27: The Amulet and the Imperius Curse

"Look at this beautiful girl."

Quirrell held a long-jointed insect in his hand, displaying an expression of extreme enjoyment.

John felt a wave of disgust.

Stroking the insect, Quirrell had an evil smile on his face. "John, good boy, now, please tell me the names of the three Unforgivable Curses."

Glancing at Quirrell's wand, John paused for a moment and said, "The Killing Curse, the Imperius Curse, and the Cruciatus Curse."

"Good boy," Quirrell praised.

Then, pointing his wand at the insect in his hand, he said, "Now, I'll teach you these supreme spells."

"Imperio."

A flash of light, and the insect became incredibly obedient in his hand.

Quirrell's eyes shone with a strange light as he said, "The Imperius Curse, a spell that makes wizards obedient, even willing to die."

Under his control, the insect jumped into a nearby water basin, showing no sign of struggle even as it was about to drown.

Then it jumped out again and moved to the candle, allowing the flame to scorch its joints without any resistance.

John watched this scene, feeling a chill.

The Imperius Curse was far more direct and brutal than brainwashing, capable of controlling someone in an instant.

"Come back," Quirrell said.

Quirrell summoned the insect back into his palm and pointed his wand at it, casting the second curse.

"Crucio."

"Crriiiii!!"

The insect let out a scream. Even though its expression couldn't be seen, it was clear that the insect was in immense pain.

"Criiikkk!!"

The shrill cries echoed through the classroom, and John's face turned grim as he felt discomfort.

In contrast, Quirrell looked utterly delighted.

"Listen, what a wonderful sound."

The feeling of control was so wonderful that he had willingly become Voldemort's follower to gain this power.

Dark magic corrodes the mind. After acquiring this power, Quirrell's mind had become twisted.

In the moonlight, Quirrell couldn't see John's expression clearly, but he believed that the young wizard must be in awe of this immense power.

Stopping the spell, Quirrell's eyes gleamed with wicked light. He placed the insect on the table and cast the final Unforgivable Curse.

"Avada Kedavra."

Snap!

A green light shot from the wand's tip, taking the insect's life instantly.

"Controlling the mind, torturing the body, and mastering life and death—these three spells hold immense power."

Quirrell grabbed John's hand, his expression becoming excited. "Hahah! Now you have seen such wonderful power! The Dark Lord has great expectations for you; you must not disappoint him."

"I will not disappoint your teachings," John lowered his head, which made Quirrell very satisfied.

At the same time, Quirrell's trust in John had reached a level where he believed John wouldn't betray him.

Learning the Unforgivable Curses meant that John had one foot in the ranks of the Death Eaters.

In the following days, John needed to practice.

The danger of the Unforgivable Curses lies in the fact that they can be learned simply by harboring malice.

John used the Cruciatus Curse on another insect, he was badmouthing Quirrell in his mind to produce his malice for this curse.

The insect was crying in pain which made Quirrell very pleased.

...

Even though it was great to be tutored on the 3 unforgivables by the Dark Lord himself...

"Ugh! Damn, this cursed thing."

John submerged himself in water in the bathroom, the chill on his face not dissipating at all.

He felt as if dark magic was corroding his mind, whether it was a hallucination or not.

This made him increasingly agitated. He slapped the water's surface and poured water over his head to calm himself.

"Huff.. Haah.."

"Quirrell won't last much longer... I need to be away from him as soon as possible..."

With the school year nearing its end, John didn't remember the exact date of the first book's events, but he knew it was before the House Cup.

Once this term was over, Quirrell would be out of the picture.

As for dark magic, John steadied his mind and decided he didn't need to panic.

"Dark magic isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least it's another means to protect myself."

In the wizarding world, using the Unforgivable Curses is a serious crime that warrants being sent to Azkaban, but John didn't believe that the professors at the school didn't know these curses.

Nor did he see any evidence of the professors being mentally twisted.

As long as he had strong self-control, he wasn't afraid of becoming the next Voldemort.

Comforting himself with this thought, John finally relaxed.

Coming out of the bathroom, he changed his clothes and left the common room.

After casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself, he decided to go out for a walk to calm down.

He went to the Room of Requirement and started his alchemy experiments inside.

Quirrell's use of the three Unforgivable Curses made John realize that his amulet needed to be strengthened.

After a night's effort, he added a new function to the amulet.

Protection against the Imperius Curse.

This was the best he could do for now.

As for the Cruciatus Curse, he figured he could endure it if necessary.

At most, it would be painful.

However, the Imperius Curse was nearly impossible to defend against, so he added an alert function to the amulet.

If he accidentally got hit by the curse, a hidden mechanism would trigger.

Although it couldn't provide full protection, it would allow John to regain consciousness immediately.

This was to prevent Quirrell from using the Imperius Curse on him, as John suspected that Quirrell would continue to push boundaries.

If it came to that, John would need to seize that brief moment to resist.

Sure enough...

Not long after, Quirrell extended an invitation to John.

To go to the Forbidden Forest.

This made John think of something, and his expression couldn't help but change.

...

"Professor, what are we going to do in the Forbidden Forest? I mean, I've been patrolling there for a long time and haven't found anything."

John tried to bluff his way out, but Quirrell wasn't going to let him off easily.

"In the pursuit of knowledge, you'll find that only practice can reveal the truth."

Quirrell's face was much paler today; Voldemort was weakening again and needed to drink unicorn blood to sustain himself.

A Voldemort clinging to life was weaker than a rat; such a frail existence, he didn't want to expose himself to John.

When John's face showed reluctance, Voldemort's voice emerged.

"Don't bother with him."

The voice came from Quirrell's head, and John realized things were going wrong.

Quirrell's face showed a respectful expression as he raised his wand and a beam of light shot out, hitting John with the Imperius Curse.

The amulet on John's wrist glowed for a moment before dimming.

John felt his mind go blank before reassembling. He stared at Quirrell with vacant eyes.

Seeing this, Quirrell believed he had succeeded. He respectfully addressed Voldemort, "Master, we shall now go find the unicorn."

After killing the unicorn last time, all the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest had gone into hiding.

A significant amount of time had passed, and some unicorns, unable to hold back any longer, began to emerge. Quirrell had found some traces.

He led the way, with John following behind.

Quirrell intended to drag John into an irretrievable abyss, and John knew it wasn't the right time to turn against him, so he continued to pretend to be under the curse.

Fortunately, today, after finding the unicorn, Quirrell didn't make John do the killing. John hadn't learned the Killing Curse yet, which spared him from some things.

However, John could only watch helplessly as Quirrell killed the unicorn.

His eyes showed intense emotion, but in the end, he didn't draw his wand.

In the Forbidden Forest, any movement from him would likely make him the next target of the Killing Curse.

After this hunt, Voldemort's life was extended.

Quirrell took John away and sawed off the unicorn's horn, placing it in John's hand and telling him that he had killed it.

John acted like a bewildered child, showing the conflict and gradually twisted feelings after experiencing the killing, portraying it vividly.

Voldemort believed that it wouldn't be long before John became a good Death Eater.

Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the feelings to ferment.

Killing a unicorn was a serious crime, and young wizards wouldn't dare tell the professors.

Voldemort was confident.

John, on the other hand, got some respite and didn't have to go to Quirrell for lessons.

One day, Ron was bitten by the dragon.

Harry and the others knew they had to send it away before it was too late, and they planned to send Norbert away on Saturday night.

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