Order Only Private message to Mr Snape, Draco, Justin, Ron, Sally Anne, and Hermione

[alt_hydra]

I guess my conversation with Mummy yesterday must have worked, in a fashion.

She sent me an Owl this morning. You can imagine that it wasn't kindly worded, but the gist was that if I am not clever enough to design my own curses, she will give me a place to start (this way if I succeed she will still feel as if she's won, see).

What she told me is that Black's Curse has three incantation words and three distinct wand movements. The last of the three words, and the last of the three movements, are variable - probably this is how the curse is adjusted for on-set and duration.

She also provided me with one of the incantation words, and one of the movements.

The incantation is morior.

The movement is sharp upper thrust from the inside low-line, wrist pronated, wand point higher than the hand.

I'm telling you lot because as far as I know you have the best knowledge of the Dark Arts. Hermione, I know you might not have much to do with the Dark Arts, but you're very clever so including you seemed clever, too.

I don't need to tell you that this spell is incredibly dark and dangerous. We'll all need to be careful. Moreso than usual, even.

Comments

[alt_hermione]

Well, that's not much to go on, is it, but it is something, anyway.

There are a number of spells with a similar upward thrust, though. 'Point me' comes to mind, and Protego, but neither of them seem in the same class as this, nor do they have to originate so low on the body.

Did she say whether morior is the first or the second word? I think it almost has to be the second but there might be reasons for it to be the first.

[alt_draco]

Do you think that wand movement must be the opening move? It's so aggressive that I can't imagine it being anything but.

[alt_severus]

It does echo the opening wand movements of several very powerful curses, mostly involving the body's systems. There's an organ liquidation curse that begins with upper thrust from the outside low-line, for instance.

I wonder if the second wand movement involves the temporal binding, and the third then modifies it.

[alt_justin]

Draco,

Yes, I think it must be. Which means the next motion is likely a downsweep of some sort, what. Not that that narrows things down much. Right or left? Across the body or to the outside?

The effect includes exsanguination, doesn't it? I wonder if it's in any way similar to the spells profiled in al-Muquarrah's Studies in Visceral Power. Grimmauld's library might well have a copy in translation, what; I've heard Professor Dolohov mutter more than once that he regrets losing access to the books you've got there.

-Justin

[alt_hydra]

Just to say, I don't think we can assume the other incantation words are necessarily Latin in origin.

She also modified the curse not long back so that it would work on metamorophigi, animagi, etc. So that's another aspect to consider.

[alt_draco]

Yes, just found it. It's on a high shelf along with the other really dark texts.

Tried to pull it down, but I came over ill. Do you know what kind of handling it requires? Dragonhide gloves or other protection. Or, might it be one of those books that can only be read during daylight hours?

[alt_justin]

I should think gloves would be a wise precaution.

I'm not certain about whether it's only safe to read during the day. Professor Dolohov's only given me sections and secondary works on the volume, not the actual book.

One measure I have gleaned from those, what, is to read it in very small increments. I should say not more than a few pages at a stretch.

I'm jolly well certain it shan't react well to trying to use magic on it, either.

-Justin

[alt_severus]

I will come down and take a look at it, but from the title I suspect you may also wish to wash your hands with water that has been boiled and cooled before donning the gloves.

[alt_sally_anne]

There's a particular spell you're supposed to cast on yourself before you handle it. Does the Grimmauld library have 'On Protection' by Kamar ad-Din?

[alt_sally_anne]

Gloves might also work but I definitely agree with the purified water (and you'll want to use it again after you handle it. Actually before you get started you should boil some rosemary, that'll strengthen its cleansing properties. Fresh rosemary, if you have it, but dried is better than nothing.)

[alt_justin]

Hydra,

Are you meeting your taskmaster today? If not, we could use the salle and work on possible combinations using the first clues.

-Justin

[alt_sally_anne]

I was thinking about this last night and I assume you'll already be thinking about Arabic, given the suggestion of looking up al-Muquarrah, but there's also a classic Persian text that in translation is called 'The Destructive Principle.' People tend not to think about Persian wizards as a source for dark spells, because the Dark Arts for so many centuries there were incredibly taboo, and that one secret school produced stuff that was exceedingly Dark. Dark just for the sake of being dark, if that makes sense. Anyway, the secret school that did the Dark scholarship was not very large AND the spells they produced were generally not all that useful so unless you're a serious scholar of Dark Arts like Dolohov (or Sandoval) you'll probably just skip their work. 'The Destructive Principle' was a collection of essays, theories, and spells put together by that school of Dark Arts -- it has lots of different authors, and some of what they knew they only passed along verbally, so it's also a bit maddening to try to read since they'll make references to things you have no way of knowing.

Anyway -- Professor Dolohov has a copy of 'The Destructive Principle,' of course -- two, actually, one in Persian and one in English. (Actually, I think he also has a copy that was translated into some other language. I can't remember which.) But, if Hydra wants to look at it, she'll have to ask him herself, because the proper owner has to do a rite just to lend it out, and if the borrower passes it along to anyone else it could kill the next reader, or at least hurt them really badly. So, having Justin borrow it and pass it along definitely would not work.

And of course this might not even be relevant. But a book of Dark spells and scholarship by a whole load of people who wanted to study Dark Arts just for the sake of coming up with the evillest stuff possible is at least the sort of thing Bellatrix would've wanted a look at at some point.

[alt_draco]

Yeah, I know the spell you mean, but it seems that won't be sufficient for a book like this. We're able to handle it now, but only for small increments at a time. It's alright, we're taking turns with it.

[alt_hydra]

Not today. Monday, I think. So we could meet if you like.

[alt_justin]

All right. I'm just finishing an essay for Ancient Runes and can meet you at three o'clock.

-J

[alt_ron]

So I've been thinking about this. There's a pair of really old spells that I guess nobody can decide now if they were Celtish or Pictish, but they go, y'know, that far back. When the Norse and the Saxons were invading, and all. One of them, the name comes out to something about turning ravens red, if you translate it. Anywiz, the one's an entrail expelling curse, and the other liquifies them.

Does she think much of indigenous magic?

The wand movements on both of those have got an element that loops around, to throw the curse so it swirls around and enters all ways at once. There was a drawing of the motion, I remember, and it's based on knotwork, the swirl pattern. Anywiz, the thing is, if that's the sort of motion for the other element of her curse, that could be first element and the upward slash could come second to give it force, y'know? Or it could be the other way round with the slash first followed by the rounding manoeuvre, but the other way felt more natural to me. (Which means nothing because what feels natural to me is probably not the same for her. And, also, 'natural' isn't the point.)

Yeah. That's all I've got so far.