Idiotic 'Potter' professor not based on author's ex
August 24, 2004 at 10:54 PM ET
Cheeser
CBBC Newsround
jorge arantes, jk rowling, j.k. rowling, professor lockhart, gilderoy lockhart
Contrary to reports
published over the last week, Harry Potter author JK Rowling has vehemently denied creating narcissistic Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the image of her ex-husband.
The character, played by Kenneth Branagh in Chamber of Secrets, was brought up when Rowling was asked at the Edinburgh International Book Festival if she had ever let real acquaintances influence her story's cast:
The only character who is deliberately based on a real person is Gilderoy Lockhart ... I have to say that the living model was worse. He was a shocker! The lies that he told about adventures that he'd had, things he'd done and impressive acts that he had committed...
Apparently the Sunday Mail, a tabloid which started the rumor's perpetuation amongst more reliable press, interpreted Rowling's comments as "revenge" on her former husband, Jorge Arantes, whom she was with for two years.