Gilderoy Lockhart
Harry Potter character
Patronus: Non-corporeal
Organizations: Ravenclaw House
Occupations: Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, MOREs
Blood status: Half-blood
Wand: Cherry and dragon heartstring, nine inches, slightly bendy
Boggart: Cornish Pixies


"Why, I remember the time when I was writing my second bestseller, Gadding with Ghouls. I believed that the more exposure I got in the press, the better my career would progress. Trouble was, I became overexposed! And it wasn't until I went mysteriously missing for three weeks, subsequently leaking the story to the Prophet that I'd been captured by Trolls in the wilds of Stockton-on-Tees, that I managed to regain my former prominent position as the world's most popular wizard."
—Lockhart talking with Harry Potter at Flourish and Blotts[src]
GilderoyLockhartAward
Gilderoy Lockhart with one of his many accolades for his supposed achievements
After his graduation from Hogwarts in 1982 (with a faint sigh of relief from the school staff), Lockhart became an accomplished author, travelling to exotic parts of the world and, having mastered Memory Charms shortly after his graduation, tricking accomplished witches and wizards into revealing their greatest deeds and then erasing their memories.[1]

He then returned to Britain with a new book each time, all of them self-promoting and filled with a wealth of invented details;[1] known victims of his trickery included an Armenian warlock and a witch with a hairy chin. His books were very popular, and he reserved a special quill of peacock feather just for book signings. He also received many awards for his supposedly great deeds, and was invited to join the Dark Force Defence League as an honorary member, all the while managing to successfully hide his fraudulence. His former teachers, who were unaware of his status as a con-artist, began to think that they might have misjudged him, due to his supposedly bravery and resilience to combat the Dark Arts.

According to Lockhart, he initially believed that the more exposure he got in the press, the better his career would progress. By the time he was writing his second bestseller, Gadding with Ghouls, he became overexposed, something that damaged his popularity. He, then, went mysteriously missing for three weeks, after which he leaked to the Daily Prophet that he had been captured by trolls in the wilds of Stockton-on-Tees. The story boosted his popularity once again. Through this experience, he claimed that one must be "sparing with [one's] public appearances, at first", as one might become overexposed.[10]

Magical Me
Magical Me is Lockhart's autobiography
Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster during Lockhart's time, happened to have known two of the wizards whose memories Lockhart erased, and had a shrewd and accurate idea what was happening.[1] He correctly believed that dragging Lockhart into a normal, school atmosphere would reveal his fraudulence, and with a vacancy in Defence Against the Dark Arts having opened up in June 1992, tracked down the author and offered Lockhart a job at Hogwarts (something Lockhart had not been too keen to do, as he saw how well his career as an author was progressing).[1]

Dumbledore slyly hinted that Harry Potter was a second year student at the school, and being a teacher to the "famous Harry" would propel Lockhart's fame into the stratosphere. Ego and publicity-hunger overruled caution, and Lockhart took the job. The other teachers remembered Lockhart as the obnoxious attention seeker back then, regardless of his later achievements, and were baffled at Dumbledore for inviting Lockhart to teach; Minerva McGonagall, in particular, asked what possibly could be learned from such a vain, celebrity-hungry man, in which the headmaster replied there was plenty to learn from even a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be.[1]

Harry-potter2-lockhart
Lockhart and Harry Potter during the book signing at Flourish and Blotts
Lockhart thus became the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the 1992-1993 school year, and several of his books were assigned for the course that year, resulting in an unusually expensive book list (his books alone amounted to 35 galleons). In August of 1992, Lockhart went to Flourish and Blotts to announce his employment; it was there that he met Harry Potter for the first time. He became quite excited and dragged Harry to the front, taking as many pictures as he could with the famous boy and then gifting him all of the set books in an attempt to garner some of Harry's affection. The incident, in fact, embarrassed Harry, who gave his books to Ginny Weasley, both because he could afford his own set and also because he did not particularly cherish his interaction with Lockhart.

