Chapter 106: Death and Protection
The two Apparated back to the Shafiq ancestral home, carrying the sack.
After removing the black cloth from their faces and taking off their black cloaks, they carried the sack into the basement of the ancestral home.
When he opened an inconspicuous wooden door on the first floor, stone stairs appeared before Ethan's eyes.
Torches hanging on the stair walls lit up automatically, illuminating the stairwell.
Cyril went first, carrying the sack down. Ethan followed behind him, entering the mysterious space he hadn't visited a few days ago.
The basement area was the same size as the floor above, but in this enclosed space, apart from a few pillars, the rest of the place was filled with various bloodstained torture instruments.
The bloodstains were probably deliberately left uncleaned; otherwise, a Scourgify would have cleaned them up on the spot after use.
Cyril threw the sack on the ground. "Don't be afraid. This place was originally used by the family to store some collections that weren't suitable for display. Later, after your parents died, I converted it into an execution ground. Actually, not many people have truly died here; I decorated it this way on purpose."
Under the flickering lamplight, Cyril's smile, meant to be comforting, looked somewhat sinister and terrifying, completely failing to alleviate the fear in Ethan's heart.
Looking at the fairly familiar old man before him, his grandfather, Ethan felt like a stranger.
He just stood there blankly, watching Cyril busy himself: lighting a fire, heating branding irons, setting up the interrogation chair...
Once everything was ready, Cyril didn't care whether Ethan could adapt to all this. He eagerly pulled the person out of the sack and threw him onto the ground.
The pain of hitting the ground woke Loup up.
With his hands and feet tied and his mouth gagged, he could only make whimpering noises, squirming on the ground as he tried to see who had kidnapped him.
"You still don't know how to use the Shield Charm, right? Let me cast it for you." Cyril turned his head, looking at Ethan, and waved his wand, ready to cast protection on him.
Ethan didn't refuse, but after casting Protego, he also cast two bone shields to guard in front of them.
Cyril was slightly startled, then smiled. "Very good defensive magic."
Cyril used a Levitation Charm to levitate Loup by his clothes, carrying him into the air, tightly strangled by the fabric.
Cyril pointed his wand forward, and Loup was suspended in the air, floating above the interrogation chair.
Looking down at the spikes stained with dried blood beneath his feet, Loup's whimpering grew louder. After struggling earlier, he now kept his body still except for his moving mouth, to keep from falling directly onto the spikes.
"Loup Petit, born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1951. After graduating from Beauxbatons, he returned to Belgium. He worked in a magical candy factory for a year, then resigned due to salary issues. He's been walking in the gray areas ever since. Later, in 1973, he was wanted by the Belgian Ministry of Magic for killing three Muggles. After that, he joined the Vulture Club, roaming various countries. Am I right?"
Suspended in the air, Loup had shut his mouth while Cyril narrated his life story.
"Forgot to take the cloth off for you. I'm getting old, forgetful." Cyril looked at the black cloth covering Loup's mouth. He suddenly dropped him, making Loup scream in terror, but the sound was very muffled through the black cloth.
The sudden fall seemed to have fractured his leg; Loup twisted in pain on the ground.
Cyril took the opportunity to teach Ethan: "If you encounter any enemies, to prevent them from using non-verbal spells, it's best to inflict some magical or physical damage. Under the stimulation of pain, someone who can't concentrate is highly unlikely to cast any profound magic. Combined with perfect protection, you won't fail.
"Also, Ethan, you must remember. Apart from damage caused by magic like the Unforgivable Curses and other dark magic that have no counter-curse, most damage can be healed through magical means. Even death can be prevented. But for non-magical damage, death is death; there are no means of resurrection whatsoever. After all, wizards are also humans, just slightly special, but haven't escaped the category of humans."
*Death can be prevented? Is it similar to splinching damage when learning Apparition?* The first thing Ethan thought of was this kind of splinching damage.
At that time, a girl left half an arm behind out of fear. Blood splattered everywhere, making the others even more afraid.
