Author's Note: Hi everyone, I've stopped writing fanfiction because with all of the other things that I have on my plate, I can no longer keep up and writing fanfic has become a burden instead of something fun to do.
I hope you guys don't send flames or hundreds of emails trying to convince me otherwise. It's not that I don't enjoy writing fanfic, I just can't do it anymore with all the other stuff I have to do and I have my own series of books to concentrate on. If you enjoy my writing, please take a look at my novel (www.mendala.com). I'd really appreciate that. I thank everyone that has sent me compliments on my stories and I'm going to leave them up for a while too. Heaven will finish up my current fanfic at her leisure and will do any others in the series if she chooses. So look to her pen name for the continuation of my fics.
Chapter Summary: Okay, how many of you found that Hermione's blind obsession with Gilderoy Lockhart throughout the entire book, despite loads of evidence of his flailing incompetence, was a little unrealistic. I mean, come on, this is Hermione we're talking about. She may have a little crush, but she's not that stupid. So I have devised my own reason for this.
--- Begin Fic Here ---
A full night's sleep didn't really help Hermione's disposition the next morning. She was still mad when she climbed out of bed and her stomach was growling with new vigor. After getting ready for the day, she decided to go down to breakfast on her own, instead of waiting for Ron and Harry. She took her copy of Gilderoy Lockhart's "Voyages with Vampires" with her to read.
As she descended the stairs to the entrance hall, she saw Gilderoy Lockhart himself, in a turquoise robe.
"Good morning, Professor Lockhart" she said cheerily as they crossed paths.
"And good morning to you," Lockhart beamed. "Oh, and what have we here." He reached for Hermione's book. "One of my personal favorites."
"Mine too," Hermione said breathlessly. "I just loved reading about all of the different kinds of vampires you met in your travels. It's amazing how different each of them were. You were always so unbiased though. Always gave them a chance. I think that was the most incredible part. You weren't just out to hunt them down, but to learn from them. You immersed yourself into their culture, even though you were putting your life on the line. I bet you learned so much. Still there was something confusing about it. I noticed that something you said about your journeys in France didn't quite make sense and I was wondering…"
"My, my, my," Lockhart said, still beaming like crazy. "I see you notice the… uh… tiny nuances of my adventures. That's always nice."
"I've read all your books, Professor." Hermione continued excitedly. "I want to be just like you. I want to be brave."
"Well, I don't think anyone can be just like me," Lockhart chuckled. "But I'm sure that if you keep up your diligent study of my travels, you'll be just fine." He rubbed her head and started towards the oak front doors.
Hermione tried to hide her blushing face as she started towards the great hall. She sat down at the Gryffindor table and propped "Voyages with Vampires" against a milk jug so she could read it while she ate.
Ron and Harry joined her several minutes later, but she barely noticed, nor did she want to make it easy on them. She'd been worried sick about them yesterday and they were out driving a flying car, and to top things off they went off to their dormitories without so much as a word to her. No, she was going to do the ignoring today.
Hermione was just wrapping her mind around how exactly she was going to tell Harry how thoroughly annoyed she was with him and Ron when an alternate solution landed, quite haphazardly, in her milk jug. It was Erroll, the Weasley family's post owl, and as Ron pulled him unceremoniously out of the jug, Hermione registered one thing: the owl was carrying a scarlet red envelope. It reminded her a little bit of the sparkling blue envelop that contained Lavender's slumber party invitation. Ron called it, a "howler." Something about the name, didn't sound good to Hermione, and the way Ron was reacting to it, she suspected her hunch was right.
After several promptings from Neville, Ron reluctantly opened it and Hermione could fully appreciate why he was so hesitant to do so in the first place. It was horrible, ten times worse than any of the shouting matches she got into with her father. Mrs. Weasley's voice resonated from the scarlet envelope at a volume so loud, she was sure that the whole castle could hear it. This megaphone version of Mrs. Weasley's voice boomed a lecture at Ron about the flying car incident that was so thorough, that when it was finally over, Hermione could think of very little to add.
"I've got to learn how to send one of those," she thought mischievously to herself with a grin.
-----
Hermione was in a much better mood after breakfast. She knew it was wrong to gloat but she felt a certain sense of self-satisfaction that Ron had gotten into the appropriate amount of trouble for the antics they pulled yesterday. It seemed that Harry had taken the contents of the howler to heart too, which, surprisingly, didn't give her the same feeling of satisfaction. She didn't want Harry to have another burden to add to his already growing list.
