The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 364 The Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse
“I’m sorry, I’ve almost forgotten what happened when we last met,” Anthony said. “You seemed to have left in a bit of a hurry.” He lightly waved his wand, trying to cast an armor charm on Sirius, but the unfortunate magic from before still lingered around him.

Voldemort let out a cold, contemptuous laugh, his blood-red, icy eyes looking down at Anthony. The swarm of snakes enveloped Voldemort, slowly lifting him higher.

“I must admit, I am somewhat disappointed, Professor Anthony,” Voldemort said in a soft hiss. “You should have been my natural ally… I—Lord Voldemort—and my servants, the Death Eaters, you should have been our natural partner.”

"Stop talking nonsense, Voldemort," Sirius said hoarsely, staring intently at Voldemort. "You've suffered a lot during these days of hiding, haven't you? It seems you've ruined your brain along with your messed-up appearance."

Voldemort's ugly face, flushed red like unhealed flesh, turned slightly toward Sirius.

He asked coldly, "And who are you?"

“Sirius Black.” Sirius lowered his head slightly, gritting his teeth like a hunting dog that has spotted a rabbit.

“Oh, of course, of course, Bella’s cousin, Regulus Black’s brother,” Voldemort’s tone added with a cruel smile, “a friend of James Potter—the Cruciatus Curse!”

The wand, held limply between his fingers, pointed slightly downwards. Before Anthony could even react, Sirius Black rolled away, dodging the spell—

"I'm knocked out!" Sirius Black had barely regained his balance when he pointed his wand at Voldemort and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

However, before his spell could reach the vicinity of the snakes, the trees on both sides suddenly bent down with a whoosh, easily blocking the spell with their dense foliage, and then suddenly bounced away.

"Crushing Heart—" Another spell shot out from between the branches. Sirius Black nimbly leaped up and hid behind a boulder. Anthony pressed his hand to the ground, and the snake carcasses around them surged like a tide, wrestling with the swarm of snakes guarding Voldemort.

Voldemort glanced at them sideways, letting out a cold hiss. Anthony immediately sensed that the corpses controlled by necromancy were shaking like never before, as if a group of wizard chess pieces receiving contradictory instructions were spinning wildly on the chessboard.

Suddenly, he heard Sirius let out a short, sharp groan. He turned his head hastily. Sirius had been hit and was convulsing, curled up, his teeth clenched. Voldemort narrowed his eyes and almost gleefully pushed his wand forward. Sirius's eyes were closed, and he made painful gurgling sounds in his throat, his right hand still gripping the wand tightly.

Anthony unleashed his necromancy. The earth churned, bones rose, and foxes and wolves long dead in the forest joined in, charging at the snakes and biting them mercilessly with their teeth covered in grass roots and rotting earth. The vengeful chicken tried to fly after them, but Anthony grabbed its wing and tossed it beside Sirius Black, who was convulsing.

Voldemort glanced to the side with some annoyance. Quirrell lay unconscious. The cat, guarding its prey, arched its back and hissed at Voldemort.

Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it at the swarm of snakes, and the skulls of the fox and wolf exploded violently. The cat, startled, cautiously jumped into a tree and peered out to observe the situation. Anthony waved his hand, and the bone fragments rattled and pieced together in mid-air—bang! bang! Voldemort shook his wand, triggering a series of explosions that utterly reduced all the fragments to dust.

“You are very strong, Sirius Black,” Voldemort said lazily. “I heard you spent twelve years in Azkaban and eventually left there sober…”

Sirius was panting heavily, and he slightly opened his eyes.

"Armor protecting you, restored vitality—are you alright?" Anthony asked in a low voice.

He tried to pull on Voldemort's soul, only to find it still firmly attached to the world, just as he remembered, like a piece of discolored, aged chewing gum mixed with rotten fruit, vegetables, and meat, almost blending into the trash can. Voldemort glanced at him mockingly, then coldly turned to Sirius.

“But those years of torment were clearly not easy for you; your soul is trembling… I wonder if you’ve noticed that you feel restless, distressed, and uneasy whenever you’re near our dear Professor Anthony?” Voldemort said softly. “Oh, you don’t believe me. A look of hatred and distrust. Don’t worry, Black, I’m thinking perhaps I should thank you for persuading the Potters to replace the Secretkeeper with Wormtail…”

Sirius Black let out a roar of hatred and rage. He steadied himself with his trembling left arm and raised his right: "Avada Kedavra—"

Voldemort sneered and swung his wand violently, causing Sirius's right arm to dangle at an odd angle, the bones clearly broken. His fingers twitched weakly a few times before snapping with a crack, like twigs being broken. The wand slipped from his limp fingers and fell limply to the ground. Sirius turned to his side, pinning it under his weight with his left elbow, and glared angrily at Voldemort.

"Sirius! Restore to normal! No—" Anthony tried to find the right incantation, "Restore to normal—"

“Ah, how valiant, how loyal…” Voldemort said softly, “You are very loyal to your friends… Loyalty should be respected and treated with respect…”

Sirius Black was deathly pale, sweat beading on his forehead. He hissed, "He—you call him Wormtail? He told you to call him Wormtail?"

Voldemort seemed not to hear: "But, too bad, you clearly lack the brains... The Killing Curse? You want to use the Killing Curse against the Dark Lord?" He stretched his thin, limp arm out of the bundle, "As a token of appreciation for your loyalty, you will have the honor of witnessing my demonstration—Avada Kedavra!"

A burst of intense green light exploded through the trees, sending chills down Anthony's spine. Without thinking, he lunged forward, shoving Sirius aside. Sirius groaned in pain. The spell grazed past Anthony's leg, carrying a strange, burning chill, before disappearing into the earth with a soft thud, causing the ground to tremble.