But that arm, left behind, was reattached and healed completely after treatment with spells and potions, leaving no scars at all.
Cyril nodded. "Correct. Even if the head is separated from the body, as long as it can be reconnected within a short time, one can survive. But if it takes too long and the blood in the body drains dry without treatment, then the wizard is truly dead."
He pointed his wand, and the cloth strip was untied from Loup's mouth. Wailing came from his mouth, filling the somewhat empty basement.
Cyril didn't speak. He listened quietly to Loup's screams for a while, then said slowly, "Alright, stop howling. Worry about what kind of punishment you will receive next."
Loup stopped screaming. He said indignantly, "Who exactly are you? How did I offend you?"
Cyril sneered. "Twelve years ago, what did your Vulture Club do in England? Remember now?"
"I remember, I remember. Spare me, I didn't do that." Although Loup said this, judging from his eyes, he hadn't remembered what he had done at all.
Cyril became even angrier. "Hmph, looks like you don't remember. Fine, I'll let you slowly think about why you died in the world of the dead after death."
Cyril pointed his wand at the red-hot branding iron. It flew up and stamped onto Loup's stomach, burning through his clothes and leaving a scorch mark on his body.
The smell of burning flesh filled the basement. Ethan felt the urge to vomit; he covered his mouth, making retching sounds.
"I forgot you were still here." Cyril, overcome with emotion, had inadvertently used all the means intended for psychological pressure. Hearing the retching sound, he remembered Ethan was there.
"You got off easy!"
A green light flashed. Loup's eyes widened, and he stopped breathing.
Seeing someone killed right in front of him for the first time, Ethan couldn't bear to look at Loup's corpse.
"Child, consider this a lesson I'm giving you. In the wizarding world, death is very common. You have to get used to it. Especially when the Shafiq family soon has only you left, you will face all kinds of challenges."
Cyril led Ethan upstairs and called Lala down to clean up Loup's body.
That night, Ethan kept having nightmares, dreaming of the dead Loup rushing toward him with bared fangs and claws, desperate to fight him.
No matter how he explained in the dream, Loup wouldn't listen and continued to trouble him.
Finally, in a fit of anger, Ethan became ruthless in the dream too. Raging hellfire ignited on his body, burning Loup into a pile of ash.
When he woke up from the dream smelling something burnt, the exquisitely carved wooden bed already had a small hole burned into it.
"Sigh, really." Ethan, no longer sleepy, looked at the still-smoking wooden bed, turned on the light, and stared blankly in a daze.
Seeing someone killed in front of him for the first time had a significant impact on Ethan.
He thought a lot about death, about life, about existence, and also about Satan.
He understood the meaning of Cyril's action, but he found it somewhat hard to accept for the moment.
Indeed, as Cyril said, death had never been an avoidable issue in the wizarding world. Magic itself was very dangerous.
Various offensive spells and magical creatures could easily take a person's life.
Even at school, Myrtle was killed by a basilisk, let alone the diverse wizards one might encounter after stepping into society.
Did a significant portion of the various stolen goods sold in Knockturn Alley, which opened behind Diagon Alley, come from murder and robbery?
Finally, Ethan seemed to figure something out, yet it felt like nothing had changed.
Scratching his head, he grabbed a pillow, tiptoed to the living room, lay down on the sofa, and continued to sleep.
Cyril had actually heard the noise from Ethan's room very early. Lying in bed with his eyes open, he wondered if Ethan, who had never experienced these things, could accept his actions.
Hearing Ethan open the door, he resisted the urge to go out and check. Only after the sound had stopped for a good while did he quietly open his door, tiptoe downstairs, and see Ethan sleeping on the sofa.
Cyril felt a temporary sense of relief. He knew his grandson had always lived in the Muggle world, free from worry, and had never experienced anything like this. He was afraid he had scared him. He had been worrying and hadn't slept at all.
