allendalepharm Chapter 235 The Reflection in the Mirror
Chapter 235 The Reflection in the Mirror
Chapter 235 The Reflection in the Mirror
Lockhart's obsession with magic stemmed from its ability to create miracles.
What is a miracle?
That means Peter Pettigrew, Barty the Younger, and others can walk around in front of Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and others without being noticed.
This means that while Dumbledore is undoubtedly the most powerful wizard of his time, he is also susceptible to miracles created by magic.
No matter how powerful Old Deng was, under the dark magic curse that Tom cast on Gaunt's ring, he had no choice but to begin his life's countdown. The curse started from the right hand wearing the ring and irreversibly destroyed all the functions of his body.
Magic is truly wondrous.
Therefore, Lockhart never considered himself an absolute authority in memory; he simply knew he had reached a very deep level, but he did not believe that no one in this field could defeat him.
That's true, at least for now.
Undeterred, he cast a spell on Sirius again, this time not simply using memory retrieval similar to the Pensieve ability, but employing time-related abilities.
Anchored by memories, we travel through the long river of time in Sirius's past.
But it didn't work!
He couldn't see at all how Sirius's ear had been bitten off by Pettigrew. Sirius's past appeared so smooth and flawless to him.
Could it be...?
He had a hunch—could it be that someone used the compound decoction to turn into Sirius Black, and then had his ear bitten off while chasing Little Pettigrew?
This explains why Sirius's ears appear on both his head and inside Pettigrew's belly.
What doesn't make sense is that Sirius's memories do include chasing Little Pettigrew, but the missing ear is not mentioned.
interesting!
Lockhart stared in amazement at the scene before him, finding it utterly fascinating.
The situation before him was beyond the scope of his current magical knowledge, limiting his imagination and making it difficult for him to make reasonable deductions.
So he looked at Dumbledore expectantly, but Dumbledore just stared at Sirius with a serious expression, as if the scene before him was beyond the scope of his magical abilities.
Not only Deng, but also Grindelwald, Snape, Professor McGonagall, Kingsley and other big names he knew, all seemed to be beyond his control.
It was at this moment that Lockhart truly understood Dumbledore's headaches with Voldemort, who always had all sorts of strange and cutting-edge dark magic, creating one problem after another that was incredibly frustrating.
He could even imagine Voldemort somewhere, watching with a cold laugh as everyone was helpless in the face of the problem he had created.
I know there's a problem, but I'll never figure out what it is.
The old witch beside him lifted the spell that had sealed Sirius's mouth, examined him carefully, and finally exclaimed in astonishment, "These two ears are indeed yours!"
This interesting situation obviously attracted everyone's attention. After the old witch demonstrated her spell, people began to step forward hoping to show off their skills. This was definitely the best opportunity to enhance one's reputation.
Well, the fact that they didn't know it was Sirius Black was most likely due to Voldemort's intervention; otherwise, they wouldn't have been so eager to participate.
Lockhart soon witnessed the wonders and magnificence of the magical world, realizing that wizards' abilities extended far beyond the few subjects taught in magic schools.
A wizard took a transparent leech from a jar and let it attach to Sirius's cheek. Then, using the five colors that the leech produced, he took out a piece of paper and listed a bunch of equations to perform complex calculations.
It looks like a Muggle mathematician, but it's actually an extension of arithmetic and astrology.
Another witch was singing and dancing around Sirius, waving her wand to release a grayish-purple smoke with a pungent smell, and pulling out some powder from her pocket to sprinkle, while singing strange and sharp lyrics.
This is clearly a method more suited to ancient sorcerers.
Magic is always full of unknowns.
The next dozen or so wizards took turns, each with their own unique methods.
As Lockhart looked around, he suddenly realized that the curriculum of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed to have a certain bias.
Charms class, Transfiguration class, Defense Against the Dark Arts class.
History of Magic and Muggle Studies.
Magical Creatures Protection, Herbalism, Potions.
Ancient texts include divination, arithmetic divination, and astronomy.
Lockhart tends to describe it as "the wizard's art of farming and warfare".
