Mysterious Journey
Chapter 1029 The Assailant of Aileen
Leaving aside the strange potions, mind-related magic alone is enough to cause headaches.
As a traveler who "accidentally stumbled" into this world, Aileen's vigilance in this regard is almost comparable to two or three "Mad-Eye Moody's." Every night before going to bed, she uses a "Memory Orb" to ensure that her memories have not been tampered with.
Whether it is tampering with memories, deleting memories... these inevitably leave gaps in the original memory chain.
Unless it is a "multi-expert consultation" similar to the one targeting Peter Pettigrew, in most cases, abnormalities can be detected using the Memory Orb.
Perhaps she cannot avoid attacks forever, but she can at least launch a counterattack in the first instance after being fooled—even disregarding her illustrious identities as the Goblin Queen of Gringotts, the heiress of the Destiny Group, and Miss o5-Fool of the Foundation... in certain specific situations, her individual strength alone can now achieve the destructive power comparable to that of top wizards such as Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
"Ms. Arkhipovna, I'm sorry, please excuse yourself for a moment."
Aileen said calmly, her gaze lingering over the rest of the people in the room for a few seconds.
"Next, we may have a brief meeting..."
The extent of the Veela's magical development allows her to clearly remember every event detail that occurred within a week.
Therefore, from the most basic physiological structure, it negates the probability that Aileen might experience "forgetfulness" like Neville.
Then the answer is very obvious—
From her last "memory self-check" to this point in time.
She, Aileen, unexpectedly lost a portion of her memory...
And considering the itinerary during this period, the "culprit" is most likely hiding among the people present.
…………
Click.
The door closed again.
At the same time, an invisible magical barrier instantly unfolded.
Like tidal waves, magical ripples swept across the ground, skimmed over the ceiling, and silently permeated the walls, instantly forming an "absolute chamber" that could not transmit information to the outside world—Professor Dumbledore was the one casting the spell, so it did not stir up any violent reactions.
"Well then, let's keep it short..."
Aileen said softly, gently drawing her wand, holding it in her hand as if it were a sword.
"Obviously, from now going back to the last 'memory self-check,' during this period, I lost a small piece of memory..."
The Deathly Hallows necklace on her chest flickered with a faint white light.
Even if Dumbledore and Grindelwald joined forces to attack her now, they would not be able to incapacitate her with the first strike.
Of course, the reason the two old wizards drew their wands was not to strike first—in such a narrow space, Aileen's combat power is almost the strongest among them, they were more to steady the girl, and to rescue the "culprit" in time.
"Memory... lost? Interesting."
Grindelwald rubbed his wand with his fingers, grinned, and was the first to break the silence.
"So, do you have any clues now? Girl. The only ones who had the opportunity to attack you are the people in this room, right?"
"No impression at all—"
Aileen carefully recalled the events of the past few days, shaking her head.
However, this is also a matter of course.
If there were any obvious loopholes, the intelligent her would have realized something was wrong long ago.
On the other hand, this also illustrates another thing—compared to implanting and tampering with memories, the probability that she was hit with a Memory Charm is higher.
"Hmm, let me think, the time of the last 'memory check' was the night before yesterday, that is, after boarding the ship..."
Aileen said softly to herself, sorting out and rewinding the events that had happened before.
Due to the Amber mechanism, and the captain's identity permissions.
The Hyperion is pretty much a completely safe place.
"...After destroying the Basilisk, you went directly to the Headmaster's office, right."
Grindelwald analyzed with interest, without any awareness that he was also one of the major suspects.
"Then, you and your friends went back to your bedroom, and stayed there until this morning... then went to the Room of Requirement, and then passed through the Room of Requirement to the Headmaster's office, then we several people arrived at the research institute together, the scene and the people involved are not many..."
The first-generation Dark Lord said slowly, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Headmaster's office, bedroom, Room of Requirement, research institute... at most plus the castle corridor, just these few, right?"
"That, we need to add one more place..."
Just then, Hermione, standing beside Aileen, carefully raised her hand.
"After returning to the bedroom yesterday, we sneaked out once."
"Huh? Sneaked out once?"
Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, looking kindly at the little beaver.
"Miss Granger, what did you mean by 'out' just now...?"
"Outside the castle, of course not too far, Lasswade—"
Before Hermione could answer, Aileen spread her hands and frankly confessed.
"We teleported from the fireplace in the bedroom to the Headmaster's office, and then flew out of the window, went home to celebrate Christmas, this should not violate any school rules, right? And we came back before twelve o'clock, which does not count as staying out all night, and by the way, we also found security loopholes for Hogwarts."
