The Good and Evil of the Memory Charm

During the summer holidays, Wizette had set a goal to learn the Memory Charm.

Naturally, right after the term started, he searched for related magical books in the library.

Compared to ancient dark magic, the Memory Charm had not existed for very long.

It could be traced back to the sixteenth century, invented by a witch named Mnemone Radford.

Once invented, the Memory Charm was immediately put to widespread use, adopted by many wizards to erase Muggle memories of magic and wizardkind.

The Ministry of Magic even established a new position specifically for this magic—Obliviator—and Mnemone Radford was the very first to hold the post.

The advent of the Memory Charm greatly accelerated the signing of the *International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy*.

However, despite her monumental contribution, Mnemone Radford never appeared on a Chocolate Frog card or became a widely recognized figure.

Today, while almost every wizard knows of the Memory Charm, few know who invented it.

Even in *A History of Magic*, she is only mentioned in passing, without any detailed analysis.

On this point, Wizette found his answers within the library's vast collection.

Mnemone Radford had written an autobiography titled *Repentance in Memory, Suffering in Oblivion*.

In her autobiography, Radford equated the Memory Charm to the Killing Curse, declaring that using this magic was akin to murdering memory.

That she could invent such a spell left no doubt about her profound exploration of magic.

Wizette could feel from the pages of her book Radford's deep reflections on the Memory Charm and the deciphering of the soul.

In Radford's view, the Memory Charm could murder a person on a spiritual level by murdering their memories.

She even raised a question akin to the "Ship of Theseus": if a wizard used the Memory Charm to completely wipe someone's memory, was that person still the same individual?

The victim of such a charm would have to relearn everything, reconnect with loved ones, rebuild hobbies, and rediscover their talents...

Once they completed this reconstruction of memory and gained new life experiences, could they ever restore their original personality?

The inventor of the Memory Charm had pondered many such questions, yet she was unable to provide the answers.

According to the Ministry's promotion, wizards used this magic without any hesitation.

The Ministry deliberately painted a positive image of the Memory Charm, making it the cornerstone of protecting the wizarding world;

Meanwhile, Radford viewed it as a dangerous beast, believing the charm did more harm than good and required extreme caution.

Perhaps for this reason, both Chocolate Frog cards and *A History of Magic* chose to obscure Radford's existence.

Possessing a soul labyrinth himself, Wizette agreed with Radford's perspective.

To a person, memory is undoubtedly of paramount importance.

It was with the help of those memories that he had been able to use his soul labyrinth last year to delay Voldemort, thereby helping Professor Quirrell escape;

He had even faced off against Voldemort through this very labyrinth...

Although the Memory Charm had a counter-spell, its unique nature meant the counter-spell was not widely applicable.

A wizard damaged by the Memory Charm first had to realize their memory had been wiped, and then know the counter-spell;

To restore memories through the counter-spell, its power had to be exceptionally strong—far stronger than the original Memory Charm cast upon them;

To satisfy so many requirements, one usually had to rely on external discovery, such as encountering an Auror...

Even then, how much memory could be recovered depended largely on luck; it was extremely difficult to fully restore the original memories.

Having studied the Memory Charm deeply, Wizette hoped to master it comprehensively, rather than simply and crudely wiping memories like the wizards mentioned in the autobiography.

The Lockhart before him might be able to offer some fresh insights.

Wizette followed Lockhart's instructions, reviewing the Memory Charm once more.

Lockhart asked in confusion, "Have you studied the Memory Charm before?"

"After returning to school, I researched it a bit and self-studied," Wizette replied honestly.

"Researched a bit? Self-studied?" Lockhart's voice pitched high, sounding like fingernails scratching glass. "Wizette, do you mean..."

"That while you attend Herbology in the greenhouses in the morning and study Transfiguration in your spare time, you also found the time to casually self-study the Memory Charm? The term has barely started!"

"And I often see you after class... walking with a blonde girl... Luna Lovegood, I believe... She's your sister, right? You... how..."

Wizette spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Yes, Hogwarts Castle is quite complex, so I was a bit worried. But she's doing great now, much better than I was back then!"

Lockhart looked at Wizette, a faint smile on his lips, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.

Originally, he had planned to "play the long game," correcting Wizette's pronunciation and wand movements first, then guiding him step-by-step to build a good rapport.

He hadn't expected Wizette to learn so quickly; his wand movements and incantations required absolutely no correction.

The current situation was slightly beyond Lockhart's expectations, making him realize that if he didn't show some real skill, his "big fish" might just swim away to wander the castle with his sister.

Lockhart turned it over in his mind and decided to show some real expertise. "If you already know everything in the books, then we should move on to something different!"

"Many wizards feel that the Memory Charm is just like the Scouring Charm... If a Muggle spots magic, you just tidy up the related memories..."

"It's very simple, a crude application, yet highly effective... Of course, this is only effective against Muggles."

"If you want to deal with wizards, using such a crude method will easily leave flaws... At least to experienced wizards, those flaws will be glaringly obvious."

Hearing these final words, Wizette immediately asked, "Professor Lockhart, what should we do in such a situation?"

Having spent a year at Hogwarts, he understood well that reflecting and asking questions were crucial steps; if he didn't understand something, he had to ask. Bottling it up out of hesitation would only hurt him in the end.

Lockhart raised his eyebrows, knowing his words had successfully piqued Wizette's interest.

He flashed a brilliant smile. "Though the Memory Charm is but an ordinary spell to me, I never underestimate any ordinary magic..."