Chapter 186: Photo session (Edited)

All Harry wanted to do now was run away.

He had been at Hogwarts for a school year and had spent quite a bit of time in magic, so he was aware of his reputation and, at times, had been secretly proud of it.

However, now he preferred to be an ordinary wizard, like Ron.

Harry couldn't understand what was the reason why a muggle-born like Colin Creevey would become his fan after only a few days of exposure to the magical world.

Especially this year, when there was a big problem at school like Gilderoy Lockhart.

So when Colin stopped Harry to take a picture of him, Harry tried to run away after a brief moment of confusion.

Unfortunately, the obnoxious Big Brain, Malfoy, was one step ahead, and his loud shouts attracted the photo-addicted Lockhart, and then he couldn't get away.

Lockhart's arms were firmly fixed around Harry's body, making it impossible for the mortified boy to escape.

Just as Harry was getting desperate and was about to take another picture with Lockhart, the little angel, Fish, suddenly burst through the crowd.

"What are you playing at nya?" (●ω●)

Fish walked over to Harry and looked at the camera in Colin's hand.

It was something Fish was familiar with, he'd seen Muggles use it when he was around, but he didn't know exactly what it was for.

It was rare to see one in the magical world, and while there were no cameras in the magical world, most wizards rarely used them, preferring to have a clearer awareness of their magical portraits.

"Fish!" Colin was excited to see Fish, squealed and introduced himself, then held up the camera in his hand and asked, "Can I take a picture of you too?!"

"Take a picture?" Of course Fish had seen the pictures. He wiggled his ears, pointed to the camera in Colin's hand and asked in amazement, "So that's what those moving pictures come out of?"

"Yes! One of the guys in my dorm said that if you use the right developer potion, the people in the pictures will move!" Colin excitedly explained to Fish.

"Then Fish is going to take a picture nya!"(●ΦωΦ●).

"I don't suppose Fish wouldn't mind adding me?"

Sharpay, who was a little late to the party, approached Fish with a smile on her face and immediately changed her mind as she was about to go for the culprit.

A picture with Fish!

Why hadn't she come up with such a great idea before?

Sharpay was annoyed, but with a warm smile on her face, she took her place next to Fish.

"Of course it's okay nya!"

Of course, Fish, the "scum cat", wouldn't say no.

And then the crowd went into an uproar, everyone wanted to have their picture taken with Fish.

Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins, who had intended to tease Harry, were at a stalemate, having teased Harry and Colin so much before, they would have been shunned even if they had been brave enough to approach them.

"Hmph! It's just a camera, I'll write to my father and ask him to send me one."

Malfoy grimaced and walked off angrily with his two followers, the rest of the Slytherin looked at each other for a moment and scattered helplessly.

People from the Houses paid no attention to them and crowded around to have their picture taken with Fish.

Gilderoy Lockhart, not one to miss an opportunity to cause a sensation, waited for the noise of the students to die down a bit and released Harry, smiled broadly and pushed his way through the crowd.

"Class, class," Lockhart bared his eight gleaming teeth and raised the brim of his wizard hat, "Don't get too excited, give Fish some freedom!".

He clapped his hands, drawing all eyes around him.

"Come over to me if you've already had your picture taken with Fish, Sir Gilderoy Lockhart, five-time winner of the Wizard's Weekly Most Charming Smile Award, wants to give you all an autographed picture, a once in a lifetime opportunity! It's not often easy to get an autographed photo of me."

"Sorry" Sharpay declined with a polite and elegant smile, "I'm not in the habit of having my picture taken with strange men."

She then nodded to Colin, reminding him not to forget to give her a copy of the photo when it was ready, and then, without looking at an embarrassed Lockhart, walked away toward the castle.

The other students who had their pictures taken also made their excuses and left, they weren't really interested in having their pictures taken with Lockhart, so they could go back and have a good time with the students who weren't there.

In the blink of an eye, all the wizards in the courtyard were gone, except for Harry and the others who hadn't had their picture taken with Fish, and who ran off without looking back as soon as Colin clicked the shutter on them.

Gilderoy Lockhart's face, already a little stiff, became even more embarrassed, and just as he was trying to think of something to say to save face, the evening bell rang, giving him a head start.

"Aha, what a pity! Looks like you won't be getting an autographed picture of Sir Lockhart today."

Lockhart regained his smile and forced himself to be respectful, ignoring that there weren't many young wizards left around him, but he said it with some hatred and kept looking at Colin with his camera, waiting for the young wizard to ask to have his picture taken.

However, the shot backfired and Colin felt the pressure. He shrugged his head, hugged his camera and ran off.

"I have to go to my Charms class! I'll send you the pictures as soon as they're done."

Harry and Ron found it hard to contain their laughter.

But Lockhart immediately returned to his pretentious mood.

"It's a pity they missed the opportunity."

Lockhart shot a regretful look, then grabbed Fish with one hand and Harry with the other and led them toward the castle.

"We should go to class too, it's my first class, I can't keep my lovely students waiting."

"How on earth did he say such an embarrassing thing?" muttered Ron to Hermione with a look of disbelief on his face as he followed her.

The ever respectful Hermione had a look of disgust on her face as she also lowered her voice and grumbled, "I read his book over the summer and I thought he'd be a good teacher, he's not that obnoxious in the book."

"Come on," Ron shrugged, "God knows if he made up those stories."

He had a long history of prejudice against Lockhart, having heard his mother talk about Lockhart this and Lockhart that, which gave Ron and his twin brothers a hard time about Lockhart even before they met him in person.

Hermione, for her part, was as stern as ever, "I don't think it's made up, I've read the books, they're true enough."

She still thought Lockhart was a real person, but his character was a bit hard to accept.

"You don't think you worship that guy as much as my mother, do you?"

Ron scoffed with a strange smile as he pointed at Lockhart, who was walking away with Harry and Fish in front of him.

Hermione immediately turned red and retorted angrily, "How could I like such a vain, self-absorbed, insolent, frivolous person!"

A string of pejorative words came out of Hermione's mouth, clearly angered by Ron's unfounded accusation.

Ron could only apologize with a dry smile at Hermione's sudden and frightening outburst of anger.

"Anyway, I'm not some shallow girl who only knows how to look at people's looks!" said Hermione with a conviction and convincingness that sounded especially believable given her girlish condition.