From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

“Ha, Professor William, your office is really simple—” Lockhart said in an enthusiastic voice, “Hmm, it feels like it’s missing something, like my books?”

As Lockhart spoke, he pulled out one book after another from the small bag he carried with him.

“I already have these—” William’s words of refusal were cut off by Lockhart.

"It's alright, Professor William. Trust me, these are limited edition hardcovers, the kind of decorations that even a pure-blooded family would place prominently on their bookshelf."

Professor Lockhart was full of confidence—but William knew this wasn't just boasting; the Daily Prophet always made a point of featuring this bestselling author, and many famous pure-blood family members had even publicly expressed their admiration for the professor's writing.

'Let it stay then. Professor Lockhart's book is quite good. I can't just say no now...'

Ever since leaving Azkaban, William has finally encountered someone with skin several times thicker than his own—he was utterly defeated.

“Hmm, very suitable—” Lockhart nodded in satisfaction, feigning nonchalance, “Professor William, it’s like this, I heard from Professor Flitwick that you received the Ravenclaw crown, but there’s some trouble attached to it?”

Before William could respond, he continued, “You know, although it may sound like bragging, I’m one of the top adventurers. I’ve seen countless dangers and cleared countless traps. I think you need an adventure master like me to help you with those problems.”

“Of course, of course,” Lockhart said at an astonishing pace, “this is also to fulfill a small wish of mine, you know, Professor William.”

Lockhart flashed his impeccable smile. "Every Ravenclaw who studies here, and indeed every child who studies here, has dreamed of that crown. Although I excelled academically when I entered the school, you know, Professor William, I was just an ordinary student back then. I wasn't just here to solve a problem; I was here to fulfill a childhood dream."

Professor Lockhart's smile grew even more friendly—

"But even with all that fancy talk, it's not here with me."

After this thought crossed his mind, William immediately realized something was wrong—'Why did I have the urge to show this to Professor Lockhart?'

He pulled out his wand even faster than his thoughts could process.

"He collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious!"

"Forget everything and it's all empty!"

The two spells flew out almost simultaneously—William used all his strength to cast the Ironclad Charm and parry, but although Professor Lockhart struck first, he had no time to defend against William's Stunning Charm.

The tremendous impact nearly pierced William's eardrums. Although Professor Lockhart's Oblivion Charm was used hastily, its power far exceeded William's expectations.

"Luckily, I practiced the Ironclad Spell diligently, only a little less than the Apparition training I did on weekends, otherwise I might have wasted a card." It took William a while to recover from the loud noise. He patted his chest in lingering fear. "Compared to the system's cards, my own strength is more reliable. What if that thing is a knock-off?"

'Speaking of which, Professor Lockhart truly lives up to his reputation as a great adventurer. Even with my near-sneak attack, he retaliated so swiftly—' William thought to himself, affirming Professor Lockhart's assessment while also applauding his earlier judgment. 'Indeed, that kind of all-or-nothing approach is too one-sided. Without a backup plan, it's too easy to be ambushed.'

'However, I definitely can't withstand a direct confrontation. This Oblivion Curse is too cunning.' As he got up from the ground, William looked at Professor Lockhart, and then remembered something important.

'Why would I take down Professor Lockhart? The rooster incident is over! The crown has been found!'

He clutched his forehead, a headache starting to flare up—'Taking down Adams isn't a big deal, since everyone knows him, but what about taking down Professor Lockhart? Why are you being so sensitive about finding the diadem!'

Breathe, inhale, exhale, wash…

William adjusted his breathing, trying not to let his thoughts wander—Azkaban was a huge cesspool where he had heard countless dark stories, and some illegal acts were easy for him to commit.

"No, we've come all this way, why are you still thinking about going back in?"

'If you do that, how can you still have the face to teach students?'

'Be brave enough to take responsibility, William!'

Shaking his head, William dismissed the story of the former Ministry of Magic memory eraser who had been sent to Azkaban. Although a simple tap of his wand could avert any further reprimands, that wasn't something he should do.

'Go inform Dumbledore and honestly confess that you were being paranoid and attacked the visiting professor. At worst, you'll lose the promised raise. Then, personally apologize to Professor Lockhart and beg Dumbledore to let you participate in the research on that crown. That should resolve the matter.'

Having made up his mind, William prepared to wake Professor Lockhart, clinging to a last shred of hope.

'If possible, it would be best to reach a private settlement with Professor Lockhart, although I think it's unlikely. But if it were possible, then there would be no need to trouble Dumbledore.'

"Professor Lockhart?"

William used his wand to break the spell while whispering, "You must be polite, or things will get complicated."

"Ah," Lockhart's hand immediately touched the spot where the wand had been after the spell was broken, before he painfully opened his eyes.

'It shouldn't have been hit too badly—'

William thought to himself while wearing an innocent smile.

"Professor, you're awake. The surgery—cough, there was a small mishap, I'm so sorry."

"Professor William?"

Professor Lockhart looked terrified, which made William feel extremely embarrassed—at least he had a decent reason for hitting Adams, but he attacked Professor Lockhart on instinct!

“I’m sorry, Professor Lockhart,” William tried to express his sincere apology, “I was so nervous, I’m very sorry for this accident…”

Lockhart ignored William and began to quickly survey his surroundings.

"It's still in your office, Professor William."

Professor Lockhart's clearly reassuring tone made William feel even more guilty—why did you have to be so quick!

