Chapter 192: Incomplete Spell, Trial Begins
Although Dumbledore had given these instructions for the benefit of the three students, the two victims listened just as seriously.
In all their long lives, despite their rich and legendary experiences, they had never set foot in a judicial body like the Wizengamot.
So the prospect of entering such a place left them somewhat uneasy, even though they were victims and witnesses, not the accused.
Nervous as they were, they listened all the more carefully, and from time to time, drawing on cases and rumors they'd heard from their own countries, they asked questions that prompted Dumbledore to clarify.
"All right, these should cover the situations you might encounter." Amid their frequent nods and questions, Dumbledore finished addressing their final concerns.
Dumbledore had barely finished speaking when Harry and Enid, their heads still swimming from trying to absorb so much information in so little time, asked nervously, "Headmaster, what if we can't remember?"
They tried to recall what Dumbledore had just told them, but they'd already forgotten most of it.
Ethan was fine. Though he didn't remember everything either, he felt sure Dumbledore had a backup plan.
After all, the old man hadn't asked them to write anything down or organize it.
Sure enough, Dumbledore smiled and waved his hand.
"It doesn't matter. If you can't remember, you can't remember.
"I said all of this just so you'd understand the questions you might face during the trial. Don't be too nervous.
"And when it's time for you to testify, you just need to tell the truth. I'll handle the rest."
"That's good." Harry and Enid both breathed a sigh of relief. Ohajian and Finnerty's expressions relaxed somewhat as well.
Seeing their reactions, Dumbledore knew his talk today hadn't been in vain.
Ordinarily, as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore wouldn't have bothered explaining any of this. In his view, the case was straightforward, the evidence solid. At most, Lockhart might claim self-defense, but that would be easy to refute.
The reason he'd said so much was primarily to give these wizards, who had never set foot in a courtroom and were about to face Wizengamot members head-on, at least a basic understanding of what lay ahead.
After all, in most cases, the more people knew, the better prepared they'd be, and the calmer they'd remain.
With that, the group, who had been somewhat nervous about being summoned to the Headmaster's office, all visibly relaxed.
*That went well,* Dumbledore thought with satisfaction.
But Ohajian still had reservations. What Dumbledore had just covered, compared to everything he'd learned recently, barely scratched the surface.
"What about the two of us?" Ohajian asked, his thick accent coloring his English. "As far as I know, important witnesses and victims can face much more detailed questioning."
While this was unlikely, Dumbledore had already anticipated the possibility and prepared accordingly.
"There's no need to worry. If you're asked anything you'd rather not answer, simply pretend that your English isn't good enough and that you didn't understand."
"Even if they press for an answer, you can always deflect or change the subject."
Dumbledore had carefully considered their circumstances as foreign wizards and crafted a strategy specifically for them.
"Can I do this too?" the witch asked uncertainly. After all, the differences between Irish and English speakers weren't particularly significant.
"Of course. Even though Ireland borders the UK, one is Irish and one is English. There are always differences between the two. There's no need to worry," Dumbledore reassured her.
"Besides, I don't believe they'll ask you any questions that would put you in a difficult position."
"After all, this is your mess. The Armenian Ministry of Magic and the Irish Ministry of Magic have already lodged formal protests with the British Ministry of Magic. They're concerned about the international repercussions," Dumbledore told those present.
Finnerty was startled, then delighted. "The Irish Ministry of Magic even stepped in? That's good."
Vartan Ohajian was somewhat dazed. "The Armenian Ministry of Magic... truly a strange name."
During his treatment, the familiar Soviet Ministry of Magic that had been part of his life for more than half a century had vanished.
It had been replaced by the newly established Republic of Armenia's Ministry of Magic.
Dumbledore could see his discomfort with the sudden change as well. After patting his shoulder, he said to Harry and Enid, "You two head back. Monday morning, eight-thirty. We'll meet in the entrance hall. I'll take you both to the Ministry of Magic."
