Chapter 38 The Birth of an Actor

"Screech!" A sharp sound echoed in the silent Library, like fingernails scraping on an iron plate, followed by a dull thud.

Several Hufflepuff students sitting in front of them, discussing Herbology, clearly heard the sound too and looked up, glancing around.

"Who's tearing books?" Madam Pince rushed in from the doorway, wielding a feather duster.

The seven people present all turned their heads in unison towards Madam Pince.

The feather duster in Madam Pince's hand paused. "Did you hear a sound?" Her beautiful face showed anger.

"It seemed to be upstairs," a trembling Hufflepuff pointed overhead. "Madam Pince."

"Exactly."

"I heard it upstairs too."

"Well said." The remaining three Hufflepuffs chimed in.

Hogwarts Library has three floors, located on the third, fourth, and fifth floors of the Castle. The first and second floors are normal reading areas, while the third floor is the Restricted Section, inaccessible without a Professor's permit.

Madam Pince scanned the area, found no suspicious individuals, and upon hearing the Hufflepuff, immediately rushed upstairs.

The four Hufflepuffs patted their chests, and the atmosphere in the Library became cheerful.

"I wonder who's going to be unlucky this time, not being able to enter the Library for a month… hehe…" The Hufflepuffs huddled in a corner, making schadenfreude sounds.

"Gary, should we go take a look?" Kona dipped her quill in ink, letting the pen write on the parchment by itself.

"...How come I didn't know you had a Gryffindor brain?" Snape scoffed.

"There's nothing to do right now anyway. With the self-writing quill helping me, I just need to proofread the draft." Kona neatly arranged the draft papers on her desk.

"Gary, Severus, let's go, let's go!" Kona excitedly ran upstairs, an excited smile on her baby-faced round face.

She and Gary left, leaving Snape whose expression changed several times before he finally gritted his teeth and followed.

"Should we go up and see too?" A Hufflepuff took out a biscuit from his pocket and munched on it noisily.

He wouldn't dare eat when Madam Pince was around.

"Sure, sure." The other three Hufflepuffs' faces showed the expression of someone seeing entertainment gossip news.

Each floor of the Library has nearly a thousand bookshelves, with numerous and winding passages, making it impossible for them to determine which floor Madam Pince was on.

However, Madam Pince's voice soon came down the stairs. It was a roar, making it hard to imagine that the beautiful and charming her could let out such a terrifying roar.

"In the Restricted Section!" The Hufflepuff following behind had excellent hearing and immediately reacted.

The seven ran upstairs to the Restricted Section. Originally, the entrance to the Restricted Section had a heavy wooden door with an antique-style lock hanging on it.

Now the lock was open, the wooden door ajar, and intermittent sounds came from inside.

"Come… you brat… read after me… If you cut, tear, fold, stain, damage, throw, drop, or in any other way harm, abuse, or desecrate this book, I will, within my power, make you suffer the most terrible consequences!"

The seven softened their voices and tiptoed to the bookshelf behind the source of the sound.

Snape saw a copy of "Secrets of the Darkest Arts" on the bookshelf, his eyes filled with longing.

The few of them quietly peeked out to observe. Madam Pince was waving a feather duster in one hand and holding a small boy by the collar with the other.

It was Lockhart. They recognized him at a glance; his small frame and bright golden curls were too distinctive.

"Ma… Madam Pince, I didn't mean to…" Lockhart's voice trembled.

"Without a Professor's permission, who allowed you into the Restricted Section?" Madam Pince roared, a huge sound bursting from her throat, causing her thin body to tremble.

"I, I saw that the Restricted Section was unguarded, so I opened the lock…" Lockhart said, "I wanted to borrow a book, but I didn't expect to tear it…"

"This is a unique copy," Madam Pince put him down and picked up a blue-covered book from the floor. "'Forgotten Ancient magic and Spells,' Headmaster Dumbledore worked so hard to find it!"

"Don't even think about coming back here until school starts in September!" Madam Pince forcefully whipped Lockhart with the feather duster.

The seven had to leave. Now that Madam Pince had vented her anger, she could see them with a turn of her head.

Before leaving, Snape glanced at "Secrets of the Darkest Arts," his heart burning with desire, planning to ask Professor Slughorn for a book request form.

Tiptoeing out of the Restricted Section again, the seven then boldly ran downstairs.

When Madam Pince returned to the first floor with Lockhart, Kona was sitting at a desk, writing furiously with a quill, four Hufflepuffs each had a book in front of them, and Gary and Snape were copying Potion ingredient lists.

As Madam Pince came down from upstairs, the seven looked at her at the opportune moment, with a hint of curiosity in their eyes, not even glancing at Lockhart in her hand, and then continued to bury themselves in their own tasks.

Perfectly timed.

Madam Pince nodded in satisfaction and carried Lockhart, who looked like a chick, out of the Library's main door.

The main door closed tightly, and the seven exchanged glances, their cooperation seamless.

…

Lockhart was very displeased today. He had just mastered the Invisibility Charm two days ago, a simplified version of the Disillusionment Charm. If you move quickly, your body cannot change color in time with the surrounding scenery.

Having learned the new charm, Lockhart was eager to put it into practice. In the early morning, under the effect of the Invisibility Charm, he stole Madam Pince's keys and entered the Restricted Section.

He originally only wanted to find some rare spell books to show off in the common room, but the books inside the Restricted Section were too captivating. He was attracted by a book placed high up, "Forgotten Ancient magic and Spells." He stepped on a bookshelf, trying to take the book down, but unexpectedly, he fell down without realizing it and tore the book.

Madam Pince took him to Professor Flitwick's office. When he saw the usually gentle Professor's face darken, he knew things were serious.

Not only would he be unable to enter the Library for the rest of this school year, but he also had to clean the Ravenclaw common room for a semester, plus Ravenclaw lost fifty points.

Now, not only did Ravenclaw know about this news, but the four Hufflepuffs had spread Lockhart's story throughout Hogwarts, and even the muddled Professor Binns knew that Ravenclaw had a weirdo.

But Lockhart was not reconciled. He had always wanted to make a name for himself in front of everyone at Hogwarts. He knew he was unpopular in Ravenclaw, but he had always believed he was unique since childhood.

This was closely related to his family.

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