Chapter 1026: Loopholes in the Mirror of Erised (Please Vote for Me)
"Tampering with...memory?"
Lockhart was the first to read the contract in his hand and let out a breath.
"Yes, maybe I don't have a more accurate description."
Elena nodded calmly, took out her wand and moved it deftly in mid-air.
The light blue magic beam gradually took shape in the space, showing a spreading structure like a branch.
"The principle of the Mirror of Erised is to show everyone's deepest desire. No matter what it is, it must correspond to an unfulfilled desire goal. We will mark it as 'D1' for the time being - but people can never just There must be multiple branches under 'D1' for a wish."
"As time goes by, what everyone desires is bound to change..."
Elena glanced at Dumbledore, who was silent, and directed the wand to draw lines in mid-air.
"For example, a girl who has never been in love may long for love and marriage, but naturally she will not see the same scene when she gets married."
"It's not that hard to understand, right? But it's a particular flaw in the Mirror of Erised—"
"The images presented in the Mirror of Erised come from memories, experiences...these wishes woven from the traces of our existence. If the 'wishes' are 'fulfilled' at a certain moment, then it will naturally not reappear. In the mirror.”
Elena's eyes flashed brightly, she looked around the people in the room, smiled and said softly.
"If there is a 'skip' method, then we can affect the Mirror of Erised through a limited number of 'switches'."
"...So, you plan to use memory tampering to deceive the Mirror of Erised?"
Dumbledore looked at Elena with a complicated expression, and the corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitch.
As the owner of the Mirror of Erised for decades, Dumbledore reacted almost instantly.
"Obviously, the mirror doesn't show reality - and that's not just a bad thing, it means that it itself can't tell the difference between truth and fiction..."
Elena narrowed her eyes slightly, with a hint of devilish cunning on her delicate face.
"It may not be able to help people realize their wishes, but memory magic can do this. And with the multiple functions of legilimens, memory retrieval, memory modification and other magics, we can make the Mirror of Erised a 'limited function' The wishing machine', a real...magic mirror."
"Tsk, it sounds quite feasible, but there are two small problems -"
Grindelwald chuckled, flicked his fingers on the parchment, and said in a calm tone.
"The person looking into the mirror must be accurate and honest enough to tell the 'Memory Master' what she sees in the mirror, otherwise we will not be able to instill the illusory 'Wish Fulfillment' in her mind, and during the 'Memory Infusion' process In the meantime, this memory must be erased, otherwise it will be useless.”
"Of course, Legilimency, this allows the memory to be transmitted as losslessly as possible."
"The most troublesome thing is..."
Grindelwald turned his head to look at Arkhipovna, and then glanced at Dumbledore and Lockhart who were hesitant to speak.
"Miss Kaslana, this extremely dangerous behavior of playing with people's hearts... From an ethical and human perspective, it is a huge test. It requires trust, and the problems that may arise in the future. , these are not things you can decide.”
The first-generation Dark Lord took a deep look at the increasingly "perfect" Fairy Queen and said meaningfully.
"This is Pandora's Box—"
"However, there is still the most important treasure hidden in Pandora's box - hope, right?"
Elena replied with a slight smile, looking at the people in the room who were deep in thought, and clapped her hands happily.
"I'm not sure how much of the future the Mirror of Erised can see, but it can at least let people understand what they want. As for whether the risks and benefits are appropriate, this completely depends on the individual... Okay, Explanation completed——"
In fact, in Elena's unfinished plan, the Mirror of Erised is most suitable for scholars in the magical world.
Perhaps non-magical researchers like Arkhipovna can see a "flash of inspiration" and even see the direction of their research.
But for the wizards who control magic, the confusion ends the moment they see the result - in most cases, it is not the process that restricts the development of magic, but the "answer", which is clear enough and Specific and clear results of casting spells.
However, compared to the non-magical world, the "special use" of the Mirror of Erised will be more difficult to implement among wizards.
"...Pandora's Box? It has been opened a long time ago, but at least you see hope there."
