The Return to Hogwarts

The shop owner's prediction was correct; Golden Viper was indeed somewhat interested in the vampire fang. If he wasn't mistaken, the fang had been 'treated,' and the nosebleed was just a cover-up.

"Forty Galleons--"

"Golden Viper said in a detached voice."

Willorens pulled out his prepared stomping expression, but before he could even get going, Golden Viper turned to leave. Now, he was really anxious.

"Alright, alright, forty Galleons it is. I always lose money doing business with you, Mr. Golden Viper!"

With tears in his eyes, Willorens, who had earned thirty Galleons, said in a "furious" tone as he deftly wrapped the fangs in the skin of an unknown magical creature, tied it with a rope, and stuffed it into the Golden Viper's sleeve.

Having finally closed his first deal of the day, Willorens wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes already searching for his next customer in the crowd. However, the 'Great Fool,' who had sheathed his fangs, did not leave his stall. After a brief silence, the Golden Viper spoke again.

"Do you have any other interesting little gadgets here, Willorus?"

Willorens raised his eyelids slightly, looking at the Golden Viper with a hint of surprise. Then, quickly realizing what was happening, a fawning smile returned to his face.

"Of course, Mr. Golden Viper!"

Willorens lowered his gaze, scanning the items on the table, and hesitated for a moment about what to sell.

"Don't expect me to buy back your pile of garbage, Willorence—"

Golden Viper's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction, "What I want are truly powerful curses, not these toys that even goblins can't be killed by curses—"

The truly formidable one?

Upon hearing this, Willorens not only did not show any fear, but smiled even more brightly.

"Oh, I do have some... taboo items, you know. If they're too dangerous, the Ministry of Magic won't stand idly by. So, these things aren't convenient to display on the stall, but..."

Willorens rubbed his fingers together.

"As you know, these things were all made by masters, so..."

Click——

Golden Viper snapped his fingers, his hand tucked into his sleeve, blocking the eavesdropping of the overly curious individuals at the nearby stalls. He leaned slightly forward, and even though his face was concealed by a magic mask, the chill emanating from him still sent a shiver down Willorens' spine.

"Money is not a problem for me, Willorens, as long as what you offer interests me—"

With those words, Willorens became even more motivated. He turned and walked to a wooden crate behind the chair. After fiddling with the magic locks a few times, the interchangeable space inside the crate was locked. Then, he turned around and beckoned to Golden Viper.

"It's not convenient to display it publicly, Mr. Golden Viper, so--"

Once the Golden Viper entered the stall, the black cloth rolled up along the edge of the awning above the stall suddenly unfurled, forming an enclosed space that both blocked the view and provided some protection.

The large wooden crate was opened, and under the watchful eye of the Golden Viper, Willorens pulled out a dusty alleyway the size of a Muggle carry-on suitcase.

"You'll be amazed, Mr. Golden Viper!"

"Will Lawrence said excitedly."

But the reality was far beyond Willorens' expectations. The Golden Viper, who had just been willing to spend forty Galleons to buy a prank item, suddenly became the most picky buyer. No matter what precious cursed item he brought out, the Golden Viper would criticize it mercilessly after examining it.

"I'm truly disappointed, Willorens. Is this your prized collection, your most treasured possession?"

Twenty minutes later, Viper straightened up and said in a very impatient tone,

You're completely wasting my time!

"What exactly do you want, Mr. Golden Viper?"

Willorens was equally disappointed. He was all prepared to pocket all the rewards Golden Viper had earned from his missions over this period, but he never expected things to turn out this way.

"Velocity--"

Golden Viper was silent for a moment, then slowly said,

"You're an expert on curses, Verorens. I'd like to ask you, have you ever seen a curse where the curse seed and the curse itself are separate?"

Chapter 753 A Powerful Curse

2024-02-10

"The curse seed and the curse are separated?" Verorens was taken aback, then his gaze towards the golden viper became somewhat strange. "Are you in trouble?"

“It wasn’t me—” Viper said calmly, but a sudden sense of relief washed over him.

Vilorence has been selling cursed items in the underworld for years; having spent most of his life in this business, he's undoubtedly an expert. If even he hasn't heard of them, then this trip has been a waste.

"A friend of mine got scammed while exploring ancient ruins, and he asked me to inquire about it—"

Your friend is truly unfortunate.

Viloren clicked his tongue, looking at the golden viper with pity, seemingly convinced that the viper was making a 'friend out of thin air'. Then, a thought crossed his mind, and the corners of Viloren's mouth curled up again, his eyes gleaming with greed once more.

"A great dark wizard like yourself surely understands, Mr. Golden Viper, that knowledge is priceless."

pat-

No sooner had Verorens begun to speak than Golden Viper, who had anticipated this, produced a money pouch in his hand. He tossed the pouch into Verorens's lap, turned, swept aside the trinkets on the wooden board, and slumped onto it.

“My money isn’t so easy to earn, Vilorans. I hope what you’re saying is of sufficient value.”

"Oh, of course!"

