Memory Charm

Loren and Hermione rambled on about things they didn't really care about, but fortunately, such muttering little wizards were not uncommon.

Hogwarts students often come to the pub on weekends for adventures, trying to drink like adults, only to fall asleep on the table before finishing their drinks. The Three Broomsticks waiter is used to it.

The various patrons in the bar dared not harbor ill intentions towards these young wizards, not only because of Dumbledore's reputation, but also because professors from the university would often come to the bar for a drink to relax.

The two chatted absentmindedly about the Transfiguration Club and the Potions Club, which hadn't yet started publicly recruiting members. The young wizard was very keen to join the Potions Club because brewing Potions was a highly skilled profession, and being Potions Master was a respectable job.

Leisurely stirring the liquid in the crucible, brewing cheap raw materials into Potions, selling it for enough to cover several months' expenses. Easy, pleasant, and elegant.

Loren couldn't understand why the young wizards would have such unrealistic fantasies when they had Potions class every week. He could only assume that it was perhaps similar to ordinary people's yearning for doctors.

After slowly finishing their Butterbeer and even dozing off for a while, the two left the Three Broomsticks feeling refreshed.

It was probably two or three in the afternoon. The sun had passed its zenith, and the soft sunlight streaming down my body gave me a comfortable warmth.

"Is there anything else we need to do?" Hermione and Loren walked out side by side.

Is there anything else you'd like to play?

"No more!" Hermione answered crisply.

They hadn't been to Zog's Joke Shop yet, nor had they visited Elegant Wizarding Apparel; there were still many places they hadn't been. Hermione actually wanted to check out the Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, but she knew the importance of not eating all the good stuff at once—it would make her bloated.

What was that saying again?

There's plenty of time in the future.

"Shall we find a place to get something to eat?" Loren looked around at both sides of the street, but there didn't seem to be any restaurants or similar shops.

"Hmm—" Hermione sighed, feeling her stomach was still full. They had stuffed themselves with too much food at Honeydukes, all high-sugar foods that were very filling.

She fell into deep thought, "Let's not eat anymore. Let's buy a cake and go back to school. I'll share some with Parvati and the others, and you can also take some to Harry and the others to thank them for their birthday presents."

"Cake? What flavor would you like?"

"Avalanche Strawberry Cake! I will always love Avalanche Strawberry Cake!"

"Chocolate cake would be nice too."

"Actually, I'd like to try a cake made with dark chocolate."

The two walked and talked.

The streets of Hogsmeade were still bustling. In Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, many young wizards were still glued together, hands taped to hands, mouths tapped to mouths. Outside the Quidditch Emporium, the unshaven owner squatted, fretting with his clerk over strangely packaged candy boxes.

"I only asked you to go next door and steal—no, bring out some sample candies—how did you end up carrying such a huge thing back?" the boss said.

The young shop assistant blushed and stammered, "The new Fizzing Whizzbees was so tempting that I couldn't resist eating all the samples in the sample box. Plus, I was wearing this uniform, so I got caught."

He looked at the candy gift box in front of him. "You know the rest. Mr. Flume. Ambrose Froome asked me to bring this to you."

The shop owner looked at the gift box suspiciously. "Is there Cockroach Clusters inside? Last time I opened a gift box he gave me in the store, cockroaches crawled all over the place!"

"Just open it up and you'll know."

Are you an idiot?

Loren and Hermione laughed as they walked past and into Honeydukes.

Colorful bubbles floated below the ceiling, the popping sounds of Jelly Beans rang out from time to time, along with bursts of flame and crackling white icy mist... The shelves were still crowded with little wizards, and the counter was surrounded by them placing orders and checking out.

Although they were told it was Avalanche Strawberry Cake, the two couldn't resist eating a piece of each of the various cakes on display for tasting.

The mousse cake was as soft as a cloud, the cherry cream Black Forest cake had a smooth and creamy texture, and the nut brownie was sweet but not cloying. The undigested candy in their stomachs welcomed a new companion, and both felt a bit too full before regretting stopping.

Then, carrying the Avalanche Strawberry Cake, which were divided into two boxes, they returned to the Castle. Although the sun had not yet set, the lights and candles were already on.

