Harry Potter: I Get Stronger by Taking Loans - 179

Chapter 179: Harry Turns the Tables, The Diary’s True Master

Click, click. The shutter snapped again and again.

“Smile nicely, Harry. We’ll be on the front page.”

Lockhart flashed his trademark grin, whispering to Harry.

Harry only felt awkward. This man was just… strange.

When the shutter paused, Lockhart raised his voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what an exciting moment!”

“When young Harry walked into the shop this morning to buy my autobiography, Magical Me—my book which has topped the Daily Prophet’s bestseller list for twenty-seven weeks—he could never have imagined…”

Lockhart paused, building suspense.

“I would give Harry my entire collection, absolutely free!”

Applause erupted. Lockhart was pleased, ready to wave Harry off and begin his signing.

But he didn’t notice Harry taking several deep breaths, gripping a black bag embroidered with silver patterns.

“Oh, these books are so heavy, I really can’t carry them all!”

Harry’s loud, exaggerated voice made Lockhart’s smile freeze. He turned to look at Harry, then at the books. What was the boy up to?

How heavy could a few books be? Maybe he didn’t eat enough or exercise properly?

Lockhart was about to improvise, to smooth over the awkwardness.

But the crowd chimed in with a singsong call:

“Yes, the great saviour, what will you do?”

“I always have to lug around books and cauldrons at school. It’s a pain. Legendary boy, got any solutions?”

Not only was Lockhart confused, but Harry’s face flushed crimson. He spotted Fred and George Weasley grinning in the crowd.

The script hadn’t included “saviour” or “legendary boy”!

But there was no turning back. Harry raised the black bag, reading his lines with stiff formality.

“No problem. I have this—the Shrinking Satchel. It can fit any number of books!”

He pulled out his wand, cast the Levitation Charm, and guided the books into the bag. He held the bag up to his chest, making sure everyone could see the logo in the corner.

“Tired of carrying heavy bags while travelling? Worried about your child’s burden at school? The Shrinking Satchel will solve your problems.”

“For details, visit shop xxx in Diagon Alley…”

Lockhart stared, stunned.

Was this boy… advertising his own product?

At Gilderoy Lockhart’s book signing?

Harry had turned the tables, flipped the script.

Lockhart had only wanted to ride Harry’s fame for his own publicity. How had it ended up like this?

Lockhart was bewildered, but others reacted quickly.

A Daily Prophet reporter, for instance, had gone into overdrive the moment Harry pulled out the satchel.

Lockhart selling a book was old news.

But Harry Potter advertising a product? That was headline-worthy.

This was real news!

Harry Potter was usually at school, and during holidays he stayed out of sight, rumoured to be studying hard.

How often did reporters get a chance like this?

“Who’s the genius who thought of using Harry Potter to advertise?”

The reporter muttered as he snapped photo after photo, capturing both Harry’s face and the satchel.

“L.G.?”

“A new workshop? Sounds interesting. Should I check out the shop Harry mentioned?”

“Wonder how much it costs. Things like Undetectable Extension Charms aren’t cheap…”

“No kidding. Only a few shops sell them, and they charge outrageous prices. Merlin’s pockets, those wizards are all heartless!”

The crowd buzzed with similar chatter, clearly interested in the Shrinking Satchel.

Harry struck a few more poses with the satchel, hoping for more impressive spells from Leonardo.

To avoid the next wave of autograph seekers, Leonardo had already moved with his aunt to a quieter corner of the shop.

“That boy is pretty famous in your world, isn’t he?” Penelope asked.

Leonardo wasn’t surprised by her question—judging by the crowd’s reaction, the answer was obvious.

“Yes,” he said with a small smile. “He’s like a celebrity in the wizarding world.”

Penelope nodded, understanding at once why Leonardo had chosen Harry to promote his product. She didn’t need to remind him about the importance of reciprocity in friendship; she trusted him to handle such things.

“Oh, that man, Lockhart. Are his adventures really as exciting as he says?”

Penelope’s question was loaded. Leonardo smiled.

“You saw through him, didn’t you?”

Penelope stroked the ring on her finger, her tone calm.

“He looks like a skilled writer, but he doesn’t have the aura of an adventurer. It’s hard to connect him with such thrilling stories, isn’t it?”

As the head of the Grafton family, her extensive experience gave her sharp insight into people.

Leonardo wasn’t surprised. Of course, his aunt could spot a fraud.

“Not like our little Leo, who’s not only handsome but also talented.”

“By the way, have you made any close friends at school, especially girls? Didn’t I send you some jewellery for them?”

“If not, you can meet the girls from the Campbell and Fitzgerald families over winter break. They’re…”

The topic changed so quickly that Leonardo couldn’t keep up.

…

“Aha, the great saviour has arrived.”

Draco Malfoy blocked Harry’s way, smirking for reasons unknown.

Harry didn’t bother to wonder. Draco was always like this.

“Malfoy, what do you want?”

Draco shrugged.

“Poor Potter, you didn’t have much fun over summer, did you? Now term’s almost here, and you finally made the news. How… envious…”

Harry frowned. After a summer without Leonardo’s presence, had Draco’s arrogance returned?