Career at Hogwarts (1992-1993)
Early classes
"Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.... me!"
—Lockhart introducing himself to his students[src]
Being the only willing applicant for the cursed position, Gilderoy Lockhart became Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during the 1992–1993 school year. His classroom and office at Hogwarts were decorated with pictures and portraits of himself (before the class started, Fred thought that the teacher must be a fan of Lockhart. In a way, he was correct) which moved and smiled (there was even one of himself painting another portrait of himself). He also decorated the office with copies of his publications.

Harry-potter2-lockhart pixies
Lockhart bringing pixies to a DADA lesson
For his first lesson, he gave his second-year class a "little quiz" which had nothing to do with defence, but instead concerned his autobiography, Magical Me, and the parts of his books just referring to him, such as his favourite colour and his ideal birthday present; he simply wanted to see how much the class has read his books. Despite his claim of "little", it ran for three pages with fifty-four questions, and only Hermione got all of them correct. He then proceeded to release a cage full of "freshly caught" Cornish Pixies into the classroom, causing a large amount of pandemonium, then irresponsibly instructed Harry, Ron, and Hermione to clean up after the mess while running back into his office.

He was not the least bit popular among his fellow Hogwarts staff members and constantly gave them unsolicited pieces of advice on their specialties. Harry and his friends also found him quite obnoxious and could not take him seriously as a professor. Even Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper, who usually refrained from criticising teachers, showed public disdain for Lockhart. Many male students, such as Ron Weasley, also considered Lockhart to be annoying and incompetent, and gave him very little respect outside of his presence. However, Lockhart's charms had attracted many schoolgirls such as Hermione Granger and Susan Bones. Muggle-born students who have recently been introduced into the wizarding world, such as Justin Finch-Fletchley and Colin Creevey, also admired Lockhart due to their lack of experience with the magical community, and easily bought into his celebrity-status.

Harry-potter2-lockhart professor
Lockhart teaching DADA to second years
After the pixie chaos, Lockhart did not bring any more live creatures into class, but instead read from his books and re-enacted several portions of his "achievements," sometimes dragging Harry to help him with it. The only reason Harry agreed to do so was to get signed permission from Lockhart for a book in the Restricted Section of the library, which Lockhart signed without even paying attention to what book they wanted. His idea of homework included composing a poem of one of his alleged achievements, and offered a signed copy of his autobiography as a reward to the best composer. Due to Lockhart's overall poor performances, the class did not learn anything about true defence, and Ron claimed that he only learned not to set pixies loose, and would have dropped the course had he been allowed to. Lockhart's once powerful potential had been wasted from years of misuse and neglect, resulting in him being unable to properly teach (or even understand what he was attempting at times).

Irritating Harry Potter
"You could've fried an egg on your face."
—Ron Weasley commenting on Lockhart embarrassing Harry Potter[src]
For the majority of the year, Lockhart kept hounding on Harry, trying to use him to boost his own fame, much to Harry's humiliation and irritation. Lockhart made it look as though Harry was trying to use his fame of defeating Lord Voldemort to make a name in the wizarding world, that the Flying Ford Anglia he rode on to school was a publicity stunt, and that he was enjoying his companionship with Lockhart and ignored much of Harry's attempted contradictions to these ridiculous hypotheses.

FanMail
Harry helping Lockhart answer fan-mail as detention
Lockhart personally requested Harry to help him answer his fan mails for detention, while bombarding Harry with his advice for fame, and thought Harry would think of this as a treat, much to the contrary. In fact, Harry practically begged Professor McGonagall to be in Ron's detention in assisting Argus Filch in cleaning the Trophy Room instead, though the strict Transfiguration teacher refused. Harry then suffered several long hours of dull boredom, addressing envelopes. When Harry heard mysterious voices during this detention, Lockhart thought Harry was merely tired. Following the disastrous episode in which he released "freshly caught" Cornish pixies in class, Lockhart staged dramatic readings from his books and often chose Harry to participate in re-enactments, much to Harry's aggravation.