Savoring the lingering sweetness on their lips, the two talked about the shops they wanted to visit next and planned their itinerary. They wanted to see the owls at the Post Office, and the Shrieking Shack featured in "Famous Places in the Wizarding World." There were many more interesting places to visit, and their future seemed endless.

He stepped into the shadows, then revealed half his body to block the light, casting a flickering shadow on the ground...

They skipped and hopped until they reached the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room, where they stopped and looked at each other.

Loren turned his head to the side and looked at the entrance of the girls' dormitory, saying, "I put your birthday present in the cake box. Remember to check it."

Hermione smiled broadly, "Thank you! This is the happiest birthday I've ever had!"

"I will pass on the message to Wendell and Monica."

Hermione:???

With mixed feelings, the two parted ways.

Hermione opened the box before even entering her dorm room. Just like the birthday present she gave Loren, it was a small pendant. The brown Vine Wood was carved into a square-headed, cartoonish little whale, waving its little tail upwards, clumsy yet endearingly cute.

The carving is exquisite, with even the smallest engravings being meticulously done, reflecting a focused and careful attention to detail.

Hermione held the little pendant, feeling a sweetness even sweeter than a cream cake.

Back in the dormitory, Loren shared the cake with Harry and the others, using the free seashell plates and small forks that looked like hedgehog spines provided by the shop.

Harry ate the cake, then brandished his wand, occasionally thrusting it forward and then quickly pointing it behind him. He was simulating a situation where he was surrounded by Death Eater and had to fight them all alone, making "whoosh! whoosh!" sounds from time to time.

If the atmosphere is right, Ron will join in, and in their imaginations, they'll stage a scene of a lone hero breaking through the encirclement.

But he was still eating cake, so watching Harry's behavior from a third-person perspective was... well, it's hard to describe.

"What spell can you cast instantly and defeat in one move?" Ron tried to make Harry's performance more convincing.

Harry said, "Disarming Charm? My Disarming Charm is a little different. Many upperclassmen only use it to disarm, but I can also make it knockback, defeating the enemy in one hit."

Ron fell silent. He had practiced with Harry and witnessed the Disarming Charm, which was not magical at all.

Seamus asked, "Loren, what spell did you choose?"

Ron walked over, placed his hands on Loren's shoulders, and said solemnly, "Think carefully before you answer. This concerns who will write our Seamus reports this semester."

"You actually bet on something like this?" Loren found it outrageous. "With so many spells, what if the one I choose is different from the one you bet on?"

"You didn't choose a specific spell. Seamus guessed you chose an offensive spell, but I'm guessing it's a non-offensive spell," Ron said.

Loren hesitated for a moment, then winked at the two of them, conveying a hint: "Choosing a spell is a matter that requires careful consideration, isn't it? I think perhaps 'my' 'stargazing report' will reveal some clues; I need to see what happens before I decide."

His emphasis was wonderfully subtle.

Seamus waved his hand, dispelling his threats and fantasies. "Don't even think about it. Hermione will check your stargazing report first, and we'll be caught if we write more than three words."

"Sigh," Loren sighed, giving up the struggle, "Then you lose, Shield Charm, non-offensive type."

"Ha! I don't have to write a stargazing report this semester!" Ron cheered immediately.

Seamus stared at him in disbelief. "You took me to the Forbidden Forest to blow up tree branches as soon as we arrived at school, and now you're telling me you chose the Shield Charm?!"

Seamus couldn't accept it, absolutely couldn't accept it.

Fearing that Loren might change his mind, Ron dragged Seamus away to write last week's stargazing report, which was due the day after tomorrow.

The two whispered as they reviewed the situation:

How did you guess?

"Judging from his playing style, he is balanced in offense and defense, but not overly aggressive."

"You can tell from that?"

night.

Saturday night wasn't going to be pleasant for Harry and Ron. Their detention, which they'd managed to avoid the previous week, was now in effect. Ron was going to the Prefects' bathroom to clean hundreds of trophies without using magic. Harry was going to find Lockhart to help him reply to fan mail.

Loren is also going to find Lockhart; the lesson on the Memory Charm that we agreed on last week will begin tonight.

In the deserted corridor, Harry listened to Loren's footsteps and felt much more at ease. He said gratefully, "Thanks to you, Loren, otherwise I would have had to face that bestselling author alone."

