Reading settings
Chapter 58: A First-Rate Adventurer, a Lousy Professor
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
"Why does he look so disheveled?"
Disheveled?
William couldn't help but size up Lockhart, who had just pushed open the door. The robe was still that same, incredibly bright emerald green robe, as tidy as if it had just been neatened. His hairstyle? Not a single hair was out of place; it looked like he had just applied hair wax. The smile on his face was still the kind that showed the most teeth. How could he possibly be described as disheveled?
"You must be mistaken, Professor Singeade. How is this disheveled? He clearly looks like he just tidied himself up, completely ready to attend a dinner."
Just tidied himself up?
William recalled the thought that had just flashed through his mind and realized it was highly possible. But it was no big deal—nothing more than being a bit of a neat freak. Never mind being colleagues, even a friend would have no grounds to say anything strange about it.
"Exactly. If you ask me, your alchemy course is just scheduled too infrequently. It should be just like the other subjects, moved into the third-year elective courses."
"Hmm?" The alchemy professor, being admonished by Adams, narrowed his eyes and revealed a roguish smile.
"Alright then, it looks like I really should get down to business. I estimate the special fertilizer won't be finished this month. Alchemy experiments can't always use dragon dung as ingredients, can they?"
"Don't be like that, Professor Sprout will kill me. Especially this month, the school's Whomping Willow was injured. There's probably going to be a huge shortage of fertilizer again."
"The Whomping Willow?"
William heard the name and was just about to ask a question when he suddenly heard a voice full of enthusiasm.
"Ha, William, how was your first class?"
Lockhart, beaming with success, walked toward the three of them. If he hadn't known that this professor had just finished a lesson like himself, William would have thought he was returning from a victorious battle or had made some major discovery.
"Not bad. The students were quite obedient, and the class was orderly. I was just a bit nervous at the start, but I got over it quickly."
"That's good. It seems you're doing quite well. How was the atmosphere in the class? Was it joyful enough?"
Lockhart flashed his classic smile.
Joyful?
William thought about it carefully. He himself had been quite happy, but he guessed the students writing the essay probably weren't feeling so cheerful.
But before William could reply, Lockhart began answering for him.
"Of course, of course, I'm not targeting you, Professor William. It's just that in my many years of adventurous travels, I've developed some rather unique insights into Defense Against the Dark Arts—hm, the new course name is too much of a mouthful, let's just call it that. I've simply experienced more interesting things."
"This isn't to brag, Professor William. I am often burdened by my fame, but I'd much rather people focus on my strength and my adventuring experiences. The students are very interested in my adventures, which is fine. I just happen to have some strengths in this area. I believe you will be an excellent professor."
...
The long, uninterrupted string of words nearly made William's head spin. It took him a good while to understand what this enthusiastic professor meant—he was probably here to teach him how to conduct a class.
'My magic for self-defense is definitely a notch below his. He's a world-famous adventurer, while I've only been studying magic on my own for such a short time. I haven't even properly mastered nonverbal spells, so I have to use niche knowledge to compensate.'
Considering this, even though William didn't particularly agree with the teaching methods Lockhart was describing, he still listened patiently for a long time.
'Strange, why is it all theory and no practical application? Is he holding something back?'
While astutely playing the part of a supportive audience, William tried to absorb something useful, but after a long while, he found nothing of value—some of the knowledge was even an outdated version from many years ago that had not been well-summarized.
This made the conversation increasingly dull. However, the other two professors who were listening in became interested, and they shared many useful tips on controlling lecture time and capturing student attention. It was mainly Adams who spoke, with the alchemy professor occasionally chiming in with a few words to show he was still part of the discussion.
"Let's leave it at that, Professor William."
After a lengthy conversation, Lockhart finally concluded his rather uninformative lecture, waved his hand, and left the Staff Room.
Even as he waved goodbye, he didn't forget to flash his exceptionally standard smile.
Almost the instant he left, Professor Singeade took out a mirror from a small drawer and began to earnestly inspect his own slightly-too-competitive hairline.
"Phew, thank goodness. I swear, ever since I graduated from Hogwarts, not even Professor McGonagall has been this preachy."
"Maybe, just maybe, this professor is powerful but not very good at teaching?"