Hogwarts doesn't actually teach magic like Horcruxes, blood magic, Animagus, Polyjuice Potion, Arthur's flying car and clock. The library might have some of these spells, but many professors themselves haven't even touched them.
interesting!
He watched with great interest and discovered that each of the wizards present had a different lineage of magical heritage.
Perhaps this is why pure-blood families still have their place in this era. Most wizards from Muggle families can't even finish the subjects taught in school, let alone go to the library to figure out their own new magical path.
But he quickly and quietly took a step back, watching the old male sorcerer in front of him perform a spell with the expression of an old man looking at his phone on the subway.
The old wizard seemed to be possessed, his body contorted in all sorts of strange movements. In the end, he even lay on Sirius Black's body, sticking out his tongue, which was covered in purple bubbles, to feel Sirius Black's cheeks.
The purple bubbles began to glow red, and strange pink bubbles emerged and floated into the sky.
Sirius, held tightly by the Aurors, let out a piercing scream. He hadn't screamed like this when he was being interrogated earlier; now he felt as if his whole body was about to split apart.
In fact, in other people's eyes, he really did break down.
Strange ice cracks appeared on his body, with bizarre black light and shadow flowing within them, making it look extremely strange.
The sounds of ice cracking became more and more frequent, accompanied by the cracking of ice blocks or glass, drawing everyone's attention.
The old wizard laughed heartily, gave himself a thumbs-up, and, as proud as a kindergarten child who had received a red flower as a reward, shouted, "It has to be me!"
The others cheered along with them. The long period of trying had left everyone going back and forth between anticipation and disappointment, making everyone particularly excited at this moment.
"Antilochus, you'd better step back." Dumbledore drew his Elder Wand, strode forward, and stood between the old wizard and Sirius.
Old Deng is always so reliable, his eyes always alert to any possible accidents.
Just then, Grindelwald stepped forward, gestured for Dumbledore to hand him the Elder Wand, and said, "I'll take it. I think I know what kind of magic this is!"
He took the Elder Wand and gently touched the crack on Sirius's body.
Kami~
A series of loud shattering sounds rang out as Sirius Black's entire body suddenly began to melt rapidly. First, his whole body seemed to turn into a pixelated grid, then the colors of each grid blurred, and finally he turned into a pool of human-shaped liquid.
"Merlin's beard!" Amid everyone's exclamations, Grindelwald controlled the pool of liquid to float up, and with a flick of his wand, he shaped it into an oval, finally pointing it toward the center.
"Dispel the fog!"
As Old Ge chanted the incantation, a large amount of water vapor suddenly emerged from the liquid touched by the tip of his wand. The water vapor rapidly surged around the pool of liquid, transforming into a strangely shaped circular window.
Through the window, a Muggle warship on the sea came into view. The image zoomed in quickly, eventually passing through an observation window into a room inside, where Sirius Black was sitting blankly on a wooden Muggle gun case.
"So that's the method!"
Old Grimm handed the Elder Wand back to Dumbledore, shaking his head and sighing, "The reflection in the mirror, a curse, allows a wizard to see another version of himself in the mirror, a version of himself that shares the same origin."
"Hmm~, the current situation is that we are using some alchemical creations to reverse the use of this magic. So what we just saw was actually Sirius's shadow. All the spells we cast on him will directly affect his real body and then be reflected in his shadow in this mirror."
"In this way, most magic will be unable to detect the shadow, because he really is Sirius."
"The only problem is that shadows can distort some of the reality."
"By the way," Grindelwald pointed to Sirius's reflection in the mirror, "he's probably under the Imperius Curse!"
The magic of this spell is so amazing that it leaves people in awe.
But no one was amazed.
The entire courtroom was completely silent. Everyone's attention was no longer on Sirius Black, but rather on this legendary figure.
"Grindelwald!" The old wizard who had just licked Sirius Black rushed forward, tears welling in his eyes, and bowed deeply, forcing back his emotions. "You—you've finally returned!"
Grindelwald turned around, smiling at him as he examined the crimson robes he wore, a symbol of his membership in the Wizengamots. "Antirokos, I never imagined you'd rise to this level."