"I... I should be thanking you," Loren said somewhat guiltily, changing the subject, "How's the new Quidditch tactic training going? Can it beat the Slytherin Quidditch Team?"

Speaking of this, Harry sighed, "We'll only know when the official match comes. After learning that the Slytherin Quidditch Team had new brooms, Wood calmed down, but he became more and more nervous, sensitive and irritable. Everyone is under a lot of pressure, and the atmosphere in the team is like a powder keg. I really hope the match comes soon."

"Don't worry, Quidditch isn't just a sport about speed..." Loren repeated what he had heard during the day, which greatly encouraged Harry.

As they spoke, the two arrived at Lockhart's office and knocked on the door of the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.

Sizzle!

The hinges made a metallic scraping sound as the office door opened inward.

Lockhart wasn't behind the door, but sitting in the middle of the office, one hand propping up his cheek, a pose that looked like he'd been in for a long time.

Loren and Harry sighed in unison. What a show-off! Opening doors with magic—something even a preschooler could do—and he made it sound like some profound spell. Even Professor Flitwick couldn't pull it off as well.

"Ah, the little devil and the future Memory Eraser are here! Come in, Harry, Loren, come in," Lockhart greeted, his high-pitched voice perfectly matching his posture.

The dozens of photographs and portraits of Lockhart hanging on the wall were brightly lit by candlelight.

"You help me write the envelopes. Trust me, they'll be overjoyed when they receive them!" Lockhart thought of the scene and felt as refreshed as drinking a crucible of ice water in the scorching desert.

"Like this, the first one is for Lady Gladys Gugwent—one of my ardent admirers..." Lockhart demonstrated to Harry how to write an envelope, then placed several thick stacks of envelopes, as tall as Harry, in front of him for him to copy.

P.D.I.D., Veronica...

Harry mechanically slid the quill pen along, his eyes lifeless, like an emotionless envelope-copying machine.

Lockhart watched him copy several letters, nodded in satisfaction, looked up at Loren, and smiled, "Oh, future Memory Eraser, let's begin learning the Memory Charm."

The teaching process was somewhat unexpected for Loren. Lockhart had a comprehensive grasp of the Memory Charm, perhaps due to his own abilities, Lockhart explained it in great detail.

In addition to the incantation's pronunciation and the casting motions, he also explained to Loren how to cast the Memory Charm in various situations.

"Memories from different times are interconnected; they have some subtle connections. When we delete or modify memories, we need to do it perfectly."

"The famous Ilfracombe Incident occurred in 1932. At that time, a mischievous Common Welsh Green attacked a group of sunbathers in Ilfracombe, Devon, England. The Toke Family, wizards who were traveling there, controlled the Fire Dragon and used the largest Memory Charm of the 20th century on the inhabitants."

"I don't mean any disrespect to the Toke Family, but they simply don't understand the principles of the Memory Charm. Their crude, indiscriminate application of the Memory Charm has produced many errors. If it were me, even if a whole herd of Romania dragons flew over London, no Muggle would remember it the next day."

With typical wizarding ideas, Lockhart probably had no idea how big London was or how many Muggle lived in the city.

Ignoring the self-aggrandizing parts in class, the most useful part is Lockhart's detailed analysis of the memory storage areas in the brain and the memory storage in the soul.

"Short-term memories that do not trigger drastic emotional changes will not be etched into the soul. With a wave of the wand, such memories can be easily changed."

"On the other hand, there are memories that have been etched into the soul for many years and countless recollections, deeply imprinted with profound emotions. For these kinds of memories, the Memory Charm must penetrate deep into the soul; even the slightest fluctuation of Magic Power can turn a person into a fool."

At this point, Lockhart smiled at Loren, "Many people simply cannot distinguish between the two types of memories, which can lead to irreversible brain damage and permanent harm to the soul's memories."

The goodwill he had built up earlier, combined with Lockhart's desire to show off, made this lesson packed with valuable information. Loren learned many little-known things about the Memory Charm.

"Every year during the Quidditch World Cup, the Memory Charm needs to be used repeatedly on nearby residents. The Memory Eraser sent to the scene are all experienced professionals, so there are basically no problems. But other scenarios, such as interrogation, are for newcomers to practice on, often turning the interrogated criminals into idiots." Lockhart lowered his voice, "And then throw them into Azkaban, claiming that it was done by Dementor."