Sirius Black barely opened his eyes and shouted, "Watch out, Henry!"

Anthony turned around and saw Voldemort raise his wand again—

Just then, a gray, four-legged creature burst from the forest and crashed into the swarm of snakes. To the necromancer's perception, it shone brightly like a streaking, burning meteor. Voldemort flicked his wand, and a deafening explosion echoed through the woods. But the spell that had recently caused the skeleton fox and skeleton wolf to explode bounced off the creature, instead blasting the intertwined snakes to pieces.

"What?" Sirius muttered, awkwardly groping for his wand on the ground with his left hand.

The dead unicorn rampaged through the swarm of snakes, its forelegs raised high, crushing clumps of snakes. Its head still instinctively drooped, attempting to nudge Voldemort with its now-lost horn. The bundle containing Voldemort tossed and turned like a small boat in a raging storm. Sirius Black, hunched over, rose with Anthony's help. He tried to wave his wand with his left hand, but failed to cast a single spell, and finally could only lean against a tree, panting.

Voldemort lowered his wand and waved it a few times in the air, and the ground around them suddenly turned into a swamp. Accompanied by a smooth, evil hiss, several exceptionally thick snakes climbed up nearby tree branches, gently lifting Voldemort and placing him on a tree.

The mud leaped and splashed like lava. The unicorn's movements became sluggish and clumsy. Snakes that had swum freely in the swamp coiled around it, mingling with the sticky mud, binding its no-longer-smooth fur, wrestling with its strong, hard bones, their sharp teeth digging into its cold body—the unicorn struggled to shake its head, trying to leap out of the swamp—the mud, as if alive, began to writhe, slowly creeping up the unicorn's hind legs, then its forelegs…

Thump! The unicorn knelt down, its neck outstretched, its body crawling with snakes of varying thickness—a truly heartbreaking sight… Sirius's body was still trembling slightly, perhaps from pain, perhaps from agitation and resentment… Voldemort laughed coldly, another beam of green light shot out, the Wraith Chicken spread its wings and took flight, the cat leaped onto Sirius's face, knocking him aside, and amidst the chaos and noise—

The green light struck Anthony.

Wow.

Deep within Anthony's mind, amidst the necromancy, something vaguely lit up. There was something very familiar in the Killing Curse, a very familiar feeling. Anthony could almost hear its whispering: Soul, soul, soul, soul.

"What you're looking for isn't here," Anthony replied. The hall was empty, save for a similar longing that lingered there.

"Soul," the Killing Curse repeated coldly, "Soul, fear, pain, sorrow, soul, torment, torment, torment, soul." It circled and lingered within Anthony's body, growing increasingly violent and impatient. Finally, it crashed into the lifeless wall. A blinding green light… an explosion.

Anthony's body—his shell—his vessel—whatever you call it—crashed. He flowed out, feeling a slight annoyance. This annoyance was akin to returning to shore to find one's castle collapsed into ruins of mud, gravel, and water, foaming water filled with a few chaotic footprints of varying depths. It was like going out in the morning to find a snowman's nose ripped off, its head rolled beside the mailbox.

His head rolled to Sirius's feet. Sirius looked down at him, his expression blank, seemingly not understanding what had happened.

He surged forward, bypassing everything inedible, flowing toward that stinking mess. The thing that had destroyed his container. He waded over, trying to soften it. He tried to pull it off. How could such a repulsive thing exist? It smelled disgusting, polluted the surroundings, and created awful things. Like that salad over there, trembling—

"Heart-piercing, bone-scraping!" Something oozing pus clung firmly to the earth—he wrapped it up and pulled hard—"Heart-piercing, bone-scraping! Heart-piercing, bone-scraping!"

Salad trembled even more violently. Perhaps he should have taken a bite first, but he had just eaten too much snake, and this shrieking creature had truly killed his appetite. He wished he had a shovel so he could shovel this thing off… like using a shovel to pry shells off rocks…

"Heart-breaking and bone-cutting!"

"Cough...cough..." Sarah coughed, "Master...Master! Forgive me, forgive me!" Sarah's foot touched Anthony's hand, which rolled away in displeasure. Sarah was silent for a moment, then suddenly a strong, pungent, and terrifying odor burst forth.

"Come here, you idiot!"

Salad stumbled and staggered closer. It was a pity; all his energy was focused on cleaning, and he had no interest in figuring out why he couldn't eat salad. Salad is indeed a food, right?

"No!" A furious bark came from the thing that smelled good. "Like a dazed person! Sandstorm! Obstacles everywhere! Except your weapons! All petrified! Torn to pieces!"

*Plop.* The salad vanished along with the trash, but he could still smell the stench. His traces remained on that decaying soul. Like rain soaking a newspaper, he thought with Anthony's mind, simply moving it under the eaves wouldn't be enough to dry it; it would require a long time, or the sun.

He tried to chase after it, and his head started rolling. His eyes looked at the trees, then the sky, then the grass, then the ground. Trees, sky, grass, ground; trees, sky, grass, ground…

This is too slow, he thought. He waded out and touched the unicorn's corpse. Some kind of burning magic slumbered within it, weary yet radiant. He stepped back with reverence.

He sensed a barely usable corpse in his pocket. He crawled inside.

A giant snake without a head, or a snake's head without a body. There was no time to hesitate; the two souls were fleeing far away. He squeezed himself in, pieced the two halves together, and swam out of the pocket.

A large black dog, as big as a bear, that was sniffing the ground carefully turned its head and saw him. Its eyes flashed with ferocity, and it bared its teeth as it charged at him—the cat jumped over and blocked the dog.

Sirius watched helplessly as the ginger cat turned into a skeleton before his very eyes. The giant snake swam stiffly but swiftly into the woods and vanished.

(End of this chapter)