Unforgivable Curses

Potions class was over. James and the other Gryffindor students hurried to the greenhouses. They had about ten minutes before the class with Professor Sprout began.

On the way many of them complained about the group they got. Sirius incredibly did not complain that he was with two Slytherin girls. At first, he didn't seem too happy, but now he seemed in a good mood.

James didn't mind being with Emily. It was even a good thing, as he would have to chat with her, and they could reactivate their old relationship. As for Snape, he said nothing in all of Slughorn's explanation.

After the Herbology class was over they had a longer break to eat and prepare for the afternoon classes which were Charms with Professor Filius Flitwick and finally History of Magic with the lazy ghost Cuthbert Binns.

As Quidditch training would start between the second and third week of classes, James had an hour's break today, Monday, which he spent with the marauders.

After that, he went straight to the library. He continued studying and putting into practice what he learned in the beginner's transfiguration book used between his first and second years.

After finishing reading the book of dark arts: Magia Moste Evile he learned a lot about the Curses. The worst kind of dark magic meant to cause immense suffering to the victim.

There were many powerful and deadly curses, but three stood out.

Known as the Unforgivable Curses: Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus. They are the most powerful and sinister of all the dark spells in existence.

A wizard who uses one of these three curses will suffer very strict punishments from the Ministry of Magic.

For James, the mildest of the three is the Imperius Curse. When successfully cast, the curse places the victim completely under the control of the caster, making the victim unquestionably obedient to the caster.

It seemed to him the mildest of the three because a person with exceptional willpower could resist it, unlike the other two curses. This is according to a book on defense against the dark arts that he read. To know this to a certain science he would have to be a victim of this curse and try to resist it.

In second place was the Cruciatus Curse also known as the Curse of Torture. When successfully cast on a human being or living creature, the curse inflicts intense and excruciating physical pain on the victim. This could result in insanity if the victim was subjected to it for a prolonged period. Causing the victim a fate worse than death.

The bad thing about the Cruciatus Curse was that once it was cast there was no defensive charm that could protect you from the curse. No protego, no Aeromanteo, no nothing.

The worst of the three curses to take the top 1 spot is the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra). When successfully cast on a living person or creature, the curse causes instant and painless death. Without causing any damage to the body and without any trace of violence. The killing curse was conventionally unblockable by magical defensive spells. The only way was to dodge the green beam, block it with a physical barrier, or disappear to escape quickly before the curse reached you.

'My Protego and Aeromanteo are useless...' thought James with a not at all pleased expression. He was thinking of the Killing Curse and the Cruciatus Curse.

Protego was one of the most useful defensive charms, but even so, it was useless against an Avada Kedavra, its instant death. Neither was any variant of Protego useful.

Generally, people don't train Protego thinking that they will face super-powerful dark wizards who will use unforgivable curses, so they don't think of it as a useless spell. This is not the same case for James, even so, Protego and Aeromanteo are still useful. The most powerful dark wizards are those who can use Avada Kedavra or Crucio. That's advanced dark magic.

So James' objective was to get a defensive method to dodge or block both curses. To practice it and become better and better at that method.

There were three options for this. Dodge the curses the Muggle way. It is very dangerous and almost impossible. Both curses come at you at incredible speed. You would have to have incredible physical strength and inhuman reflexes. It is not feasible.

You can get lucky and dodge a curse by chance, but you won't have the same luck twice.

In Muggle terms, a curse reaches or exceeds the speed of a bullet. It's almost impossible to try to dodge it. You need a lot of luck, and superhuman reflexes along with physical strength that can match your reflexes.

The second option was conjuration.

An advanced branch of Transfiguration. The spells are distinguished by their ability to transfigure the desired object out of thin air.

In this way, James could conjure a physical object out of nothing, for example, a shield to protect himself from curses.

This is exactly why he is now placing so much importance on the study of Transfiguration. Once he completes the missing spells from the beginner's book, he will move on to the next book which is used for the third, fourth, and fifth years.

Also, that conjuration could serve for offensive uses, such as, for example, conjuring sharp objects and throwing them at the enemy.

The difficulties of this are obvious. Conjuration is a super advanced subject seen by seventh-year students. Once James learns it and manages to conjure a physical barrier to protect himself, it must be done in a matter of seconds and non-verbally. Otherwise, the killing or torture curse will hit him before he can conjure the shield.

The third option was to learn apparition/disappearance. A form of magical transportation, in which the user traveled instantly from one location to another, without traversing the intervening space.

