Hi, thanks for all the reviews for the first chapter. I still don't have a better idea for the title, so Champion 2, for now stays. Here is the next one. Enjoy.
Rita's New Coup
Harry was swimming in the pool at Potter Manor. The weather was still warm and he had taken to swimming an hour each day to train his body more completely than normal working out and running did. Sirius had given him the idea, saying that he and his father had done the same when they had been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It trained stamina and muscles. Tomorrow he would return to Hogwarts. Sirius had helped him to find some good books on Defence Against the Dark Arts in the Potter library which he could read and learn for the subject. They both were sure, after having had a look at the books, that the students wouldn't learn anything from Lockhart.
His trunk was packed in his room; he would only need to put the last things inside tomorrow morning. Hedwig's perch was such an example. His familiar slept in his room and the two regularly had interesting discussions in the evenings.
Over the holidays he had trained his flying and shooting skills at the small Quidditch pitch on the grounds. It was about three quarters the size of a normal one, but for Harry and sometimes some friends that came over, it was perfect to have fun. Harry wondered if Daniel would hold try-outs again. They had a really good team from last year and the only one that had graduated was Pomarel. Perhaps he would do it to see if all the players currently having the starting positions were up to their game. It would make sense to keep them on their toes and to not overlook a talent for experienced players. Sirius had been a huge help with training. He had played chaser as well at Hogwarts and knew some of the tactics Harry's father had come up with really well. On the weekends when Sirius hadn't been on duty with the aurors he had shown Harry some tricks which improved his abilities a lot. Harry was really looking forward to the upcoming school year. Oh how he would make the keepers fall into depression.
That strange house elf Dobby hadn't returned. Harry wasn't sure if there really would be a danger or if somebody thought it would be a good prank trying to keep Harry from Hogwarts. Well, Sirius had warned Madam Bones and Professor Dumbledore, so, in case that something happened, they would be prepared. In regards to his muggle education Harry had passed the tests without problem. He had found he wouldn't even have had to learn as he knew those things by heart already. Well, knowledge was never a bad thing. And he could use the knowledge in the coming years. Harry knew that the upcoming year would probably be the last one where he could easily manage to combine his studies for the muggle subjects with his magical subjects. From next year on he would have additional classes in the electives and that would take up more of his time. If only he could test in a higher class for his muggle studies, but that would mean he would have to do the next level the following year and he didn't know how well that would work. He would see where he stood at the end of this year and perhaps be able to do the test for his O-level.
Sirius apparated Harry and himself over to Kings Cross Station. They still had half an hour to get Harry onto the train and decided to get a little snack from one of the stands on the platform. A woman was selling pretzels that had been baked with a slice of cheese. Sirius got each of them one and then they walked towards the portal to the platform. When Harry tried to walk through it was a solid wall.
"Ouch," Harry said, rubbing his head. Now he was glad he didn't run.
"What's the matter, Harry?" Sirius asked.
"The portal is closed," Harry said. "It's a solid wall."
"Hm, let me see," Sirius said. He knocked against the pillar and frowned. "This is not normal. Somebody messed with this thing."
Sirius set up notice-me-not charms and did a few spells to find out what was wrong. He frowned when he came up with nothing he knew.
"Very strange. But there always is one option. Rollo," He called out and the house elf appeared.
"You called, Master Sirius?" Rollo asked.
"Yes. The portal to the platform is closed. I don't recognize the magic that is denying us entrance. Can you just pop us over?" Sirius asked.
"Rollo can, but he can also take down the barrier. It's house elf magic," Rollo said.
"That again is the work of that crazy house elf Dobby then. Please take the magic down, Rollo," Sirius said irritated.
Rollo tipped the wall with his finger and it glowed red.
"Portal is open again, Master Sirius," Rollo said.
"Thank you Rollo. Would you please stay here and watch that the portal isn't closed for anybody else? Just make sure you aren't seen," Sirius asked.
"Rollo will do that. Rollo wishes you a good term at school, Master Harry," Rollo addressed Harry.
"Thank you, Rollo. I'm sure I will," Harry said and then stepped through the portal, Sirius following him.
