The following days Allen continued to look at Professor Baker more intently. The sickening tentacle-like figure surrounding her Energy dantian began to take form on William's birthday. At least he thought so, since it was his first time seeing it, and it also seemed to be forming when she came over to celebrate his cousin's birthday.
After that, the purple-like tentacle began to wrap around her dantian more and more. The more days passed, the more it looked like it materialized bit by bit.
It scared him to think what would happen if the tentacle penetrated her dantian. Would that be irreversible damage? Would it make her magic go haywire so she can't teach anymore?
He remembers talks about previous teachers in the position having died, though he didn't confirm the rumours and it was all hearsay to him since he knew the curse was real. Since Tom left it behind the last time he came to ask for the position as professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
When he last looked at his professor in the Great Hall at breakfast, the tentacle-like light already encroached most of her dantian. The more he tried to look for where the tentacle came from, the less he could see.
For some reason, whenever he tried to follow where it came from, it disappeared from his sight or went through multiple walls and doors, leaving him no option but to take a detour, missing it completely after running around trying to see where it was coming from.
Honestly, Allen was quite shocked, it almost seemed to be like the curse had a mind of its own and knew he was looking at it, therefore, tried to hide as much as possible from him, taking detours where it was impossible for him to go through or even disappearing from his sight the farther he went.
"Aargh!" He scratched his head out of frustration. He had been following the tentacle for a bit before it disappeared on the sixth floor.
'Are you for real?! This is fucking stupid! How can it even hide from me?! It shouldn't be possible since I'm able to see it.
Wait…
What if it's not hiding… But actually letting go of Professor Baker? I didn't see it until now that we were getting closer to the end of the term… Because the curse hasn't been activated yet!
Yes, that would make sense, it needs a trigger to activate, and let's say that the trigger is staying as the defense professor for an 'X' amount of time, probably a year, give or take. Meaning that the closer we get to the trigger time, the more effect the curse will have on the current person taking the mantle of 'professor Against the Dark Arts'.
But a curse as strong and lasting as this without actual casting would require an anchor of some kind… Voldemort.
Voldemort itself is the anchor for the curse against all the DADA professors. After Harry Potter killed him, the curse was lifted. So it means that… It's impossible to do anything against the curse at the moment, besides making the professor quit, but I see that unlikely since she was so excited at the start of the term.
Is there even anything I can do?'
—-------------------------
When they were coming back from the Great Hall towards the common room, Allen was deep in thought until Armand mentioned the cursed position.
"Have you heard of the curse in the position of Professor Against the Dark Arts, William?"
"Oh, yeah! I've also talked about that with Leah, apparently it also happened in her school years, you know? No one could stay in the position for more than a year.
And some of her friends did try to dissuade her from applying, even if it wasn't a full time position."
'Uh? What did he say?' Allen snapped his head towards William.
"It's- She's not going to stay longer? Just the year?" He asked incredulously, remembering how the curse wrapped around her.
"Yeah, I don't remember the exact definition, but Professor Dumbledore hired her so she could get experience or something like that."
Allen let out a sigh of relief. "Then, that means she'll leave before the term ends?"
"Yes, or at least she told me that." William nodded to himself.
'That's a relief, but then… what's with that purple like-tentacle that is tightening around her dantian?'
He was still deep in thought after reaching the comforts of his bed. While he looked at the ceiling his mind raced thinking about the curse latching onto his professor, thinking if there was a way to stop it from doing it.
When he opened his eyes it was already morning of the next day. He didn't really know when he fell asleep thinking about the problem his professor was facing.
Just like that, he woke up for another day, through all of his classes he still thought about what to do, he didn't follow the tentacle anymore since it seemed to be useless for the moment.
Without even realizing it, he was already in front of a tapestry with dancing trolls, and the door leading to the Room of Requirements was waiting for him.
"Uh?" He muttered under his breath but decided to enter anyway.
Once inside the room he saw a few objects that didn't make sense to him, there were some floating spheres, mirrors made of silver enchanted with some kind of detection charm, a bookcase with a few books here and there and a small scale with an intricate design.
"Umm… What is this?" He asked aloud looking at the ceiling.
"You looked out of sorts lately." A voice from behind him spoke, scaring him for a moment before realizing who it was.
"Yeah, I guess so, not really in the mood for much since my friend's cousin could be in danger." Allen answered back to Helena.
"And is that something you need to resolve? You are but a child, it's not your responsibility." She approached her hands towards his face and he used his magic, making it go all around his body so she could touch him.
