Gilderoy Lockhart sat at the breakfast table, his hair up in rollers.
He was waiting patiently for the owls which would soon be flying towards
him. Sure enough, a few minutes later a flock of owls flew over to him,
dropping the fan-mail neatly on the table before him.
"Now, where to begin?" Lockhart asked himself thoughtfully.
His eyes rested on an envelope which seemed to contain a gift of some
sort. Lockhart carefully opened it using a letter opener; after all he
couldn't risk getting a paper cut on his perfect, unblemished hands. A
couple of quills and a note fell out onto the table. Lockhart read the
letter curiously.
Dear Gilderoy Lockhart,
This is a gift from Honeydukes, to say thank-you for entertaining
us with the evil you have faced. These are sugarquill's, the newest development
at Honeydukes. They have not gone on sale to the public yet, and we would
be honoured if you would test them for us. We appreciate that you may
be busy saving someone from unspeakable horrors, but we hope you could
take a little time out to enjoy our sweet surprise. All you need to do
is suck the end of the quill.
Congratulations on winning Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile award
for the 2nd year in a row.
From
The Honeydukes Staff.
Lockhart gave one of his award winning smiles. Flattery got you everywhere
with him. He put the sugarquill to his lips, and sucked. The sweet taste
of strawberries entered Lockhart's mouth. The sugarquill was soon finished,
and Lockhart had found it strangely addictive. He quickly took the next
quill, this one had the taste of peaches. A few moments later, he had
finished it. He pulled out his peacock quill, and began his letter back
to Honeydukes. He enclosed a signed photograph, and sealed the envelope.
It wasn't until a few days later that the consequences of his actions
emerged. Lockhart was lying in bed, when he felt a sharp pain in his mouth.
His face paled as he realised the terrible truth. One of his front teeth
was causing the pain. He had toothache. Lockhart jumped out of bed, panicking.
He took some Floo Powder from the pot above his fire. For a moment he
remembered regretfully what had happened the last time he had Apparated.
The Accidental Magic Reversal Squad had had to be called out. It had taken
quite a few memory charms to stop that 'little mishap' being leaked to
the Daily Prophet. He couldn't risk it happening again, so Lockhart had
been forced to use Floo Powder ever since.
"Madam Vantoll's Dental Surgery,' Lockhart said clearly.
Madam Vantoll was startled awake as she heard someone fall into the fire
place. She was even more shocked when she saw who it was.
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" she exclaimed.
"My tooth, it - it hurts," Lockhart said faintly.
Lockhart was in shock. He couldn't believe this was happening to him,
how could this have happened? He was the winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile
Award. He couldn't get toothache. Suddenly the truth dawned on him. The
sugarquills. There was no other explanation. Lockhart couldn't believe
how stupid he had been. He never ate anything with sugar in, and this
hadn't even been tested yet.
"Open wide," Madam Vantoll said.
After a few minutes of examining Lockhart's teeth, Madam Vantoll came
to a horrifying conclusion.
"I'm afraid I am going to have to remove your tooth," Madam
Vantoll explained. "It seems you have had too much enchanted sugar."
"Enchanted?" Lockhart asked.
"Yes, one of the types Honeydukes use. But too much of it can cause
tooth damage. Honeydukes are usually very good at keeping the amount at
the right level. I suppose they sent you a product which needed testing?"
Lockhart nodded. Madam Vantoll noticed that he was going a pale green
colour. He looked like he was about to throw up.
"Don't worry; I will be able to grow you another tooth. But not
for a few days, your mouth will need time to heal."
"But I have a book signing tomorrow!" Lockhart said, beginning
to panic.
"Tolomor Accio," Madam Vantoll said, and a white light
hit Lockhart's tooth.
Lockhart looked in the mirror, and stared at the ugly gap in between
his teeth. He fainted.
Lockhart stared nervously at the growing queue of women outside the shop.
The shop opened their doors, and the women rushed in. Lockhart tried to
stop himself, but he couldn't, it had become too much of a habit. He smiled,
and the whole shop fell silent.
The next few months were very hard for Lockhart. For once Lockhart had
to wait he would have for the country to forget, he could not use a memory
charm to make the problem go away. He very nearly lost the title of having
the Most-Charming-Smile. All because of two sugarquills.
