Hogwarts: Who made her a professor?

Chapter 89 People hate dogs too

Chapter 89 People hate dogs too

As night fell, Belvina, who had been taking a nap in the lounge, slowly woke up, tidied herself up briefly, and went out.

The castle was deserted at this time; the students' laughter and chatter could not be heard, nor could they be seen playing, chasing each other.

A campus without students is so desolate and quiet, like eating noodles without garlic—completely soulless.

Belvina walked alone through the empty castle, stopping and starting, and it took her a long time to reach the first floor and the temporary staff lounge next to the auditorium.

Pushing open the door, a scene similar to last year unfolded: the chattering in the lounge fell silent for a moment before resuming.

Belvina walked directly to Bassheda and Paul and sat down next to them.

The two professors were talking about summer, but most of the time Bassheda was listening to Paul pour out his grievances.

This summer, a spirited Paul Bernard knocked on Gringotts' doors with his alchemical dolls, introducing his work and explaining his philosophy to the fairies.

Paul, who had come prepared, spoke eloquently, which drew frequent nods from the goblins of Gringotts. Then, Paul was politely asked to leave Gringotts.

Paul Bernard made the wrong choice from the start; he shouldn't have chosen fairies. Skilled fairies are no less capable than wizards in alchemy.

Before Belvina could speak again about healthcare, the appearance of one person drew everyone's attention.

"Hey! I'm back, Gilderoy Lockhart is back!" A man appeared smiling at the lounge door, raising his arms in an exaggerated gesture to announce his arrival.

Instantly, all the faculty and staff present fell silent. The man before them and his name were simply too impactful.

So much so that even the professors considered resigning en masse.

Belvina and Bassheda both sighed in unison, slapping their foreheads in unison. They realized that the new school year at Hogwarts was probably over, and prayed that the curse would soon defeat Gilderoy Lockhart.

Even Paul Bernard stopped complaining; as a Ravenclaw graduate, he knew better than anyone how outrageous Lockhart was.

Gilderoy Lockhart, well, during his student days he couldn't be described as an outstanding student, he was at least universally disliked.

"Ah! I know, you must be too excited!" Lockhart said exaggeratedly. "I, Gilderoy Lockhart, a third-class medalist of the Order of Merlin and an honorary member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts—it's normal for you to be so excited."

The same recipe, the same taste. Lockhart is still the same Lockhart, unchanged. He's still as narcissistic and as annoying as ever.

In the makeshift faculty lounge, the professors remained silent, except for Gilderoy Lockhart, who was performing alone.

Long-serving faculty members like Professor McGonagall had taught Lockhart and knew his performance at school well.

Young people like Belvina and Bassheda had their student days overlapped significantly with Lockhart's; they were among the first victims, the first to be tortured by Gilderoy Lockhart.

It could be said that Belvina's annoyance with Lockhart far exceeded her annoyance with Snape.

Snape may have had a thousand and one faults, but at least he was genuinely capable. As for Gilderoy Lockhart, it's hard to say whether he was truly capable.

Wait a minute, speaking of Snape, where is he?

Belvina strained her neck to look, but couldn't find Snape in the temporary common room. She really hoped that Snape would step forward and fight Lockhart, to the death.

The obnoxious Gilderoy Lockhart, baring his large teeth, greeted each of the professors.

It would have been one thing if he had just greeted everyone, but he also condescendingly commented on the professors' course content; and it would have been another thing if he had just commented, but he also boasted that he could do better and that he could do things that the professors couldn't.

Compared to Professor Flitwick in spellcasting, and to Professor Sprout in planting and nurturing plants—except for Professor McGonagall and Snape, who were absent, no one could escape Lockhart's self-praise.

According to Lockhart, all the professors at Hogwarts are excellent, but none of them combined are as excellent as he alone.

From the moment Lockhart entered the temporary faculty lounge until now, it took him less than ten minutes to remind everyone present of the fear they had felt when they were under his control.

"Blake, Belvina Blake, right? I think I remember your name correctly." Lockhart suddenly walked over. "I have many friends in the media, and they always mention you."

As he spoke, Lockhart flashed his greasy, flamboyant smile again, his gleaming teeth practically blinding. He continued, "But compared to my fame, you still have a lot more to work out!"

Belvina pursed her lips and clenched her fists. If this weren't Hogwarts, she would definitely let Lockhart know why her friends in the media were mentioning her name.

Bassheda, standing nearby, placed her hand on Belvina, subtly reminding her friend that they were at school, in a public place.

However, Bassheda quickly went from advising people to calm down to needing to be advised to calm down herself.

"Professor Bablin, is it? I've read your paper on ancient runes," Lockhart said arrogantly. "I must remind you that while some of your arguments are quite good, most of them are wrong, and ridiculously so."

Young Basilda wanted to get up; she longed to punch Lockhart's greasy face and knock out his teeth one by one.

Belvina quickly restrained Bassheda to prevent the ancient Runeven Sweetheart from turning into an Azkaban Sweetheart; that place was simply not fit for human habitation.

Lockhart, who had instigated the conflict, acted as if nothing had happened, swaying as he walked toward the next victim. He seemed to be planning to offend all his colleagues that night and make himself the center of attention among the faculty and staff.

Belvina had no doubt that even if Dumbledore were here, he wouldn't escape Gilderoy Lockhart's clutches.

In some ways, isn't this a form of treating everyone equally?

"Professor Trelawney, it's a pleasure to meet you. I have a talent for prophecy just like you! I believe I will become a prophet even greater than Cassandra!" Lockhart's annoying voice rang out again.

The victim this time was Sybil Trelawney, who was already drunk before dinner was even served. She was the great-granddaughter of the famous prophet Cassandra Trelawney and the Hogwarts professor of divination.

At the same time, Sybil Trelawney was also a con artist who used her ancestor's name to swindle people.

"Sound~~"

Sybil Trelawney made a loud popping sound, and the aroma of sherry filled the makeshift lounge.

"Your third eye is also very bright? That's wonderful. I don't come to the material world often," Trelawney said in an ethereal voice.

She was very thin, and a pair of large glasses made her eyes appear several times larger than they actually were. Countless beads and chains hung from her long, thin neck, and her arms and hands were adorned with numerous bracelets and rings.

The person looked like a giant, shimmering insect.

Trelawney continued, "The chaotic and noisy campus life blurs my vision, and it probably does too, doesn't it?"

As she spoke, Sybil Trelawney suddenly entered a trance-like state, as if she had left the material world.

Gilderoy Lockhart was taken aback; he seemed not to have expected to encounter a worthy opponent at Hogwarts.

In the makeshift faculty lounge, the professors all breathed a sigh of relief; there were still people in the university who could handle Lockhart.

Unfortunately, this person is Trelawney.

Compared to campus life, Trelawney preferred the stuffy, crowded tower; she rarely went downstairs except to teach classes.

Aside from predicting the deaths of students, he hardly got involved in anything at the school.

The Hogwarts school year of '92-93 began with a spectacular showdown between two con artists.