After a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, in which the Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter had his arm broken by a rogue Bludger, Lockhart offered to help repair his arm. Ignoring Harry's refusal, he ended up removing all the bones in Harry's arm.

Alarte Ascendare COS 1
Lockhart making a fool out of himself at the first and last duelling club meeting
Lockhart founded a short-lived Duelling Club for students. He made a fool of himself at the very first meeting by firstly being disarmed by Severus Snape and then claiming that he allowed Snape to do so. He also angered a snake conjured by Draco Malfoy by launching it into the air rather than vanishing it, causing it to aim at Justin Finch-Fletchley. Lockhart was also indirectly responsible for bringing out Harry's full-fledged Parselmouth ability, because if he had vanished the snake successfully, there would be no need for Harry to run at the snake and demand it to leave Justin alone.

When Hermione Granger was in the Hospital Wing for a malfunction dosage of Polyjuice Potion, Lockhart sent her a get-well card, with an unnecessarily long introduction of himself as a signature. Hermione slept with this under her pillow, much to Ron Weasley's disgust.

Valentine's Day and the Chamber of Secrets
Severus Snape: "A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has come at last."
Lockhart: "My moment?"
Severus Snape: "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"
— Snape telling Lockhart he needs to go down to the chamber and rescue Ginny[src]
Valentine's
The Valentine's Day feast in 1993
During Valentine's Day, Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes, completely redecorated the Great Hall with pink flowers and raining heart-shaped confetti as a morale-booster to cheer up the mood against the Chamber of Secrets incident, much to the distaste of Ron Weasley and the teachers. Lockhart received at least forty-six valentines, one of which was from Hermione Granger, and made insensitive comments about Entrancing Enchantments and love potions towards Professors Flitwick and Snape, respectively. This made Flitwick bury his face in his hands in embarrassment, and Snape look as though he would force the first person who dared to ask him for a Love Potion to eat poison. He even had dwarfs wear golden wings and carry harps to deliver valentines throughout the school, which they did (even if they have to do so forcibly), much to Harry's embarrassment when one forced him to listen to one from Ginny Weasley by knocking him down. This event is, ironically, somewhat a repeat of his attempt to earn attention during his youth in Valentines Day, being equally annoying.

When the Chamber of Secrets was opened, Lockhart made false claims about that he knew where the Chamber was and what the monster of Slytherin is all along. He even claimed that he knew Rubeus Hagrid was guilty all along when the Minister for Magic arrested the former. While the other teachers were serious and tense from all the attacks, Lockhart was the only one who remained relaxed and uncaring about these security measures. In one instance walked up to a scene with a cheery personality and stated, "Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?"

Lockhart is in trouble
Harry and Ron force Lockhart to go to the Chamber with them
On 29 May, 1993, when Ginny Weasley was taken into the Chamber of Secrets, the other teachers told Lockhart to go down to the Chamber and deal with the monster, in response to his arrogance and many claims that he knew how to solve the problem. Instead of trying to rescue Ginny, Lockhart attempted to run away from the school, but was caught by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley when they came to his office to give him information regarding the Chamber, and he accidentally revealed his life-style of fraudulence. Harry and Ron forced Lockhart to go down to the Chamber with them.

Obliviate backfire
Lockhart accidentally erases his own mind
There, Lockhart seized Ron's broken wand and attempted to perform a total Memory Charm on Harry and Ron, planning on taking a piece of basilisk skin back up to the surface and tell everyone that he was too late to save Ginny and that the two "tragically" lost their minds at sight of her mangled body. The wand backfired and the charm hit Lockhart instead, causing him to lose all of his memories and become a permanent resident of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. His departure from school was met with the joy and celebration of many students and teachers, as he was not universally popular at Hogwarts.