She still hadn't had a chance to really talk to Harry since they got there and it didn't seem she would anytime soon. Their first lesson was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and that wasn't a class that really lent itself to private conversations. Besides, Ron would still be there, and she wanted Harry to herself.
As it was, the only person who would get Harry to himself was Gilderoy Lockhart who arrived with Professor Sprout. Before the three of them could make it into greenhouse three, where they would be working, Lockhart pulled Harry out of the group to have a word with him. Hermione very much wanted to linger to see what Lockhart was going to say to him, but Ron elbowed her inside.
As she massaged the shoulder Ron had bumped into, it occurred to her that she'd also been wanting to speak to Ron alone, and seeing that Professor Sprout was still occupied with preparing their lesson, she took her opportunity.
"Ron," she hissed and Ron jumped as if he'd been electrified.
"What'd I do now?" he asked grumpily.
"What's the big idea telling Ginny she should try to work herself into Harry's good graces? What're you playin' at?"
"Huh… oh." Ron grinned sheepishly. "Well, you know it can't hurt. I mean, don't you think it's kind of cute?"
"No," Hermione answered emphatically. "I think it's horrible. You know Harry doesn't like it when girls throw themselves at him, and it's your sister, Ron. Do you want her to get her feelings hurt?"
"Of course not, and what makes you think that'll happen anyway?"
"Do you really see Harry fancying your sister?" Hermione was glaring at him now.
"Well…" Ron ran his fingers through his hair. "Why not? I mean, who's to say. There's nothing wrong with a little encouragement. I mean… don't you want Harry to be happy?"
"Of course I do!" Hermione almost screamed in irritation, "which is why I don't go trying to set him up with somebody."
"I'm not trying to..." Ron started but at that moment, the greenhouse door opened and Harry entered. At the same time, Professor Sprout called for the class's attention.
-----
After a lengthy Herbology lesson, Hermione was glad to have enough of a break to run up to Gryffindor Tower and clean up. They had spent the entire time repotting mandrakes, which was far more difficult than it looked. Although she still always landed As in Herbology, it was not Hermione's favorite subject. She just didn't see any reason to get that dirty.
As she ascended the stairs to the girl's dormitories, she noticed someone slumped against the wall.
"Ginny?" Hermione said timidly as she approached the redheaded figure sprawled out on a stair just above her. She bent down and shook her.
"Uhhh… huh?" Ginny said groggily.
"What are you doing here?"
"I… oh… I don't feel too good. I don't know. I think it might've been something I ate last night."
"Maybe you should go to the hospital wing," Hermione offered.
"Huh? No… I'm fine. I think I'm late for class." She pushed herself up and started down the stairs. "I'll see you later."
"But Ginny…" Hermione called after her, but there was no response. Ginny was gone.
Hermione sighed and headed up the stairs to clean up.
-----
Hermione's next class was transfiguration. She was hoping to get to the classroom a few minutes early to talk to Professor McGonagall about her extra credit work, but it took too long for her and the other Gryffindors to clean up after their previous lessons so she decided to wait until the end.
It was in McGonagall's class that Hermione learned that Ron had suffered another consequence for his trip; his wand was almost broken in half.
"I was trying to stop the car, but I ended up snapping my wand," he explained quietly to Hermione while McGonagall was upfront telling the class about the lesson.
Hermione felt a pang of compassion. This was definitely punishment enough. There was no way Ron could do his lessons without a functioning wand and he seemed reluctant to ask for another one. Hermione couldn't blame him, not only was Mrs. Weasley furious at him, but she had a feeling his family couldn't exactly afford a new wand. Ron's had been a hand-me-down as it was. She felt a bit guilty for her earlier gloating over the howler he had received. She didn't know what was wrong with her; she hadn't felt that sort of animosity towards him since before they became friends. It felt as if her emotions were on a rollercoaster.
Hermione reached down in her bag and handed Ron a roll of spellotape. "It's not much, but maybe it'll help."
"Thanks," Ron mouthed as he began to repair his broken wand.
Unfortunately, the spellotape didn't help. Ron's wand performed terribly during transfiguration and there was nothing he could do about it. He was miserable.
"How am I going to get through the year with this," he grumbled as the wand emitted a puff of gray smoke.
"I'll look up wand repair in the library later," she promised him. "Maybe I can find something temporary to help you."
