Unforgivable Curses ((One-shot sock))
Finding rats in the castle hadn't been tricky. There were plenty of rats in both the figurative and literal sense, and it had been the latter Bond was after. A few traps and some patience had yielded three animals, and now he was taking his captives down to to the forest, outside of the castle grounds.
His studies at Hogwarts had been focused and determined. Things Astronomy, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures had been completely ignored in favor of more practical subjects, such as Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. The most promising spells were in the last subject.
Bond had found other areas of interest, avenues of study that he'd have to pursue later. The arts of Occlumency and Legilimency held promise, but he'd quickly run into a roadblock. There was nobody at Hogwarts he could practice with and trust with any secrets that might come out. Occlumency was defensive in nature, and he'd found more information about it than the spell it defended against. Even without someone to test his skills, Bond practiced the exercises he'd found to clear the mind of thought and emotion.
Then again, he'd always excelled at being emotionless.
He ignored the squeaking of the rats as he waded through some dense underbrush. Once out of sight of the castle, Bond had pulled his gun out and kept it ready. Even within the limits of the no-kill spell, a well-placed bullet could stop or slow down most of the dangers of the forest, or so he hoped. His now defunct cell phone now had a new purpose. When he was deep enough in the forest, the screen came back to life. Assuming that the magic limiting technology had the same range as the spell preventing death, he set the cage down in a clearing.
Bond pulled on some gloves before reaching in to the cage. It wouldn't do to risk rat bites. He held one firmly by the nape of the neck with his right hand, and he picked up his wand with his left. He'd decided that if he'd ever need to shoot and cast spells at the same time, he'd keep the gun in his right. Carefully setting the rat down, he cast the first of three spells that he needed to practice.
"Imperio." The rat froze. He made it run in a figure eight, first forward, then backward. Satisfied with the result, he released the rat. A very useful spell, but Bond wasn't willing to risk the punishment if he could get what he wanted with his usual means of subterfuge and seduction.
He left that rat for a fresh subject. Crucio was the next spell to learn, though he did not relish it. Bond had plenty of blood on his hands, but he made clean kills when he could. He would argue that it was not his job to cause pain unless ordered.
The rat screamed. That was the only way to describe it. It was a cry of anguish and terror from a tiny animal, and Bond ended the spell quickly.
One left, and this was the spell he was most interested in. The last spell had felt tainted to use, but he had no qualms about the Killing Curse. He saw it as a weapon, the magical equivalent of his Walther. Bond had a license to kill in the line of duty. Now he had one more way of doing it.
"Avada Kedavra."
The last rat collapsed with a squeak and a flash of green light. Bond waited for a few heartbeats, then prodded the animals with the tip of his wand. It flopped lifelessly, so he picked it up to examine it. The rat's corpse had no marks or signs of trauma. No broken bones or blood, but that didn't rule out some sort of internal damage. He doubted there would be any, though.
So that was how they were doing it. There had been mysterious Muggle deaths, with corpses that seemed untouched in every way. The wizards had a way to kill without leaving a mark, and now it was another skill in Bonds repertoire. The thought crossed his mind that if the wizards had their own Ministry, somewhere in there might be a section that mirrored the Double-0s, those tasked with killing for the common good.
He set down the dead rat and gathered up the cage. The victim of the Imperius Curse had run off long ago, but the rat who had been subjected to Crucio was still curled up in a twitching ball. Bond stopped what he was doing and deliberated. The rat would recover, but how long would that take? It was a testament to the power of the spell that the animal was still paralyzed with remembered pain. Left alone, it would be defenseless against anything that wanted rats for breakfast, and it was clearly still suffering. With the cage under his arm, James made up his mind and stood up.
His heel came down sharply, with his full weight behind it and killing the rat with one swift blow. It was a quick death, and better than any it would have gotten had he left it alone. He wiped the blood off his shoe and started the walk back up to the castle. He didn't give a second thought to the two dead animals he left behind.
His studies at Hogwarts had been focused and determined. Things Astronomy, Herbology, and Care of Magical Creatures had been completely ignored in favor of more practical subjects, such as Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. The most promising spells were in the last subject.
Bond had found other areas of interest, avenues of study that he'd have to pursue later. The arts of Occlumency and Legilimency held promise, but he'd quickly run into a roadblock. There was nobody at Hogwarts he could practice with and trust with any secrets that might come out. Occlumency was defensive in nature, and he'd found more information about it than the spell it defended against. Even without someone to test his skills, Bond practiced the exercises he'd found to clear the mind of thought and emotion.
Then again, he'd always excelled at being emotionless.
He ignored the squeaking of the rats as he waded through some dense underbrush. Once out of sight of the castle, Bond had pulled his gun out and kept it ready. Even within the limits of the no-kill spell, a well-placed bullet could stop or slow down most of the dangers of the forest, or so he hoped. His now defunct cell phone now had a new purpose. When he was deep enough in the forest, the screen came back to life. Assuming that the magic limiting technology had the same range as the spell preventing death, he set the cage down in a clearing.
Bond pulled on some gloves before reaching in to the cage. It wouldn't do to risk rat bites. He held one firmly by the nape of the neck with his right hand, and he picked up his wand with his left. He'd decided that if he'd ever need to shoot and cast spells at the same time, he'd keep the gun in his right. Carefully setting the rat down, he cast the first of three spells that he needed to practice.
"Imperio." The rat froze. He made it run in a figure eight, first forward, then backward. Satisfied with the result, he released the rat. A very useful spell, but Bond wasn't willing to risk the punishment if he could get what he wanted with his usual means of subterfuge and seduction.
He left that rat for a fresh subject. Crucio was the next spell to learn, though he did not relish it. Bond had plenty of blood on his hands, but he made clean kills when he could. He would argue that it was not his job to cause pain unless ordered.
The rat screamed. That was the only way to describe it. It was a cry of anguish and terror from a tiny animal, and Bond ended the spell quickly.
One left, and this was the spell he was most interested in. The last spell had felt tainted to use, but he had no qualms about the Killing Curse. He saw it as a weapon, the magical equivalent of his Walther. Bond had a license to kill in the line of duty. Now he had one more way of doing it.
"Avada Kedavra."
The last rat collapsed with a squeak and a flash of green light. Bond waited for a few heartbeats, then prodded the animals with the tip of his wand. It flopped lifelessly, so he picked it up to examine it. The rat's corpse had no marks or signs of trauma. No broken bones or blood, but that didn't rule out some sort of internal damage. He doubted there would be any, though.
So that was how they were doing it. There had been mysterious Muggle deaths, with corpses that seemed untouched in every way. The wizards had a way to kill without leaving a mark, and now it was another skill in Bonds repertoire. The thought crossed his mind that if the wizards had their own Ministry, somewhere in there might be a section that mirrored the Double-0s, those tasked with killing for the common good.
He set down the dead rat and gathered up the cage. The victim of the Imperius Curse had run off long ago, but the rat who had been subjected to Crucio was still curled up in a twitching ball. Bond stopped what he was doing and deliberated. The rat would recover, but how long would that take? It was a testament to the power of the spell that the animal was still paralyzed with remembered pain. Left alone, it would be defenseless against anything that wanted rats for breakfast, and it was clearly still suffering. With the cage under his arm, James made up his mind and stood up.
His heel came down sharply, with his full weight behind it and killing the rat with one swift blow. It was a quick death, and better than any it would have gotten had he left it alone. He wiped the blood off his shoe and started the walk back up to the castle. He didn't give a second thought to the two dead animals he left behind.