Curses Are Useless

"Describe the necklace to me. What did it look like?"

"It was a... very beautiful antique necklace." Hermione tried hard to recall the key details in her memory. "It was made of protein, with silver ornaments. I once saw it in Borgin and Burkes."

"Borgin and Burkes?"

Jon remembered it at once—the necklace he had once seen on the counter at Borgin and Burkes. As he recalled, unless something had gone wrong, that necklace should have been sold to Draco Malfoy.

The necklace was an ancient Dark Magic object bearing a powerful curse. No one knew exactly which dark wizard had made it. At the very least, that black-hearted shopkeeper did not know. Jon had gone to the shop mainly because he needed to repair the Vanishing Cabinet; he had not cared about anything else there.

The curse on the necklace was not particularly unusual. If someone came into physical contact with it, the curse would rapidly spread through that person's body.

The effect of the curse depended on the area of skin that touched it.

If only a small patch of skin came into contact with it, the victim would lose consciousness, float gracefully six feet above the ground, begin screaming in agony, and then fall back down.

During that time, the victim would be completely unconscious, unable to recognize anyone who came to help, and their screams would not stop.

Once the curse spread, if it was not stopped promptly with a counter-curse, it would continue spreading and eventually result in death.

If too much of the victim's skin came into contact with the necklace—such as holding it barehanded or wearing it around the neck—they would most likely die on the spot.

To avoid being harmed by the curse, whoever handled it needed to wear gloves or use