Ron didn't seem uplifted by this offer though. "I don't think anything can help this."
Hermione was about to offer him more words of comfort but at that moment, the lunch bell rang and Professor McGonagall called out to her. "Ms. Granger, will you please come with me to my office."
Hermione turned to her two friends, and they both had a worried look on her face. "I'm sure it's nothing bad; I'll meet you in the Great Hall." She grabbed her bag and filed out of the classroom behind McGonagall and the other students.
McGonagall didn't say anything to her until they reached her office and she shut the door behind her. For a moment, Hermione thought there might actually be something wrong but when the Professor spoke from behind her desk, her tone was not severe.
"Ms. Granger, I went over the work you submitted, and I must say… I'm very impressed." McGonagall said it as if it cost her a lot to admit it.
Hermione smiled politely. "Well, thank you, Professor. Does this mean I'll be getting extra credit, and maybe some house points?"
"Ms. Granger," McGonagall said a little more severely this time. "I don't think you understand. The research I assigned to you was complex. It's the kind of work I would have given a student in their OWL year. I know you're exceptionally bright, but I have to admit, I never expected you to complete it, and so thoroughly."
Hermione didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing as McGonagall seemed very serious. "Uh… did I do something wrong?"
McGonagall pulled a file from the middle of a stack of identical folders. Though Hermione didn't have too long to process this move, she did wonder vaguely how the professor had known that this one file in several dozen was the right one.
"I found out about your experience at the ministry seminar last summer, very impressive. You spoke two different languages when you held the realizer and you're grades last year were nothing short of astounding. You have a natural aptitude for magic that surpasses most students who have passed through these halls."
Hermione didn't know what to say. It was rare that McGonagall gave out compliments like this. It was almost as if she were bragging.
"Ms. Granger, I know it's a little premature to be making a decision about what career you want to pursue after school, however, soon you will have the opportunity to select new subjects to take starting third year. It's never too early to start planning for the future, so I really want to encourage you to take as many classes as you seem interested in. You'll find that you'll have a lot more opportunities if you do. I don't want you to get panicked though; you still have plenty of time to decide what you want to do."
"I just feel like I'll never know," Hermione admitted.
Surprisingly, McGonagall smiled at this. "Let me let you in on a little secret, Ms. Granger. When I was your age, I had no idea what I wanted to do either. It's not uncommon."
Hermione nodded at this, slightly relieved.
"Take some time over the next couple of years to talk to your professors about your strengths and weaknesses and maybe that will help you. Don't stress too much about it though, as I said before, you still have time. For now, you're gong to get the extra credit I promised you, along with 40 points for Gryffindor."
Hermione stood. "Thank you, Professor." She let herself out of the office and started towards the Great Hall so she could meet Harry and Ron for lunch.
As she entered, she once again ran into Gilderoy Lockhart. Hermione was so startled, she dropped the coat buttons she transfigured in class and had been carrying since she left the classroom.
"Ah what have we here," Lockhart said, still with the same perfect smile he always seemed to have.
"Oh," Hermione blushed as she picked up the half dozen buttons she dropped. "They're just beetles I transfigured in class. I kept them to see if I could transfigure them back. It's supposed to be very difficult."
"You transfigured all of these?" Lockhart said in awe. "Very impressive. You know you remind me of me when I was younger. I had quite an aptitude for transfiguration among other things. I'd say you're almost as skilled as I was when I was your age. Keep up the good work. You never know, maybe with a little more practice you could get a few advanced lessons from me," he said with a laugh as he left up the stairs.
Hermione beamed as she made her way to the Gryffindor table and pulled out her schedule. She wanted to know exactly when she would have her first lesson with her idol. "Maybe I can ask Lockhart about my career options. I bet he had a lot of problems deciding what he wanted to do when he was a young wizard. Anyone with that much talent must have had loads of problems deciding what to do." As she thought about this, she began absentmindedly doodling on her schedule.
She didn't have long to day dream though. Harry and Ron appeared a few moments later. "Where have you two been," she said hiding her course listing from view. "I'd have thought you'd have gotten here before me."
"We had a lot of clean up to do; Ron's wand made a real mess of things," Harry explained.
"The spellotape didn't work," Ron grumbled. "Not that it really matters. I don't even think with a perfect wand I'd have been able to transfigure those beetles."
"Oh, you'd have done fine. Look." Hermione pulled out her transfigured beetles. "See, it's really easy, isn't it Harry?"
