But the next day, Harry hardly laughed for a day. Things have been going downhill since I had breakfast in the auditorium in the morning. Under the enchanted ceiling (it's cloudy and gray today), there are bowls of porridge, plates of pickled herring, piles of bread, plates of eggs and bacon on the long tables of four colleges. Harry and Ron are sitting at Gryffindor's table, next to Hermione, and her Walking with Vampires is spread out on a milk can. She said good morning a little curt, and Harry knew that she was still not satisfied with the way they came to school. Neville longbottom greeted them with pleasure. Neville is a round-faced boy who always gets into trouble. Harry has never seen anyone with such a poor memory.

"The postman will be here soon-I think grandma will bring something I forgot to bring."

Harry had just started drinking porridge when he heard a commotion overhead. Hundreds of owls swarmed in and circled over the auditorium, throwing letters and packages at the people who were talking. A bulging package fell on Neville's head, and then another big gray package fell into Hermione's pot. Suddenly, milk and feathers splashed all over them.

Errol. Ron shouted, pulling the wet owl out with his claws. Errol was unconscious at his desk with his legs dangling and a wet red envelope in his mouth.

"Oh, no-"RON voice cried.

"Nothing, he is still alive." Hermione said, poking errol gently with her fingertips.

"No-that."

Ron pointed to the red envelope. This envelope looks ordinary to Harry, but Ron and Neville seem to think it will explode.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"She-mom sent me a threatening letter." Ron said weakly.

"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville whispered shyly. "It's even worse if you don't open it. Grandma sent it to me once and I ignored it. As a result, "he took a breath," it was terrible. "

Harry looked at them in horror and then at the red envelope.

"What is a bellowing letter?" He asked.

But Ron's attention was focused on the letter, and the four corners of the envelope had begun to smoke.

"Open it quickly," Neville urged. "Only a few minutes ..."

Ron reached out his trembling hand, carefully took the envelope out of errol's mouth and tore it open. Neville put his finger in his ear, and Harry knew the reason at once. At first, he thought it was an explosion. A loud noise filled the auditorium and knocked down the dust on the ceiling.

"... stole the car. I won't be surprised if they fire you. See what I can do to you. It probably never occurred to you that your father and I were not in the mood when we found this car ... "

That's Mrs. Weasley's cry, a hundred times louder than usual. Disks and spoons rattled on the table, and the echoes of the surrounding stone walls were deafening. The whole auditorium turned around to see who had received the threatening letter. Ron huddled in his chair and could only see his red forehead.

"I received a letter from Dumbledore last night, and your father almost died of shame. We worked hard to raise you. I didn't expect you to do such a thing. You and Harry almost lost their lives ... "

Harry has been listening to when his name will pop up. He tried to pretend that he didn't hear the sound hitting the eardrum.

"... it's so irritating that your dad will be censored at work. It's all your fault. If you don't behave yourself, we'll bring you back at once! "

The roar stopped and the ears were still buzzing. The red envelope that fell from Ron's hand burned and turned into ashes. Harry and Ron just sat there as if they had just been washed by the tide. A few people smiled, and their voices began to ring again.

Hermione closed Walking with Vampires and looked down at Ron's head.

"Well, you can't expect anything else, Ron, you know you-"

"Don't tell me I deserve it." Ron said grumpily.

Harry pushed open the porridge bowl, feeling too guilty to eat. Mr. Weasley will be examined. The couple treated him very well during the summer vacation. ...

However, he has no time to think about it. Professor McGonagall is distributing the curriculum on Gryffindor's desk. Harry got his schedule. The first class was herbs. He took it with Hufflepuff students.

Harry, Ron and Hermione left the castle together and went through the vegetable field to the greenhouse, where all kinds of magical plants were planted. This roaring letter has done at least one good thing: Hermione seems to feel that they have been punished enough, and now she is as friendly as ever.

They approached the greenhouse and saw other students standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. As soon as Harry, Ron and Hermione joined in, they saw Professor Sprout striding from the lawn accompanied by gilderoy lockhart. Professor Sprout has a lot of bandages on his arm. Harry was filled with guilt when he saw bandages hanging from several branches of that whomping willow tree at a distance.

Professor Sprout is a stout witch. She wears a patched hat in her flowing hair, and there is a lot of dirt on her clothes. If Penny sees her nails during her period, she will faint. But Gilde Lockhart was spotless from head to toe, with elegant turquoise robes, shiny blond hair and a turquoise hat with gold edges.

