allendalepharm Chapter 127 An Encounter
Chapter 127 An Encounter
Chapter 127 An Encounter
"By Merlin, today's lesson was so exciting!" Even though it was lunchtime, Ron exclaimed excitedly, "We actually saw a dragon!"
"So, will there be dragons in Durmstrang's class?" Harry asked, somewhat curiously.
"I don't know either," Hermione said, pursing her lips and holding her book. "But I feel—"
"It feels very strange."
"That's strange?" Her words startled Harry and made Ron raise an eyebrow.
"It just feels different from previous classes," Hermione thought for a moment and explained, "Maybe it's—"
"Have you noticed that the professor never mentioned his own name?"
"Hey! It seems so." Ron slapped his forehead and said, "Logically, this is the first time we've met him."
"But it doesn't seem like a big deal, does it?" Ron continued, "Maybe he just forgot."
"Indeed." Harry nodded in agreement with Ron's opinion. Although the young professor hadn't introduced himself, Harry was surprised to find him to be quite nice.
The main reason is that, unlike Snape, he wouldn't embarrass himself in class—Harry gets a headache just thinking about Snape's classes.
In every single lesson, he served as a negative example—
Unlike Harry and Ron's indifference, Hermione was clearly quite interested in the matter, seemingly enjoying the feeling of discovering the answer, saying, "I must find out who he is."
Her words made Ron raise an eyebrow and say, "Professor Hamilton is more mysterious than him—"
"I had no idea there was such a person in the Hamilton family."
"The Hamilton family?" Harry paused for a moment upon hearing this and asked, "Are there many wizards with the name Hamilton?"
'
"Hmm." Hermione nodded from the side. "The Hamilton family is also one of the Twenty-Eight Pure-Blood Clans."
"Just like the Malfoys," Ron said with a sneer, his tone disdainful. "Most of them are jerks."
"Is that so—" Harry nodded thoughtfully. He didn't sense any of the arrogance often associated with pure-blood families from Professor Hamilton, perhaps because she always acted the same way towards everyone—
"Oh, right—" Harry, who was deep in thought, suddenly remembered what Dobby had said. Although there was no basis for it, he thought about it and decided to share it with his friend.
After listening to Harry's story, Ron was the first to clench his fists.
"That damn house-elf! Is he the one who broke my wand and got yelled at by my mother?" He looked so angry that if Dobby were here now, he would probably grab him and beat him up.
Hermione frowned slightly and said, "Dobby—his name is Dobby, right?"
"Why would he think Professor Hamilton is in danger?" Hermione paused before saying, "Professor Hamilton is a genius—and she even gave us a Christmas present, remember?"
"I think so too." Harry nodded in agreement, then casually added, "Maybe Dobby's just gone mad."
"He must be crazy," Ron added.
The three chatted as they walked down the corridor, and then at a corner, Ron, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
"That's Lockhart—and Professor Hamilton!" Ron said, taking a step back and ending up stepping on Hermione's foot.
"Ron!" Hermione cried out in pain, taking a step back. "Don't do that—"
"They seem to be saying something!" Ron's muttering interrupted Hermione, while Harry had already popped his head out curiously.
"They seem to be talking about something unpleasant—" Harry said, pursing his lips. "Lockhart doesn't look too good."
"Lockhart is terrified of her, have you forgotten?" Hermione added.
"Last time, he went to the wrong classroom and was scared away by Professor Hamilton."
"Maybe it's because Professor Hamilton beat him up at the dueling club," Ron muttered to himself.
"And what about Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and Snape?" Hermione pouted. "They all beat up Lockhart."
"He must be afraid of a lot of people," Ron muttered, glancing at the two professors who were talking.
"I wonder what they're talking about—" Harry muttered cautiously.
The trio hid in the corner of the corridor, observing the conversation between the two professors, their hearts filled with curiosity.
