Chapter 61 Chapter 61
Fawkes continued to pace at the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets, waiting for them.
Before they could leave, Hermione and Lockhart stumbled. Lockhart was terrified, trembling; Hermione pointed her wand at his back.
"Miss Granger, it may already be too late, we cannot save your friends. I'm sorry, you know me and Mr. Mason..."
Before Lockhart could finish speaking, they saw the massive body of the basilisk. Lockhart's knees buckled, he collapsed to the floor and with a panicked cry exclaimed: "Snake, snake, great snake!"
"My goodness, are you all right?"
Then, Hermione saw Evan, Harry, and Ron standing next to the basilisk's corpse. She ran towards them with reddened eyes, embracing them all.
"We are fine, but if you keep hugging me this tightly, I won't be sure!" Evan felt weak, sensing that this hug seemed longer to them than to the other two. "By the way, how did you get here, with Lockhart?"
"That's how it was..." Hermione said, blushing slightly as the hug concluded.
After hearing her explanation, Evan understood that after the basilisk took them, Professor McGonagall and the other professors hurried to the common room where the incident occurred, intending to go get Dumbledore, but the headmaster was busy with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy.
When the Chamber was opened fifty years ago, the first victim was Moaning Myrtle. With that information, Hermione speculated that the entrance was in the girls' bathroom on the third floor, so she decided to seek help from Professor Lockhart.
"But I did not expect him to come down with me to save you all, he even tried to escape when he heard the basilisk was attacking the students."
"So I forced him to come with me with my wand, I found no one else willing to help, I didn't want to delay, I feared for you...," Hermione said looking down at Lockhart, who lay on the floor.
Evan quickly took Hermione in his arms and caressed her head, looking frightened.
"But why was he trying to flee? I mean, he's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, he wrote so many incredible books," Harry said incredulously.
"That's right... When I took this position, there were no requirements... I didn't think about it..." The four turned and stared at him, Lockhart murmured, "Books can be deceptive."
"Did you lie?" Hermione looked up astonished. "Did you write those books?"
"My dear Miss Granger!" Lockhart shifted to the side, "Think for a moment, if you don't let people think everything was my doing, it would be bad for sales."
"Readers wouldn't be willing to read the stories if they knew it was an old American wizard who saved a village from a werewolf. They put my picture on the cover, it's not hard to deceive people. And the witch who banished the banshee banden, had a hairy chin. I mean, think about it..."
"So you took credit for all the things other people have achieved," said Hermione.
"It's not as straightforward as it sounds."
Lockhart impatiently shook his head and took a few steps to the side, "I do a lot of work, I have to find those people and ask them how they accomplished those feats. And then I erase their memories with a spell so they forget it."
"Memory charm?" Evan was secretly wary, almost forgetting that this guy was a Memory Charms master.
"Yes, if I have something to... It seemed like Lockhart picked something up from the ground, then he stood up panting, Ron's wand in his hand, he displayed a peculiar smile revealing his shiny teeth.
"Well, children, it's over!" Lockhart said, "I will bring the body of this snake back to the school and tell them you lost the reason for sorrow!"
"Professor, how can you do this!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were astounded. Evan was about to stun him with a Stupefy spell, but realizing he had Ron's broken wand in hand, he refrained.
Evan could feel Hermione trembling in his arms; he gently caressed her shoulders and gestured for her to calm down.
Lockhart is nowhere near as skilled as Tom; he won't be able to properly cast a spell with a broken wand.
"I am not foolish enough to be exposed like this, so say goodbye to your memories, children!"
Lockhart raised the broken wand above his head and shouted, "Obliviate."
Boom! The wand exploded, possessing at least the force of a small bomb.
Lockhart was hit by his own magic and was sent flying, landing on the Chamber of Secrets floor.
Witnessing the effect, Evan knew it was incredibly powerful.
"Is he okay?"
"He was struck by his own memory charm; he should not remember who he is. It may not be a bad thing for him, as Professor Lockhart might go insane once we expose him," whispered Evan.
"Professor?! Who are you talking about?" Lockhart looked at them kindly. "This place is so strange, do you live here?"
"No!" Harry shook his head.
"Well, let's get out of here; we've been here all night, and we all need rest. Besides, Professor Dumbledore is still waiting for us, let's not make him worry too much."
He felt a headache coming on at the thought of Dumbledore's interrogation.
Who knows what the greatest wizard of the modern era will think; though willing to help Harry with Voldemort, he should be wary of being manipulated by others.
After defeating the basilisk snake and Tom, there wasn't much left to do.
Firstly, he must be cautious of Dumbledore; not wanting to be controlled like Harry, but he wasn't overly concerned.
Secondly, the four founders left behind some secret treasures.
"I don't know what they are, but based on what the four founders said, it must be something that can greatly aid in the fight against Voldemort and save Hogwarts. But the question is, where are the four hidden keys?" Evan pondered.
Now that Lockhart has lost his memory, he will be exposed, ruined.
It's not good news for the Hogwarts Magic newspaper; Evan now needed to find something new to captivate the readers.
Evan saw Ron standing with a perplexed expression, Harry by his side. Hermione was contemplating what to say, eager to inquire about Tom. However, Evan hastily stopped Hermione, "Leave Ron be for now; it can wait until tomorrow."
Evan believed that after this, Ron and Hermione would learn to approach what is written in books with caution.