"Oh, hello!" Lockhart shouted to the students with a big smile: "Just now, I showed Professor Sprout how to treat whomping willow! But I don't want you to think that I am better at herbalism than her! I just happened to see a few of these strange plants on my trip ... "

"Go to the third greenhouse today!" Professor Sprout said. Contrary to her usual cheerful behavior, she is obviously democratic at the grassroots level.

The students are whispering cheerfully. They only talked about the plants in the first greenhouse-the third greenhouse is more interesting and dangerous. Professor Sprout took a big key from his belt and opened the door. Harry smelled a damp smell of soil and fertilizer, mixed with rich flowers. Those flowers are as big as umbrellas, hanging from the ceiling. He was about to go in with Ron and Hermione when Lockhart stopped him.

"Harry! I've always wanted to talk to you-Professor Sprout, do you mind if he is two minutes late? "

Judging from Professor Sprout's expression, she does. But Lockhart said, "That's great." Close the greenhouse door to her.

"Harry," Lockhart shook his head, his big white teeth shining in the sun. Harry, Harry, Harry.

Harry was completely confused and didn't answer.

"When I heard-oh, of course, it's all my fault. I really want to kick myself. "

Harry doesn't know what he is talking about. He was about to express doubt when Lockhart continued, "I have never been so surprised. Drive to Hogwarts! Of course, I'll know why you did it at once, at a glance. Harry, Harry, Harry. "

Strangely, he can show every shiny tooth when he doesn't talk.

"I gave you a taste of fame, didn't I?" Lockhart said, "It makes you addicted. You made the front page of the newspaper with me, and you can't wait to do it again. "

"Oh-no, teacher, I-"

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Lockhart grabbed his shoulder. "I know, it's natural to try once and think twice-I blame myself for letting you taste the sweetness, which will inevitably go to your head-but, young man, you can't drive in the sky now in an attempt to attract people's attention. Calm down, okay? You have plenty of time when you grow up. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking! That's easy for him to say. Anyway, he is already an internationally renowned wizard! But when I was twelve, I was as ordinary as you are now. Actually, it should be said that it is more common than you. I mean, some people already know you, right? And those who can't even mention their names! "He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry's forehead." I know, I know, it's not as good as winning the most charming smile award in Wizard Weekly for five times in a row, but it's a start, Harry. It's a start. "

He gave Harry a friendly wink and walked away with measured steps. Harry froze for a few minutes, then remembered that he should go to the greenhouse, so he pushed the door and slipped in.

Professor Sprout is standing behind a bench in the middle of the greenhouse. There are twenty pairs of earmuffs of different colors on the stool. When Harry sat down next to Ron and Hermione, the teacher said, "We are going to change the plates for Mandela today. Now, who can tell me what are the characteristics of Mandrake? "

Hermione was the first to raise her hand, which everyone expected.

"Mandrake, also called Mandrake Root, is a powerful restorative," Hermione said naturally as if she had eaten a textbook. "It is used to restore deformed people or enchanted people to their original state."

"Very well, give Gryffindor ten points." Professor Sprout said, "Mandrake is an important part of most antidotes. But it's also dangerous. Can someone tell me why? "

Hermione brushed her hand again and almost knocked out Harry's glasses.

"It will kill you to hear the sound of Mandrake." She blurted out.

"Exactly, plus ten points." Professor Sprout said, "Look, the Mandrake here is still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep chassis and said. Everyone leaned forward to see more clearly. There are about one hundred kinds of green and purple plants. Harry thinks they are nothing special. He didn't know what Hermione meant by "crying" of Mandrake.

"Everyone wears a pair of earmuffs." Professor Sprout said.

With the noise of looting, no one wants to get a pair of pink plush earmuffs.

"When I tell you to put on earmuffs, be sure to cover your ears tightly," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to take off the earmuffs, I will give two thumbs up. Ok-put on the earmuffs. "

Harry worked so fast that suddenly all the voices outside could not be heard. Professor Sprout put on a pair of pink plush earmuffs himself, rolled up his sleeves, firmly grasped a clump of grass leaves and pulled it up hard.

Harry let out a scream that no one could hear.

What was pulled out of the soil was not grass roots, but an ugly baby with leaves on its head. His skin is light green with spots on it. This little guy is obviously screaming at the top of his lungs.