"Okay," Harry and Enid replied.
But when they stood up, they noticed Ethan was still sitting there.
Harry asked, "Aren't you coming with us?"
"You go on ahead. I still have some things to take care of." Ethan shook his head.
Enid looked at Ethan, her eyes full of curiosity.
Harry was used to it, though. He nodded and turned to leave.
Ever since first year, he'd known that Ethan had been to the Headmaster's office plenty of times.
He was quite familiar with Dumbledore.
So he wasn't surprised, really. Just a little curious about what it was about.
"Let's go." Seeing Enid still standing there, Harry glanced back and gestured for her to follow.
"Okay." The girl nodded, following Harry as they left the Headmaster's office.
After the door closed, Dumbledore and Finnerty sat down at the Headmaster's long desk and continued discussing their testimony against Lockhart. This time, she was the driving force behind the accusation.
This wasn't just because her memory had recovered quite well, while Ohajian's still had some gaps. It was also because the Irish Ministry of Magic took a harder line than the newly formed Armenian Ministry of Magic.
Ohajian moved his chair closer to Ethan. "I'll call you Ethan, if you don't mind?"
"You're the elder. Please do. Of course I don't mind." Ethan nodded.
Ohajian smiled, the wrinkles on his face deepening. "You and Cyril look remarkably alike, you know. But you're even more handsome than he was in his youth."
"Not at all. You're too kind." Ethan had never seen photos of a young Cyril. Hearing this, he found himself curious.
Ohajian patted Ethan's shoulder with his big, rough hand.
"Haha, what a good boy. Every time Cyril mentions you, he always looks so proud.
"So I've been eager to finally meet you as well. We just kept missing each other for one reason or another. Seeing you now, you really are everything Cyril described."
The two of them chatted for a while longer about Cyril's condition and other matters before getting to the main topic.
"You want to know about the Homorphus Charm I developed for werewolves, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Ohajian.
"After seeing Lockhart steal your research and write about the spell's effects in his book, I've been dying to know the incantation. It's truly extraordinary."
"Heh. That spell is my life's work. I went through countless modifications to perfect it.
"It's a shame that after being ambushed by that bastard Lockhart, I can no longer remember the spell."
Ohajian's expression was complicated, a mix of pride, regret, and sadness. When he mentioned Lockhart, a flash of hatred crossed his face.
The reason I created this spell is also tied to my childhood experiences.
At the time, I lived in a wizarding village. We never learned who had angered a werewolf. He attacked them at night.
Though we finally wounded it, it escaped us. But one of my companions was bitten by the cursed creature and became a werewolf.
"He used to be such a cheerful person. But after that, he gradually became withdrawn and suspicious. Then one day, before he even came of age, he left a letter and ran away from home.
"That's when I started down this path. I swore I'd find a spell to solve the werewolf problem."
Ethan listened quietly as Vartan told his story.
"At the time, even though many Potions Masters had tried to create a solution, none of them found anything effective. So I decided to approach it using Charms instead. I wanted to find a way to completely break the werewolf's curse."
Ethan considered this. It made sense. In the latter half of the century, before Wolfsbane Potion was invented, there truly had been no effective treatment or control method for werewolves.
"Although I used it to help many people afflicted by the curse and even saved an entire village, it has a flaw.
"The problem isn't only that its complexity is almost unimaginable, but also that it has to be cast while the werewolf is already out of control. The limitations are significant."
"That's why I never revealed this spell to the public. I just wanted to find a solution, something that would make it more widely applicable."
"But I never expected that garbage Lockhart to ambush me before I could finish my work. He wiped my memory of it."
Vartan really wished he could kill Lockhart. After composing himself briefly, he continued:
"After these treatments, I've remembered a lot. But as for this spell, I only remember that it was incredibly long and difficult to pronounce. I honestly can't remember several paragraphs of the incantation."
Ethan asked quickly, "What about the notes and research from when you first developed the spell? Were any of them preserved? Do you at least remember the earlier versions of the incantation?"