Weighing the purse in his hand, Vilorans's grin stretched almost to his earlobes. He nonchalantly tossed his most treasured cursed items back into the box, stuffed the purse deep into his sleeve, blew his nose, and said with great interest,

"There are many kinds of curses, Mr. Golden Viper. Most of them are like the ones I sell at my stall, enshrined in some kind of object to prevent the curse from losing its power as the magic fades. Ah, of course, casting a curse directly on an enemy is fine too, Mr. Golden Viper, but both of these methods have an obvious problem. Do you know what it is?"

“I’m not here to be lectured, Verorens—”

Viper's cold gaze made Viloran chuckle awkwardly. He coughed heavily twice and continued speaking.

"Whether you cast a curse directly or enshrine it in an object, there's no problem with its effectiveness. However, they both have an obvious drawback: if the person afflicted doesn't die immediately, they have the opportunity to get rid of the curse in various ways—I mean, to exorcise it."

Amosta nodded thoughtfully, his fingers tapping lightly on the template.

“Go on—”

Seeing that his statement had piqued Golden Viper's interest, Vilorans rubbed his hands excitedly, already anticipating another sum of gold waiting for him to earn.

"--To overcome this weakness, for centuries wizards interested in this profound art of dark magic have been pondering countermeasures. Oh, there are many wonderful ideas, such as casting a curse into the wizard's soul. Unless one is a great wizard with unfathomable magical skills, no one generally has the ability to expel a curse from the soul. Of course, this method requires a high level of skill from the caster, so it is not very popular—"

Golden Viper immediately thought of the Blood Demon Curse, a curse he had spent a lot of effort to master. The reason it was so difficult to expel was that its curse seed was made from the soul of a living being and was forcibly planted in the soul of another living being through special spellcasting methods.

Furthermore, the Blood Curse can be spread through the blood of relatives; once someone is cursed, their descendants will also be affected.

"--The most common form is self-replication--"

Feeling the Golden Viper's gaze refocus on him, Verorens continued,

"To prevent the curse from being broken, some curse seeds have the ability to replicate. They infect all life forms that come near the cursed person through their life energy. In this way, if anyone tries to help the cursed person, they will also suffer great misfortune!"

The calm Golden Viper nodded inwardly. A highly virulent curse virus like the Black Death probably works in this way. This curse cannot infinitely replicate itself. Each replicated curse seed has a mysterious connection with its source. Once the number of carriers reaches a certain level, the whole will rapidly weaken until it collapses.

No one knows why this phenomenon occurs; perhaps it is the deepest secret of magic.

Magic is also one of the fundamental principles governing the universe, which means that it is also subject to the checks and balances of the universe.

"As for the curse that separates the seed from the curse, oh, perhaps you'll be unhappy, but please forgive my bluntness, Mr. Golden Viper, it's a brilliant invention—"

Vilorans said excitedly,

"Such a curse will first store the curse seed on an object, which is not surprising. But then it will be different. The master who creates the curse will use secret methods to separate or copy the curse and store it on another object. The two objects storing the curse will only have one curse seed. When you cast the curse on someone, make sure that the person you want to kill comes into contact with the second object. You will never be able to remove or destroy it. It will keep regenerating in your body!"

"There's never any way?" Viper asked in a low voice.

"Yes, there will never be a way!"

Verorens said bluntly,

"Because its core wasn't destroyed, unless you can find the first item that houses the curse seed, but that's very difficult—"

It's easy to understand why Verorens said it was difficult.

If someone intends to curse someone and goes to great lengths to prevent anyone from saving the person they want to harm, they will definitely hide the first item carrying the curse seed to the ends of the earth. This is actually the same idea as Voldemort's Horcruxes.

The key problem is that he is facing a complete stranger, and he can't unravel the mystery like Dumbledore did with Voldemort. Moreover, he doesn't have enough time.

“It certainly sounds like a refined craft—” Golden Viper nodded, “but the European magical world is getting worse and worse. In my opinion, there aren’t many wizards who possess this skill anymore, are there? Vilorans, do you have the ability?”

"Oh!"

Vilorans quickly waved his hand, afraid that Golden Viper might misunderstand something.

"Only true masters possess this ability, Mr. Golden Viper. I don't have that skill. Yes, you're right, there are indeed very few people with this ability nowadays."

Willorens held his head high, pursed his lips, and gave a shy smile, refusing to say another word.

"Don't give me that disgusting smile, Verorens—"

The shadow cast by the emerald torches in the air slowly crept onto Verorens's ugly face. Golden Viper stood up, looking down at Verorens with an air of superiority. He knew the cunning old man had already guessed what he was going to ask, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“You know what I’m going to ask, Vilorans—” Golden Viper said coldly, “Just tell me your price. I’ll accept your blackmail this time, only this once—”

“True masters prefer to live in anonymity, Mr. Golden Viper, just like powerful wizards like yourself. They don’t like to be disturbed.”

With a tense expression, Verorens sighed and said,

“If I tell you their information, then I will be risking offending them, Mr. Golden Viper, which is extremely dangerous. You know, each of them could easily take my life!”

"Quote--"

"Two hundred Galleons each!"