"Yes, it's still in my office, Professor Lockhart. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

“It’s alright,” Lockhart’s smile was somewhat forced. “It’s alright, don’t worry too much about me. Professor William, you didn’t inform Professor Dumbledore, did you?”

“Not yet,” William said, before Professor Lockhart interrupted him.

"It's good that you didn't notify me. Don't worry, it's just youthful impulsiveness. I can understand. Of course, you know, Professor William, you wouldn't have found such a good opportunity if you weren't at school."

This response made William even more embarrassed, as he unusually went against his previous idea of ​​not asking the elves for help with trivial matters.

"Bart, could you please prepare a cup of black tea for Mr. Lockhart and me?"

Chapter 152 Professor Lockhart's Petty Mind

"Bart?"

William called out again, but the little elf, who was usually on call almost 24/7, refused to appear today for some reason.

"It's almost lunchtime, Professor William, and the kitchen is busy."

Seeing William's embarrassment, Lockhart stepped in to help him out.

“Yes, I forgot the time,” William smiled and let the matter drop—although the little elf named Bart had been serving him, it was, after all, school property, and he wasn’t some miser who would insist on having tea prepared for him when the elf was busy.

"By the way, Professor Lockhart, that crown isn't with me either. It seems to have some incredible magic attached to it, and Dumbledore is studying it."

To prevent the awkward attack from being brought up again, William changed the subject and went straight to the crown that Professor Lockhart should care about most—William realized that it was fortunate that Dumbledore was there to protect it, otherwise even if it were perfectly fine, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Combining practicality and historical significance, I reckon if it hadn't fallen into the hands of a school, the entire magical world would be fighting over it."

"In Dumbledore's possession?"

William's news elicited a clear look of disappointment from Lockhart—just as William had expected.

Getting something from a colleague with a thick skin is a completely different level of difficulty than getting it from the principal, especially when the principal is the famous Dumbledore.

As William had predicted, Lockhart made an excuse to leave after a few words, clearly the effects of William's stun spell on him were completely overshadowed by the allure of the crown.

“By the way,” William suddenly called out to Lockhart, who was about to leave, “Professor Lockhart, what kind of perfume are you wearing?”

"Of course, my homemade products... I even researched a whole set of hair care products. Professor William, you're interested in this too? Good heavens, if I didn't have something urgent to attend to, I would definitely have a good talk with you!"

Lockhart, who had just reached the door, gave a big smile, as if he wanted to continue the conversation, but due to the excuse he had just made, the conversation could not proceed.

"Alright, Professor Lockhart, next time for sure!"

William bid a warm farewell.

-

'Who cares about hair care products!'

William sat back down in his chair, pondering the attack. 'No problem, it was that damn perfume.'

He sniffed hard at the lingering scent of perfume in the air, trying to identify its components—but it was difficult.

'It has nothing in common with how Ginny controlled Mr. Filch, and the use of perfume is also in line with Professor Lockhart's habits,' William thought about Professor Lockhart's past behavior and found that he was not surprised at all by Professor Lockhart's use of perfume.

'After Professor Singed developed the new hair growth agent, Professor Lockhart also seemed to have spoken to him about developing hair care products. His perfume research is also quite normal; it's just adding some appealing potion ingredients, which seems pretty normal too.'

William himself remembered several perfume formulas that worked well together—he had taken on such miscellaneous jobs when he was a potion maker.

'Those roosters have made me so suspicious,' William shook his head and went to eat.

-

"Not with him, but with Dumbledore?"

Lockhart walked along, reflecting on his actions, and then was startled by his own audacious plan.

'How could I have come up with such a crazy plan?'

He began to blame himself, but then immediately felt remorse—'I've done this so many times before, haven't I?'

'I must have been terrified by what just happened to be doing that's why I'm still scared.'

He recalled the scene that had just occurred and tried to cheer himself up.

'A perfect plan, a plan without any loopholes. I've succeeded so many times, and this time will be no exception!'

'I need to stay away from that William. He's a lunatic. I almost thought I'd been exposed!'

Although he had already left William's office, Lockhart still couldn't help wiping away imaginary cold sweat—when he was just freed from the Stun Curse, he thought his career was completely over.

'That lunatic attacked his colleague without any reason!'

'Dumbledore probably doesn't know, right?'

Lockhart carefully considered the flaws he had revealed, striving to ensure that nothing went wrong.

'Even without that crown, you're still the greatest adventurer; you've already become Harry Potter!'

'I still really want that tiara, the Ravenclaw tiara. I've been thinking about it since my student days—'

Lockhart sighed as he pondered his perfect plan.

Using sweet talk to gain Professor William's trust, then waiting for him to produce the crown to erase his memories, then fabricating the memories of the house-elf named Bart and William, and finally creating the impression that the greedy elf attacked the professor in order to steal the Ravenclaw crown and fled with the treasure.

Lockhart, naturally, was the first professor to discover Professor William's unconscious state and saved Professor William's life after he was seriously injured by an attack from a sprite.

In this way, Lockhart would gain the respect of the entire school, the gratitude of Professor William, and a genuine treasure.

Why would Professor Flitwick lie?

'That crown should have been mine all along—just like the previous honors, wasn't my Oblivion Spell a deliberate and perfect way to seize everything?'

'My specially crafted perfume to gain trust, my meticulously prepared magic, my well-planned scheme—how could all of that be ruined by that lunatic!'