026 Lockhart

026 Lockhart

The opening dinner ended with an embarrassingly cold joke from Dumbledore, and the young wizards dispersed in groups. Until the end, they failed to understand Bryan's purpose for returning to school. It was expected that a grand detective campaign would take place in the school during the first week.

Bryan had already left before the young wizards. He hadn't forgotten that he didn't come here for vacation when he returned to Hogwarts. When all the young wizards gathered neatly in the auditorium, his task officially began.

In the following time, until he found the secret room, he would probably live an upside-down life, sleeping during the day and working at night. It would be a challenging period.

In the monitoring room, Bryan sat on a chair, staring at the gradually filling scene of people's heads. He focused on the young wizards who were alone and observed whether their behavior contradicted common sense. Professor Lockhart was also one of the subjects of his attention.

The Chamber of Secrets didn't appear sooner or later, but it happened to be opened when Lockhart was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, which raised doubts in Bryan's mind.

After dinner, under the leadership of the prefects, most of the young wizards from each house returned to their common rooms. However, about a dozen young wizards sneaked out while everyone wasn't paying attention.

Among them, more than half were Gryffindor students.

Harry and Ron went to the school hospital, and the Weasley brothers took advantage of Filch's inattention to explore and rushed into the passage leading to the Hufflepuff common room located underground. They manipulated the fruit oil painting on the wall a bit before entering.

Bryan also noticed Penelope Clearwater entering the Ravenclaw common room but returning shortly after, and Percy Weasley left Gryffindor around the same time to visit multiple common rooms. It could be predicted that there would be another secret rendezvous somewhere in the castle.Geett the latest novels at novelhall.com

Except for Professor McGonagall and Professor Lockhart, who returned to their offices to work overtime after dinner, the rest of the professors mostly stayed in the staff dormitory. Before entering his office, Headmaster Dumbledore turned and playfully blinked his blue eyes at the corridor thirty feet away, as if saying hello.

Bryan pursed his lips and looked away from the screen.

"No need to hide it anymore, Bryan. Trying to get close to me by pretending to be interested in werewolves, right?"

Lockhart smiled gleefully. "Professor McGonagall told me that the Board of directors sent an investigator to look into the Chamber of Secrets. What a waste of money!"

Bryan glanced at the bookshelf in the direction of Lockhart's gaze and blinked.

"If you mean 'Wandering with Werewolves,' then yes, I had some unpleasant encounters with a group of werewolves, and to deepen my understanding of them, I researched a few of the most famous ones."

"Ah, finally exposed, right?" Lockhart seemed to have finally caught Bryan's secret. "Just like Miss Granger from the second year, who knows me well. Yes, yes, many people are amazed at the calmness and bravery I displayed when trapped in a telephone booth with werewolves. But you, Bryan, you want to learn how I managed to tame the werewolves, don't you?"

An hour later, Lockhart left Bryan's office contentedly. He stood in front of the door and lowered his voice, addressing Bryan.

"Don't worry about explaining it to the Board of Directors, Bryan. The Chamber of Secrets attack won't happen again. And you know the reason, right?" Lockhart winked at Bryan once again. "Because I'm here!"

Bryan watched Professor Lockhart walk away, closed the door, and stood in front of his desk, staring at the gift Lockhart had given him—a set of hardcover signed books.

"What an interesting fellow!" Bryan chuckled to himself.

Later that night, when Bryan and Professor Snape discussed suspicious individuals in the school, Snape's tone was filled with disdain and sarcasm when Lockhart was mentioned. Bryan found it puzzling, as he didn't think there was anything wrong with Lockhart.

"However, as a well-known celebrity writer in the magical world, he's at least a friendly wizard."