The Interview for Lockhart

"Tea or pumpkin juice?"

Tewell settled into Dumbledore's seat without hesitation, paying no mind to the disapproving glance from the phoenix, Fawkes.

Lockhart, however, was captivated by the phoenix.

"Ah, this is a phoenix, of course, that's obvious." He flashed a self-satisfied smile.

"I once saw a phoenix in Egypt, in a state of weakness, but with my help, it successfully underwent rebirth. You can find the details in my book 'Breaking Up with Banshees', in the third chapter."

"Even without your help, a phoenix can undergo rebirth on its own,"

Tewell said coldly, directing the tea cup to be filled with tea, which flew over to him, continuously bumping against his head.

Lockhart noticed Tewell's dissatisfaction with his long-winded talk and awkwardly chuckled.

"The tea cups in the Headmaster's office are amusing."

Taking a sip from the cup, the atmosphere here didn't continue to stiffen.

Tewell didn't know why, but in the past, even with the most difficult students, he had enough patience.

Yet, facing Lockhart, he had no interest in talking.

"Why don't you start with a self-introduction?" he said helplessly; the interview had to continue.

But the next moment, he immediately regretted it.

The term 'self-introduction' seemed to trigger something in Lockhart.

As soon as the words left Tewell's mouth, Lockhart instantly revealed a smile with eight teeth, exactly like what Tewell had seen in the newspaper before, not a hint of gum showing.

"I, Gilderoy Lockhart, Knight of the Merlin Order, honorary member of the Dark Magic Defense League, five-time winner of the 'Most Enchanting Smile Award' in The Wizard Weekly—but I don't flaunt it, I didn't chase away a thousand-year-old banshee with just a smile!"

"What do you rely on then?" Tewell asked curiously.

Lockhart's smile froze for a second, but with his professional skills, he quickly recovered.

"Of course, I rely on my powerful magic!"

"Alright," Tewell replied neutrally, "how do you plan to arrange the curriculum for Defense Against Dark Arts?"

Apparently, Lockhart had prepared for this. He coughed lightly with confidence.

"In class, of course, I'll teach them some amazing magic, mainly for dealing with magical creatures and defensive spells against offensive magic, and so on."

"For example, I plan to bring some evil creatures into the classroom, let the students see formidable opponents they've never encountered before, and then teach them how to handle them in a cool way, no, teach them how to handle them in a cool way."

"To be honest, I've heard a lot of rumors about Defense Against Dark Arts, of course, I've also experienced some, and I know that students haven't encountered good professors in this class before, but rest assured—"

"Just a reminder, last academic year, I was in charge of this class," Tewell said coldly to Lockhart, "and I will continue to teach the students."

"Ahaha, what a coincidence, haha," he chuckled nervously for a moment, "I've never heard of a professor teaching this class for two years, but in that case, do we still need to recruit a new professor for this class?"

"Of course, you and I will share the teaching tasks for the students, and as for the specific content, it depends on your performance in this interview."

Lockhart pursed his lips disapprovingly.

Although the identity of a Durmstrang graduate made him somewhat afraid, Tewell looked young, like a just-graduated student in his eyes.

So he was very dissatisfied with Tewell's dominant role in this class.

"I'm not questioning your ability, I just hope you can respect me as a Knight of the Merlin Order," he said.

"Always boasting about your honors only makes people feel that besides these, you're worthless."

...

When Dumbledore returned, he was surprised to find only Tewell in the Headmaster's office, looking disinterestedly at Fawkes the phoenix.

"Where's Lockhart?"

"He said he had a book signing event to prepare for, so he went back first." Tewell thought for a moment and decided to save face for the fleeing Lockhart.

He playfully teased Fawkes, but the phoenix disdainfully turned its head away.

"You need to spend more time with it," Dumbledore said, stroking the phoenix's head. "So, have you finished interviewing Lockhart?"

Tewell recalled the torturous twenty minutes just now.

Essentially, it was Lockhart boasting about various achievements, giving vague answers to questions, and then diverting to what he had written in his books.

If it were a test of memory, Mr. Lockhart indeed excelled, as he could vividly recall every detail from every book he had written.

But the problem was, Tewell now seriously doubted whether he could even handle tasks like distributing exam papers or explaining exercises.

"If you consider that an interview, then yes, it's over."

"What's your evaluation then?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"To some extent, he was less useful than my dummy."

"Oh," Dumbledore became interested. "So how capable is your dummy?"

He knew about Tewell's dummy, especially when Snape complained to him about the power of the dummy when they stole the Philosopher's Stone.

Tewell thought for a moment about the dummy that could only repeat words, and Lockhart, who was similarly regurgitating book contents, and said uncertainly, "Probably less than half?"

"That's not bad!" Dumbledore said with relief.

"Lockhart is the only one who voluntarily applied for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year."

"Perhaps he sees this profession as part of his adventurous career, to be written into a book a year later or something."

"That's fine. I hope I'll have a good reputation in his new book and salvage my endangered reputation." Dumbledore leisurely poured himself a cup of tea.

"But I guess you wouldn't want to leave a gossip image in his book, would you?"

"He'd have a hard time writing me into it," Tewell thought.

"What do you mean? Am I gossiping?"

"It's Snape, you know him well, right? He often complains to me, saying you're teasing him with his past."

Teasing?

Tewell didn't believe Snape would use such a friendly term, probably more like threatening.

But Snape's actions were so much like a child being bullied and then running to an adult?

Tewell couldn't help but laugh.

"My mother did talk a lot about their past grievances, and I believe it's not just my mother; some classmates from that generation more or less know about these things."

"But at least no students in this generation know about it, so it's best to avoid spreading Snape's affairs around the school," Dumbleore reminded.

"Of course," Tewell agreed readily. "If there's nothing else, can I go back now?"

There was still a Dark Lord at home, and he couldn't guarantee that Voldemort would behave himself.

Dumbledore stopped Tewell as he was about to walk out the door.

"I've arranged your request, would you like to come and take a look then?"

He thought for a moment. "No, I'll keep my expectations until the end of the summer vacation."