Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 84: Fame and Glory
A blonde man in his mid-thirties with some flamboyant-looking robes walked to the table that had been set up for him and sat down.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen but more especially the ladies."
He winked.
"Oh, he's such a charmer, isn't he?" Molly told Lily.
"He is…something, yes." Lily frowned.
"I know you are all pleased to see me, the great Gilderoy Lockhart, here in the flesh. As you all already know, besides being a successful author, I am the recipient of an Order of Merlin, third class for my many achievements. But I will admit that my favorite one is being the winner of the most charming smile, by the Wicked Witch magazine for the third year in a row."
He gave a toothy smile, showing his pearly white teeth to the crew, who seemed delighted and started clapping.
"Can we go?" Harry requested.
"I want a word with him before," Lily told him.
"Are you going to ask him to sign those books? I could do that for you. I brought some of my personal favorites with me." Molly pulled a small stack of books from her purse.
Lockhart made a gesture to calm the crowd.
"I know, I know. I'm incredible. But before we get this event started, I have two announcements. The first one is that my latest book 'Tangling with Vampires in Romania', will be coming out next month. In this adventure, I protect an old town from the attacks of some nasty vampires who wanted to kidnap some of the local virgins."
'Romanian vampires again?, what is going on there?' he wondered if this was related to what Remus was saying. He was aware that Lockhard's modus operandi was to claim the achievements of poor unfortunate fools. But the events themselves were very much real. They were just performed by others.
"Of course, I also took care of the virgins." Lockhart chortled.
"Oh, he is so humorous!, isn't he?" Molly grinned.
"Can I wait outside?" Harry requested.
"I'm bored!" Holly complained.
"Me too!" Ron complained.
"Can we all wait outside?" The twins requested.
"No, and be quiet!. He is going to say something ." Molly looked at them with righteous fury in her eyes.
"And as for my second announcement. This coming school year, you will be able to find me at Hogwarts. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore has personally requested me to be a teacher at the school for a year. And who can say no when it comes to inspiring the next generation of wizards and witches? " Lockhart proclaimed.
"He is so admirable!"
"What a hero!"
"A teacher?!, I wish I could go back to class!"
Many women in the audience started to murmur.
"And now, we can start with the main event. I see you are all lined up, just how I liked it." He worked at the first woman in line and this one blushed.
"Excuse me, I just wanted to ask something." Lily raised her hand as she walked forward.
Gildedoy looked at her and smiled. He also noticed the books on her hands.
"What a lovely thing we have here. But I'm afraid that if you want my signature, you will have to wait in line like the rest."
"No…my question is about the books you marked for your D.A.D.A curriculum. All of the books you requested the parents to buy are your own books." Lily said with a deep frown.
"Well, I did try to find other books to select. But in the end, my own ones were just… the best. And I want the best for the children's education, don't you also want the same?. " Lockhart asked.
"These." she held one of the books up.
"Are not even educational books, they are just stories."
Lockhart chuckled.
"Oh my dear, they are more than just stories. All the events depicted in my books are very much real ." He was not lying on that one.
"But I have to say… I adore passionate mothers like yourself. I would love to discuss this further, maybe over dinner. Ask my assistant over there for the details." He pointed to his left.
Lily was beyond furious now.
She was about to growl at him when a loud commotion started at the entrance of the shop.
"Is him!"
"He is here!"
"The boy Who Lived is here!"
People started to yell.
"The boy who lived is here? Well, bring him here. He had no doubt heard about my presence here and came to see me." Lockhart pointed towards the entrance.
The poor Neville was surrounded by people asking him questions while his grandmother tried to chase them away.
A man from the press hurried up to grab him by the arm and dragged him to the center of the shop where Lockhart was waiting.
"Ah, there it is! my number one fan." Gilderoy Lockhart moved smoothly to his side and placed his arm around Neville's shoulder.
"Go ahead, take some good pictures. The boy who lived with his new professor, Gilderoy Lockhart." He smiled.
"What?...who is this?" Neville had no idea what was going on.
"Right, give me one of those stacks." Lockhart pointed to one stack of books on top of his table. This was the whole set needed for their school year.
He was given the books and then placed them on Neville's arms.
"Here you go." Said Lockhart before looking back at the camera.
"A full set of school books for free. For my good friend, Neville Longbuton."
"Is…Longbottom…" Neville complained softly.
"Tsk, does he think this is over?!." Lily was about ran at him again when she felt a tug on her tunic.
"Mom!, lets go, please!" Holly was beyond bored already.
"Fine, let's just pay for these books and leave." She had to give up on arguing with that man...for now.
"Thank Merlin!" said the twins.
"Finally!, let's leave this place!" Ron huffed.
"Yeah…" Harry glanced at Neville and felt bad for the boy.
But he also felt extremely relieved for not being in his place anymore.
Being just 'Harry' was truly a blessing.