The train ride was pretty normal. He shared a compartment with Terry, Neville, Lisa, Hermione and Miranda. His other friends and acquaintances came to visit and say hello, Harry also went and made a few visits, they talked about the holidays, Harry showed his photo album of his trip to Australia, and they played games. When they reached Hogsmeade they followed the older students out of the station towards the carriages that would take them to the castle. Harry looked at the carriage he and his friends wanted to take and saw the creature pulling it.
He walked up to it and petted its neck, which the thestral responded to with a friendly snort and looking at Harry.
"What are you doing, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Petting the thestral," Harry answered.
"But there is nothing," She said frowning.
"Yes, there is. I can see it as well," Neville said. "It's a creature called a thestral. You can only see them if you have seen death."
"Oh!" Hermione said and was silent after that.
"Who was it for you, Neville?" Harry asked quietly.
"My grandfather. I guess for you it was Quirrell?" Neville said and got a nod from Harry.
They stepped into the carriage and were taken up to the front doors of Hogwarts. They climbed out and walked inside the castle. Soon they all sat at their respective tables in the Great Hall. The sorting started when Professor McGonagall led the new first-years inside. Harry and the other Ravenclaws clapped for each new member of their house. The last one to be sorted was Ginevra Weasley, who obviously was the last of the Weasley siblings to go to Hogwarts. Harry really felt for the Weasleys that they had to pay for five sets of the Lockhart books. Really, that man didn't have any shame. He intended to show him how he felt about him in class.
Curiously when the hat shouted out Gryffindor, the girl seemed to be a bit disappointed looking towards the Ravenclaw table and then walking to the table under the red and gold banner.
After a short speech the feast appeared and drove any thoughts about other things from Harry's mind temporarily. Like last year the feast was splendid and Harry enjoyed the food massively. When after the feast Lockhart was introduced as the new Defence teacher, Harry could only shake his head at the reactions of the majority of the students. Especially the girls seemed to be blended by his looks.
On the way to Ravenclaw Tower the new second year boys wondered with whom they would room this year. Last year Harry had roomed with a second year as both years had had an odd number of boys. This year if he had counted right, there were six new first-year boys. That would mean that probably one of the second years would get a single room already. They reached the knocker and Terry knocked to get the riddle.
"What is the correct way to approach a hippogriff?" The eagle asked.
"To bow and keep eye-contact until it bows back," Michael answered.
"Correct," The eagle said and the door opened. The boys entered.
"Well, let's see what the rooming lottery got us this year," Anthony said.
"Did I count wrong when I got six new first-year boys?" Harry asked.
"No, I got the same number. Do you think one of us got a single room already then?" Michael asked.
"It would make the most sense. I don't think they would put three of us in one room," Terry said.
"We got more new students than last year. I think there are eight girls in first year," Kevin mentioned.
"Yeah, we got most new firsties. I think Hufflepuff and Gryffindor got fewer students than last year. I only counted eight new lions and nine new badgers. But Slytherin got twelve," Harry stated.
"Hm, that means there are three students more than in our year in total," Terry quickly added the numbers.
The boys walked up the stairs towards the rooms of the second years. In general the younger years were in the rooms closest to the common room, followed by the next year and so on. They passed the rooms for the first years and found their rooms. First were Kevin and Terry who entered their room. Next were Michael and Anthony. Which meant that Harry probably got his own room. Harry walked on and indeed he found a room with only his name on the plaque. He entered and saw that it was smaller than the room he had had with Rick last year but bigger than half of their room. It still held the basic furniture that each room had at the beginning of a year. On the desk was a letter. Harry opened it.
Dear Mr Potter,
as the number of boys in your year is uneven and the number of new first years is even, I had to decide which of you would get a single room this year. Following the class ranking from the end of last year where you ranked first overall, I decided to honour that achievement with choosing you for the single room. The normal rules apply.
Wishing you a good start into the new year,
Filius Flitwick
Head of Ravenclaw House
Harry smiled. That was a typical thing to do for his head of house. Ravenclaw was all about rewarding academic success. And his end of year exams had placed him firmly in first place before Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. He was sure both would try to best him this year, but he wouldn't let them. He fully intended to stay at the top of his year. It knocked at his door and Terry came in.
"Hey, Harry, wanna come to the common room to play a game of wizard before going to bed?" He asked.
"Sure, just give me five minutes, then I'll be there," Harry said.
"Okay," Terry said and left the room.
