Chapter 589 - Curse Theorem

With a loud sigh, Georgine Prince sat back in her seat and rubbed her neck as she finally finished grading the essays that she had assigned. She bitterly cursed her rashness at that time and had found herself saddled with the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. But she could not abandon the post not until the twins had graduated from Hogwarts, and that was two years from now, unfortunately.

Her office on the third floor has a large expanse of windows allowing her to see the night scenery and allow the moonlight inside. The moon was silvery aglow with a gentle, but strong intensity. And it was not an entire lie for magic did increase with the phases moon much like the ocean tide.

Rising from her desk, Georgine strides over to the window and stares out onto the dark lawn. There was still much time left until the moon rose to the peak of its journey, but still, it was a wonderous journey to observe.

Georgine's mind turns away from the scene in front of her and recalls the incident that had transpired only last week, it was of the combined Thestral's of Rowan and that of James Potter. It was most unusual for such Patronus to appear much less two. And though she was not superstitious even she could not deny the potential meaning that lay therein in such a coincidence.

Georgine furrows her lips as she recalls the owed marriage from the Percival line that was transferred to the Potter lineage. The Potter boy and her own great-niece were friends, and Fleamont Potter was to be the godfather of Rowan and Severus. It would not be a terrible idea to allow them to grow closer and unite the two families in that manner. Still, knowing her older brother, he would not be quick to agree to such a match, nevertheless, the idea still bore some consideration.

A loud knock at the door rudely jolts Georgine out of her thoughts as she turns and opens her office door with a wave of her wand and warningly grumbles, "Office hours have long since ended, and so, this better be worth my time."

"My apologies, Aunt Georgine, but I have not had a minute to myself until this evening," the familiar voice of Rowan said.

Georgine crosses her arms over her chest as she leans against her desk to rest and looks down at her nose at her great-niece, who does not look all that apologetic, to begin with despite her honest answer. "And what can I do for you this evening, Rowan?"

Rowan carefully closes the door behind her and asks, "Might I have a seat, Aunt Georgine?" And indicated to the guest chairs in front of Georgine's desk.

Further arching her brow at her niece, Georgine sniffs, and delicately says, "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with your prefect duties, because I can assure you, I cannot aide with said responsibilities."

Rowan flinches a tiny bit at Georgine's words, before shaking her head in reply. "No, it is not that. Rather it is regarding another subject."

"Oh, what is it?" Georgine asked with visible curiosity and wariness.

"A curse," Rowan answered as she took a seat in the furthest chair away from her aunt.

"And what manner of a curse has you all afreet?" Georgine retorted half-serious as she adjusted her position against her office desk.

"Don't tell me that Professor Salah's class is a challenge for you as I am well aware of the fact that you and Severus have discovered a new revolutionary method in which to break curses. It is all that Salah can speak about and mention in the staff room as of late," Georgine added in exasperation as she rolled her eyes at the tedious recollection.

"Yes, well, I was not the genius behind the creation of the technique, the credit rightfully goes to another," Rowan firmly retorted.

"True," Georgine acknowledge, "but don't sell yourself short, Rowan as no other wizard or witch has thought to implement such a technique before, and there have been plenty of half-blood's and muggleborn witches and wizards that have graced the halls of Hogwarts since the Founders time.���

Rowan merely tilts her head in reply, before returning to the subject at hand. "Be as that may very well be, I came to you as you have had some experience in curse-breaking during your travels. And especially the fact that you are far more sensitive to wards and spell matrixes than even grandfather."

"That is indeed correct," Georgine proudly acknowledged without even a hint of humility, before narrowing her eyes at her great-niece. "However, what exactly are you so curious about that you have come to seem me rather than Professor Salah?"

Rowan maintains her poker face and nonchalant replies, "It is more of a theoretical subject really, but I wonder if it is possible for a curse to exist without an object focal point?"

Georgine carefully pursed her lips before answering, "All curses must be bound in place, however, that does not mean that a curse cannot exist without an object focal point, but rather a location focal point such as some of the ancient pharaoh's and priest of Egypt of old."

"Allow me to explain," Georgine said at seeing Rowan's somewhat puzzled expression. "All curses have a focal point which is usually tied to a permanent object, but a powerful witch or wizard can cast a curse onto a specific person or location and create a semi-focal point. A tied curse to an extent is almost a living entity much like that of an Obscurial, where the curse fulfills the desires of the caster. And much like the Obscurial, the curse is powered by the caster, but unlike the Obscurial, a very powerful curse can linger even after the caster is deceased."

"Thankfully such scenarios are far and rare," Georgine muttered failing to notice the sharp gleam that flashed from Rowan's eyes.

"Suppose that indeed that is the case, how does one go about dealing with a curse that has a tied location focal point?" Rowan pointedly inquired.

"The simplest solution would be to kill the caster," Georgine muttered in all honesty as Rowan refrained from showing her dismay as that was easier said than done.

"However, if that cannot be done, then the next attempt would be to try breaking the tied curse spell matrix," Georgine explained.

Rowan curiously interrupted, "But what if there is no obvious spell matrix to be seen?"

"There is always a spell matrix for a curse that has no permanent object focal point," Georgine firmly declared with a frown at being interrupted. "If the curse is cast upon an individual, they may develop a mark that is not visibly seen to them such as a mark on their back, on their head, on the roof of their mouth, and other such places. And the same is to be said about a tied base location curse because even such a curse will create a spell matrix to protect itself and thus anchor itself more firmly to its own created focal point."

Rowan furrowed her brow in thought. During her search for the blasted vanishing cabinet, she had wandered and explored most of Hogwarts not excluding the Chamber of Secrets. However, she had never seen a strange mark that she could ever recall, nor had she seen one in Dumbledore's office or in any of the Hogwarts classrooms. But perhaps, she was simply looking in the wrong place. The question now is where?