Mysterious Journey
Chapter 1004 Nirvana Rebirth
"Let me guess, Miss Fool, you wouldn't happen to mean..."
Dumbledore tented his fingers, his gaze lowered to his fingertips, his face still adorned with his usual warm smile.
"Something like the Memory Charm squad in the Ministry of Magic, tracing Mr. Hanged Man's past, erasing his less-than-stellar experiences one by one, fundamentally eliminating any potential risks in the future—"
"Given the current power of the Major Arcana, these actions shouldn't be too difficult."
"After all, everyone has their own embarrassing past they'd like to erase. Compared to changing the past, altering the historical narrative is clearly easier—"
"Sounds like you're quite opposed to the idea, Professor Dumbledore, or... Pope?"
Eileen turned her head, looking at the white-haired old wizard behind her, tilting her head slightly.
"Do you have a better solution then? As far as I know, even you have some dark secrets you wouldn't want the public to know, right?"
"Indeed, it's a common ailment among our generation—"
Dumbledore said with utter candor, his eyes peering through his half-moon spectacles at the three young people in the room.
"Whether it's me, the Tower, or even the World, the Magician, the Empress, we old folks keep repeating the same mistakes, and we spend our entire lives trying to make up for them, trying to hide them."
"But you are different. You possess the same power within you. You have enough time and opportunities to avoid those detours, unlike us..."
Dumbledore raised his head, his bright blue eyes pausing on Lockhart's face, lingering for a couple of seconds before saying meaningfully.
"Lies might embellish lies, and mistakes might cover up mistakes, but that's not the way to solve problems."
"It's like using dry straw to cover up a spark beneath a haystack. Sooner or later, it will lead to a bigger, irreparable disaster."
"More importantly—"
"The Obliviate Charm isn't truly changing the future, is it? Misusing it and weaving lies will only cause people to gradually forget the truth."
The old man's voice gradually became serious.
He seemed to recall some terrible past events, paused for a few seconds, and then continued with a solemn expression.
"It's Pandora's box, a temptation from the devil!"
"This power should be used cautiously and more objectively, rather than intermingling too much personal gain. Otherwise, sooner or later, big problems will arise—isn't that the initial intention of creating the 'Black Robe Wizards' and the 'Foundation'?"
"If even the rule-makers can't abide by the rules, then the speed at which these initial intentions are corrupted might exceed imagination."
Unlike the succession of royal power in the non-magical world, the magical world has hardly formed a stable regime.
Even the current political structure of the multi-national Ministries of Magic is more of a complex of supervision, maintenance, and communication.
Compared to the leaders in the conventional sense of "nation," the power of the Ministry of Magic is not as great as one might imagine.
They don't even have a clear picture of how many wizards there are in their country, where they live, what industries they work in, or what their family members are like. These basic pieces of information are a jumbled mess.
Throughout the long history of magic, it's not that ancient magical families haven't conceived the idea of taking control of the world.
However, they all eventually turned to dust, quickly disappearing into the long river of human history.
Power breeds corruption, and absolute power breeds absolute corruption.
Most of those "magical regimes" built on strength fell apart within a few decades due to the abuse of "power."
"Yes, of course, I understand your concerns—"
Eileen nodded lightly, explaining to the somewhat confused Hermione.
"In short, Professor Lockhart used the Obliviate Charm to tamper with many people's memories, allowing him to become a well-known wizard with many experiences resisting dark magic. And now, these dark secrets have become the most fatal part of the 'Hanged Man's' resume."
"The most fatal... part? Why? Didn't you say the Destiny Group would take care of the aftermath?"
Hermione looked at Eileen, puzzled.
At the age of thirteen, she still seemed too young amid the discussions of the Major Arcana.
"You see, that's where the problem lies. The 'Hanged Man' is now in charge of the 'Black Robe Wizards,' whose main responsibility is to eliminate some negative impacts through memory erasure and modification—this must be done extremely carefully and objectively, otherwise the world will be in complete chaos."
After glancing at the "reserve justice" Miss who didn't quite understand, Eileen shrugged and casually gave an example.
"For example, I draw many checkmarks on you and then tamper with your memory to make you think Luna did it."
