The moment the spell hit him, Lockhart hadn't reacted yet.
He thought his mouth had just stumbled, failing to successfully cast the Memory Charm. It wasn't until he tried to recite the incantation again and wave his wand that he realized his body was stiff, frozen in place!
This sent him into a state of utter panic.
This was different from being ambushed and caught by the Albanian Aurors last time.
This time, he was currently in the act of assaulting a wizard.
Whoever was casting spells at him meant that his biggest secret to fame had been exposed!
Just as Lockhart was exceptionally anxious and fearful, while Andrews, lying on the bed, relaxed, no longer tense and helpless,
Dense footsteps suddenly sounded outside the cabin door.
It seemed like several people pushed the door open and entered the room. Lockhart desperately tried to look sideways with his eyes to see who it was, but could only vaguely make out two large and two small, four blurry figures!
Then, someone spoke.
"I never imagined his fame was gained like this! This is even more despicable than theft! How could such a hypocritical fraud become the idol of so many wizards!"
It was actually a boy's voice, and it felt extremely familiar to Lockhart, as if... as if he had just heard it not long ago!
Unconsciously, Lockhart's back was completely soaked with sweat.
He suddenly realized he seemed to have fallen into someone's trap. From the moment he learned about Angelo's letter, he had been completely led by the nose.
Another boy's voice also rang out.
"If his deeds were exposed in the Wizarding World, everyone would spurn this clown!"
Amid the two boys' voices, someone lit a candle in the wooden house, illuminating the dark space and finally allowing Lockhart to see the visitors' faces!
When he saw Severus's face, Lockhart's heartbeat seemed to stop at that moment.
The Full Body-Bind Curse froze his body, preventing him from opening his mouth to speak, but the look of extreme fear and terror in his eyes couldn't hide anything from anyone.
What Lockhart never expected was that the person lying in wait for him here was actually his senior, Severus!
Severus just glanced at the dumbfounded Lockhart, then pointed his wand at Andrews, lifting the Body-Bind Curse on him.
"You've been in the mountains for too long, Pique. Dealing with these trolls every day has made you lose the most basic vigilance and wariness towards strangers."
How Andrews had step-by-step fallen into Lockhart's verbal trap over the past two days had naturally been seen by Severus and the others.
Clearly, Andrews had initially remembered Severus's warning and remained wary of Lockhart.
But soon, he gullibly believed Lockhart's words, eventually completely losing his guard against this story thief.
If not for Severus and the others as a backup, Lockhart would have succeeded tonight.
Severus's words made Andrews sigh. He wasn't angry, nor filled with hatred, just looked at the petrified Lockhart before him with disappointment.
"I clearly agreed to tell you all these stories. Even if you wrote them into a book, I wouldn't mind at all. On the contrary, I'd be happy for more people in the Wizarding World to learn about trolls."
"Why did you have to claim these stories as your own?"
Faced with Andrews' question, there was no shame or anger in Lockhart's eyes, only a pleading look, as if begging for something.
Meanwhile, Lupin had already taken Lockhart's wand from his hand and used a Binding Charm, conjuring a rope to tie him up securely.
After doing this, Severus also lifted the Body-Bind Curse on Lockhart.
"Please!" Instantly, Lockhart knelt on the ground, hands clasped together, begging Andrews very humbly, "Please forgive me, Pique! I was just momentarily bewitched! I actually still consider you a true friend, I never meant to hurt you!"
"And... and! These days I've been helping you! I helped you solve the trolls' memory problem, right?! I was helpful to you! Pique! Forgive me! Please! Forgive me!"
Andrews didn't speak, just looked at him with disgust, getting up from the bed in his pajamas.
"I'm going out for a walk." Andrews said to Severus. He clearly didn't want to see Lockhart like this for another second.
Severus could understand his feelings. He didn't say anything, just patted Andrews' shoulder and nodded.
Watching Andrews leave, Lockhart panicked completely!
He was a truly clever man, knowing who to beg first. If his words had softened Andrews' heart, maybe there was still a chance for a turnaround.
But now, Andrews chose to leave directly, leaving behind Severus Snape.
Staring at Severus's face, Lockhart felt only despair.
But a sliver of hope still made him shift the target of his pleas.
"Senior Snape! Senior Snape!! I've never offended you, right?! I've always admired you! Looked up to you! Back at Hogwarts, seeing you being humiliated by Potter and his gang, I really wanted to stand up and speak for you, to defend you! You'll believe me, right?! What I'm saying is true! All true!"
He was making a last-ditch effort.
And when Harry heard the surname 'Potter' from his mouth, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock. He turned to look at his teacher.
When he was first taken from the Dursleys, Harry learned from Severus that he had a grudge against his father, but he never knew what kind of enmity existed between them.
But now, from Lockhart's words, it seemed...
It seemed his father was the one who had been the bully!
Lupin's expression was also complex, but he didn't look at Severus, just stared at Lockhart, as if seeing through all his disguises, looking directly at his hypocritical and cunning nature.
Severus just smiled slightly. He then said softly:
"So you used to sympathize with me like that, Lockhart? I really didn't know that."
Lockhart nodded like pounding garlic, looking at Severus with nervous anticipation.
