Regarding Memories

In the cozy bedroom, the atmosphere shifted from ordinary to enchanting before returning to ordinary.

Of course, the ordinariness stemmed from the silence, and there was a hint of awkwardness and unease between the two silent people.

To Sean's surprise, Stephanie quickly recovered.

The girl pulled up the collar of her slightly open nightgown, then stood up and bowed to Sean.

Thank you so much.

Sean waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to take it to heart.

Stephanie was still panting, her head bowed, looking like a little bear who had just rolled in the mud but was trying to maintain her elegance.

"I... I was too emotional just now, but my apologies were sincere—" she paused, "... my apologies..."

Sean was unsure what she was emphasizing; it was probably just an apology, and Sean figured the vague words that followed shouldn't be taken seriously.

He shrugged. "I've already said it, it's all in the past, so there's no need to dwell on it anymore."

Both of them tacitly avoided mentioning their previous infatuation.

Stephanie visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of sitting back down in the beanbag chair, she hesitated for a moment and then asked in a low voice.

"May I ask about that magic? I didn't feel much, just a feeling of lightness. Also, at one point in the middle, I noticed my magic was draining away, but I couldn't take it back. And it didn't even feel like a drain, but rather a peaceful transfer."

Should he tell her or not...? Sean hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to tell Stephanie about some of the things Sin.

After all, she was also part of the Prophecy, and if you really want to count, she was still her... uh, her leader?

Sean did not mention that the Sin within him would explode years later, but he revealed all other relevant information.

"...That's roughly it—" Sean shrugged. "You can simply understand it as the power hidden within us originating from the same source, so the transfer of magic was not repelled by the power of either side."

Stephanie was initially shocked by the Prophecy and Sin described by Sean, but her ability to accept it surprised Sean.

After her emotional breakdown, she quickly regained her composure.

"In other words, what just happened was that my magic was being transferred to you without any hindrance," she said.

"That's right, you can understand it that way. However, according to the information I've received, only the Sin within me is currently awakening. The other six Sin should still be dormant, unless the Sin within me erupts prematurely. Otherwise, you should be just like an ordinary wizard," Sean said.

Stephanie shook her head upon hearing this. "I don't think that's quite accurate. I've been different from ordinary wizards since birth. Although I have Veela blood, even purebred Magical Creatures like Veela don't have my charm. This must be a change brought about by Sin. I was confused about this before, but now I know it's because... because of Lust."

Her face flushed slightly.

Sean pretended not to see it, and stroked his chin, saying, "That's true, Sin has a subtle influence."

Stephanie looked up at him, then suddenly spoke again, as if explaining, "My charm works on women as well as men, which is why I approached you in the first place..."

"I see, I understand."

After another brief silence, Sean broke the deadlock.

"Thinking back to the specifics, there's no reason why the Sin me would suddenly awaken and erupt, and why it would erupt only when it encountered me. Before that, I was quite certain that the Sin within me hadn't made any move."

Stephanie nodded and, after a moment's thought, told Sean.

"I didn't seem to notice anything was wrong before, but... but the guilt I felt towards you kept growing, and I don't know why."

The girl's voice had lost its previous aloofness; it was now just calm, soft, and gentle.

So you really have been feeling guilty all along... Sean didn't comment on that. He pondered for a moment and said, "Have you ever met any strange people or been to any strange places?"

Stephanie looked up, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. "I went to the forests of Albania last year..."

Albania? Isn't that a place Voldemort once went to?

Sean asked in a deep voice, "What are you going there for?"

"The Ravenclaw's Diadem, I learned about the Ravenclaw's Diadem's whereabouts from Helena, so I went to find Ravenclaw's Diadem."

So that's how it is... Sean suddenly realized that Ravenclaw's Diadem had actually been lost in the forests of Albania.

"So, did you find it?"

Stephanie shook her head. "No, according to Helena, I found the hollow, dead tree, but the Ravenclaw's Diadem isn't inside..."

As she spoke, Stephanie paused, a look of shock suddenly appearing in her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I...I suddenly remembered...I met someone in Albania ...someone who was strange yet familiar...but I don't know why I had no recollection of this before," Stephanie murmured.

The hidden memories resurfaced after the emotional outburst and breakdown, and the trigger for the outburst was their interaction with me...

A sense of déjà vu washed over him, Sean immediately thought of Grindelwald's aunt Bathilda Bathilda, whose situation was similar to Stephanie's.

This is a situation where a powerful Obliviation Charm has been cast, but there is also a switch to awaken memories, and that switch is Sean.

Sean has recently gained some insights into memory-related spells, such as the Memory Weaving and psychological suggestion he used on Umbridge. Following his suggestion, Umbridge used the Unforgivable Curse on him after the memory switch was activated, ultimately leading to Umbridge's arrest and transport to Azkaban.

Could Stephanie be in the same situation?

She encountered that Mysterious Person in Albania. That Mysterious Person was extremely powerful and may have used some kind of spell to leave a psychological suggestion on Stephanie...

Thinking of this, Sean looked up at the girl.

"I have a way to detect exactly what you've encountered."

Stephanie immediately realized what he meant when she saw his expression. "Checking my memories?"

Sean nodded. "Yes, only by examining the memories can we find out exactly what happened—but you should know that the cursed person cannot examine themselves; only someone else can examine their memories. And when examining memories, it is difficult to find the precise points, and I will inevitably see some of your secrets."

Stephanie hesitated for a moment, but then quickly nodded.

"I'm fine with this, please."

Her voice was flat, but her slightly flushed face and rapid breathing proved that she was not so calm.

Sean took a deep breath, pulled out his spell, and pressed it onto Stephanie's temple.

