NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 2
Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.
Chapter 2– Gilderoy Lockhart.
After I came to the stunning conclusion that I was now in the body of one Gilderoy Lockhart and that I am him now for all intents and purposes, I decided to pick my precious wand back up and explore my home and gather more information about myself and my place in this world as I am sure some things were not included in the books and movies. So I travelled around the elegant apartment and familiarised myself with everything I saw. The more I saw, the more I remembered, and the more I assimilated the memories of the old Gilderoy Lockhart. I found my luggage set in the closet of my bedroom.
It was a large set of luggage that is used to hold my many belongings from my years of travel which was an impressive collection that included my many robes of varying colours, some portraits and photos of me as well as a variety of hair and skin care products, on my vanity desk I found my peacock feather quill which I had specially made from a peacocks feather and I only use it on special occasions such as autograph signings or for responding to my fanmail all of which I wrote using my infinite bottle of lilac ink.
I found my elegant broomstick in my relatively open plan and elegant living room, which I had specially carved after purchase. However, I can't recall which broom company produced it as the broom is virtually unrecognisable from what it used to be, which was for the better, I would say, as it now sits proudly above the fireplace, hanging on the wall as an excellent conversation piece.
I then travelled to my makeup room which I used whenever I needed to make a public appearance. It was full of all my beauty products and expensive hair care potions like the wizarding sculpting gel and my favourite Ocammy egg yolk shampoo, which was my own creation but wasn't put into production, being too costly to make. Still, I can afford to create some for my own usage, and it is only a matter of time before I have the resources to start selling it in Britain and then across the world.
Then at the very entrance to my home, directly in view from the front door, is a glass display case that holds all of my published books which are Magical Me, Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, voyages with Vampires, Wandering with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti, Marauding with Monsters.
And finally, my most significant book, The Travel Trilogy (which is just a collection of Holiday with Haggs, Voyages with Vampires and Wandering with Werewolves, which sold exceptionally well, containing three stories as well as a short story exclusive to this book), but my most prized possession had its own shelf within the display case being in the very centre, and that was my Order of Merlin, third class, a medal which was awarded to me by the British Ministry of Magic for my outstanding and beautiful achievements.
My personal favourite is Magical Me, which is my autobiography and the latest book to be published, which all my darling fans bought with zeal as it gave an intimate view into the extraordinary life of the world's most beloved author. It starts with my early life stating that I was born on the 26th of January 1964 to a reclusive wizard who focused all his attention on magic and to a pureblooded witch and that I had two older sisters who were both very kind and supportive of my dreams, while I was born to an average wizarding house I knew that I was meant for more than that.
My family knew that as well, so life at the Lockhart household continued as usual until I finally attended Hogwarts. I attended my first year at Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1975, only 4 years below the great heroes James Potter and Lily Potter, formerly Evans, and Peter Pettigrew. May he rest in peace, and frighteningly I was also in close proximity to the madman Sirius Black. Though I never felt fear in front of him like others did.
I was sorted into Ravenclaw with the sorting hat recognising my intellect and intense desire to learn. After that, I studied and worked hard to comprehend magic instead of having fun and messing about like the other children. Still, the curriculum taught at Hogwarts was much too easy and boring for me, so I focused on other magics I learned in the library. Due to this, I didn't get as good results as other students as I was always focused on bigger and better magic.
I had big dreams of wanting to create a Philosopher's Stone, captaining England's quidditch team to world cup glory and becoming Britain's youngest Minister of Magic but having so much ambition and being spoilt for choice, I could not choose at that very moment, and so I decided to continue improving myself and joined the Ravenclaw quidditch team as the Seeker and performed admirably throughout my school years. I even started a school newspaper to report on the news in the school.