Antirochus chuckled, revealing only a few teeth remaining in his mouth. "Just trying to make a living. I'll be retiring soon."
"Yes—" Grindelwald sighed, "We're all getting old, it's time to retire."
His words undoubtedly sent a certain signal to the outside world, and many people quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Antirochus looked at him with some resentment, "You—"
Before he could finish speaking, Grindelwald patted him on the shoulder, shook his head with a smile, and said, "Let's deal with this matter first."
As he spoke, his expression became enigmatic as he looked around at the wizards. "I haven't been in contact with the outside world for so long that I'm somewhat unaware of it. Does anyone know?"
He pointed to the image in the mirror and asked, "Where did that Muggle warship come from?"
This is undoubtedly an extremely pointed question—when did wizards form a business alliance with Muggles, and even begin using Muggle warships?
It's terrifying to think carefully.
Unfortunately, no one could answer that question.
Grindelwald looked at them with disdain. "Does nobody know? Is your knowledge of Muggles really this limited?"
As he spoke, he looked sharply at Fudge, "This Minister of Magic, you don't know either?"
Fudge wiped the cold sweat from his brow and pleaded with Dumbledore for help, but Dumbledore remained unmoved with a serious expression. Fudge could only fawn over him, saying, "I will contact the Muggle Prime Minister as soon as possible."
Grindelwald said coldly, "Not as soon as possible, but right now! Go ask immediately! What, you're not planning to rescue Sirius Black?"
In fact, this was already an opportunity given by Grindelwald.
After Old Man Gellert analyzed the current situation, Dumbledore already had a solution and knew that Gellert also had a solution. Now, asking Fudge to investigate was just giving Muggles a chance.
Given the current uncertain situation, taking rash action would undoubtedly signal war. No one wants war, and this is true for Grindelwald as well. War is never the goal; it is merely a means.
Moreover, the available information is insufficient to determine whether the Muggles on that warship had sided with Voldemort or were unaware of the presence of a wizard on their ship.
A hasty attack would only put the Muggle forces represented by this warship firmly on the opposite side of the wizards.
Nobody wants to force Muggles to launch another witch hunt; that would be extremely foolish.
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then sighed. With a gentle wave of his Elder Wand, the circular mirror that seemed to float in mid-air as if made of liquid quickly twisted and collapsed, eventually transforming into a spinning magical eye.
The eyes are the windows to the soul.
With this eye, one can clearly locate Sirius's position and even control his state.
A flash of light passed through the crescent-shaped glasses, and Dumbledore quietly put the magical eye into the pocket of his wizard's robe, without making a sound.
It was quite amazing how Grindelwald effortlessly directed the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Magic in the courtroom, issuing orders as if he were commanding his own subordinates. It was so natural, and the people responded just as naturally, as if Grindelwald were still the chief wizard of the International Wizarding Federation.
Soon, everyone was dispatched in an orderly manner to deal with various situations.
Professor McGonagall urged the stunned Harry and his two children, "Kids, you need to get back to school!"
As they were talking, Lockhart walked over. "Professor McGonagall, could we let them participate in this operation? You know, they always need to go through some trials and tribulations. Everyone is here this time, so it's the perfect opportunity."
Professor McGonagall frowned, pondering the question.
She pursed her lips, scrutinizing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Seeing their eyes light up with eager anticipation, she finally nodded. "You must stay close to Professor Lockhart. If you don't, you will never have another chance to get my permission."
Then she looked at Lockhart, "Professor Lockhart, you should know who might be present this time!"
Voldemort, huh.
knew.
Lohat nodded. "Don't worry, I'll watch over the children!"
He was pleasantly surprised by the Dueling Club's young wizards' battle against Peter Pettigrew. He couldn't wait to see Harry and his friends grow and didn't want to miss any opportunity.
"I hope so."
Professor McGonagall's expression was unusually serious. Having just experienced a bombing raid by wizards and Muggles, she now discovered a Muggle warship. She had to return to the school as soon as possible to prevent something from happening.
At this time, neither the headmaster nor the vice-headmaster of Hogwarts was present, and it would be troublesome if something happened.