"Mr. Lockhart really does have a gift for memory magic." If the head of Obliviator Headquarters could recognize the "Sacrificial Ritual," Dumbledore certainly could too.
In fact, Dumbledore had actually studied this Sacrificial Ritual.
"I happened to study the magical sacrifice Mr. Lockhart is performing when I was young. I believe I was still a student at Hogwarts then."
As people grew older, they liked to reminisce about the past, and even Dumbledore was no exception.
With a Minister for Magic and the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement right there, he had the chance to make them both listen to his reminiscences...
Dumbledore could hardly resist.
"At the time, I had spent several frustrating months unable to cross the threshold to mastery. Then, while casually looking through some reference materials, I came across the Sacrificial Ritual used in memory magic.
"I was very curious.
"I went through every source I could find, only to discover that this Sacrificial Ritual worked solely in memory magic. In every other field of magic, regardless of the price paid, the ritual would ultimately fail for one reason or another.
"So I devoted some time to studying this Sacrificial Ritual."
At Dumbledore's words, both Fudge and Amelia Bones developed rather peculiar expressions.
As the foremost figure in the British Wizarding World, Dumbledore was universally assumed to have led an utterly "unblemished life."
Sacrifice hardly sounded like something noble, righteous, or honorable.
It was little wonder that the two senior Ministry officials looked so conflicted.
Fudge was even secretly wondering whether he was hearing about the skeletons in Dumbledore's closet.
Once he had heard the whole story, would Dumbledore hit him with an Obliviate? Noticing the odd looks from his two listeners, Dumbledore simply spread his hands. "I was only a young student