Chapter 188 Lockhart: No one knows the restricted section better than me

"This place?"

Hermione blinked, "What's that box for? How am I going to practice?"

Andy had already guessed, "There might be a Dementor in the box, or maybe a Lethifold. After all, the basic function of the Patronus Charm is to ward them off."

"Hmm... maybe it's a Lethifold! Dementors are considered Azkaban's specialized species, after all."

"Okay!" Hermione pulled out her wand.

Andy likewise pulled out his wand and said, "Hermione, are you ready? I'm going to open the box. Remember to recall the happiest memories."

Seeing Hermione nod, Andy flicked his wand.

Click!

The box was opened and a dementor came out of it.

It was wearing a cloak, and its whole body looked like it had been soaked in water, with crusty palms and a bit of decay all over.

The face under the cloak had no features; and the area where the mouth should have been stretched open with a dreadful hollow.

Truly anti-human!

This is also the first time Andy has seen a dementor, and to be honest ... it is quite average.

Although it was a little bit nasty looking, when it appeared, it was not as scary as it was depicted in the book.

At least, its effect on Andy was limited.

Hermione had obviously been frozen in fear, she stood there frozen as if she had forgotten what she was supposed to do.

"Hermione, don't be afraid! I'm here." Andy took hold of Hermione's other hand.

Hermione came back to her senses, took a deep breath, and gathered her courage to raise the wand in her hand.

"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione shouted.

White smoke continued to erupt from the tip of the wand, creating a white defensive screen between Hermione and the dementor, which then slammed into it and prevented it from advancing an inch.

"Press it back into the box," Andy warned.

Hermione nodded, her wand raised in her hand, and little by little, she pressed the dementor back into the box.

"Whew..."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "Is this a Dementor? It's a bit ... like it's not that scary!"

Andy mused for a moment, "Maybe it's ... what's it called, the one that can turn into our worst fears ..."

"Boggart!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, what a dud, "A Boggart is a shapeshifting magical creature that will see deep into your heart and turn into the thing you fear most."

"Yes, a Boggart!"

Andy's face showed the confidence that belonged to the 'God of Learning', "The incantation to banish a Boggart is Riddikulus, and the more people there are, the easier the Boggart can be dealt with because it doesn't know what to turn into."

"Also, the way to deal with a Boggart is to laugh."

Forgetting the name counts nothing because I know what it can do and how to deal with it.

Even when it changed shape, I recognized it instantly!

I can recognize it even if it is put on a vest.

That's enough!

Hermione rolled her eyes once again.

Although Andy and Hermione both loved to learn, their attitudes towards learning were very different.

Andy pursued power.

Hermione pursued knowledge.

"But ..."

Hermione asked with some puzzlement, "The thing I'm most afraid of isn't Dementor, so why would Boggart take on the appearance of a Dementor?"

Andy reminded, "Don't forget that the Room of Requirement can read our thoughts. This should be an ability similar to Legilimency. Given that, it seems no surprise that the Room of Requirement can affect Boggart as well."

Hermione nodded, "You're right, let's keep practising, shall we?"

Two hours later.

The image of an otter slowly coalesced and took shape in the white smoke.

'Pfft...'

Andy couldn't hold back and almost laughed out loud.

Well, the otter was also quite cute, it was ... Andy had always thought that Hermione's patronus would be a rabbit.   

After all, the little witch's large front teeth still stood out.

"I did it!" Hermione cheered.

Although she was a little disappointed that her Patronus wasn't a cat, an otter would be fine too. Of course, the most important thing was that she had finally learned the Patronus Charm.

"Congratulations!" Andy smiled.

After Hermione had played with the otter patronus for a while, Andy reminded, "Hermione, it's already past twelve, we should go back and rest, we have class tomorrow."

"Is it already that late?"

Hermione froze, then nodded, "Fine!"

***

Lying in bed, Andy's mind was on something else.

How to get Harry to expose the secret of him being Parselmouth!

Asking directly was definitely not an option.

The Parseltongue was the symbol of Slytherin House, the house that Harry hated the most - solely on the efforts of Malfoy alone.

'Then I'll just have to resort to a little trickery.'

Andy had a vague plan in mind.

***

The next day, Friday.

At eight-thirty, at a precise time, Andy arrived in front of Lockhart's office door.

Since Harry and Ron drove a flying car to school, not only crashing on the valuable Whomping Willow; but also appeared in the newspaper ... hence both of them were put in detention.

For whatever reason, Lockhart had asked Harry over to help him write back to his fans.

Thud!

Andy knocked on the door.

Creak-

Lockhart opened the door and gave Andy a somewhat surprised look, "Good evening, are you...?"

"Hello Professor, I am Andy Collins, a second-year Ravenclaw student." Andy smiled politely.

"Ravenclaw ah ..."

Lockhart had a nostalgic look on his face, "That's such a coincidence, I'm also a Ravenclaw. I really miss the time when I was in school, it was really a happy and unforgettable memory."

Andy: "..."

You shut the hell up!

Harry was sprawled on the desk writing something when he heard a voice and looked over with a surprised look on his face, "Andy, what are you doing here?"

"Oh? Do you two know each other?"

Lockhart asked in surprise, "You're here to see Potter?"

"Hi, Harry!"

Andy greeted, then looked at Lockhart and said, "No! Professor, I'm here to see you."

"Yes? Come on in then!" Lockhart was enthusiastic.

Ever since he fumbled with the Cornish elves, Lockhart had long been infamous at Hogwarts.

It was rare that a young wizard would come to him, which made Lockhart very pleasantly surprised.

When both parties sat down, Lockhart first asked, "Collins, do you need any help?"

"Yes, Professor."

Andy pretended to be entangled and said, "I know you're a Ravenclaw, so there's something ... uh, actually ... I want to go to the restricted book section to borrow a book, but I'm worried that Professor Flitwick won't agree."

"It's not a book involving dark magic either, it's a book about the General Counter-Spell ... so would you mind signing a paper for me?"

Lockhart raised an eyebrow, "Of course, no problem!"

"But ... I have to say, it's still a bit too early for you to be reading a book like this."

"I'll help you out for once, though!"

"After all, I went to the restricted section in my first year to read a book, and there were plenty of professors willing to grant me a slip back then, even your Headmaster Dumbledore."

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