The first morning back at Hogwarts was always full of excitement, but this year felt especially charged for Denia Lily Potter. It was the second year, and although she'd already navigated most of the challenges that would arise this time around due to her prior knowledge from her past life, one particular hurdle loomed larger than the rest: Gilderoy Lockhart.
Denia sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, absently pushing her breakfast around her plate while the steady hum of voices swelled around her. She could see Harry and Ron further down the Gryffindor table, both of them groggily eating their eggs while Hermione chattered on excitedly. No doubt, her favorite subject of the morning was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Gilderoy Lockhart. Denia shook her head.
“First class with Lockhart today,” Blaise Zabini said, sitting beside her and picking up a piece of toast. “Do you think he’s as full of himself as everyone says?”
Denia glanced up at him with an amused smile. “Worse.”
The Slytherin common room had already been abuzz with rumors about the flamboyant professor, but Denia wasn’t concerned with what her housemates thought. She knew what he truly was—a fraud. His books had provided Hermione with plenty of entertainment during the summer, but Denia was far less impressed. If anything, she was annoyed that someone so incompetent could end up teaching at Hogwarts. But she supposed even Dumbledore needed some entertainment.
At that moment, Draco Malfoy slid into the seat across from her, his usual sneer firmly in place. “I can’t believe Dumbledore hired that clown. My father says—”
“Your father always has something to say,” Denia interrupted, her tone dry. “Why don’t you form an opinion of your own for once, Draco?”
Draco scowled, clearly unappreciative of the remark, but Blaise let out a soft chuckle, breaking the tension before it could grow any further. Denia ignored them both, already planning the rest of her day in her head. If she remembered correctly, today would be full of classes where nothing much happened, except, of course, the infamous Cornish Pixies incident in Defense Against the Dark Arts.
As breakfast drew to a close, Denia gathered her bag and followed the rest of her housemates out of the Great Hall. She caught sight of Harry and Ron, both dragging their feet as they headed toward their first class, Harry's face marred with an expression of resigned dread. Denia smirked slightly to herself, knowing full well the chaos that would ensue later.
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Denia found herself sitting near the back of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, her quill already poised over a piece of parchment. Blaise sat next to her, looking skeptical as he glanced around the room, while Theo Nott slouched on her other side, twirling his quill between his fingers with a bored expression.
The classroom itself was plastered with framed photos of Lockhart, all of them winking, flashing brilliant smiles, and adjusting their immaculate hair. Denia fought the urge to roll her eyes as she caught sight of one particularly large portrait near the front of the room. It was as if Lockhart couldn’t get enough of his own face.
“Welcome, welcome!” Lockhart’s voice boomed suddenly, causing the class to fall silent. He strode in with dramatic flair, his robes a bright shade of forget-me-not blue, perfectly tailored to match his gleaming eyes. His hair, as always, was impeccable—styled into perfectly arranged waves. “Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award—but I don’t talk about that.”
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Wands And Wings
FanfictionLyra Maeve Stark never expected that death would be the beginning of something new. Reincarnated into the world of Harry Potter as Denia Lily Potter, twin sister to the Boy Who Lived, she is thrust into a life she had only known through the pages of...
