#562 - Experiment (asking for monthly ticket recommendation)

“I didn't say I was going to do anything to you. Why are you so nervous?”

Anduin knew how to reward and punish his subordinates. Although Karkaroff had always been very cowardly, he had been conscientious in helping him with his affairs. He was just joking with him before, but why did this guy take it so seriously?

How can I not be nervous? Take a look at how scary this group of wizards around you are. Karkaroff's cold sweat still hadn't subsided. “Sorry, sir, I didn’t understand your meaning. What do you mean by helping you with experiments…?”

“It's nothing, I just want you to help me cast a spell.” Anduin grinned. “As the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Durmstrang, your dark magic should be pretty good, right? Are you proficient in using the Unforgivable Curses?”

“The Unforgivable Curses?” Karkaroff was a little confused by Anduin's question. “Which spell are you referring to? The three Unforgivable Curses are not difficult. The most important thing is a strong determination, otherwise the magical effect will not be very good. But with your strength, it should be no problem to use these spells.”

Anduin shook his head slightly when he heard this. “The Unforgivable Curses are indeed not difficult for me, but using them will have a negative impact on the caster's emotions. I don't like that feeling of losing control.”

In fact, a long time ago, Anduin had tried to practice the Unforgivable Curses. However, compared to other dark magic, the reason why the three Unforgivable Curses are defined as 'Unforgivable' is not only because they have no counter-curse, but also because their core basic runes are the most profound [Soul] magic runes.

Therefore, during the casting process, it will directly affect the caster's soul and amplify the dark side of the caster's heart. Moreover, this influence is mostly long-term and stubborn, just like using contraband, it is very difficult to correct. Using it too much will even permanently change a person's character.

The Imperius Curse is okay, it will only make the possessiveness in people's hearts continue to rise. If the Killing Curse is used frequently, it will make people addicted to killing. The Cruciatus Curse will amplify the desire to destroy and torture people.

Therefore, although Anduin has a deep research on rune magic, he is unwilling to use the Unforgivable Curses. He cannot accept the negative effects of his mind being distorted.

After saying that, he slowly moved to Otis Axley with Karkaroff. “You should be able to use the Cruciatus Curse proficiently, right? Next, I need you to continuously cast the curse on him until I tell you to stop!”

Continuously cast the Cruciatus Curse on Otis?

Karkaroff couldn't help but shudder after hearing this. What? Does Otis owe Anduin a lot of money? Why does the adult hate him so much? How big of an hatred is this!

Otis, who was still awake at this time, couldn't help but widen his eyes. He had never seen this young wizard before. Why is he being so cruel to him?

The more Otis thought about it, the more confused he became. He couldn't help but want to reason with the two people in front of him, but Anduin obviously didn't want to listen to these prisoners. The alchemical mask that bound his mouth was very effective. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make a sound.

“Hurry up, don't waste time!” Anduin ignored Otis's expression and kept urging Karkaroff.

“Oh! Yes!” Although he didn't understand Anduin's intention, Karkaroff honestly responded, and then glanced at Otis rather helplessly.

Otis, don't blame me! I'm also forced to do this, and you couldn't wait to dismember me into eight pieces when you saw me before. I'm not sorry for you, Karkaroff muttered to himself, then gritted his teeth and took out his wand to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Otis.

“Crucio!”

“Ugh!”

Bearing the heart-wrenching pain brought to him by the Cruciatus Curse, Otis's brain suddenly went blank, and he kept wailing under the instinctual trend. Perhaps because of the extreme pain, his howling even penetrated the alchemical mask that could block the sound, and a weak groan came out.

After starting to cast the curse, Karkaroff had been paying attention to Anduin. He didn't know how long his Cruciatus Curse should last.

However, after maintaining the curse for more than ten seconds, Anduin still didn't react, just staring at Otis with a calm face.

At the same time, no matter how hideous the other party's expression was at this time, Anduin's eyes still didn't reveal any emotion, as if the person in front of him was not a human, but a dispensable white mouse.

Noticing Anduin's reaction, Karkaroff suddenly felt a tingling scalp, as if he was the one hit by the Cruciatus Curse.

How cold-blooded does a person have to be to be so indifferent to this scene? Does this Otis guy really hate the adult so much?

However, Anduin had no intention to pay attention to Karkaroff and Otis's feelings at this time. He was just quietly observing the state of the 'experimental material'.

