Heather Abbott had long suspected that Gilderoy Lockhart was a fraud.
However, Heather decided to offer Lockhart an interview for the position of Potions teacher at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery.
Her intent was to use the job interview as an avenue to expose Lockhart's phoniness and lack of actual magical talent.
On, Monday, April 20th, 1992, Ameila took Heather to work with her and Heather met up with Gilderoy Lockhart in the Interview Room at 10 A.M.
"Good morning, Gilderoy, " said Heather pleasantly, "I am offering you the opportunity to interview for the position of Potions teacher at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery because I know your reputation of being a highly talented wizard."
"Me," grinned Gilderoy Lockhart, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. But the focus today needs to be on Potions, and I can tell you that I'm the GOAT at brewing potions. I can make a perfect potion blind, in my sleep, from memory. To learn more about my elite Potions exploits, read Periods with Potions."
"Gilderoy, " said Heather seriously, "Please follow me to the Potions Room."
Lockhart followed Heather to the Potions Room.
Smack dab in the middle of the room was a long inky black desk with matching chairs around it.
Lockhart sat down opposite Heather.
Atop the desk were a mortar, a cauldron, a pestle, and various Potions ingredients.
"Okay," said Heather seriously, "You claim in Periods for Potions that your Antidote to Common Poisons Potions are "impeccable."
"I once brewed an Antidote to Common Poisons Potion that was so good that it saved the life of a four year old girl who was clinging to life by the hair of her chinny chin chin."
"Please demonstrate how to make Antidote to Common Poisons," Heather instructed Ameila.
Lockhart immediately revealed a flaw to Heather when he did not take out his wand right away so that he would have it at the ready when he needed it.
Heather looked on at Lockhart, not quite sure what to expect but feeling certain that his boasts were just empty words.
While Lockhart did crush the Beazor correctly, it was all downhill after that.
Lockhart added eight measures of crushed Beazor when he should have only added four and also added four measures of standard ingredient when he should have added only two.
He turned the heat to high when it should have been turned to medium.
Within three seconds and three nanoseconds of turning on the heat, the cauldron exploded, spraying burnt crushed Beazor and burnt standard ingredient throughout the room while leaving the cauldron in pieces of charred ash.
Lockhart looked stunned. He had obviously failed to secure the job he had hoped for, but that would soon be the least of his worries.
Heather retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand and pointed it directly at Lockhart.
"Stuperfy!" cried out Heather and Lockhart fell to the ground, stunned, and immobilized.
Ameila happened to have heard the explosion and came into the Potions Room.
"Ameila," said Heather seriously, 'Your arrival is most opportune. Lockhart's attempt to make Antidote to Common Poisons went horribly wrong. He never took his wand out, he was using double the proper amount of ingredients, and he turned the heat too high for the recipe in question."
"Which is why the cauldron blew up," nodded Ameila.
"Indeed," confirmed Heather, "Ameila, I have stunned Lockhart. I strongly suspect him to be a fraud all around and I want you to question him with Veritasrum."
"I've never thought about Lockhart much," admitted Ameila, "But I don't deny that if his books are false, he deserves to be exposed as the phony liar that he is."
"I find most of the stories in his books to be beyond the realm of believability," said Heather bluntly, "I offered him this job interview today with the intent of exposing him because I was sure of his true colors."
Next nanosecond, Ameila ejected a vial of Veritasrum from her left hand pocket with her left hand and proceeded to feed Lockhart three drops of it before taking her wand out of her right pocket with her right hand and unstunning Lockhart, who Heather now helped back into a chair.
Ameila sat down next to Heather opposite Lockhart.
"What is your name?" Ameila asked Lockhart.
"Gilderoy Lockhart," replied Lockhart with none of his usual fevor.
"When were you born?" was Ameila's next question.
"January 26th, 1964," answered Lockart.
"Let's cut to the chase," piped up Ameila, "Mr. Lockhart, are the stories in your books true?"
