Two days later, the much-awaited articles were published at last. A free edition of the Daily Prophet was delivered to every witch and wizard above the age of eleven, much to Harry's and Ron's delight.

The first headline blared:

The 4th Unforgivable! – Affecting us all!

There was a short history of an unnamed spell that had caused quite some problems in the past and had been banned without exception. It had been thought eradicated. But no! It had just moved underground.

Here the article told how people had forgotten all about the unpredictable negative effects the spell had on other people, and they only saw the positive ones it had on themselves. Until ultimately Lockhart had accidentally brought it all to light and the Department of Mysteries (DoM) had taken action.

Lockhart had learned the spell from his grandmother, according to the DoM, and had used it excessively but in secret, like he had been taught to. So, when he was faced with defeat after losing his wand in a show-duel with Potions Master Snape, he had cast the spell on his opponent without thinking with very unfortunate results for him.

The article explained that the spell in question normally only took a very small toll on the people present and did only improve the looks of the caster in a small way. That way it was nearly undetectable if one didn't know what to look for. Especially because it was nearly invisible if someone wordlessly cast the spell on themselves without a wand. It had only been faintly visible when Lockhart cast it on someone standing 20 steps away.

The article then described what happened to a person, if they did the unthinkable and cast the spell on another person in the presence of others. It said to look at the pictures on pages 2 and 3, taken by fledgling photographer and Hogwarts student Mr Colin Creevey.

It also implored the magical community not to vilify the witches and wizards who had cast the spell unwittingly. They had learned it from their trusted parents (or grandmothers) and were told the spell was harmless. They hadn't known better. Until now, that was.

The article ended with an old Roman law, that was still valid:

Ignorantia juris non excusat – ignorance of the law excuses not

Then came an article with the headlines:

The Positive and Negative Effects of The Spell

The positive effect didn't take long to tell (beauty), but the list of possible negative effects for the unknowing victims was extensive and depended on the number of the victims that had been present and how susceptible to the effects of this particular spell they were. Ugliness, stupidity, emotional instability, in rare cases even insanity, and most notable to the paper was the high possibility of becoming sterile and depriving the caster and their victims of the joys of parenthood and the wizarding world as a whole of nothing less than survival. The article concluded that they understood now why the spell was unofficially called the fourth Unforgivable.

The next headline read:

A Blanket Pardon
Until the End of January 1993

Here the law was explained, which anyone was ignorant of until now. And the punishment: Azkaban for life. But then it stated the difference to the Unforgivable Curses. Even though it was undetectable and couldn't be shielded against, it could be fully dispelled (with one exception).

Therefore, everyone who had cast the spell on themselves was promised a full pardon if they visited the Ministry to swear an oath to never use the spell again and to never teach it to anyone. And that after the 31st of January, everyone found to have cast it would get a one-way ticket to Azkaban.

A pardon like this wouldn't be possible with the three Unforgivable Curses.

It also said the casters could come in in secret and the DoM would set up a private area in the Atrium of the Ministry, where people could visit without registering their wands if they wanted to stay incognito to the public. But it also implored people to stand up to their mistakes and to set an example for others to come forward.

The last headlines on the first page read:

The Counter-Spell - Save to cast on everyone!
Redianormalis

This article explained how easy the counter was, and that it was best if cast on oneself. How casting it on another was not as effective but better than nothing and implored everyone to cast it immediately.

It also said that it was safe to cast it multiple times on a person – even a child, as it was neutral and only geared to dispel the spell, described in the first article. Therefore, the counter-spell wouldn't dispel anything else but the beautifying spell they were talking about here in the articles. So, if someone had a magical medical procedure, for example, the counter-spell wouldn't dispel it.

Even Harry and Ron were reading the paper from top to bottom. There was so much information! And the pictures!

On page 2 there were three pictures, one of a rather ugly and scowling Snape prowling down the duelling platform, one of Snape looking ridiculously handsome and a little baffled while staring into a handheld mirror, and one showing how he looked after casting the counter-spell. In the fourth quadrant of the page was the best photograph ever. Colin had managed to catch the moment of Snape hitting Lockhart with the disarming charm, and the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher then flying backwards and casting the near-invisible spell at Snape wandlessly at the same time.

Page 3 had the same layout as page 2. Only this time it was three pictures and one article. In the first two photos, one could see Lockhart before and after casting the spell, and in the third, there was a picture of a hovering entity with skeletal hands, clothed in tattered still partly light-blue robes* with the cowl hiding his face. The headlines of the article on that page said, 'Lockhart, the Dementor'.

Harry asked Ron what Azkaban and Dementors were and got increasingly horrified by Ron's explanation with the twins pitching in with even more details. Harry tried to distract himself and started to discuss the spell and its main effect of beautifying a person.

"I bet Muggles aren't so stupid," Ron huffed in disgust. "They are lucky they don't have magic!"

"Oh, but they do have plastic surgery!"

"What's that?"

A short time later Ron was just as horrified as Harry, just for a different reason.

"That's bonkers!"

Harry nodded in full agreement.

They turned the page of their respective papers and found a two-page article about the Dark Arts much to their delight. They read it with great interest. It was very comprehensively written and described Dark Magic as a branch of magic that was not inherently evil, but one had to know that it always extracted or demanded a price to be paid.

It became evil when the price was unwillingly extracted or unknowingly.

When one paid the price freely, it was Sacrificial Magic, and no magic could be called less evil than that one, even if it was Dark by nature. They cited that the DoM suspected Lily Potter had cast Sacrificial Magic and so had saved her son's life.

On the other side of the spectrum, the worst examples of the Dark Arts were the three Unforgivable Curses. They extracted the price directly from the unwilling victims in life, free will, and well-being.

The article then explained how even witches and wizards knowledgeable in Dark Magic had assumed that the price for the good looks that the spell from page 1 cost them, was the possibility of them slipping up and casting it on another person. Like it had happened with Lockhart. And therefore, the spell would have been sacrificial by nature. But due to the suppression of all knowledge about the Dark Arts they had no chance to learn the true history and evil nature of this spell they used and had unwittingly inflicted on others.

At the head of the table, Albus Dumbledore mourned the innocence lost by many by reading the articles in the dratted paper he hadn't been able to suppress. Especially about the Dark Arts. Good Dark Magic! Laughable! But he had no chance to censor the knowledge now and so he didn't even try. Things would work out since the Greater Good always won in the end, after all. – And he was distracted and very intrigued by the news about the origins of Dementors. He had always wondered where they had come from and now, he knew.

When people had finished reading (and eating) they started casting the counter charm onto themselves. The most amazing effect everyone could observe was the transformations of Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The formerly thick and stupid boys now looked normal and had quite a bit of intelligence in their eyes. Especially Crabbe, who exclaimed in amazement, "The fog is gone!"

Malfoy, who hadn't changed much, outwardly, grinned at Crabbe in a way no one had ever seen before. Like he was truly happy for his friend. There was no sneering and no posturing, just plain friendliness.

Harry and Ron, who had observed it with great interest, decided to try it as well and turned their wands onto themselves.

First Ron cast it, and nothing happened, and then Harry cast the spell. Unfortunately, there was a very visible effect.

He blacked out.

* I'm unsure about the pictures in the papers. Were they in colour in the books? They aren't in the movies. Hm. Maybe the tattered robes were lighter grey in some places, not light-blue.