"Or, I promise to fulfill your wish if you help me with my homework, but I erase your memory the moment I get the homework."
"There can be many such examples, and their core commonality lies in..."
"Magic shouldn't be used to cover up evildoing—"
Before Eileen could finish speaking, Hermione said softly, thoughtfully, her amber eyes looking at Eileen.
"It's not the gun that kills people, but the person who pulls the trigger. Right? You said that some things only happen zero times or countless times."
"Very correct. Therefore, we can't kill an old American country wizard who lost his memory just to make 'Wandering with Werewolves' a bestseller; nor can we repeatedly torture a witch with a furry chin to ensure the authenticity of 'Breaking Up with a Female Ghost'."
Eileen glanced at the complicated expression on Lockhart's face, spread her hands, and said somewhat helplessly.
"Honestly, Mr. Hanged Man, your ability to take action is truly impressive—from graduation until now, you've written ten books, and for almost every story, you've tracked down most of the people in the know and cast the Obliviate Charm on them one by one."
"If it were just one or two people, that would be one thing, but with so many people, their range of activities, their social circles, you yourself should know how much manpower and financial resources the Destiny Group has invested."
"So, all those books are other people's experiences, all stolen by you?!"
Hermione asked in disbelief.
A certain sculpture in her heart finally collapsed completely.
And what made it even more difficult for her to accept was that Professor Dumbledore had actually hired him to be a professor at Hogwarts.
More importantly, Professor Lockhart was also a member of the Major Arcana. She finally understood why Lockhart was afraid of Eileen.
"Now it's regret, very regret..."
Gilderoy Lockhart sighed helplessly, shook his head, and said softly with some self-deprecation.
"In the beginning, it was just because that old wizard didn't want me to write the story down, so I secretly cast an Obliviate Charm once..."
"...Later, after the first royalty payment came down, things completely went out of control. It was as if some demon was chasing me from behind with a whip, so that I couldn't stop at all, until—"
Gilderoy Lockhart paused, his eyes wandering among the three demon kings in the room for a few seconds.
Even now, he still remembered the "employment invitation" of the fifteen-person team back then.
Or when Grindelwald proposed to him for a duel at the Bolshevik Tavern, the name of the assistant who appeared before him.
Of course, there was also that supreme Fairy Queen who had been hiding behind the scenes from beginning to end, orchestrating everything.
"—Until one day, I suddenly wanted to buy a big boat."
Eileen said softly with a smile, turned her head, shrugged at Hermione.
"In terms of the mastery of the Obliviate Charm, Mr. Hanged Man can be said to be one of the top wizards. Whether it's the Gringotts raid, humanitarian aid aimed at the non-magical world, or even the reverse disassembly of buying a ship...memory magic can be said to be one of the most important links in these events."
"But..."
Hermione blinked her eyes.
In her world, right is right, and wrong is wrong.
Her young heart could not yet understand the compromise and chaos between black and white.
"Without Mr. Lockhart, if an accident occurred, millions of people might die in hunger and turmoil—"
Eileen raised her finger and said solemnly.
"Of course, there may also be fairy wars, magical world unrest, the revival of dark magic forces... You can slowly look up the files and understand these later."
"This world has no absolute bad guys, and no perfect good guys. This is why Mr. Lockhart is qualified to be a member of the Major Arcana, and it's also why I'm talking about those past experiences again."
Unlike those Memory Charm squad members in the Ministry of Magic, the "Black Robe Wizards" led by Lockhart were clearly more restrained and professional.
Moreover, as Lockhart assisted in various research projects at the institute, he was no longer the flamboyant, vain, liar wizard he once was.
"I still don't understand, Eileen—"
The confusion in Hermione's heart had not been resolved, but instead, it was growing more and more.
"If Professor Lockhart is really that important, then why not keep things as they were? Things were fine before."
"Isn't it obvious? He's our partner now, not a prisoner, a tool—"
Eileen clapped her hands cheerfully, glanced at the old demon king not far away who was leaning against the door with his arms crossed, and continued.
"I don't think those past experiences should become a burden on Mr. 'Hanged Man,' nor should they become a reason for him to be coerced."
"Now, it's time to face those dark secrets, find a way to completely solve them. Evasion and suspicion are not our way of dealing with things."
