"I know Grindelwald will eventually get out of Nurmengard."
After a delightful dinner, Newt invited Lockhart to tour his farm. As they walked, they began to discuss serious matters.
"Dumbledore can't keep him locked up forever..."
Newt's wheelchair stopped beside a large, sheltered rock. Lockhart found a stone nearby and sat down, listening to the elder's tale. Yet, Newt didn't appear old at all; at ninety-six, he still seemed remarkably spry.
"Dumbledore has lived enough; I can see he lives a very repressed life," Newt said, narrowing his eyes at the twilight glow painting the horizon, and exhaled softly. "Not like me. Every day I wake up with too many things I want to do, always full of drive, always feeling like there's not enough time." He took a warm cocoa from the house-elf, inviting Lockhart to try this new variety his son had cultivated. He took a sip, then sighed again. "I know, we all know, Grindelwald is the same kind of person—always restless, though he can endure long periods of solitude better than I can."
"If you reach our age, you'll find that magic begins to take over the body's functional supply, and one's state of mind determines one's lifespan."
"Though I'm loath to say it, Dumbledore is truly very likely to pass on before Grindelwald. And when that happens, there will be no one left to contain Grindelwald."
Lockhart sipped the rather odd-tasting cocoa, smiling but saying nothing. He knew that wasn't entirely true; after Dumbledore's death, Grindelwald truly did just wait for death in Nurmengard. When Voldemort arrived, he refused to resist, ultimately sacrificing himself to protect Dumbledore's tomb from disturbance by Voldemort, and was killed. A master wizard of an era, yet his death was anything but glorious. The human heart is sometimes so complex, it's hard to fathom with reason.
"I called you here because I wanted to tell you a secret, a secret that could be used against Grindelwald." Newt turned to look at Lockhart. "And this happens to be your specialty. Dumbledore told me about you, a promising young man, and I know a few things." Lockhart raised an eyebrow, but maintained his smile, saying nothing. "I'm all ears."
"I don't usually tell people I was the first to successfully capture him," Newt said, not with pride, but stating it plainly. Lockhart nodded, knowing that Newt didn't officially admit this to the public until 2017, in the latest edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
"Back then, I used the sting of a Swooping Evil. Its venom carries a power similar to the Memory Charm, but with more potent magic than an ordinary wizard's Memory Charm." Newt recounted this discovery, his brow furrowed as he sank into thought. "I'm absolutely certain that a creature like the Swooping Evil couldn't truly subdue Grindelwald. He was actually restrained by the venom, and his own human Transfiguration, which is more powerful than that of a Metamorphmagus, instantly lost its effect..." He looked up at Lockhart with great astonishment. "It was as if all his magic was completely disintegrated in an instant!"
Lockhart asked with interest, "It doesn't happen like that with other people, does it?"
Newt nodded. "No, just him!"
"A Seer!" Lockhart clearly had the answer. "It's because of his identity as a Seer, moving against the flow of future time. His memories couldn't be anchored, and thus the magic erupting from his magical blood had no foundation, making him susceptible to the Memory Charm." Newt blinked, looking at the young man before him with a hint of shock. Truly, he was astonished. Even though Dumbledore had spoken much about this young man's extraordinary qualities during his visit, Newt, due to his ingrained stereotype of "one generation worse than the last" in magical society over recent decades, had assumed Lockhart was merely a somewhat competent wizard.
But clearly, that wasn't the case. What Lockhart was explaining... he actually couldn't understand! Yes, despite having been a poor student and later relying heavily on his fantastic beasts in battle, living for nearly a century in a magical environment meant that even the dullest person would gain a deep understanding of many magical concepts. But he simply couldn't understand.
He was somewhat taken aback. "Future time flows backward?"
Lockhart shrugged. "Yes, isn't it interesting? When we use a Time-Turner, we clearly feel how easy it is to step into the past, but every step into the future is so arduous." Newt's expression was peculiar, for in his long life, he had never encountered such a wondrous item as a Time-Turner. Therefore, he couldn't judge whether Lockhart's explanation was accurate.
Lockhart tried to explain in the simplest terms. "Actually, neither the past nor the future truly exists. The past is like a magical world formed by the intertwining of magic bursting from countless souls, hidden within everyone's soul memories. Magical bloodlines are like veins in this vibrant magical world."
"While the magical power from bloodlines is indeed potent and inherently gifted, since it relies on memories within the concept of time, it can naturally be affected by the Memory Charm."
"Oh, I see~" Newt blinked, exclaiming in surprise. "Dumbledore said your Memory Charm was formidable; I never expected you to have explored it to such a profound extent."
"It's nothing," Lockhart said dismissively, offering a compliment. "Your achievements in the field of Magical Creatures care are truly astounding." He genuinely believed this. Magic existed within daily life, blossoming in adventure. Newt's explorations in magical creature care truly impacted the lives of countless wizards and even Muggles. The power contained within it was beyond words. His own musings on the Memory Charm, however, didn't truly benefit the world, and its impact on the concept of 'life' wasn't very significant. It merely made it easier for him to become a 'life thief.'
"In fact, I invited you here today because there's one more thing I'd like to trouble you with," Newt said, pulling an egg-sized, spherical crystal ball from his robes and handing it to Lockhart.
"This is..." Lockhart examined it curiously. "A Remembrall?" He had seen one before; young Neville Longbottom had one. It appeared hollow, filled with some kind of gas, and if squeezed, if it remained clear, it meant nothing had been forgotten. If it suddenly glowed red, it signified something had been forgotten.
"I commissioned Nicolas Flamel to create this for me. It's very difficult to destroy and incorporates techniques similar to a Pensieve," Newt explained.
