Chapter 234: Sirius's Ear
The British Ministry of Magic, Sub-level 10, Courtroom 6.
Many people didn't actually care if the Sirius Black in front of them was real. They were neither members of the Order of the Phoenix nor Death Eaters, so there was no conflict of interest. They were purely there for the entertainment of watching Dumbledore. They were undoubtedly more curious about what kind of power this so-called new master wizard, Gilderoy Lockhart, possessed.
You must remember that while Lockhart was still widely respected as 'Professor Lockhart' by the public, at the Ministry of Magic, his accepted identity was that of a high-ranking official. He was the Chief Wizard of the Bloodline Hall, one of the twelve divisions of the Department of Mysteries!
And he had never stepped down from his position as the Head of the Creature Advisory Desk and the Office for the Relocation of House-Elves in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures! He was also secretly called 'Fudge's new backer,' and it was rumored that Fudge was actively pushing for Lockhart to join the Wizengamot.
This was the true conflict of interest. Was he really as powerful as the legends said, powerful enough to be called a 'master wizard'? They were about to find out!
Lockhart held his wand lightly against Sirius's forehead with one hand, while slowly raising his other. In his palm rested a strange, chaotic substance that was both pitch-black and multi-colored. Knowledgeable people knew it was a Boggart, a dark creature.
The Boggart suddenly transformed into a swirling two-colored flame in Lockhart's hand. Whorls of black smoke surged upward toward the courtroom ceiling, instantly filling everyone's sight. They all looked up and saw a perfect reflection of the courtroom within the smoke. The reflection quickly changed, using Sirius's perspective as its axis, and time began to rewind at high speed.
The bizarre attack on the Ministry of Magic that had just happened in the corridor... Sirius finding a way to sneak into the Auror's team and help escort Peter... The pursuit and battle with Peter in the Forbidden Forest, and the scene of the students lurking nearby and watching...
Gradually, the courtroom grew noisy again. These scenes were simply too shocking. First, there was Lockhart's method of displaying memories. Many older wizards present, seeing this, almost suffered from PTSD. The dark lord Gellert Grindelwald had used a smoking skull to show the world everything he had seen.
Then there was the attack on wizards by a combined force of wizards and Muggles. If Professor McGonagall hadn't been there, no one knew what the final outcome would have been. There was also the terrifying proficiency displayed by the students in that seemingly brief battle against Peter Pettigrew. Was this an army? Was Dumbledore really training an army at Hogwarts? Oh, but it seemed the person doing the training was Gilderoy Lockhart?
But they soon stopped caring about that. They saw a terrifying figure in Professor Lockhart's display—Grindelwald! Gellert Grindelwald! Dumbledore had released Grindelwald at some point!
Heh. Interestingly, despite the shock, everyone in the room kept their mouths shut and dared not say anything about it. Not a single person cried out. The once-noisy courtroom was now so quiet that you could even hear the subtle sound of the Boggart's black smoke roiling.
Everyone just silently watched as Sirius secretly used Professor Remus Lupin's hair to make Polyjuice Potion, disguised himself as Lupin, and fooled Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Lockhart, Snape, Professor McGonagall, and others. Of course, when disguised, Sirius didn't dare get too close to them. He would usually just say hello from a distance, then use Lupin's identity to search the castle for Peter Pettigrew.
Going back further, they saw the figure constantly on the run, hiding in corners, reading Professor Lockhart's best-selling book, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: A Pureblood Supremacist with a Muggle Dad?
The memories continued to flash through the smoke, and the scene returned to Azkaban. People saw how Sirius secretly used his Animagus form as a black dog to resist the Dementors' mental attacks, staring blankly at the cell in front of him every day.
Another thing that shocked everyone present was that Lockhart appeared in the memory, going to Azkaban to retrieve Bellatrix, Bellatrix Lestrange!
Hmm. This was where the difference in reputation between Dumbledore and Lockhart became clear. Many people looked at Fudge, seemingly asking for an explanation. But Fudge just harrumphed, as if he had nothing to say.
The facts proved that Azkaban was an incredibly dark place, as too many things that revealed the darkness in people's hearts happened there. As Sirius's memory rolled back further, people saw many figures quietly appear in the corner where the Death Eaters were imprisoned. Lucius Malfoy, Barty Crouch Sr., Cornelius Fudge, Rufus Scrimgeour, Yaxley... Even some people with high reputations in the British wizarding world, like Madame Amelia Bones, Griselda Marchbanks...
Many people treated the captured Death Eaters like treasures to be plundered, coming here to pan for gold.
"Ahem!"
Dumbledore couldn't allow Lockhart to continue showing these memories. Some things should not be made public; if they were, the Ministry of Magic would be in chaos.
It took a while for Lockhart to react. The smoke on the ceiling quickly collapsed back into his palm, turning into a cloud of chaotic black smoke that he put in his pocket. He looked at everyone awkwardly. "Uh, sorry, it's my first time using it this way. Ha, don't pay attention to the unnecessary details."
Then, he turned to Peter Pettigrew with a serious expression. "I saw your fight with Sirius in the memory, but I didn't see his ear missing, and there were no sudden jumps in the memory. He is who he is!"
"No!" Peter shrieked. "I really bit off his ear, it's in my stomach right now!"
This... Should they try to perform the spell on Peter again? Lockhart looked at Dumbledore, but the old man shook his head at him.
You can't control your ability very well. What if you accidentally show everyone some of the Order of the Phoenix's secrets from Peter's memory?
But just then, an ancient-looking witch walked down from the dais. She was undoubtedly a highly respected witch, wearing the crimson robes of a Wizengamot member. She slowly approached and gave Lockhart a friendly smile and a nod before turning to Peter Pettigrew. She slowly extended a hand from the wide sleeve of her robes. Her hand looked particularly strange, with the delicate and smooth skin of a baby but the prominent veins and age spots of an old person.
She chanted something, and her hand gently touched Peter's forehead. Then, amidst Peter's screams, her entire hand went straight into his forehead. Yes, her whole hand was inside Peter's head. Like reaching into a jar to find something, she moved closer, using her other hand to hold Peter's shoulder as she reached into his stomach, digging for something.
Soon, she chuckled and pulled her hand out again, holding a very corroded ear! Peter was still screaming in terror, but he shut up when she glanced at him. The old witch then cast a spell on the ear. Two strange fleshy tendrils grew out from the ear and swayed like living things toward Sirius.
Her expression shifted. She moved her hand toward Sirius's head, and seeing him struggle to move his head away, she used her other hand to grab his jaw, forcing him to watch in terror as the two fleshy tendrils pierced his head.
Soon, the ear grew back to its original position on Sirius's head, fighting with the ear that was already there. They pushed each other as if to get the other one off the head.
"It is Sirius's ear!" the old witch announced, declaring her judgment to the crowd. "His memory has clearly been modified by a very powerful magical ability!"
!!!
Suddenly, everyone was stunned. Only Lockhart raised an eyebrow, realizing that this must have been Voldemort's doing. If he couldn't see anything wrong with the memory, the only person in the world who could modify it to this degree was probably Voldemort.