gilderoy lockhart, the DADA teacher in CoS, is about as fitted for the job as snape is for guidance counselor. he is stuck~up, wimpy, and knows hardly any decent spells. he is, however, a gifted liar and very handsome (proven by his five~time winning of witch weekley's most charming smile award, among other things).

lockhart was very famous before he came to hogwarts. his books~ break with a banshee, ghadding with ghouls, holdiays with hags, travels with trolls, voyages with vampires, wanderings with werewolves, year with the yeti, gilderoy lockhart's guide to household pets, and his autobiography, magical me, are all bestsellers.

the only reson lockhart got the DADA job is because no~one else would take it. all of the faculty despises lockhart, as do pretty much all of the students. lockhart's first lesson consisted of him letting loose a bunch of cornish pixies, and making the students put them back. after this, all of lockhart's lessons were of him reading parts of his books aloud, and harry acting them out.

soon, it became obvious that lockhart was a fake who knew nothing about the dark arts...obvious, that is, except to hermione, who, losing her wits for a moment, completely fell for blond~haired, blue~eyed lockhart.

it wasn't until harry, ron, and lockhart were about to journey into the chamber of secrets that lockhart revealed how he had written all of his books: "i had to track these people down. ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. then i had to put a memory charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. if there's one thing i pride myself on, it's my memory charms." he then tried to perform a memory charm on the boys themselves, but harry disarmed him first, forcing him to travel into the chamber with them. once there, he tried again, this time with ron's wand, which of course backfired and erased lockhart's memory instead! even more clueless than before, he left hogwarts to regain his memory, and has not been heard from since.

but while he was at hogwarts, lockhart provided everyone with fond *snort* memories...with his robes of lilac, jade~green, and midnight blue; when he arranged a valentines day banquet in the great hall complete with singing cupids; when he kept pestering harry with "how to deal with fame" tips.

most people don't like lockhart, but he is probably one of my favorite characters in CoS. he is so brainless and full of himself, and that makes him funny! he may be annoying, but lockhart also provided a bit of comic relief.

i've heard that lockhart will not return in future books, but time will tell...

assorted facts about lockhart:
favorite color~ lilac
ideal birthday gift~ harmony between all magic and non~magic peoples (he wouldn't mind a large bottle of ogden's old firewhisky, though!)
secret ambition~ rid world of evil and market own range of hair~care products

first description of lockhart~ "a very good~looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes"

characters
flourish & blotts
dementors kiss*