My Will
The second week of school didn't bring much new happening.
On Thursday, during Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Moody announced that he would take turns casting the Imperius Curse on each student to demonstrate its power and see if they could resist its effects.
As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion erupted in the classroom, with various discussions surging forth like a flood bursting its banks.
Casting Unforgivable Curses on another wizard is punishable by life imprisonment, and the young wizards never expected Moody to dare to do it.
Moody ignored them and instead began calling on the students to take turns coming forward to recite the Imperius Curse for them.
Under the influence of the spell, the students, one after another, did the most unusual things.
Blaise hopped and skipped around the classroom three times, Pansy imitated a squirrel, and Neville performed a series of amazing gymnastic moves that he could never do in his normal state. It seemed none of them could resist the spell, and they all returned to normal only after Moody dispelled it.
"Draco Malfoy," Moody's voice boomed, "Your turn."
Draco shrugged and walked to the center of the classroom. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Draco, and said, "Imperio!"
Skylar noticed—a split second before Moody began chanting the incantation, a green glint flashed in Draco's eyes, and black energy began to emanate from his body again, drastically changing his demeanor and making him appear much more sinister.
The Imperius Curse had no effect on Draco. Draco stood still, looking at Moody with a half-smile.
What Skylar saw was that the black mist, like a nimble Demon Flood Dragon, flew around Draco's brain. At the moment the Imperius Curse was cast, the black mist was dispersed by the Imperius Curse in Draco.
Draco chuckled dismissively. "Professor Moody, it seems the Imperius Curse isn't as difficult to resist as you said!"
A hush fell over the room. Moody frowned deeply; frankly, he hadn't expected this outcome at all.
He had considered that Draco might be able to resist the Imperius Curse with willpower, and the two might even be locked in a struggle over the will to control the mind, but he never imagined that the Imperius Curse would be completely ineffective. He said nothing, waved his hand to signal Draco to return to his seat, and then called out the next name from the list.
The next person was Skylar.
Skylar gave a confident smile and strode confidently to the center of the classroom.
Imperius Curse? Skylar sneered inwardly. "Let me show you my will!"
Although Skylar had never actually cast the Imperius Curse, his understanding of Imperius Curse far surpassed that of the Fake Moody.
The true principle Imperius Curse is to use magic to paralyze the cerebral cortex and prefrontal cortex of the brain, causing the victim to lose their rationality, logic, and decision-making ability, thus becoming dominated by external factors that influence their emotions. Simply put, a person who has lost the ability to make independent decisions will experience pleasure from obeying external commands and will unconsciously want to continue to indulge in the emotions brought about by obedience.
The most effective way to counter the Imperius Curse is not through Occlumency. The part of Occlumency that is sealed off and hidden is actually a person's emotions (the author notes, the limbic system), not cognitive, rational, or logical abilities.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Occlumency is completely ineffective against the Imperius Curse. By practicing Occlumency, one can have greater control over their emotions, making them less susceptible to external influences.
To combat the Imperius Curse, what's needed is even stronger emotion and an even stronger will!
Just as Moody uttered "Imperio," Skylar first felt his thoughts and worries vanish. In a corner of his mind, a light, pleasant feeling seemed to be about to arise. But the next second, Skylar's face flashed through Meredith's mind, and a surge of fiery anger rose up. Extremely cold reason and calmness returned to Skylar, and the small flame representing pleasure was extinguished before it could even ignite.
Skylar smiled. "Professor Moody, if it's just magic at this level, it doesn't seem as terrible as you say! Do we really need to learn how to resist this spell in our fourth year?"
Professor Moody's face was grim. Two consecutive failures made it impossible for him to continue this teaching method. He had previously been so confident in how important it was to learn how to resist the Imperius Curse, exaggerating its power to the extreme, claiming that even many experienced adult wizards had fallen victim to it. But after being proven wrong twice, he probably thought the Imperius Curse was nothing special in the eyes of other young wizards.