Harry, who had a look like a deer caught in headlights, avoided the subject by rummaging through his bag, "What have we got this afternoon."
Hermione caught on that transfiguration was obviously a touchy subject and put her coat buttons away. "Defense Against the Dark Arts," she started to put her own schedule away but Ron seized it.
"Why have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?" he demanded.
"I… I was just bored," Hermione said grabbing her schedule back and turning her attention to the food on the table.
"So what did McGonagall want?" Harry asked.
"Oh, I got 40 points for Gryffindor for the extra credit assignments I did over the summer." Hermione brightened at the change of subject.
"Extra credit?" Ron said in disgust through a mouthful of food. "Why in the world would you request extra credit over the holidays?"
"What does it matter?" Hermione asked in agitation. "At least it earned house points. We're well on our way to winning the cup again this year."
"You study too much," Ron concluded aloud.
"Why do you always say that? If it weren't for my studying you wouldn't have been able to…" She stopped herself from saying, "find Harry this summer."
Ron caught her unspoken words though. "Oh… yeah," he said sheepishly.
Harry looked from one to the other. "What?"
"Nothing," they both said simultaneously.
-----
They had some time after lunch so the trio made their way to the courtyard.
"Why are you still reading that," Ron asked as he saw Hermione pull out "Voyages with Vampires."
"Yeah, I thought you already read all of Lockhart's books over the summer?" Harry added bemused.
"You read them all?" Ron said shocked. "How could you possibly manage to do that and pull off extra credit work? You're not human."
Hermione decided to feign deaf to Ron's last statement. "There's this one part in here that doesn't make sense. I've read all of Lockhart's books, and sometimes things don't line up. I'm trying to figure this one out. Maybe I'll ask him during class. It's probably an editing mistake."
Hermione looked up from her book, expecting some sort of response, but the boys were already engaged in a conversation about quidditch so she returned to her reading.
A few minutes later, Hermione had cause to look up again. She heard the loud, irritating voice of Draco Malfoy shout, "You're giving out signed photos, Potter? Everyone line up, Harry Potter's giving out signed photos."
Hermione rolled her eyes. It was only the first day and already Malfoy was making trouble. It was clear that he hadn't gotten over Harry winning the house cup for Gryffindor last year. She also suspected he was angry at her for making top of the class, above him. Whatever his motives, she knew it was useless to try and stop Harry and Ron from engaging the upstart Slytherin. She'd tried many times before and always failed. Whenever Malfoy pushed, Harry always had to push back.
"Why can't they just grow…" a flash of something turquoise off to the side caught Hermione's attention. It was Gilderoy Lockhart, wide grin plastered on his face, headed right towards them. She shut her book emphatically to get Harry and Ron's attention, because it looked as if Ron was about to snap. He had even pulled out his spellotaped wand.
"Look out!" she whispered harshly, jerking her head to the side.
Ron put his wand away hastily and Hermione pretended to return to her reading as Gilderoy Lockhart approached them.
Malfoy knew better than to try anything in front of a teacher, and Lockhart's natural buoyant personality immediately diffused the tense situation immediately.
Ron inched his way over to Hermione as Lockhart posed for a picture with Harry.
"Who's the kid with the camera?" she asked him.
Ron shrugged. "I dunno, but he's in Gryffindor. Wanted a signed photo of Harry. Too bad Malfoy had to overhear."
"I see. I'm sure that's the last thing Harry wanted. It's a good thing Professor Lockhart was around to diffuse the situation."
"What?" Ron scoffed as they watched Lockhart guide Harry towards the castle entrance. "Lockhart was only around because someone had a camera."
Hermione shut "Voyages with Vampires" again and stood. "Oh Ron, why do you always think Lockhart is after more fame. He's famous enough. He doesn't need to go seeking it."
"Whatever, I think he's jealous of Harry," Ron said.
Hermione scoffed. "Ron, Gilderoy Lockhart is an international celebrity. He has no reason to be jealous of Harry. That's just ridiculous."
They made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. "His so-called adventures sound like a load of rubbish. You said so yourself; you found discrepancies."
"Like I said, I'm sure their just editing mistakes. Do you really think he'd be able to get away with just making it all up? People would know he was lying."
"Not necessarily," Ron said in a mock-sage sort of way.
"Have you ever had a theory that turned out to be right?" Hermione countered smugly.
"You're not always right, you know."
