"P-Professor Kahn?" The moment Lockhart saw Evans, his face showed obvious panic. He quickly tucked the notebook in his hands into his robes, then forced a somewhat strained smile.
Looking at the man's panicked expression, a flash of suspicion crossed Evans's face.
Earlier at the scene where Colin was attacked, he had found it strange. Usually when such incidents occurred, Lockhart was always the first to arrive, but last time, he had unusually failed to appear until the very end.
However, Dumbledore had said that appointing Lockhart as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was part of his own considerations, and told him not to interfere with this person casually.
Dumbledore was probably hatching another of his devious little schemes, and the person before him was likely just a sacrifice in his plan.
Looking at the nervous Lockhart with pitying eyes, Evans shook his head, turned around, and transformed into a silver-white arc of light, disappearing on the spot.
But before leaving, Evans discreetly waved his wand. A blue flash passed by quickly and landed behind Lockhart.
A simple positioning spell—someone with insufficient abilities like this couldn't detect it at all.
With this, he could feel somewhat more at ease.
Watching where Evans had left, Lockhart gritted his teeth as resentment surged through his heart like a tide.
If not for this person, he would have had a perfect Duelling Club and become an idol to all students in the school.
But now, those students would even snicker occasionally during class. His authority in the classroom had been completely swept away—he couldn't even command students casually during theory lessons!
It was all his fault, all because of that duel. If not for that duel, he wouldn't have fallen to such depths!
Without any self-reflection about how his attempt to pick on what he thought was a soft target had led to this result, Lockhart felt increasingly aggrieved.
He had clearly avoided this person's meal times—their lives should have had no intersection. Why did he still encounter him in the school?
If he didn't have to see him, it would be fine, but just seeing this person made uncontrollable waves of anger rise in his heart.
No, he couldn't bear it anymore. He wanted revenge! He wanted to make that person pay!
Pulling out the magical notebook he had acquired over half a month ago from his robes, Lockhart asked with hatred:
"Can the next target be changed? I have someone I really want to kill."
[Ah, great Professor Lockhart, please calm your anger. Your radiance is as brilliant as the blazing sun, as pure as the bright moon. If you anger yourself over some petty people, it would damage your noble qualities...]
A string of flattering words flowed across the notebook's pages, written with top-level fluency and skill.
For the past half month, it had basically lived like this every day. Honestly, it had gotten somewhat used to it.
Setting that aside, this person was indeed much easier to control than that previous young wizard. Whether in terms of confiding in it or obedience, he was obviously a level above.
All it had to pay was a little dignity. As long as it killed this person afterward, no one would know that the great Dark Lord's soul fragment had once so flattered an incompetent wizard.
It was all worth it!
After building up its psychological defences, the notebook wrote again:
[But great Professor Lockhart, I must remind you that if we change targets at the last minute, we may need to completely replan the operation procedures, and the ritual's completion speed will be greatly slowed.]
[After all, you wouldn't want the time to gain power to be delayed, would you?]
Perhaps the diary's praise was perfect enough, or perhaps the subsequent explanation was indeed reasonable. Lockhart's hatred gradually dissipated as he looked around at the environment.
"I've reached the corridor you mentioned, but I just encountered someone. Will there be any accidents?"
[There won't be. We're just scouting today—the actual operation location isn't in this corridor.]
[Trust me, when this feast ends, you'll gain unimaginable power. Even Dumbledore won't be your match anymore!]
"That's wonderful!" Lockhart's face finally showed his trademark smile. He steadied himself. "What should I do next?"
[It's not difficult. First, as I told you before, slowly walk through this corridor. I'll determine if there are any warning spells here...]
Specific operational procedures began appearing continuously on the notebook, guiding Lockhart according to its plan.
This time's target couldn't just be petrified again—such pressure simply wasn't enough to make the Board of Governors drive Dumbledore from his position. It needed some real deaths to complete its plan.
Just as Lockhart was about to act according to the diary's guidance, he suddenly heard a woman's sickeningly sweet voice.
"Professor Lockhart?"
Quickly stuffing the diary back into his robes, Lockhart turned around alertly, looking behind him.
He saw a woman with brown curly hair who looked like a toad, wearing a strange smile and staring intently at his hand that had gone into his robes.
"What are you doing in the school so late at night?"
"Ahem." His left hand pressed tightly against the notebook in his chest, Lockhart felt somewhat guilty, but his tone remained perfect, his face still wearing a spring-like smile.
"Good evening, Ms Umbridge. I just couldn't sleep, so I'm taking a stroll around the castle." Having said this, Lockhart looked at Umbridge. "What are you doing?"
"Me? You know, I was sent by the Ministry to investigate the student petrification incidents." Umbridge's face still wore that strange smile. "The last incident occurred late at night, so naturally I must patrol at night."
"Haha, with us professors here, the school is very safe—" Looking at the smile on Umbridge's face, Lockhart's voice gradually diminished, and he unconsciously stepped back two paces.
The atmosphere fell into silent stillness. After about a minute, Umbridge suddenly spoke, the sweetness in her tone much reduced, replaced by some coldness.
"Why don't I just speak plainly?" Umbridge continued staring at Lockhart's hand that had gone into his robes, her smile becoming increasingly strange.
"Professor Lockhart, shall we have a chat? I think we'll have many common topics."
"Chat—chat about what?" Stepping back two paces alertly, Lockhart nervously placed his hand on the wand at his waist.
If the situation went wrong, he would release his strongest Memory Charm at the fastest speed, even if it exposed some of his secrets.
However, the woman before him seemed to have no vigilance at all.
"Oh, chat about what?" Umbridge's smile could no longer be concealed. That expression was like discovering some long-sought treasure, or seeing a like-minded friend.
"For instance, let's chat about that magical diary in your hands?"