Permanent incapacitation (1993-?)
"But as he stepped on to the landing he came to an abrupt halt, staring at the small window set into the double doors that marked the start of a corridor signposted SPELL DAMAGE. A man was peering out at them all with his nose pressed against the glass. He had wavy blond hair, bright blue eyes and a broad vacant smile that revealed dazzlingly white teeth."
—Lockhart in the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungos[src]
Blissfully ignorant of his own fraudulence, or of anything else, for that matter, Lockhart's many crimes were never actually revealed to the public, presumably because his former employer, Professor Dumbledore, felt that Lockhart already had got what he deserved and decided against making his fate any worse by having people treat Gilderoy with contempt for the rest of his life for wrongdoings of which he had no recollections. This is evident by how not even the Healers at St Mungo's had been informed about the details around his admittance, as Miriam Strout, one of the employees at the long-time ward he was admitted to, spoke casually about how Gilderoy had been 'quite well-known a few years ago' and were optimistic to the prospect of Gilderoy's signs of improvement later in his treatment. Due to this, the ex-professor was allowed to continue his career as an author, after a fashion, getting someone to help him write the book Who Am I?. Based on Miriam's statement, it appears that the wizarding world in general came to forget Lockhart.

Closed Ward
Gilderoy Lockhart at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
On Christmas, 1995, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley saw Lockhart at St Mungo's in the Janus Thickey Ward. He had regained his memory to the extent that he could write in cursive ("with joined-up letters"), and still enjoyed signing autographs. Ron felt somewhat guilty, since his malfunctioning wand was responsible for damaging Lockhart's memories, but Harry felt less sympathetic, for it was Lockhart's attempt to remove their memories in the first place that resulted in this backfire. Overall, Harry observed Lockhart had not changed much and voiced this opinion, making Ginny giggle.

It is known that Gilderoy never got visitors, suggesting that his family was either deceased or did not care for him. However, Lockhart still received fan mail including weekly letters from Gladys Gudgeon (further evidence that the foundation of falsehood on which he had built his career as an author never became common knowledge), though he had no idea why. He also kept his peacock-feather quill, though it had become somewhat battered by that time, so that he could keep signing autographs.

Though he did retain some memories, Lockhart never fully recovered. Fortunately, however, he is known to be happier that way.[11][1]

Physical description
SneakyLockhart!
Lockhart in 1992
"To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award."
—Lockhart's 'Get Well' card to Hermione Granger[src]
Gilderoy Lockhart was a foppish, blandly handsome wizard with wavy blonde hair and particularly straight and shiny teeth. He was known for wearing flamboyant, flashy and incredibly extravagant robes in a wide assortment of colours.

However, during his moments of cowardice, Lockhart's handsomeness was lost, as he looked weak-chinned and foolish in the midst of his ineptitude.

Personality and traits
"Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking! 'He's an internationally famous wizard already!' But when I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now. In fact, I'd say I was even more of a nobody! I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! I know, I know — it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award five times in a row, as I have — but it's a start, Harry, it's a start!"
—Lockhart displaying his arrogance as he talks to Harry[src]
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Lockhart's love for vanity
Gilderoy Lockhart's defining characteristics were his extreme arrogance sand exceeding vanity, conceit, egomania, narcissism and self-obsession. He was a voracious self-promoter and claimed to have done many great deeds, though in actuality he was a fraud and merely took credit for other wizards and witches' accomplishments; he went as far as to claim his winning of the Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row is more impressive than Harry Potter defeating Lord Voldemort. He also made claims and suggestions, whether about other people's professions or in times of danger, in order to make himself look more important and powerful than he truly was. Like Stan Shunpike, Gilderoy tends to come up with made-up concepts on the spot rather frequently just to impress his admirers. His attempts to earn himself more fame also led him to attempt spells without fully understanding them (such as removing Harry's bones instead of mending them, and launching a snake into the air instead of making it vanish). It is also speculated that he invented some incantations and names for spells that do not actually exist, such as Peskipiksi Pesternomi, the Transmogrifian Torture, and the Homorphus Charm. Indeed, much of his books contain a large amount of invented details to promote his supposed feats.[1] As part of his vanity, Lockhart was very proud of his books, and would always make reference to them whenever giving advice based on his so-called experience.