Of course, I then hit puberty and noticed the other gender at Hogwarts and came out of my shell and started to interact with others. I was immediately romantic and did everything with my entire heart, which was not appreciated by the others as to impress a girl, I began to create spells to carve my signature in twenty-foot-long letters into the quidditch pitch and made a spell that showed a projection of my own head in the sky and even sent over eight-hundred valentines to a single girl though I never got to see the results of my grand gestures of affection as I was addled by detention for my schoolboy hijinks.
When I finally graduated from Hogwarts in 1982, I did so with average grades, but that was because I focused on other magics that were not taught at the school. Due to this, I did not achieve as much as the other students, but thanks to this, while most of them were destined for mediocrity, I was destined for greatness.
I went on to travel around the world to the most exotic places on earth and accomplished great deeds. Each time I left on a journey and returned to Britain, I brought back a new adventure which I published for the masses to share in my experiences. Finally, after so many great adventures and achievements, I joined the Dark Force Defence League, incredibly bolstering their forces, and I was awarded the Order of Merlin, third class. I am not even 30 years old yet, so the future holds more great and fantastic adventures to embark on.
Now at the entrance to the door and looking at my brilliant display case showing my most outstanding achievements so far, I turn to view even more of my bright home. As I do so, I see that there is some post that has been put through the letterbox. So I head towards it, eager to see if it is more fan mail from my adoring fans which I can answer, and maybe if I am lucky, it will be one of my young fans who have decided to offer a moving image for my perusal which I can add to my collection.
I pick up the post and look through it as I move back towards my bedroom. Of course, it is the regular fan mail and post that I get. Still, as I go through it, I suddenly find a letter from Hogwarts which I find incredibly weird as I haven't had a letter from Hogwarts since I graduated in 1982, and it is now 1990, and I am at my current peak as a 26-year-old which makes me intrigued as to the contents of this letter.
I wonder if it may be Albus Dumbledore contacting me to discuss magic and get some pointers from me or if they need to fill a teaching staff position. There was no more exemplary candidate than Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, third class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and four-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. I also hear that I am a shoo-in for the next one as well. Without hesitation, I rip open the envelope and pull out the letter contained within to see what no doubt great quest waits within.
[HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr Lockhart,
We at Hogwarts wish to express our deepest condolences to you and your family. Our hearts and feelings are with you, and we hope that you have the strength to pass through these difficult times. Just know that if you require it, Hogwarts is here to provide anything you may need.
Please accept our sincere condolences on the passing of your mother. she was a brilliant witch and former staff member of Hogwarts, teaching a whole generation of wizards Defence Against The Dark Arts before she settled down to raise a family. It is genuinely a significant loss to wizarding society, and we wish her peace and serenity.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress]
I dropped the letters to the floor of the hallway in shock at the contents of the letter. My mother had died. I had not seen my mother since I had graduated from Hogwarts, being much too busy with my trips and publishing my books and only being able to send the occasional letter to her.
I wish I has spent more time with her, but I am sure she would agree that I was right to put my career first. At the very least, she could pass happily knowing that her favourite child was wealthy and successful, which she was always sure I would be. she must have felt immense pride knowing that she had Gilderoy Lockhart as a fabulous s- SHIT, PIECE OF SHIT.
Gilderoy Lockhart is a piece of shit, and I am not him. he did not even care about his mother enough to visit her after he graduated, while all I have longed for all these years is a family and a mother. This piece of shit has such a wonderful family, and he shits all over them and takes them for granted, and it pisses me off.
WHY DID THIS VAINGLORIOUS ASSHOLE GET BLESSED WITH SUCH A GREAT FAMILY WHEN I HAD NO ONE? WHY DOES HE GET TO HAVE A MOTHER AND A FATHER AND SISTERS WHILE I WAS LEFT TO ROT UNWANTED IN A DOZEN DIFFERENT FOSTER HOUSES!!
