Once again the Floo Network. Dudley and the others traveled through the Longbottom ancestral home's fireplace to arrive at Diagon Alley.
Though they could shop elsewhere, Diagon Alley was always the place with the most complete selection of Hogwarts school supplies. Since they were only buying school items, something quite simple, Lady Augusta hadn't come along.
Most second-year supplies were the same as last year. If you'd already bought them, there was no need to buy duplicates. However, they needed to buy new textbooks. The first-year ones had been completed.
Flourish and Blotts always had the most complete selection of books outside of rare editions, where you could buy almost any book except prohibited items. However, today Flourish and Blotts was exceptionally crowded.
A large crowd was squeezed outside the door, and a huge banner hung upstairs:
GILDEROY LOCKHART
Autographing copies of his autobiography
Magical Me
Today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
"Lockhart?"
Neville muttered the name, then turned to look at Dudley with a dry voice. "Big D, I have an ominous feeling."
Dudley nodded, confirming his suspicion. "I think your feeling is correct. It looks like he'll be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Sure enough, as Dudley's words fell, an extremely excited male voice came from inside Flourish and Blotts.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted and proud to announce that this September, I will become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Neville: ...Damn!
Hermione: 'Good thing I already have a Plan B.'
Thinking this, Hermione silently glanced at the other two books on her list: The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and Practical Magical Defense.
"Look, it's Potter! Harry Potter!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, and the three saw a man dressed like a peacock with his arm around poor Harry, posing for photos. Under the constant flash photography, Harry had a stiff expression and looked completely unhappy.
Harry felt he'd been incredibly unlucky since leaving Dudley's side. Originally, he'd been staying quite well at the Burrow. Though the house wasn't large or luxurious, it was very comfortable, and Mrs. Weasley's cooking was excellent, second only to Dudley's.
Then some unknown ghostly thing (House-elf) suddenly appeared, babbling nonsense about punishing him and preventing him from attending school. When he disagreed, the thing disappeared, and then the Burrow experienced a series of strange accidents. He was present for every single one.
He'd barely made it to the appointed time to buy books, only to encounter some signing event where he was forcibly dragged into photos. He didn't like being famous... though he was indeed a celebrity in the wizarding world.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Give that back."
The frantic shouting caught Harry's attention. Then he saw Dudley, who was holding a large black camera while a short man was trying to snatch it from his hands. Unfortunately, even jumping up, the man couldn't reach Dudley's shoulder.
"This is for The Daily Prophet, you know? The Daily Prophet!"
After several failed attempts, the short man glared at Dudley angrily.
"So what?" Dudley said. He didn't compromise just because the other party mentioned The Daily Prophet. Instead, he became even more uncooperative. "I think even The Daily Prophet should get people's consent before photographing them. Harry doesn't like you taking his picture."
The Prophet Publishing House that had previously refused to publish Dudley's novel was under The Daily Prophet. A third-rate garbage newspaper with no vision.
"You're not Mr. Potter! How do you know?"
He roared, struggling to push Dudley away, only to fall on his backside.
"Big D!" Harry called out excitedly, then suddenly remembered Lockhart beside him.
This was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Mrs. Weasley said he was very capable, so if possible, it would be best not to offend him...
Contrary to Harry's expectations, Lockhart wasn't angry at all. Instead, he became even more delighted.
"Hey, look who I've found!"
Lockhart's eyes lit up when he saw Dudley. "The author of Dragonlance Chronicles... Teacher Jerry."
Releasing his arm from around Harry, he introduced himself with exaggerated yet natural gestures while moving toward Dudley's position.
"Who won the title of most popular novel this time, beating my new work Magical Me by a narrow margin."
Lockhart's shameless words caused Hermione's displeasure. She was a loyal supporter of Dudley's novels.
What narrow margin? It was clearly a complete domination across the board!
Dudley wasn't surprised that Lockhart recognized him. After all, this guy had been the bestselling novelist in the wizarding world for many consecutive years. Dudley wouldn't believe he had no connections.
Moreover, at the first-year end-of-term feast, Dudley had received the Order of Merlin, Third Class in front of all Hogwarts teachers and students. Though that thing wasn't worth much money, the number of people who'd received this medal in recent years could be counted on one hand. Last year, only he had received it.
"What a day this is, allowing me to meet two celebrities consecutively in this narrow, humble bookstore."
Lockhart walked up to Dudley, originally intending to pat the other's shoulder in a senior's manner to encourage the junior, only to discover the other was half a head taller than him.
'Sorry my shop is so small,' the Flourish and Blotts owner thought resentfully, though his face maintained a smiling expression.
"Come on, let's take a photograph together," Lockhart said with enthusiasm, extending the invitation.
"Mr. Lockhart, I believe that would be inadvisable," came the firm response.
The refusal was swift and uncompromising. Dudley understood perfectly well that Lockhart was orchestrating publicity for his latest publication.
Should Lockhart succeed in capturing photographs of Dudley and Harry together, the following day's newspaper headlines would undoubtedly read: "Exclusive! Professor Jerry and Harry Potter Make Joint Appearance—All for Lockhart's Latest Release" or "Revealed! The Hidden Connection Between Professor Jerry and Lockhart Finally Exposed..."
Dudley had no intention of being manipulated for someone else's gain. Besides, his attention was entirely devoted to matters at Hogwarts.
Commotion arose from the crowd.
"There's a fight over there!"
Inside Flourish and Blotts, two adult wizards were wrestling together, with a pair of twins beside them shouting something, apparently cheering.
"Get him, Dad!"
"Hit his nose, hit his nose!"
The Weasley and Malfoy families had come into conflict.
"Aren't you going to say something, Draco?"
Ron walked up to Malfoy's side, nodding toward the two fighting parents. After experiencing the wizard chess challenge, Ron and Malfoy's relationship had subtly changed quite a bit. Though they still bickered and argued most of the time.
Malfoy was briefly silent, then shook his head slightly. "Just like a little kid who lost an argument."
'Father, when you told me to watch carefully, you didn't mean you fighting with someone else, did you?'
'The key is, Father, you're about to lose...'
'So embarrassing.'