The Death-Dealing Reaper (Bonus Chapter)

Soon, Skylar's first Defense Against the Dark Arts arrived on Thursday. This class was taught by Slytherin and Gryffindor together.

The young wizards were in high spirits, eagerly anticipating Moody's lesson—a first in recent years for Defense Against the Dark Arts. The classroom was unusually quiet, with everyone holding out their copies of "Dark Powers: A Guide to Self-Defense," waiting patiently.

Soon, they heard Moody's distinctive thumping footsteps coming down the corridor. He entered the classroom, looking as strange and frightening as ever. The young wizards could see his claw-like wooden foot peeking out from under his robes.

"Put these things away," he said gruffly, hobbling to the podium with his cane and sitting down. "You don't need these textbooks. I don't need these things in my class. Take out your wands."

The young wizards packed their books into their bags, each one looking exceptionally excited. Based on past experience, taking out their wands meant the class was going to be very interesting.

A few seconds later, Moody produced the roster. He shook his head, removing his long, graying hair from his distorted, scarred face, and began calling out names. His normal eyes moved down the list, while his magical eyes darted back and forth, fixing on each student who answered.

When he called out Draco's name, he paused noticeably, and all the young wizards' eyes were drawn to Draco. The news of Draco's conflict with Moody had spread throughout the school in the past few days.

Draco shrugged indifferently and raised his hand in response to being called on.

"Alright!" he said after the last student finished answering. "I received a letter from your former teacher, who gave me an update on your progress. It seems you've grasped a fair amount of basic knowledge about dealing with Dark Arts creatures—you've learned how to deal with Boggart, Red Cap, Hinkypunk, Grindylow, and Kappa, and you've also learned about Vampire and Werewolf. But when it comes to dealing with spells, you haven't learned nearly enough. You haven't witnessed real Dark Arts, and that's the most crucial thing."

"So... does anyone know which spells will be punished most severely under wizarding law?"

No one answered in class, not even Hermione, who was usually the most active in answering questions. The young wizards all focused their attention on Skylar, hoping he would answer the question.

"Young Malfoy, you answer!" Moody said, and after confirming that no one answered, he called out Skylar's name directly.

"Professor, the Ministry of Magic prohibits wizards from using many spells. There are probably tens of thousands of legal documents still in effect, involving tens of thousands of spells," Skylar replied. "But the most famous are definitely Dark Arts —such as spells that summon the dead, curses of the Word of Power, spells that modify the body's bloodline, and..."

"In addition, the Ministry of Magic has very strict regulations on spatial magic, such as the Undetectable Extension Charm that can expand internal space, and the Portkey Charm that can teleport people to distant places..."

The classroom was completely silent. Everyone stared at Skylar in astonishment, their mouths agape enough to swallow an egg.

They seemed to realize just then that Skylar knew so much. Before, they only knew that Skylar was very strong, but no one had a clear concept of just how strong or how strong he was.

Aside from a few of his closest friends in Slytherin, most of the young wizards generally believed that he could at most compete with older students, but was no match for a seventh-year student. However, seeing Skylar's performance today, reciting so many unheard-of Dark Arts in one breath, the young wizards in the classroom all gasped and stared at Skylar in disbelief.

"Tch, what a show-off," Ron muttered. "When it comes to erudition, I don't believe Hermione is any less learned than him..."

Hermione looked at Skylar with a very complicated expression. She didn't know when it had started, but she had given up the idea of competing with Skylar. The boy's speed of progress was neither scientific nor magical.

He was knowledgeable, skilled, and his use of magic was ingenious and exquisite. Most remarkably, he was nothing like a typical bookworm. While he didn't participate in sports, he was a member of two academic societies and had spare time to organize spell exchange meetings, publish academic papers, establish Alchemy Workshop, and represent international organizations...

With so many achievements concentrated in one person, Hermione knew that even if she had a Time-Turner, she could never catch up with him.

Moody was also very surprised as he listened to Skylar speak fluently and at length.

None of what Skylar said was the answer he wanted, but none of it was wrong. He knew he had to stop him; if Skylar continued, he could talk for an entire lesson, and by then, not to mention demonstrating Dark Arts, everyone would probably walk out completely bewildered. Finally, Moody interrupted Skylar because of his excellent performance, earning Slytherin ten points.

"Mr. Malfoy is right, but I think your immediate priority is to understand the three most common spells used by dark wizards, also known as the Unforgivable Curses," Moody said. "Alright, can anyone tell me what the Three Unforgivable Curses are?"

"Uh, well," Ron said timidly, "My dad told me about something... called the Imperius Curse, right?"

"Yes, Mr. Weasley!" Moody said approvingly. "Your father must know that spell; the Imperius Curse caused the Ministry of Magic a lot of trouble back in the day."

