"Power is not a means; it is an end... The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power." — George Orwell, 1984
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Warning! Dark Spells and their description below. Refrain from reading the list of spells under Regulus Black if you do not want to read about torture. Thank you.
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Charlus, Hestia, and Emma were facing Regulus in combat.
They had formed a diamond-shaped formation to confront him: Hestia to the left, Emma to the right, and Charlus taking the point in the front.
Charlus started with an explosive curse.
"Bombarda!"
The spell slammed into Regulus's Protego shield but failed to crack it.
Emma followed up instantly.
"Colloshoo!"
She aimed at Regulus's feet, intending to stick his shoes to the ground and restrict his movement.
Regulus deflected the spell with a lazy flick of his wand and countered with a Stunning Spell. The red jet of light hit Hestia square in the chest just as she was preparing her own curse. She crumpled backwards, unconscious before she hit the dirt.
"Expelliarmus!"
Regulus fired the Disarming Charm at both Charlus and Emma in rapid succession. Their wands flew out of their hands and were caught by Regulus's free hand.
But Charlus and Emma did not end the duel there.
With practiced synchronicity, they drew throwing knives from sheaths on their backs and hurled them at Regulus.
Regulus dropped the captured wands and drew his sword in a blur of motion.
Cling! Cling! Cling!
He blocked the projectiles with precise, fluid movements of the blade. Then, he retaliated. He threw two of his own daggers. One grazed Charlus's cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. The other landed an inch from Emma's foot, burying itself deep in the earth.
Regulus shook his head, sheathing his sword.
"With this efficiency, you guys wouldn't survive a wizard at all. We have exactly five days to improve ourselves."
Charlus, Emma, and a now-revived Hestia agreed with him. Their pride was hurt, but they couldn't deny the truth: they couldn't even put up a decent fight against Regulus in a 3-on-1 sparring match.
Over the past few months, they had tried to fix their weaknesses to become well-rounded fighters. But as the saying goes: A jack of all trades is a master of none.
Thus, they decided that for the remaining five days, they would focus exclusively on their core strengths. To survive, they needed to be specialists.
Hestia: Poison & Transfiguration.
Charlus: Dark Magic & Curses.
Emma: Herbology & Charms.
Regulus: Legilimency & Dark Magic.
They all had to be battle-ready to face a rogue wizard who wouldn't hesitate to kill.
…
Hestia collected the most potent poisons she could find—toxins strong enough to melt through a standard Protego shield.
She developed a deadly combination: using Aguamenti to conjure water, then instantly transmuting the stream into acid or liquid poison. It wouldn't just drown the opponent; it would corrode them in seconds. She practiced this combination three hundred times in three days until she could cast it instinctively.
She then focused on transfiguring the terrain. She learned to summon long spikes from the ground to impale targets from below. To test her accuracy, she hung a small insect from a tree branch at chest height. She transfigured the ground to pierce the insect precisely from all 360 degrees. The poor bug was impaled again and again until it was nothing more than a speck of dust.
By the end of the training, she had mastered her lethal style.
Charlus focused on raw destruction.
He trained to control Fiendfyre. At first, he lost control multiple times, nearly burning down their campsite. Regulus and the others had to step in repeatedly to extinguish the cursed flames before they caused permanent damage.
By the end of the third day, he learned to leash the beast. By the fourth day, he could precisely direct the fire to a target, disintegrating it into ash in seconds. It was a terrifying weapon against shield charms. By the fifth day, he was battle-ready.
Emma, proficient in Herbology, brewed potent poisons and life-saving antidotes. If anyone in the group got hurt—or if anyone tried to hurt them—they would see the true face of her abilities.
She finished preparing her arsenal of potions in a day, then spent four days training in Charms and dart throwing. She focused on restraint magic rather than direct damage. Her strategy was simple: bind the opponent, then hit them with a poison dart to end the fight instantly.
Her aim became lethal. She could pin a bug to a tree from fifteen feet away. Hitting a human-sized target from a hundred feet would be child's play.
Regulus focused on the mind and the Dark Arts.
Practicing Legilimency by himself, he discovered a unique trait. Because he had ingested litres of the Glumbuble treacle, his mind now carried the property of Melancholy.
When he used Legilimency on an opponent, it didn't just read their thoughts—it induced profound, crippling sorrow. It sapped their will to fight. Unless they possessed Occlumency shields stronger than his mental attack, they would lose the will to even defend themselves. If he penetrated their mind for even a second, they were at his mercy until he chose to leave.