I can't believe that I was acting like that pompous fool for a while, and while it was likely less than half an hour, it felt like millenniums. The more I walked around this house, and the more I discovered, the more of Gilderoy Lockhart began to appear from the vestiges of my mind, and with nothing there to anchor my own mind, it was pushed to the back as Gilderoy's memories came to the forefront. He began to become the dominant mind purely because of his sheer pompousness and vain personality that began to thrive in this shrine to himself that he calls home.
It was only upon reading the Hogwarts letter that my mind got a jolt. I realised that I am not, in fact, this fake disgrace of a human being who only felt a little saddened at the prospect of his mother's death, which pissed me off never having had a family of my own, and so I retook control. This body is definitely mine now, and the soul or whatever of Gilderoy Lockhart no longer seems to be around. However, his memories are still inside this body as shone by the fact that I know things that only he would know and getting overwhelmed by them, I was nearly consumed and devoured by vanity and narcissism.
I need to reaffirm who I am and just how pathetic and shameful the existence of Gilderoy Lockhart is. So I try to recall his life as much as I can and not the fake version that he has brought himself to believe but the authentic, unedited version which highlights just how much of a waste of space Gilderoy is so that I will never be again consumed by his massive egomania.
Gilderoy Lockhart was born on the 26th of January, 1964, to a Muggle man and a witch and had two elder sisters, both Squibs. As the only one of her three children with magical ability, Gilderoy quickly became their mother's unabashed favourite, vastly inflating young Gilderoy's sense of self-importance. Unfortunately, in their excitement, he and his mother forgot that Hogwarts was a school for all British and Irish wizards. Thus his introduction to the school alongside everyone else was, in his opinion, incredibly dull.
On the 1st of September, 1975, Gilderoy Lockhart enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, four years behind James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape. He was Sorted into Ravenclaw, but he was almost a Hatstall, as the Sorting Hat thought he was a good fit for Slytherin but decided against it by a narrow margin.
He had hoped to be greeted by fans and thus become very popular because, in his mind, he was already a fully-fledged genius with exceptional magical prowess. The fact that he was just ordinary, that more talented and gifted children were present, and that nobody was particularly impressed by his naturally wavy hair disappointed him.
He had above-average abilities and was more intelligent than most of his classmates, but he had a flaw in that he would only try if he was confident that he was the best of whatever team, group, or class he happened to be with at the time. Nevertheless, Gilderoy did well in school, and his teachers believed that he could make a name for himself with hard work. Even if he fell short of his lofty goals, which he freely shared with anyone who cared to listen (he told them he would create the Philosopher's Stone before leaving school and that he planned to captain England's Quidditch team to World Cup glory before becoming Britain's youngest Minister for Magic).
Despite this, he managed to gain the spot of Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team in his final year at Hogwarts, but this was just due to the one-in-a-million chance that nobody else had applied for the Seeker position. So with fewer people trying for the quidditch role, it ended up his by default. Furthermore, the previous Seeker had just finished his final year. So Gilderoy managed to conclude his last year at Hogwarts as the team Seeker, and while he wasn't good at the beginning, he managed to become above average before the end of the year.
His vanity was such that he valued learning not for its educational value but for the attention it provided. he craved attention and prizes and begged the Headmaster to start a school newspaper solely to see his own name in print. When this stunt failed to garner him any attention, he resorted to grander, more dramatic methods of gaining attention.
Though he was never popular with the other students, he did gain some notoriety by carving his signature in twenty-foot-long letters into the Quidditch pitch (which also earned him a week's worth of detentions), creating a spell that shot a hologram of his own face into the sky in imitation of the Dark Mark, and sending himself eight hundred Valentines, causing breakfast to be cancelled due to the number of droppings and feathers in the porridge. He devoted his abilities to insincere shortcuts and cowardly dodges, focusing on attention-seeking while ignoring authentic learning.
Lockhart became an accomplished author after graduating from Hogwarts in 1982 (with a faint sigh of relief from the school staff), travelling to exotic parts of the world and, having mastered Memory Charms shortly after graduation, tricking accomplished witches and wizards into revealing their most marvellous deeds and then erasing their memories, pretending he had done the things they did in his autobiographies.