"That bastard Lockhart destroyed all my notes. He was afraid I'd remember everything, so he left me nothing."
"As for the earlier versions of the incantation, I remember bits and pieces. But they're still incomplete. Even if I pieced everything together, I still couldn't reconstruct a working spell." The old wizard was clearly frustrated.
Ethan fell silent for a moment, then said with regret, "That's truly unfortunate. I think once Lockhart is imprisoned and you've received further treatment at St. Mungo's, you'll definitely remember."
"I hope so."
"However, throughout this whole ordeal, I've also realized something. This kind of spell is difficult to perfect alone. So I want to share it. I want more people to study and improve it so it can achieve the effect I want more quickly."
"I don't have any grand expectations either. I only hope to see that day in my lifetime."
He sighed, pulling several pieces of parchment from a small bag and handing them to Ethan. "These are all the versions I can remember. From my early drafts to the final spell I cast, everything is here. But they're all incomplete."
"I'm giving these to you now because I'm afraid I won't remember them later. You might still be able to figure something out from these notes and give it a try."
"Of course, it would be better if I could remember. But I expect that might take a long time. When that time comes, I'll send them to you by letter or some other means."
Ethan looked at the English writing on several pieces of parchment, deeply moved. The handwriting wasn't particularly neat, but this old wizard, who wasn't a native English speaker, had written all this specifically for him.
The parchment contained meticulous notes on the pronunciation methods, the creative process, and other details for every spell.
"I'll walk you through it once. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them." Ohajian placed the parchment on the table and explained everything to Ethan in detail.
Ethan nodded along. Listening to the old wizard describe his creative process gave him a glimpse of the immense effort that had gone into the spell.
Time flew by as Ohajian explained the material.
By the time Ethan indicated he fully understood everything, it was already noon.
Dumbledore and Finnerty had finished their conversation long ago. The two men were still sipping tea, waiting for Ethan and Ohajian to finish.
"All finished? It's getting late. I need to send them back to Hogsmeade. You should get going as well," Dumbledore said, standing up.
"Very well, Headmaster." Ethan nodded, said his goodbyes to the others, and left the Headmaster's office first.
"Although the spell isn't quite complete, there's still hope of finishing it. More importantly, I have plenty of experimental subjects to use. And even if the spell has problems, that's nothing to worry about."
Ohajian had explained it in such detail that Ethan felt he could have developed a spell with a similar effect on his own, even without remembering the specifics.
So on his way to the Great Hall, Ethan thought about the werewolves living in the Forbidden Forest, preparing to "recruit" a few of them.
While scouting the Forbidden Forest and practicing his Animagus transformation, he had already pinpointed the locations of those werewolves deep within the forest. Though he wasn't certain of the exact number, there were at least a hundred or so. That would be more than enough for his purposes.
*With my current strength, binding a few to help with my experiments wouldn't be a problem at all.*
*Besides, even if I can't bring any back here, there's always Professor Lupin, the werewolf instructor, available next semester, isn't there?*
Ethan's mood was quite pleasant. But a certain professor, temporarily detained at the Ministry of Magic, was in a rather dire situation.
After being taken from Hogwarts by Scrimgeour and Carl, Lockhart had been locked in a cell deep beneath the Ministry of Magic. Besides Lockhart, the cell housed various other prisoners who had committed minor offenses not serious enough for Azkaban, as well as suspects like Lockhart who hadn't yet stood trial.
With his wand confiscated, he could no longer perform magic.
He had been imprisoned for nearly a week now. His blue wizard robes, once brilliant, were filthy from his confinement.
Lockhart huddled in the corner of the cell, despair creeping into his thoughts. *My fans aren't coming to rescue me. I'll have to save myself.*
Lockhart rallied his thoughts, which hadn't turned to such matters in ages, searching for a way out.
Hours crawled by as he sat deep in thought. The day of his trial had arrived.
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