NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

24

Maybe Snape didn't tell me exactly how, but he gave me enough to justify spending every waking hour — in which I wasn't attending classes or eating obligatory meals to keep me going — in the library.

This was the third afternoon I had spent in here; skipping dinners and instead having an apple right outside the restricted section that I slipped into every now and then to switch out my book with a new one.

By now, the permission slip Slughorn had given me at the beginning of term was long expired, though once I had a real one, it wasn't hard to make a valid one myself — well, however valid a fake permission could be.

So far, nothing in the five books I had been through gave me anything to go on, at all.

There were forbidden curses Snape hadn't even touched on in his lesson — long forgotten and darker than anything but the Dark Lord himself. There were counter curses to things I didn't think I'd ever need counter curses for — horrible, nasty ones to which I'd probably prefer a simple killing curse over.

Though, now I felt like I was getting closer to where I needed to be.

With my finger gently tracing the lines I was reading, my other hand fixing my glasses on the bridge of my nose, I sat hunched over the largest book yet. Voices and whispers, muffled screams and cries escaping the pages every now and then.

The chill that ran down my spine when I first opened the book and heard those sounds was long forgotten, the unpleasant voices no more than background noise I simply drowned out, my attention entirely on the lines before me.

[Cursing Greenery;
In order to effectively —]

My finger skipped over to the next paragraph.

[Cursing Foods; —]

Once more, my finger dragged further down the page.

[Cursing Dolls;
Otherwise known as Voodoo—]

An aggravated groan escaped my lips, eyes squeezing shut as a yawn rattled through my chest, not even properly reading any of the paragraphs that didn't explicitly state Cursing Objects.

And, just as the thought crossed my mind, my eyes latched onto the next paragraph.

[Cursing Objects; ]

I almost jumped off my chair out of pure joy itself, though managed to contain my relief to a content sigh instead. Fixing my glasses on top of my nose, I continued reading.

[Cursing Objects;
A cursed object is an object or item that has been enchanted to hold a curse to it. Any object or item can be cursed, just like how any object or item can be enchanted. Whether you are cursing jewellery, a crystal, an image; any object can be cursed with an equally gruesome curse.

The stronger the sentimental bond between the curser and the to-be cursed object is, the stronger the effects of the curse will be. Hence, the faster it will kill, the longer the curse will hold, and so forth.

Cleansing
— Cleanse yourself and the object you intend to curse. You do not want residual energy lingering. Do this with the incantation; Purgatio Secundum Purificationem.Time
— Cursing an object the right way takes time and patience. The curser may want to speed up the process or skip this step in order to achieve their goal as quickly as possible. Other books may tell you to do this and even urge you to do so. Don't.
— The process must begin on a new moon. Repeat the incantation explained in the following paragraph three times within one hour of the new moon rising. Repeat the same procedure during the following full moon. Do this again for another moon cycle (Once for the new moon, once for the full moon.) It will take two moon cycles for your item to be successfully cursed. Do not continue using the object for its original purpose during or after the process. Keep it out of anyone's reach in order not to disturb its growing energy. Incantation
— With your intended outcome of the curse in mind, fully concentrated and not distracted at all, repeat this incantation as it was explained in the previous paragraph;
Adducam maledictum tactus ]