Professor Sprout took out a big flowerpot from under the table, stuffed the Mandrake doll in it, and buried it with damp dark compost, leaving only clusters of leaves exposed. She patted the mud on her hand, gave two thumbs up and took off her earmuffs.

"Our Mandrake is just a seedling, and hearing their cries won't kill you." She said calmly, as if she had just watered the begonia. "However, they will put you in a coma for several hours. I think none of you want to miss the first day of school, so you must wear earmuffs at work. I'll try to get your attention when it's time to pack up. "

"A plate for four people-there are many flowerpots here-compost is in the bag over there-be careful, it's teething."

She slapped a crimson plant with a sharp thorn, which made it shrink back and quietly reached her shoulder.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and a Hufflepuff boy with curly hair are standing at a plate. Harry thinks he looks familiar, but he has never spoken to him.

"My name is Justin Finely," he said happily, squeezing Harry's hand. "Of course I know you, the famous Harry Potter ... you are hermione granger-always the first one ..." (Hermione's hand shakes, and she smiles sweetly) "And Ron Weasley, is that flying car yours?"

Ron didn't laugh, apparently still thinking about the roaring letter.

"Who is that Lockhart?" Justin said happily when they began to fill the flowerpots with dragon manure compost. "What a brave man. Have you read his book? If I am stuck in a phone booth by a werewolf, I will be scared to death, but he is so calm-gee-amazing. "

"I was going to Eton College, but I'm glad to be here in the future. Of course, my mother was a little disappointed, but after I let her read Lockhart's book, I think she has begun to see how useful it is to have a well-trained wizard at home ... "

After that, I didn't have much chance to talk. They put on earmuffs again and had to concentrate on the mandrake. Just now, I saw what Professor Sprout did was very easy, but it wasn't like that at all. Mandrake doesn't want to be pulled out of the soil, but it doesn't seem to want to go back. They twisted their bodies, kicked their feet, waved pointed fists and gnashed their teeth. It took Harry ten minutes to cram a particularly fat doll into the basin.

At the end of class, Harry was sweating like other students, with backache and mud all over. Tired, they went back to the castle to take a bath, and then Gryffindor students rushed to the class of Metamorphosis.

Professor McGonagall's class is always difficult, but today it is particularly difficult. During the summer vacation, Harry seems to have forgotten all the lessons he learned last year. The teacher asked him to turn a beetle into a button, but he spent a long time trying to make the beetle move. The beetle ran around the table, avoiding its wand, but he couldn't light it.

Ron is even more unfortunate. He borrowed some magic tape to repair the wand, but it seemed to be beyond repair, crackling and sparking from time to time. Whenever Ron tried to deform the beetle, a gray smoke with the smell of rotten eggs immediately surrounded him. He couldn't see clearly, and his elbow moved at random, crushing the beetle to death, so he had to ask for another one. Professor McGonagall is unhappy.

Hearing the lunch bell, Halisson breathed a sigh of relief. His brain is like a water-absorbing sponge. Everyone walked out of the classroom, except him and Ron. Ron banged his wand on the table in anger.

"Idiot ... invalid ... things ..."

"Write home and ask for another one." Harry suggested that the wand emit a series of firecrackers.

"Yes, I got another yelling letter," said Ron, stuffing the hissing wand into my schoolbag. "It's your own fault that your wand is broken-"

They went to the auditorium for lunch. Hermione showed them a beautiful button made of beetles, but Ron's mood still didn't improve.

"What classes are there in the afternoon?" Harry quickly changed the subject.

"Defense against the Dark Arts," Hermione said at once.

"Gee," Ron said in surprise, grabbing her schedule, "why do you circle Lockhart's class with your heart?"

Hermione grabbed the schedule and blushed angrily.

After eating, they went to the yard with dark clouds. Hermione sat down and read Walking with Vampires again. Harry and Ron stood talking about Quidditch for a while, and then Harry felt that someone was watching him closely. He looked up and saw the gray-haired and very thin boy staring at himself at the sorting ceremony last night. The boy has something in his hand that looks like an ordinary muggle camera. The boy's face turned red when Harry saw him.

"Hello, Harry? I-my name is colin creevy. " He panted, taking a timid step forward. "I'm also in Gryffindor. Do you think-is it possible-can I take a picture of you? " He raised his camera in anticipation.

"take pictures?" Harry asked blankly.

