Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, I’m going to be discussing
none other than Gilderoy Lockhart- Order of Merlin Third Class, Honorary Member of the
Dark Force Defence League, Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, and five-time
winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award. But let’s not talk about his smile-
he didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her! More specifically- I’m
going to be discussing what exactly happened to Lockhart after the events of the Chamber
of Secrets. So, what’s the deal? Where did he go?
Gilderoy Lockhart was a british half-blood wizard born in the year 1964 to a witch mother
and muggle father. His parents had two other children, two girls, but Lockhart proved to
be the only one that was magical, which (whether she would admit it or not) made him his mother’s
favourite child. Lockhart was a clever, good-looking boy, and when he realized quite early on that
he was magical it only went to his head, and inflated his already massive ego even further.
In 1975, Lockhart began attending Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. When he
first walked through the doors of the school, he was met with disappointment, as he came
to the crushing realization that at a school for witches and wizards- he was just another
magical young boy. In the muggle world, Gilderoy was exceptional, but here he didn’t stand
out, and that’s all he ever longed for. It’s been expressed that as a young boy,
Lockhart did possess slightly above-average abilities, but nothing particularly noteworthy,
and his lack of attention only fuelled the fire inside of him to be successful.
In 1982, Lockhart finally graduated from Hogwarts, and it was at this point in time that he began
travelling all around the world. Shortly after graduating, Lockhart began to build prominence
as an author- telling his readers tales of his heroism and illustrious magical ability.
He was genuinely famous. He was a dark wizard catcher, a dragon tamer, a troll conqueror
- if there was a dark and powerful presence in the world, Lockhart had vanquished it all
by himself. The catch? Only he was there to witness it. After each and every time that
Lockhart travelled, he would return home with a new book, filled with self-promotion, heroism
and extravagance, and it really left a positive impression on the magical population. He began
to receive genuine praise for what he was doing- he received an ‘order of merlin’
third class, a very prestigious award, and was even invited to join the Ministry of Magic’s
Dark Force Defence League. Lockhart’s old professors at Hogwarts even began to question
whether they had misjudged the confusing young boy while he attended the school. He’d hold
book signings all over the magical world, and people loved to be near Lockhart- it was
everything that he had ever dreamt of. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing Lockhart’s
face or novel plastered all along the insides of shop windows.
However, beneath all of the charm and fame there was actually quite a sinister side to
Lockhart that wasn’t completely addressed in the books/films. You see, Lockhart was
a memory charm master, and this was one of the reasons that he had been able to falsify
his..well..existence. Lockhart actually wasn’t a troll conqueror or dragon tamer, he was
a phony, and all he did when he travelled around the world was hear the stories of genuinely
accomplished wizards, wipe their memories, then claim the accomplishment as his own.
Dumbledore hired Lockhart to be the Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor for
the 92-93 school year- a position that was exceedingly difficult to fill.
"You see, we have not been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor for
more than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."
Though Lockhart had been a successful author for nearly a decade when the job was offered
to him, Dumbledore knew that Lockhart would accept the role:
“Lockhart might not have been keen to return to Hogwarts, given how well his career of
stolen glory was progressing, had Dumbledore not dangled the promise of Harry Potter over
his fame-hungry head. By subtly suggesting that teaching Harry Potter would set the seal
on Lockhart’s fame, Dumbledore had set a lure that Lockhart could not resist.”
Dumbledore also knew that Lockhart was a fraud- as he personally knew two wizards whose life’s
work Gilderoy Lockhart had taken credit for. He was one of the only people who knew Lockhart’s
true nature- the dark man beneath the smile. He hired Lockhart not only to expose him,
but to teach students ‘how not to be’.
“Dumbledore was convinced that Lockhart needed only to be put back into an ordinary
school setting to be revealed as a charlatan and a fraud. Professor McGonagall, who had
never liked Lockhart, asked Dumbledore what he thought students would learn from such
a vain, fame-hungry man. Dumbledore replied that ‘there is plenty to be learned even
from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be’.”
Lockhart happened to become a professor at the school in the same year that the chamber
of secrets had been reopened- and this was one of the most dangerous school years because
students were dropping off left and right to the fabled Basilisk. However, this couldn’t
have been a better time to expose him- as whenever things got heated- Lockhart was quite
obviously uncomfortable and unsure of what to do. The other professors, as well as some
of the students noticed this - and he was eventually told to go to the chamber of secrets
and deal with the monster himself. I think he was given this mission partly so that they
could get him out of the way. In response to being told to go in to the chamber, Lockhart
returned to his office in an attempt to gather his things before fleeing the school- however,
it was here that he was subsequently exposed as a fraud by Ron and Harry. The boys forced
Lockhart to come down in to the chamber with them- and this is where things really went
south for him. Hoping to take control of the situation, Lockhart grabbed Ron’s broken
wand and attempted to perform a memory charm on them.
"The adventure ends here, boys! I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school,
tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds
at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories! Obliviate!"
However, given that the wand was well, broken, it backfired on Lockhart instead. The faulty
wand sent him flying into a pile of rubble- and subsequently caused him to lose ALL of
his memories. Complete amnesia. He was no longer the brave, troll conqueror and dragon
tamer - in fact, he didn’t know who he was. After Harry had finished in the chamber of
secrets, Lockhart was saved by Fawkes and brought to McGonagall’s office. It was here
that it became apparent to staff and students alike that Lockhart had completely lost his
marbles- and Dumbledore instructed Ron to take him to the hospital wing. After careful
inspection- it was decided that Lockhart wouldn’t be able to operate in society in the state
that he was in- and he was subsequently sent to the Janus Thickey Ward in St Mungo's Hospital
for Magical Maladies - a ward dedicated to those suffering from ‘permanent spell damage’.
Lockhart remained there for many years, and he is briefly mentioned again in the following
passage from the Order of the Phoenix:
“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.”
It has been expressed that Dumbledore never exposed Lockhart for his crimes after being
sent to St.Mungos- and even though Lockhart had stolen the glory of many- Dumbledore felt
that Lockharts fate was already bad enough- and that there was no reason to further step
on an already downtrodden man. By exposing him- the only result would be hate and contempt
towards a man that knew nothing of what he had done. Lockhart paid his dues by losing
his memory, and his life. Because Lockhart had never been exposed- he was allowed to
write again, and subsequently continued his path as an author once he had recovered..somewhat-
writing the book ‘Who Am I?’ with the help of the staff of St.Mungos.
During Christmas in 1995 Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny saw Lockhart in the Janus Thickey
ward- and despite the total loss of his memory- he seemed just as Lockhart as ever- offering
up autographs and the like. He had regained just enough memory to remember writing in
cursive.
"Teach? Me? Did I? Taught you everything you know, I expect, did I? Well, how about those
autographs, then? Shall we say a round dozen, you can give them to all your little friends
then and nobody will be left out!"
Sadly, Lockhart never got many visitors- but he still got fan mail from a witch named Gladys
Gudgeon, and developed a close relationship with his carer Miriam Strout.
Though Lockhart never made a full recovery- he did sign autographs for the rest of his
days- and it has been expressed that he was happier that way - blissfully ignorant but
more than happy to reap the benefits of his illustrious fame. To this day, no one knows
if he ever properly left St.Mungos.
And that’s it for this video! Did you guys ever wonder what happened to Lockhart? Do
you think he EVENTUALLY left St.Mungos? Let me know in the comment section below
Until next time- remember
There is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher: what not to do, how not to be