Chapter 95: Awkward Harry

On the bustling day of Lockhart's new book release event, Harry and the Weasley family also arrived in Diagon Alley.

Harry encountered a little trouble when he came to Diagon Alley: while using Floo Powder, he mistakenly mentioned Diagon Alley as Knockturn Alley. Consequently, he ended up at Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley by accident. The pronunciation of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley had no similarity whatsoever. If Harry hadn't been choked by a large puff of ash, he would never have run into the wrong place.

Borgin and Burkes was officially an antique shop, but due to the nature of the owner and the characteristics of the antique industry, this shop often dealt with rather shady business. However, Mr. Borgin was adept at skirting the edges of the law and had never faced any consequences, not even during the recent Ministry of Magic's crackdown.

Harry found himself in this shady establishment.

There, he also spotted the Malfoy father and son negotiating a deal: Lucius Malfoy was selling some items to Mr. Borgin to avoid any inconveniences from Ministry scrutiny, but the two couldn't agree on the price.

In the end, Harry managed to slip away, reuniting with the Weasley family with the help of Hagrid. The Weasley couple was on the verge of going mad, having lost sight of the enormous Potter in the blink of an eye.

The Fred and George, each carrying an oversized backpack, immediately rushed over to Harry after confirming he was unharmed. They bombarded him with questions about what happened in Knockturn Alley. However, Mrs. Weasley intervened swiftly, grabbing her handbag and giving each of them a swift smack on the head.

Since Harry was safe and sound, everyone's shopping activities proceeded smoothly. They first went to Gringotts, split the money, and then split up to tackle their respective lists. Fred and George, with their backpacks, disappeared in an instant, not even asking Mrs. Weasley for money. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley accompanied Ginny to buy robes, while Percy went to select a new quill.

Ron, on the other hand, had to accompany Harry in his aimless wanderings. His request to buy a new wand was denied. Ron's teenage years were genuinely pitiable. From childhood to adolescence, he had lived in the shadows of his outstanding older brothers, forced to use hand-me-downs that his brothers had discarded. To make matters worse, compared to his siblings, little sister Ginny got to use brand-new items.

However, Harry consoled him with a comforting treat - strawberry peanut butter ice cream. They indulged in the seemingly heretical ice cream while admiring the Chudley Cannons' robes through the shop window.

As they strolled through the Magical Prank Joke Shop, they spotted Fred and George acting furtively with their friend Lee Jordan. After a while, Fred handed a parchment-wrapped package to Lee. Judging by the size, it seemed to be a complete set of Lockhart's works.

Fred and George quickly opened for business, offering books at a lower price. Many Hogwarts boys, disgruntled by the seemingly arbitrary demand for thirty-five Galleons, eagerly bought their copies. Within ten minutes, all fourteen sets were sold out. Clever half-blood wizards and Muggle-borns, upon being informed by well-meaning friends, immediately borrowed a friend's later edition to reproduce. On that day, the printing shops near the Leaky Cauldron were crowded with people.

Even the Ministry of Magic was alarmed. However, after investigation, the employees found that these young wizards did not violate the secrecy laws. Initially, they took copies to print from a version published by a Muggle publishing house, thinking it was a new fantasy novel by some author—Muggles' imaginations were more exaggerated than Lockhart's.

According to incomplete statistics from the Ministry of Magic, at least three hundred sets of Lockhart's complete works were photocopied in a single day.

What the Ministry didn't discover was that one of the shop employees secretly kept a copy. In the near future, a British novelist using the pen name Gilderoy Lockhart suddenly rose to fame. His seven-part series, "The Adventures of Lockhart," became popular across the UK due to its meticulous world-building, delicate and realistic writing, and wild imagination. However, the true identity of this author, much like Lanling Laughing Scholar, remained unknown.

Later, it was revealed that the author of this extraordinary book series was just an ordinary employee at a printing shop. Every day after work, he sat in a café and wrote the series. For a while, this employee became a well-known children's literature author, with even major film studios attempting to adapt Lockhart's adventure stories into movies.

Unfortunately, the selected actors were only good-looking, lacking in acting skills. Additionally, the author showed no interest in the movie adaptation, resulting in a film with a terrible reputation. Later, he attempted to write a sequel, "The Adventures of Lockhart 8: Return of the King," but faced with overwhelming negative reviews, he fell into an endless hiatus...

Since they didn't violate secrecy laws, the Ministry ignored it. Many employees were happy to turn a blind eye, as no one wanted to spend half a month's salary on textbooks for their children. As for Lockhart, his attention today was focused on the signing event. Moreover, he couldn't investigate these things deeply.

Ron and Harry entered Flourish and Blotts — they needed to buy a copy of "Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2." Harry and Ron squeezed through the small gap left by the entrance, only to see Tom maintaining order in the queue while Hermione was at the cash register.

"Tom? What are you doing here? And Hermione?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Summer job, earning some extra money. How's the vacation, Harry, Ron?" 

"At first, it was absolutely terrible. A creature called Dobby—"

"Harry Potter!" Lockhart jumped up from his chair. He had keenly caught a crucial keyword. Lockhart looked at Ron and Tom, then fixed his gaze on Harry.

He immediately opened the fence and rushed to Harry — Lockhart had deliberately scheduled the book signing event on the same day, hoping to catch the famous savior Potter. That way, they would surely make the front page of the newspapers.

Lockhart grabbed Harry's arm, pulling him to the front. His fans spontaneously applauded, Mrs. Weasley clapped particularly enthusiastically, and Harry felt a simultaneous outbreak of his awkwardness and social anxiety. He had experienced a similar feeling when shopping with Mrs. Weasley at Gringotts.

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(End of this chapter)