“Stop!”

Finally, after more than thirty seconds of continuous casting, Anduin called Karkaroff to stop.

At this time, Karkaroff's expression had become extremely hideous. The influence of the Unforgivable Curse was not a joke. Now his brain was full of violent emotions.

“Continue casting the curse!”

But before Karkaroff could breathe a sigh of relief, Anduin checked Otis and said to him again.

“Ah? Continue? I've already tortured him for dozens of seconds. If I continue, he might become an idiot on the spot!” Under the influence of the Cruciatus Curse, Karkaroff roared at Anduin with a ferocious face and a slightly irritable tone.

“Stop talking nonsense! I want to turn him into an idiot!”

After Anduin said that, he glared at Karkaroff coldly, and his cold eyes immediately made Karkaroff a lot more sober. Then he hurriedly picked up his wand again and cast the Cruciatus Curse.

Next, Anduin, Karkaroff, and Otis kept repeating similar processes. Anduin was in charge of commanding, Karkaroff was in charge of casting the curse, and Otis was more unlucky. He was in charge of screaming, of course, the most tragic thing was that his screams couldn't even be heard.

After two more stops, Anduin seemed to finally get what he wanted. He opened Otis's dull eyes and stared at each other to observe something.

“Well, the symptoms of test subject No. 1 are basically the same, basically meeting the standards of experimental material. The duration of enduring the Cruciatus Curse is 1 minute and 26 seconds. I don’t know if there are any individual differences.” Anduin nodded in satisfaction looking at Otis.

Then he looked at Karkaroff, “Let’s stop with this material, next is the next one.”

After saying that, he pointed to the older of the Carrow siblings, “This time the receptor is him, you directly cast the curse for 1 minute and 20 seconds, and then I’ll see the situation.”

“Ah? Again?” Karkaroff widened his eyes when he heard this. Although he was panting, he couldn't help but ask.

“Nonsense, how can it be enough to make only one experimental material? We have to make at least 5 copies today.” Anduin glanced at Karkaroff coldly. “You can’t be tired, right? It’s okay, I have nourishing potions here that can help you replenish your magic power.”

“No…this…I…” Although Karkaroff had a lot of words to complain about in his heart, he still helplessly pointed his wand at Amicus Carrow, who had a terrified expression, after seeing Anduin's resolute expression.

In the next period of time, Karkaroff felt what real torture was. This was not only torturing others with the Cruciatus Curse, but also a torment for himself. Continuous casting was not a simple thing, not to mention that it was still the extremely consuming Unforgivable Curse.

At the same time, the negative impact of the Cruciatus Curse on him was also constantly increasing. Later, Karkaroff's expression could no longer return to calm. His face always involuntarily became ferocious, looking very creepy.

After Anduin noticed this, he thoughtfully gave him some potions, including the 'Cheering Charm' to restore his mood and the 'Calming Draught' to calm his emotions.

However, casting the Cruciatus Curse for a long time still made Karkaroff feel like he was on fire. Even later, he could gain pleasure from torturing others, which made him feel worried. He didn't want to become a monster dominated by violent emotions.

Fortunately, Anduin was not a real devil. After confirming that he had made 5 experimental materials, he asked Karkaroff to rest aside, and gave him several bottles of potions as if he didn't need money, which slowly restored his state.

The reason why Anduin took so much trouble to let Karkaroff torture these prisoners was not because he was a pervert who wanted to torture people for no reason.

The reason for doing this was because he was preparing to try to treat the Longbottoms' illness, or rather, he was preparing for it.

The Longbottoms did not suffer from ordinary amnesia, but from the side effects of being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse for a long time. Amnesia is more like a self-protection mechanism to avoid being hurt by recalling the pain of being tortured by the Cruciatus Curse.

If you want to treat this disease, you need to understand the details of this disease. Since you want to understand it, you naturally need similar research materials. The only two remaining cases in the wizarding world are the Longbottoms, but Anduin cannot use them for research himself, so he can only make similar materials on the spot for research and experimentation.

After all, Anduin doesn't think he is a peerless genius who can find a treatment method once. He always has to go through continuous attempts before he can find a method to treat or alleviate this sequelae.

He didn't want to do this kind of experiment before, but there were not many materials that would allow him to use the Cruciatus Curse without any burden. Only these prisoners met the requirements very well.