For the disclaimer, see Prologue.

A/M: Happy Holidays, everyone! Sorry for the plotty chapter, to make up for it there is a steamy one in the works.

Chapter Six: The Curse

It had been six days since the incident when the Ravenclaw girl who was attacked finally returned. It was breakfast time, and most of the students were gathered in the Great Hall. As she stepped inside, silence fell for a moment and then the murmurs began.

"It's her!"

"I thought she was dead?"

"Poisoned, she was poisoned."

"Mudblood."

But the girl didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was being said. Her eyes were downcast and she looked pale, sickly and subdued as she took a seat next to her year mates. They spoke to her, but the words didn't seem to register.

Mirage watched all of this with shiny green eyes.

"Tsk, these people, honestly," voiced Millicent distastefully.

Her feeling was not echoed, however. The Slytherins were watching too, interchanging hushed words with the Ravenclaw table. It wasn't long until Irving Cram (who was apparently something of a gossip) approached the group of sixth years with the news:

"They're saying she wasn't poisoned after all," he paused for dramatical effect, obviously loving the attention. "She was cursed."

"We thought that from the start," said Lysandra. Cram nodded enthusiastically, blushing slightly at having the Lysandra Travers (considered unanimously as the most beautiful girl in Slytherin, maybe even the whole school) speak to him.

"Most were saying t'was poison, though," observed Vincent.

"It's her necklace!" Cram explained excitedly. "It's cursed, and she put it on, the idiot. Now it can't be taken off!" His words were met by a gasp.

"What happens if she does? Would she die?"

"Probably. From what Jeremy told me, she was trying to take it off when they found her having seizures and frothing at the mouth."

"It's probably killing her even now," Draco said. "She's probably going to die either way."

"Can't the curse be lifted?" Mirage asked innocently, a properly alarmed expression plastered on its soft features. "Can't she be saved?"

"Who knows," shrugged Cram, and moved to speak with another group of students who were trying to catch his attention.

"I say she dies," said Greg resolutely after a few seconds of pensive silence. "These folks can't uncurse for shit."

"I don't think that's a word," muttered Theo under his breath, face hidden behind a book as usual.

"But she was let out of the infirmary," pointed out Pansy. "Why?"

"No point keeping the bint from studies if she'll die anyway."

"Sweet Merlin, Greg! Will you stop it?" shrieked Daphne.

"That's very likely, actually," said Draco, ignoring Daphne's indignant huff.

"Why wasn't she sent home, then?"

"She's a mudblood. What could muggles do? She'll probably last longer here."

"Merlin, that's awful," said Lysandra, and Mirage was confused to note her concern was genuine. Weren't these kids allied with its Master? It had been led to believe they cared nothing for mudbloods.

The conversation had begun to wane by then, and Mirage was sipping its tea when Theo lowered his book a bit and leaned over to whisper in its ear. "You're being watched. Gryffindor." Mirage turned to him and nodded, making him blush from the proximity. Theo quickly buried his nose in the book again and Mirage felt a pang of pity towards him. Maybe its Master would allow Theo to touch Mirage if he asked nicely? Turning its gaze to the Gryffindor table Mirage saw the Weasley redhead and his sidekicks giving him dark looks. They probably thought Mirage was involved in what had happened to the Desmond girl. They we right, of course, which did nothing but help Mirage's plans along. Smiling slightly, Mirage stabbed a sausage with its fork and put the tip of it in its mouth, concentrating its allure on the redhead, who immediately started and went as red as his hair. He stood up and all but ran out of the Great Hall.

Mirage breathed deeply at his departure, feeling a bit funny in the head. It would have to ask Professor Snape to help if Draco did not make a move soon. Noticing Theo's eyes on it, Mirage turned in time to get a peek of his reddened face hiding behind the book again. That was an issue too. Mirage could tell Theo felt attracted to it, but did not know if it had to do something about it. It had not been given permission to have sex with just anyone, nor had it been instructed on what to do if someone without the Dark Lord's permission were to approach it with sexual intent.