He wasn't trying to completely examine the other person's memory, but rather to find the specific point of psychological suggestion, which wasn't difficult for him at the moment.

Of course, choosing the key points to remember is very important.

As it stands, Sean Wallerup is the trigger that causes her emotional breakdown and awakening of her Sin...

I hope I don't see anything I shouldn't see...

Examining memories doesn't require the Pensieve; the principle behind this spell is similar to fabricating memories, except that the images seen are blurry and fast-paced.

Memories flashed by like a slideshow, and Sean's expression was slightly strange, but he continued searching anyway.

Finally, he raised his head.

Just as he had expected, Stephanie was under a powerful Obliviation Charm. Moreover, the spellcaster was far more powerful than Sean had imagined!

Sean quickly scanned Stephanie's memories using his own name as key information, so the images in her memories were all related to him.

The girl indeed had no ulterior motives. She noticed Sean because of Sean resistance to her allure. During that time, Sean could even sense Stephanie's happiness.

She has finally found a peer with whom she can have normal conversations.

As she handed over that Monocle, the memories that flashed by like a marquee were veiled in gray.

She struggled and regretted it...

Then there are scenes of the girl silently watching him from various corners, whether it's the Great Hall, the corridor, or in Newmontgard, Stephanie always glances at Sean smiling in the crowd.

Among them, Sean also discovers a hazy, sorrowful memory.

That was the time he took Felix Felicis. Under the influence of Felix Felicis, he made a sarcastic remark about Stephanie he had met by chance.

That seemed to be a very painful period in the girl's memory.

To Sean's surprise, Stephanie's reason for seeking the Ravenclaw's Diadem was actually to help him... She learned from Ravenclaw's manuscripts that the Ravenclaw's Diadem could enhance the wearer's wisdom.

Stephanie seemed to be thinking of using the Ravenclaw's Diadem to help the Runes Talent Sean.

She kept thinking about making amends.

Sean sighed softly.

However, although these memories are far from pleasant, Stephanie herself is very strong-willed. Although she feels guilty and resentful, she is not to the point of emotional breakdown.

This is where the Mysterious Person's power lies. He used some kind of magic spell to amplify Stephanie's feelings for Sean to an extreme degree. These feelings kept accumulating, and the girl's bitterness and sorrow gradually turned into despair.

When Sean became the trigger, everything that had been building up exploded. The emotional breakdown triggered the awakening of the Sin of Lust. The nascent power of Sin was instinctively drawn to Pride, the first of the Seven Deadly Sins, leading to everything that had just happened.

However, Sean didn't understand why that person would do such a thing.

If Sean hadn't regained his senses at that time, the whole thing would have ended with Sean taking control of the magic of Lust, and Stephanie would have simply disappeared from this world.

This is advantageous for Sean, both in terms of his own strength and in terms of limiting the "Pride" within him in the future; it's all beneficial and without any harm.

The world would be perfectly achieved only if Stephanie was injured. Does that person have a grudge against Stephanie? But why would they benefit themselves in this way?

He looked at the girl in front of him with her eyes tightly closed. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her nostrils flared with her rapid breathing. Clearly, she was not calm.

Sean gently woke her up, truthfully stated his conclusion, and finally asked, "That person understands Sin and Prophecy. There must be very few people like that in this world. Do you know who you have offended?"

Stephanie was silent for a moment, then finally shook her head.

"Ugh, this is really troublesome. There are powerful old fogies everywhere..." Sean muttered to himself, seeing that she didn't speak, whether she didn't want to or didn't know. He didn't want to press her for an answer.

Unexpectedly, the girl in front of him quickly raised her head and looked at him, her eyes sparkling.

"You... you saw it, didn't you?"

Those fragments of memory... Sean chuckled, trying to brush it off.

Stephanie pursed her lips, her eyes revealing a clear determination and anticipation.

"I really didn't lie to you. I genuinely want to apologize to you. You can see that, right?"

"Oh, I've already said it, it's all in the past, don't dwell on it." Sean laughed heartily.

Stephanie paused, seemingly surprised that Sean really didn't care anymore. She lowered her head and gave a barely perceptible smile.

A moment later, she returned to her usual self, except that this time the girl's voice was truly calm, and she brought up the things she had mentioned before.

"You suspect that Professor Dumbledore is involved in this time travel accident?" Sean frowned upon hearing this.

"That's right. After you left that night, Professor Dumbledore came to the Room of Requirement. At first, I thought he was there to check on things. Since some of the Room of Requirement's authority had been delegated, the headmaster, who controlled the entire castle, should have been able to sense something unusual."

"But he didn't seem to find anything, and then he went into the Room of Requirement."

"I have access to the Room of Requirement, so I can see that he went to that room— the Pensieve Room."

After hearing the girl's words, Sean immediately recalled the entire scene from the Pensieve Room.

It was a room filled with Pensieve.

Hogwarts has been established for a thousand years, and all sorts of Pensieve —belonging to the headmaster, professors, and students—are displayed in one room.

Sean knew about the room when he received the access, but he already had a Pensieve, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

Where did Dumbledore go? If I remember correctly, there should be Pensieve in the Headmaster's Office.

"What did Professor Dumbledore do?" Sean asked.

"He took more than a dozen intact Pensieve," Stephanie replied.

Why take so many Pensieve? One of these is enough, isn't it?

As if sensing Sean's confusion, Stephanie closed her eyes and silently recited a mantra, which appeared in her hand.

She handed it over. "This is a manuscript by a master Pensieve maker, which mentions several application scenarios for Pensieve."

Sean looked at the manuscript.

[Description of multiple usage scenarios for the Pensieve – Currently, only one scenario appears to be applicable]