"Of course it's the three Unforgivable Curses, namely the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse."
Link narrowed his eyes, staring closely at Moody, and said each word slowly.
"Ha! Well said!"
Moody gave a cold laugh. His intact eye swept toward the others in the classroom, while his magical eye stayed fixed on Link as he said, "Ah! The Imperius Curse!"
"Think about it, this curse has caused the Ministry of Magic no small amount of trouble. Now, Link Flamel, come here to the front. I need you to cooperate with me to demonstrate the true effect of the Imperius Curse!"
The moment these words fell, many students couldn't help but cry out in surprise.
But upon hearing this, Link instead showed a slight smile and said, "The Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse are called the three Unforgivable Curses because casting any one of them on a human being is enough to get the caster locked away in Azkaban for life."
"Professor Moody, don't tell me you also want to go to Azkaban and experience life there? I imagine the criminals inside would be delighted to welcome you. After all, many of them were caught by you yourself."
"Me? Locked up in Azkaban? How could that be possible? I'm only giving you all practical instruction, not harming anyone."
Moody's two pupils shrank at once as he continued urging, "Enough nonsense. Don't dawdle. Get up here!"
Link's smile deepened, but coldness flickered in his eyes.
"Don't go, Link!"
John, sitting beside him, tugged on Link's robe while whispering anxiously. Just from his pale and tense face one could see how worried he was.
But in the end Link still walked up to stand before Moody, looking at him with a trace of mockery.
"Very brave!"
Moody cruelly licked his lips as he drew his wand and said softly, "Imperio."
With a light flick of Moody's wand, a barely visible semi-transparent mist floated from the tip and drilled into Link's nose and mouth.
Link could clearly feel a wave of magic wrapping around his brain.
Under this magic's influence, it was as if he had drunk a large bowl of hot soup on a cold winter night, his whole body comfortable, almost like he was in a fairyland, floating away in bliss.
At the same time, a voice, gentle and pleasant to the extreme, whispered in his ear.
Link couldn't make out what he or she was saying, but he felt he absolutely had to obey. Otherwise he would instantly fall out of this fairyland and back into the hellish reality.
Feeling this unparalleled delight, Link sighed inwardly.
So this was the horror of the Imperius Curse.
It places the victim in an illusion, letting them enjoy the purest pleasure.
Once they sink into it, they are completely controlled by the caster, reduced to a puppet.
To break free from the Imperius Curse, one must rely on indomitable willpower.
Although Link didn't think his will was that strong, he had Level 5 Occlumency.
When it came to cutting off emotions and desires, Occlumency worked far better than raw willpower.
Thinking this, Link immediately activated the Occlumency he had deliberately shut down earlier.
In an instant, accompanied by a wave of chill spreading through his body from his brain, Link's increasingly hazy reason instantly returned.
Only, on his face he still kept up a dazed look.
Moody nodded in satisfaction at the sight. To him, Link was clearly already fully under the curse.
He gave his wand a small shake, and at once an order to lift his arm sounded in Link's mind.
Link deliberately obeyed.
Then lower it, lift it again, lower it, lift it again…
After repeating several times, Moody looked at the class with his intact eye, somewhat smug, and said, "See? He's now completely under my control. I could make him jump right out that window, or strangle himself to death! This is the terror of the Imperius Curse!"
"During the time when the Death Eaters ran rampant, many wizards were controlled by the Imperius Curse. The Ministry was run ragged, because they had to determine whether those who committed crimes had done so under coercion, or of their own free will."
"Of course, the Imperius Curse can be resisted. But that requires immense strength of character, something little wizards like you cannot achieve!"
"Enough! Now let's get back on topic." Moody turned again to Link.
"Link Flamel, now answer my question! Why have you been spying on me with the Sensory Charm since the moment I entered? Were you trying to observe my weaknesses and then launch a sneak attack to kill me!?"
Moody's voice grew higher and higher, until he was practically roaring.
And Link's dazed expression gradually faded, turning instead into a mocking smile as he said, "Ah! You can't blame me for that. After all, I've seen plenty of ugly people before, but someone as ugly as you, I really have never seen in my life."
"It's like when you're at the zoo and suddenly see a monkey hideously deformed beyond words. Could you really resist taking a few extra looks?"
"You!"
Moody was startled.
And Link realized then that although Moody had only one leg and was covered in injuries, his body was still agile.
With a light backward step, he instantly pulled open some distance, and without the slightest hesitation his wand shot out a Disarming Charm toward Link.
The move was lightning-fast and completely unexpected. The students below were stunned.
But Link had been ready.
His ebony wand shot into his hand from the holster, and in the same moment a shield-shaped curtain of light burst forth.
Hiss!
The curse struck the shield for but an instant before ricocheting back even faster.
Moody didn't dodge. He simply swung his wand casually, and the magic power swirling around it shredded the rebounding spell into fragments of glowing dust.
A counter-curse.
After that, neither Link nor Moody made any move to continue.
They just stood on opposite sides of the podium, staring at each other while the students gasped below.
"Unbelievable, you actually broke free from the Imperius Curse. Or rather… were never controlled at all?" After a long time, Moody finally spoke in a snake-like voice.
"Ah, looks like that Snape fellow really has taught you well!"
Link gave a harsh laugh.
"Instead of that, I think you'd better worry about yourself. Using the Imperius Curse on a student, and then attacking your student afterwards… those charges alone are enough to earn you a Dementor's Kiss."
