I don’t think that we can manage to get past the casual use of Obliviate unless we are willing to examine why we actually do it. It’s easy to say that a person’s mind is a person’s self and that this makes it sacred. That seems like something anyone could agree with, but the way we behave tells a different story, particularly when it comes to people who lack the magical gift.

Part of the problem is that our secrecy isn’t just engrained—it’s mandated by law. If we want to reduce the usage of Obliviate, the first thing that we must do is stop requiring people to use it in order to keep our secrets. I’ve spent enough time around Muggles to be aware that when most of them accidentally see small things that don’t make sense in the light of how they are taught the world works, they explain them away. It isn’t necessary to make them forget what they see when they are eager to accept almost any explanation that relieves the discomfort of seeing things that do not make sense.

I don’t know if I want to see any more spells or techniques added to the list of things that are absolutely forbidden. Time-turners aren’t the only way to meddle with time, Imperius isn’t the only way to compel obedience, and Avada Kedavra certainly isn’t the only way to kill someone. Treating the spells themselves as the crimes rather than the things the spells do just makes people more creative in the way that they compel, manipulate and destroy one another. It’s more important, in my opinion, to bring murderers to justice than to punish the usage of curses that kill or damage the will or destroy the mind.

But I do agree that Obliviate is used far too often and far too casually, and more importantly, I agree that the widespread acceptance of its use on Muggles leads to a somewhat less casual, but equally problematic, acceptance of our using it on one another within the magical world.

Callista Melina Zabini Slytherin House

I believe that this should be done with the greatest of care, and that many steps should be taken before the choice is made to remove the memory, in cases of trauma, should be taken. But there are times, especially for muggles, where the memory is just too much for them to bare and live with. Dealing with the lost time would be better. Dealing with the possibility of mild retardation might even be a better quality of life, than dealing with the post traumatic stress.

I believe that the answer to Dr Bauer should be that more research on cause and effect should be done for science and to authenticate the use of this spell and it's safety. I hypothesis that findings will be that stronger minds will notice the effects of the spell much greater than simple minds. But both are just as likely to notice the effects since there is always "missing time" as a result of this spell, it seems.

Memories effect who we are, good and bad. I feel that only in the most extreme cases should this charm be used to improve someones quality of life. If they can not live with the memory of what happened, should their mind be tampered with. Only in the case of much needed safety for the masses, versus the safety of one should the spell be used. This is my stance.

"You will be pleased to hear that we have dealt with the unfortunate blowing-up of Miss Marjorie Dursley. Two members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Department were dispatched to Privet Drive a few hours ago. Miss Dursley has been punctured and her memory has been modified. She has no recollection of the incident at all. So that's that, and no harm done." -- Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, 1993

It is widely believed that Memory Charms are a mundane thing. My quotation at the beginning supports this thesis. There have been numerous incidents where Memory Charms were used to tamper with the human mind. The usage of 'human' instead of wizard or muggle is intended as I do believe that both share the same mind, just their abilities differ. It is important to note that the Ministry uses this charm on both wizards and muggles alike and often simply as they please with little regard to possible consequences. The classification for spells is done by the Ministry, which clearly has great convenience from using Memory Charms on wizards and muggles. Hence this charm is probably used as a political instrument as well but I don't want to go off at a tangent here.

The Memory Charm was invented by Mnemone Radford. Not much is known about her, but she lived in the Renaissance, a time when wizards were chased by muggles. Therefore, the need for a spell to deal with accidental practise of magic in the presence of muggles arose. The creation of a Memory Charm to either change or delete memory was useful for the wizards at this time as they had to fear for their life or the safety of their loved ones. Though it might be presumptuous to say that wizards back in the the time of the Renaissance were not as educated in global connections and consequences of what they did as today, this is probably the truth. I think it is safe to say they were so afraid that they simply didn't care about possible consequences of the Memory Charm. It was a new charm, probably not properly researched on long-term effects, but it was widely used with great delight! I can imagine how happy wizards back then must have been that such a spell had been invented - the feeling of relieve made them neglect any possible negative effects of the spell.