This singular focus on Memory Charms came at a high cost. All of Lockhart's other magical abilities had deteriorated to the point where they could no longer be repaired. So every time he returned to Britain, he brought a new book along with him that chronicled an adventure that had allegedly occurred during his travels.
The books themselves were self-promotional and filled with a plethora of invented details that were nothing more than conceit, self-praise, vanity, gross exaggerations, sensationalisations, and idle speculations that were all hot air and bilge water. Known victims of his deception included an Armenian warlock and a witch with a hairy chin. Nevertheless, his books were well-received, and he kept a special quill of peacock feathers on hand for book signings.
He also received numerous awards for his ostensibly great deeds. He was invited to join the Dark Force Defence League as an honorary member, all the while successfully concealing his deception. Due to his alleged bravery and resilience in combating the Dark Arts, his former teachers, who were unaware of his status as a con artist, began to suspect that they had misjudged him, which worked in his favour as they did not give wrong opinions on him to others.
According to Lockhart, he initially believed that the more press exposure he received, the better his career would advance. But, unfortunately, he had become overexposed by the time he was writing his second best-seller, Gadding with Ghouls, which hurt his popularity.
He then went mysteriously "missing" for three weeks before revealing to the Daily Prophet that he had been kidnapped by trolls in the wilds of Stockton-on-Tees, with this being one of the milder stunts he had pulled. His popularity soared once more as a result of the storey. As a result of this experience, he asserted that one should "be sparing with [one's] public appearances, at first," lest one become overexposed.
Overall, Gilderoy Lockhart's extreme arrogance, exceeding vanity, conceit, egomania, narcissism, impudence, insensitivity, inconsideration, and self-obsession was his defining characteristics. He was a voracious self-promoter who claimed to have done many great things, but in reality, he was just a fraud who stole the credit for other wizards and witches' accomplishments and whose claims about himself mainly were conceit, self-praise, vanity, and whose claims about other things were idle speculations, gross exaggerations, and pure sensationalism. He was a massive dickhead.
I know and am aware of all this because I have all of his memories. They are no longer overpowering me because I know exactly who this man used to be. I refuse to be taken over by such a waste of space and become a husk of ego, this man did not appreciate his family, and that is not something that I will do.
The best thing to do right now would probably be to stay calm and take note of my surroundings and current situation before doing anything else and try to sort out the memories in my mind and create a more enormous disconnect between myself and the old Gilderoy Lockhart, but that would be something that he would do. I am not him, his mother may be dead, but his father and his two sisters are not, and so this could be the chance for me to gain a family and to finally experience what those kids at school made fun of me for my lack of.
Going back into the bedroom, I quickly walk to the wardrobe and throw it open to the sight of all these disgustingly frilly silk robes, which I quickly begin to pull out and toss behind me one after another without care, ignoring the small part of myself that ached at seeing such blatant disregard for the cloth. Still, I knew that those were not my feelings but remnants of Lockhart. I toss and throw out numerous items until there is nothing left hanging in the wardrobe, but in a pile at the bottom of the cabinet, hidden by all those garish robes, is a simple black dress robe which I quickly throw on, not being bothered to find myself underwear as I have somewhere to be.
I walk back over to the side of the bed and pick up the wand, nine inches, made of cherry with a dragon heartstring core. It is slightly bendy, and I look at it for a moment before stowing it away in my pocket and not thinking further about it and turning around to leave. Still, as I do so, I spot myself in the mirror, and I am a mess. My skin is damp, my hair matted, and I stink to high heaven, but I have already dressed, and I can't afford to waste time right now.
My mind wanders to the object in my pocket, and I whip it out into the air holding it firmly and thinking of cleaning myself and making myself look representable. My arm moves due to muscle memory, and the words slip out of my mouth as I cast several different spells. Once I am done, I look back up at the mirror, and I see a completely unfamiliar person.
