Just how quickly does news spread in the wizarding world? Lockhart was about to find out.
Compared to ordinary gossip, news veering towards the mystical spreads with unbelievable speed among witches and wizards. Of course, this was also helped by Gilderoy Lockhart's global fame at the time.
Within a few days, he received a letter from Madam Mary.
The witch's plea for help was earnest and heartfelt.
While Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry might seem like a place freely accessible to some very important figures, to most witches and wizards, it remains incredibly mysterious. Even those who once studied there wouldn't be able to find the school if they didn't have permission to enter.
Madam Mary had been quite beside herself these past two days. When she heard about Corban Yaxley, the 'Life Thief,' from others, she was absolutely stunned.
Ha!
It was utterly ridiculous!
She had actually sought out the very person who had stolen her life to help her find her lost past!
Could anything be more absurd?
She frantically tried to visit Professor Lockhart at Hogwarts, hoping for assistance, but no matter how powerful she was as a Haitian witch, with her extraordinary ability to communicate with spirits, she found nothing.
She was forced to write letters via owl post, anxiously checking her mailbox daily. Even in her sleep, she would often wake up in the middle of the night, frantically searching for owls from every window in her home.
Finally!
After what felt like an age, she at last received Professor Gilderoy Lockhart's reply.
—Dear Madam Mary, as a respected professor of a renowned magical school, I am most happy to offer my assistance. However, this matter falls under the regulations of the Ministry of Magic. As an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, responsible for certain affairs concerning the criminal Corban Yaxley, I must remind you that you are required to submit an application through the proper channels to the Ministry of Magic.
The letter's content was generally along those lines.
So Madam Mary rushed to the Ministry of Magic for help, but, but! Goodness knows how bloated and antiquated that enormous wizarding administrative body was. Her request seemed to vanish without a trace, with no news for days.
The Ministry of Magic was utterly inefficient!
She sought help from those in the know, only to be told that for cases like hers, especially involving departments like the Department of Mysteries, waiting a year or two was perfectly normal.
Ha!
A year or two?
The British Ministry of Magic's efficiency was truly splendid!
She wondered if Corban Yaxley, who had committed so many heinous crimes, would even be thrown into Azkaban or even sentenced to a Dementor's Kiss in two years' time. By then, it would be far too late!
So she had no choice but to write to Professor Lockhart again, pleading for help, while also activating all her connections to find anyone who might be able to assist in the matter.
This wasn't easy. As a reclusive Haitian witch who had established a sheltered wizarding community in the Muggle world, she didn't have many connections in the wider wizarding world.
Her past acquaintance with an influential figure like Corban Yaxley was only due to some distant blood ties in their family tree. And because of the tragic events of her past, she wasn't particularly close to this distant relative and hadn't used Corban to meet other influential people.
Fortunately, she finally found someone who might be able to help.
Rita Skeeter, a reporter and writer for The Daily Prophet.
This person had a certain greed for money, but her methods were undeniably effective. A personal interview about Madam Mary garnered much attention and sympathy within the wizarding community. Then, by arranging for some 'readers' to write letters to the Ministry of Magic, they finally gained the Ministry's attention.
Madam Mary finally met Professor Lockhart.
It truly wasn't easy.
That long stretch of time had been pure agony for her.
In truth, Lockhart hadn't intended for this to happen. Madam Mary was waiting for news, and so was he.
He was waiting for the news to spread, for Rita to broadcast the matter far and wide, and then to see how many witches and wizards would come knocking.
The results were quite interesting.
It was just Madam Mary, and no one else.
Lockhart had compared the differences between the dozen or so powerful witches and wizards whose memories his original self had stolen and found that the Forest Witch and Madam Mary, who were aware of their missing memories, were both of the more ancient, spiritual kind of wizarding tradition.
The Forest Witch followed a path of communicating with 'Nature,' while Madam Mary followed a path of communicating with 'Society.' Lockhart had only encountered two such witches or wizards in Hogwarts, the place with the highest density of witches and wizards:
Professor Trelawney, the Divination teacher, and first-year witch Luna Lovegood.
Memory loss isn't easily noticed. Humans automatically mend all mental gaps, forming coherent thoughts to help themselves continue living better.
Based on this fundamental logic, the Memory Charm could be so effective in concealing the presence of witches and wizards from Muggles.
Madam Mary was led to the Department of Mysteries by Auror Nymphadora Tonks, and then guided by the Unspeakable Gilderoy Lockhart into the misty, mysterious Hall of Prophecy.
