"Adrian!" Sirius cried out in alarm, his voice was cracking with concern. "Your shoulder! You're bleeding darkness!"
Adrian looked down at his left shoulder, examining the damage. The section of robe that had been caught in the Obscurus's blast had already turned completely to ash, disintegrating like burned paper.
What remained below was quite disturbing.
A shallow painful wound blemished his skin. The injury was covered, almost crawling with black energy—stems and wisps of dark power that moved, actively trying to burrow deeper into his flesh like parasitic worms seeking bone.
From the outside perspective, the wound looked horrifying and more like a corruption or infection than a simple cut.
But internally, subjectively... how to put it adequately... aside from the sharp physical pain of torn flesh, it felt somewhat similar to being touched by a Dementor.
'Wait. Dementors.'
The connection suddenly clicked in Adrian's mind. He narrowed his eyes with new realization.
In a sense, the Obscurus was born from, sustained by, and composed of extreme negative emotions like prolonged pain, magical suppression, paralyzing fear, and helpless rage.
If that was the basic nature of the creature, then conversely, logically, the Patronus Charm might have some effect against it. After all, a Patronus was primarily, at its very core, a manifestation of pure positive energy and emotion.
"Expecto Patronum," Adrian said firmly.
Enduring the burning, freezing agony radiating from his shoulder, Adrian waved his wand with precision.
Accompanied by silvery-white light that seemed almost warm, his familiar hedgehog Patronus appeared and leaped directly onto his injured shoulder with gentleness. Where the silver glow fell and touched his corrupted flesh, the black energy coiled around and burrowing into the wound began to churn, wriggling as if it had suddenly met its natural nemesis.
Then, reluctantly, the darkness dissipated like smoke in wind.
The wound beneath, while still present and bleeding, was clean. The corruption was gone.
It works! At least for wound treatment!
Before Adrian could properly react or explain what he'd discovered, Sirius's eyes lit up with sudden, perhaps misplaced hope. He immediately shouted to everyone, "Quick! Everyone who can, use the Patronus Charm! It's effective against this thing!"
At the same time, he raised his own wand without any hesitation. "Expecto Patronum!"
Similarly bright silver light rapidly emerged and merged, combining into a tall dog-shaped Patronus. The large ghostly dog, clearly resembling Sirius's Animagus form, let out a silent roar of challenge. Under Sirius's command and will, it bravely charged toward the roiling Obscurus still tumbling violently in the air above them.
Then...
The moment the dog-shaped Patronus approached within range of the Obscurus, before the spirit could take any offensive action or make contact, the surging dark energy suddenly expanded out swiftly. It instantly swallowed the entire Patronus whole in one motion, engulfing it completely.
In just two seconds, Sirius's Patronus was completely annihilated, destroyed utterly. It left not a single trace behind, not even a flicker of silver light.
The darkness consumed it as if it had never existed.
"Adrian," Sirius staggered backward a step, his face was drained of color and filled with shock and confusion. His voice wavered. "Didn't you say the Patronus could deal with it?"
"...?" Adrian looked at him with bewilderment, silently indicating through his expression that he had never, at any point, said such a thing.
He had only just used his own Patronus to treat and cleanse his wound of corruption, he had never claimed or even implied it could effectively combat or destroy the Obscurus itself. Those were completely different tthings.
What had possibly given Sirius the mistaken impression that an ordinary Patronus could defeat an Obscurus? If the Obscurus were truly so easy to counter with standard defensive magic, it wouldn't remain an essentially incurable, fatal affliction in the wizarding world to this very day.
Just then, interrupting the moment of confusion, Moody who had been standing back and calmly observing the situation with both eyes suddenly moved.
He let out a low, determined growl and, despite awkwardly dragging his wooden leg behind him, charged directly toward Amy's position against the wall with swiftness.
His logic was thorough: since they apparently couldn't directly combat or destroy the Obscurus through magical force, they could only seek a breakthrough and resolution through neutralizing the host itself.
However, the Obscurus seemed to immediately sense his hostile intention. The mass of churning dark energy that had been tumbling somewhat chaotically in the air released a sharp, piercing screech almost like a wounded animal and instantly abandoned all its other potential targets.
It lunged directly toward Moody with aggression.
Moody was forced to stop his charge abruptly, skidding on the debris-covered floor. His face was grim with frustration. "Damn it," he muttered.
Even existing as just a mass of formless energy, did it still possess the instinct and intelligence to actively protect its host? That was... problematic.
After successfully forcing Moody to retreat from his approach to Amy, the Obscurus seemed thoroughly, completely enraged by the attempt. Its violent aura surged more intensely than before, radiating out in waves. The dark energy expanded once more, swelling to fill even more of the space.
"BOOM!"
With a tremendous, ear-splitting crash, the main load-bearing wall near the staircase in the living room finally gave way completely under the gathered strain. Large chunks of brick and heavy wooden support beams were torn away by the Obscurus's thrashing and came crashing down with devastating force.
Dust filled the air instantly, choking and blinding. Debris scattered everywhere in a deadly rain. The entire structure of Number 12 Grimmauld Place shook violently, groaning like a dying creature.
