One of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter series was Gilderoy Lockhart, the second year Professor for Defense against the Dark Arts. You first meet Gilderoy in the book store at Diagon Alley, where Gilderoy deftly creates a photo-op with him and Harry, and Mrs. Weasley swoons over his handsome face.

During the course of the year, the students realize that as much as Gilderoy always talks about his great feats and powers, somehow he never actually manages to handle things well in class. Even the other teachers begin to doubt that Gilderoy is all he claims to be.

By the end of the story, Gilderoy admits to Harry and Ron that he made up everything he did, and cast memory-erasing spells on the people who actually did the heroic deeds so that they couldn't contradict him. Gilderoy then attempts to put a memory-erasing spell on Ron but it backfires, and Gilderoy's own memory is erased.

Harry and Ron run into Gilderoy in Book 5 - Order of the Phoenix - when they're at the Wizards hospital. Gilderoy is in the mental patient wing, happily signing autographs.




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