"Yes! If I could go back to the past, back to that time, I would definitely stand up openly on your side! Senior Snape! Let me go!"
"Please! I haven't done too much wrong, have I? I just borrowed some experiences from others. Look at it from another angle, I'm the one who promoted their wonderful stories, letting everyone know about them. That's also a good thing, right?"
His shameless sophistry even drew a look of disdain from Draco's face.
Young Master Malfoy had never seen such an utterly shameless person.
Severus didn't comment on his words. He just looked at the pleading Lockhart and said calmly:
"Although your stories are fake, stolen from others, those books that became bestsellers in the Wizarding World were indeed written by you yourself. You truly have talent, Lockhart. But why must you express your talent in such a way?"
"You could have discussed it with them, just like you initially promised Pique. Help them, write these stories with them as the protagonists. You could still have achieved success… real success that belongs to you."
Lockhart slumped powerlessly to the ground.
From Severus's words, he had already understood that there was absolutely no room for maneuver regarding his discovered story theft.
No matter what, Severus would not treat this as if nothing had happened, and he would definitely hand him over to the British Aurors.
This reality finally made Lockhart tear off his hypocritical mask. He looked at Severus with hatred.
"What do you understand! You sanctimonious, hypocritical, shameless bastard! Didn't you also say those things to the public in Britain, 'I repent,' 'I will reform', just to become famous and show off how different you are?"
"I must be more outstanding! More special! To prove that I am Lockhart! I am a genius wizard!"
Severus was unmoved by Lockhart's distorted accusations.
He just stared at the wizard who no longer smiled but instead had a twisted expression, somewhat puzzled by his latter statement.
"Why do you have to prove you are a genius?"
"I was the only child in the family who showed magical talent!" Lockhart stared fixedly at Severus, "My mother was convinced because of this that I would definitely become an extraordinary person in the future! She believed it, so of course I believed it too!"
"I was born to be extraordinary! This is both a fact and my family's expectation of me! Do you understand!"
"Besides me, I have two older sisters. But they, like my father, have no magical traits at all, no hope of ever contacting the magical world in their lifetime! Only me, my mother and I are the same kind of people! After she discovered this, she showed me favoritism!"
"Can you understand how intoxicating the envious, jealous looks from my family were every day they saw me? I was born as one of a kind. I am smart, handsome, and a wizard. Doesn't this demonstrate my outstanding quality?"
"So, I received my Hogwarts letter. I began to imagine what it would be like when I went to that school! I walk through the corridors, surrounded by excited whispers about my magical power. They all believe I am a genius and a hero!"
"But when I actually arrived at Hogwarts, after arriving at Hogwarts..."
His voice, initially intense, grew low as he spoke. Severus finished the sentence he didn't complete.
"After arriving at Hogwarts, you discovered that the magical power you displayed was actually nothing special at all, because everyone in this school was just like you… they were all wizards."
Severus's words seemed to tear open the never-truly-healed scar deep in Lockhart's heart.
He said angrily, "Yes! Exactly as you said! At Hogwarts, no one knew my name! My magical talent was commonplace to others! No one was even impressed by my naturally wavy blond hair!"
"This is all wrong! I am special! I was born to be admired by others! This is what I should have experienced!"
"But actually, the professors at Hogwarts at the time thought your intelligence and level were above average," Lupin said calmly, "Once in my fifth year, when I went to get a book borrowing slip signed by Professor Flitwick, I overheard him talking to Professor Slughorn about you. They both said you were actually doing quite well."
"Right! Listen to how they evaluated me!" Lockhart was furious to the extreme, "Quite well! In their eyes, I was just 'quite well'! This is simply an insult to me, a denial of me! This is not what I wanted! I need to be the best, the only one! Absolutely outstanding! Not 'quite well'!"
Lupin stared blankly at Lockhart, who was venting all his inner thoughts. Only now did he finally understand why Lockhart had acted so eccentrically and perplexingly at Hogwarts.
"So, after realizing that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't possess the magical talent that would make everyone gasp in amazement, you began to choose laziness and even shortcuts?" Severus asked.
"What else?" Lockhart looked at him coldly, "I lobbied the headmaster to start a school newspaper because nothing made me happier than seeing my name and photo printed."
"I carved a personal signature on the Quidditch pitch with magic, each letter twenty feet long, making everyone marvel at the name Gilderoy Lockhart, even though the cost was a week of detention!"
"I imitated the Dark Mark, projecting my own huge, glowing portrait into the sky! I sent myself eight hundred Valentine's cards every year, causing owls to fill the Hogwarts Great Hall on that day!"
"People must remember me, know me! This is the life I should have!!"
After hearing his account, both Harry and Draco were stunned.
Though they were still young, they couldn't imagine that such a mentality could exist in the world.
Draco's expression towards Lockhart became somewhat strange.
He subconsciously took a step back, as if wanting to distance himself from this wizard obsessed with fame to the point of madness.
Meanwhile, Harry looked at Lockhart with pity.
He felt that if this person hadn't encountered those family matters in his childhood, hadn't received his mother's favoritism and expectations, hadn't faced his sisters' envy and jealousy, then perhaps Lockhart wouldn't have turned out like this.
Lockhart's self-statement of his state of mind and experiences left an extremely deep impression on Harry.