"Yes, but statistically, I have a better chance at being right than you do," Hermione beamed as she turned into their classroom behind some other students.
Harry was already sitting at the back of the room, with all of his Defense Against the Dark Arts text books stacked in front of him. As was customary, Ron sat on one side of Harry while Hermione took her place on the other side. Hermione noted how odd it was that they almost always seemed to sit like this, on either side of Harry. It seemed to symbolize their friendship in a way. Ron and Hermione were both bound to Harry but not necessarily to each other. They had become, friends of sorts, but it really seemed that it was Harry that held the trio together.
"Would Ron and I even stay friends if Harry left the picture?" she wondered to herself. They constantly fought and were at each other's throat, but that's the way it had always been. Hermione kind of… enjoyed… their little tit-for-tat conversations. It seemed odd, but it was fun in a way. After all, even though they fought, it wasn't as if they hated each other. They were both very opinionated and strong willed. Perhaps it was these similar personality traits that seemed to put them at odds and always made her blame Ron for the mischief that he and Harry got into.
She didn't have too much time to think about this though as Professor Lockhart had started into his lesson.
It was clear by the way he started that though Lockhart had done many things in his life, he'd never taught before. He tried to make a few lighthearted jokes to warm the class up to him, but it was evident that the students were sizing him up. He was new, and they wanted to see what his teaching style was.
Finally, Lockhart jumped straight to the point. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books. Well done. I thought we'd start today, with a little quiz; nothing to worry about, just to check how well you've read them; how much you've taken in." Despite these words of reassurance, everyone in the room suddenly looked slightly panicked. No one expected a quiz on the very first day. Not even Professor McGonagall would have done something like that. Hermione too was nervous. She had, of course, read all of Lockhart's books, but she would have studied them more thoroughly if she had known they were starting off with an assessment.
When she looked down at her quiz, Hermione realized how truly difficult this was going to be. Apparently Lockhart was a more proficient professor than he let on. As she scanned the first page of questions, she saw that they focused not on the main facts of the books, but the subtle details that were mentioned throughout Lockhart's adventures. She looked up at the blonde wizard still beaming as he sat behind his desk. She had new respect for him. He was testing to see how closely they read each book by asking obscure questions you could have only known if you had read them cover to cover as opposed to just skimming through the highlights. Quill in hand, Hermione set to work to show her new idol how well she had read his books.
Lockhart had given the class 30 minutes but it only took Hermione 15 to answer the 54 question quiz. She remembered all of the details that Lockhart had asked for, surprising even herself. She was sure she'd get full marks.
She looked around to see how everyone else was doing. The looks she saw on Harry's and Ron's faces as they bent over their papers didn't seem good. No one else in the class looked like they were fairing well either. Hermione sat in almost smug placidness until Lockhart took up the quizzes.
She was shocked when the professor started going through the papers in front of the entire class, criticizing those who obviously hadn't read his books that closely. Hermione waited with bated breath, hoping that he would reach her quiz, and her patience was rewarded.
"Ms. Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is "to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair care potions.' Good girl!"
Hermione couldn't help beaming from ear to ear. So far, she was the only person he had singled out by name for getting something correct, but that wasn't all. Lockhart was flipping through her entire quiz, sizing it up.
"In fact… full marks!" Lockhart announced jovially to the class.
Hermione almost burst with joy; she turned to Harry, but could tell immediately that he seemed neither surprised nor impressed by this bit of news.
"Where is Ms. Hermione Granger?" Lockhart asked.
This seemed, for a moment, like a silly question, but then Hermione remembered that though she had talked to Lockhart on two separate occasions that day; she had never told him her name.
She raised her hand tentatively, hoping that he would remember her. It seemed that he did by the way he smiled at her in recognition. When Lockhart awarded her 10 points, she beamed, quite pleased with herself. Harry still seamed nonplussed and Hermione could only guess this was because he didn't fair well on the surprise examination. From the look of utter shock on Ron's face, it was clear he thought the whole thing was rather unfair.
Hermione shrugged this off and returned her attention to their instructor, who was even now placing a large covered cage on his desk.
"Now, be warned," Lockhart started in a more serious tone than was his nature. "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind. You may find yourself facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whist I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."
Hermione barely heard these words as she focused on the cage, trying to discern what it could be holding.
She didn't have to wait long. "I must ask you not to scream, it might provoke them." He unveiled the cage to reveal. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies!"
