Return of Salazar Slytherin

139- Lockhart: Rhys is my biggest fan!

2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?
3. What do you consider Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement so far?
4. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday? What would be his ideal birthday present?

.

.

.

Looking at the two full questionnaires about Lockhart's personal hobbies, Rhys was confused: Was he out of date? Could it be that Lockhart's teaching method was the mainstream of contemporary Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching?

He started to rationalize it: Perhaps the goal is to establish an idol, someone the students admire, which would make them listen more attentively and take more initiative in learning.

These questions... maybe they reinforce memory, ensuring the students remember every detail from the books. If that's the case, then it all makes sense...!

Rhys' thoughts began to spiral, and in the midst of questioning his entire existence, he finished the quiz in record time—barely needing a second glance before selecting each answer!

What made this even more absurd was the fact that, having read all of Lockhart's books and possessing a fairly good memory, Rhys knew the answer to every single question.

Rhys' rapid pace irritated Lockhart greatly.

Lockhart: At least pretend to take your time! Who are you trying to fool by rushing through it like that?

Clearing his throat, Lockhart addressed the class, "Now, students, there's no need to rush. We have plenty of time. Some of these questions are quite tricky..."

But Rhys, lost in his own musings and operating purely on autopilot, finished all 54 quiz questions within just ten minutes.

Lockhart, noticing Rhys had already set down his quill and was now staring off into space, decided it was time to teach this troublemaker a lesson.

'I'll dock him a hefty amount of points,' he thought. 'That'll make him respect me—Gilderoy Lockhart, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts!'

He descended from the platform, picked up Rhys' quiz, and prepared to grade it on the spot, intending to publicly humiliate him.

However, the more he read, the more complicated his expression became.

"Ah?"

"Oh!"

"OOooh!"

By the time he finished, his bright blue eyes were filled with disbelief: Rhys hadn't gotten a single question wrong. He had scored a perfect 100.

"I-Incredible! Incredible!" Lockhart exclaimed dramatically. "Rhys Lint has completed my quiz in just ten minutes—and he got every single question right!!"

The classroom erupted into murmurs.

Despite the strange nature of Lockhart's quiz, achieving a perfect score wasn't easy. Many of the questions were ridiculously detailed, and Rhys' perfect score meant that he had definitely read every single one of Lockhart's books—and read them very thoroughly at that.

Lockhart was overjoyed. 'This student is a super fan!' he thought.

'Little Rhys must have been hiding his admiration all along. I misjudged him, thinking he was just a critic!

Rhys, startled by Lockhart's exclamations, snapped out of his wandering thoughts and quickly realized what had happened.

'Oh no... I accidentally scored a perfect 100.'

It wasn't that Rhys had deliberately avoided top marks to stay low-key. If he really wanted to avoid attention, he wouldn't have let Daphne "freestyle" during last term's final exams. But in this case, scoring a perfect 100 was bound to be... embarrassing.

Rhys suddenly felt incredibly relieved that Godric and Helga were nowhere to be found, and Rowena was trapped deep in the dungeon.

ಥ‿ಥ

If his old friends ever found out he had scored full marks on this kind of test, he would simply go into eternal sleep and see them again in a thousand years.

The next twenty minutes were pure torture for Rhys.

He desperately needed another student to get a perfect score alongside him.

If he was the only one to achieve it, that would be far too conspicuous.

His gaze shifted to Hermione and Daphne. Rhys knew that in this situation, they were his only hope.

Using the moisture in the air, Rhys focused on Hermione and Daphne's answers. As he scrutinized their tests, his brow furrowed. Daphne had made several mistakes—did she even bother to read Lockhart's books properly?

And Hermione... Was this a joke? She had made some glaringly obvious errors. Did she not sleep well last night?

"Alright, children, time's up!" Lockhart announced with a gleeful clap, ready to collect the quizzes.

Seeing that neither Daphne nor Hermione had noticed their mistakes, Rhys grew anxious. After a brief moment of thought, he decided to drop all pretense.

