Late at night, just after curfew in the castle, Lockhart put on a cloak and held an oil lamp and began to patrol the corridor.
Ever since the unfortunate Colin Creevey was attacked by the heir of Slytherin in the middle of the night, Dumbledore had the professors get up and patrol in the middle of the night to prevent such a thing from happening again.
It was said that the targets of the Slytherin heir were all wizards born in Muggle families, so Lockhart was not worried about being attacked. He was a half-blood wizard, and a professor at the school. Even if the other party was bold, they would not attack the professor.
In fact, what annoyed Lockhart was not that he had to get up in the middle of the night to patrol, but that the first half of the semester was almost over, and he himself had not yet achieved the purpose of coming to Hogwarts School.
Being appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts was a big risk. Lockhart had hoped that he could gain more popularity by becoming the teacher of the "famous Harry Potter", but this wish never came true.
Lockhart knew he had to do something, or the first half of the semester would really be over.
Today, Lockhart did not patrol along the usual route. Instead, he stopped in front of the stone monster on the third floor, recited the correct password, and took the stone stairs to the top floor.
It's just past eleven now, Professor Dumbledore must not have gone to bed yet, maybe I can...
Lockhart raised his hand and knocked on the door of the principal's office. After a moment, the door opened from the inside.
Lockhart was a little surprised to see an unexpected guy here. He recognized Snape at a glance. This guy was the most unpopular professor in Hogwarts. It was said that Harry Potter also hated Snape.
After noticing Lockhart's gaze, Snape looked up, met Lockhart's gaze, and frowned slightly.
"Good evening Gilderoy, have you discovered anything?" Dumbledore cast a puzzled look at Lockhart.
"No, not at all." Lockhart gave the two of them his signature smile and explained his purpose. "It's like this. I noticed that the last attack made the students very tense. Maybe we should find a way to ease this situation."
Snape frowned when he heard this. It was obvious that he did not agree with Lockhart's brilliant opinion. He felt that it was definitely not a good thing for the other party to bring up this matter at this time.
"We can give students more confidence." Lockhart immediately stated his plan: "I hope Professor Dumbledore will allow me to open a duel club in the castle so that students can have the opportunity to train their self-defense skills."
"You mean we're going to duel with that so-called monster?" Snape said softly, as if he was trying hard not to laugh out loud.
"Of course not? That's unrealistic, but I think it's necessary to let students have some self-defense ability." Lockhart turned to Snape and said, "I have used magic to protect myself from harm countless times, and I can try to change the depressing and tense atmosphere in the school through a small activity? I think it is necessary to try it."
"That's a good idea. Tell me about your plan, Gilderoy." Dumbledore noticed Snape's confused look and explained with a smile, "The atmosphere in the school is indeed a bit depressing, and it can help students learn something useful. There is no harm in that."
"Is this just an idea? Please give me a few days? I'm sure I can come up with a specific plan." Lockhart was very excited. He didn't expect that Professor Dumbledore would agree to let him hold a dueling club in the school.
"Once you have prepared a detailed plan, come and talk to me about this."
"Severus." Lockhart turned his head and looked at Snape and invited him, "I hope you can serve as my temporary assistant when the time comes."
At this moment, Snape's expression was terrifyingly gloomy, as if he would draw his wand at any time and give Lockhart Avada Kedavra.
"Then I'll trouble you then." Dumbledore looked at the two of them and said with a smile, not giving Snape any chance to refuse.
"You shouldn't agree to his stupid decision."
As soon as Lockhart left, Snape immediately complained to Dumbledore. He didn't want to be Lockhart's assistant at all.
"Stupid, no no, this is a good opportunity." Dumbledore said meaningfully, "Besides, I think what Gilderoy said makes sense. The atmosphere in the school is indeed a bit bad. Maybe he can help liven up the atmosphere."
For some reason, Snape heard something else from Dumbledore's words.
"Excuse me, but people like Lockhart will only make things worse." Snape made no secret of his disgust and contempt for the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. "If you really want to hold a dueling club, you can leave it to me."
Based on Snape's understanding of Lockhart, that guy organized the dueling club definitely not to teach students dueling skills, but to attract everyone's attention.
Lockhart had been doing this all semester, much to Snape's disgust.
"No, Severus, Gilderoy is more suitable than you." Professor Dumbledore looked deeply at Snape and said softly, "However, with your help, I believe the students will be able to gain something."
There is no doubt that Professor Dumbledore also knew what kind of person Lockhart was, so he asked Snape to help.
Dumbledore couldn't find any reason to refuse Lockhart's proposal.
Since the last attack, the atmosphere in the school has indeed become very depressing, and everyone is worried that they will be the next unlucky person to be attacked.
Dumbledore also believed in Lockhart's ability and believed that he would definitely be able to liven up the depressing atmosphere in the school.
And, most importantly, Dumbledore thought this was a good opportunity for other students to see Lockhart's true face.
The more Lockhart reveals, the easier it is to reveal his flaws.
He believed that after the first half of the semester, many students in the school had doubted Lockhart's ability, but this was not enough. After everyone saw Lockhart's poor performance in the duel club, he believed that the students would truly realize that Lockhart was not as brave as he was written in the book.
This is also one of the reasons why Lockhart was invited to Hogwarts to serve as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Ordinary school life allows Lockhart to gradually reveal his true self. His ego and desire for fame overcome his caution. Dumbledore believes that Lockhart's deception will be exposed soon.