Always There For You (Harry Potter OC X OC)

21. Cornish Pixies and Mrs Norris-

Defense against the dark arts subject had a new teacher. He was the infamous Gilderoy Lockhart. They said he saved a woman from packs of werewolves on a full moon. He killed an orgre rampaging in Diagon Alley. He killed 100 death eaters in one go.

Joel had read the autobiography book, which to him, sounded too good to be true. It was too great for someone to have all that heroism. And he noticed that some girls had fought to sit in the front rows. They were loud, talking about this special teacher as a dashing figure.

Though not just girls, Justin Finch-Fletchley, a second year Hufflepuff boy, was a fanboy of this man too. The Ravenclaw shared Defense Against the Dark Arts class with the Hufflepuff. Joel couldn't help to notice Justin's highly praising the amazing Gilderoy Lockhart. Justin kept ranting great things about him. The girls in class listened to his rant attentively, in full admiration for the teacher.

Joel had known Justin since first year. A bit posh, which downright he was. He had flaunted how his mum originally wanted to put him into Eton College. None but the muggleborns raised in the english muggle household would know how prestigious that school was.

'Good morning everyone!' said Professor Lockhart in a happy tune.

The students who weren't in their seats scrambled to their places. The girls almost squealed as they watched the teacher in a nice sleek hair entering the room.

'Good morning p-professor,' Justin stammered.

Give me a break... Joel thought. He sat next to Anthony by a desk in the middle right. He rolled his eyes to see the joy of Lockhart's fans. He snorted, inviting Anthony to look at him. 'Look at Justin, he's falling in love.'

Anthony snorted, seeing at the same direction.

'He's like you, Anthony, when you see McGonnagall,' Joel added in a smirk.

Anthony frowned. 'Be quiet, Little Joe.'

Joel's smirk vanished.

Professor Lockhart started half an hour to talk about himself. He liked to boast his achievements whenever he could. He cited things he had claimed he has done, which people could have looked it up in his autobiography instead. His fans loved it, but bored the rest.

'...alright, alright, enough about me. Now lesson one, I'd like to introduce you to this lovely dark creatures,...'

Finally... Joel thought.

'The cornish pixies!' He opened a cloth, to reveal a caged bunch of cornish pixies. It rattled violently in its cage. Everyone gasped. Tensed. The creatures acted very rabidly.

'Now... I want you all to hold one. Any volunteers?' asked Professor Lockhart. 'Come on... how about... you?' he pointed to Padma, who sat in front of him. She shook her head, nervously. 'No? Then... how about you?' He pointed to Lisa who was next to Padma. She shook her head too. Professor Lockhart looked again. To his delight, Justin raised his hand. Justin was terrified, but he did so to wish he was as brave as the professor.

'Ah! Great, young man! Come up here!'

Justin stood up and walked up to the front. The teacher positioned him to look at the caged crazy creatures.

'Right... right... Let's see...' the professor was unsure, but he unlocked the caged door.

The pixies went quiet.

Before Professor Lockhart could summon one out, the pixies sprang out in a thunderous stampede. They swarmed out and started buzzing all over the room. The kids screamed in terror. Justin ducked down, but the pixies started punching and biting his skin. The other kids hid under desks, but the pixies attacked them too. The creatures laughed in arrogance.

Joel peeked from under the table, swatting away pixies off of himself and found that Lockhart had left the room in seconds. The creatures bit Joel's ears and nose.

Some of them escaped the classroom.

'Everyone!' shouted a Hufflepuff girl named Hannah Abbot. 'Out of the classroom, now! Now!'

Everyone did so in a struggle. Justin tried to get up, but a swarm of them attacked him. He screamed.

Sue noticed and got her wand out. 'Aquamenti!'

The cornish pixies scrammed away. Justin was soaking wet, but it did the trick to get him up before the creatures tried to swarm him again.

Sue pulled him. 'Let's go!'

Everyone were out of the class.

McGonnagall arrived, looking angry as if she had never been angry before. She was in disbelief and fixed this problem in seconds. In one motion of her wand, all the flying cornish pixies, either far out in the courtyard or in the classroom, were sucked into their cage and locked in.

'Where's Professor Lockhart! I need a word!' The professor spoke in fury. 'This is the third time he has done this mistake!'

'H-he... we... we don't know professor, he escaped,' said Anthony.

Professor McGonnagall sighed. 'Very well,' she said before going away.

The ravenclaw and hufflepuff got together. Joel noticed Justin was in deep disappointment.

'He's worse than Quirrel!' said Ernest Macmillan.

'He is! He doesn't know what he's doing!' said Hannah Abbot.

'He's all talk and no brain. Where's that version when he killed three trolls at once!' said Michael.

'He's a con! A rubbish bin!' said Terry.

'Yeah, I can't believe it... all the things he said in his book... He can't even handle pixies. He should know he stresses them out putting them all in one cage like that,' said Susan Bones, a hufflepuff.

'Ugh, the gryffindors and slytherins did get the same problem, I should've believed them. Of course Lavender Brown wouldn't lie to me,' complained Isobel.

'I thought it was a joke,' Sue said in discomfort.

'Apparently not,' Hannah Abbot spoke in anger.

They didn't want him. On the second meet, no one showed up and they didn't care that they all got detention with Dumbledore himself in the afternoon.

'I understand Professor Lockheart may not be the best candidate. I usggest we must give him a chance,' the professor said, looking at the kids writing an essay of any magical creature. 'He will find a way to improve, I will not have it any other way.'

***

One day at noon, everyone were horrified to find a mural message on a wall. Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging on air, either unconcious or dead.

The chamber of secrets have been opened
Enemies of the heir... beware

Everyone saw it as they were about to head for lunch.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley were found on the scene. Argus Filch, the caretaker, went crazy on them. He accused the three of them to have killed Mrs Norris.

Everyone whispered to each other, making assumptions or questions to what was going on.

Professor McGonnagall trudged through the crowd. She talked to Filch and the three kids. Then she busied herself, disbanding everyone away. 'Nothing to see here! Mrs Norris is fine! Go!'

Joel followed his friends, tightly. The sign and Mrs Norris freaked him out.

'What do you all think is happening?' asked Michael.

'Don't know at all...' Anthony said in fear, fidgeting his fingers.

'Is Mrs Norris... dead?' Padma spoke, scaring herself with her own words.

'That cat is annoying, but I wouldn't want it to die...' Terry said.