Ron's prediction proved correct. Lockhart had arrived early for their lesson. He had arranged to meet them in the Three Broomsticks and when Dudley, Hermione and Neville arrived, he was lapping up the attention by regaling the story of his victory.

There was a crowd of mostly witches gathered around Lockhart. He looked a bit tipsy and even as Dudley walked towards him, a chubby warlock with a beard presented Lockhart with another glass of mead.

"Ah, Dudley! The very man himself! Come and join us, I was just telling my companions here about the other night." Despite being a bit red in the face, Lockhart was speaking clearly enough, if a little louder than usual.

Dudley, Hermione and Neville pulled up some chairs.

"Where was I, ah yes—so we had the house surrounded, two members of the DFDL staying put out back in case Nott made a break for it, while I led the others inside. It was simple to break inside—a quick reducto knocked his door of the hinges."

"No defences?" a wizard asked.

"Oh yes, a caterwauling charm to alert Nott to intruders—luckily I'm a mighty quick thinker in tense situations, I dealt with that pretty sharpish," Lockhart said. "Silencio, my good man—stopped it immediately."

"And, of course," he continued. "A nasty acid spraying charm from these snake statues at the foot of his staircase. I had to use my old seeker reflexes to dodge that one. So, we cleared the house, room by room—Nott's an old Death Eater, remember—and we decided to split up in pairs. Myself and Old Runcorn—his son is in the Ministry now—took the top floor, Bashir and Madame Smith took the ground floor. Well, of course, myself and Bashir came across him, lying in wait—perfect ambush,"

"What did you do?" a witch asked, breathlessly.

"He got Bashir immediately—stunner to the chest, and his age too. But I was too fast and too wiley for him. We dueled—nasty piece of work, Nott is. He tried crucio, the killing curse and more—luckily I can cast a shield charm so powerful I could block the worst of it. Then, when he'd tired himself out, it was a mere case of hitting him with a stunner and that was that!" Lockhart said. His supporters applauded, and one witch brought him over a glass of rum.

After half an hour, Lockhart announced it was time for their lesson and led the way to the Shrieking Shack.

"Ah, the Dark Force Defence League—plays a valuable role in wizarding society, Dudley. Some very useful witches and wizards to know. Membership—or honorary membership—opens a lot of doors," Lockhart announced. "Of course, you're not quite there yet—but keep following in my footsteps and I'll be sure you get an invite!"

They picked up where they had left off from last time, working on removing a specific memory from somebody. It was difficult work and required a lot of concentration, finally, however, after 20 minutes of practice, Hermione managed to make Neville forget about just the ball which Lockhart had in his pocket rather than anything after.

"Good work, nicely done!" Lockhart said approvingly. "I knew you had it in you, Hermione—smartest witch I taught."

Hermione beamed, she always liked being told how smart she was.

They practiced for 10 more minutes before Lockhart called time. Neither Neville nor Dudley had managed it. It was a very complex bit of magic.

"Good session that," Lockhart said approvingly.

As they headed back to the village, Dudley, Hermione and Neville told Lockhart about the events at school and about Black.

"I was considering stationing myself at Hogsmeade myself," Lockhart informed them. "Black wouldn't dare show his face if he knew I was around. But I've had too much on my plate, what with trying to track down the Death Eaters who freed Malfoy and my other commitments."

"What do you think he wants, Professor?" Dudley said. "Why did he try and kill Ron, and why does he keep breaking into Gryffindor?"

Lockhart looked thoughtful. "It is my belief he wants something at Hogwarts," he said.

"Like what?" asked Hermione.

"Hogwarts has a lot of secrets," Lockhart said. "I uncovered most of them during my time there, but, of course, there is always more to be discovered. Perhaps You-Know-Who hid something there that's the key to bringing him back?"

"You think that's Black's aim, then?" Dudley asked.

"Undoubtedly," Lockhart said. "Did you know he was at Hogwarts at the same time as me?" he said.

Dudley looked surprised, this was new information. "What was he like?"

"He was four years ahead of me, but everyone knew him and his friends by reputation. Let's see—Sirius was very much a ladies man—handsome, lots of girls had a crush on him and James Potter was the star of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Then there was Lupin—he was quite quiet—and chubby Peter Pettigrew who tended to follow them around."

"They were the popular crowd at school—but I always had my suspicions about Black," Lockhart said. "He knew a lot of dark magic—even in that age. Why, in my first year, he and James Potter ambushed Severus—used some dark spells on him."

"You mean Snape?" Dudley almost shouted. He had no idea Snape knew Black too.

"Yes, he was in their year. I didn't have much to do with Severus," said Lockhart. "I was in Ravenclaw."

"So … Black and Potter attacked Snape?" asked Dudley.

"Oh yes, caused quite a bit of a stir—so it came as no surprise to find out that Black was a Death Eater,"

"And what about James Potter?" Dudley asked.

"You-Know-Who killed him, his wife and their child, of course," Lockhart said. "Terrible, terrible day. Lily Evans was very popular. If it weren't for that, I would have had James Potter down as a Death Eater too," Lockhart said. "He was a bit of a bully, despite being so popular."

Dudley looked at Hermione, digesting this new information about Black and the Potters.

"Was he a Death Eater … who tried to leave or something?" Dudley asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"No," said Lockhart. "Dumbledore was outraged by the killing. He tracked You-Know-Who down and defeated him in a duel. He wouldn't have done that if James Potter was bad too."

Dudley felt relieved. He would have hated to have any connection to a Death Eater.

They had reached Hogsmeade and said their goodbyes to Lockhart.

"That was interesting," Hermione said, as they headed back to the castle. "Did any of you know that Snape knew Black?"

Dudley and Neville shook their heads.

"Do you think Snape is helping Black?" Neville suggested.

"From what Lockhart said, they hated each other," said Dudley.

"And, Dumbledore trusts Snape," Hermione added.

"Yeah, but didn't Dumbledore also trust Quirrell?"

Neither Hermione or Dudley had an answer to that. It was a good point.