A large crowd had gathered outside Flourish and Blotts today, jostling outside the doors, trying to get in.
The reason for this was proclaid by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL
today 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Daphne, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, and George were standing outside, glaring through the glass.
With them were Percy and Mrs. Weasley, and Ginny, who would be starting at Hogwarts this year.
They could see Pigplanter Hillam, the manager, standing at the door, barely managing to control the crowd of middle-aged witches.
"If you don’t want to go in," a voice entered their ears over the roar, "I can sign the book for you, Mrs. Weasley."
They all turned around and saw a black-haired and black-eyed boy smiling at them.
"Black!" Harry and Ron shouted.
"We thought we saw you," Fred said.
"You were hiding from soone back there, weren’t you?" George asked.
Black stepped away a little as Mrs. Weasley greeted him with a smile. He leaned forward, making the boys lean, too.
"I was in Knockturn Alley," he told them. "I think I accidentally kicked a hag..."
Fred and George looked at each other. "Nice!"
"You, too, were in Knockturn Alley?" Harry asked.
"What do you an?" Black frowned.
Then Harry and Ron told him how Harry had ended up in Knockturn Alley and saw Draco’s father selling poisons.
"Where’s Draco?" Black asked.
"His father got hold of him," Ron said. "I don’t think he will get to et us here."
Daphne and Hermione stepped in, their curiosities getting the better of them.
"Don’t tell you are his fans, too?" Black asked, pointing at the wizard’s na on the banner.
The girls shared a glance and blushed.
"... Seriously? Him?!"
"Let’s go in, kids!" Mrs. Weasley roared and almost pulled everyone in, squeezing through the crowd.
...
Seated at a table, Gilderoy Lockhart was surrounded by pictures of himself, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd.
He was wearing robes of forget--not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard’s hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.
"Out of the way!" the man who was flashing the cara a hundred tis per second pushed Black. "This is for Daily Prophet..."
"I am kind of a ssiah, too, you know..." Black mumbled to himself.
Harry and Ron sniggered.
Surprisingly, Gilderoy heard Black.
He looked up. He saw Ron, Black, and — he paused.
He saw Harry. He noticed the scar. He opened his mouth to say sothing, but then paused again, his eyes going beyond Harry.
He shot up to his feet.
"It can’t be..." Gilderoy shouted, "... Darcie Malfoy?!"
Whispers and gasps overtook the crowd as it parted to look at the door.
Darcie Malfoy, wearing a plain black dress, was standing there, now matching the wizard’s stare.
Black looked at Darcie Malfoy, then at Gilderoy, and then back at Darcie.
"What can’t be?!" he said, taking the opportunity of the whispering silence. "She practically lives in Diagon Alley!"
That drew a few laughs, especially from the young ones.
Ignoring everything, Lockhart dived forward, put a hand on Darcie’s back, and invited her to the front.
The crowd burst into applause.
"Nice big smile, Darcie," said Lockhart, through his gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."
Black rolled his eyes.
"Don’t do it!" Harry and Ron said simultaneously.
Fred and George grinned, patting Black’s shoulders to do it, instead.
Daphne and Hermione didn’t know what was going on, but, seeing the look on Black’s face, they knew he was going to say sothing again.
"You know..." Black said, shouting over the cara’s flashes. "If you put any random goblin next to her, then he would beco worthy of the front page, too. No offense."
Silence.
...
Gilderoy’s mouth twitched as he saw a group of boys almost bending in half with laughter.
On the other side, Lockhart’s fans, the old witches, were glaring at Black, asking whose unruly child he was!
"Now, now," Gilderoy laughed it off, hiding his annoyance. "Haha! Children, yes! Don’t worry. No offense taken."
"I wasn’t talking about you," Black said as Harry and Ron elbowed him. "I ant no offense to goblins."
Lockhart frowned. "There are no goblins here."
"Yeah?" Black raised an eyebrow. "Look down, then."
Gilderoy Lockhart instantly looked down, found no goblin, and snapped his head up.
Black couldn’t hold his smile any longer. "Made you look, didn’t I?"
Silence.
...
"Ladies and gentlen," Lockhart said loudly over the few laughs, waving for quiet.
He wanted to throw the black-haired boy out, but he wanted all to hear what ca next.
"What an extraordinary mont this is! The perfect mont for to make a little announcent I’ve been sitting on for so ti!
"When young Darcie here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, she only wanted to buy my autobiography — which I shall be happy to present her now, free of charge —"
The crowd applauded again.
Darcie looked like she was but a mont away from cursing Lockhart.
"She had no idea," Lockhart said, "that she would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical ."
"That sounds so inappro..."
Black couldn’t finish the joke.
Lockhart waved his wand, sealing the boy’s mouth.
Shockingly, the witches standing there cheered him for it, except for Mrs. Weasley, who was having a hard ti justifying to herself that Black wasn’t with her, not really.
Lockhart put up a big smile on his face, and continued, " In fact, Darcie and her schoolmates will be getting the real magical .
"Yes, ladies and gentlen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Saying this, as the crowd cheered and clapped, Lockhart glared at Black, daring him to say more.
He also swished his wand, undoing the hex.
...
"Are you friends with him?" Mrs. Granger asked, narrowing her eyes.
"He’s not bad, Mom!" Hermione complained. "That’s just how he is!"
On the other side, Daphne was having a hard ti convincing her parents about Black’s nature as well.
They had all co outside after Darcie convinced Lockhart to gift sets of books to her friends, making Mrs. Weasley shower her with thanks.
Black looked at Ginny, standing next to him with her new cauldron. "Stay away from . I don’t want Mrs. Weasley to stop sending cakes."
Ron laughed.
"What’s this now, Black?" a familiar voice entered the boys’ ears.
They spun around and found Draco staring at them, standing in his father’s shadow.
"I heard you and Weasley planned a scene inside to get free books?"
Almost none outside the boys and girls’ circle knew how it was between Harry, Ron, Black, and Draco.
For them, Draco was still a Malfoy, the promised Slytherin who had beco a stain on Malfoy’s na by getting assigned to Gryffindor instead.
Ginny stepped up. "Leave them alone!"
Draco’s lips twitched. He looked at Black. "Your girlfriend? How did you impress her? Making jokes about red hair?!"
Black would have high-fived Draco for the joke if Lucius Malfoy hadn’t been standing among them.
They did wink at each other, sharing their thoughts.
Then Mr. Weasley arrived.
He and Lucius exchanged words.
Once again, both n ended up fighting each other.
"Big mistake, Weasley!" Lucius said when Hagrid had pulled them apart. "You wouldn’t have done that if you knew what’s happening this year. Heh!"
"Yeah?!" Mr. Weasley shouted as Mrs. Weasley tried to pull him back. "I know more than you, Lucius!"
Lucius glared at the Weasleys with malice, noticed Darcie looking at him, and ground his teeth.
He picked up a few books from the floor and thrust them into Ginny’s cauldron.
"Here, girl — take your book — it’s the best your father can give you —"
Lucius grabbed Draco and marched away, limping.
As the Weasleys, Harry, and others gathered around Mr. Weasley, Black looked at Lucius disappearing in Diagon Alley.
Then he brought his gaze back, paused, and his eyes widened.
Black was looking dead set at Ginny’s cauldron, holding her books. But —
— Tom Riddle’s Diary was NOT among them.
*****************
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