He struggled to his feet, supporting himself with his prosthetic leg, opened the drawer of the lectern, and took out a glass bottle. Three large black spiders crawled incessantly inside. Moody reached into the bottle, grabbed one of the spiders, and placed it on his outstretched palm so everyone could see it. Then he pointed at it with his wand and murmured, "Imperio!"

The spider leaped off Moody's palm, suspended by a thin thread, and began to swing back and forth as if sitting on a high swing. It stiffly straightened its legs, then did a somersault, snapping the thread. It crashed onto the table and began to somersault in circles. Moody flicked his wand, and it stood up again on its two hind legs, dancing a kind of tap dance—yes, a tap dance.

Most of the young wizards laughed.

"You guys think it's fun, right?" Moody asked in a gruff voice. "Would you like it if I did that to you?"

The laughter stopped almost immediately.

"Completely under my control," Moody said softly—at which point the spider curled up and began rolling around incessantly. "I can make it jump out of the window, drown itself, or leap into the throat of one of your classmates... The Imperius Curse can be resisted, and I will teach you how, but it requires a great deal of personal strength, and not everyone can master it. You'd better try to avoid being hit by it and stay vigilant at all times!" Moody suddenly roared, startling everyone.

"Does anyone know any other spells? The remaining two Unforgivable Curses?"

Next, Neville stood up and recited the Cruciatus Curse. Moody then demonstrated the spell on the spider for everyone.

"Alright... does anyone else know any spells?"

Draco answered, his voice devoid of any emotion, "It's the Killing Curse, Professor—the legendary curse that kills with a single blow."

"Ah," Moody's gaze was fixed on Draco, "Yes, this is the last and most powerful spell. The Avada Kedavra Curse... a spell used only for killing."

He reached into the glass bottle, and the third spider, as if sensing its impending doom, frantically crawled around the bottom of the bottle, trying to avoid Moody's fingers, but he still caught it and placed it on the podium.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.

A blinding green light stung their eyes, accompanied by the sound of rapidly flowing air, as if an unseen behemoth were flying through the air. At the same time, the spider flipped over, lying face up on the table, unharmed but unmistakably dead. Several students struggled to suppress their screams; as the spider slid towards Ron was jolted backward, nearly falling off his seat.

A glint of light flashed in Skylar's eyes; he had just seen it—

Just as Moody uttered the incantation, just as a whooshing sound appeared in the air—

Skylar saw death!

It was a monster that looked like Dementor, this monster—whether it was Death or whatever—was more like an amorphous gas, capable of flying through the air like a fluid or a cloud. As it passed through the spider like a black wind, Skylar saw a soul-like energy being harvested and devoured by it.

Is this the true nature of the Killing Curse?

Where did the absorbed soul energy ultimately go?

There are still so many mysteries surrounding magic in this world!

"It's not good," Moody said calmly. "It's unpleasant, and there's no way to break the spell, no way to resist it. As far as people know, only one person has escaped this spell so far, and he's sitting right in front of me right now."

Everyone knew he was talking about Harry. Moody's eyes were fixed on Harry's, and Harry felt his face turn red. He could feel the whole class turning to look at him.

"The Avada Kedavra curse requires immense magical power as a foundation. Even if all of you were to chant it at me right now, I suspect I'd only get a nosebleed at most," Moody said, his magical eyes sweeping across the terrified faces of each person. "But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to use the Killing Curse."

"So, since there's no way to break the curse, why am I showing you all this? Because you need to understand. You need to be fully aware of what the worst is. You don't want to find yourselves in the situation you're facing now, do you? Stay alert!" he roared, startling the entire class.

"Alright, these three spells— Avada Kedavra, Imperius Curse, and Cruciatus Curse —are collectively known as the Unforgivable Curses. Using any one of them on another human is enough to result in a life sentence. This is what you may face. This is what I'm going to teach you to resist. You need to be prepared. You need to have this knowledge. But most importantly, you need to stay vigilant at all times and never let your guard down. Take out your quill... and write these down..."

For the rest of the class, the students were busy taking notes, recording the three Unforgivable Curses.

The classroom was quiet; no one spoke until the bell rang. As soon as Moody announced the end of class and the students left the classroom, a torrent of discussion erupted. Most students spoke of the incantations with awe.

Did you see the spider twitching?

He killed the spider in one swift motion—it was that simple!

Draco stopped Skylar, who was about to leave the classroom, Skylar had no choice but to gesture for Daphne to leave first.

"Skylar, you know the Unforgivable Curses, don't you?" Draco looked at Skylar intently.

"I understand some of the theory," Skylar shrugged, "But I think it's best to stay away from Dark Arts. Learning Dark Arts will only distort our character and ultimately turn us into slaves to power. No matter how powerful we become, we will no longer be ourselves. What do you think?"

Draco remained silent.

"Alright," Skylar turned around and waved his hand, "I have something to attend to, so I'll be going now." With that, he left cleanly and decisively, leaving Draco alone there lost in thought.