The Return to Hogwarts

"That's it-"

Amosta, who had been observing everything, nodded thoughtfully.

Neville Longbottom's family suffered from the Cruciatus Curse, and to this day, they remain incurable. Who is Longbottom?

Looking at Neville, whose face seemed as pale as frost, Amosta's eyes deepened.

"It depends on the situation."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Amosta calmly said...

"It depends on the extent of the injury. If the person who cast the spell has mediocre magical power and the evil intent behind the spell is not deep, meaning the Cruciatus Curse is not very powerful, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries has a system to help the victim recover slowly until they regain their health."

Neville clearly didn't want to know that, and anyone could tell that.

"What if one is subjected to an extremely powerful Crucifixion?"

Professor Moody looked at Hermione, the little girl who was the first to notice when Longbottom was frightened by the Crucifixion and stood up to stop him from experimenting with it on the spider. Now, she was also glancing at Neville Longbottom with worry.

"That would be more troublesome—"

Professor Blaine looked away from Neville and said calmly,

"As I said, the Cruciatus Curse attacks the mind of a creature. An excessively powerful Cruciatus Curse can shatter a person's mental world and cause them to lose their mind. If someone were to actually experience this—"

Professor Blaine suddenly fell silent.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I haven't studied this problem in depth, so I can't offer a specific solution."

Professor Moody's magical eye darted around in its socket, finally settling on Neville, who looked utterly devastated, and he asked in a gruff voice...

“It’s not that there’s absolutely no possibility of a full recovery, is it, Professor Blaine?”

"There might be a way, but the specifics need to be discussed on a case-by-case basis. You see, this kind of magical damage is quite special—"

Professor Blaine's words were tactful, but everyone could tell that he believed the shattering of the mind caused by the Cruciatus Curse was not entirely hopeless!

Professor Blaine glanced at the wall clock and quickened his pace.

"Lastly, let's talk about the Avada Kedavra curse. What do you think—"

"It attacks our souls, doesn't it?"

Recalling the green light that had appeared several times in his hazy state, the screaming woman, and the cruel laugh, Harry's face turned ashen. Ignoring the strange looks from his classmates, Harry asked urgently,

"The Avada Kedavra curse attacks the wizard's soul, so, so--"

Harry racked his brains trying to figure out how to express himself.

"If we're under a curse, is there any way—"

“You’ve forgotten Professor Moody’s teachings, Mr. Potter—”

Professor Blaine's eyelids twitched, and a glint of light flickered in his pale purple eyes for a moment.

"If you are struck by the Avada Kedavra curse, you will die instantly. There is no possibility of a cure. But I must point out a mistake, Mr. Potter. The Avada Kedavra curse does not attack the soul of a living being. It is a very effective cutting or stripping technique. It targets what I said at the beginning: the mysterious connection between the body and the soul. It can sever this connection, strip away your life force, and thus bring about death, Mr. Potter—"

Chapter 521 Little Trick

2023-10-07

The essence of the Avada Kedavra curse is to sever the connection between the soul and the body. Not to mention the young wizards, even Professor Moody on the podium had a deep frown between his brows, completely bewildered.

Let me put it more clearly--

Professor Blaine raised his hands and gestured in front of him.

"There is a mysterious connection between the body and the soul, which is like a bridge. The principle behind the Avada Kedavra curse is to sever this bridge, cutting off the connection between the soul and the body. So, once you are cursed, your soul loses its anchor and is forced to leave your body to go to the other side, which is death. This is why people say that those cursed cannot be cured."

This explanation was quite vivid, and most of the young wizards understood it.

A moment of silence fell over the classroom, many of them wearing expressions of pity. Professor Blaine tried to tell them that there were many spells that could take a life—a brick, an arrow—but they still couldn't accept such an evil magic as severing the connection between the soul and the body.

Harry knew he shouldn't have unrealistic ideas, but after understanding Professor Blaine's explanation, he still looked disappointed.

Professor Blaine has made it clear that the Killing Curse is deadly, cannot be resisted, and has no possibility of being cured because there is no way to rebuild the connection between the body and the soul.

Looking at the listless young wizards, Professor Blaine, who was standing by Harry's table, suddenly cleared his throat and chuckled softly.

"I just explained how this spell works. Now, let's talk about some tips for dealing with the Avada Kedavra Curse—"

"But you just said that the Avada Kedavra curse is irresistible, Professor!"

Harry's bright green eyes widened as he stared at Professor Blaine, and he exclaimed in surprise.