“What are you trying to say?”

Draco finally let his smirk show, pulling out a few moving magical photos and shoving them in front of Harry.

“Ha, cough, I went to my family’s dragon reserve with Leonardo this summer. There aren’t many photos. Help me pick the best one?”

Ginny, who had been about to defend Harry, stared blankly.

“?”

…

Blocked by Draco in Flourish and Blotts, Harry looked at the photos.

Most were of Leonardo and Draco, with several dragons—Ukrainian Ironbelly, Chinese Fireball, Welsh Green…

Before Harry could find the right words, Draco glanced at Ron, who had just arrived, and said lightly:

“Oh, the dragon reserve was fun. But guess who wasn’t invited?”

“You~”

Ginny was confused. According to her father, the Malfoys were bad, very bad.

But this young Draco seemed… not too clever.

Ron, arriving late, was completely lost. After a whispered explanation from his sister, he understood.

Draco looked at Ron and Ginny’s red hair, remembering that their father, Arthur Weasley, had recently used his job as an excuse to raid their house.

He sneered.

“But a trip like that costs money. Maybe some people should spend theirs on textbooks and wands. Of course, I mean second-hand ones.”

Ron was about to throw down his books and confront Draco.

But Harry suddenly cut in.

“Malfoy, did Leonardo visit your house this summer?”

Draco answered instinctively.

“No… cough, invitations between nobles are formal and dignified. The process…”

After attending Leonardo’s birthday party, Draco had learned the Grafton name’s status in the Muggle world. He knew Leonardo was a noble and treated him accordingly.

But before Draco could boast about noble etiquette, Harry interrupted.

“Oh, Leonardo visited my house, and Ron’s too. I think visiting friends is more meaningful than going to a dragon reserve, don’t you agree?”

Draco was speechless. He’d lost to Harry, even fallen behind the red-haired Weasleys?

Suddenly, a large hand rested on Draco’s shoulder.

“Mr Potter,” Lucius Malfoy drawled as he stepped forward. “We finally meet.”

He took Harry’s hand, pulling him close to examine the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. “Truly a legendary mark,” he murmured before releasing him. His gaze then drifted toward the Muggle-born girl and the Weasley children, his expression shifting to disdain—only to pause as a striking youth approached.

Those distinctive emerald eyes made Lucius recognise him at once.

Leonardo Grafton.

Lucius had met Leonardo once before, when Draco was injured at Hogwarts. He’d sensed the boy’s talent then. Meeting again after nearly a year, his sharpened intuition told him Leonardo’s aura was deeper, yet well-concealed.

He trusted this family trait, honed by generations.

Lucius shook Leonardo’s hand, this time with mature elegance, fitting of a noble.

“Thank you for your help with Draco. It’s the boy’s good fortune to have your friendship.”

Leonardo replied politely.

“Draco’s foundations are solid, thanks to excellent family education.”

At the same time, Leonardo’s pupils swirled with a faint black vortex, his gaze flicking to Lucius’s side.

That cold, sinister magic…

A Horcrux.

Lucius ignored the Muggle-born and the poor pure-bloods, exchanged a few pleasantries with Leonardo, then led Draco toward the back of the shop.

As Lucius and Leonardo passed each other, a faint glow flashed from Leonardo’s sleeve. An invisible mark settled on the diary in Lucius’s pocket.

Lucius noticed nothing unusual.

Leonardo chatted with Harry, learning about the incident, and shook his head in amusement.

Just children.

After parting ways, Leonardo took his aunt for a stroll around Diagon Alley, picking up a new broom to experiment with alchemical devices. He sent her home, saying he had a few things to do and would follow later.

During this time, Leonardo kept sensing the magical mark he’d left on the diary—it still lingered inside Flourish and Blotts. Then, abruptly, it began to move.

He turned a few corners and soon sensed the magic nearby. Lifting his head, he caught sight of the figure holding it—and froze.

A flamboyant blond man. Gilderoy Lockhart.

Wait. How had the diary ended up with him?

According to the original story, Lucius was supposed to give the diary to Ginny Weasley, triggering the crisis of the following year. Leonardo had planned to wait until then, intercept it quietly. But a sudden inspiration had struck—a feeling that this deviation might yield something unexpected. So he’d placed a tracking mark just in case.

He hadn’t expected it to lead him here.

Was this the world correcting itself? Did the disaster have to find its way to Hogwarts?

No. The diary was Voldemort’s first Horcrux—his fragment of soul. And Lockhart… Lockhart had just been appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

Voldemort’s curse on the position… the cursed and the curser meeting by chance?

A magical coincidence—or perhaps something far more deliberate.

Across the street, Lockhart had no idea he was being watched. He was practically glowing with excitement, clutching the diary as though it were a holy relic. In his mind, he could already see the headlines.

A priceless treasure! A magnificent discovery! If he wrote about it, it would be his greatest work yet.

A faint, seductive whisper curled around his thoughts:

You will become the most famous wizard… a true celebrity… with endless wealth and glory…

Lockhart’s eyes gleamed. His heart quickened.

Go… go to Hogwarts… and you will have everything you desire…