Hermione exhaled, only then aware that she had been holding her breath. "Pixies!" she thought angrily to herself. This was so unfair. Obviously Lockhart had heard that they hadn't exactly gotten a proper education in Defense Against the Dark Arts their previous year. So now he was starting them with the most rudimentary of household pests. Other students were voicing their descent. Apparently everyone felt the same way. Did Lockhart really think they couldn't handle a pack of pixies?
Lockhart merely smiled wider and put a hand on the cage. "Right then, let's see what you make of them."
He opened the cage door and the pixies immediately flew out all over the classroom. Hermione, like everyone else, was completely unprepared for this. Although pixies were relatively easy to control, they were fast and destructive. She ducked as a pixie rocketed over her and reached in her robes for her wand, which for some reason, she couldn't find as immediately as she wanted to.
"Figures when I really need it, I can't find it." She heard screams from several members of the class and a lot of muffled footsteps as she sat under her desk desperately searching through what now seemed like a hundred robe pockets for her wand. She couldn't see anything around her, but from what she heard, it didn't sound good. No one was able to subdue the pixies and they were causing havoc.
Hermione finally realized why she couldn't find her wand. It was in her bag. She grabbed it quickly, pulling it under the desk just as a nearby pixie had set its eyes on it. It started flying right towards her as she reached down in the bag and wrapped her hand around the wooden handle. Whipping it out, she shouted "Desdin Subsisto" and the pixie froze in midair.
Hermione barely had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. She heard the distant ring of the bell, ending their class and felt someone pull on her arm.
It was Ron, "Come on. Let's get outta here." He dragged her from under the desk and she only barely had a chance to grab her bag before being pulled bodily towards the door behind the rest of the class, who were all fleeing by now.
"Wait, I didn't even get a chance to…" Hermione started to protest.
Ron only tugged harder. "Oh no, this is crazy, let's go."
But it was to no avail. Lockhart called to them just as they reached the door. "Well, I'll ask you three to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He walked past them, and Hermione was relieved to see that he didn't look disappointed. In fact he winked at her as he walked out the class, giving Hermione the distinct impression that he knew that of the entire class, they were probably the only ones he could trust to clean things up. She felt herself blushing furiously.
Trying desperately to hide her red face from her friends, Hermione set herself to the task of capturing the pixies.
"Can you believe him?" she heard Ron bellow behind her.
Hermione only half heard this as she pointed her wand at two pixies and said "Desdin Subsisto." They froze instantly. "He just wants to give us some hands on experience." She knew Ron was loathed to do any extra work.
She walked the two immobilized pixies over to where the cage sat on the desk and shoved them inside. Then she took the cage to where she had left the first pixie she'd frozen.
"Hand's on?" Harry said with a slight chuckle as he tried to get his "hands on" another pixie. "Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing."
"Rubbish," Hermione said as she crawled under her desk and found the first pixie. "You read his books. Look at all those amazing things he's done."
"He says he's done," Ron countered grumpily.
"Oh Ron, you're not on about that again are you?" Hermione asked in exasperation.
"It's so obvious Hermione," Ron snapped. "Why can't you see it? He's a mindless twit. What about that 'quiz'? What was that about?"
"He was checking to make sure that we actually read his books and not just skimmed them for important facts. I think it was very clever." Hermione found two more pixies and froze them.
"Are you insane!" Ron blurted.
"You're just mad because you didn't do well… did you?" Hermione said knowingly.
"Well of course I didn't do well!" Ron was shouting now. "Those questions were ridiculous."
"You know, it surprises me that you're from a wizarding family. You of all people should know that things aren't always as they seem. It's just like Quirrell last year. Who'd have guessed he was in league with 'you know who.' I'm telling you, Lockhart may seem flighty, but it's all an act. I can tell. He gave us these pixies today because he knew that we hadn't had a proper education in Defense Against the Dark Arts and he wanted to see what we would make of this small task, and look what happened; he was right! No one could handle the pixies. He probably thinks we're a bunch of idiots now."
"Even if you're right, Hermione, I still don't like him," Harry said, finally grabbing the pixie he'd been reaching for and throwing it in the cage. "He's so smug and arrogant. He's got to be the most pompous wizard I've ever met. Dumbledore's 10 times the wizard Lockhart is, and you don't see him bragging about it."