"So I can prove that I have seen you." Colin said eagerly and moved a few steps forward. "I know everything about you. Everyone told me. How did you avoid the mystery man, how did he disappear, and so on? You still have a lightning-shaped scar on your forehead. " (His eyes are searching Harry's hair) "A boy in my dormitory said that if I used the right developer, the people in the photo would move." Colin took a deep breath and trembled with excitement. "It's interesting here, isn't it? I didn't know that the strange thing I would do was magic until I received a letter from Hogwarts. My father is a milkman. He can't believe it. So I'm going to take a lot of photos and send them to him. If I can have a picture of you-"he looked at Harry imploringly-"maybe I can stand next to you and ask your friend to press it for me? Then, can you sign it? "

"Signature photo? You want to send an autographed photo, Potter? "

Draco Malfoy's shrill voice echoed in the yard. He stopped behind Colin, next to his two tall and fierce good friends: Crabbe and Goyle. At Hogwarts, these two men always follow him like bodyguards.

"Everybody line up!" Malfoy shouted to the crowd, "Harry Potter is going to send an autographed photo!" " "

"I didn't." Harry said angrily, clenched his fist. "Shut up, Malfoy."

"You are jealous." Colin screamed that his whole body was only as thick as Crabbe's neck.

"jealous?" Malfoy said. He doesn't need to shout anymore. Half the people in the yard are listening. "Jealous of what? I don't want ugly scars on my head, thank you. I don't think cutting off your head will make you so special. I don't believe it! "

Crabbe and Goyle giggled.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy." Ron said angrily. Crabbe stopped laughing and began to rub his chestnut knuckles severely.

"Be careful, Weasley," Malfoy sneered. "Don't make any more trouble, or your mother will have to come and take you back." He put on a harsh voice. "If you don't behave yourself-"

A group of fifth-grade Slytherin students nearby burst into laughter.

"Weasley wants an autographed photo, Potter," Malfoy smiled smugly. "This is worth more than his house."

Ron pulled out his wand, but Hermione closed Walking with Vampires and whispered, "Look out!"

"What's the matter, what's the matter?" Gilderoy lockhart strode towards them, his turquoise robe fluttering behind him. "Who is sending autographed photos?"

Harry opened his mouth to explain, but Lockhart put an arm around his shoulder and said happily, "Don't ask! We meet again, Harry! "

Harry was caught beside Lockhart, feeling humiliated and feverish. He saw Malfoy proudly retreating into the crowd.

"Come on, Mr. Creevy," Lockhart greeted Creevy with a smile. "It's cost-effective to take double shots. We'll sign it for you. "

Colin picked up the camera awkwardly and pressed the shutter in the afternoon bell.

"Let's go and go to class." Los Hartshorne crowd shouted, and then took Harry to the castle. Harry is still tightly held by him, and he wishes he knew a clever escape spell.

"A word of advice, Harry," Lockhart said like a father when they entered the building through a side door. "I'll cover for you in front of George W. Creevy-if he filmed the two of us, your classmates wouldn't think you were too conceited ..."

Lockhart didn't listen to Harry's stuttering excuses at all. He crossed a corridor full of students and climbed the stairs. The students all stared at them.

"Listen to me, it is unwise for you to send autographed photos at this stage-Harry, to be honest, it seems a bit arrogant. One day, like me, you will need to carry a stack of photos around. But-"he chuckled," I don't think you're there yet. "

When he got to Lockhart's classroom, he finally let go of Harry. Harry evened out his clothes and went to a seat in the last row and sat down. He is busy stacking seven Lockhart books in front of him so as not to see the real person.

Other students twittered into the classroom, and Ron and Hermione sat on both sides of Harry.

"You can fry eggs on your face," said Ron. "You'd better pray that Creevy won't meet Ginny. They will start a Harry Potter fan club. "

"Don't talk nonsense." Harry said eagerly. He was afraid that Lockhart would hear the words "Harry Potter fan club".

After the class sat down, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly to make everyone quiet. He reached for neville longbottom's Walking with Trolls and held it in his hand, revealing the photo of himself blinking on the cover.

"I," he said, pointing to his photo and blinking, "Gilderoy Lockhart, a third-class medal of the Merlin Jazz, an honorary member of the Anti-Dark Magic League, won the Wizard Weekly's most charming smile award five times-but I don't talk about that, and I didn't drive away the port city of Wan Lun in southwest Thailand by smiling. That female ghost! "

He waited for everyone to laugh, and several people smiled faintly.

