With that, the twins giggled and left the hall.
"When you have brothers like that, you realize how tough childhood can be." Ron shrugged and said to his friends.
Hermione ignored Ron and quietly approached Harry, whispering, "Harry, Harry?"
"What's up?" Harry asked.
"Would you, take me along tonight?" Hermione said, realizing her words might be ambiguous. She sheepishly grinned, showing her buck teeth, and added, "I mean, to Professor Lockhart's office to help with the fan mail."
"Well..." Harry actually wanted to take her along since writing those responses was quite the task.
"I'm afraid not, Miss Granger." Professor Lockhart's voice suddenly piped up.
Hearing it was Lockhart, Hermione turned around excitedly, though she was also a bit disappointed.
"Sweet child, I can't always have Harry write letters for me, right?" Professor Lockhart said, winking at her. "Next time I need help with fan mail, I'll have to count on you, Miss Granger."
"Okay, Professor." Hermione said happily.
"So, Harry." Professor Lockhart said in a friendly manner, "Don't forget our appointment tonight. I've been looking forward to your assistance—"
"Harry, Harry? Are you okay?" Colin's voice suddenly cut in.
"Come on, let your little fan take a picture of us." Professor Lockhart chuckled, putting his arm around Harry's neck, and said to Colin, "Mr. Creevey, what are you waiting for?"
The camera shutter clicked, and Colin gave an okay sign.
"Alright then, I'll be awaiting your arrival in my office tonight, Harry."
Professor Lockhart said, leaving with a smile, heading to the faculty seats.
As Harry watched Lockhart's retreating figure, he met the intense black eyes of Professor Snape, who was looking over.
Noticing Harry's gaze, Professor Snape gave him a look of extreme disdain.
Harry instantly understood what that look meant—hanging out with someone like that, how degrading, Potter!
Harry shrugged, feeling a bit at a loss with the sudden attention from the old professor.
Might as well just ignore it!
After dining, Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common Room.
He quickly gathered the necessary items, like the Ageing Potion and the Two-Sided Mirror, and then left the Gryffindor common room.
As he was leaving, he suddenly felt something was amiss. Why do I have a wallet, but I'm not carrying these things with me?
He couldn't help but chuckle to himself and continued heading toward Professor Lockhart's office.
Halfway there, he felt like he heard someone whispering.
He looked up; the sound seemed to be above, or maybe beside him, so it was hard to pinpoint the exact location.
Harry tapped his Magic Wand, using a Revelio spell.
But the spell didn't detect any presence.
Maybe it's a ghost, he thought, striding towards Professor Lockhart's office.
The office of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor was behind the classroom; taking the internal stairs led directly to the office.
Harry knocked on the door and upon receiving Professor Lockhart's permission, he pushed it open and entered.
The spacious office was filled with letters and packages from various fans.
The walls were covered with numerous framed pictures of Lockhart, vividly illuminated by many candles, some even signed, and there was a big stack of photos on the table.
"Ah, our Mr. Savior is here." Professor Lockhart seemed to be eternally enthusiastic, "Come on in, Harry, please come in."
Harry was somewhat dumbstruck by the sheer amount of mail and packages in the room. Honestly, even if the room were filled with Golden Galleons, he wouldn't be as shocked as he was by the vast amount of letters he was seeing for the first time.
Noticing Harry's astonishment, Professor Lockhart chuckled.
"You really can't reject the passion from fans, can you?" He smiled, winking at Harry, and picked up eye drops from the table to drip twice into his eyes.
"Professor, what's that for?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"These keep my eyes healthy," Lockhart chuckled softly, "After all, you know, these eyes symbolize countless Golden Galleons and the potential for continued adventures, right?"
Harry didn't know how to respond, so he nodded and said, "Yes, Professor."
While they were talking, an owl gently tapped on the window.
Professor Lockhart opened the window and took the letter from the owl's beak.
He opened the envelope, which contained a letter and a lock of hair.
"Why is there hair too?" Harry asked curiously.
Professor Lockhart chuckled, stuffing the hair back into the envelope, and said helplessly, "You have to understand, Harry, many fanatics don't want to reason with you. All we can do is graciously accept any of their 'goodwill'."
As he spoke, Professor Lockhart sighed softly.
"Well then, you can start with this envelope," Lockhart said to Harry, as if it were the most honorable task, "The first one goes to Lady Gladys, bless her—one of my ardent admirers."
Harry didn't mind whether the work was tiring or not, since he had nothing else to do—besides, he needed this opportunity to contact Bodrick anyway.