Chapter Twenty Five - Cursed
Despite the fact that Lyra was on the front page of every magazine and newspaper for the week following the award, she still managed to carry on with teaching as per usual. Of course, there were the occasional questions about her life that would pop up but Lyra would redirect them to their work, if not they'd lose 5 house points. That was enough to deter the questions and keep her students focused on their school work.
Each day seemed to go by so quickly in anticipation of the school holidays but Lyra still had one more lesson she was looking forward to teaching before school broke up. She had planned for Anneli to come in and guide her seventh years in the art of curse detection and breaking, seeing as her parents owned a shop and she was well versed in the topic. It was also a good excuse for her to catch up with one of her old friends.
Lyra headed early into Hogsmeade that morning and met with Anneli, having a quick breakfast before making the walk back to Hogwarts.
"Wow," Anneli said as they cleared the forest, "It's that castle then?"
"Yep," Lyra replied.
"Goodness," her friend commented, "It's way bigger than Durmstrang, wouldn't you get lost?"
Lyra laughed, "Of course, it doesn't help that there's an enchanted staircase but you get used to it."
"Enchanted staircase?" Anneli repeated, "You'll have to show me that."
The pair of witches made their way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, Lyra taking the route via the enchanted staircase. Anneli stared in wonder and watched the students flawlessly move about on the stairs but when it came to her turn she was quite apprehensive, holding onto Lyra's hand as she navigated the steps.
They arrived at Classroom 3C with just enough time to spare for preparation. They placed a small weakly cursed artefact on each desk for students to practice on. Soon enough, the seventh years began to file in and take their seats.
"Morning class," Lyra said as they settled in, "I have a special treat for you today. For our double period we will be covering Dark Magic artefacts and to help me out I have invited my friend Anneli." She gestured towards her friend and the class gave her a warm round of applause as a welcome.
"Thank you," Anneli said as she stepped forward, blushing slightly and giving a half bow.
"Anneli's family have run a curse breaking shop in Switzerland for several generations," Lyra explained, "So she is our go to expert in curse breaking today and later on she will be guiding us in curse detection and removal techniques which you will practice on the objects that are sitting there on your desks.
So over the past six years of studying Defence Against the Dark Arts you would've covered information about Dark Creatures you may encounter and spells that will aid you in combat but cursed objects have not been touched upon. This is due to the degree of magical ability needed to deal with dark artefacts as well as the potential harm these objects can inflict upon you. Now, you're all NEWT students so I expect you all to be mature enough to handle this and I can assure you this will be on your test at the end of the year so you all best pay attention during this lesson.
Some of you may sense the darkness the objects in front of you possess and some may even feel the temptation to touch and play with it. This is all a part of the compelling nature of the Dark Arts. Now, if you do play with it, not to worry, I have enchanted it with a light curse that will give you a shock if you touch it." Lyra paused for a moment and watched a student's curiosity get the better of them and touch the object.
"OW!" they yelled as they sprung out of their seat.
Lyra's brow furrowed and rolled her eyes before continuing, "This is to teach you to not touch dark and mysterious objects you may encounter on your travels, you should treat an artefact with caution and never directly touch it. You all learnt the levitation charm in first year for a reason. If you have any doubt that an object may or may not be cursed, use it."
She walked towards a cabinet that stood tall next to her desk and displayed an eclectic mix of objects, all of which she had pinched from Lucius' own collection of Dark Magic artefacts. "Now, I know many of you have been wondering about the objects that reside in here," she said as she drew her wand and unlocked it. "In here is a variety of Dark Magic artefacts that have been collected during travels or purchased from collectors. You will notice a running theme and I hope by the end you can point it out."
Using a levitation charm she brought out a necklace on a stand that sat on the middle shelf of the cupboard, "This is a beautiful piece of jewellery, don't you think? Anneli, could you tell me what's wrong with it?"
Anneli drew her wand and orally cast two simple spells, an identification one and a curse detecting one. "It seems pretty normal," she shrugged, "A necklace that claims to invigorate you."
"Would you put it on?" Lyra asked.
Anneli's eyes narrowed, casting another detection spell which caused the object to glow green for a brief second. "I'd rather not suffocate," she said.
Lyra smiled, "This is a necklace of strangulation. It identifies as a necklace that will benefit you but in fact will tighten around your neck and not be unable to be removed unless you're rather strong, use oil or a curse removal spell."
Lyra pulled out each object one by one and described its use whilst Anneli would demonstrate identification and detection spells. There was a black ring that granted the wearer invisibility but was unable to be removed and slowly consuming the person's skin with darkness until their arm fell off; a bloodied cape that increased the strength of one's magic at the cost of their humanity; a genie lamp that would trap the person who rubbed it inside until they were wished to be free; two masks that were of the face of an animal which would give a special ability but would be unable to be removed after a minute and slowly turn the wearer into that animal; an Idol with a soul of a Wizard inside it that would possess the one who touched it; and a mermaid music box that would make you fall asleep as long as it played but if opened underwater would call mermaids to you. Each object was laid out after their description on Lyra's desk for students to have a look and try out some spells on them for themselves towards the end of the lesson.
