What can I say about the Harry Potter books besides the fact
that I think they are some of the best things to ever happen to this world?
Well, I guess that says it all, really. And like in any decent story, Harry
Potter has his fair share of enemies. From the maniacal Lord Voldemort to the
control freak Dolores Umbridge, the villains of the Wizarding World are diverse
and colorful, each bringing their own brand of evil to the table. And before we
return to the more sinister villains that I love, I thought it would be nice to
end our little trip into the world of humor with the wonderful character known
as Gilderoy Lockhart.
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| Conceited? Him? Nnooooo... |
Gilderoy Lockhart is a celebrated author in the wizarding
world of Britain, well-known for his wonderful books about his many exploits in
foreign lands defending the world from the forces of darkness. When we first
meet him in the story, during a book-signing session, he announces that he will
be taking the recently vacated position as teacher for the Defence Against the
Dark Arts class at Harry’s school, Hogwarts. Once there, however, it becomes
quite clear that Lockhart may not be all that he seems. During his first
lesson, after a review test on his published works, he unleashes a group of
pixies upon an unsuspecting class, who proceed to demolish the entire room
within moments, while Lockhart stands by, powerless to stop them. For the rest
of the book, his classes mainly consist of reenactments of scenes from his books,
usually with Harry as an unwilling volunteer. He also spends quite a bit of
time being overly dramatic, holding his fame over his students, and attempting
to cozy up to the famous Harry Potter. It is not until the climax of the story
that we discover that Lockhart is a fraud, having stolen his stories from other
people and wiped their memories of their journeys so that he might profit from
them. In the end, he accidentally erases his own memory, and he spends the rest
of his life in a hospital, unable to ever regain his lost memories.
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| Had he been any more interested in Harry, I would've called "pedophile." |
Gilderoy Lockhart is a very different villain from the sort
we have encountered before in this blog. Rather than a grand scheme to take
over the world or otherwise do evil things, Lockharts motives are purely
selfish. He desires fame and fortune for himself, and exploits others to this
end, lying and cheating his way to the top. He relies on his charms, dashing
good looks, and acting prowess rather than any actual talents, knowing that
they will get him far in life, but not as far as he desires. Besides his
obvious theft of stories that had nothing to do with him, he also makes it his
job to cozy up to Harry as often as possible, knowing that Harry’s star power
could easily help him advance in life. As he says once, “Nice big smile, Harry;
together we’ll make the front page.” He is a master of deceit, coasting through
life with ease. However, under his confident exterior is a fairly pathetic
individual, as we can easily see once Harry and Ron confront and Disarm him. He
practically begs them to leave him alone as they go to the Chamber of Secrets.
He even manages to use his fear to his advantage, pretending to faint in order
to steal Ron’s wand from him, and had the spell not backfired because it was
broken, he probably would have escaped scot-free. Fortunately for our heroes,
that’s not the case.
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| "No, I totally meant to let myself get thrown 20 feet back and land on my arse." |
For the majority of the story, Lockhart acts as a comedic
relief, his larger-than-life personality adding both to his character and
allowing for comedic moments during otherwise serious events. During one scene,
Lockhart begins a Dueling Club in order to supposedly train the students to
defend themselves. Though he is quite easily defeated by Professor Snape, who
is assisting him, he shrugs off his defeat, claiming that he had known Snape’s
intentions all along, merely wishing the students to see the results of the
spell cast upon him. He plays to his audience well, knowing exactly what will
and won’t affect them, and how to turn a situation to his advantage without
ever lifting a finger. He also creates a number of comedic moments on Valentine’s
Day. He dresses in a flamboyant pink outfit, recruits an army of dwarves to
send Valentine’s wishes to people in the most annoying way possible. Everything
about Lockhart is over-the-top, which is why he managed to become so popular in
the first place. People naturally flock to those that possess confidence. If he
had ever decided to do more than only look out for himself, there is a definite
possibility that he might have done serious damage, his fame protecting him from
negative backlash.
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| Okay, NOW I'm totally calling "pedophile." |
Luckily for us, however, Lockhart was a bumbling idiot,
whose villainous role was eclipsed by Voldemort himself (albeit in a younger
form). Though in the end, he was an easily disposable character, he was
certainly an entertaining one, and very well characterized by J. K. Rowling. He
was a realistic opportunist, taking what he could and using it for his own
benefit, regardless of morals. If he could get away with something that made
him more popular or richer, he did it, and he was good at it. Just keep an eye
out for real life Lockharts, and make sure you aren’t exploited for someone
else’s gain.
Next Week: Seymour, from Final Fantasy X
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