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Carlos Alexander Nieto

Instructor: Julia Intawitwat

Eng:111_05

10/17/17

Gilderoy Lockheart The Arrogant Charlatan

One thing that is easy to forget about Harry Potter is that the young boy is one of the

most famous wizards in the world. Being the one who defeated the most powerful dark wizard in

the world and ended the wizarding war. The characters who appear throughout every novel in the

series reminds us of this, while showing us that Harry Potter deals with this differently than those

other characters. The character that best represents fame and how to misuse it in the Harry Potter

series is Professor Gilderoy Lockhart a character who is a very famous wizard like harry, yet

fails to portray the characteristics that Harry Potter is well known for.

Professor Gilderoy Lockhart not only known as a wizard who is quite famous, has written

a number of books on the evil creatures that lurk within the Harry Potter universe, mainly staring

him and as how he embarks his journey on defeating them. In addition to being one of the most

powerful wizards though he is also considered quite handsome. Born to a witch mother and a

Muggle father, with two older sisters, Gilderoy Lockhart was the only one of his parents three

children to show magical ability (Rowling). Being his mothers favorite is an addition to his

cleverness and stunning good looks, both qualities that gave birth to his vanity. Being the only

wizard between his two siblings made his vanity grow in a pernicious manner. Being treated like

the favorite without a single ounce of humbleness in ones self allows you to become a well-

known charlatan.
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A charlatan will do and say anything to remain in the spotlight, thus making him a fraud,

a false hero which in contrast to harry potter, Gilderoy Lockhart is not. After leaving Hogwarts

he had decided to hone his talents in one direction: Memory Charms. By perfecting this tricky

spell, he had succeeded in modifying the recollections of a dozen highly accomplished and

courageous witches and wizards, allowing him to take credit for their daring exploits, returning

to Britain at the end of each adventure with a new book ready for publication which retold his

feats of bravery with a wealth of invented detail (Rowling). He had never been a bad wizard,

only a lazy one who would always find a way of achieving his goal without the hardships,

challenges or actual labor that would take to accomplish such tasks. Obtaining results without the

work will turn anyone into a coward.

Gilderoy Lockheart being a coward in the novel, flees when he is needed due to the

attacks on student, being the defense against dark arts professor, one would assume that the

children defenseless. Given this moment Harry Potter confronts Gilderoy, making Harry once

again rise above the expectations the reader would have of him. Facing danger straight on,

though he is the main target adds focus on how Gilderoy as a fraud and how he is unworthy to

hold the titles he claims to have achieved. One would ask how great J.K Rowlings imagination

is being able to create every character, each with their own traits and personalities. The author

J.K had started giving clues as to the real Lockheart, which was later on revealed that Gilderoy

Lockheart is in fact a character inspired from the authors real life, being her ex-husband Jorge

Arantes a Portuguese journalist (Paterson).

JK, who is expecting her third child with new husband Neil Murray, said: 'I have to say

that the living model is worse. He was a real shocker (Paterson). The lies that he told about

adventures that he'd had, things he'd done and impressive acts that he had committed - he was a
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shocking man (Paterson). Much like other people, there are disorders that can be clearly

diagnosed. People with narcissistic personality disorder, much like Gilderoy Lockheart, have a

grandiose view of their own uniqueness and abilities and they are often preoccupied with

fantasies of great success (Moolla). They are self-centered, require constant attention and

admiration, and they believe that only the elite can understand them (Moolla). These traits

primarily stem from a lack of empathy central to Cluster B (Moolla). Lockhart builds his fame

on the achievements of other wizards in Potter-verse and uses that fame to take advantage of

others (Moolla).

Many symptoms from narcissistic personality disorder include, exaggeration of their own

importance, has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment. Studies show 50 to 75 percent

of the people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder are male (Caligor).
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Works Cited:

Caligor, E., Levy, K. N., & Yeomans, F. E. (2015). Narcissistic personality disorder: diagnostic

and clinical challenges. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(5), 415-422.

Moolla, Ariff Mohamed. Personality Disorders: DSM of Harry Potter. 19 April 2015. 20

October 2017.

Paterson, Billy. "Writer's Shock: JK: My Revenge; Exclusive author's secret is out." Sunday Mail

22 August 2004.

Rowling, J.K. Gilderoy Lockheart. 2005. 18 10 2017. <https://www.pottermore.com/writing-by-

jk-rowling/gilderoy-lockhart>.