A shop assistant approached, and Mr. Blotts glanced at the time, reminding him, "Mr. Lockhart, your book signing should be starting soon."
Gilderoy Lockhart exaggeratedly slapped his forehead. "Look at my memory! After all, my head is filled with too many experiences fighting against dark magic, so I'm bound to overlook some things!"
He used his wand like a curling iron, curling a tuft of hair on his forehead. "It's like time... I do have a poor sense of time. How do you think I am right now?"
The shop assistant clapped and praised, "Mr. Lockhart! You're in fantastic shape!"
"Then let's go!" Gilderoy Lockhart was very satisfied, flashing his eight gleaming teeth once again.
He was indeed handsome, wearing a sky-blue robe and a matching pointed hat, which he wore askew on his wavy blond hair, making him look like a walking forget-me-not.
When he appeared before the crowd, the self-portrait on the poster seemed to receive a command and smiled brightly along with him.
"He...looks a little strange?" Luna stood beside Vizette, her voice soft. "Like a bulging chocolate ball wrapper?"
"No real chocolate?" Vizette looked up at Gilderoy Lockhart, who was not far away.
Gilderoy Lockhart kept changing poses, making the newspaper reporters jump around to find the right angle to take pictures, while the magic camera sprayed out bursts of purple smoke.
"Mr. Blotts, it's been a long time." A lazy voice rang out.
A middle-aged man with long, light-gold hair appeared. He was thin and leaned on a silver cane carved with a snake's head.
His grey eyes first glanced at Mr. Blotts, then casually swept over Xenophilius. "Mr. Blotts, are these three... your friends?"
"Mr. Malfoy, these are my good friends!" Mr. Blotts smiled and patted Vizette on the shoulder. "Let me introduce you, this is Vizette Lovegood."
Malfoy?
Upon hearing the familiar surname, Vizette raised his head slightly and looked curiously at the long-haired man.
"Oh? Good friends?" The long-haired man noticed Mr. Blotts's actions and happened to make eye contact with Vizette.
The long-haired man winced as if in pain and hurriedly looked away.
He dropped his cane and clutched his left arm with his right hand, as though a wound there burned with intense agony.
Vizette frowned. In their eye contact, he learned the long-haired man's name—Lucius Malfoy.
Perhaps if he continued to look into her eyes, he could learn even more.
Mr. Blotts looked puzzled. "Mr. Malfoy, what's wrong?"
"I'm not feeling well!" Lucius Malfoy's voice trembled slightly as he bent over in an extremely awkward manner, grabbing his cane back into his hand.
"Mr. Blotts, I'm afraid I don't have time to get to know your new friends... I'll take my leave now!"
His face was incredibly tense, as if he were hiding some kind of emotion, and his forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat.
Lucius Malfoy strode quickly through the crowd, as if searching for someone.
Finally, he made a discovery and came to a boy.
Without even wiping the sweat from his brow, he said, "Draco! We should go back!"
Draco Malfoy looked up and said instinctively, "I haven't bought all my school supplies yet, including the flying broom..."
He was suddenly stunned. This was the first time he had seen his father so distraught, as if he had experienced something terrifying.
However, after thinking it over, it seemed that nothing had happened today.
They went to Knockturn Alley and found a shop that traded dark magic items;
Dad prepared a list of items, intending to sell some things from the estate;
The transaction process seemed to go smoothly, and the conversation between Dad and the boss was quite pleasant.
The things in the store were interesting, but Dad hadn't touched them before, so they shouldn't have caused any problems...
Lucius took Draco's hand. "Then we can buy it again next time, or have the shop deliver it directly to the manor. Now come home with me!"
Draco glanced back at Flourish and Blotts and saw Harry walk out of the crowd, carrying a stack of books, toward a corner where someone seemed to be waiting.
He frowned, and gave a slightly resentful snort, "Tsk!"
...
"I've rarely seen him so disheveled." Mr. Blotts said thoughtfully, watching Lucius's figure disappear into the crowd.
Vizette was also a little puzzled as to why he was able to know this person's information just by making eye contact.
Even in the fan-made edits he had seen, there weren't many shots of this long-haired middle-aged man named Lucius Malfoy.
The only thing that impressed him was probably Lucius Malfoy being hit by a spell that flashed blue light, then flying backward and crashing to the ground.
Regarding those fan-made edited videos, Vizette's viewing preference was for various magical special effects, which interested him the most and fueled his enthusiasm for learning magic.
"Since he's already left, let's just leave him be!" Bathilda Bagshot said. "You're here to buy books, right? Hogwarts' requirements this year are a bit strange…"
"We need seven books by Gilderoy Lockhart! Those books aren't cheap! Come inside with me! I've asked the clerk to prepare all the books we'll need for next school year."
Upon hearing this, Xenophilius quickly replied politely, "Mr. Blotts, that's too kind of you..."
Mr. Blotts waved his hand, "Vizette and Luna have helped me a lot. The cultural salon has been able to develop step by step as I envisioned, thanks to them!"
"Actually, a good idea is priceless to me. I'm just doing what I can to make amends. Please accept it, otherwise I'll feel bad!"
The books for both of them together would cost at least one hundred Galleons.
Xenophilius was delighted to have saved such a sum of money. "In that case... thank you so much!"
"Vizette, you and Luna can wander around downstairs. Mr. Blotts and I are going to get the books and will be back to you soon."
The book signing was in full swing, and Gilderoy Lockhart was thoroughly enjoying the process, suggesting he had likely undergone special training.
While signing autographs for fellow book lovers, he could also look up and smile.
He spotted Harry in the crowd, immediately pulled him over, and together they struck various poses, receiving the purple smoke from the magic camera.
The atmosphere at the book signing grew increasingly lively. He put his arm around Harry's shoulder and picked up his new autobiography, "Magical Me."
"Ladies and gentlemen! Now that our 'Boy Who Lived' has arrived to see me, I have some news to announce! I will be becoming the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts this September!"
Upon hearing this news, many book lovers immediately responded, sparking round after round of enthusiastic applause.
"Is he the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Vizette rubbed his temples. Considering Luna's earlier assessment of Gilderoy Lockhart, he felt something was off.
…
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