Unfortunately, however, Lockhart was not nearly as powerful and brave as depicted in his books. Useless at everything except the Memory Charm, he was not even qualified to teach second-year students.
To be honest, Hector had always been skeptical of Dumbledore's choice of Lockhart as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Was it really worth wasting a whole school year's progress for all the students just to expose one man's lies? Even though the position had become one of the most hazardous jobs in the wizarding world and recruiting was extremely difficult, they still shouldn't have hired a complete fraud!
If worst came to worst, they could have just let Snape take over, exploiting the one-year curse limit to mercilessly break Voldemort's game, and then let Snape retire in glory whenever a slightly more reliable professor like Lupin or Mad-Eye came along. That would have been a win-win-win solution: Snape would enjoy the thrill of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, the students would actually learn something, and Dumbledore wouldn't have to stress over hiring someone while saving on wages. Everyone would get what they needed, happily welcoming Voldemort's baptism and a brand-new tomorrow.
Chapter 105