The next second, the quills in Hermione and Daphne's hands began moving on their own, swiftly correcting the errors on their tests.

Hermione and Daphne: "...?"

Four pairs of eyes turned to Rhys in unison, but he remained completely unfazed, acting as if he truly had no idea what had just happened!

Rhys: Fu♪ Fu♪~(ΘεΘ;) 

So much so that even Daphne was almost convinced by his performance!

After collecting the tests, Lockhart began reviewing them in front of the whole class.

Finally, he announced with delight, "Two more students have scored full marks—Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Daphne Greengrass! Let's give them, along with Mr. Rhys Chassla Lint, a round of applause!"

The rest of the students, unaware of the full situation, clapped enthusiastically.

"On the Hogwarts Express, I noticed that the three of them—Rhys, Hermione, and Daphne—were sitting in the same compartment. And today, they've all scored full marks! This shows they've been diligently studying my books together, which is highly commendable. Ten points to Ravenclaw, and twenty points to Slytherin."

"Everyone should learn from them!"

Rhys: "..."

The desire to commit murder is rising!

Every word out of Lockhart's mouth felt like it was poking at Rhys's nerves. He was on the verge of losing control and stringing Lockhart up for a thorough beating.

After all, with his body restored to its younger state, his patience had considerably diminished.

Yet Rhys had underestimated his own restraint—because, moments later, when a signed photo of Lockhart was thrust into his hands, he didn't leap up and pummel Lockhart senseless.

"This is your reward, my most loyal fans!" Lockhart beamed at Rhys with a dazzling smile.

Rhys repeatedly reminded himself that the rule forbidding students from assaulting teachers—which would result in detention—was a rule he had personally established!

Wait, on second thought, doesn't that mean that as long as he's willing to endure detention, he could actually beat up a teacher during class?!

Eh?

Just as Rhys's thoughts were turning more dangerous, one unintentional action by Lockhart saved him.

Lockhart pulled a large cage covered with a cloth from behind the podium and placed it on the desk. After removing the cloth, he revealed a cage full of Cornish pixies.

The students burst into laughter. This was far from the extremely dangerous magical creature they had anticipated. Many of them felt a sense of disappointment.

Who would have guessed that the famous Professor Lockhart's first lesson would involve something like this?

"Don't underestimate them! These little devils can be real troublemakers!" he said, tapping the cage of pixies with his wand.

Lockhart had carefully chosen Cornish pixies for his first lesson, thinking these "little demons" would be enough to impress the students.

Even better, he believed he had the skill to handle them—after all, the seller who provided the pixies had taught him a special spell to subdue them.

But then, things took an unexpected turn...

As Lockhart tapped the cage, the lock clicked open, and the pixies swarmed out in a frenzy. Despite their small size, they were shockingly strong—just two of them could lift a student into the air.

Worse, they had an instinct for targeting human weak points, quickly turning the classroom into utter chaos.

Rhys watched with a thoughtful expression.

He could have subdued the pixies in an instant, but why bother?

This was the perfect opportunity to see Lockhart in action and gauge his abilities.

He even stopped Daphne and Hermione from intervening, urging them to stay calm.

As the professor, it was Lockhart's responsibility to handle the situation. Summoning his courage, he rolled up his sleeves, waved his wand, and shouted the spell the supplier had taught him: "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

But the spell had no effect—except maybe as a taunt! One pixie swooped down, snatched Lockhart's wand, and tossed it, along with Lockhart himself, out the window.

Seeing this, none of the students dared to stay in the classroom, except for Rhys, Daphne, and Hermione. Everyone else fled.

Rhys covered his eyes.

With this incident, he was certain: Lockhart was a fraud, a complete and utter phony.

Having reached his conclusion, Rhys calmly raised his hand. Hundreds of seemingly delicate but unbreakable threads materialized in the air, swiftly entangling the rampaging Cornish pixies.

Rhys slowly closed his five fingers, the water line tightened suddenly, and a series of explosions were heard in the air.

And just like that, it was over.

__________

12 Advance Chapters—