Over the years, the Memory Charm was used pretty often and we read a lot about the incidents in our textbooks at school. However, we are living in a different time as well and we should be more careful with spells that alter or bewitch the mind. Technically, I like to think of Memory Charms as a very subtle variant of the Imperius Curse as both play with the human mind. Given the fact that Memory Charms are old spells, they might appear traditional as well, which is a coefficient for how often they are used. Obviously, I agree with Mr. Bauer's point of view. The human mind and brain are sacred and they are what represents us. 'I am a brain my dear Watson, and the rest of me is a mere appendage.' - this is a quote by famous Sherlock Holmes, a detective by trade, and it shows clearly how important our mind with all the thoughts inside is. This is also supported by books of human anatomy I studied for this essay. It is interesting to note that the brain named itself and this is a perfect example how precious the mind is and that we shouldn't tamper with it as we please. I would be devasted if certain memories where erased from my mind. Though I have to admit there are things I don't like to remember, they are there. They shaped my character as well. I believe that the sum of all the memories in our mind is what makes us a real person. Every human has its fair share of happy and sad memories, but joyful and gloomy events in our life are a lesson to learn, each one a step closer to become the person we were meant to be. Though I don't believe in divination, I do think that life itself with its rich facets of events is the best teacher to shape your character and mind. This kind of education never stops in life - therefore, our self is permanently evolving. If we delete or alter memories of a person, we take a part of their self away. Like Mr. Bauer said, what would have happened if the person that had its memory altered or deleted would have been allowed to keep the correct memory instead? Of course they would be afraid of magic, but should we play the role of a higher being when it comes to such things? Mr. Bauer mentioned the poor man from the Quidditch World Cup who had to endure so many Memory Charms that he believed it was Christmas, which is an alarming thing. I wonder why they never investigated on his case. But that just brings me back to the Ministry being all about politics. Even in the case of great trauma, Memory Charms are difficult to justify as I value the lessons learned from life greatly. Pain, grieve and trauma demands to be felt and endured, and once it's over, we'll arise from it like a Phoenix from ash, being a wiser and more thoughtful person than before - if we're just given enough time to comprehend what happened and enough time to heal. I might go even further and say that the modification of a memory harms the soul of the being as well - which reminds me of the creation of a horcrux, the darkest of spells, where you split your soul by killing another person. Your soul is not the same as before and your mind changes as well due to the nature of this spell. But this is just a mere theory that came to my mind and requires more in-depth research. For now, I'm going to note this down and try to bring it up again once I left the school to work at the Ministry of Magic.

Nevertheless, I shall not forget the usefulness of the Memory Charm. In some cases the usage is justified, like the Ilfracombe Incident of 1932, when a rogue Welsh Green dragon swooped down upon a crowded beach full of sunbathing Muggles and fatalities were mercifully prevented by the brave actions of a holidaying wizarding family when they immediately performed the largest batch of Memory Charms this century on the inhabitants of Ilfracombe, thus narrowly averting catastrophe [see 'Fantastic Beasts and where to find them' by Newton A.F. Scamander, 1987 leather-bound edition, for more details]. Though it might seem cold or arrogant to never let the Muggles know about the magical world by altering their memory, it's never wrong to be careful among them. Even if wizards and witches don't have to be afraid of being burned on a haystack or being drowned, the educated people might want to use magic for their advantage. Possible outcomes would be war, combined of muggle weapons and harmful spells, manipulation of global politics and elections and even the possibility of wizards and witches being held captive to be used as instruments to cast magic for muggles.

In conclusion, I think that wizards and witches should be more careful when using magic in places with muggles. It's not that difficult to blend in if you are educated in the right way. I like to bring up my friendship with a muggle girl at my home village as an example. We're friends for about 10 years now and neither my parents nor the Ministry ever had to use a Memory Charm on her. I simply know what I can say and do around her and what not. It's not that wizards and witches cannot use magic outside of their homes, they just should be aware to not let the muggles see it. We have to be more conscious when it comes to people surrounding us and we should not be too carefree with magic as it's a gift. That brings me to the conclusion that the Memory Charm is after all a powerful spell and should not be used lightly. Before taking action upon using such a spell, people should weigh up the pros and cons - which would not even be necessary if we were just more careful and responsible with our magical world and its beings.

All the wizarding world is constantly talking about hiding their existence at all costs. Because of this, the Memory Charm is exercised often too much then too little. If a muggle has seen a wizard performing a charm, most often either they think they are not believing their eyes or that the wizard in question did a trick or that this was a natural phenomenon which may be evidenced later. If you stay and watch, you´ll see there´ll be no harm done. So normally, there is no need to wipe a persons mind!