Harry opened the window, took Hedwig's perch from his trunk and placed it next to the window. That way his familiar could come in if she wanted. He went down to the common room and played one game of wizard with the other boys before he went up again and started unpacking his trunk. He took his pyjamas and toiletries out before going to the bathroom, which he shared with Tony and Michael and got ready for bed.
The next morning Harry was up at a quarter to seven and took a shower. Once he was completely dressed he took out his Transfiguration book and started reading. He had half an hour left before Professor Flitwick would give the speech to the new first-years and after that he always handed out the time-tables and achievement lists for the year. At a quarter to eight Harry went down to the common room and saw the first-years listening to Professor Flitwick. Harry sat down on one of the chairs and listened to the end of the speech. The Professor Flitwick started handing out the time-tables and many of the older years had waited to get theirs as well. Contrary to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor who got their time-tables from Professors Sprout and McGonagall at breakfast, Ravenclaw and Slytherin preferred to get them before then.
Harry looked at his schedule. Four hours of each subject with a double lesson of Astronomy on Tuesday evening for the practical part of the subject. He saw that the theoretical part was on Thursday afternoon this year. Today they would first have Defence Against the Dark Arts, then Transfiguration and in the afternoon History of Magic. Not a bad day. Transfiguration and History of Magic were interesting and he could spend the other double period for reading up on material that was useful.
Contrary to last year they had Defence with the Slytherins. Transfiguration was still with Gryffindor and History of Magic also with Gryffindor. Obviously the plans had been changed around a bit. The second years waited inside the Defence Classroom and were stumped to see a huge portrait of Lockhart behind the teacher's desk.
"That's not for real?" Michael asked disbelievingly.
"Well, Michael, our teacher is a self-absorbed idiot. Better you believe it. I recommend getting a good book for classes and ignore the ponce," Harry said.
Terry snorted. "Harry's godfather knew Lockhart at school and said he only barely even scrapped an OWL in his classes," He said.
"Then how in the world did he do the things he writes about in his books?" Kevin asked in a low voice.
"I think he didn't. I read all those books. I wanted to nail him where I can. And I found some interesting facts. The events in Voyages with Vampires and Break with a Banshee overlap. Additionally he was just two days out of school when the events of Year with a Yeti happened. I don't know what he did, but I suspect he somehow made it look as if he did the things others did. Otherwise it isn't possible to explain it. And the method he described to transform the Wagga Wagga Werewolf back is laughable. If that worked, many more people would have succeeded with it. No, I'm pretty sure he is a fraud," Harry said.
"Why would he be employed here then?" Michael asked.
"Lack of applicants? I mean Quirrell's fate was not something that would instil faith in the job perspectives," Kevin suggested, which made Harry flinch.
"Ah, sorry, Harry, I didn't think," Kevin apologised.
"It's okay, Kevin, but please don't mention it again," Harry said subdued trying to suppress the images in his mind.
Finally the peacock entered the room. He gave a stupid introduction and then handed out a test to see how thoroughly they had read the books. Harry looked over the test and decided to have some fun. After all, a test that only asked questions about Lockhart?
1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour? – shocking pink
2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? – learning how to perform a spell properly
3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date? – deceiving the British wizarding world into believing he could have done the things he says he has done after just scrapping by in his OWLs and NEWTs
4. How did Gilderoy Lockhart banish the Bandon Banshee? – he didn't, he was busy running from the vampire
Thee sides of paper later…
52. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest strength? – Does he have any? I know he doesn't have shame for asking all students to buy seven adventure books in a normally important class.
53. Where did Gilderoy Lockhart learn his skills? – Kwikspell
54 When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would be the ideal gift for him? – April fool's day and a large bottle of glitter toothpaste
Harry was really proud of his answers. He wondered if anybody had really tried to answer the test properly. He quickly made a copy as he wanted to show it around later. The fool in front of the class didn't even notice. Finally he collected the tests and looked over them.
"Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered that my favourite colour is lilac. I said so in Year with a Yeti. And you should read Wandering with Werewolves more closely, I stated there that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magical and non-magical people," Lockhart said while looking through the pack of tests. Then he paled dramatically.
"Five points from Ravenclaw for Mr Potter not taking the test seriously," Lockhart snapped.
All eyes were on Harry now who was just grinning smugly.
