The Effects of the Killing Curse

"Your Killing Curse had improved so quickly? By killing people?" Basil sharply caught Riddle's implication.

Riddle nodded. "It was a crash course for Dark Wizards. As you put it, our world had no highly efficient cultivation method like meditation. But in fact, it did. Only for Dark Wizards. With the Killing Curse, the higher the quality of the life you killed, the greater the feedback you received."

"This spell could rapidly bring a dark wizard's power, through killing, to the limit their mind, personality, and will could bear."

"You also knew that, putting aside formal terminology, spells were divided into Dark Magic, White Magic, and charms. At most, there was also Transfiguration."

"Among them, Dark and White Magic, as well as advanced charms, were more likely than ordinary spells to 'come alive.' They did not require perfect unity of form and spirit. So long as they were successfully cast or mastered, they could form a 'rune' and influence their host."

"Because of their nature, however, Dark and White Magic imposed positive or negative influences upon their host's values. Advanced charms, unlike them, tended toward neutrality."

"And the Killing Curse was undoubtedly the spell most likely to 'come alive,' and the one that brought the greatest negative influence upon its host. Even if a dark wizard was good by nature, the power gained from using the Killing Curse could easily reach its upper limit."

"But the rune itself would continue influencing its host, making the host more like it and raising that limit."

"So, as long as a dark wizard was willing to kill with the Killing Curse, and killed enough people, they could never be weak."

"And they would never be a good person, either."

"That was also why anyone who used the Killing Curse had to go to Azkaban."

"By that logic, couldn't I just kill a few more spiders and ants to get started? Why make it so troublesome? And although Snape was not a good person, and even less of a good teacher, he was not that bad, was he? What about his Killing Curse?" Basil raised his doubts.

"You certainly could enter through killing. With the Sorcery Doctor's echo, you had no need to fear your mind drifting. But I would not recommend it. A Killing Curse like that would not be pure enough. It was the same reason you did not use me or a boggart to get started."

"As for Snape..." Riddle had worn an expression as though he wanted to vomit.

But it had not been directed at Snape.

"Because of so-called love. Negative influence could be offset by positive influence. The Patronus Charm, for example, could counter the effects of the Killing Curse. But a fallen soul could not cast a Patronus. It could only be mastered before one fell. And a dark wizard who possessed so-called love found it difficult to fall completely, allowing them to master a Patronus."

"What about the other two Unforgivable Curses?" Basil asked.

"Them? They made people evil. An evil soul was certain to fall. A fallen soul was not necessarily evil."

And that was where the conversation had ended.

That was also why Basil had yet to master the Killing Curse.

During Charms, Basil recalled that scene and gloomily blew at his hair.

Professor Flitwick divided the entire class into pairs to begin practicing.

Harry's partner was Ron.

Basil's partner was Hermione.

But by coincidence, neither Basil nor Ron was practicing the Levitation Charm very seriously.

Basil was feeling depressed, wondering when he could begin learning the Killing Curse.

Ron, meanwhile, spread out a sheet of parchment.

He quietly shared the results of his recent investigation into Lockhart with Harry. "Following Basil's clues and after a lot of digging, I found that the wizard who freed a village from werewolves was more likely an old American wizard named Frank. He looked ugly and acted crazy, so no one wanted to get close to him."

"The witch who drove out the Wanlun female ghost had a cleft lip."

"..."

"In summary, I found a pattern. Lockhart targeted wizards who lacked looks or kept strangers at arm's length. At the same time, they had done some truly remarkable things. They probably felt a huge sense of disparity inside. And then... think about it. At that moment, a handsome young wizard took the initiative to approach them."

"On top of that, he was good with words. It would be hard not to open your heart to him."

"And once he stole their achievements and erased their memories, people like them, who were already on the fringes, would not have drawn attention anyway."

"That was probably why Lockhart had stayed free all these years."

Ron nodded with certainty.

On the other side, Basil's slacking off activated Hermione's reporting radar.

But because Basil was so outstanding, and because of a young girl's feelings, she could not convince herself to report him.

Then she noticed Ron.

So, after Ron finished his lengthy explanation.

She abruptly raised her hand. "Professor, Ron has not been practicing at all. He's been talking!"

The result was that Ron lost two points.

By the time class was nearly over, Ron's mood had hit rock bottom.

"She relied on her family being well-off and did not care about my hard work at all!" he said to Harry as they struggled through the crowded corridor. "Honestly, if it were not for Basil, why would we pay attention to her? She was practically a nightmare."

Someone bumped into Harry, then hurried past them. It was Hermione.

Harry caught a glimpse of her face—and was surprised to see that her eyes were red.

Basil followed closely behind her.

"I think she heard what you said," Harry whispered.

"So what?" Ron said, though a trace of unease showed on his face. "She deserved it."

"Basil is following behind her," Harry reminded him.

"Fine. I'll apologize to her at lunch," Ron said unwillingly.

However, Hermione did not appear again for the rest of the afternoon.

Basil also found it rather dramatic.

In fact, with Basil beside her, Hermione had not cared much about Ron's words.

She had not even cried because of them.

But on her way back to the dormitory, Hermione ran into her roommates again at a corner.

"That bitch! She clings to Basil all day long."

"Basil only accepted her because she had no friends."

"She walks around with her nose in the air, looking down on everyone. So what if her grades are a little better? Disgusting. Who cared about copying her homework?"

"Exactly. I was very confident in my looks. If she had not been in the way, Basil would have been ours long ago! I noticed he was especially enthusiastic toward us."

"Yeah!"

On the other side of the corridor, Hermione's face turned pale, her eyes swimming with tears.

She immediately recognized who they were from their voices.

Her dormmates: Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil.

As well as Parvati's twin sister, Padma.

She did not care much about her roommates' mockery.

But what they had said... Basil really had been more enthusiastic toward the Patil sisters.

Parvati had not been wrong, either. She really was beautiful. Among all the first-year students, no one was prettier than her.

Not to mention that she had a twin sister.

Boys would definitely like them.

Did Basil really see her as a burden and an obstacle, just as Parvati had said?

Behind Hermione, Basil wore an expression full of question marks.

Had Hermione's relationships with the other students not improved? Ever since she had only held him, Harry, and Ron to strict standards.

Why were these girls friendly to her face and cruel behind her back?

Everyone knew what happened next.

Hermione hid in the bathroom and refused to come out.

Just like in the original story.

It had nothing to do with fate. It was a conflict destined to arise because of personality.

As long as Hermione was unwilling to change the way she dealt with people, conflict would come sooner or later.

Fortunately, this was not yet the information age.

Idiots would not meet other idiots because of the huge volume of information, resonate with them in stupidity, and turn into even bigger idiots.

Idiots gathered together, saying and doing things they approved of, becoming more and more idiotic.

At least Hermione would change because of this.

But staying in the bathroom and skipping class was going too far, was it not?

Basil could not persuade her otherwise, either.

She believed Basil was only staying with her because he was kind-hearted.

That irritated Basil immensely.

Was I being kind-hearted? I wanted your echo!

You silly girl!