The Notebook

Dumbledore calmly watched it all. Only after Dobby had cried for quite a while did he step forward. "Dobby, that is your name, isn't it?"

"Dumbledore!" Dobby stopped crying. His huge eyes were still brimming with tears, but he seemed delighted to see Dumbledore. "They say you are the greatest wizard, that even the Dark Lord fears you."

"Oh, oh, that is only everyone being far too generous. You needn't take it seriously." Dumbledore smiled gently. "Dobby, I know you are a loyal house-elf. But loyalty sometimes has many layers of meaning."

"Dobby, for example, if your master ordered you to kill him, would you do it?"

"No, no! Of course not! Dobby would never hurt Master!"

"Even if his order was for you to kill him?"

"Y-yes..."

"You see, loyalty has different directions and choices. Dobby, you can blindly follow your master's orders, but you can also choose the action that is better for him."

"Now, this is the time to make that choice, Dobby. Will you choose the action that is better for your master?"

"Dobby will! Dobby will make Master better!"

"Very good, Dobby. Then please answer this gentleman's questions truthfully."

As expected of the headmaster.

Dumbledore never disappointed.

Murphy suppressed the sincere admiration for the headmaster rising in his heart and brought the house-elf back to the witness stand.

Then he asked, "Dobby, you are the Malfoy family's house-elf, correct?"

"Yes, Dobby is."

"The Malfoy family has a cellar, and hidden in that cellar are many bottles of wine, as well as some strange objects, correct?"

"Y-yes. How did you know..."

"Can you describe them?"

"All right, Dobby can. There are very large wooden barrels, with lots of red wine inside. Master said that wine is for entertaining inferior people. There are also some glass bottles. That wine is for entertaining honored guests..."

"Ahem, I don't mean the wine. I mean the strange objects on those shelves. Can you describe them?"

"A-all right, sorry. Those things are all kept in glass boxes. Master does not allow them to be touched and says they are precious treasures. But Dobby thinks they are very dangerous. Once, a gnome burrowed into the cellar and knocked over a glass box. A glove inside touched it, and then it went bang! Dobby spent a whole day cleaning those things up."

"Very good, Dobby." As Murphy spoke, he picked up the notebook. "Have you seen this thing before?"

Dobby looked at it for a while, then nodded. "Dobby has. This is Master's treasure. But..."

"That's enough, Dobby. Thank you."

After Murphy finished speaking, he put a glove on his left hand as well, then opened the notebook and showed it to everyone.

"Everyone, look. Right now, this notebook is blank."

"In fact, if one does not know the specific method, it is impossible to see the contents of this notebook. Isn't that right, Lucius?"

But Lucius's mouth was now sealed by magic, and he could not answer him at all.

"However, as long as certain methods are used, it can be restored to its original state."

As he spoke, Murphy had one of the judges beside him bring over a lit alcohol lamp, then held the notebook over it and heated it for a while.

Sure enough, writing began to appear on the blank pages.

Murphy handed the notebook to the judge, who placed it on a tray and let the assembled wizards pass it around.

Several diary entries were written in the notebook.

The first was something like a travelogue, recording the diary owner's experience of exploring an ancient magical ruin.

The second was a piece of rambling nonsense. The diary owner's mind seemed somewhat abnormal, but it contained distinctly characteristic phrases such as "I have already transcended death."

The third entry was the core content of the diary. It actually recorded the names of those who had joined him, including Barty Crouch Jr., Antonin Dolohov, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, and others who had already been thrown into Azkaban, as well as the names of many who had not yet been caught, such as Goyle, Crabbe, Igor Karkaroff, Walden Macnair, Avery, and others.

Among them, Lucius Malfoy's name was mentioned.

And clearly, Lucius had been the Dark Lord's favored follower. His name appeared in the diary more times than all the others combined.

Finally, there was a fourth diary entry, recording the notebook's subsequent ownership.

It read: "I will leave this notebook to Lucius, in the hope that it will play its role should matters go awry. I will write down what he needs to do in the event that something unacceptable occurs. My most loyal servant should be able to bear this heavy responsibility. No matter when, I shall return again!"

Lastly, the fifth diary entry had clearly been torn out by someone. Some runic symbols could still be faintly seen along the edges; it was obviously an explanation of a spell or magical ritual.

The wizards in purple-red robes whispered among themselves. If what was recorded in this notebook was true, then not only Lucius, but even more Death Eaters who had gone into hiding would be brought to justice!

And what was even more frightening was that Murphy Darkholme's accusation might really be true. Lucius Malfoy was truly trying to resurrect Voldemort!

"Lucius! Is everything written in this notebook true?!" a wizard on the judges' bench could not help asking.

Dumbledore removed the Silencing Charm from Lucius, and the latter immediately shouted, "No! It isn't true! This is false! Forged! This isn't his diary! This is fake!"

At first, Lucius had still been terrified, but after hearing the wizards' discussion, he was a little stunned.

That wasn't right. The diary the Dark Lord had given him was from when he was young. Back then, forget following Voldemort—Lucius himself had not even bloody been born yet! How could the notebook possibly record the names of the Death Eaters?!

Then, thinking again of the method Murphy had used to make the diary's writing appear by roasting it over a flame—although Lucius really had never found a way to make the diary reveal its writing, nor did he know whether this method was correct, wasn't roasting it over fire a little too careless?

"Shameless liar! Lies! It's all slander! This isn't the Dark Lord's diary at all! The Dark—cough." In his agitation, Lucius nearly blurted out the diary's true nature. Fortunately, he slammed the brakes on his mouth in time and changed his words. "I was never a Death Eater! This is all naked slander!"

He glared at Murphy. "You're the dark wizard! You broke into my house! Otherwise, how would you know everything in the cellar so well?! You burned down my home, burned my friends to death, and nearly left me and my family to die in the fire!"

"Honorable judges! Professor Dumbledore! I accuse Murphy Darkholme! He violated the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy! He sold potions to Muggles!"

The judges on the bench looked at Murphy again. For a moment, discussion broke out everywhere, and the whole courtroom buzzed with murmured conversation.

"Quiet! Quiet!" In the end, it was Dumbledore who roared twice before everyone's voices finally died down. He took the tray holding the notebook and studied it carefully for a while. Then, unexpectedly, he jabbed one finger onto the notebook.

"Careful!" many people warned.

But the terrifying dark magic they had expected did not appear. Dumbledore pinched the notebook's paper between his fingers and rubbed it a few times, then picked it up and casually flipped through it.

After quite a while, Dumbledore set the notebook down again and looked at Murphy. "Where did you get this notebook?"