Simultaneously traversing: the pinnacle of all realms

Around noon, everyone packed up their things and left.

The group agreed to meet at Diagon Alley a few days later for Lockhart's book signing.

"I want a complete set of Lockhart's autographed collection."

Susan explained it this way, her eyes sparkling, looking no different from a little girl in the Muggle world who's obsessed with celebrities.

"Completely cleaned up!"

"Yugadimir Viosa!"

The spell was cast silently. If Ernie had been a little later and seen this scene, he might have made a huge fuss.

Unfortunately, Xavier was the last to leave.

He used his wand to clean up the cookie crumbs on the floor, and then waved his wand to put the chair back in its place. It has to be said that using spells is really convenient in life.

-

Diagon Alley was busier than usual that day.

Xavier stood in front of Flourish and Blotts, looking at the huge poster in the window.

In the poster, Gilderoy Lockhart is winking at passersby, his teeth are so white they practically glow, and his blond curly hair looks like it's been permanently styled.

Well, Lockhart is much more handsome than Xavier imagined, and he's also younger.

Compared to a bestselling author, he seems more like a celebrity or idol, like those handsome men with full-on beauty filters and meticulous post-production retouching that you see on your phone in your past life.

There was a long queue at the entrance, mostly middle-aged witches, some holding five or six new books and waiting for autographs, excitedly whispering to each other.

"Merlin's beard," Ernie gasped, "this is impressive."

Susan stood on tiptoe and peered inside: "My mom said Lockhart is even more handsome in person than in photos."

"Your mother said the same thing about Lockhart last year," Hannah replied, then frowned, "but why are his photos so—flashy?"

Xavier looked past the crowd and landed on the makeshift autograph table inside the bookstore. Lockhart was sitting there, wearing a forget-me-not-patterned robe that matched the color of his eyes.

He was signing autographs for a witch, his movements so exaggerated it was like he was conducting a symphony.

The owner of Flourish and Blotts stood to the side, a broad smile on his face—business was much better than usual.

After a few people finally managed to squeeze in, the bookstore was even more crowded inside than it appeared from the outside.

The bookshelves were packed with people, and the air was filled with the smell of new ink from the books.

The second-year textbooks were displayed separately on a prominent stand, each with a fancy gold-embossed label that read "Hogwarts Official Textbook".

Lockhart's works, including "Breaking Up with a Ghost," "Traveling with a Ghoul," "Vacation with a She-Devil," "Walking with a Troll," "Boat Trip with a Vampire," "Wandering with a Werewolf," and "Years with a Snowman," are neatly arranged in a row, each featuring his iconic smiling face on the cover.

The other textbooks were squeezed into a corner.

Ernie picked up a book, flipped to the back cover to check the price, and his face paled: "Three Gallons and nine sisal? Just this one?"

"One costs about twenty-five Galleons," Justin said with a wry face. "Luckily, we only need to buy one set."

Xavier picked up a book and flipped through it.

Each chapter begins with an illustration of Lockhart—not an illustration of a scene from the story, but a portrait of Lockhart himself, winking at you.

He felt goosebumps rising on his skin and his whole body felt awkward.

Looking at the bustling bookstore, Xavier suddenly felt a pang of envy—bestselling authors really do make money.

If he hadn't been exposed in the end, who would have known that this person was a complete idiot? Oh no, Dumbledore probably did know.

After all, the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was rumored to be cursed by Voldemort. Tom Riddle applied for the position twice but was rejected by Dumbledore both times, and since then, no professor in that position has served for more than a year.

Quirrell only took office last year and is gone this year.

Therefore, Dumbledore needs someone willing to take on this hot potato.

Lockhart—his fame is enough to shut the school board members up, and the Ministry of Magic might already be investigating him.

Perfect, it can be used as a consumable.

"Old Deng knows how to make use of waste. He's about to go to Azkaban, but he still has to work for him for a year first," Xavier muttered to himself.

He shook his head and walked towards the secondhand book section.

Although he could afford the new books, he didn't want to spend more money than usual on some "extracurricular books," and he suspected that the real value of these books was less than their price.

The bookshelves in the secondhand book section were shorter than those in the front, and the lighting was dimmer; the condition of the books varied greatly.

Xavier slowly browsed the bookshelves. Lockhart's books were plentiful in the secondhand section, priced almost half the cost of new books. He picked out a set in relatively good condition, tucked it under his arm, and continued deeper into the bookshelves.

There were many bookshelves that looked like they'd been forgotten, piled high with old books that no one seemed to care about. Xavier crouched down and began flipping through them one by one.

In fact, almost all the books are available in the Hogwarts library, so he wanted to find some more interesting ones.

Continuing to flip through the pages, Xavier found a book, Zamira Guchi's "Practical Home Magic".

Opening the title page, one finds the words "Introducing Wizards to Some Practical Tips for Magical Household Chores," and the table of contents lists a long string of spells, each accompanied by detailed illustrations and a spell pronunciation guide.

Some are common spells, such as "clean up," while others are completely unfamiliar.

"Peeling spell - suitable for tuber vegetables, can peel the outer skin of potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. in one go."

The accompanying illustration shows a wizard's wand pointing at potatoes on a cutting board, the potato skins neatly peeled off and curling in the air into the shape of a rose.

"Slicing Spell - Cuts ingredients into even, thin slices."

It feels a bit different from the "Cutting Curse - Tear Apart".

……

This book is good; at least for Xavier, many of the spells in it are quite useful.

Moreover, besides in life, some spells might also be quite useful in duels.

He closed the book and continued searching through the pile of old books, where he found some more interesting ones.

"Magic Tricks," oh? Some tricks? Here you go;

"The Handbook of Injury Treatment," a guide to common illnesses or injuries? (Here you go.)

"Giddro Lockhart Teaches You How to Get Rid of Household Pests," hmm? Written by Lockhart? But it offers a lot of practical advice. I wonder where Lockhart copied it from. Oh well, I'll take it.

Hannah peeked over from the other end of the bookshelf and paused for a moment when she saw the stack of old books in Xavier's arms.

"Practical Home Magic?" she read the title aloud. "Why did you buy this?"

"Oh, I find these quite interesting," Xavier said, looking up and smiling as he heard the voice.

Hannah glanced at him, then suddenly gave him a mischievous smile: "Ethan, are you going to become a house-elf raiser?"

Before Xavier could retort, the others were already calling out from a distance, "Are you done yet? Let's go pay the bill."