"It's not a proper method, Mr. Potter, just some underhanded tricks—"

Professor Blaine smiled and said to everyone,

"Perhaps you've already realized the flaw of the Avada Kedavra Curse. Yes, this spell can't cause area-of-effect damage. In other words, if you want to kill ten people with this spell, you'd have to swing your wand ten times. And its very nature, targeting the connection between body and soul, allows us to use some underhanded methods—"

Using underhanded tactics to deal with the most dangerous of the three Unforgivable Curses? Harry was confused again.

"Are there still those adorable little ones you used to demonstrate spells, Professor Moody?"

Professor Blaine suddenly looked at Professor Moody beside the podium.

"I also need to give a demonstration."

"Take it, Professor Blaine, let me see your brilliant ideas!"

Professor Moody opened a drawer and took out a glass bottle. He had obviously already dealt with the spiders, and this time the bottle contained many wriggling earthworms.

"Thank you, this is exactly what I needed—"

Professor Blaine nodded slightly, and a wand sprang out from his sleeve.

Splash--

Suddenly, a loud rustling sound of desks and chairs being moved echoed through the classroom. The young wizards around Professor Blaine, their faces filled with terror, instinctively moved their stools and quickly retreated away from Professor Blaine. Only Harry remained, eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

Bang—Professor Blaine flicked his wand, and the cork of the glass bottle flew off its own and to the side. Then, the wriggling earthworms were magically pulled out of the bottle and floated in mid-air, struggling helplessly.

"Next is--"

Professor Blaine stared intently at the brown, tangled earthworms. He tapped his wand on the earthworms, and after two strange chirping sounds, the number of earthworms suddenly increased dramatically, multiplying dozens of times in the blink of an eye!

Lavender let out a short scream; if Parvati hadn't helped her, she probably would have fallen off the stool. Lavender huddled in Parvati's arms, covering her eyes with her hands, trembling uncontrollably. Ron, who was relieved that Professor Moody hadn't handed over a spider, witnessed this scene. He seemed to find Lavender's behavior quite amusing, and twitched his lips at her.

That huge clump of wriggling earthworms was indeed disgusting; even Harry unconsciously leaned back a little.

"--key!"

Professor Blaine suddenly flicked his wrist, and the earthworms, each six or seven inches long, suddenly separated. They arranged themselves in mid-air and gradually formed the shape of a garment!

Uh!

Hermione covered her mouth and gasped. She had grasped Professor Blaine's line of reasoning, and Professor Moody on the podium had understood it as well.

"Aha, what a cunning method, Amosta!"

"What?!" Harry quickly looked at Hermione, hoping for an explanation.

"Clothes!" Hermione whispered, pointing at the earthworms. "Stuff your clothes with earthworms!"

“It doesn’t have to be an earthworm, Miss Granger—”

Amosta chuckled.

"Any small creature will do, as long as their numbers are dense enough, they can always help you block an Avada Kedavra curse."

Now everyone understood.

This is absolutely ingenious! Who would have thought there could be such a way to resist the Unforgivable Curse?!

According to Professor Blaine's theory, the Avada Kedavra curse targets the connection between a living being's body and soul, and this harm is indiscriminate. So, if one wears a specially designed protective suit and a special mask, wouldn't the Avada Kedavra curse be completely neutralized?

After all, even the most powerful killing curse cannot annihilate multiple lives at once!

The classroom suddenly became lively, with the young wizards buzzing with excitement. Even though they lacked a direct understanding of the magic's past dominance, it didn't stop them from rejoicing at Professor Blaine's ingenious idea!

Of course, there are also dissenting voices.

"I'd rather die under the Unforgivable Curse than have hundreds of earthworms hanging on my body. Ugh, that's disgusting!"

Lavender said in horror that she was having trouble breathing because of the earthworms.

"I must remind you of one thing--"

Seeing the young wizards caught up in their excitement, Professor Blaine timely poured cold water on their enthusiasm.

"As I just said, this method is only a minor trick. It can help you avoid sneak attacks or fatal carelessness in a head-on confrontation, but after that, it won't be useful—because your opponent isn't stupid. He'll quickly figure out where you've made your move, and with just a few simple spells, he can break through your defenses. So, don't expect to win a life-or-death duel with just clever tricks. You must be steady and methodical, learn knowledge, hone your skills, and always remain vigilant—"

Blaine glanced at the wall clock again, then said,

"There are still five minutes left before get out of class ends. Now, let's start summarizing. One question is, since I encourage you not to be too afraid of the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Avada Kedavra Curse—because there are countless spells in orthodox magic that can take lives or make those cursed wish they were dead—why does the Ministry of Magic forbid people from using these three spells and call them 'unforgivable' spells?"

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day to everyone!

Chapter 522 Major Event?

2023-10-07

As get out of class was about to end, Professor Blaine didn't keep anyone in suspense. After asking the question, he gave the answer himself before anyone else could answer.