Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 104 Lockhart: I was terrified.

The last class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts—Lohart's class.

Good afternoon, children!

When Lockhart walked into the classroom, everyone was surprised to find that his hair was disheveled, his clothes were rumpled, there was dust on his shoulders and sleeves, and his wand was stuck crookedly in his pocket...

"Ahem, don't worry about it. I just helped the second-year students with a little trouble..."

He smiled quite naturally, puffed out his chest, and didn't seem to care about the curious stares. Then, after glancing at the students in the classroom and noticing a large stack of his books on everyone's desk, he smiled even more broadly, revealing eight large, white teeth.

"I am Gilderoy Lockhart."

He introduced himself with an air of self-satisfaction, as if his disheveled appearance were a badge of honor: "Third Class Merlin Order, Honorary Member of the Defense Against the Dark Arts, five-time winner of the Wizarding Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. I imagine most of you know my name to some extent and have even read my books... So, how does it feel?"

"Fantastic, Professor!"

Immediately, students below started clamoring, "Can I have your autograph?"

"Of course, of course, miss, my office is always open to my loyal fans... but before we officially begin, let's take a roll call... uh..."

"Ken?"

He looked up with some confusion and tentatively asked, "Is this a person's name?"

"Here—it's me, Professor," Avada answered reluctantly, raising his hand.

"Don't you even have a surname? Wait, I think I know you... Oh, I remember now, you're the one who defeated the mysterious man alongside the famous savior! Nice to meet you, nice to meet you..."

He immediately jumped off the lecture hall excitedly, grabbed Avada's hand and shook it: "I even took a picture with Harry Potter this morning! Maybe we can chat someday. Wow, to do something like this at such a young age, you might become as famous as me in the future, and you'll have to carry a pen and a stack of photos with you wherever you go..."

"Thank you for the compliment, Professor."

Avada smiled politely but didn't say anything more.

"Looks like my full name isn't on the student list anymore. Thank goodness, otherwise this guy might not even know the Killing Curse incantation, and might have shouted 'Avada Kedavra' in front of the whole class..."

Lockhart quickly read out the names and nodded in satisfaction after confirming that all the students had arrived.

"Alright, now that this little hero is here, I think we'll have to revise the quiz questions we prepared... I remember that third-year students mainly learn about... dark creatures in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and how to identify them, deal with them, and treat the wounds they cause, right?"

"Well then, everyone, Professor Lockhart is about to present you with a formidable challenge! I hope you are mentally prepared!"

The atmosphere in the classroom immediately became tense, and there were gasps of cold air coming from inside.

"But there's no need to panic too much."

Seeing the students' tense or serious expressions, Lockhart smiled smugly: "As long as you can apply the knowledge I've written in the book, this challenge will be nothing to fear for you..."

"So,"

He bent down and pulled a large, draped cage from behind the podium, placing it on the table: "Now—be careful! You are about to face the most terrifying thing known in the magical world. But remember, as long as you thoroughly study my book, you can handle it with ease!"

"The second-year students just suffered a great loss at their hands, and were only spared injury thanks to my protection. Now it's your turn. This is to train your courage and reflexes..."

The whole class held their breath. Lockhart placed one hand on the cage, but his body was slowly backing away.

"To prevent you from becoming dependent on me and thus failing to unleash your full potential, I will leave this classroom after releasing them, leaving you to deal with them on your own... But don't worry, I will rush in to protect you should you encounter any danger, and nothing will happen."

"Well then, let me see how you deal with these evil beings!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lockhart lifted the cage with one hand and ran away like a startled rabbit, disappearing from the classroom in a flash, leaving only the loud bang of the door closing and the students who had already drawn their wands and were ready for battle.

And within the now-opened cage, the long-sealed evil life form finally revealed its true form—

They were a group of small, bluish-gray creatures, about eight inches tall, with pointed faces and extremely shrill, piercing voices, like a bunch of budgerigars arguing. They also had wings on their backs, which made a buzzing, insect-like flapping sound…

The students in the class looked at each other, and in each other's eyes they saw the same bewilderment.

"Uh, if I'm not mistaken, this is probably..."

Someone hesitated before speaking, and then someone else immediately followed up: "Corverine elves?"

"Yes, that's it. But what happened to the most evil life form? I thought Professor Lockhart had borrowed Voldemort's remnant soul from Dumbledore!"

"That's outrageous... I know, Professor Lockhart must have exaggerated the danger on purpose to test our courage and bring out our potential!"

"So that's how it is!" Everyone suddenly realized.

"Well then, everyone,"

The girl who had just spoken leaped onto the desk: "To show Professor Lockhart our courage, and to avoid disappointing him, we must take these guys down with the utmost seriousness and show the professor our best!"

"good!"

Her words immediately resonated with everyone—all wanted to perform as well as possible, hoping to impress the defense-against-dark-magic master: "Defeat them!"

As he spoke, a deluge of evil curses surged towards the Cornish elves who hadn't yet realized what was happening.

Avada: ...

To be honest, the level of Defense Against the Dark Arts among this year's students was truly impressive—although they had a change of professors once, the first year's professor was a top-notch Defense Against the Dark Arts master who was also an excellent lecturer; the second year's professor was Voldemort's vessel, which meant that the Dark Lord himself was teaching them, which laid a very solid foundation for them.

Hopefully the elves are alright—the other grades still need to use these poor guys for classes.

……

"Huff... huff..."

In another empty classroom a few meters away from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Lockhart finally managed to stop his trembling legs, and his breathing gradually calmed down.

"They're going to get really messed with, just like those second-year students..."

He thought to himself, "Then, after those damned elves have all flown away through the window, I'll swagger in and scold them for not being strong enough and not studying seriously. Then they'll definitely admire me even more and memorize every word of my book like bookworms, hehe..."

"Professor? Professor?"

A student's head suddenly popped in, startling Lockhart.

"What are you doing here?" he reprimanded sternly. "I won't intervene unless my life is in danger. This is for your training! You guys are really..."

"Uh, that..."

The student interrupted Lockhart with a puzzled look: "I wanted to ask, Professor, what brings you here? We've already dealt with those elves, and we've been waiting for you for almost five minutes..."

As he spoke, he brought in the cage, which was crammed haphazardly with a bunch of unconscious elves. Some were charred black, some were covered in frost, some were foaming at the mouth, and some were even missing wings or arms...

Lockhart shuddered.

(End of this chapter)