Dumbledore pondered for a moment and sighed helplessly.
Regarding the abuse of the Forgetting Curse, the magical world has long fallen into a very abnormal circle.
Since the fall of Grindelwald decades ago, the status of the International Confederation of Wizards Secrecy has continued to increase. Wizards have increasingly relied on the Oblivion Curse in order to hide their existence, let alone casting spells on a single person. The erasure of entire cities' memories has also occurred.
Some time ago, Dumbledore tried to promote the "Forgetting Curse" restriction law at the International Federation of Wizards.
However, just as Grindelwald mocked him before, in today's era, no one dares to impose restrictions on the "Forgetting Curse".
The "restrictive decree" proposal submitted by Dumbledore was not only suppressed at the first opportunity, but also received an opposite consultation on the reform of wizarding decrees in the wizarding world - based on the "Secrecy Act", the International Federation of Wizards is preparing to lift Some Muggle-specific spellcasting is prohibited.
After all, members of the memory cancellation team occasionally fail to arrive in time, and the danger of exposure to the magical world is increasing day by day.
As the scope of Muggle activities expanded, the International Federation of Wizards began to consider allowing wizards to use the Oblivion Charm at their discretion.
Dumbledore had no doubt that there were many wizards like the "former" Gilderoy Lockhart.
Elena was not the one who opened the "Pandora's Box" of memory magic.
In fact, quite the opposite…
"The lives and memories of high-ranking members are sacred and inviolable, and cannot be deprived or tampered with at will except for the collective trial of the Great Arcana."
Dumbledore recalled the rules they had made together before and spoke softly.
Compared to Grindelwald and Tom, who have no taboos, the biggest difference between Elena and the first two is that she has a bottom line.
"Is this why you insist on being promoted to Ms. Arkhipovna?"
Dumbledore's gaze cast from his long aquiline nose and fell on Elena's face.
"No matter what the process of tampering with memories is, you want to make this activity a cooperative rather than a unilateral attempt... Even if it sounds scary and bad, if there is an accident in the process, at least there will be enough strength. A reason to fight back, right?”
"It's just a small part. You're thinking too complicatedly."
Elena looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes and answered seriously without changing her expression.
"I said that Ms. Arkhipovna's research is particularly important. This is the real reason - the status of an official Class A member is not a talisman. It should be a protective umbrella for others and the world... Besides, this matter, Ultimately it depends on what Ms. Arkhipovna thinks.”
She is truly... a witch with no flaws at all.
Dumbledore shook his head, his long, silver-white beard trembling slightly.
It seems that in the last moments of his life, he and Grindelwald cultivated an amazing little guy.
"Gilderoy, what do you think? Of course, and most importantly, what do you think about it, Ms. Arkhipovna?"
"I?"
Lockhart frowned, still hesitant.
"I'm not very sure about tampering with memory, but simply forgetting is fine..."
He turned his head and looked at Arkhipovna, "Besides, this is too subtle. This is directly deleted from people's hearts and memories."
"So, it's a rather special operation, right?"
Arkhipovna carefully studied the "explanatory contract" in her hand several times and raised her eyebrows.
"You are my chief surgeon? Then I don't think there is anything to worry about - but let me tell you first, I am only responsible for academic research. If there is any politics or struggle involved in the future, don't expect me to be able to do these things. How can I help?"
"Well, you have to understand that this is not just a job for a Muggle doctor to cut people open!"
Lockhart looked solemn, put away his usual carelessness, looked at the heartless Russian crazy woman and said in a deep voice.
"This is a direct modification in the soul. If the caster is intentional, he can even tamper with your personality... add, distort, and delete some memories to lead to different experiences... This is countless times more terrifying than the Soul-Imperius Curse. There is simply no way to rely on a simple solution to the curse——
"Okay, okay, don't explain magic here - I don't know what the Imperius Curse is."
Arkhipovna interrupted Lockhart's chatter impatiently, rolled up the parchment in her hand and patted the young wizard on the shoulder.