Adams carefully made a final defense for Lockhart, but even he didn't deny that Professor Lockhart's teaching ability might not be very high.
"After all, you can revise the wording in a manuscript. In a real conversation, who has that much time to prepare?"
William was also a bit unsure. From a professional standpoint, he saw no major problems with the stories in the books, but based on their long conversation, it seemed Professor Lockhart didn't even have a clear idea of what to do in class.
Had he mistaken teaching for writing about his own adventures?
After all, being an adventurer and being a professor were two completely unrelated professions. Not everyone was Bear Grylls, able to provide thorough and professional commentary while on an adventure.
Moreover, this wasn't about narrating an adventure; it was about teaching a systematic course.
But regardless, William didn't intend to listen to a single word of the useless advice Professor Lockhart had just spouted. He even suspected that the professor's lectures were so dry that the students only listened with an "I'm already here, so I might as well" attitude.
But this speculation was too insulting for a professor, so William simply didn't share his opinion.
However, when it was time to rest in the evening, William soon discovered that this view was not his alone.
It was unclear whether Professor Lockhart had offended another professor by talking their ear off about his adventures, or if his attempts to present himself as a genius in all aspects had rubbed someone the wrong way. By dinner time, the entire faculty and student body of Hogwarts, including the ghosts, knew what had happened that afternoon.
While teaching the second-year students, Professor Lockhart had brought a cage of highly aggressive Cornish pixies to the classroom. For the next hour and a half, the second-years suffered a disaster.
It was said that afterward, it took the house-elves a full half-hour to restore the classroom to its original state—and mind you, any one of them could clean a messy room in less than a quarter of an hour.
"It's only the first lesson—and three students have already been sent to the Hospital Wing!"
"It seems Professor Lockhart can't tell the difference between the school and the jungle he explores on his adventures."
...
Amidst all the varied comments, nearly all the professors reached the same consensus—Professor Lockhart might be a great adventurer, but he was an absolutely lousy professor!
P.S. My eyelids are fighting to stay open. The second chapter will be released tomorrow at noon (I should be able to finish it, right?).
(end of chapter)
2022-07-14 Author: I'm Just a Pigeon
"Why does he look so disheveled?"
Disheveled?
William couldn't help but size up Lockhart, who had just pushed open the door. The robe was still that same, incredibly bright emerald green robe, as tidy as if it had just been neatened. His hairstyle? Not a single hair was out of place; it looked like he had just applied hair wax. The smile on his face was still the kind that showed the most teeth. How could he possibly be described as disheveled?
"You must be mistaken, Professor Singeade. How is this disheveled? He clearly looks like he just tidied himself up, completely ready to attend a dinner."
Just tidied himself up?
William recalled the thought that had just flashed through his mind and realized it was highly possible. But it was no big deal—nothing more than being a bit of a neat freak. Never mind being colleagues, even a friend would have no grounds to say anything strange about it.
"Exactly. If you ask me, your alchemy course is just scheduled too infrequently. It should be just like the other subjects, moved into the third-year elective courses."
"Hmm?" The alchemy professor, being admonished by Adams, narrowed his eyes and revealed a roguish smile.
"Alright then, it looks like I really should get down to business. I estimate the special fertilizer won't be finished this month. Alchemy experiments can't always use dragon dung as ingredients, can they?"
"Don't be like that, Professor Sprout will kill me. Especially this month, the school's Whomping Willow was injured. There's probably going to be a huge shortage of fertilizer again."
"The Whomping Willow?"
William heard the name and was just about to ask a question when he suddenly heard a voice full of enthusiasm.
"Ha, William, how was your first class?"
Lockhart, beaming with success, walked toward the three of them. If he hadn't known that this professor had just finished a lesson like himself, William would have thought he was returning from a victorious battle or had made some major discovery.
"Not bad. The students were quite obedient, and the class was orderly. I was just a bit nervous at the start, but I got over it quickly."
"That's good. It seems you're doing quite well. How was the atmosphere in the class? Was it joyful enough?"
Lockhart flashed his classic smile.
Joyful?
William thought about it carefully. He himself had been quite happy, but he guessed the students writing the essay probably weren't feeling so cheerful.