"Just because he's confident about his abilities, doesn't make him a prat. Do you think the same thing about me just because I'm a better witch than you? Oh wait," she shot an angry look at them. "I almost forgot; you did think that before, didn't you!" With that pronouncement, she shoved the last of the pixies into the cage, slamming the door shut. "I'll take this to Lockhart's office."
-----
Hermione stormed angrily towards Lockhart's office. "I don't believe them," she muttered to herself. "Always have to judge everyone. It was the same thing with Snape. We got so caught up on not liking him we didn't even see the truth. Well not this time, I'm not going to let their prejudice distract me." She pushed her way angrily into Lockhart's office without even knocking.
"Why Ms. Granger; that didn't take long," Lockhart said in mild surprise. "I just got back in myself, had to go outside for a moment so I would have missed you if you had gotten here any earlier," he said, slipping his wand in his robe pocket.
"Oh, sorry for barging in like that professor." Hermione said distractedly as she looked around the office and saw dozens of photos of the professor smiling down at her.
"It's alright," Lockhart said with a smile even wider than the ones in the pictures of him. "I daresay I've had my share of people beating down my door before."
Hermione put the cage on his desk. "Professor, why do you have so many pictures of yourself?"
"Ahhh," Lockhart gave her a knowing wink. "I always have to have a ready supply, for my fans. I bet you want one, don't you?" He grabbed one from a stack in front of him.
Hermione sat down in the chair across from his desk. His answer didn't sit well with her. "That's not the only reason is it? They're there for another purpose, aren't they?" Lockhart's smile faded only just slightly, but Hermione noticed it all the same.
"You're a clever little witch, aren't you Ms. Granger. Tell me; what do you think the pictures are for."
Hermione thought about this long and hard. All of the Lockhart's continued to wink and grin at her. "You've given them to a lot of the students and staff at Hogwarts I bet and of course, wizarding photos can move and even leave their frames if they like. If these pictures are all over the castle, it's like you've got a network of mini Lockharts that act as spies. Quite a clever trick actually; helps you keep an eye on all the students and the castle."
Lockhart's smile completely faded this time. "That's absolutely brilliant," he said in awe. "I would have never thought that… that you would have figured out my clever ruse." He smiled at her again.
Hermione beamed. "See I knew it. My friend's think you don't know what you're doing, but I can tell it's all an act. After reading your books, I know you use a lot of deception and tricks to put people off their guard."
"Ah, yes, and I can tell you have been reading my books; first person to get full marks." Lockhart thought about this for a moment. "In fact, weren't you the one who said you'd noticed some discrepancies?"
"Oh yeah." Hermione was pleased he actually remembered. "I thought you might want to know about them, in case they were important."
"Well, Ms. Granger, I do have an editor for these things," he said with a light chuckle.
"I know, I know," Hermione said hastily pulling out her copy of "Voyages with Vampires" and flipping through it. "It's just… you discussed the meridian plant, here in chapter 16." She pushed the book in front of him. "When you were talking about your trip to the Vampire Colonies in France, you said you found some meridian and used that as a natural barrier to the vampires' mental manipulations, but meridian doesn't grow anywhere in Europe and also…"
"Oh of course it doesn't," Lockhart grabbed the book hastily. "What it should say is that I brought some with me from Egypt."
"Meridian doesn't grow in Egypt either, Professor," Hermione interrupted again, a little slower this time because it seemed as though he was becoming agitated. "Besides, meridian wouldn't produce the effects you described here. Although it is useful against vampire bites..."
"You'll find that when you're out in the real world, not everything you read in a text book is true." Lockhart said in a pacifying tone, as if he were talking to a small child who wasn't getting her way."
Hermione sighed in exasperation now. It was clear to her that Lockhart did not like to be told that something in his book could be wrong. "Are you sure it's not supposed to be mantragenian. I thought perhaps it might just be a typo," she blurted out finally.
Lockhart stopped in mid protest. "Oh," he stared down at the page. The smile had returned to his face as he looked up at her again. "I do believe you're right. Silly me. I didn't even realize. Why it's been so long since I've had that adventure, I must have forgotten. My, my, my. I've amassed so much knowledge over the years, sometimes I even confuse myself. I will have to write my editor right away to correct that. Would you mind writing it down for me so I won't forget. Besides I'll want to give you full credit."
Hermione returned the smile but only half heartedly. She reached in her bag for a quill and parchment. Now she was beginning to see what Ron and Harry had seen all along. Could Gilderoy Lockhart really be a fake? She had to find out for herself.