"...Uh, hmm, yes. From the Headmaster's office... the window?"
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched, he raised his hand and rubbed his brow, sighing helplessly.
"Okay, then there is one more suspicious place to investigate, involving off-campus activities is much more complicated—"
"Actually, it's not that difficult, Granger."
Aileen said calmly, casually handing the Memory Orb to Hermione.
"Hold it tight, see if it changes color, and then pass it to Luna—if both of you change color, then it means that we were all together when the 'attack' happened. The rest is left to Professor Lockhart and Professor Dumbledore... simple, right?"
If the "culprit" simultaneously attacked her and her little wings, then the time, place, and suspects are almost locked.
After all, in the magical world, there are only a handful of wizards who can capture them in an instant.
And if...
"All... white? Interesting."
Aileen looked at the Memory Orb passing through Hermione and Luna's hands.
Unlike the bright red light it emitted when it was in her hand, the inside of the Memory Orb returned to white mist.
Obviously, this was not a large-scale group capture, but a secret operation aimed at her alone.
Then, the remaining possibilities are only three:
When she was alone, someone cast a Memory Charm on her.
The little wings joined forces and cast a Memory Charm on her in the bedroom.
Or, everyone present, at some point in time, joined forces and cast a Memory Charm on her.
Considering the actual situation and probability, the possibility of the latter two situations combined is even less than one in ten thousand. After all, if that really happened, she would probably have been trained into some kind of human weapon, instead of seriously analyzing the logic in a locked room like this.
"Wa-wait... I haven't..."
Hannah eagerly watched the Memory Orb pass from Hermione's hand to Luna's hand, and then return to Aileen's hand.
Unsurprisingly, the pure white mist instantly dyed a thick red halo again.
"Well, Hannah, you don't need to—after we find the answer, you can play for as long as you want—"
Aileen thought for a moment and said seriously, then turned to look at the other wizards.
"So, the current situation is clear, I have a small request..."
Whatever the final answer is, she is now preparing to quickly end this unexpected case, and then... launch a counterattack.
Compared to deception, Aileen is most intolerant of this kind of manipulation of the soul—it's too dangerous. As someone who has transmigrated, her emphasis on this aspect is almost morbid. She will never allow others to have the opportunity to turn her into some kind of human doll.
On the other hand, most of the wizards present also had some solemn expressions.
If Aileen could be attacked, then they could naturally be treated in the same way.
After all, in terms of vigilance, instantaneous protection, and small-scale confrontation, Aileen is not even much weaker than Dumbledore.
Aileen looked around at everyone in the room, waving the wand in her hand casually, and said softly.
"We all know that there is a simple way to identify the magic spells cast by a wand within a certain period of time. This should be the fastest and safest method. What do you think? Or can you start explaining the reasons now?"
"Prior Incantato? That is indeed a good method."
Grindelwald reacted instantly, nodding in agreement.
At the same time, Dumbledore and Lockhart also nodded in agreement after thinking about it.
It's actually... a unanimous vote?!
Aileen was stunned for a few seconds, frowned, and carefully observed everyone's expressions.
This was beyond her expectations. In her original plan, this proposal should force the "culprit" to directly self-destruct.
In the original Basilisk extermination plan, everyone might have cast a "Memory Charm."
However, the current actual situation is quite different from the plan.
If "Memory Charm" appears in the three-day spell reversion, then it will almost be 100% marked as the "culprit."
"Prior... Incantato, what is that..."
Hannah whispered in the ear of "Miss Know-It-All."
However, before Hermione could explain, Grindelwald and Aileen used actions to answer the question.
Grindelwald took the initiative to raise his wand and connected it with Aileen's wand.
"Prior Incantato!"
Aileen said softly.
Thick gray smoke rose from the junction of the two wands.
With the passage of time, it continued to change shape: at first, it was some magical plasticity, which was the assembly work of the ternary computer; then there were pieces of land being reversed and flattened, this was them repairing the venue; then there was the Levitation Charm, and simple Transfiguration, watching the blurred gray axe blade mist constantly falling and rising, everyone present knew what they were doing...
"Deletrius!" Aileen waved her wand, disconnecting the Prior Incantato's reversion.
The light and shadow smoke in the air disappeared.
"Well then, next, I will be responsible for the Prior Incantato's reversion..."
Grindelwald revealed a meaningful, slightly cruel strange expression, looking at the other wizards.
