Gilderoy Lockhart had been acting a little strange lately.
This wasn't just the opinion of a single young wizard, but had gradually become the absolute consensus among the students and staff at Hogwarts.
On the surface, he still looked exactly the same. He wore his exaggerated smile and dressed in flamboyant, peacock-like robes while endlessly discussing his books and his adoring fans.
But occasionally, he would completely lose his train of thought, staring blankly at nothing. He had become terribly jumpy, often appearing in odd corridors and nervously peeking around corners.
"Lockhart even double-checks who he's replying to when he writes back to his fans these days," Ron said, leaning back in his chair with a pout. "Is he afraid his autograph will be sold for Galleons?"
"I don't think so," Harry said, shaking his head with an amused smile. "His autographs are more common than Dumbledore cards in Chocolate Frogs."
"That's true," Ron nodded in agreement. "I only have seven Dumbledore cards, but his signed letters... I've probably ghostwritten dozens of them during detention."
"Oh, right, Hermione," Ron said, suddenly remembering something. "Have you been to his office to ask him questions lately?"
"No," Hermione said, looking up at Ron with a slightly sullen expression.
Watching the exchange, Harry flashed a mischievous smile. "Is it because you're afraid you might scare him?"
"Of course not!" Hermione glared at both Harry and Ron. "Why would I go to his office to find him?"
"Ah..." Ron shrugged. "Aren't you his biggest fan?"
"Then why are you asking these things?" Hermione rolled her eyes, snapped her book shut, and stormed off.
She left Harry and Ron to exchange bewildered glances.
"Anyway, no matter what's going on, I feel a lot better now," Ron laughed. He shot a glance up at the staff table where Lockhart sat, looking deeply dazed as he chewed on a piece of bread.
"I wonder what's wrong with him," Harry mumbled curiously. "Do you think something happened?"
As for what had actually happened? Miss Lyla Hamilton definitely knew the answer.
Two weeks had passed since Mr. Lockhart's sudden, panicked visit to her office. Since then, Lyla felt she had hardly seen the man at all.
Or rather, they hadn't spoken a single word to one another.
Although Lyla was severely socially anxious, Mr. Lockhart certainly was not. Before that embarrassing incident, every time he saw Lyla, he would corner her to spend ten minutes bragging about his past adventures.
He would talk endlessly about traveling with a Bandon Banshee or taming a wild dragon. But now, Lyla was absolutely certain Mr. Lockhart was actively avoiding her.
'This must be because I accidentally saw his embarrassing memory...' Lyla reasoned. 'And it must also be related to Dumbledore.'
Not long after that disastrous day, Dumbledore had visited Lyla's office again and casually inquired about Lockhart's strange behavior.
Lyla had pursed her lips and absolutely refused to tell Dumbledore the truth. However, Dumbledore had simply chuckled and used the Memory Headband to view Mr. Lockhart's memory himself.
After watching the memory in silence, the Headmaster had offered a highly meaningful, twinkling smile.
'That terrifying old man definitely told someone about it, didn't he?' Lyla thought defensively. 'Professor McGonagall probably already knows... Wait, she was actually there in the memory, so she already knew.'
'But if Hagrid ever found out...' Lyla pursed her lips, feeling a deep pang of sympathy for Mr. Lockhart.
If Hagrid knew the truth, he would accidentally spill the secret to everyone in the castle. Lyla knew Hagrid's loose lips all too well.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Lyla suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit.
Once it subsided, she looked over at Luna Lovegood with a highly embarrassed expression.
"S-sorry..." she whispered hoarsely. "I seem to have caught a bit of a... a cold."
"A wizarding cold?" Luna tilted her head curiously. "That's not very common..."
She reached out and gently felt Lyla's forehead.
"Ah!" Lyla instinctively flinched at the sudden contact. However, she wasn't sure if it was just her imagination... but her body didn't seem to resist Luna's touch nearly as much anymore.