"You wouldn't do that anyway, right? Well, what would happen if he did make a move on me, by the way?"
Halfway through, Arkhipovna turned her head to look at Elena and asked curiously.
Obviously, this little witch has a very special status among the Major Arcana.
This is a very simple social law: only those at the top of the food chain are qualified to formulate the details of the rules.
As for height, age, appearance, etc., since she witnessed the ancient crafts of fairies with her own eyes and learned about the wonderful legends of the magical world, Arkhipovna has long abandoned the original concept-the standard of measurement in the ordinary world. Doesn't make much sense in the wizarding world.
"Oh, he should die, right? High probability... Of course, it depends on the severity."
Elena showed a sweet smile and answered extremely seriously.
As the underage Demon King whom Grindelwald values, she will not be soft-hearted in some key areas.
In Elena's view, there are many things that only differ between zero and countless times.
What's more, a certain best-selling novelist in the magical world has a precedent before, so there is no room for maneuver.
If Gilderoy Lockhart really used the special effects of "memory magic" to satisfy his personal desires, then when she learned about this, Elena would directly mark him as a "hostile target" and try her best to Deal with it out of sight - just like dealing with the big snake.
"So, what about the benefits and work tasks? How much authority does this A-class member have?"
"Gringotts Wizarding Bank, well, it is the only legal magical bank in the wizarding world. Its CEO level is A-level."
Elena shrugged, tapped her lips a few times with her fingers, and continued after thinking for a few seconds.
"As for your side, which is a little bit special, you should be considered an A-level member in the 'internship period' - from an administrative position, you are our academic leader on the science side, second only to the Major Arcana. If There were no subsequent accidents, and we should be able to become a regular employee in half a year.”
"So, the scope of power to mobilize financial, material and human resources..."
"how to say……"
Elena spread her hands, glanced at Arkhipovna, and said sincerely.
"Money is just a number to us..."
"As for material resources and manpower, these depend on the requirements of your project and the population on the earth. You will slowly understand later that most of what limits us is imagination rather than reality - to use an inappropriate analogy. , will you consider the issue of respiratory oxygen consumption?"
"Okay, then I have one last question."
Arkhipovna raised her eyebrows and looked around the room.
"When I am promoted to A-level, who will be my immediate superior, and what should I call you?"
"Of course I am still in charge of the Hogwarts Research Institute. However, the 'Pope', Professor Dumbledore, must be informed of matters related to the school. As for safety and confidentiality, 'The Hanged Man' Lockhart is in charge, and as for my title..."
Elena paused for a moment and said in a gentle and calm tone.
"You can call me...Fool from now on."
…………
The Mirror of Erised stood silently in the center of the room.
"Have you really thought about it? This is no joke."
Lockhart said softly with a serious look on his face, "You can still retreat now, and I can bring everything back to where it started..."
As a member of the Major Arcana, Lockhart is very aware of the seriousness of the matter - if Arkhipovna looks in the mirror, then she will inevitably experience a deep Legilimency, regardless of whether she sees the "answer", Dumbledore et al. Everyone will follow this process.
Because as a Muggle, Arkhipovna could not let the picture in her mind appear directly, which had to be verified by magic.
Arkhipovna laughed.
Lockhart seemed even more nervous than she was now.
"Of course," she said calmly, "if the answer can be seen in this mirror, it will be the greatest miracle that mankind has ever seen."
"But if not—I mean if your wish is for something else—"
"Wouldn't that be better?"
Arkhipovna smiled brightly and winked slyly.
"Have a sweet dream during working hours. This is the dream of many people. I believe in your ability - Mr. Major Arcana."
"Okay, get ready to record the time points——"
At the same time, Elena and Dumbledore, not far away, looked at the time on their pocket watches at the same time.
According to the previous agreement, after the entire world line of "Looking in the Mirror" is over, they will erase all false memories and give the recorded change trajectory of "Wish" to Arkhipovna as her extra small gift.
"Please come directly in front of the mirror, Ms. Arkhipovna."
"Then, tell us what you saw..."
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