The Vicious Curse

A flash of light flickered from the tip of the wand. The Shrivelfig in the man’s hand remained unharmed and, in the next instant, flew out of his palm.

The man’s gaze followed the Shrivelfig to Adam.

"If you want to talk, then talk properly. Why take your anger out on a Shrivelfig?"

Adam examined it closely.

"It’s actually from Abyssinia. Good stuff."

Potion ingredients had much in common with traditional medicinal herbs. For instance, their place of origin affected their medicinal properties—or rather, their magical properties.

A Shrivelfig from Abyssinia was like fritillaria from Sichuan, Chinese yam from Henan, or atractylodes from Zhejiang… In short, this Shrivelfig was among the finest of its kind.

"Who are you?"

The man frowned at Adam. Whether it was the Finite Incantatem just now or the Summoning Charm, both had been cast silently and without a wand. He had never seen such magical ability, even back when he had been an Auror.

He had not even heard of it!

"My name is Adam. I’m Sebastian’s friend. Sebastian invited me to visit his home, and while I was here… see his sister."

Adam’s gaze fell on Anne.

Traces of Dark magic he had never seen before…

Although he had acquired a vast amount of magical knowledge both willingly and unwillingly, Adam had to admit that he still had many shortcomings when it came to Dark magic.

In terms of magical knowledge as a whole, he could beat Professor Dumbledore and his husband with one hand tied behind his back. But if it were limited to knowledge of Dark magic, he probably did not possess even one percent of Voldemort’s expertise.

It could not be helped. While Dark magic came in many varieties, ninety-nine percent of it was limited to torture and harm. The rest involved inhuman magical alterations. Adam simply had no use for such knowledge.

So, unless he became so bored that he had nothing else to do, Adam had no intention of filling in that gap.

"You’re here again, Sebastian. When are you going to accept that your sister cannot be cured?"

The man rolled his eyes and shouted at Sebastian, seemingly trying to snap him out of it.

"Never! I’ll never accept it! You aren’t even willing to try, so how can you decide that Anne—"

"Urgh—"

Anne suddenly clutched her chest and let out a pained cry, cutting Sebastian off.

"Anne?!"

Sebastian hurriedly supported her.

"Look what you’ve done!"

The man glared at Sebastian.

Adam watched the suddenly surging Dark magical energy and stroked his chin.

"I see. It’s related to emotions? It acts up when she’s provoked. This is a persistent curse."

As he spoke, Adam pushed Sebastian aside and walked over to Anne. He casually stuffed the Shrivelfig into Sebastian’s arms.

"Hold on to it. You can still use it to brew a Shrinking Potion."

"What are you—"

The man supported Anne by the shoulders and frowned at Adam. When he saw Adam reach toward Anne, he hurriedly shouted for him to stop.

Adam’s hand halted more than ten centimeters from Anne. He pinched his thumb and index finger together, immediately drawing out a strand of red magical energy and trapping it between them.

As that magical energy was drawn out, Anne’s cries abruptly ceased. All that remained was her exhausted breathing after the tremendous drain on her strength.

Sebastian and the man could not help but freeze at the sight.

"That is…?"

Sebastian asked blankly.

"The curse inside Anne…"

Adam’s eyes flickered. In his vision, the fundamental laws of the world that formed the curse were constantly being analyzed, while the effects created by their arrangement were being continuously deduced.

"Merlin above…"

The man looked at the quieted Anne, his face full of disbelief.

"Anne, do you feel all right now?"

"Anne! How do you feel now? Does it still hurt?"

Sebastian hurried over to Anne as well, lowering his head to ask.

While the family of three gathered together, Adam was happy to enjoy the peace. He walked off to one side, sat down, and focused on observing the Dark magical energy in his hand.

"I see. Once the cursed person experiences excessively intense emotional fluctuations, she feels pain. And the threshold gradually lowers with each episode."

Before long, Adam confirmed the curse’s ultimate outcome. "If this continues, the cursed person will either die in agony or become a living corpse without joy or sorrow. It truly is a troublesome and vicious curse."

Of course, this was merely a deduction based on the way the curse had flared up inside Anne just now, combined with Adam’s own existing knowledge. As for its exact effects, he would need to test it on a real person to know for certain.

Little Barty: &#￥%&!

"Adam! So… is Anne cured now?"

Sebastian darted to Adam’s side with a delighted look and grabbed his hand.

Adam looked toward Anne. She was currently being supported as she sat beside the dining table, gazing at him expectantly.

Adam shook his head and spoke.

"Cured? No, not yet. I only removed the portion of the Dark curse that was triggered this time."

The hope in the three people’s eyes immediately dimmed.

"I told you, curses cannot be reversed—"

"Please let me finish!"

Adam rolled his eyes and cut off the man—Sebastian’s uncle—before looking at Sebastian.

"I can directly purify the curse inside Anne—"

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and do it!"

Sebastian’s eyes lit up again.

The corner of Adam’s eye twitched as he enunciated each word.

"Let—me—finish—do you still want to save Anne?"

"I’ll shut up, I’ll shut up!"

Sebastian hurriedly covered his mouth and shrank back to the side.

Only then did Adam continue.

"I can purify the curse inside Anne, but there is another problem. The curse has eroded Anne for too long. It has almost become inseparable from her soul."

Solomon, Sebastian’s uncle, wanted to say something when he heard that. But he remembered how Adam had just eased Anne’s curse, along with the silent, wandless magic he had displayed earlier… so he closed his mouth again.

He could not understand Sebastian’s friend at all!

Under the gazes of the three, Adam continued explaining.

"Anne’s suffering does indeed come from that curse. But likewise, Anne’s soul has endured for so long only because the curse has sustained it. Once I purify the curse inside her, Anne’s soul will become riddled with holes as well. At best, Anne will fall into a coma of indeterminate length. At worst, it will kill her outright."

Sebastian’s face immediately went pale. "How could this happen?!"

"Urgh—"

Anne let out another pained sound. Adam reached out and drew out another strand of red magical energy.

"The curse was designed to torment its victim in the first place. Naturally, it would not let its victim die so easily."

Bang—

Sebastian slammed his fist onto the dining table. His eyes reddened as he said hatefully, "Rookwood!"

"So, I can only keep living alongside the curse like this?"

Anne took two breaths and looked at Adam.

"There’s no need to be so pessimistic…"

Adam shook his head.

"Purifying the curse all at once would leave your soul riddled with holes. But if we do it bit by bit, it will not be as serious. At the same time, we must prevent the curse from eroding you any further… That will take time."