Remedy For Guilt

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."