"No," spilled Lockhart, "All of the stories in my books are either entirely made up or cases where I performed Memory Charms on witches and wizards who had accomplished things to make them forget what they had done and took the credit myself. The overwhelming majority of the content of my books is completely made up though."
"Why did you make up and publish false stories," Ameila grilled Lockhart.
"Because I wanted the fame and the popularity. I enjoy answering fan mail, I enjoy telling stories that portray me in a positive light whether they are true or not. And I l LOVE signing autographs for my adoring fans!" let out Lockhart.
"How long have you been selling books with stories about yourself that aren't actually true?" inquired Ameila.
"About ten years now," said Lockhart simply.
"Are ANY of your published works actually true?" wondered Amelia.
"No," revealed Lockhart, "What my fanboys and fangirls don't know won't hurt them."
As there was nothing more to ask, Ameila fed Lockhart the Antidote to Veritasrum.
Once he was free of the influence of Veritasrum, Lockhart began, "Me, Gilderoy Lockhart-"
"SILENCIO!" cried out both Ameila and Heather and they instantly made Lockhart go silent.
"Well, " said Ameila in a satisfied voice to the now silenced Lockhart, "You confessed under Veritasrum that all of your published works are false. You admitted under the influence of Veritasrum that all your published works are either cases of you being a credit thief or you making up stories entirely. Your fraud will be reported in the Daily Prophet tomorrow and Flourish and Blotts will be informed that your published works are scandalous. "
Lockhart just stood there in stunned silence.
"I think he deserves a very large fine as well," Heather told Ameila.
"Don't worry, Heather, he'll be getting one," promised Ameila, "I don't know how large yet though. The fine will be large enough to cover the cost of replacing the cauldron he ruined, pay for the reimbursement of any customers who wish to return his books to Flourish and Blotts and get refunds, and pay damages to all the people he stole credit from. It'll be at least a few days before I know how massive his fine will be."
Ameila and Heather exchanged smirks. They couldn't help feeling a bit of savage pleasure at getting an upper hand on Lockhart.
And that was only the beginning.
The next day's Daily Prophet bore the headline Gilderoy Lockhart Exposed with the subheadline Egotistical Wizard Reveals Phoniness Under Veritasrum.
Back at Abbott Manor, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Ameila, and Heather all read this article together.
Th article read:
On Monday morning, Gilderoy Lockhart arrived at the Ministry of Magic for a job interview regarding the position of Positions teacher at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery, a school that will be opened by the witch Heather Abbott on September 1st. However, Madam Abbott, who has long suspected all of Lockhart's published works to be fake, never intended to offer Lockhart the job. Her intent in setting up the job interview was to expose the truth about Lockhart's phoniness. Madam Abbott asked Lockhart to make Antidote to Common Poisons, a Potion Lockhart had told a boastful story about in his book Periods with Potions. In Periods with Potions, Lockhart claimed to have brewed such a great Antidote to Common Poisons Potion that it saved the life of a four year old girl who was clinging to life by the hair of her chinny chin chin. Well, as Madam Abbott looked on, she observed Lockhart making several mistakes with the Potion. Among the mistakes Lockhart made were failing to have his wand at the ready, using double the proper amount of ingredients, and turning the heat way too high. When Lockhart turned on the heat, it to all of three seconds and three nanoseconds for the cauldron to explode and send burnt crushed Beazor and burnt standard ingredient throughout the room while leaving the cauldron in pieces of charred ash. Madam Abbott immediately stunned Lockhart and contacted her friend Ameila Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Madam Bones questioned Lockhart under Veritasrum, and its influence caused Lockhart to spill the beans that none of his books are true. Under the influence of Veritasrum, Lockhart admitted that in some cases he had used Memory Charms to make witches and wizards forget things they had accomplished so that he could have the credit for himself. He also admitted that most of the stories in his books were entirely made up. Lockhart has been publishing false and fraudulent books for ten years. Lockhart aimed to make himself famous and popular as he reveals in fanboys and fangirls. He loves answering fan mail, making himself out to greater than he is and signing autographs. Due to the revelation that all of his published works are false, Flourish and Blotts announced Monday night that effective immediately it is removing ALL of Gilderoy Lockhart's books from its shelves and canceling all planned future appearances from Lockhart. Gilderoy Lockhart's days of false glory appear to be at an end. In addition, Madam Bones told the Daily Prophet that Lockhart will be fined an amount of money large enough to cover the costs of replacing the cauldron he ruined, refunding deceived customers who wish to return his books, and damages for those people he stole credit from.