"You definitely need to read the books more carefully if you want to pass this class, Mr Potter," Lockhart said. "You can't expect to be able to get through school only relying on your fame."
That sent the class into massive laughter. Lockhart looked at them not understanding why they were all laughing, even the Slytherins.
"That's a good joke, Professor," Draco Malfoy said.
"Oh and why would that definitely necessary piece of advice for Mr Potter be a joke, Mr Malfoy?" Lockhart asked annoyed.
"Because Harry is the best student in our year. And he didn't once rely on his fame. That guy can simply do everything," Sylveena Esmeraude answered instead of Draco.
Harry meanwhile had multiplied his test answers and handed them around while Lockhart was distracted with Sylveena.
"Hm, he is right. You can't have banished the Bandon Banshee and been in Romania to deal with the vampire at the same time," Theodore Nott said reading Harry's answers.
Lockhart turned around, seeing all students looking at copies of Harry's test.
"And it really was shameless to ask for seven books in one subject. I mean think of families like the Weasleys. They have five children at Hogwarts at the moment. How were they able to buy all the books? Do the parents have to go hungry for the next month?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked.
"Does anybody know if the part about the OWL grades is true?" Daphne Greengrass asked.
"It is," Lilian Moon said. "My Mum was in his year in Slytherin and they always mocked him about not being able to do most spells. She said I should better plan for doing self-study in the library."
"I can recommend some books to you, Lilian. My godfather told me the same," Harry called out.
"Thank you, Harry. I will gladly accept that offer. Perhaps we could make it a regular meeting time to study?" Lilian asked winking at him.
"How would I be able to refuse such a pretty girl a request like that?" Harry asked, flirting back.
"Hey, Harry, don't you already have enough girls that swoon over you?" Blaize asked.
"What? I thought you were one of the most desired bachelors of Slytherin for the coming years yourself, Blaize. I didn't think you would be jealous," Harry countered.
"Enough! Twenty points from Ravenclaw and twenty from Slytherin for disrespecting a teacher!" Lockhart bellowed.
"How is it disrespectful to point out the truth?" Terry asked. "Okay, why don't we make this class a big independent Defence Against the Dark Arts study group as we will have to learn things ourselves anyway?" He said, ignoring Lockhart now.
"Not a bad idea. We wouldn't waste as much time then and my father would be highly displeased if I didn't learn anything this year," Draco said.
"I forbid this disrespectful behaviour!" Lockhart shouted. "If you are so sure you know better than me, see how you deal with these creatures."
He pulled the cloth from a cage and released a bunch of pixies. They shot through the room, causing chaos, much to the pleasure of Lockhart. Then he tried to prove his skill and tried a spell.
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi."
Sadly the spell failed and the pixies stole Lockhart's wand. The wand went sailing out of the window. Lockhart fled.
"Freeze them!" Harry commanded. "Immobilus."
The others followed Harry's example and soon the thirty or so pixies were suspended in the air. Tracy Davis held the cage and the others one by one levitated the pixies back inside.
"He definitely is an idiot. So how are we going to do this and won't we get in trouble?" Daphne asked.
"We will talk with Professors Snape and Flitwick. I'm sure they already know what kind of fraud Lockhart is. I know the locking spell and if we come here before Lockhart does on Mondays we won't have a problem locking him out. We would have to see if he is already in here on Thursdays," Michael said.
"Why don't we just use one of the unused classrooms? We can split the lessons. For example on Monday we read up on defensive spells and on Thursday we practice them. We can also read up on how to deal with dark creatures. And pixies don't count, they're simply pests," Theodore suggested.
"I like Theodore's plan best. There is an unused classroom at the end of the Charms corridor. It's big enough to practice spells and we could place some targets on one side of the room. If we split the work, we will get a lot done," Terry said.
"We should just inform our heads of houses. That way nobody can say they hadn't been informed," Harry said. "And Professor Flitwick wouldn't wonder why there was noise in a classroom that normally isn't used."
"Okay. Then let's see. We still have an hour left until our next classes. Why don't we go to the library and look up books we want to study from?" Padma suggested.
The suggestion was accepted by the others. Madam Pince was massively surprised to see a whole class entering the library.
"What are you all doing here? Don't you have class at the moment?" She asked suspiciously.