Lockhart's overbearing self-confidence and insensitive suggestions irked most of the people he encountered who were not included among his fans. His unprofessional behaviour earned him the dislike of the Hogwarts faculty, as well as many of the students. Lockhart was overall considered a joke by Hogwarts, and when he left due to memory loss, the majority (if not the entirety) of the school was elated to see him go.

"Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough."
—Ron Weasley regarding Lockhart[src]
LockhartQuidditchCloseup
An autographed photo of Gilderoy
He also seemed to be completely oblivious to the reactions he elicited from other people, or misinterpreted them completely. When Ron looked revolted at his ostentatious peacock quill, Lockhart thought Ron was admiring it. He ignored Harry's many attempts to contradict his theories of enjoying his company and attention, as well as Harry's pleas for Lockhart to leave his broken arm alone, and also completely failed to notice the looks of hatred he received from the rest of the faculty for his ignorance. He asserted that Hogwarts was safe from the monster of Slytherin after Hagrid was arrested, claiming extra security was no longer necessary, and though proven wrong almost immediately, Lockhart stubbornly refused to retract his earlier claims, and continued to complain about how the extra security was tiring him out.

When faced with true danger, Gilderoy showed his true cowardice. He attempted to flee from Hogwarts when the other teachers pressured him into entering the Chamber of Secrets after Ginny Weasley's abduction, and claim that his books can be misleading, contradicting his past vain support on them. Even after the location of the Chamber's entrance was discovered, he was willing to leave Ginny Weasley to die, attempting to modify Harry and Ron's memories to cover himself.

Although Lockhart started out as a clever and very skilled student, being sorted into Ravenclaw house, he had a critical flaw in never trying in his studies (or anything) unless he was the very best of it, having been spoiled by his mother's overly affection and his own vanity. Even in his childhood, he already expected the students and teachers to greet him with admiration and excitement, as he deluded himself into thinking he is a genius above all others of undeserved rights, and was very disappointed and dulled when he was not given any special treatments. He studied not for education, but for attention and awards, and spent much of his time with annoying antics for fame that instead earned him a small notoriety. He was never an unskilled wizard, just a lazy one, and increasingly directed his talents to shortcuts and dodges; his gifts were wasted away, as the only spell he focused on was the Memory Charm. His abilities were eventually deteriorated beyond the point of recovery.

"My dear boy, do use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I did all those things..."
—Lockhart's response to Harry Potter[src]
Despite his ineptitude in most other areas of magic due to long-term neglect and misuse, Lockhart was skilled in Memory Charms, it being the one spell he focused on for his entire life, and was conniving enough to deceive other wizards and witches to thoroughly reveal their work to him before erasing their memories and claim the credits for himself. He also appeared to have been a skilled writer, publishing many books consisting primarily of his embellishments of other people's achievements, taking credit for them as his own. Given his propensity for lying, however, it cannot be said for certain that Lockhart himself actually wrote any of the books. He also added many invented details in such feats to promote himself further, distorting facts with fictional concepts.[1] Lockhart's fraudulent lifestyle has proven a certain degree of cunning, resourcefulness and disregard for rules, qualities that fall under the specifics of Slytherin, which he was narrowly able to avoid being sorted into.

In addition to his other flaws, Lockhart may have had a spiteful streak in him. After learning from Hagrid that the gamekeeper hadn't read any of his books Lockhart was rather put out, and again when Hagrid told him that Harry Potter was more famous than Lockhart without trying. After Hagrid's arrest Lockhart openly claimed to be certain that Hagrid was truly guilty, but whether this was a real hint of ill will or another sign of Lockhart's ignorance is unknown.

After losing his memory, however, Lockhart became a much nicer and happier person even if he didn't particularly know it. Upon seeing Harry and Ginny after the spell hit him, he said hello to them very cheerfully and spent most of the time humming to himself absentmindedly. When addressed as Professor, he expressed surprise at the idea and remarked that he must have been hopeless at it without any reluctance at all. Despite forgetting his desire for fame and attention, he continued to enjoy signing autographs and responding to fan letters, a trait that Harry noted has not changed.

