Snape, the Sunshine of Hogwarts.

Chapter 185 Meeting
Lockhart naturally takes it for granted that he has fans all over Europe.

He signed his name on the female Auror's robe as she requested, and then tentatively asked...

"What's going on here? Why are so many people guarding this place?"

The female Auror, who was initially quite happy to meet her idol, quickly regained her composure after hearing the question.

She turned to look at her still angry boss and said apologetically.

"This is a secret mission, and according to regulations, I cannot tell you about it."

Hearing this, Lockhart felt he was losing face, but he also knew that no matter which country it was, even the smallest one, an Auror was still an Auror, and he couldn't afford to be so arrogant.

So, he quickly pretended to be magnanimous and said...

"Ah! Since it's a secret mission, of course I can't tell you." He flashed his signature smile and said in a slightly greasy, playful tone, "After all, if I knew the inside story and couldn't resist writing it into my adventure story, that wouldn't be good, wouldn't it?"

The female Auror let out a giggle.

At this point, Lockhart also asked her the key questions.

“You must have been in this forest for quite some time now, right? I don’t know if you’ve met a friend of mine here. His name is Pico Andrews, a troll research expert and adventurer. I’ve come here specifically to visit him.”

Upon hearing Andrews' name, the female Auror hesitated for a moment, as if the name sounded somewhat familiar.

"Troll research expert? I think I've heard that name from the people in the Fire Dragon Nature Reserve. Please wait a moment, I'll go ask someone for you."

Her answer made Lockhart feel exceptionally relieved and pleasantly surprised.

After enduring the elements in the forest for these past few days, he had no desire to waste any more time here. If this Albanian Auror could help him find Andrews as soon as possible, that would be the best thing ever.

He remained where he was, and not long after, the female Auror returned.

However, she looked somewhat sullen, as if she had just been scolded. After returning and seeing Lockhart again, she spoke.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lockhart, there’s been a lot of trouble in the nature reserve, so the dragon trainers are all very busy right now. Even if they know where Mr. Andrews you’re looking for is, they don’t have time to take you there.”

“But I learned roughly where your friend is from them. I can Apparate to take you nearby. I haven’t been to the fork in the river where your friend is, but when I first came to this forest, I visited a small waterfall not far from there.”

Lockhart's face now showed an expression of excitement.

Even if we can't deliver him directly to Andrews, just delivering him to the vicinity would be enough!
Moreover, this Auror was Apparating with him, which was much easier than Apparating on his own, and there was no need to consider the danger of splitting.

"Thank you so much! You've really helped me a lot!"

"It's no big deal. If this helps you finish your new work sooner, I'd be honored!"

As the female Auror spoke, she grabbed Lockhart's arm and then used Apparition to bring him to a small waterfall on the east side of the entire Magical Creature Reserve.

After delivering Lockhart to his destination, the female Auror left immediately. The Aurors clearly had a lot of work to do and couldn't stay away for too long.

Before leaving, she helped Lockhart find their current location on a map.

"Just follow the river under this waterfall eastward for about ten kilometers, and you'll find the fork in the river where your friend is."

After she left, Lockhart didn't linger. He eagerly began walking eastward along the stream, completely forgetting his fatigue from the past few days.

The distance of more than ten kilometers took him a full half afternoon to walk. Finally, before the sun set, he saw through the sparse trees in front of him a large open space at the confluence of the river not far away, with human buildings that were completely different from the primeval forests he had walked through in the past few days!

Those were rows of huge wooden houses!

The shortest of those wooden houses was 20 feet tall, which is about the height of a normal two-story apartment building.

Beside those wooden houses, you can see some clumsy big guys lying on the riverbank, looking like they've just finished some work and are taking a break on the ground.

Besides, in the open space of that row of wooden houses, you can see a short, fat wizard starting a fire.

Seeing this, Lockhart was extremely excited. Without the slightest hesitation, he quickened his pace and walked out of the woods, shouting at the wizard.

"Pique! Pique!"

Because they encountered a fire dragon attack during their migration, they were unable to move all thirty-odd giants to this open area.

This meant that although Severus and his crew had to start building wooden houses for the trolls again, the workload was much less than before.

After about five days, they finally finished all their work at noon that day, building wooden houses for all 21 giants that remained there.

However, it is clear that Andrews' concerns were justified before Severus proposed the relocation plan.

Having barely escaped the claws of those fire dragons a few days ago, many of the giants that migrated here are already itching to return to the valley where they once lived comfortably.

In other words, with Lulu around, it can suppress its kind and prevent them from running away directly.

If Andrews and Lulu ever leave this forest, they will definitely have to run back to their deaths.

This led Andrews to ask Severus every day when the master of the Oblivion Curse he mentioned would finally come looking for them.

On the very day all the cabins were completed, Severus calculated the time and figured that with Lockhart's abilities, it would probably take another day or two to find them in the forest. So Severus began to give Andrews some instructions.

“No need to ask every day, Pike. If the person I’m talking about came from the far east of the forest to find us, he should be here by tonight. If he got lost in the forest, he should be here by tomorrow or the day after at the latest.”

Severus, along with Lupin, Harry, and Draco, packed up their belongings, making it seem as if they were about to leave.

This surprised Andrews.

Are you leaving now?