Looking at the peacefully sleeping boy, Cyril breathed a sigh of relief and went back to his room to sleep.
The next morning, waking up on the sofa, Ethan caught the aroma of breakfast filling the air. After washing up quickly, he sat down at the dining table.
Looking at Cyril coming down the stairs, Ethan said, "Grandpa, I accidentally burned a hole in the bed in my room last night. I plan to change rooms to sleep."
Cyril agreed readily, asking with a double meaning, "No problem. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just burned the bed." Ethan naturally knew Cyril wasn't just asking about being burned by the fire, but more about his psychological state, so he answered, pretending to be relaxed.
"Alright, after eating, I'll teach you to practice the Patronus Charm." Cyril drank his oatmeal.
"Okay."
After the meal, in the basement.
Lala had already piled up the torture instruments in a corner, leaving a large open space for Cyril to teach Ethan spells.
Cyril stood opposite Ethan. "Do you know about the Patronus Charm?"
"I've looked up the information and know a bit. The Patronus Charm is a very profound spell; generally, wizards cannot use such advanced magic. Usually, the Patronus Charm is used to drive away Lethifolds and Dementors, and it is the only known defensive method against these creatures. To successfully use this magic, one must concentrate and recall the happiest memory; the deeper and stronger the happy memory, the more powerful the spell's effect."
When Cyril said he wanted to teach him the Patronus Charm, Ethan understood his intention. Cyril wanted him to use the opportunity of learning the spell to recall happy memories and lessen the discomfort caused by witnessing death the night before.
"Well said. Back in Dumbledore's office, I didn't fully explain the family bloodline's influence on the Patronus. Previously, I told you that under the influence of the family bloodline, our Patronuses are mainly snakes and dragon-like lizards, but in reality, over the family's thousand-year history, many people's Patronus was a magical creature, like a dragon."
"Expecto Patronum!" Cyril drew a circle with his wand and recited the incantation.
A silvery-white dragon, over four meters long, flew out from the tip of his wand, flew around the basement and hovered in the middle.
"Swedish Short-Snout?" Although the Patronus lacked the Short-Snout's distinctive silvery-blue scales, Ethan recognized the dragon species at a glance.
"Correct, it is a Swedish Short-Snout." Cyril nodded. "But under normal circumstances, I would hide the Patronus's form, like this."
The dragon Patronus disappeared from the basement. Cyril waved his wand again, and a silvery-white mist sprayed from the tip.
"If you don't want your Patronus form to be discovered, you can also do this. However, the defensive power of this form is much weaker than a corporeal one, but in most cases, it is sufficient."
He retracted the mist. "In addition, this spell is often used to judge whether a wizard is a dark wizard. The vast majority who can cast this spell aren't dark wizards, but there are exceptions, so it can only be used as a reference."
Ethan nodded in understanding. He had indeed heard of this issue before. Some dark wizards, after using the Patronus Charm, suffered backlash from the spell, resulting in minor injuries or even death.
"You try it," Cyril said after teaching him the wand movement and pronunciation of the incantation.
"Okay." After practicing a few times, Ethan became familiar with the spell.
He extended his arm forward, drawing a circle in the air while reciting the incantation.
"Expecto Patronum!" He called upon the memory he felt was happiest and most joyful.
Nothing happened on the first attempt.
Cyril encouraged, "Technique and incantation are correct. Try mobilizing other memories."
Ethan nodded and closed his eyes.
He had just recalled the memory of entering Hogwarts. It seemed this memory couldn't count as his happiest, or perhaps using this memory wasn't as useful as he had imagined for casting the Patronus Charm.
He tried his best to think of happy memories. Suddenly he opened his eyes, waved his wand, and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"
A large patch of silvery-white mist issued from his wand tip. The faint silver light illuminated a small area of the dim basement before him.
"Clap clap!" Cyril applauded vigorously. "Very good, Ethan. Try a few more times, and a corporeal Patronus should appear."
"Mm." Ethan nodded heavily.
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