"Excellent," said Harry with a smirk, "Then again, it was inevitable that Lockhart would be exposed at some point. His tales were just way too tall to have credibility. There is simply NO way that the story of Wagga Wagga Werewolf could be true."
"That's exactly why I set up that job interview for him," said Heather seriously, "I suspected he was a fraud, and it was about time that the wizarding public found out the truth."
"As someone whose favorite academic subject is Potions," said Amy bluntly, "I can't help but feel immense savage pleasure at the fact that it was screwing up so bad at making a potion that led to his exposure. I'm knowledgeable enough about Potions to know that Periods with Potions was hot garbage. For me, that book made it clear that Lockhart was a fraud and a phony, and I'm not surprised that all of his works turned out to be false."
"It's cool that Aunt Ameila and Heather were the people who helped bring Lockhart down," smiled Susan, "I'm very proud of them for exposing that piece of trash for what he is. I just wonder how so many people fell for his fibs."
"Yeah, that confuses me as well," nodded Hannah, "I'm also very pleased and proud that mom and Aunt Ameila were the ones who put an end to his underserved stardom and I'm glad everyone will know the truth about the man on the biggest egotrip of all time now. But how did he have so many fanboys and fanirls in the first place?"
"I don't understand that either," acknowledged Amy.
"Unfortunately," explained Heather, "Lockhart is both handsome and charming and was able to use his ability to Charm people to seduce people into believing his stories were true, thus creating a fanbase for himself."
"People need to learn to become less gullible," piped up Harry.
'You're right, pup," said Sirius seriously, "Then again, fanboys and fangirls are rarely logical."
"Quite the opposite," interjected Remus, "Fanboys and fangirls will find any excuse to adore their crushes and heroes."
"The best thing about all this," said Ameila in a satisfied voice, "Is Lockhart will now have to cope with the loss of his former fans, who now know the truth. Plus, he'll have to deal with public humiliation when he goes out and notice him and point out that he was a fraud and a phony."
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Ameila, and Heather all exchanged smiles. It felt good to know that sometimes pieple got what they deserved in the long run.
Two days after the Daily Prophet article appeared, Gilderoy Lockhart showed up for his scheduled appearance at Flourish and Blotts despite the bookshop making it clear that the appearance had been cancelled.
To say the end result was a massive humiliation for Lockhart would be the understatement of the century.
You see, once Lockhart was inside the bookshop, he saw a string of customers who were returning his books and getting refunds on them.
Flourish and Blotts had set up this time as a window where customers could return Lockhart's books and get refunds for them due to the scandal.
To top it off, Lockhart saw some customers actually erasing his autograph from his books by both magical and manual means.
Worst of all for Lockhart was the fact that some customers had actually signed or wrote words like "fake", "phony", and "fraud" on the books after erasing Lockhart's own autographs and thrown the books at him.
And there were so many customers who all did all of this so fast that Lockhart had no chance to respond to the avalanche.
Instead, Lockhart just stood there in a very uncomfortable silence with his insides squirming as his face grew redder and redder from embarrassment. The shoe was on the other foot and the tables had been turned on him.
Gilderoy Lockhart had been put in his place.
At least for this nanosecond, I'll leave it to your own imaginations how large Lockhart's fine actually was/got.