Violet Potter and the Basilisk Plague (Year Two)

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Chamber of Secrets

Violet, Harry, Victoria, and Ron had found Gilderoy Lockhart soon enough, in his office of course. But from the looks of things, he hadn't been preparing to take on the monster hidden within the Chamber of Secrets. He was hurriedly packing away everything he had brought with him to Hogwarts Castle, down to the last smiling portrait of himself.

"What's the sudden hurry about Professor? You're not really thinking of running off now with Ginny Weasley's life in danger and Professor Dumbledore gone?" Tori suddenly asked.

"Merlin's beard! I told you girls not to go running around the castle after hours with these two troublemakers again, didn't I? But I suppose there's no real separation of the Potter orphans in the end, is there?" And Violet said, "That's right Professor, there isn't. And you can pack the rest of your things later. We need your help, right now, to rescue Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets."

"The Chamber of Secrets! Is it not enough that you have already broken what I'm certain are more than fifty school rules? I'm very sorry about the Weasley girl, but it really can't be helped, not by any of you nor even by me, or Albus Dumbledore himself apparently. It really is time for me to take my leave of this castle once more---"

"Now just a bloody minute, you're the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher this year. And you're Gilderoy Lockhart, the legend who has been up against other deadly curses and monsters and you've won every battle in the past, you can't leave! Not after everything you've wrote!" Ron protested. "What about my sister? What about Hogwarts, what about us?"

"Books can be misleading." Lockhart said to that, and Harry said, "You wrote them!" But Violet Potter could see what she had been certain was true was crystal clear, from the first moment she'd ever set eyes on Gilderoy Lockhart in Diagon Alley the last summer. "I knew it! you're not a real adventurer of the wizarding world. I doubt you even have any qualification to be a real Hogwarts Professor! You're a complete phony!"

"My dear girl, of course I never really did all of those things, let's use some common sense. Nobody would want to read, let alone pay good galleon for some story about how the Bandon Banshee was banished if the heroine turned out to be some dog-ugly witch with a harelip, or if the wizard who was up against the Werewolves of London in October of 1979 was anything less than an absolute paragon of handsomeness as well as worldliness, bravery and resourcefulness! I mean, the real bloke was quite short and scrawny, had a crooked, toothy grin and ears that stood out a mile, come on...I really did them and all of wizardkind a favor by tracking those people down and erasing any recollections they had about their heroic deeds. Obliviate has always been a spell which I am extremely proficient at casting...besides, if you want fame and recognition in this world, you have to be prepared to do anything it takes to seize it."

"So you've not only taken credit for everything a lot of other witches and wizards have done, you've erased all memories of their accomplishments, which they should have been recognized for! You're not only pathetic, you're morally bankrupt!" Harry yelled. "But tonight, you're going to do the right thing for once in your life." Harry and Ron then pointed their wands at Lockhart. "Get moving!" Harry barked at him.

"Now now children, what do you even propose I do? There's really nothing to be done, one of you carries a defunct wand, Hogwarts is going to be closed, the Weasley girl is as good as dead even as we speak, and you---" Lockhart tried to explain, but Ron said angrily, "You just shut it. I've had it up to here with being reminded by Hogwarts teachers, Malfoy and his stupid friends, even my family everything I can't do! Well I'm not going to let my little sister die just because you only care about saving your own skin. KEEP WALKING!"

And they all walked out of the Defence classroom and towards the same girls' bathroom where Hermione did most of the hard work brewing the polyjuice potion, and was haunted by Moaning Myrtle.