“I haven’t finished what I promised you, so of course we won’t leave now,” Severus said, shaking his head. “But if the person who came here finds out I’m here, he’ll most likely run away and won’t dare to stay. So, we’ll go there for now.”

He pointed to a small, raised hill to the north of the open space.

There were dense trees there, and from the slope you could look down on the entire troll camp and see everything that was happening there.

Andrews’ words to Severus seemed somewhat cryptic.

"You have a conflict with him? Then why are you so sure he will help me?"

Severus smiled mysteriously as he spoke to Andrews.

“Just do as I say, and believe me, he will definitely help you, and he will help you willingly!” After that, Severus told Andrews what to do after he met the famous British adventure novelist, and then he led Lupin and the others to a small hill not far from the troll camp to set up camp temporarily.

Not only Andrews, but even Lupin and the others were puzzled by Severus's unwavering certainty that the writer they had met earlier, who was entangled with Angelo, was a master of the Oblivion Charm and would be willing to help Andrews.

On the hillside, Harry was the first to ask, puzzled.

"Didn't Mr. Andrews only write to his cousin to tell him his new address? Why are you so sure, teacher, that Lockhart who's been bothering him would know where Mr. Andrews is?"

Draco also crossed his arms and said.

“I didn’t see in him the slightest intention of giving that showy wizard the address.”

At this point, Severus stopped keeping everyone in suspense.

“Angelo won’t tell him Pique’s address, but Lockhart will definitely find a way to steal or even rob him from Angelo.”

This answer surprised Lupin.

"Would he really do that? If this were exposed, wouldn't he be afraid of damaging his reputation?"

Severus simply turned to look at him.

"Didn't you ever think about why Lockhart kept sticking to Angelo and was so determined to find Andrews?"

Lupin hesitated for a moment.

He said his next book is about trolls, so he wants to find an expert like Andrews to get more professional material.

"Then why don't you think about what those books he wrote before were?"

This time, it was Harry who answered Severus. He counted on his fingers, clearly indicating that Lupin had already explained Lockhart's works to him on the plane.

"Breaking Up with a Female Ghost," "Traveling with a Ghoul," and "Vacationing with a She-Devil."

When Harry read out all the book titles, Lupin's eyes widened in shock, as if he had just realized something!
"You mean."

Severus said calmly.

"It's just what you think."

Harry and Draco, however, did not understand their conversation. Both of them looked puzzled and scratched their heads, completely oblivious to what they were saying.

“None of the stories Lockhart wrote were his.”

Finally, Severus told them the truth.

This only surprised Harry, but for Draco, who was more familiar with Lockhart's reputation in the wizarding world, the news was truly shocking.

"He has never had any adventure experience, nor has he ever dealt with those dark magic creatures. All the adventures in his books are actually the result of him attacking adventurers who actually experienced these adventure stories, erasing their memories with a forgetting spell, and then impersonating the protagonists in those stories."

Harry quickly recovered from his surprise. He didn't doubt Severus's words at all and said indignantly.

"This is theft! No, it should be called robbery! Only a robber would do that!"

Draco simply kept his eyes fixed on Severus.

Do you have any evidence to support your claim?

Lupin also held his breath as he watched Severus, finding it hard to believe as well.

Severus simply gazed at the giant camp on the riverbank.

"We just need to wait here until he actually finds Andrews, then the evidence will be right in front of you, won't it?"

Just as the sky was gradually darkening and the sun was about to set.

Lockhart, dressed in a flashy purple robe and looking somewhat disheveled, as if he hadn't taken good care of himself for many days, actually managed to find this troll camp.

Andrews, who was living in the camp, turned around when he heard someone calling his name from the woods to the west.

Clearly, his years of adventurous life had alienated him from the fashionable circles of British wizards, which is why Andrews did not know Lockhart.

He just watched as the male wizard acted very familiarly, calling his name, and then excitedly ran to his side with his suitcase.

"Haha! Pique! I've been looking for you! It's you, isn't it! You're Pique Andrews?"

Lockhart was panting heavily, making sure he hadn't called the wrong person.

Even though he had heard some things from Severus, Andrews was still completely confused; he didn't recognize the person in front of him at all.

"I'm Andrews, and you are?"

"I am Gilderoy Lockhart!"

Lockhart warmly grasped Andrews' hand.

"Gilderoy Lockhart, who has been named the Most Charming Smile Award four times in a row by Wizarding Weekly, is a third-class member of the Order of Merlin, a best-selling adventure novelist in the UK, and an honorary member of the League Against the Dark Arts!"

Faced with his string of prefixes, Andrews could only tell that he seemed to be an adventurer as well.

"So, Mr. Lockhart, you've come to see me."

“Your cousin Angelo and I are good friends!” Lockhart smiled brightly without changing his expression. “I’m currently working on a novel about trolls, and he told me you’re the most professional troll expert in all of Europe, so he introduced me to you to discuss the research.”

As Lockhart spoke, he took a couple of steps to the left and right in confusion. Then he realized that his feeling was correct; the troll expert's gaze was fixed on him without shifting for even a second.

"Is there something on my face?"

Andrews shook his head.

"No, no, of course not."

Andrews certainly didn't have any quirks; he was simply faithfully carrying out one of the important techniques Severus had taught him after meeting Lockhart.

You absolutely must not turn your back on the man in front of you!

(End of this chapter)