Although he hadn't figured out the reason, Sherlock still kept that copy of Advanced Dark Magic: Revelation.
It was a rather unreliable guess.
Was it that Amy felt the only way to solve the problem of returning to her correct timeline was to live long enough?
But even if that were truly the case, and there were no other way, Sherlock would never use this kind of magic to grant himself immortality.
Putting aside the question of whether it was evil or not, he simply couldn't accept the impact that splitting the soul would have on the main soul.
It wasn't even certain whether the person's personality would ultimately remain the same.
Therefore, even though he kept this Revelation, Sherlock had no intention of learning how to create a Horcrux; he just felt that perhaps his perspective on this magic might change, and he might come up with other ideas later.
On his second day of work at the Department of Mysteries, Sherlock did not take Amy back to the Leaky Cauldron.
This office in the Time Room had enough rooms and complete facilities, so they could each have one.
By the next day, he no longer had time to study the matter of Horcruxes.
A fluttering paper aeroplane flew into the hall of the Department of Mysteries, then passed through the door of the Time Room and flew into Sherlock's hand.
Amy had already experienced the magic of this paper aeroplane yesterday, and she still found it very interesting.
Sherlock unfolded it directly and saw the content on it.
"To John Watson, regarding the trial of Algy Taft, the hearing will be held at 10:00 AM this morning by the Wizengamot. As one of the direct witnesses to this case, you need to be present before the hearing begins. The trial will be held in Courtroom 6; please do not be late. — Wizengamot Wizard Court Clerk, Frank Verjili."
Sherlock put the letter down; he had long anticipated this trial.
Not only would he attend as a witness, but Eddie and Madam Selwyn would also attend this trial as witnesses.
Looking at the time, it was already 9:30 AM, so he did not delay any further. After instructing Amy to stay in the Time Room and not to wander into other rooms, Sherlock headed to Courtroom 6.
The Wizard Court—the Wizengamot—was a wizarding organisation far older than the Ministry of Magic.
After the Ministry of Magic was established, the Wizengamot was incorporated into the Ministry of Magic, becoming a part of the magical political system.
After Dumbledore became the Principal of Hogwarts, he had long served as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
However, because he also concurrently served as the President of the International Confederation of Wizards and Principal of Hogwarts, he was usually very busy with official duties and could not attend every trial at the Wizengamot.
Therefore, the vast majority of trials were presided over by the Minister for Magic in person.
And all the courtrooms were located on the tenth floor underground of the Ministry of Magic, which was the level below the Department of Mysteries.
The room structure in the courtroom was similar to the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries.
Stone steps descended from high to low, and in the very centre was an iron chair with shackles, fixed to the ground; this chair was where the prisoner on trial would be placed.
When Sherlock arrived at the courtroom, quite a few people had already arrived.
Those Wizards were all wearing plum-coloured robes, with an exquisite silver "W" embroidered on their left chests.
Red-robed Wizards were all members of the Wizengamot.
Even in modern times, the wizarding court still used the most ancient method of trial.
The trial was conducted in the form of the interrogator asking questions, with the clerk responsible for taking records, and finally, the verdict was reached by a show of hands.
In other words, the prisoner confessed all their crimes, and then whether they were guilty or not, and if guilty, how light or heavy the punishment should be, was entirely up to these Wizengamot Wizards to decide.
Of course, magical law would provide a standard, but it was only a standard after all, as wizarding laws could be modified at any time (for example, Arthur had privately modified legal provisions to facilitate his own modification of Muggle technology, creating loopholes for himself).
The number of Wizengamot Wizards was about 50, and while they hadn't all come for this trial, there were still nearly 40 people.
In the absence of Dumbledore, the interrogator sitting in the centre position, wearing red robes, was naturally the current Minister for Magic—Harold Minchum.
He saw Sherlock walk in and nodded to him with a smile.
Sherlock, of course, responded with a smile.
After entering, a staff member in charge of the courtroom immediately arranged his seat as a witness.
It was on the lowest stone step, very close to that iron chair, and he could see the face of the interrogator directly by looking up.
When Sherlock sat down, he felt someone staring at him from diagonally opposite him; looking up, he realised it was Eddie sitting there.
Witnesses naturally could not sit together; everyone had a separate seat to prevent communication during the trial.