Magical abilities and skills
"Yes, now you mention it. I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms."
—Lockhart in 1992[src]
Although Gilderoy Lockhart was very skilful in his youth, years of misuse and abandonment had diminished and rusted his magical abilities nearly beyond repair.

Charms: Lockhart dedicated most of his life to learning and perfecting the Memory Charm, which he could eventually do without fail. He was also capable of performing simple, minor enchantments such as the Verdimillious Duo Spell.
Potions: Lockhart was capable of creating some basic brews, such as an Occamy egg yolk shampoo, which was too dangerous and expensive for the open market. He claimed that he made the Mandrake Restorative Draught so many times that he could do it in his sleep, but this was a lie to garner more attention for himself.
Author: Lockhart's biggest skill apart from his specialty with Memory Charms was that he was an extremely accomplished Author, which was the career he chose after leaving Hogwarts. His skills as an Author were such that he was able to hide both his fraudulence and magical ineptitude to the general public by claiming credit in his books for deeds which other witches and wizards had done, to the point that he was initially idolised by the majority of the wizarding world and many Hogwarts students. Only when he revealed his obnoxious and attention-seeking personality, and while he was teaching Defence against the Dart Arts in Hogwarts, were his ineptitude and fraudulence gradually exposed to the Hogwarts students, which Albus Dumbledore took advantage of in order to expose him, having known two of the wizards whose memories Lockhart had erased. Even after his memories were erased, Lockhart still retained some of his writing skills despite his popularity having fallen, which was shown when he wrote and published the book Who Am I?. Lockhart did admit to Harry and Ron that had the public know that he is not the hero he wrote himself as, his books would not have sold half as well as they did, showing he knows that the people are not simply interested in reading what they would know to be fiction.
Possessions
Lockhart's wand
Lockhart's wand, an expensive cherry wand
Wand: Lockhart's wand was made of cherry and dragon heartstring. According to him, it was expensive. He lost it when Harry Potter disarmed him and Ron Weasley threw the wand out of an open window.
Luggage set: Lockhart possessed a large set of fine luggage to hold his many belongings from his years of fraudulent fame, mostly related to his vanity. These include his many robes of varying colours, portraits and photos of himself, and a false hair piece. He tripped over one of the trunks when Harry disarmed him.
Peacock quill: Lockhart possesses a quill crafted from a peacock's feather. He saved it for special occasions, such as signing autographs, and is rather proud of it. He completely misread Ron's revolt at the quill as admiration. After his memory loss, Gilderoy continued to use the quill to sign autographs, but it has become battered since.
Order of Merlin medal: Lockhart was given an Order of Merlin, third class, medal by the Ministry of Magic, for his alleged achievements.
Known published works
Main article: Gilderoy Lockhart's collected works
"For full details, see my published works."
—Lockhart referencing his advices to his books[src]
BreakWithABanshee
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Lockhart was an accomplished author, with twelve of his books shown. Although nine of them were supposed to be about eradicating dark forces, they were in fact just recollections of his experiences (of which he stole from other people) and his personal profiles, somewhat an extension of his autobiography, and contained a good deal of invented details as opposed to pure facts.[1] All of these were published before his stint as a Hogwarts professor (except Who Am I?). Due to the immense popularity, the books were very expensive; he gifted an entire set to Harry Potter as a publicity stunt, to which Harry donated to Ginny Weasley.

Lockhart assigned seven of these books to be his textbooks for his Defence Against the Dark Arts course, though it was simply an excuse for him to sell his works to the students, as none of them have any educational usefulness. He gave an overly long "little quiz" during the first lesson to test out how much his students took in from his collected works, but most show little interest and did poorly. After the first lesson ended up in disaster, Lockhart simply read from these books aloud and sometimes reenact the contents to the class in a theatrical manner.

You still...feel it about him?

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Bruce Hynea
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