As a last instance in severe cases, say the muggle who has seen charms or curses performed is becoming insane because of this, there can be an exception when talking to the muggle leads to no success. However, under no circumstances should a wizard or witch alone decide for such a mind joggling charm. The case should be presented to an ethics committee then which is experienced and acquainted with such cases and after adequate discussion, a recommendation for using this spell can be given. I think this will hardly ever be the case because normally, humans react like outlined in the paragraph above.

For all other mild cases of sightings, either the wizard himself has to look for a solution of the problem or he has the possibility to engage the Office of Misinformation with this instance. The have a lot of experience with this cases and even talked muggles into believing that Nessie is a fake. So their should be faith that they can handle the daily slips as well.

The point was made that there was no study into the long-term effect of oblivate, why not? It was said that the muggles charmed were not checked up on, again, why not? This study should be done before talk of banning a spell that current evidence shows is neutral or beneficial to the magical community. If the results of the study into the spells shows harm then regulating the use of the spell would be the next step, not a ban.

Using memory charms in a more enlightened manner rather than just as a quick fix would go far to a allaying the fears above without the need for drastic action. Memories do make us who we are, but that is not always a good thing. If your memories make you unable to leave the house, unable to sleep, violent, or hateful could a skilled and surgical use of obliviate help? Has this been studied? No.

The brain is not cheese. Cheese does not rewrite its pathways or access and reallocate new parts of itself to perform in the place of damaged areas. We barely understand the brain and we understand how memory works in the brain even less, but memory is always rewriting itself every time recall happens and the brain is resilient. We need study in memory charms, negative and positive, which cannot be done with the spells banned. We cannot understand or benefit from that which we outlaw.

Merlin giggled a bit before starting to write his essay since he was going to be formal toward Jovy, or Healer Bauer since he was giving the current lecture, not that he was not respectful of him on the contrary but he was more casual with Jovy back home.

Essay:

After listening carefully to Healer Bauer I have come to the conclusion that the obliviating spell shouldn't be use lightly and only to a minimum. As he kindly explained the mind is a world still unknown in most ways to both wizards and muggles and we shouldn't use so casually the spell as we wizards do. If I think about it, I wouldn't like to have my memories removed, I don't like people hiding things from me and much less like people changing the events that took place in my life, this can be used for manipulation or a false reality. I understand some truths can be equally harmful to some and only in this cases I agree for the spell to be used.

In cases where the person can't deal with the reality and it causes them an emotional trauma then it should be done by an expert and not just by anyone. There are many great wizards and witches but there are mediocre ones as well and surely you wouldn't want more memories than needed wiped or altered to a degree when things don't makes sense anymore. Take for example a witch or wizard that have been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, would using the obliviating spell save them from mental breakdown? There have been cases like Frank and Alice Longbottom when they have been tortured to insanity and haven't been able to return from it and surely have been put under the obliviate spell without success. How do we know how much this spell can 'heal' or hide from our minds? Can the memories return? Can the spell be reversed? Those are questions that need immediate answer in my opinion since I haven't heard of anyone that have had this spell reversed and there should be the option for that.

I would recommend to the wizarding society to study the use of this spell more thoroughly in order to assure its safety. I believe given the examples by Healer Bauer that the spell is not completely safe and would refrain from using it if possible yet I would learn it and probably study more about this topic. I just want to add that I do believe the use of this spell can be considered in cases where the terrible memory is short and can be replaced by another that will help the person continued his life normally. Yet how do we know this spell is only used when needed for traumatized people and not used by many for their own advantages? There is no way of knowing how many Gilderoy Lockhart are out there taking people's memories and crediting their greatness to themselves.

I believe that Obliviate should continue to be used to preserve our way of life and not cause panic for the muggle world. However we should continue to study the lasting effects. In doing that we should look at memory in general. There are two main types of sensory memories, short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory is relatively harmless to alter as it’s natural for the body to purge the temporary information after a few minutes. Using Obliviate in these early memory stages, in theory, should not harm the mind.

Long-term memory on the other hand is where severe issues can be caused. Doctor Bauer mentioned Gilderoy Lockhart in his summary, and in the History of Magic class, we learned that he was using this spell to deter long-term memory. These are the memories that are held in the brain’s storage almost indefinitely. Mr. Lockhart was using this charm for personal gain on other witches and wizards, which is selfish and a little underhanded. He was specifically targeting these long-term memories that could not be replaced and can cause permanent damage. His own memory was destroyed entirely due to misuse of this spell. It was not used in an effort to preserve the wizarding world.

