Hogwarts seems to be much the same as last year in the new school year.
The beds in the dormitory were always clean and tidy, the food on the dining table was always plentiful, and most of the teachers' seats were familiar faces—if you do not count Gilderoy Lockhart, that narcissist who loved to show off his teeth and hair.
This newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor is utterly outrageous.
He actually created fifty-four test questions to test everyone's understanding of his personal preferences!
Here, Draco would like to maliciously introduce the previous sentence to those students who are unaware of the Hogwarts testing rules: Normally, such detailed tests are only conducted for some extremely dangerous Dark magic species.
Judging by the number of problems he has faced, Gilderoy Lockhart might consider himself more dangerous than a dragon, an Acromantula, or a venomous leopard.
"That smooth-talking liar!" he said angrily to Blaise, who was equally annoyed by it.
For a Malfoy, scoring high on such a test would be nothing short of a personal humiliation.
Without a doubt, this was the first time Draco had willingly and automatically failed since his rebirth—the highest score was taken by Hermione, the know-it-all.
Her memory was simply unbelievable! She even remembered trivial things like "Lockhart likes lilac," Draco thought irritably.
"I am going to tell my father to fire Lockhart right now," Draco said menacingly to Crabbe and Goyle the next morning on the way to the greenhouses.
Crabbe and Goyle looked at him listlessly and nodded blankly.
They still bore the souvenirs from the previous Defence Against the Dark Arts class—scratches from Cornish Pixies—which were also indirect evidence that Lockhart was a good-for-nothing.
Hermione hurriedly caught up from behind and overheard Draco's words. Her face darkened, and she looked very unhappy. "Draco, what did Professor Lockhart do to you?"
"Do not tell me you did not realise he is not even as good as you, a second-year student. At least you can teach yourself and know how to cast the Freezing Charm on those ugly little pixies, but what about him? All he does is stupidly show off his white teeth and blond hair, and then run away." Draco made no attempt to hide his contempt for the incompetent professor.
"I am not self-taught. You used the Freezing Charm last year, the one with the troll..." Hermione's voice trailed off, afraid that Crabbe and Goyle behind her would hear.
"Oh." Draco's contempt suddenly faded, and he looked at her with an unexpected look of approval.
Merlin, he only used it once, and she remembered it?
"And I think Professor Lockhart wants to give us a chance to practise." Hermione blushed slowly under Draco's light-coloured gaze. "He definitely has a way of dealing with those Cornish Pixies! He is a very experienced expert. Think of all the amazing things he has done, all those things written in the books—"
"He just said he did it." Draco's expression, which had just softened, sharpened again as she defended Lockhart.
He recalled the arrogant face that had smiled at a female student in class yesterday, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the idiot was up to no good.
The naive female student next to him was blinded by her own limited perspective. Not only did she stare at Lockhart with adoration in class, but she also wanted to stand up for Lockhart!
Draco snorted through his nose and pointedly remarked, "He is probably just bragging to boost the book's sales."
"That is just jealousy!" Hermione said, displeased.
"What do I envy about him? His blond hair? It is not a rare colour," Draco said disdainfully, frowning. "What do you like about him? An empty brain that can fill the space in your mind with the wisdom you cannot hold?"
Crabbe and Goyle, who were standing nearby, laughed foolishly upon hearing this.
"Draco, I thought you were a rational boy! How can you be so prejudiced against Professor Lockhart like other boys?" Hermione glared at Draco angrily, walked past them, and stomped away.
Draco shook his head, his brow furrowed, and followed behind her, maintaining a safe distance that was neither too close nor too far.
They walked through the vegetable patch one after the other and found that Professor Pomona Sprout, the short and stocky Herbology professor, was already waiting for them with a smile outside Greenhouse Three.
Greenhouse Three cultivates various magical but dangerous plants, including Mandrakes. They had already repotted some of the grown Mandrakes in the last lesson, and this time they would continue repotting the remaining ones.
Hermione was still angry.
When it came time to form groups, she turned her back and ran to stand with a girl wearing a Hufflepuff scarf, silently refusing to partner with Draco, who was "prejudiced against Professor Lockhart."
"Who is that Hufflepuff girl?" Draco asked Harry, who was standing next to him.
"Susan Bones," Harry said.
"How do you know her?" Draco asked in surprise.
"She idolises Lockhart. Nine times out of ten, whenever Lockhart catches me in the corridor, I shall see her hiding nearby, and sometimes she even comes over to ask for an autograph..." Harry looked pale.
"Lockhart is a complete idiot," Draco said coldly. "What is so good about him?"
"I also think Lockhart is a good-for-nothing," Ron whispered to him, standing next to him. "But you had better not let those girls hear you say that."
Since the "Harry rescue incident" during the summer holiday and the conversation in the train compartment at the start of term, Ron's attitude towards him has visibly become more friendly.
Following Ron's gaze, Draco noticed that several girls around them looked up warily at them after hearing "Lockhart."
"This is really a pain in the arse," Draco thought inexplicably, glancing at Hermione's blank face across the room.
Harry, who was standing nearby, noticed the girls' unfriendly expressions and wisely refrained from making any further comments.
However, he handed Draco a pair of protective earmuffs in a rather amiable manner, subtly indicating his stance.
It is understandable that Harry has a headache with Lockhart. Within days of the start of term, even the Slytherin students knew that Lockhart loved to take photos with Harry Potter in any public setting.
Although Draco thought Harry was being evasive and reluctant around Lockhart, many uninformed students would subconsciously feel that getting "the opportunity to get close to the popular idol Lockhart" was something they would love to do.
In response, Pansy Parkinson commented on Harry in the Slytherin common room a few days ago, saying that he was a "show-off."
"I bet he just wants to curry favour with Lockhart and will stop at nothing to become famous!" she said sourly.
Draco could not help but retort, "On the contrary, Harry Potter does not need to be famous; he is already a household name in the wizarding world. Who is riding on whose coat-tails?"
Blaise Zabini, standing nearby, snorted in agreement.
Even Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch team captain who had always hated Harry Potter, thought Draco's words were "hitting the nail on the head."
"Lockhart is not even as good as that silly Potter. At least Potter could ride a broomstick! Lockhart is just a show-off clown. I doubt he can even climb on a broom..." he said maliciously.
"How could you say that?" "Flint, you are such an arrogant git!" "Lockhart could take down ten of you..." The Slytherin girls immediately erupted in anger, launching a barrage of verbal attacks against Flint.
"Are you all mad?" "He is just trying to attract attention. Have you ever seen him cast any useful spells?" "Think about what we are learning in class. Are we learning Defence Against the Dark Arts or Acting?" The Slytherin boys could not stand it anymore and started to retort.
Ultimately, this sparked a heated debate that lasted four hours inside the Slytherin common room.