"I brought the criminal Corban Yaxley back to Hogwarts, where I teach, for study. After students discovered it and spread the news everywhere, I underwent a very strict inquiry from the Ministry of Magic..."
Lockhart held up a lamp, guiding Madam Mary through the mist, his deep voice coming from beneath his wide hood. "The relevant departments of the Ministry strictly forbade me from taking Corban out of the Department of Mysteries again, otherwise, your matter wouldn't have been so troublesome."
Madam Mary looked startled, her face showing some apology. "I didn't know I caused you trouble."
Lockhart shook his head. "It's no great matter, and it wasn't your doing."
They soon arrived at a small room glowing with an orange-red light, conspicuous in the mist. Pushing open the door, they stepped inside to find several young witches and wizards.
"I submitted some requests to the Ministry of Magic, allowing these few students of mine to assist with some auxiliary tasks in the Department of Mysteries. They can help me a bit, and of course, I can also take the opportunity to teach them more knowledge," Lockhart extinguished the lamp and hung it on the wall, inviting Madam Mary to sit down. "I hope you don't mind."
Madam Mary seemed a bit constrained, nervously shaking her head. "No, not at all."
In fact, she felt a little envious. Haiti had no wizarding school; the witches and wizards in her homeland still followed the more primitive tribal wizarding tradition of master-apprentice teaching. And because of her mixed heritage, she had lived in a state of being ostracized when she was young and had never met a good mentor in her life.
Seeing Professor Lockhart willing to bring apprentices to continue teaching even while working, she could only feel envious.
She was directed to one of the sofas and sat down, looking at the six young witches and wizards in the other seats, realizing they were the same ones who had rushed into her community earlier. Her expression involuntarily became a little awkward.
"Before we help Madam Mary find her lost life, I need to explain some knowledge about memory to everyone..." Lockhart pulled a blackboard next to the sofa and smiled at Madam Mary. "You may listen as well; it might be helpful for the experiment later."
Madam Mary nodded somewhat reservedly.
"Memory is an incredibly complex thing," Lockhart lowered his hood, looking at the young witches and wizards sitting upright before him, and spoke eloquently. "Many might believe it's merely a collection of information that humans gather through their five senses, recording all their experiences, along with internal brain processes, thoughts, and emotions."
Lockhart wrote on the blackboard: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Smell, Taste.
Then he drew a large 'X' next to it.
"This is an incorrect understanding, and it's the fundamental reason why many people can't properly use the Memory Charm."
He tapped his head with his wand. "Memory is stored in the brain, no doubt about that, but memory is not born there."
"It is born in the mind, active in the mind, and functions in the mind."
"The mind and the brain—that is a huge distinction."
"Thought belongs to the brain, which is why Veritaserum often cannot be used as a reliable interrogation tool, because it acts on thought, making it difficult for witches and wizards to obtain true memories through Veritaserum."
"..."
It wasn't easy to make the young witches and wizards understand the distinction between the mind and the brain, as there was much conceptual overlap between the two, and discussing it within the English language context also had many limitations.
If he were in his previous world, he could have cited ancient philosophies or even widely circulated poetry to explain.
For example, #### line, 'This feeling cannot be dispelled, no sooner does it leave my brow, than it settles in my heart,' would easily help one grasp the conceptual difference between 'brain' and 'heart' (mind).
Madam Mary listened beside them, somewhat entranced. She had never encountered such a specialized field. The charm of this academic approach lay in its unparalleled depth and breadth, content that traditional, ancient wizards could hardly access directly through mere mystery.
She had never imagined that the subject of memory alone was connected to such profound fields as time and space.
"If we look at memory from the dimension of time, it is no longer just a collection of information; it is the trace of life walking through the world. If you observe memory from this perspective, you will find it contains far more information than our brains can retrieve."
Lockhart gestured to the Pensieve placed nearby. "If we extract memories from the brain and place them in the Pensieve, we will experience this very directly."
"Using the Pensieve to organize memories is not merely a simple process of sorting information."
"We will discover something quite fascinating..." He smiled, looking at the eager, knowledge-seeking faces of the young witches and wizards, explaining, "Our minds have lived a richer life than our brains."
"This understanding will broaden your comprehension of life. You will find that many of your actions, despite not aligning with thoughts that pop into your brain, you do with such conviction. That is because the true driving force behind your actions is your mind!"
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