This was accomplished by having the user concentrate on a desired location in their mind and then intentionally disappear from where they were to reappear at the desired location.

Apparition was by far the fastest and most convenient way to reach the desired destination, but it was difficult to perform correctly and disastrous if a mistake was made.

It was a relatively advanced skill for mages and was not easy. A sort of teleportation.

Apparition was not a method used to dodge killing curses, but James thought he could use it for combat. The problem was that for this he would have to study the apparition thoroughly and then modify it, to achieve teleportation at close distances and on the move. Otherwise, it would be running away from the place, and it would do no good to disappear and leave your allies alone.

This is the most difficult of all since he must adapt the appearance/disappearance to short distances and quickly. Before doing so, he must learn the traditional apparition, which already has an advanced difficulty.

'If I managed that it will be the best. Not only will it help me to dodge curses at an incredible speed, but I can also use it to attack and surprise the enemy,' thought James.

Without wasting any more time, he began his study session on Transfiguration. He wanted to finish the beginner's book as soon as possible, so he could move on to the intermediate one and get closer and closer to conjuration.

After his Transfiguration study session and practice, he went to the dining room to have dinner, where the marauders were waiting for him. He noticed the strange looks they gave him, especially Sirius, but said nothing.

He wouldn't be able to spend as much time with them as he used to, not that he wouldn't spend any time with them. On weekends James would have more free time, as there were about eight or nine hours that he didn't have classes like he did on weekdays, and he could spend an extra thirty minutes or an hour spending time with the marauders.

"So..." said Sirius, looking sideways at James. He had noticed the change in his best friend's routine. Ever since he arrived at Hogwarts, he seemed to be a study freak. He started frequenting the library and left for a few hours to loiter around the castle.

He seemed to be turning into the know-it-all Lily Evans.

"What are we doing today? Are we continuing our exploration of the castle? Or are we planning a beginning-of-the-year prank?" asked Sirius, looking around at everyone.

"I'd say explore. Over the summer, I read a book on cartography. I'll be able to map Hogwarts much better," replied Lupin.

"Sounds good to me," nodded Toby.

"Whatever you guys want," said Peter, waiting for James' response.

"Mm, if you all want to explore, that's fine. How about you?" said Sirius, looking at James, who seemed to be on cloud nine.

"What's that?" asked James, snapping back to reality after noticing everyone's gaze on him.

"At night. Shall we explore or plan some big prank?" said Sirius.

"I can't... I'll go to the Room of Requirement to practice," said James a little uncomfortably.

He had noticed that these days, the marauders looked at him strangely for his crazy study and practice routine.

There was a big difference between his routine last year and this year. Last year for months he would just go to class and do homework. The rest of the day was spent with the marauders wasting time. Without even visiting the library or training.

He was putting off those chores, as it was the first time he was having so much fun and had friends. School was new to him and it was a lot of fun, but he couldn't keep acting that way.

News of constant Death Eater attacks alerted him. War was approaching and at a rapid pace. He had to strengthen himself to protect his life and above all his loved ones.

In the past vacations, he also faltered. He spent fourteen days with Sirius and did not train very seriously. Although he continued to read books, he could have made much better use of those days.

However, he would leave some time for his hobbies at Hogwarts, especially his social life with his friends. He would not be like Edward Rothschild. Besides it's not good for the mind to be twenty-four hours studying and practicing.

At the awkward silence, James spoke again, "If you want to come along. I'll practice some Transfiguration charms it will help you for classes with McGonagall."

"I'll pass," said Sirius, turning his attention back to his plate of food. He found it too tedious to study Transfiguration when they already had McGonagall's lessons.

Toby and Peter also passed. They weren't good at transfiguration, but they also didn't want to add complex lessons with James when they had a full day of classes. Besides, they were subjects they would have to study in the future. Why get so far ahead of themselves now?

James expected this. Transfiguration was complex and very theoretical. Before you could get practical you had to know a lot of theory and complex formulas, unlike charms. It was considered a harder and more scientific magic as it had to be done exactly right for transfiguration to succeed.

"I'll go," Lupin said, surprising James.

Unlike Sirius, Peter, or Toby, Lupin was always someone more self-taught and with a study routine to follow, though not as strict as James' new routine.

"Oh... that's good," said James.

A thought came into his head. It was the perfect time to talk to Lupin about his lycanthropy. He wouldn't have a better opportunity.