"I told you, this was nothing but simple instruction. Not nearly as serious as you make it. And besides, the punishment for anything often depends on how severe its consequences are. As for this matter, well, hehe!"
Moody's tone was cold. "Now, get back to your seat. We're continuing class!"
Link didn't argue further. He merely gave Moody a long, deep look, then returned to his seat.
He had no need to make a scene like Draco, blowing up in anger on the spot, that would be too shameful.
Revenge against Moody would be easy.
All he had to do was tell Dumbledore and Mrs. Flamel after class what had happened today.
And although, as Moody himself had said, without severe consequences the Ministry would never lock up a former Auror hero like him in Azkaban…
He could forget about continuing to teach at Hogwarts.
That being the case, Link wouldn't even need to trouble himself figuring out whether this Moody was actually Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise. As long as Moody left Hogwarts, even if he was, he could cause no more trouble.
Thinking this, Link's mood grew wonderfully bright, and he even began softly humming a tune.
This terrified John, who thought Link had been driven mad with anger.
On the podium, Moody acted as though nothing had happened.
He bent down, pulled a glass jar from the drawer containing a live spider, and said in a sinister voice to the class, "Next, I will demonstrate the Cruciatus Curse!"
The classroom fell silent.
But in everyone's eyes as they looked at Moody, there was disgust.
Since there was already a spider prepared for demonstration, why had he deliberately dragged Link up earlier? That had clearly been malice.
Moody didn't care at all about the students' looks. His expression relaxed as he tapped the spider in the jar with his wand.
"Crucio."
In an instant, all eight legs of the spider curled tight.
Its body convulsed violently, jerking and rolling.
Anyone watching could tell it was in immense agony, because after the first few moments, it began smashing its head against the glass walls, as though trying to kill itself.
Even more cruelly, halfway through Moody cast an Engorgement Charm on it, swelling it to more than three times its size, just so everyone could see its suffering more clearly.
The disdain in the students' eyes instantly vanished.
Now their faces were filled with terror, and none dared look directly at Moody.
For who among them wanted to be subjected to this madman's curse?
"See? Excruciating pain!" Moody said slowly.
"If you know the Cruciatus Curse, you don't need branding irons or pliers to torture people. Of course, if your purpose is interrogation, you must be careful."
"Excessive use of the Cruciatus Curse will leave the victim mentally broken. Like the poor Longbottoms, they were tortured into madness this way."
Some of the girls below, unable to endure, had already started sobbing.
Moody clearly enjoyed this reaction.
He chuckled twice in excitement before lifting the curse.
By then, the pitiful spider had spent all its strength and lay motionless at the bottom of the jar.
"Now comes the final curse."
At Moody's words, a few Ravenclaws' eyes widened in alarm. They stood up, as if to stop him.
But it was too late.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Moody's horrifying voice resounded in the classroom. His face twisted, wand stabbing viciously at the spider in the jar.
Bang!
A flash of green light erupted, searing itself into the students' retinas, while an aura of doom, death, despair, and dread poured into all who saw it, making their hearts quake.
The spider was dead.
Everyone, even the sobbing girls, stopped crying. They only stared blankly at the spider's corpse, stupefied.
Only after a long time did Moody's ghostly voice sound again.
"Utterly unpleasant, despair itself!" Moody said calmly.
"And there is absolutely no counter-curse. Whoever is struck dies instantly, without any external wound. To this day, the only two to have been struck by the Killing Curse and survived are Harry Potter, and…"
Moody turned his gaze upon Link, snarling, "Link Flamel!"
Everyone's eyes followed Moody's, and many wore expressions of shock.
Although Link being struck by the Killing Curse two years ago had spread widely, most had never thought much of it.
But after personally experiencing the curse's dreadful aura, they now finally grasped how extraordinary Link was.
Moody continued, "Now you understand, don't you? The Imperius, the Cruciatus, and the Killing Curses, these are what you must be prepared to resist in the future!"
"You must prepare yourselves, you must be on guard. And most importantly, you must always remain vigilant!"
"Now… take out your quills and write all this down, then hang it above your beds, and read it every morning the moment you open your eyes!"
By the end, Moody was roaring, and his roar jolted the dazed students awake. In panic, they began scribbling down his words.
Amid the scratching of quills, Moody nodded in satisfaction and said, "The Killing Curse requires immense magical power. A weak wizard even casting it will produce no real effect."
"You could even point your wands at me and chant the curse, I doubt I'd suffer more than a nosebleed… ah!"
Moody suddenly stopped.
Because to his shock, Link had risen and was pointing his wand at him.
"Really?" Link asked seriously, smiling. "You really want me to try the Killing Curse on you?"
Moody's lips trembled soundlessly.
Because he knew, others might fail to cast it, but Link, with his powerful magic, could definitely succeed.
And most importantly, Moody knew Link genuinely wanted to curse him.
After a long, tense standoff, the class bell finally rang, breaking the eerie silence.
Link said nothing. He simply lowered his wand crisply, still smiling.
Moody's face grew uglier, but in the end he only gave a cold snort and strode quickly out.
As his distinctive footsteps faded, the classroom finally came alive again. Students gasped like fish tossed onto a beach.
And under everyone's awed gaze, Link left his seat and slowly walked toward the Potions Master's office.
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