Soul Transfer Curse

Anton had thought the Old Wizard would take him to Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley.

But he did not.

They went deeper into Knockturn Alley, passed the largest Borgin and Burkes, and finally stopped at a shop that looked very much like a junkyard.

Countless battered cauldrons used for Potion Brewing were piled into a small mountain at the entrance. On the other side of the doorway, a thick snake with several patches of missing scales was kept inside an Iron Cage.

This time, the Old Wizard did not tell Anton to wait outside.

They walked down the Shop Aisle, which was crammed with goods in bulk, all the way to the counter, where a plump middle-aged woman in an oversized Wizard Robe stood.

Her smile looked especially kind and amiable.

"Oh, my dear Fiennes, long time no see."

The Old Wizard nodded in greeting. "Do you still have any Wolfsbane Potion?"

The Shopkeeper's smile widened at the question. "Wolfsbane Potion isn't cheap, you know. And the stock I have on hand was brewed by the genuine Professor Snape."

So the Old Wizard was named Fiennes. Anton's expression shifted when he heard Snape's name. In this strange and terrifying world, even hearing a familiar name gave him a sense of warmth.

But that feeling soon vanished.

He clearly saw the shelf behind the Shopkeeper.

There was an Ivory Pen Holder on it, with seven or eight used wands casually stuck inside, all bearing signs of wear.

The display made it difficult not to think of the Chopstick Holder he had seen when eating Fried Rice at Shaxian.

A bad feeling rose in him.

He probably would not get to experience the high-end, custom-made wand selection scene from the novels.

Tch.

He really was a Broke Person.

Old Wizard Fiennes haggled with the Shopkeeper copper by copper. In the end, irritated, he pointed at the Chopstick Holder behind her. "Give me two of those wands. Don't charge me for them."

Two of them, no less!

Anton was too speechless to complain. He really wanted to tell the Old Wizard that he should buy two as well, so he would not need soup spoons when eating noodles in the future.

The Shopkeeper refused.

In the end, the long, drawn-out bargaining match concluded with an Old Wand thrown in for free.

"Don't think I don't know how much you've made!" The Old Wizard casually yanked a handful of herbs from a nearby shelf and stuffed them into his Wizard Robe pocket.

Then he left, grumbling and cursing.

The Shopkeeper called after him from behind the counter with a beaming smile. "Come again next time."

They continued deeper into Knockturn Alley. Gradually, the houses became sparse, and after turning a corner, a huge lake appeared before them.

All sizes of haphazardly built houses covered the lakeshore.

The Old Wizard led Anton to an empty patch in the farthest corner, behind several tall trees.

"There is a Safehouse here." As soon as the Old Wizard finished speaking, a crooked three-story house appeared before Anton.

The rough wooden planks were practically pressed against Anton's nose.

Startled, he hurriedly stepped back.

The Old Wizard grinned smugly. "This is a Safehouse I inherited from my Teacher. It requires extremely complex and powerful magic to create. Only people who know there is a Safehouse here can see and touch it."

Anton froze for a moment, then immediately understood. "In other words, if no one knows about this place anymore, it will completely disappear from everyone's sight and be treated as if it does not exist?"

"You could say that." The Old Wizard looked around wistfully. "Unfortunately, I was only a clumsy Apprentice and never learned this magic from my Teacher. It will completely fail in another ten years or so."

After arriving at the Safehouse, their meals improved significantly.

A bowl of Oil-Splashed Noodles, paired with a small cup of wine.

Yes, there was now a sweet Fruit Wine, and there were many bottles piled up in the cellar.

Eating Wheat Product every day, with nothing but a thin layer of oil on top and no meat in sight, Anton felt this was completely unhealthy!

The Old Wizard pulled the Iron Cage out of his suitcase. Seeing how much effort it took him, Anton finally confirmed that this Dark Wizard genuinely did not know the Levitation Charm!

How absurd was that?

He knew the Cruciatus Curse, one of The Three Unforgivable Curses!

No, he probably knew all of The Three Unforgivable Curses.

"The Soul Transfer Curse I'm teaching you now is a branch of the Imperius Curse, a Dark Magic spell. Not many people know it these days." The Old Wizard looked as though Anton had struck gold.

Anton held the Old Wand with a bewildered expression.

What?

You were teaching me such a complicated spell right from the start?

Shouldn't we begin with the simplest ones?

The Old Wizard roughly fed the Wolfsbane Potion to the middle-aged man in the Iron Cage. "Wolfsbane Potion must be given to a Werewolf a week before the Full Moon Night. It allows him to stay conscious when he transforms."

"This week, you will learn this spell!"

"If you ruin my plans." The Old Wizard's face turned icy as he waved his wand. "I'll let you experience the Killing Curse."

"Believe me, no one in this world can survive the Killing Curse!"

Heh.

Harry Potter survived.

Voldemort, who had been hit by the rebounding curse, survived too.

Anton's inward mockery eventually became a sigh. But I'm not them.

A week to learn Dark Magic on par with The Three Unforgivable Curses, and if he failed, he would die. It was utterly ridiculous.

The Old Wizard clearly had no intention of teaching him any other spells.

He picked up his wand and waved it, signaling Anton to imitate the Hand Gesture.

Then he corrected Anton's posture bit by bit.

"To successfully cast a spell, you need to accomplish three things." The Old Wizard was quite skilled at teaching, concise and direct, getting straight to the point.

"Hand Gestures. Especially for beginners, not the slightest movement can be wrong."

"Incantations. Different tones and pauses determine whether a spell succeeds or fails."

"Finally, you need to draw on the corresponding emotion within your heart."

The Old Wizard explained the few short words of the Soul Transfer Curse incantation, "Soul Departure," one syllable at a time.

"Emotion—or rather, a Wizard's Will—directly determines whether a spell succeeds and how powerful it is!"

"When casting the Soul Transfer Curse, your heart must be filled with an unstoppable momentum and unwavering determination."

"???" Anton was puzzled. "That sounds like Positive Emotion. Didn't you say Dark Magic requires Negative Emotion?"

For once, the Old Wizard burst out laughing. "Who told you this was Dark Magic?"

After laughing, his expression turned cold. "Practice properly. You only have one week."

Anton had long since seen enough of this man's mercurial moods. Sometimes, even when Anton was sweeping with his back turned, a vicious curse would suddenly fly at him.

"An unstoppable momentum and unwavering determination?"

"That state of mind doesn't seem difficult to achieve."

Anton was confused. If that was the case, why had this spell gradually been lost, until so few people still knew it?

He closed his eyes, and an image slowly became clear in his empty mind.

It was the Full Moon Night a week later. The Old Wizard shouted for him to cast the spell, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not release it.

Then the Old Wizard's wand lit up with a dark green glow, and his expression, poised to devour someone, was terrifying.

At that moment, there was no way but to fight desperately. Anton had already quietly positioned himself beside a basin of medicinal powder. He grabbed a handful and flung it out, blinding the Old Wizard.

Then he drew the Boning Knife from the kitchen, which he had sharpened long ago, and lunged forward with the determination to either live or die.

This was Anton's final and most helpless contingency plan: close-quarters combat with a knife.

Anton suddenly opened his eyes and waved his wand. "Soul Departure!"

The spell flashed. A Dark Blue glow extended from the tip of his wand, shot forward, and finally sank into the Old Wizard's chest.

"How is this possible?" The Old Wizard's eyes widened!