"I see you all bought my complete works-very good. I think we should have a quiz today. Don't be afraid-just look at how you read and how much you understand ... "

After handing out the papers, he returned to the podium and said, "You have thirty minutes. Now-start! "

Harry looked at the paper and read aloud:

1. What's Gidro Lockhart's favorite color?

2. What is gilderoy lockhart's secret ambition?

3. What do you think is Gidro Lockhart's greatest achievement so far?

So on, three sides are paper, and the last question is:

54. When is Gidro Lockhart's birthday? What is his ideal birthday present?

Half an hour later, Lockhart put away the test paper and leafed through it quickly in front of the class.

"Hey, almost no one remembers that I like lilac best. I mentioned it in the year "There is a Snowman in Tibet". Some students should read Weekend with Werewolves carefully-I made it clear in chapter 12 that my ideal birthday present is that all people who know magic and those who don't-but I won't refuse a large bottle of Ogden old hot whiskey! "

He winked at them playfully again. Ron is looking at him with a look of distrust now. Seymour finnigan and dean thomas in front laughed their heads off, but Hermione was listening with rapt attention. Lockhart suddenly mentioned his name, which surprised her.

"... but Miss hermione granger knows that my secret ambition is to eliminate the evil in the world and sell my own hair care water series-good girl! In fact-"he turned her paper over," a hundred points! Where is Miss hermione granger? "

Hermione raised a trembling hand.

"Great!" Lockhart smiled and said, "Good! Give Gryffindor ten points! Now, get down to business ... "

He bent down, took out a big cage covered with cloth from behind the platform and put it on the table.

"Now-be careful! My task is to teach you to resist the most evil things in the magical world! You will face the most terrible thing in this classroom. But remember, as long as I'm here, you won't be hurt. I only ask you to remain calm. "

Harry couldn't help sticking his head out from behind a pile of books to have a good look at the cage. Lockhart put his hand on the hood, Dean and Seamus stopped laughing, and Neville in the first row shrank back.

"I must ask you not to scream," Lockhart whispered. "That will irritate them!"

The whole class held their breath and Lockhart lifted the lid.

"Yes," he said exaggeratedly, "a famous elf from Cornwall, England, has just been caught."

Seymour finnigan couldn't help but let out a sneer. Even Lockhart couldn't have thought it was a horrible scream.

"Why?" He asked Seymour with a smile.

"Well, they are not-they are not very-dangerous, are they?" Seamus laughed out of breath.

"Don't be so sure!" Lockhart shook his finger at him angrily and said, "They may be as cunning as the devil!" " "

These elves are iron blue, about eight inches tall, with small pointed faces and harsh voices, as if many budgies were arguing. As soon as the lid was lifted, they began to twitter, jump up and down, shake their cages and make all kinds of strange faces at people nearby.

"Well," Lockhart said loudly, "let's see how you deal with them!" He opened the door of the cage.

This is really a mess. Elves fly around like rockets. Two of them grabbed Neville by the ear and picked him up. Several people rushed out of the window and scattered broken glass in the back of the classroom. The rest are rampant in the classroom, worse than a rampaging rhinoceros. They grabbed the ink bottle and threw it at the class, tore the books and papers into pieces, addressed the pictures posted on the wall, turned the waste box upside down and threw the schoolbags and textbooks out of the broken window. A few minutes later, half the class hid under the table, and Neville was swinging on the chandelier.

"Come on, round them up, round them up, they're just elves ..." Lockhart shouted.

He rolled up his sleeves, waved his wand and shouted, "Pescpik West Pesnomi!" " "

Completely ineffective, an elf grabbed Lockhart's wand and threw it out of the window. Lockhart took a deep breath, got under the podium table and was almost hit by Neville, because almost at the same second, the chandelier fell.

Everyone rushed out of the door as soon as the bell rang. In the relative silence that followed, Lockhart straightened up, saw Harry, Ron and Hermione who had already reached the door, and said, "Oh, I ask you three to take the rest back to the cage." He hurried out of the classroom in front of them and closed the door as soon as he went out.

"Can you trust him?" Ron cried, and an elf bit his ear, which was very painful.

"He just wants to give us some opportunities to practice," said Hermione, who skillfully used a freezing spell to freeze the two elves and put them back in the cage.

"Practice?" Harry tried to catch an elf, but it dodged gently and stuck out its tongue to him. "Hermione, he doesn't know what he is doing."

"Nonsense," said Hermione. "You've all read his books-think about the amazing things he did ..."

"It's just that he said he did it himself." Ron muttered.