"Now that's the most exquisite irony, isn't it?"
Harry tugged at the corner of his mouth, his expression complicated.
"This was definitely the professor's work. Fudge's brain, which only knows about eating crystallized pineapple, could never come up with such a humiliating punishment."
"It's not just humiliation. It's physical suppression."
Hermione tapped her finger hard against the second paragraph of the newspaper.
"Look here. Because an anti-magic field has been imposed on this area, the prisoners have lost all ability to cast spells."
"The guards are professionally trained Squibs. The moment a prisoner violently resists or damages a machine, the control room will instantly deliver a high-voltage shock of twenty thousand volts."
"Twenty thousand... volts?"
Ron struggled to get his tongue around the unfamiliar Muggle word.
"Is that some new kind of Cruciatus Curse?"
"That's physics, Ron."
Hermione raised her head, awe and fear in her eyes.
"It's a kind of lightning power belonging to Muggles that doesn't require an incantation."
She tried to explain it in terms wizards could understand.
"It can blast through an adult's central nervous system in a tenth of a second. There's no need to aim a wand or feel any hatred."
"Just press the switch, no matter how incomprehensible that prisoner's understanding of dark magic is."
"He'll fall to the ground, his whole body convulsing beyond his control."
Several Gryffindor students eavesdropping nearby shuddered.
The sausage in Seamus Finnigan's hand fell straight onto the tablecloth.
"Using Squibs to manage prisoners?"
Seamus stammered.
"That's crueler than killing them. Squibs are the people those dark wizards despise most."
"This is real psychological warfare."
Harry's gaze was deep.
That summer, he had been forced to complete an entire set of Muggle physics and mathematics papers under the desk lamp at Number Four, Privet Drive.
He had roared