Previously called TWO OF THE SAME
❝ It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. ❞
Living with her godmother, Dorcas Meadows, and her uncle, Remus Lupin, 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 lives a pretty good life. That's unt...
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HARPER FELT RON SLIDE SILENTLY DOWN ONTO THE WARDROBE FLOOR BESIDE HER.She wanted to join him but her limbs didn't move. Not Ginny. Please, not her.
"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," Professor McGonagell said. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore alway said . . ."
The staff-room door banged open again. For one wild moment, Harper was sure it would be Dumbledore. But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming.
"So sorry—dozed off—what have I missed?"
He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkable like hatred. Snape stepped forward.
"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."
Lockhart blanched.
"That's right, Gilderoy," Professor Sprout chipped in. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"
"I—well, I . . ." Lockhart spluttered.
"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" Professor Flitwick piped up.
D-did I? I don't recall . . ."
"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," Snape said. "Didn't you say that the whole affair has been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"
Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues.
"I . . . I really never . . . You may have misunderstood . . ."
"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," Professor McGonagell said. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."
Lockhart gazes desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome any more. His lip was trembling, and in the absence of his usually toothy grin he looked weak-chinned and weedy.
