looking similar to Sirius, walked onto the platform with a stern face. However, his walking posture was different from Sirius's; his shoulders were drawn inward, and he humbly bowed to Professor McGonagall before sitting on the stool and placing the Sorting Hat on his head.
"Slytherin!" The Hat loudly called out the house placement the moment it touched his Black hair.
Before Regulus stepped off the platform, he deeply gazed at Sirius, who sat at the Gryffindor long table with a gloomy expression. The Slytherin long table erupted in cheers; the second son of the Black family had proven his honor and lineage.
"Amelia Bones!" The little girl Gary had seen at the Bones timidly walked onto the platform. "Hufflepuff!"
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" A small boy with beautiful wavy golden hair walked out, waving to the students at the four long tables, bowing deeply to the teachers and students in all directions. His smile was perfect, just right to reveal his clean and tidy teeth.
"Ravenclaw!"
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