"Sounds good, so what do you plan to do, Miss Fool?"
Grindelwald grinned, looking at the little demon king with interest, seemingly not hearing her subtext.
"Maintaining the status quo should be the best choice. You have to accept some ambiguous justice, after all, this is the real world."
"No matter how noble and brilliant a decision you make, it will inevitably damage some party's interests. Maybe you can establish new rules, like finding a win-win balance point as you did at Gringotts and in the former Soviet Union a few months ago, but you can never change history, right?"
"If certain entanglements and hatreds happened in the past, stemming from years, decades, or even centuries of continuation."
Grindelwald raised his hand, scratched his thinning temples, and continued cheerfully.
"It's easy to draw on a blank sheet of paper, and it's not difficult to rebuild a castle on ruins—the real difficulty lies in how to turn a canvas that's already covered with various colors into a blank sheet of paper, or how to repair a castle in a slum that grows wildly like weeds."
"As for the former, I can give you ideas and even give you a little help. But if it's the latter..."
The old wizard grinned, revealing a mouthful of mottled yellow teeth, and said with ill intentions.
"Maybe you can only find help in fairy tales, after all, no one has ever done that from ancient times to the present—of course, you're still quite young, you have enough time and reason to chase fairy tales. What if you succeed? After all, you are Her Majesty the Queen, right?"
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"Oh, Grandpa, shut up! Stop being sarcastic here!"
Eileen glared at the old demon king unhappily, her fist almost involuntarily clenched.
Since she began spreading the theory of "Yin and Yang Studies" in the magical world, Grindelwald has definitely been the fastest learner.
This old demon king's talent for being sarcastic is simply no less than his magical talent, to the point that Eileen is now provoked into anger.
"I said, the Major Arcana never do multiple-choice questions, I want everything—"
Eileen said with a pout.
She glanced at the two old guys who were watching her joke and couldn't help but slam the table hard.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
"Hey, I'm not kidding right now! You guys be serious!"
As a shallow little palm print appeared on Dumbledore's desk, Dumbledore finally put away his smile.
This mixed-blood little succubus was starting to get anxious.
If they continued to tease her, perhaps Grindelwald could be spared due to his "grandson-granddaughter relationship," but his and his poor headmaster's office might suffer. The old man quickly straightened his expression and coughed lightly.
"Okay, then, dear Miss Fool, do you have any good solutions that are the best of both worlds?"
"Well, it's very simple, just admit your mistakes frankly."
Eileen nodded lightly, spread her hands, and said in a matter-of-course tone.
"If you can get the consent of the 'protagonists' of those 'works' and give a good explanation, there may be some discordant voices in a short period of time, and it may even form some kind of devastating wave.
This will undoubtedly be a very courageous thing, and it will also be a relatively difficult time, but if you look at it from a long-term perspective..."
Her gaze suddenly stopped her voice, and her eyes passed over Gilderoy Lockhart directly in front of her, landing on a small corner by the door.
The next moment, a strange suffocating sound suddenly came from there, and everyone subconsciously looked over.
There were more than five people in the room.
On a tall gilded perch behind the door stood an old bird that looked like a turkey that had been plucked halfway.
When their eyes looked at the "half-bald turkey," it also looked at them with a sad gaze, and once again made that suffocating sound.
Its eyes were lifeless, and in the gap between these two sighs, a few more feathers fell from its tail.
"Wait, wait, this couldn't be..."
Hermione was stunned for half a second, carefully observing the "half-bald turkey" and the bird stand it was on.
If she remembered correctly, this place should have belonged to the beautiful phoenix named "Fawkes" before.
Could it be that this is...
Before Hermione could finish the question in her mouth, the "half-bald turkey" suddenly caught fire.
In an instant, it completely turned into a ball of fire;
It let out a scream, then disappeared, leaving only a pile of not-yet-completely-extinguished ashes on the floor.
A few seconds later, the ashes rustled a few times.
A small, wrinkled chick peeked its head out of the ashes.
"That's right, hello, cute little Fawkes~"
Eileen walked over excitedly, carefully reached out her hand, and picked up the struggling little guy.
"—Phoenix Nirvana, reborn from the ashes, this is one of the most beautiful sights in the world, right?"
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Yay!