Glistening skin, wavy blonde shiny hair, a sparkling smile and dazzlingly blue eyes were what I saw as I looked into the mirror. I realised that I had overdone it, so I reached up my hand to mess up the wavy blonde hair as I did not like it. Still, no matter what I did, some spell was in place that made it return to its original position, so I decided to focus on the other features. I tried to do the same thing I did earlier, which was to just focus on what I wanted to be done and rely on muscle memory and knowledge to fill in the gaps and bring my wishes to fruition.
I tried it once and then again when it didn't work, which is when I tried to search my memory for a way to do it manually. But, of course, then I realised that Gilderoy never needed to stop any of these spells, and so he only learned how to apply the spells and kept them on until they wore out, at which point he would cast them again.
Knowing it would be fruitless to continue to try and not wanting to waste any more time, I put the wand back into my pocket and moved out of the bedroom and into the living room and over to the fireplace. I know how this works even without Gilderoy's memories. I have watched the movies many times in my last life whenever I could manage some alone time with the TV or had a stable internet connection and a laptop.
Feeling urgent to get where I wanted to go and also feeling excited about my first floo travel, I grasp a bunch of the floor powder from the little place next to the fireplace before I step into it and turn around, relying on instinct, I smash the powder to the ground while stating a place I wasn't even sure of and then green flames grew to encompass my view. I closed my eyes and tucked my body in as I began to feel myself twist and turn through reality on the way to my destination.
I steady my resolve and calm my excitement as I stand in front of an ordinary British semi-detached house, which I recall having three bedrooms and 1 bathroom with another bathroom outside as well as a small kitchen and a medium-sized living room and front room, bracing myself I work up the courage and walk open the small gate in front of the property and enter making sure to close it again behind me before walking down the path and using the lion themed door knocker to knock three times before waiting patiently for the door to be opened.
The door swings open, and standing there is a man who looks to be just past his fifties. He has brown hair, blue eyes and an emotionless face as he looks at me. The man is a bit overweight, but from his features and the remains of his old build, you can tell that he used to be a good-looking man, but time had progressed, and so did he, losing his charms. However, he still looked quite suitable for his age, and as I looked at him, I knew exactly who he was as memories of him arose unbidden in my mind.
"I-"
Before I can even say a word, the man slams the door shut in my face. I stand there stunned for a moment before I knock on the door again, but I use my knuckles this time. Then, finally, although I am still confused about what is happening, the door opens again, and Gilderoy Lockhart's father stands there with a harsh glint in his eye, and I smile before going to say something, but he talks before I can.
"It is too late now, you had your chance to be here, and you missed it in favour of your own selfish pursuits. Your mother died an entire month ago while you were gallivanting around on unicorns and chasing fairies or whatever the hell it is you people do in that magical world of yours. We were not even able to contact you as we had no idea where you were or how to get in to contact with you, and now you come here expecting to be welcomed inside for some tea and crumpets." I go to say something to try and salvage the situation, but the man just continues his tirade.
"Grow up, Gilderoy. You are no longer a child. In the end, all your mother kept asking for was you while her daughters and I were there by her side, but we were not good enough for her, and she longed to see you again before she passed, the ungrateful son who ran off for fame and glory abandoning his family. You may be my son, but you are not my child. You stopped being my child when you discovered that you had magic and you belonged solely to your mother until you cast her off when you no longer needed her. Your sisters and I want nothing to do with you or that world, so leave and never contact us again. Have a nice life, Gilderoy."
The door closes gently this time, but in my ears, it smashes close. The sound resounds in my ears as my smile slowly drops into a frown having a delayed reaction to the response I was not expecting and the rejection that I had just received. I stay there for a few moments before turning away from the door with a frown on my face and moving off down the path with my cloak billowing behind me as I do so, heading back to where I woke up. I got my hopes up again. It was too much to ask for.