terrencemr
Before the bestselling books, the award-winning smile, and the deeply unnecessary quantity of signed portraits, Gilderoy Lockhart traveled the forgotten roads of magical Britain as the assistant to Bartholomew Thorne - a wandering magical specialist known as the man who buried a thousand beasts.
Together they handled the sort of problems the Ministry preferred not to discuss: cursed roads, vanished travelers, restless creatures, haunted villages, and the occasional goat-related emergency.
But after a disastrous encounter on an old country road leaves Gilderoy alone for the first time, he finds himself chasing increasingly dangerous work, increasingly unbelievable adventures, and the growing reputation of a wizard he is not entirely certain he deserves to be.
As the stories spread and the stakes rise, one misadventure after another slowly transforms Gilderoy Lockhart from an anxious roadside assistant into one of the most famous wizards in Britain - eventually leading to an unexpected offer from Hogwarts School itself.
After all, legends have to begin somewhere.