Lockhart drew his wand and gently tapped the Remembrall to examine it, then whistled, "A certain connection state between subconscious and thought in the soul. This is truly something remarkable."
Newt exchanged a helpless glance with his son, who had come over with snacks. He had expected this encounter to be an elder's guidance for a young man, but instead, he had truly met a scholar. Communicating with him was proving to be incredibly difficult. It was quite frustrating; a wizard like him, who relied more on intuition to guide his actions, rarely explored the truth of things. To be able to speak so eloquently about every new discovery, as Lockhart did, was truly impossible for him. He didn't even understand much of what Lockhart was saying.
His son also cast a curious glance, seemingly asking, Has this young man truly been approved by the Diricawl? There were quite a few records in wizarding history of encounters with Diricawls. The magical experience of falling into a magical rabbit hole was romantically recounted in many wizarding bedtime stories. But without exception, the protagonists of those fairy tales were pure of heart. Such individuals were meant for the path of academic research, not their path of practical expertise; such people were far, far rarer. Newt shrugged, indicating to his son that he wasn't certain. Even though Dumbledore had said it himself, purportedly based on Professor Kettleburn's account.
"What would you like me to do?" Lockhart asked, having finished examining the Remembrall, slightly puzzled, as he knew nothing about alchemy artifacts.
"It can hold a person's memories. I am, after all, getting old and beginning to forget some things. No matter how many editions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them I update, I can't record every detail." Newt rubbed his recently aching legs with a sigh. "I need to back up my memories, but as you know, things like Pensieves can't really preserve memories for very long, and retrieving information isn't always easy."
"And I also hope that these valuable memories I possess can be better passed down, allowing those who wish to pursue the care of magical creatures to continue my path without having to start everything from scratch."
Upon hearing this, Lockhart observed the Remembrall again for a moment, then nodded. "Duplicate memories and store them in this crystal ball, similar to a Pensieve, correct? That won't be difficult for me." It was an effortless task for him. However, Newt would probably search the entire wizarding world and find that only Lockhart possessed the ability to accomplish this. Without Lockhart, Newt would have to meticulously extract each memory, one by one, slowly undertaking this long process of filling, perhaps never completing it before he died of old age.
"Do we need to prepare anything?" Newt's son asked nervously. "A safe room? Do we need some magical ritual? Or any magical ingredients or potions? I'll go prepare them right away." Interfering with memories in the brain was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous undertaking. Even the resolute Newt felt a bit uneasy at this moment. "When do you think you'll be ready? I know this is a delicate and extremely difficult spellcasting, and I'll clear some time especially for it..."
"Oh, there's no need for that," Lockhart said with a smile, raising his wand. He still appeared lazily seated on the stone. "It'll be done in a moment."
"Huh?" Newt and his son both exclaimed in confusion, exchanging bewildered glances. Before they could react, a strange silver glow quickly enveloped their vision. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a myriad of distorted, shimmering silver memory threads emerging from Newt's head, writhing in the surrounding air like a peculiar monster.
"!!!" Newt.
"!!!" His son.
"!!!" The house-elf nearby clamped its hand over its mouth, desperate not to let out a scream.
Bang!
The wand appeared in their sight, and with a gentle flick, all the memory threads, wriggling like worms in mid-air, flew towards the Remembrall in Lockhart's hand, quickly spiraling into it. For a moment, everyone stood motionless, even instinctively holding their breath, not daring to make the slightest extra movement.
To their surprise, even while performing such complex magical manipulation, Lockhart managed to speak. "Mr. Scamander, would you like to back up all your memories, or only the content related to your skills with magical creatures?"
Newt's mouth twitched, his entire body rigid with tension.
"Oh, relax, it's fine. Just act normally, you can talk," Lockhart said, then looked at Newt's son. "You too, no need to be so nervous."
"If possible, just the part about magical creatures, but I don't know if that would increase the difficulty. If it's too difficult, I mean..." Newt was incredibly nervous. However, before he could finish his sentence, the shimmering silver light before their eyes abruptly vanished. Everyone stared in astonishment as their vision returned to normal, unsure what had just happened.
Newt's son nervously drew his wand, looking at his father, intending to find a way to provide emergency aid if Lockhart's magic had failed. Just then, a sparkling crystal ball was presented before them, held out. Lockhart's gentle voice spoke. "Done."
"!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
By the time the three returned to the rural manor, Newt's wife, Tina, asked him nervously, "What did he say? Did he tell you your plan wouldn't work, right? You know, I often used the Memory Charm when I was an Auror, and I know how terrifying that magic is. No one could possibly do what you're imagining; that's far too fanciful."
Newt still seemed to be in shock, speaking in a daze.
Tina couldn't help but look at her son with a hint of confusion. "Did Mr. Lockhart agree?! You should have persuaded your father not to attempt something so dangerous! Speak up, both of you! When are you planning to do something like this?"
Newt's son, with a peculiar expression, pulled out a Remembrall and handed it to his mother. "Professor Lockhart has already taken care of it!"
"Huh?" Tina was stunned. "You just went for a walk for a moment!"
Yes, just a moment.
It was that simple. A gentle wave of the wand, and what seemed to others an incredibly dangerous and terrifying endeavor, was accomplished as easily as drinking a cup of hot cocoa. He had barely even finished speaking before the task was complete.
"He might be far more powerful than we imagined," Newt exhaled deeply, his expression complex, as he looked at Lockhart, who was chatting with his grandson in the distance. "I suddenly regret telling him how to deal with Grindelwald." He didn't truly know this young man well; he didn't know his political leanings, nor what changes he might bring to the wizarding world. It was only because Dumbledore said Lockhart could be trusted that he shared this secret with the young man, leading to a situation where Grindelwald would also be unable to restrict this young man in the future. He didn't know whether this would be a blessing or a curse.