The Time-Meddlers [Harmione]

23. Lockhart's Confession

"Let the games begin," said Hermione evilly when they were ready.

"Enervate," thought Harry, grinning as he cast the spell silently at Gilderoy.

"Petrificus Totalus," thought Hermione, while pointing her wand at Lockhart's now conscious form.

With their voices modified by a spell, the two invisible time-meddlers screamed, "Gilderoy Lockhart," in unison, causing his eyes to open. They saw his look of panic when he realized he couldn't move.

Harry began in an ethereal voice, "We have warned you and warned you again, but you still haven't confessed your sins."

"The time of your judgment is at hand. Confess or face our true wrath," said Hermione in an equally eerie tone. "On your desk is a written confession," commanded Hermione. "Sign it once you are able to move again."

"If you do not confess by tomorrow, you will die!" they said together, pleased to see beads of sweat forming on Lockhart's brow. Harry flicked his wand, releasing a dozen magical creatures that immediately surrounded the fraud's bed. A shield spell kept them from actually touching him, but as they each took on the form of one of Lockhart's victims; they saw a wet spot form on his sheet.

Leaving Lockhart to deal with his predicament, the two snuck out of the room.

"I didn't know you could pee while in the body-bind," Harry commented with a laugh as they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower.

"I guess you can," Hermione replied.

"I'll say one thing. It was hard to find all those boggarts."

"And to design that cage for them," agreed Hermione. "But it'll be worth it."

"I hope so."

"We'll know in a couple hours whether he signs that form."

Harry grinned. "And we'll mail a copy to the Ministry, the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler."

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Professor Gilderoy Lockhart was not having a good night. It had been over an hour since he'd been woken up by those...invisible whatever's that warned him he'd be killed. As he was currently completely under their mercy, he had no doubt of their ability to act on their threat. However, his mind was otherwise occupied.

Every five minutes, another twelve of his victims would replace the current ones and begin threatening him with revenge for what he'd done to them. Currently, he was facing three angry wizards, five angry witches and four angry muggle women, all of them screaming at him for whatever he'd done to them. He realized that even Azkaban had to be better than this form of torture. Under threat of death or more torture, knowing that his career was over no matter what happened, he made his decision. Now, he only hoped he'd survive the night.

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"Well, it's six o'clock," announced Harry with a yawn. He and Hermione were in the Gryffindor common room, having just come down ten minutes before after getting a few hours of sleep. They'd put up appropriate wards at the table they were sitting at so they wouldn't be noticed while they waited to see if Lockhart signed his confession with their four copies that would automatically update just like the old D.A. coins. At this moment, Lockhart's body-bind would wear off and the boggarts would be re-contained in the special cage Hermione had designed that was loosely based off the Ghostbusters' ghost traps that pulled the specters inside it, but it would respond to both immediate and timed wand commands. Of course, it was disillusioned in Lockhart's quarters and they'd make sure to retrieve it later that day.