No matter who secretly cast the Memory Charm on Aileen, he would not feel particularly angry—this little girl looks smart, but at some times, she is too easy to "show her belly" to people she trusts, this is not a quality that a qualified high-level person should have.
If he can take this opportunity to let Aileen understand the cruel nature of the "lonely world"...
Even if it sacrifices one or two people who have crossed the red line, it is not impossible.
"...Not Gellert?"
Dumbledore frowned slightly, taking a deep look at Grindelwald.
In this way, the situation is more complicated than he imagined.
If Aileen was really "attacked," then his attitude and subsequent choices are particularly important.
Dumbledore is very clear that some things are not just about right and wrong and revenge—when a certain bottom line is inadvertently broken, the aftereffects may be more difficult to heal than the wounds left by adhering to the bottom line. The road ahead is still very long...
For a time, various thoughts flashed through his mind.
However, Dumbledore's movements did not stop.
Before rescuing others, and Aileen's soul, he must first protect himself.
Before Grindelwald could come over, he took the initiative to draw his wand and placed it at the front end of Grindelwald's wand.
"Prior Incantato!"
Grindelwald raised an eyebrow, clearly reciting.
Gray smoke re-emerged.
…………
"Deletrius!"
About a quarter of an hour later.
Grindelwald's originally cruel and playful expression turned to confusion.
He waved his hand, dispersing the smoke that poured out from the front end of Hermione's wand.
As for the girl using magic to copy homework, and even the explosion magic she secretly tried in the castle, those were things that Dumbledore should headache and consider later. What confused Grindelwald now was, who on earth attacked Aileen without anyone noticing.
"What do you say now? Are there any other clues?"
Grindelwald's expression became serious, looking at the girl who was also lost in thought not far away.
This is not a good thing.
Although the security alert at Hogwarts has always been a place where he teases Dumbledore.
But teasing is teasing. After Aileen, himself, Nicolas Flamel and a group of wizards jointly reinforced it, Hogwarts Castle, if not impregnable, is at least one of the most difficult places to sneak into in the magical world today, not to mention the occurrence of a "sneak attack" incident.
"No more, maybe there's Nicolas Flamel... but I don't think he has the ability to subdue us in an instant."
Aileen slowly shook her head, biting her finger in confusion, "So—are we going to seal off Hogwarts Castle? Search the castle from beginning to end? Or search the Hyperion? Making a fool of ourselves is secondary, the collapse of trust is even more terrible, but where did the problem go wrong..."
"Well, there's actually another possibility..."
Just then, Hannah said carefully.
After such a long time of buffering, she roughly understood what happened.
"Hmm? For example?" Aileen tilted her head, looking at Hannah expectantly.
"Weren't we just checking the wands to determine who cast the 'Memory Charm' on you—"
Hannah glanced at Dumbledore, and the serious-looking Grindelwald, blinking her eyes.
"Then, if all the wands present have to be checked, isn't there still Aileen's own wand that hasn't been checked?"
"So... you think I would cast a spell on myself?"
Aileen said speechlessly, unable to help rolling her eyes.
This silly girl, she doesn't know what to say.
Apart from Lockhart's accident in the original work, who would normally cast a Memory Charm on themselves?
You know, one of the reasons why the Memory Charm is not considered black magic is that there are clear and multiple ways to break the spell—the most common, of course, is for the caster to actively restore the memories that have been erased, and some powerful wizards can also restore them themselves.
For example, Bertha Jorkins in the original work, who was cast a Memory Charm by Barty Crouch Sr.
However, if the caster and the recipient are the same person... then, the only way to restore this memory is to wait for a miracle.
"Since that's the case, why not try it?"
Grindelwald said softly, his wand extending forward, thoughtfully looking at Aileen.
"Okay, okay—"
Aileen shrugged helplessly.
She raised her wand and re-aimed it at the front end of Grindelwald's wand.
Of course, she did not forget that she had two wands—her other wand was also drawn from her arms, aiming at the tip of Dumbledore's wand.
"Prior Incantato!"
"Prior Incantato!"
Dumbledore and Grindelwald recited in unison.
Immediately afterwards, two groups of gray mist quickly poured out from the junction of Aileen's wand and their wands.
"Seal off Hogwarts, when I find that guy, I will definitely—"
Aileen admired her own magic spells, her tone as cold as ice, without any fluctuations.
Until...
The gray mist gradually deformed.
Finally, it condensed into a miniature version of Aileen.
She saw "herself" raise her wand and aim it at "her" forehead.
"Obliviate."
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Yay! Big chapter! Big chapter!