Helena made him look up to her with both hands. "I… I know, but, if I know something bad can happen, shouldn't I do my best so it doesn't?"
"If you were an adult, that is." She answered back.
"You know I'm not a child."
At his answer, she let out a chuckle, not laughing at him, but rather at the situation. "And you know that that's something a kid would say."
"!!!"
"You win." Allen let himself fall down towards the ground but before he reached the floor, a bunch of pillows appeared under him, making his fall a smooth one.
"So, what should I do?" He asked her, looking at the ceiling.
"Well, why don't you start by telling me exactly what the problem is?"
He nodded and began to tell her the situation regarding William's cousin, of course he kept a secret the fact that he knew the curse was real and only told her about the rumours going around and the tentacle wrapping around his teacher's dantian.
"Dantian?" She asked a bit curious what he meant.
"Oh, I- Umm… the magic core…?" He answered back a bit doubtful, he knew from the book that a decent amount of the magic population in Britain called it a magic core, even if it was far from the truth, it conveyed the meaning across so that's what he used to try and explain what he saw whenever he looked at a wizard.
"Ah! You mean our mana lake?" She responded back.
"I… guess…? They probably mean the same thing… And there are probably a lot of names for it anyway, just like how there are lots of meanings for lots of words, but yes, our mana lake."
"So the curse is wrapping around her mana lake the more time passes until the end of the term?"
"Yes, have you heard of the curse in the position of Professor Against the Dark Arts?"
She hummed in agreement. "I've heard about it in the last couple of years, it's a recent myth that has been going around."
"Well, it's not really a myth since it has happened to every professor who takes the post after Voldemort cursed it."
They both stayed silent for a moment after that, he continued to look at the ceiling while Helena drifted around, most likely thinking about a way to help.
"Your eyes?" She asked, suddenly turning his way.
"What about my eyes?" Allen stood his neck up for a bit looking for her.
"They don't work on the curse? You've told me that you can see it wrapping around her, just like how you can see magic, then, doesn't that mean that you can affect it as well, the same way you affect us, ghosts?"
"I've tried it, it doesn't feel like it works, but then again, I didn't really know I was inflicting fear to the people I looked at with my eyes.
Hell, I didn't even know it worked on ghosts too!" When he finished talking, he suddenly stood up, realizing what he just said.
She hummed, nodding her head. "That's right, your gaze works even on ghosts, and if you can actually see the curse, then, wouldn't that mean that it can also affect it?"
"But it didn't really react whenever I looked at it." He answered back.
"Well, did you try to actually harm it with your magic?" A puzzled look showed on Allen's face.
"What do you mean?"
"What I'm trying to say is that there's a difference between seeing and seeing with intent, don't you think? After all, you are the one who told me about magic with intent.
Your intention matters, and maybe since you are 'only' looking, and not actively trying to be harmful, it's responding appropriately."
"...Right, intent is what matters, intent and willpower when it comes to magic, therefore, my intent and willpower need to be focused on attacking it.
Why didn't I think of that?"
"You were too busy trying to find a source and while that is indeed the correct way to go about it with curses, if it's evading you from reaching the actual anchor, then there's nothing to do but attack what you can."
Allen looked up towards Helena, a new light showed on his face. "You are right! Why didn't I think of that?!" He closed the distance between them and grabbed her hands, then spun around with her in a small dance.
"Thank you Helena!" He let out a joyous tone and she followed along, letting out a small chuckle.
After a few spins, he suddenly stopped, looking at their hands linked together. His mind began to race, connecting dots, until he blurted out what he was thinking. "Do you think I can touch the curse?"
Helena's expression suddenly went to a serious one as she tightened her grip on his hands. "Don't even think about it. It's a curse that has been on a position, not even a person or a place, if you mess with it unknowingly, you could curse yourself and in the best case scenario, you would not be able to finish a whole year of Defense Against the Dark Arts because of the curse."
He gulped. "And in the worst case?"
"I don't even want to think about it. I'll go with you to look at the curse to make sure you don't do anything rash."
Allen let out an audible gulp before answering. "Okay, yeah, I'd actually feel better if you accompany me, otherwise I might go crazy and start attacking the curse. You don't know how many days it has evaded me all around the castle, it's infuriating to be honest."
She smiled warmly at him. "I'm sure we can do something, and if not, you can just tell the professor, after all, you did say that she is planning on leaving before the term ends, isn't she?"
Allen scratched his neck, thinking back on the conversation between his friends. "William did say that, but… It doesn't seem to be the case, I don't know if it's too late or what."
"Let's try what we can, alright?"
He nodded his head. "Alright."