Madam Selwyn was also sitting in one of the witness seats; under normal circumstances, even if she attended, she would be wearing red robes and sitting on the voting bench, but today her status was that of a witness.
The trial had not yet begun, and the Wizards sitting on the high platform were whispering.
Sherlock couldn't hear what they were talking about, but looking at the expressions on their faces, it didn't seem good.
At ten o'clock, the trial began on time.
A pale and dejected Algy, escorted by two Aurors, arrived at the courtroom and was pressed into the chair in the centre.
The surrounding light became dim, with only a few torches hanging on the dark stone walls, flickering with an unsettling light.
After Algy was escorted in, the heavy door at the entrance slammed shut.
The two Aurors let go of Algy, letting him sit on the steel chair in the centre by himself.
As soon as he sat down, the shackles and chains on both sides of the armrests suddenly sprang up, binding him firmly to the chair and restricting all his movements.
After the defendant entered the courtroom, those red-robed Wizards on the high platform all quietened down.
There was silence in the courtroom, and Minchum's cold and stern voice echoed in the space.
"The defendant is present, we can begin. Are you ready?"
The person being asked was a thin-looking Wizard wearing gold-rimmed glasses; he was the clerk for this trial. The Wizard nodded slightly.
"We can begin, sir."
"The trial of August 3rd," Minchum said loudly, "is to hear the case of Algy Taft, a member of the third Auror squad of the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office, for violating the 'Regulation of Dark Arts Law' and the 'Ministry of Magic Internal Administration Law'."
His voice was very loud, clearly having used a Sonorus Charm, enough for every Wizard in this courtroom to hear clearly.
After introducing all the trial members, the clerk, and the witnesses, the trial officially began.
Minchum was the main interrogator, but the person responsible for the interrogation work was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement—Barty Crouch Sr.
"Did the defendant participate in that Auror operation in Wales on June 1st to rescue the former Head of the Department of Mysteries?" Crouch's voice was deep and flat.
Algy, sitting in the middle of the courtroom, had a grey and defeated face, as if he had lost his soul, and said,
"Yes."
"Before that mission, did you have prior contact with Death Eaters and inform them of the time of the action, the list of personnel, and the Apparition landing location!"
"I, I..." Algy's face became fearful, "I don't know."
Crouch frowned.
"You don't know?"
Algy buried his head in his shackled hands, looking incomparably pained and desperate.
"One day at the end of May, it was like someone had used a spell on me, and I couldn't control anything I did."
He sobbed, saying in a voice that sounded like he was crying,
"I know I am guilty, and I am willing to accept punishment, but I don't want to be called a two-faced traitor... I was under the Imperio, I didn't voluntarily want to betray the Ministry of Magic..."
Algy's words and performance were heard and seen by those Wizards on the high platform.
Some sneered at what he said, while others shook their heads in pity.
Sherlock only felt emotion in his heart at this moment.
As expected, those who can be undercover agents have some tricks up their sleeves; they can turn black into white, and he could brazenly continue acting out things that anyone with a discerning eye could see through at a glance.
There was no change in the expression on Crouch's face, and he called out a name in a flat tone.
"Barty Crouch Jr."
A pale-faced young man sitting in the witness seat nodded slightly to signal.
"You are the captain of the third Auror squad. When executing the mission in Wales, the defendant was also under your command. Can you tell from his behaviour if he had any signs of being controlled by Imperio?"
Barty Crouch Jr. said neither humbly nor arrogantly,
"He was normal. During Auror training, all Aurors learn how to distinguish whether a Wizard is under the control of Imperio, and Algy did not have that expression at the time."
"Do you have anything else to say, Defendant?" Crouch's voice was cold.
Algy's expression was still full of sadness and fear, and his face was streaked with tears.
"You don't know the methods of those people... Their Imperio is much more powerful than normal people's; what we learned at the Auror Office is useless, totally useless..."
Watching him like this, Sherlock couldn't help but curl his lips.
No matter how they interrogated him, as long as he insisted it was Imperio, and an advanced version that normal people couldn't distinguish, then no one had concrete evidence to prove that his betrayal was a subjective intention.
Such a brazen, shameless attitude must have been coached by someone before the trial began.