Its musings were interrupted by a gasped, "Oh, Merlin!" from a younger girl further down the Slytherin table. Mirage noted she was reading the Daily Prophet, which had apparently just been delivered. Curiously, it turned to Draco, who had it as well and was closer to Mirage.

"What does it say?" asked Pansy.

Draco read aloud:

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE: A HYPOCRITE UNMASKED

By Leopold Dune

Last Wednesday, a muggleborn girl by the name of Carolyne Desmond, a fifth year Ravenclaw, was attacked at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, event which was kept mostly hushed and secret until worried parents of other children in the school wrote to the Prophet asking us to investigate the matter further and shed some light over what is truly happening.

What yours truly found out is horrifying in a way than we could never have imagined. Turns out Miss Desmond was confounded with some sort of charm that clouded her judgement and made her put on a mysterious necklace that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Later that day when she tried to take it off, it caused her extreme pain and heavily damaged her hands and arms, all while nearly depleting her magic core. Fortunately, she was found on time and given medimagical support that ensured her survival, but she was left frazzled and required a mental healer's help to even be able to re-join her classes and continue with her normal life.

But will she be able to, however? It remains to be seen. Professional curse-breaker Ivan Vulchanov was called to examine the cursed object Miss Desmond still wears and was kind enough to answer questions about his findings:

"The curse is something I had never seen in this form," he explained. "But a variant of the old and infamous Draining Curse, also known as the Magic Vampire Curse: a curse that is laid upon an object and causes whoever touches it to be unable to break contact with the object until their magic has been drained by it, rendering them squib or even causing death on occasion."

Truly horrifying. After being asked how was the curse on the necklace different to the Draining Curse, Mr. Vulchanov explained: "This particular curse is somehow linked to the toucher's intent. If the person touching has no intentions of removing the necklace, it will be harmless as any piece of regular jewellery, but if they tried to lift it off the wearer's head, it would begin to drain the magic of the toucher until they let go of it, damaging the tissue of the fingers, hands and arms in the process."

Naturally, after this chilling details, we asked Mr. Vulchanov if it was impossible to remove the necklace at all, if Miss Desmond will have to live forever with it around her neck or die trying to remove it. This is what he answered: "There are a few options, though certainly not many. It is possible that Miss Desmond may lose her magic at some point while trying to take it off, but not die, at which point she would be free of the curse, because it is designed to drain magic and would not affect a muggle or squib wearer. Of course, the damage she would likely sustain may mean her losing her fingers or hands, and it is unknown whether that level of curse damage could be reversed by magic. Furthermore, it is just a possibility for her to lose her magic, the other very likely one being her not surviving the attempt."

Sources close to yours truly within Hogwarts said that Miss Desmond was kept in the school's Infirmary for several days because as soon as she felt strong enough, she tried taking off the necklace again, and no one wanted to risk her life. Knowing this, it seems unlikely that the possibility of her becoming a squib is a viable one. Weakened as she is, any attempt at removing the necklace could be her last.

There is, however, a second possibility of freeing her of the curse, which Mr. Vulchanov described as well: "All of what I could discern from the layers of the curse suggests that the amount of magic energy it pulls from the toucher is a steady, set one that does not depend on the well of magic the person possesses. Likely, whoever set the curse considered the arithmantic equation used to determine the amount of magic extracted enough to kill or completely drain any magic person, but they were wrong. According to my calculations it would be possible for exceptionally powerful wizards and witches to remove the necklace without being entirely drained, which would cause them no lasting damage, only some tiredness."

Hearing those wonderful news, we immediately asked Mr. Vulchanov if he had informed Albus Dumbledore of this possibility. "Yes!" he said, losing his composure for a moment and becoming quite angry. "But he dismissed my suggestion that he himself try to take the necklace off Miss Desmond. There are spells, if somewhat complex, that can determine the amount of magic a person has at their disposal and he knows that! It is possible to know beforehand if someone will be able to take the necklace off without risking that person's life or magic, but Dumbledore would hear none of it!"