'Maybe it's because she already found out about my ears...' Lyla thought defensively. 'But this absolutely does not mean I am willing to let Luna touch me casually!'
"It's not a Blibbering Humdinger infection, and it's not even related to Fire Sprites..." Luna mumbled, shaking her head. "What exactly have you been doing lately, Lyla?"
"No... nothing out of the ordinary..." Lyla thought back to her workload over the past few weeks. It seemed to be exactly the same as always.
Researching new Magic Arrays, chatting with Luna, replying to Hermione's letters, helping Professor McGonagall refine the Memory Headbands... and brewing the Wolfsbane Potion for Mr. Lupin.
That was basically everything she had done during her first month at Hogwarts. Now, it was almost Halloween. 'Could it be because I was standing too close to Dumbledore the other day?' Lyla wondered fearfully.
To be entirely honest, Lyla did feel that her health had been deteriorating lately. She was always feeling lethargic, and she occasionally suffered from dizzy spells.
Even back when she had to sleep in a freezing attic at Durmstrang because of bullying classmates, Lyla had never felt this thoroughly exhausted.
'Maybe I should go to the Hospital Wing to see Madam Pomfrey?' Lyla pondered. 'But if I go, I'll probably be the first Professor in history to admit to nearly fainting from sheer exhaustion...' Thinking about the absolute embarrassment that would cause, Lyla decided it was much better to just endure it silently. She was used to suffering quietly, anyway.
Forcing a weak smile, she said, "I'm completely fine... nothing is wrong."
"You really don't need to—Eek!"
Luna suddenly reached out and grabbed Lyla's ear, completely exposing the pointed Veela ear hidden beneath her red hair.
"I told you, Lyla, you shouldn't lie to me."
"Especially about something like this," Luna whispered softly near Lyla's sensitive, pointed ear. "You should really go rest."
"You don't have any classes to teach this afternoon, do you?"
"Lying inside your Spatial Storage Book... quietly looking up at the illusory starry sky might make you feel a lot more comfortable," Luna suggested, pursing her lips. "My mother often used to do things like that."
But Miss Lovegood's mother had already passed away.
'I'm so terrible...' Lyla thought, her voice filling with genuine apology. "I'm so... so sorry."
"I'm sorry for making you think of those sad things..."
"You don't need to apologize for things like that," Luna said. She slowly stood up and playfully skipped behind Lyla. "You should apologize for not teaching me how to magically dye my hair yet."
"Ah... and you should also apologize for always lying to me... and for always..." Luna suddenly paused, her erratic thoughts jumping to a completely different subject.
"Why haven't you thrown away that black diary that attracts the Blibbering Humdingers?"
'The diary that attracts Blibbering Humdingers... does she mean Mr. Riddle?' Lyla couldn't help but weakly defend the artifact.
"That diary... has very important..." "information about complex Magic Arrays," she finished, pursing her lips stubbornly.
"Until I thoroughly research its mechanics... I absolutely can't... I can't just throw it away."
"Maybe it's the research itself that's making you feel so sick," Luna blinked serenely.
Then, without another word, she turned and drifted away. It seemed she was heading back to the Ravenclaw dormitory for a quick nap.
Lyla watched her retreating back and couldn't help but nod slightly in agreement.
'Have I just been overthinking everything lately?' she wondered.
There was the constant terror of Dumbledore... the stress of the new Magic Array... the complications with the Memory Headbands... and the sheer awkwardness of Mr. Lockhart's situation.
'Ah, I suppose reviving Lord Grindelwald's cause and brewing potions for Mr. Lupin shouldn't be counted as stress,' Lyla reasoned. 'I am actually quite happy when I have tasks to complete for them.'
Of course, when Lyla thought about it carefully, she realized she hadn't actually done a single thing to further Lord Grindelwald's cause since arriving at Hogwarts.
'Never mind that right now...' she thought, shivering slightly. 'I'll just head back to the office and get some rest.'