FLATTERY

The experience that we had with our first defence against the dark arts class was quick to spread among the students. Though it was still not enough to deter the golden halo of Lockhart in the hearts of the girls, it was enough for the boys to curse him for his cowardice.

The retelling of the glorious release of pixies in his very first class was a controversial topic for sure. Pixies was a topic to be mostly studied theoretically and that too in the latter half of the term. There were some who were still praising him for his boldness to provide such practical experience considering the previous professor who was the very definition of cowardice according to the students who had not seen him with Voldemort.

The topics for discussion quickly shifted from his cowardice to anticipation of which creature he will let loose in the class for senior students. To everyone's disappointment, the next class that he taught had no acromantulas or banshees. He instead spent the entire lecture recounting the glorious deeds that were recorded in his own books. The homework too was writing the same deed and with a minimum requirement of two full length parchments.

By the time every class finished at least one lecture with him, the month had gone by and it was only now that the pedestal on which he was positioned was somewhat shaken.

In this month, me and Hermione were once again tuned into our routine's.

After our first defence against the dark arts class, I made my way to professor Lockhart. He was certainly happy that I had taken the interest to personally visit him. In order to soothe his ego, I too flattered him with words of praise and glory. After we exchanged a few polite responses, I told him about my troubles.

I acted the most innocent I possibly could and told him of the pressure that I feel to attend his classes. He had an expression of confusion. I then explained to him that even though I was famous for the defeat of the dark lord, it was something that I accomplished when I was merely a babe and now everyone looks at me with over-the-top expectations. The truth of the matter right now was that, I was not as proficient in dealing with the dark arts as everyone thought and the weight of their expectations was crushing me.

I pleaded that he was possibly the only one who can understand my plight and help me. When he asked me to elaborate, I continued my sentimental speech by saying that he was the only one I knew, apart from the headmaster who had such high accomplishments and such a long list of admirers. Seeing that I was comparing him with one of the greatest wizards alive, he had a content smile on his face.

I told him that I considered him much more adept at dealing with the various troubles that will think of harming the society than I or any other wizard ever could. If Voldemort was ever present in this era, where he was with us, then I was sure that he would easily defeat the dark lord and be the saviour of the masses. After seeing him in person I was more assured of my safety and therefore I had no desire to become stronger in this field any longer.

He nodded in understanding and consoled me by saying that I had nothing to worry about and that I could drop the burden of expectations that the people have of me on his strong and capable shoulders.

I thanked him repeatedly and then asked him to give me permission to avoid attending his classes. This sentence caused his smile to drop suddenly. I hurriedly explained that every time I attended a defence against the dark arts class, the classmates always looked towards with the expectation that I had either defeated the creature that we are studying about or that I can already defeat it using the same magic that I used to defeat the dark lord.

This was nowhere near the truth and the others thought this way due to absurd stories that had been circulated in the magical community regarding myself. Because they had grown up reading these stories, they accept them and this pressures me.

The second part was that I did not intend for him to stop teaching me, but just accept me as a personal student and teach me in private once a week. I immediately flattered him by saying that I was absolutely confident that he is the only one who could teach me to be of a calibre that everyone thinks I already am. I also told him that once we complete this year, we could then announce that he had taken me as his personal disciple.

This was the last bait to reel him in.

A chance to announce that the great Harry potter, defeater of the dark lord, after experiencing the brilliance of his teaching methods and bravery in person, begged him to accept to be his disciple. He could already imagine the sensation it will cause in not just the Britain magical community but all over the world.

While he was still immersed in his fantasy I had him agree to Hermione missing his classes.

After dealing with Lockhart, we spent the spare time in learning the theory regarding healing. The timetable that Hermione had set for us had us completing the theory well before the year end. According to her we should finish our theory by Christmas and focus our remaining year and half on practicing if ever hoped to score brilliantly in our OWLs. While I just thought of completing the year, Hermione had already prepared a road map to the OWLs.

The reason for this was because I had told her on the train itself that we won't be having the final exams this year. Though she was given no explanation by me, she had come to just accept these things that I randomly sprouted. I was sure that in her spare time she searched for magic regarding future sight or something along that line. I think, after the exams are cancelled this year, she might even take divination as her selected optional subject just out of curiosity.

While we were busy with studying, the rest of the school had also settled down. The students were now gearing up for the upcoming quidditch selections. Our batch was finally able to take part in the try-outs.

Because of me not showing my talent, there was no one who broke the hundred-year record of being the youngest seeker, no Draco getting jealous of my success to bribe the entire team for a spot and no additional interest among the teams to recruit the new second years. The only positive was that everyone from our batch was excited to take part in the trials.

Draco too had not bribed for a place in the team, yet. Ron was more confident since he was now somewhat of a leader figure among our house, increasing his chance of getting selected even if it was just as a reserve.