Hogwarts: Becoming the White Lord from Breathing

Chapter 120 Lockhart, Harry, and the Chamber of Secrets

Inside Lockhart's office.

The professor, who had recently been ostracized by his students, no longer had his usual smug look on his face; instead, he appeared somewhat manic.

He pulled book after book from the shelf, his fingers flipping through the pages rapidly, his eyes bloodshot. "The Heir of Slytherin. The Chamber of Secrets"

"Aha! Found it!"

"The Forbidden and the Legendary Stories of Hogwarts":
"Due to differing philosophies, Salazar Slytherin parted ways with the other three founders of Hogwarts, leaving behind the Chamber of Secrets when he left."

The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is hidden in an ancient place, and only those who truly possess Slytherin blood can open it!

"The secret of the Chamber of Secrets! If I solve it, wouldn't that be a huge news story? And it's even related to the famous Harry Potter—who wouldn't be excited?"
But from beginning to end, it was I, the great hero Lockhart, who discovered everything and understood everything. Although I am not the heir to Slytherin, I am certainly the best choice in everyone's eyes!

"Yes, that's exactly what they'll think, hahahahahaha!"

"Potter! You're here!"

In the common room, Harry, who had just finished Quidditch training and was covered in mud, was grabbed by Professor Lockhart before he could even wash himself.

"Professor, what's wrong?"

"I need your help with something."

"Bang!" Lockhart pulled out a whole sack of letters. "I've received so many letters from fans, but I can't possibly ignore their enthusiasm. I'd like to ask you to help me read and process some of them. I'll tell you how to reply; you just need to read them to me."

"Um, Professor, are you sure I can do this?"

Harry wasn't keen on helping.

He was incredibly busy, and if he had a moment, he'd like to take a shower—he preferred a thorough cleaning to the exhaustion from his Quidditch training.

Immediately after that, he had to quickly slip away unnoticed and head to the Room of Requirement to practice his spells—Ron must already be there working hard! He had to catch up with him!

"Of course you can, Harry. There's no better candidate than you. After all, you're the savior. Many of my fans have been asking me about you since they heard I was coming to teach at Hogwarts."

Oh, right! We can also select a few lucky winners and some letters that you think are written with genuine feeling, and we can reply to him together from both of our perspectives, how about that?

Haha, the little guy will definitely be moved to tears! That's one of the things heroes should do!

"Hahaha"

Harry sadly discovers that he cannot escape.

He was forced to spend four hours helping Lockhart process the letters, reading aloud the sticky suffixes in them—fans of all ages and backgrounds expressing their adoration for him in letters that were either humble or fervent.

Immersed in such sweet words every day, even a normal person would gradually come to believe that the world revolves around them, right? Harry couldn't help but think this.

He also thought about how Damon Hermione had been helping to deliver love letters more and more frequently lately. It used to be once a month, then it gradually became once every two weeks, and then once a week.
Damon reads these letters every day; doesn't he have any plans to date?

Harry dares to say, if it were him... well, let's not say it.

I fear he'll be soaking in a pool of honey water, never to wake up again, and never want to try again.

He would put everything aside except Quidditch training.

"By the way, Harry—may I call you that?"

"Can."

"Yes, I've heard some unpleasant things lately, about the snake-like voice."

Harry's expression visibly darkened, and although he tried to ignore it, the gossip swirled in his ears all day long, making it hard to put his mind at ease.

He's learning to endure, but his inner strength isn't quite there yet. "Oh, yeah, what's wrong?"

"Did you know? This actually involves a secret—a secret about one of the Four Great Leaders, Slytherin. Do you want to know?"

"If you'd be willing to tell me?"

"Of course, I will share this secret with you; we will be the discoverers of this secret! And I imagine you won't be able to keep that glory to yourself?"

Harry didn't quite understand.

"Professor, what exactly do you mean? I already know that Slytherins can also speak Parsley."

"No—of course not, it's not that simple."

Lockhart smiled mysteriously and gestured wildly, as if he were singing an opera.

"He was one of the four greatest, but his ideas were not accepted by the other three. His pride made it impossible for him to tolerate this, and he eventually left the school in anger!"
But leaving doesn't mean defeat! He hid his secret somewhere in Hogwarts, waiting for his successor to unlock it! When that day comes, glory will return to Slytherin!

"The Chamber of Secrets?" Harry was intrigued, but his interest waned after hearing Slytherin mentioned repeatedly.

He didn't want to be associated with Slytherin.

Not at all.

"Oh—it seems you have little interest in inheriting Slytherin's legacy and knowledge? But don't you want to clear your name?"
Just because he speaks Parsley, they see our savior as an evil being. Do you think that's fair?

Harry stopped in his tracks, turned around to look at Lockhart, who seemed to have victory in his grasp, and hesitated:

"Professor, could you be more specific?"

“Of course, Harry! I'll say it again, we're on the same side—but I can't guarantee that others think the same way. No one else can know about this except the two of us. Can you guarantee that?”

"Can I tell Damon?"

Lockhart's mind flashed back to the scene of Damon and Snape evenly matched, and his expression calmed down somewhat. "I'm afraid that won't work."

“Master White is too powerful. If you tell him this secret, then this matter will have nothing to do with you. The whole event will become his solo show, without Lockhart and without Harry Potter. Can you accept that?”

I believe I can.

"No! I can't accept this!"

Lockhart's expression turned somewhat ferocious at this moment.

Harry was startled when he saw him like this for the first time. "You mean?"

"Just the two of us can solve everything."

He pointed at Harry and himself, "Are you resigned to this? Harry, as far as I know, you were the center of attention among the students, the most popular person there. They regarded you as a great figure, admired you, and respected you."

But after Master White rose to prominence, you've now fallen to second place, haven't you?"

"I--"

"No, I'm afraid it'll be even worse! Nobody will talk about Harry Potter anymore. The only chance that name will be mentioned is why the savior is Harry Potter and not Damon White. Have you thought about that, Harry?"

Isn't all of this happening because you backed down too much?

"Prove to everyone that you can do well even if you're alone, or are you just afraid?"

(End of this chapter)