"Exactly!"
Lockhart puffed out his chest proudly, as if the words alone proved his greatness.
"Freshly captured! These might be the most mischievous little troublemakers you've ever seen!"
Most of the students laughed.
The tiny blue creatures looked ridiculous rather than dangerous.
Even Hermione frowned slightly. According to the books, pixies were annoying—but they weren't truly dangerous dark creatures.
"Laugh if you like!" Lockhart wagged a finger dramatically.
"But be careful! These little devils are very… very tricky!"
"Now—let's see how you deal with them!"
Before anyone could react—
He unlatched the cage door.
And chaos erupted instantly.
The twenty pixies didn't simply fly out.
They exploded into the classroom like blue cannonballs, filling the air in seconds.
"Chitter-chatter—screeeee!"
Their sounds were no longer playful.
They were shrill cries of pure destructive joy.
The classroom atmosphere ignited in an instant.
One pixie rushed straight for an ink bottle, lifted it with surprising strength, and gleefully flung dark blue ink toward the ceiling. The droplets rained down like a storm.
Another pair grabbed Hermione's book, Break with a Banshee. With a sharp ripping sound, Lockhart's smiling face on the cover was torn clean in half.
"Hey! My book!"
Hermione cried out, trying to protect the stack of brand-new volumes on her desk.
Too late.
Three pixies dove down like streaks of blue lightning.
In seconds, the books she treasured were shredded into fluttering scraps of paper.
The classroom had become a disaster zone.
Screams.
Pixie laughter.
Ripping paper.
Shattering glass.
The noises blended into a chaotic symphony.
Pixies darted everywhere.
They threw quills like darts, shredded parchment scrolls, and even worked together to tip over the teacher's desk—spilling Lockhart's precious signed photographs across the floor.
"Oh! Quick! Drive them back!" Lockhart shouted, waving his wand.
But the confident smile had vanished.
Panic showed clearly on his face.
"They're just… just a little excited!"
He stammered out a spell.
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"
A weak spark shot from his wand.
It didn't even touch a single pixie.
Instead, it struck the giant dinosaur skeleton hanging from the ceiling.
Clatter!
Several ribs broke loose and crashed downward, nearly hitting students below.
The chaos reached its peak.
Two particularly strong pixies grabbed Neville Longbottom by the ears.
Before anyone could react, they lifted him straight out of his seat.
Neville screamed in terror as they dragged him across the room—
Then hung him from the large iron chandelier in the center of the classroom.
Neville dangled like a pendulum, his robes caught on the hook, face pale with panic.
"Oh my goodness! Neville!"
"Get him down!"
Students scrambled everywhere, diving under desks.
Ron and Harry struggled to shield their heads with their schoolbags as objects flew across the room.
Yet in the middle of this chaos—
One corner remained perfectly calm.
Lucian Thornwick hadn't even stood up.
Around his seat was an invisible repulsion barrier.
Every pixie that tried to approach him…
Every drop of ink flying toward him…
Stopped half a meter away.
Then gently bounced aside as if hitting an invisible wall.
Lucian calmly closed the ancient book he had been reading.
He raised his eyes toward the front of the room.
There, the so-called "great wizard" was being chased around by two pixies that had grabbed his hair.
Lockhart looked utterly miserable.
Lucian's conclusion remained unchanged.
Once the glittering packaging was torn away—
The man wasn't even straw.
Just emptiness.
Finally, seeing that the situation was completely out of control, Lockhart abandoned what little dignity he had left.
"Well! I suppose I'll… leave the rest to you!"
Dodging another pixie dive in a clumsy hop, he rushed out of the classroom.
He slammed the door of his office shut behind him.
Leaving the students alone.
Along with twenty still-celebrating blue troublemakers.
Hermione stood frozen in the middle of the wrecked classroom.
Around her were torn book pages.
Above her, Neville still dangled miserably from the chandelier.
And ahead—the professor's office door remained firmly closed.
Her expression slowly filled with disbelief.
This… was her idol?
This was the wizard she had admired?
Compared with Lucian…
Lockhart's behavior was simply embarrassing.
He wasn't even worthy of standing in the same league.
In that moment—
The last trace of admiration in Hermione's eyes finally shattered.
What remained was only cold disappointment… and anger.
—------------------------------
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