Alongside this, he delved into the Black Family Grimoire—spells he had memorised from the tomes at Grimmauld Place before leaving for school. Some books were too deadly to touch, but the 'standard' Dark Arts books contained spells useful for battle.
He mastered ten high-level curses in five days:
Viscus Expulso (VISS-kus ex-PUL-so): A spell that creates a brutal, purple flash of light that hits the victim's abdomen. It literally teleports or violently forces the internal organs outside the body. It does not kill instantly but makes the opponent writhe in pain from extracting the affected internal organ. But they will die if the organ is damaged when present outside.
Costringo Umbra (coss-TRING-go UHM-bra): This spell should be aimed at the wizard's shadow instead of the wizard. A black, nail-like spike of energy slams into the victim's shadow on the floor. The victim is instantly paralyzed, frozen in whatever pose they were in, as if their physical body is anchored to the darkness. The opponent is at the mercy of whatever the person can do to him.
Sanguis Fervor (SAN-gwis FER-vor): No visible beam. The wand tip glows a dull, angry red. The victim's blood temperature spikes rapidly. Their skin flushes bright red, steam rises from their ears and eyes, and they collapse screaming as their veins feel like they are filled with molten lead. A torture curse that leaves no external marks or scars.
Ossis Fragilis (OSS-iss frah-JILL-iss): A pale, yellow beam. It doesn't just break a bone; it turns a specific bone (like the femur or humerus) into powder inside the skin. The limb instantly becomes like rubber, useless and agonisingly painful. Used to disable an opponent's wand arm permanently during a duel.
Mortis Frigus (MOR-tiss FREE-gus): A blast of grey, misty energy. It induces instantaneous, severe hypothermia. Frost forms on the victim's eyelashes and lips within seconds. Their movements slow to a crawl, and their mind becomes sluggish, making them unable to cast spells properly. To slow down faster opponents (like Aurors).
Lacerum Retia (lah-SEER-um REH-tee-ah): Invisible cords wrap around the target. The victim feels nothing if they stand still. But if they move even an inch, the invisible "wires" dig into their skin, causing deep, ribbon-like cuts. The more they struggle, the more they are flayed. Psychological warfare. It forces the enemy to choose between staying still (and getting hit) or moving (and bleeding).
Tabes (TAH-bays): A jet of brownish-green light. Wherever it hits (e.g., a hand or foot), the flesh instantly turns black, shriveled, and dead, looking like it has been dead for a month. It kills the nerve endings immediately (so it's painless), but the limb is lost forever. A permanent disarming tactic. If you hit their hand, they can never hold a wand again.
Spiritus Clausus (SPEAR-ee-tus CLAW-sus): A transparent, oily film wraps around the victim's head. It is an airtight vacuum. No sound can get out, and no air can get in. The victim claws at their own throat, silently gasping, while the caster watches. Assassination or quiet takedowns.
Dolor Speculo (DOH-lor SPEK-yoo-loh): A defensive dark spell. It appears as a shimmering, obsidian shield. It does not block spells. Instead, any physical pain the caster feels is instantly transferred to the attacker. If the attacker punches the caster, the attacker's hand breaks.
Lingua Venenum (LING-gwah veh-NAY-num): A jet of acidic green liquid sprays from the wand. It acts as a contact neurotoxin. It doesn't kill, but it causes total sensory overload—blindness, deafness, and the taste of ash—for about ten minutes. The victim is left reeling and vomiting, completely defenseless. To humiliate and incapacitate without killing.
These spells were considered "basic", accessible Dark Magic for children of the House of Black, dangerous but not permanently corrupting to the caster's soul if used sparingly.
However, using them tainted the magical aura. When Regulus's aura turned from pale white to grey, he would stop practicing and cast his Patronus—the Nundu—to clear away the darkness before resuming. This prevented him from going insane while becoming battle-ready.
He advised Charlus to do the same to manage the corruption from Fiendfyre. He monitored the aura of everyone in the group, ensuring they didn't lose themselves to the magic they were wielding.
…
After five days of grueling preparation, everyone stood facing each other.
Emma had prepared her antidotes. Charlus had leashed his fire. Hestia had sharpened her spikes. And Regulus had unlocked the darkness of his heritage.
The Battle of Four was about to begin.