Chapter 158

Wednesday night.

Dark Arts Defense Classroom.

"Imperio!"

Professor Moody shouted the spell fiercely at John. A red light shot straight at John's face, but he didn't budge, letting the spell hit him.

The moment the light touched him, John's eyes suddenly lost focus, and his body swayed slightly, out of his control.

The next instant, clarity returned.

Professor Moody looked at John, who hadn't been controlled by the Imperius Curse at all, and instead of feeling approval, he frowned.

Because the feedback from his Imperius Curse now indicated that it had successfully controlled the target.

But no matter how he commanded, he couldn't control John's body.

As for John, he had indeed been hit by the Imperius Curse just now.

But for some reason, his consciousness only swayed slightly before quickly returning to sobriety.

He still firmly held the dominant control over his body.

However, he could feel an annoying sense of intrusion, which was very strange.

Recalling Dumbledore once saying that his soul was protected by another soul.

Could it be that Professor Moody's Imperius Curse had hit that soul?

But because that soul wasn't the dominant consciousness of this body, John wasn't affected by the Imperius Curse.

Professor Moody seemed to have thought of this too and lowered his wand.

He stared at John, his magical eye rotating slowly, as if evaluating the value of this situation.

Harry, on the side, was clueless; he thought John had succeeded on his first attempt to resist the Imperius Curse, and his face showed shock and admiration.

Today was their weekly Dark Arts Defense training day.

After Dumbledore's consent, Professor Moody began training them both in resisting the Imperius Curse.

However, John's situation clearly exceeded Professor Moody's expectations.

After a moment of silence, Professor Moody suddenly said with a serious face.

"Merrick."

"I intend to use the Cruciatus Curse next, just for five seconds; it won't cause you too much harm."

Hearing Professor Moody's words, Harry was shocked.

"Wait, Professor! The Cruciatus Curse is different from the Imperius Curse!"

This spell would inflict real, intense pain on a person's soul.

However, he didn't know about John's physical condition, which was why he was objecting so anxiously.

"Nonsense, of course I know; shut up and watch from the side."

"Five seconds won't cause damage to the soul."

Moody coldly interrupted Harry, his wand tip already aimed at John.

John didn't refuse either, because he was also very curious about the state of his body.

"If you feel any discomfort, speak up immediately."

Moody reminded him at the end, and John nodded.

Then.

"Crucio!"

Another red light shot straight at John's chest. John stumbled back a step, but he didn't feel the expected intense pain.

There was an indescribable feeling.

It was as if his consciousness was trembling incessantly, like a silent wail, making John feel incredibly uncomfortable.

But it was far from reaching the level of pain that would cause a collapse.

"Stop!"

John shouted quickly.

Professor Moody also immediately stopped his actions.

"John, are you okay!"

Harry immediately ran to John's side and supported him.

In fact, John was completely fine; it was just that when he was hit by the Cruciatus Curse just now, a wail from the bottom of his heart made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

It was as if the soul protecting him was howling in pain.

Professor Moody rarely didn't put on a sour face, but instead leaned on his cane and came to John's side.

He looked down at John, his magical eye rotating slightly.

When he cast the Imperius Curse just now, as the caster, he could clearly feel that he was torturing a helpless soul.

But John himself remained unaffected.

He had also figured out a little bit about John's physical condition.

The other soul within John would bear all soul-level damage for him.

But it wasn't clear whether this was voluntary or forced.

But at least it could be proven that this soul had no malice.

And John seemed to be able to perceive its pain, so he took the initiative to call for a stop.

Moody withdrew some of his hostility toward John; after all, neither he nor the soul protecting him wanted each other to be hurt.

So even if John's situation was suspicious, it had been proven at this moment that he was not an enemy.

Moody slowly put away his wand, his magical eye lingering on John's face for a few seconds, and said in a low voice, "Merrick, you don't need to practice resisting the Imperius Curse anymore."

"As long as you aren't deliberately courting death, general-level soul attacks likely won't work on you."

Hearing Moody's words, John was stunned for a moment, but he nodded.

Harry, on the side, looked at Moody and then at John, not knowing what they were talking about.

He only knew that John seemed a bit different from others.

But before he could ask more, he was dragged away by Moody to practice resisting the Imperius Curse.

"Albus, neither of those children needs to worry about the Imperius Curse anymore."

"The other soul in Merrick is indeed protecting him, and it doesn't seem to be a dangerous existence."

Moody stood in the Headmaster's office, leaning on his cane and reporting today's events to Dumbledore calmly.

"Thank you for your hard work, Alastor."

Dumbledore listened quietly and nodded; he was standing in front of the Pensieve, thinking about something.

Moody limped to Dumbledore's side.

"Still worried about Harry?"

"Yes."

The Pensieve shimmered with a silvery light, reflecting the scar on Harry's forehead.

"The marks on Karkaroff's and Snape's hands have become active recently."

"And what Sirius told us a while ago, that Harry has been frequently having the same nightmare about Voldemort."

Dumbledore stared at the image in the Pensieve, his fingertips gently brushing over the reflection of the scar, his tone extremely grave.

"Voldemort is gradually regaining his strength."

Moody, on the side, had an equally grave look in his eyes; he knew what this meant, but he wasn't afraid.

"Albus, we must strengthen the protective measures for the third task; there can't be any slip-ups."

"Voldemort's people are right beside us; they want to get close to Harry."

Moody said very calmly.

But Dumbledore shook his head.

"No."

?

Hearing Dumbledore's answer, Moody was also stunned.

"Things are far from that simple, Alastor."

"If Voldemort wanted to be resurrected, he could have done so long ago."

"The reason he hasn't fully returned yet is because he is still waiting for a key factor to arrive."

Dumbledore looked at the shimmering silver light in the Pensieve, as if making a difficult and major decision.

"You mean, Voldemort wants to use Harry to resurrect?"

Moody immediately understood Dumbledore's meaning, his face suddenly sinking as he said.

"Then we must not let him get close to Harry!"

However, Dumbledore remained silent, not responding to Moody's words.

After a long while, he turned back.

A familiar smile appeared on his face.

"Old friend, tell me, why don't we help Voldemort resurrect?"

Moody's magical eye widened instantly, and his prosthetic leg involuntarily took half a step back.

"Albus, have you gone mad!?"

He couldn't believe Dumbledore would actually say such a thing.

Help Voldemort resurrect?

But Dumbledore just smiled and continued.

"Alastor, Voldemort will resurrect sooner or later; you and I both know this perfectly well."

"Since he is destined to return, we might as well be the ones to choose the method and timing of his resurrection."