Gilderoy Lockhart

Harry Potter character
Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Gilderoy Lockhart
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Blond
Eye colour	Forget-me-not blue
House	Unknown
Parentage	Unknown
Loyalty	None (formerly himself)
Film portrayer	Kenneth Branagh
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Gilderoy Lockhart (Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the
Dark Force Defence League, and five-time winner of Witch
Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award) is a fictional character in the Harry
Potter series of books. He is a famous wizarding celebrity,
having written many books on Dark Creatures and his encounters with
them. He has blond, wavy hair and particularly straight and shiny
teeth. He is narcissistic, highly self-obsessed, and something
of a buffoon. Despite his celebrity status amongst the
wizarding community, his fan base consists mostly of middle-aged
women and teenage girls (who find him especially attractive).

Gilderoy Lockhart, in the school year of 1992-1993, was appointed to the post of
Defence Against the Dark Arts
Teacher at Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In his first lesson, he gave his
second-year class a test which had nothing to do with the subject
but instead concerned his biography. He was not popular amongst his
fellow staff members and was particularly disliked by Professor
Severus Snape, who sought the position Gilderoy
held. However, teachers and students alike grew to tolerate him,
and Hermione Granger developed a crush on him,
much to the disgust of Harry and Ron. He was disliked by Harry
Potter, partly because Gilderoy thought Harry had flown a car to
Hogwarts with Ron Weasley because he was trying to make himself
more famous. Gilderoy thought that when he had appeared in the
Daily Prophet with Harry, it had put ideas into his head. He later
thought that Harry was handing out signed photos because of
him.

In the film
version of Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets, Lockhart was played by Kenneth Branagh. It is not yet known whether
Branagh will return for the character's only other appearance thus
far, in Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or
ending details follow.

Gilderoy Lockhart was exposed as a fraud when, trying
to avoid travelling into the Chamber of Secrets, he revealed that he
had not in fact performed all the amazing feats described in his
books — instead, he had been stealing others' stories, placing
memory charms on those
people and taking credit for their accomplishments. When he tried
to modify Harry Potter's and Ronald
Weasley's memories so they would be unaware of this fraud, the
spell backfired on him due to Ron's broken wand. Consequently,
Gilderoy lost his memory, and was sent to St
Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. On Christmas in
1995, Harry Potter saw Gilderoy in the
hospital, slowly regaining his memory and saying he was so advanced
that he could write joined-up letters. Lockhart still receives fan
mail, though he no longer has any idea why.

Lockhart's Past

Nothing has been revealed about Lockhart's origins. Considering
Lockhart's dishonesty, everything he says must be taken with a
grain of salt. Lockhart claims he was once a nobody and,
apparently, tried to get himself noticed as a child, but failed. It
is worth noting that the Healer in charge of Lockhart at St.
Mungo's said he never got visitors, suggesting that his family is
dead, does not care for him, or consists of Muggles.

Trivia

According to Harry Potter author J.K.
Rowling, although some characteristics of various characters
come from people she knows, Gilderoy Lockhart is the only character
she has ever specifically modelled after a real person. However,
she refuses to name the person, only fiercely denying rumors that
her first husband was the inspiration. She claims on her website
that the real basis of Lockhart has such a big head he would never
figure out it was him, and is probably going around claiming to be
the inspiration for Dumbledore, or that he wrote the books but
let her take the credit out of kindness.

Name meaning

JK
Rowling stated in an interview with Stephen
Fry that Gilderoy Lockhart's first name was derived from a
handsome highwayman from British fable. His last name, like many of
Rowling's last names, is Scottish and was taken from a war
memorial.

Preceded by: Quirinus Quirrell

Hogwarts Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher August, 1992-June, 1993

Succeeded by: Remus Lupin