"Professor," she started cautiously as she began to put her correction to parchment. "There was something else I wanted to ask you."
"Go right ahead," Lockhart said as he took the piece of folded parchment she handed him.
"Well my friend… uh… Ron has a brother who works for Gringotts in Egypt and had a powerful curse put on him just yesterday, it transfigured him completely. I was wondering, since you dealt with these kinds of ancient curses before, what do you think will return him to normal. I think he told me the doctors were going to use mandrake, but in your book "Travels with Trolls" you came across a similar curse and used bubotuber puss. It seemed to be extremely effective, don't you think? Would that work on my friend's brother or are the doctors right by using mandrake?"
Lockhart fell for her trick. "I find that doctors are too stuck on the 'traditional' medicines. I'm not saying mandrake isn't an adequate restorative but as I'm sure you've found from reading my book, bubotuber would work far better and clear him up in no time."
Hermione jumped out of her chair. "Right, it would clear him up in no time… if he had a harsh case of acne, which is what you used bubotuber for in your book, to clear up a nasty case of troll warts to earn their trust. At least, that's what you said you did but it's quite clear to me that you don't know the slightest thing about herbal remedies or Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm beginning to think you didn't do a single thing you wrote about in those books. I can't believe Professor Dumbledore hired you!"
Lockhart stood alarmed. "Ms. Granger, please calm down. I can explain everything."
Hermione collected her bag and turned on her heals. "I can't believe I fell for it. Harry and Ron were…"
"Obliviate," came Lockhart's voice from behind her.
Hermione felt a cool breeze through her hair. "Professor, is your window open?" She peered behind him, but the window was closed. "That's odd, I thought I felt something." She put her tea cup on the desk.
Lockhart put his down as well. "Well, this castle always seems to be a little drafty," he said with a grin.
"I've completely forgotten what we were talking about," Hermione said leaning back in her chair and shaking her head to clear the fog out of her brain. "I think that tea has made me a little drowsy."
"That's to be expected. It's my own secret blend. Well, look at the time; I daresay we've been sitting here chatting for quite a bit."
Hermione looked at her watch. "You're right." She stood to leave, grabbing her bag. "Thank you for the tea professor, and thank you for sharing some of your unpublished adventures with me. You really are a wonderful inspiration."
"Well I'm always happy to share my stories with someone so eager to listen and learn," Lockhart answered as he ushered her to the door. "Believe me, you've also been a great help to me as well."
"Me?" Hermione almost squeaked, blushing again. "What could I have possibly done to help you? Even the typos I thought I found turned out to be nothing."
"I always say you can learn something from everyone. Trust me; you've provided me with a great deal of insight, I hope we can chat again too."
"Really? I'd like that." Hermione beamed openly as she started down the hall. "Thank you again Professor; see you next class."
-----
"Oy, there you are," Ron called to Hermione as she climbed through the portrait hole. "You were gone so long; I thought you'd disowned us."
"Don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind," Hermione said in a mock testy voice. In truth she couldn't get herself worked up. She had enjoyed her time with Lockhart far too much to be in a foul mood. "For your information, I've been having tea with Professor Lockhart. He's really very insightful and inspiring once you take the time to get to know him. That bubbly exterior is just an act."
"Oh, let's not get on that again," Harry sighed. "I don't want to hear another word about that prat…" Hermione shot him a dirty look. "I mean about Professor Lockhart," he corrected himself. "Let's just get this homework done."
"Right," Ron agreed as Hermione joined them at the table. "Hermione, I hope you can give me some more insight on the properties of mandragora. I'm stuck."
"Mandragora?" Hermione repeated perplexed. "Why do you need to know the properties of mandragora?"
"Because we have to write a paper on it for Herbology, that's why." Ron said in exasperation.
"We do?" Hermione thought hard about this but still came up blank. "I don't remember that."
Harry stared at her in awe. "How could you forget? We only spent the whole class shoving mandrakes into pots."
"Uh…" Hermione thought harder and somewhere in the back of her head, she knew Harry was right, she just couldn't seem to pull up the image of the actual event. "I must be tired. I'm going to have a lie down before dinner." She headed towards the girls dormitory.
"Hey wait," Ron called after her. "What about this paper? I swear that girl is going to blow a fuse if she keeps studying as hard as she does," was the last thing Hermione heard him say to Harry before she ascended the stairs to her room.