The lesson continued with Anneli teaching the class a few essential curse detection and removal spells which they all practiced on the objects on their desks. There was a brief question and answer session with Anneli about her career. Charlie Weasley gushed about his older brother who had moved to Egypt two years prior and was learning to be a cursebreaker for Gringotts, the Wizarding Bank. The conversation attracted the attention of one student, Ian Reis, who also aspired to become a cursebreaker. Their discussion went well into the recess between second and third period with Lyra ducking out of the classroom to snag a small bite to eat for the two witches. When she returned, Anneli was halfway out the door of the classroom, still speaking to the student.
Lyra smiled as she approached, "Still chatting away I see."
"Sorry, Professor Lestrange," Ian said.
"Don't be sorry," she said, "I'm glad I've been able to introduce you to someone in the field you're interested in."
"I really appreciate it," he replied, "I should let you two eat before the next class."
"Do feel free to owl me any questions, Ian," Anneli said as she drew her wand, summoning a business card. "Always open to giving advice to any future cursebreakers."
Ian grabbed the card and smiled, "Thank you Anneli and Professor Lestrange. I hope you two have a good day."
"Thanks," the two witches replied as he walked off.
"That was a lot of fun," Anneli commented on the time that had passed as the pair walked down the hall and ate the small snacks that Lyra had foraged from the staff room. "You have a real knack for teaching."
Lyra laughed, "You think so?"
"Yeah," she replied, "You have a lot of knowledge to give. Are you going to stick with it or return to Healing?"
"I still don't know," Lyra sighed, "I mean, I won an Order of Merlin for my work as a Healer and there's still so much to learn in the field. I feel like teaching is something you do when you know it all and you've gone out and actually learnt all there is to know."
"Oh yeah, I understand," Anneli replied.
"Sort of only did it as a favour to Dumbledore," she said, "And because I just felt a bit lost when it came to healing but it's definitely reignited my passion for it."
"Then you should do it," Anneli said with a smile, "Follow your passion."
"How about you?"
The witches chatted briefly, Lyra showing off more of the Hogwarts grounds before they returned to her classroom. As they approached it they heard a commotion from inside, the second year students had already entered the classroom as the door was left unlocked.
"Holy hell!" she heard a male student yell, "I can see all the way to the Quidditch pitch! Even into the Forbidden Forest!"
Lyra pushed the door open and there was Fred and George Weasley wearing a cursed mask each, the artefacts had been left on the table. Fred was looking out of the window, wearing a brilliant blue mask covered in feathers whilst George was standing at the front of the classroom, wearing a red dragon mask breathing fire.
"Fred and George!" Lyra yelled, "You take that off this instant. No one touch anything else on the table."
She glanced around the room and counted the students, quickly discovering one was missing along with another object, the black ring. "Lee Jordan, you better make yourself visible now!" she shouted.
"I can't take it off," George said, pulling at the mask.
"Neither can I," Fred said.
Lyra walked briskly towards George, quickly casting a curse removal spell and pulling off the mask. Anneli did the same to Fred but instead the mask wasn't coming off. She tried a couple more times as Lee Jordan reappeared and Lyra quickly removed the ring with a spell.
"Lyra, it's not working," Anneli said in a panicked voice.
"What do you mean?" Lyra said rushing towards Fred who was starting to panic.
"I can't see!" he shouted as his hands pulled at the mask, "I can't see! Fuck, Professor, sorry but I can't see."
His irises were clouded, white as though he had gone blind. Frantically, Lyra attempted the curse removal spell she had used on the other two boys and it also didn't work. "Shit," she exclaimed, her head beginning to tick over what she could do. "You try to remove the curse while I go get Severus."
She ran upstairs to her room and flooed down to Severus' office. She ran out, bursting into the potions classroom, "Severus, I need you. It's urgent."
Severus remained composed, striding towards Lyra with confidence as he said, "Class dismissed, I expect you all to go and write an essay on the history of Wolfsbane. Leave my classroom as you found it."
Once they were out of earshot Lyra quickly explained, "Fred Weasley got cursed by an artefact."
"How?"
"I didn't put the artefacts away after the lesson," Lyra said, "Anneli was talking to a student and I left her there to grab morning tea and when I came back she was outside and I just forgot that they were still out. I thought she put them away, I should've done it myself. Fuck, I was so careless, Sev."
"Were they one of Lucius'?"
Lyra didn't respond, her look alone was answer enough to Severus. He entered the fireplace first, Lyra following after him as they flooed back up to Classroom 3C. As they hurried down the stairs they noticed the students gathered around Fred in a circle as he lay unconscious on the ground.
"I'm so sorry, Lyra," Anneli said.
Author's Note: Dun dun dunnnnn. A short yet dramatic chapter.
I've been trying to pump out this story because I'm really excited about writing the sequel and getting to cover Lyra and Sev during the Harry Potter books, particularly the war. Can't believe there's only seven chapters left. What a whirlwind from an idea that stemmed from re-reading the Harry Potter books.
I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't include much of Fred and George earlier, like I feel like I should've written more about their relationship with Lyra but tbh, I think Lyra would've gotten along with them but they would've definitely had the Marauder's Map at this time and possibly seen her spending an awful lot of time in Severus' headquarters.
I took a lot of inspiration from Dungeons and Dragons items for the Dark Magic Artefacts because I'm really bad at being creative in that way but yeah. No copyright infringement intended.
Let me know what you think!