But before William could reply, Lockhart began answering for him.
"Of course, of course, I'm not targeting you, Professor William. It's just that in my many years of adventurous travels, I've developed some rather unique insights into Defense Against the Dark Arts—hm, the new course name is too much of a mouthful, let's just call it that. I've simply experienced more interesting things."
"This isn't to brag, Professor William. I am often burdened by my fame, but I'd much rather people focus on my strength and my adventuring experiences. The students are very interested in my adventures, which is fine. I just happen to have some strengths in this area. I believe you will be an excellent professor."
...
The long, uninterrupted string of words nearly made William's head spin. It took him a good while to understand what this enthusiastic professor meant—he was probably here to teach him how to conduct a class.
'My magic for self-defense is definitely a notch below his. He's a world-famous adventurer, while I've only been studying magic on my own for such a short time. I haven't even properly mastered nonverbal spells, so I have to use niche knowledge to compensate.'
Considering this, even though William didn't particularly agree with the teaching methods Lockhart was describing, he still listened patiently for a long time.
'Strange, why is it all theory and no practical application? Is he holding something back?'
While astutely playing the part of a supportive audience, William tried to absorb something useful, but after a long while, he found nothing of value—some of the knowledge was even an outdated version from many years ago that had not been well-summarized.
This made the conversation increasingly dull. However, the other two professors who were listening in became interested, and they shared many useful tips on controlling lecture time and capturing student attention. It was mainly Adams who spoke, with the alchemy professor occasionally chiming in with a few words to show he was still part of the discussion.
"Let's leave it at that, Professor William."
After a lengthy conversation, Lockhart finally concluded his rather uninformative lecture, waved his hand, and left the Staff Room.
Even as he waved goodbye, he didn't forget to flash his exceptionally standard smile.
Almost the instant he left, Professor Singeade took out a mirror from a small drawer and began to earnestly inspect his own slightly-too-competitive hairline.
"Phew, thank goodness. I swear, ever since I graduated from Hogwarts, not even Professor McGonagall has been this preachy."
"Maybe, just maybe, this professor is powerful but not very good at teaching?"
Adams carefully made a final defense for Lockhart, but even he didn't deny that Professor Lockhart's teaching ability might not be very high.
"After all, you can revise the wording in a manuscript. In a real conversation, who has that much time to prepare?"
William was also a bit unsure. From a professional standpoint, he saw no major problems with the stories in the books, but based on their long conversation, it seemed Professor Lockhart didn't even have a clear idea of what to do in class.
Had he mistaken teaching for writing about his own adventures?
After all, being an adventurer and being a professor were two completely unrelated professions. Not everyone was Bear Grylls, able to provide thorough and professional commentary while on an adventure.
Moreover, this wasn't about narrating an adventure; it was about teaching a systematic course.
But regardless, William didn't intend to listen to a single word of the useless advice Professor Lockhart had just spouted. He even suspected that the professor's lectures were so dry that the students only listened with an "I'm already here, so I might as well" attitude.
But this speculation was too insulting for a professor, so William simply didn't share his opinion.
However, when it was time to rest in the evening, William soon discovered that this view was not his alone.
It was unclear whether Professor Lockhart had offended another professor by talking their ear off about his adventures, or if his attempts to present himself as a genius in all aspects had rubbed someone the wrong way. By dinner time, the entire faculty and student body of Hogwarts, including the ghosts, knew what had happened that afternoon.
While teaching the second-year students, Professor Lockhart had brought a cage of highly aggressive Cornish pixies to the classroom. For the next hour and a half, the second-years suffered a disaster.
It was said that afterward, it took the house-elves a full half-hour to restore the classroom to its original state—and mind you, any one of them could clean a messy room in less than a quarter of an hour.
"It's only the first lesson—and three students have already been sent to the Hospital Wing!"
"It seems Professor Lockhart can't tell the difference between the school and the jungle he explores on his adventures."
...
Amidst all the varied comments, nearly all the professors reached the same consensus—Professor Lockhart might be a great adventurer, but he was an absolutely lousy professor!
P.S. My eyelids are fighting to stay open. The second chapter will be released tomorrow at noon (I should be able to finish it, right?).
(end of chapter)