If Loila knew what they were thinking, she might apologize for their boundless curiosity.
Because the content of her conversation with Mr. Lockhart was somewhat—somewhat strange—
"Mr. Lockhart?" Loila was quite happy to run into Lockhart in the corridor again, and what surprised her even more was that Mr. Lockhart seemed to be happy as well.
"Good afternoon, Miss Hamilton. Have you eaten yet?" He responded to Loira's greeting with a bright smile, as if nothing had ever happened between them.
This surprised Loila subconsciously, but then she felt a little scared.
Because when they met last time, Mr. Lockhart was like this at first, as if nothing had happened. As a result, he invited her to his home, and Luna even got so angry that she almost used her wand.
Will this happen again this time?
Loila pursed her lips, a sense of foreboding creeping over her.
However, when faced with Mr. Lockhart's question, Loira still had to answer: "Ah—I haven't—yet."
"Oh, okay? How about you come with me?" Lockhart said with a smile. "I haven't eaten yet, and I have a lot to talk about with you first."
"I think—I think I should just forget it—" Loila quickly waved her hand in refusal. It was definitely a bad feeling! Eating with strangers would be awkward and terrifying!
"I—I made an appointment with Miss Lovegood." Loila's face was a little pale under her mask; she was worried that mentioning Luna would anger Lockhart.
"I see—" Lockhart surprisingly showed no change; he still smiled and said, "It's alright if we can't dine together."
"How about tonight?" He thought for a moment and said, "Do you have time the night after tomorrow? I'd like to have a casual chat with you."
"The day after tomorrow—tonight?" Loila paused for a moment, then subconsciously counted on her fingers.
"I'm—I'm sorry!" she whispered, "Professor McGonagall asked me—I'm going on night patrol."
And chatting... it's just too scary—especially awkward chatting with unfamiliar people in a room.
The mere thought of it terrified Roy—and her several in-depth conversations with Mr. Lockhart didn't seem to have gone very well.
"Then today—" Lockhart paused, as if suddenly interrupted, and under Loira's somewhat strange gaze, he gave an awkward laugh and said, "Then next week will do."
"How about next Tuesday? I'd love to talk to you. I'm very interested in you."
"Ah—I—" Mr. Lockhart's words "looking forward to it" left Loira speechless, while his words "very interested" suddenly made her a little afraid of Lockhart.
Why does he want to talk to me so much? Aren't we talking right now? Why can't we talk now—and why does it have to be at night—
Loila remembered that this kind of plot in Mr. Lockhart's book seemed to have become so clichéd that it was almost identical to the original—
—Something bad is bound to happen, right?
But Mr. Lockhart is the author—he should know that, right?
"I'm—I'm sorry." Finally, Loila mustered up her courage and said, "Um—I—I'm a little scared of this—this kind of thing."
"If there is—if there is anything we can talk about—can we talk about it now?"
Lockhart fell silent, his smile appearing somewhat pale, but after only a few seconds, he returned to his previous demeanor.
"Ah, it's alright, Miss Hamilton," he said with a shrug. "I know it's nerve-wracking to be around a star like me."
"Let's talk about it another day then," he said, flicking his robe and taking a few steps. Then he suddenly turned back and said, "You'll definitely be interested in what I have to say."
"Hmm—hmm." Loila's body trembled, then she nodded subconsciously.
Loila only felt relieved after he finally disappeared down the corridor.
Why do I feel like I'm doing the opposite of Mr. Lockhart now? He used to be avoiding me, but now... now I'm a little afraid of him.
As Loila carefully left, she didn't notice the students looking at each other in the three corners.
"What does Lockhart mean?" Ron asked, winking. "What does 'you'll definitely be interested' mean?"
"And that line, 'I'm very interested in talking to you—' he said, suddenly looking at Harry and Hermione.
He uttered a sentence that made the other two's lips twitch: "Could Lockhart have a crush on Professor Hamilton?"
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