He began with difficulty, "In that case, let's stop here for today." He continued, "Both Mr. Malfoy successfully resisted the Imperius Curse and completely overcame it! You can ask them for their advice, so that others won't be able to easily control you."
The rest of the class was spent in an eerie atmosphere; the classroom was quiet, and no one spoke.
Moody sat in a chair next to the podium, his expression shifting between light and shadow, as if he were deep in thought.
The other young wizards didn't dare ask any questions either, and all lowered their heads to take notes on how to resist the Imperius Curse.
The discussion only resumed after the bell rang and Moody announced the end of class and left the classroom.
The young Slytherin wizards surrounded Skylar and Draco, demanding they share their secrets. The Gryffindor lion cubs, though envious, dared not ask them directly.
Skylar glanced around at the expectant young wizards, then looked at the corner where the Gryffindor wizards were gathered, and said calmly, "Since Professor Moody wants us to learn this skill, I don't want to keep it a secret. Gryffindor students who are interested are welcome to come and listen, of course, entirely voluntary, and absolutely no one will be forced."
The Gryffindor lion cubs might be indifferent to dry and boring knowledge, but they were quite curious about magic related to combat. Almost all of them gathered around, and they stood behind the Slytherin without any hesitation.
Skylar said loudly, "Let me tell you! There's no secret to resisting the Imperius Curse; it's mainly about willpower. Can any of you tell me what willpower is?"
Everyone fell silent. Everyone understood the literal meaning of willpower, but clearly explaining its essence was not so simple.
"Thanks—" Hermione began, "Oh, I mean, Malfoy, does willpower mean using reason to fight against subconscious desires?"
As expected of Hermione, her answer was perfectly logical and reasonable.
Skylar glanced at Hermione, and their eyes met briefly for a few seconds. Hermione was initially a little scared, but Hermione tried her best to encourage herself, and then she looked at Skylar firmly, her eyes showing no sign of backing down.
Skylar's lips curled up slightly. It seemed that it wasn't just him and his group who had grown during the past summer vacation!
Then I glanced at Ron again. Hmm, he didn't seem to have changed much; he was still that little brat.
"Granger is right," Skylar praised. "I also have another understanding—willpower is awareness, it's what a person is willing to give up for their goals, like sacrificing sleep and playtime to get good grades, like..." Skylar's eyes shone brightly, but his voice suddenly became low, "... to protect those around you, you have to give up a friendship..."
Skylar deliberately avoided looking in Hermione's direction, but his Divine Insight of Amaterasu clearly showed Hermione's red eyes and tightly pursed lips in his mind.
"Before learning how to counter the Imperius Curse, the most important thing is to ask yourself—what is your purpose in learning this? How much are you willing to pay for it?"
"When you have your own awareness, you will have the foundation to resist the Imperius Curse. The Imperius Curse aims to paralyze our reason and then control us with our emotions. Our best way to resist is to use even stronger emotions to break free from its control..."
"When someone casts Imperius Curse on you, you'll feel a lightheaded sensation. You'll feel that as long as you let go of your reason and control over your body, you'll gain a kind of liberated spiritual freedom and pleasure."
"At that time, just think about what would happen to the person or thing you care about most if you were controlled. If you truly understand—" Skylar paused, unable to help but recall Meredith's face, a pang of pain shooting through him, but his face remained expressionless as he said, "You would feel anger, you would feel resentment, you would have a strong, fervent desire to break free from control..."
"That's how I escaped the Imperius Curse through sheer willpower..."
Skylar snapped out of his daze and realized that the young wizards around him were looking at him with awe.
"Magic is a rather idealistic thing," Skylar said calmly. "A wizard's true power comes from within." He glanced at Draco and Hermione. "When you have truly awakened to this and are willing to risk everything for it, I personally believe you are already a qualified wizard."
Having said that, he casually draped his Night Star Cloak over his shoulders and departed as the young wizards parted to make way for him.