"Professor Lockhart fled from the classroom after failing to get control back over a cage of pixies he let loose in the classroom. They stole his wand and threw it out of the window. We were left to deal with them. After we had frozen them and put them back in the cage we decided that considering Professor Lockhart's obvious lack of competence we would be better off if we did self-study, therefore we came here to look for books that can teach us more than our supposed teacher will ever be able to do," Daphne informed her. "I will write my parents about the incompetence of Professor Lockhart. It can't be that we have to resort to self-study in an important subject like Defence Against the Dark Arts."
Then the twenty-one students spread over the library, especially the defence section and looked for books that would help them.
The rebellion of the second year Ravenclaws and Slytherins soon was talked about over the whole school. The Ravenclaws soon researched if the dates really didn't add up and came to the conclusion that Lockhart really was a fraud. Therefore most Ravenclaws took to self-study. Lockhart had tried to swing things in his favour again, he obviously didn't like being ignored at all, but rumours had the habit to spread all over Hogwarts within a day at most. And if those rumours concerned Harry Potter they were even faster. In the end only some die-hart fangirls kept their allegiance to Lockhart. Harry found it extremely amusing what one class could do. He had written Sirius a letter, describing what had happened and added his test for Sirius to laugh about.
The return letter was full of praise for Harry's prank and the assurance that Sirius fully supported Harry in making a mockery of Lockhart. The next great hit to Lockhart's image was a new article from Rita Skeeter two weeks into the school year.
Gilderoy Lockhart – Reality or Myth?
By Rita Skeeter
Gilderoy Lockhart, 30, current Professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile-Award, fighter against the dark arts. Or is he? Overhearing some visitors of Diagon Alley in August when Gilderoy Lockhart had the book signing for his new book 'Magical Me' this reporter overheard auror Sirius Black, who was shopping with his godson, Harry Potter, and some of Mr Potter's friends, saying that Gilderoy Lockhart, who was two years below Mr Black at Hogwarts, was shameless for forcing families to buy seven of his books for his class.
I also got the understanding that Auror Black doesn't have a high opinion of Mr Lockhart. I was curious and did some research. In the official files of the Ministry of Magic where the OWL and NEWT results of everybody are stored, I found some troubling information. Gilderoy Lockhart barely got A's in all his wanded classes and Potions. He wasn't accepted for other NEWT level classes but Herbology, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. He failed his Ancient Runes NEWT and only had A's in the other classes. How is that man qualified to teach our children?
I then decided I needed more information. I read all his books. They are an interesting read and definitely well-written, but some dates don't add up. For example he says he banished the Bandon Banshee in August 1987. But at the same time he says he defeated the vampire in Romania.
He says he was in Tibet two days after he graduated from Hogwarts, but how could that be if there is a protocol of his job interview for a position at the Ministry as an Obliviator of the same day? Many things don't add up.
Therefore I got a few portkeys to travel to the places where Mr Lockhart supposedly did his great deeds. Imagine my surprise when none of the inhabitants of the village that was plagued by the Wagga Wagga Werewolf recognized the photo of Mr Lockhart and described a completely different person who managed to save them. An old warlock in fact. My next stop was Bandon. There some people said it was Mr Lockhart, others firmly stated it was a witch who banished the banshee. A witch with a hare lip, therefore they could remember so well. The experience repeated itself a few more times. The only place I didn't visit was Tibet. I apologize that I didn't have the time to climb up into the mountains. But I think you see the parallels of the events.
Somebody who wasn't Mr Lockhart did something, yet they never spoke up about it. I managed to locate the witch that banished the banshee after two weeks of searching and found her to not remember doing the deed, even if one of my witnesses swears she was the one. A short trip to St. Mungo's confirmed that she was victim of a memory charm. Could it be that Gilderoy Lockhart was the one to obliviate her? I ask our Ministry to investigate in this matter. Our children at Hogwarts shouldn't be exposed to an incompetent teacher that obviously is praised for doing things that others did in reality.
Seemingly Amelia Bones had the same opinion as Rita Skeeter. She arrived at Hogwarts the afternoon of that day with two aurors and took him with her for questioning. He didn't return for the rest of the week. Defence was taught by Professor Dumbledore for the time being.
Okay, I thought getting rid of the fraud early on offered more options for the rest of the year. And I really didnt want to write about that embarassing Valentine's Day. Till next time.