And that, dear readers, is the worst part of this saddening story: knowing that Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time and likely the most powerful alive, is unwilling to help a young muggleborn girl (one of his students, no less!) recover her normal life. We, the Daily Prophet, encourage reading parents to push for Albus Dumbledore to take responsibility and save this young girl's life before it is too late. For this, feel free to write the Prophet or Albus Dumbledore himself. We will keep you updated on any possible changes to the current situation."

Mirage noticed how ―in the middle of Draco's reading― a small group of Ravenclaws stood and herded Carolyne out of the Great Hall, no doubt wanting to avoid the students confronting her on the legitimacy of the printed story. In the Slytherin table, most of the students within earshot or Draco's reading had fallen silent and were paying attention, but broke into murmurs as soon as he was finished.

"That's horrible," commiserated Millicent.

"If that's true, Dumbledore is a piece of shite," said Blaise. "Look how he sings praises about the muggleborns, unity and goodness, only to piss his pants when he actually has to do something!"

Most of the opinions were of similar calibre.

"I can't believe Dumbledore―"

"What an arsehole!"

"Is this really true!?"

Mirage resisted the urge to smile.

The castle had somehow been both buzzing with murmurs and eerily still, lying in wait until Headmaster Dumbledore finally stood up in the middle of a decidedly tense dinner. He clinked his goblet with a tiny dessert spoon, which was unnecessary considering all eyes had been on him throughout the day and everyone had fallen silent as soon as he stood up. It had escaped no one's notice that Carolyne Desmond had been conspicuously absent ever since the Daily Prophet was delivered in the morning, either. Clearing his throat, Albus Dumbledore spoke:

"Dark times are upon us," he announced ominously. "And it is on such times that trusts waver and friends are lost. Let us not make assumptions based on what others tell us, but to think with our own heads instead. I have never been anything but transparent to my colleagues, friends and students," he said gravelly. "And it pains me to see mistrust in faces that should sport none.

"Yes, it is true that something terrible has befallen one of our own: a beloved child from the Ravenclaw's nest, but let us not forget that there are two versions to every story and you have yet to hear mine. I shall not bother to make a public announcement beyond this, for you, my children, are the most important people in the world to me. I care not for what lies the Prophet says about me, but it does pain me to be faced with your unfounded suspicion." Here, Dumbledore paused, sighed and hung his head for a moment before looking back up and going on in a sad tone: "I have dangerous enemies, the likes of which I hope you will never have to meet, my children. It pains me constantly that my being here endangers you by mere proximity to myself. This attack," he looked around gravely, "was a planned one. I know what my enemies are after, and I swear to you I will die before I let it come to pass." Some students gasped quietly. "Does it not seem too convenient to you that all attention was diverted from questioning who cursed the necklace and was instead turned to how it is my responsibility to rid her of it?" Murmurs broke amongst the students. "Furthermore, I fear it is eerily convenient that such an object appeared right inside the castle. Although I have no reason to doubt Mr. Vulchanov's excellent skills and observations, it does not seem impossible to me that there might be more to the curse than what was uncovered thus far.

"Do not mistake my caution as fear for myself," Dumbledore continued. "But rather understand that it is for yourselves that I fear. Who will protect you from the evil's clutches if I were to pass away in a moment as critical as this―?" Dumbledore's voice broke, and he had to take a drink from his goblet to be able to go on. "This castle and you, its students, are all I have. What I love the most. Please do not forget that." And with that, Dumbledore turned and exited through the professor's door behind the staff table.

Heated conversation broke over all at once, even amongst the professors.

Mirage was stunned. The voice, the carefully selected words. Had it not been prepared by its master, Mirage would have completely believed the speech. As it was, Mirage knew it to be a ruse.

But was it really?