In short, I believe that there should be more strict guidelines on the use of the Obliviate spell, but it should not be banned entirely. If it is used correctly, for the greater good if you will, it should continue to be harmless in quick timely actions. It would preserve both Wizarding and Muggle world’s current ways of life until we are ready to merge our worlds. Perhaps only the ministry having access to using this spell would reduce the memory casualties that Doctor Bauer is concerned with could be a potential solution. Until a safe solution can be reached, for all parties, we have no choice but to continue on the path we are on.

Wizardkind and Muggles can coexist harmoniously because of the International Stature of Wizarding Secrecy. When the Statute was enacted in 1689, Muggles persecuted and murdered magical peoples because of their mere existence. Wizards and witches concealed themselves and all magic from Muggles as a way to peacefully reside with their non-magical brethren. Radicals even wanted to declare open war on Muggles and the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald went as far as to say that the Statue of Secrecy only existed to protect Muggles instead of wizardkind. Such secrecy, concealment, and the resulting peace is not possible without Memory Charms.

Hogwarts and all establishments of education and learning allow wizards and witches to harness their magic, grow up safely, and gain the means in which to succeed and become happy and productive members of society. One hundred and sixty-seven Memory Charms were used in the creation of the Hogwarts Express, which still freely transports young witches and wizards in safety, comfort, and secrecy today. Wizarding schools are protected from Muggle eyes by a myriad of ways to keep all parties from befalling harm. Why should all other measures remain in place while Memory Charms, which are already a last resort, be done away with? Removing that final safety net would change our way and the Muggle way of life.

A majestic creature like a dragon can cause much violence to Muggles and can also come to violence at the hands of Muggles. It is in the best interest of both the creature and the non-magical person for the latter party to receive a Memory Charm. Muggles are known to hunt exotic non-magical creatures to extinction. They have also displayed and paraded such creatures for sport in zoos and circuses for their own amusement. Dragons are lethal creatures, and innocent Muggles could die because of wizardkind's irresponsibility in keeping them and all other deadly magical creatures a secret.

Healer Bauer is correct in that a Memory Charm is not magic to be trifled with. They should only be performed by the most competent of witches and wizards. Even then, Memory Charms should be used sparingly and as a last resort. There are instances of Memory Charms going wrong, but there are countless numbers more of Memory Charms going right. They save lives, protect people from trauma, and spare magical creatures.

It sounds almost like the wizarding world in general has become so used to memory charms, that they have become desensitised to the problems that can occur because of it. Maybe also, we don't even bother to look into the potential problems and 'side effects' because we know that memory charms are generally considered to be an essential part of our world. In a similar way to how Muggles reach for the 'easy' option of using a gadget like a calculator rather than working through a problem manually, we've maybe become dependent on the memory charm in order to exist. And dependency on something which is so powerful, and has such potential for problems, can never totally be positive.

Overall, I think there are still times when the memory charm would be beneficial, whether that's to keep the wizarding world's secrets, or to prevent memories of terrible traumas (especially those regarding wizards who have caused severe trauma to Muggles). However, maybe there needs to be a better option - a new charm or potion instead, which would enable a person to totally forget a specific thing, without any other memories or thoughts being affected. I very much doubt this would even be possible to achieve at the moment - Healer Bauer's mention of the mind being like a block of cheese, makes me think that this is even more complex than the memory charm really allows for. Until there is a safer alternative which doesn't result in the person being totally confused, or ending up as a permanent resident in Saint Mungoes, I think the use of the memory charm should be restricted, or at least more consideration given to its side effects.

When should it be used? I believe that the memory charm should be used only to prevent potentially dangerous breeches of wizard security, or possibly in a case like that of the poor muggle caretaker and his family, to prevent severe trauma. In other words, I believe it should only be used in the most extreme of cases. Using it in every day encounters with muggles should not be permitted.

I think that as a community, we all need to think of better ways of dealing with our secrecy from muggles. Muggles are human too, and they have as much right as the magical community to not have their minds meddled with. Perhaps we even need to reevaluate why we so adamantly hide our community from them in the first place? I would venture to say that most muggles today would be more accepting of our differences than they were centuries ago. I believe that our communities have much that we could learn from each other.