The house was literally collapsing around them.
"Think of something, Adrian!" Remus shouted urgently, desperation was clear in his voice. He simultaneously waved his wand in a complex pattern to deflect a large piece of rubble that was flying directly toward Tonks's head, saving her from being headshotted.
He didn't know why but he somehow felt that Adrian could handle this situation.
"I'm not entirely sure if this will work," Adrian replied honestly, his mind was racing through possibilities. "But I have one more option to try."
Although an ordinary Patronus clearly lacked the power necessary to suppress or destroy an Obscurus as Sirius had just demonstrated, the fundamental approach of using a Patronus against it wasn't actually wrong in principle.
And Adrian happened to have a second Patronus. One considerably more potent.
His Tree of Wisdom Patronus contained concentrated power sufficient to completely destroy multiple Dementors.
In any case, it was absolutely worth attempting. They had no other options remaining.
"Expecto Patronum!" Adrian called out, channeling everything he had.
It was the same familiar incantation, the same words spoken countless times. But the effect was entirely different from his hedgehog form.
A vast and majestic silvery-white light surged forth from Adrian's wand like a breaking dam, expanding out with unstoppable momentum and raw power. The radiance occupied the entire crumbling room in an instant, filling every corner with silver glow.
This light wasn't harsh or blinding despite its intensity, on the contrary, it carried a gentle, almost peaceful aura that seemed to soothe on contact. Within this encompassing silver radiance, everyone present instinctively held their breath in awe, their faces were filled with astonishment and disbelief.
They all clearly saw, unmistakably visible at the center of that vast, spreading light, the silhouette of an enormous tree.
"That is..." Remus murmured in wonder.
He felt that this scene, this image had a strangely familiarity to it. A sense of peace and security he'd experienced before but couldn't quite place.
As if, with this particular light present and surrounding them, all darkness could be dispelled. All threats could be held at bay.
Adrian maintained the Tree of Wisdom Patronus's existence, channeling his will and magic to sustain it. He felt somewhat surprised himself at what he was experiencing and sensing through the connection.
From his unique perspective as the caster, his Tree of Wisdom Patronus seemed considerably more powerful than the last time he'd summoned it
Under the silvery-white radiance of the tree Patronus, the previously rampaging Obscurus seemed suddenly trapped in a thick quagmire. It thrashed wildly in an increasingly desperate attempt to escape this deeply uncomfortable environment that burned and restricted it.
However, no matter how frantically it surged left and right, no matter how it pushed and compressed itself, it couldn't break through the barrier of light. In fact, the silvery-white radiance began to slowly contract and consolidate, steadily reducing the Obscurus's available range of movement.
The cage was shrinking, and tightening.
Finally, after perhaps thirty seconds of struggle, the dark mass was contained within a small central area and stabilized.
"Is it over?" Sirius asked hopefully, quickly turning his eager gaze to Adrian upon seeing this apparent containment. "Did you destroy it?"
Tonks also breathed a long, relieved sigh, her tense shoulders were finally dropping. Everyone in the room relaxed slightly, lowering their defensive stances.
But Adrian's next words, spoken grimly, made them all tense up again immediately.
"No," he said, frowning with concentration as he maintained the spell. Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead from the effort. "I can only temporarily contain it, not destroy it. I can probably hold this containment for about two minutes at most."
As if to confirm and emphasize Adrian's warning, the Obscurus imprisoned within its silver cage erupted again. Its dark energy frantically collided against the interior of the barrier, like a caged beast throwing itself against bars. The impacts caused the silvery-white walls to begin fluctuating violently.
However, despite the danger, the solution to this entire chaotic situation was now quite clear and obvious to everyone. They all simultaneously turned their attention to the small, trembling girl curled against the wall.
Adrian maintained the Patronus's active suppression of the Obscurus with one portion of his concentration while quickly walking toward Amy with careful steps, avoiding debris. He crouched down directly before her small body, observing her condition more carefully and thoroughly.
Amy still kept her head lowered submissively, her disheveled, dirty blonde hair was covering most of her pale face like a veil. But Adrian could clearly see her thin shoulders trembling continuously. Her eyes were wide open behind the curtain of hair, yet her pupils were dilated and completely unfocused, filled with overwhelming pain and despair that seemed ready to overflow and drown her.
This child was already at the absolute brink of total collapse, Adrian realized with a pang of sympathy. Her life force was nearly depleted, burned through by the parasite. She had days at most, perhaps only hours.
Adrian immediately assessed the grim situation e.
The Obscurus was such a merciless, cruel thing—a curse with no cure. Once someone became an Obscurial, there was no treatment, no reversal, no hope. And the idea of somehow controlling or mastering it oneself was nothing but a delusional raving of a madman.
So, death really was the kindest release for her, wasn't it? The only mercy available.
Eliminating the host meant eliminating the Obscurus. And while the host's body hadn't yet fully merged completely with the Obscurus, while they remained somewhat separate, this was the optimal moment to act. The window of opportunity.
Adrian slowly raised his wand, pointing it at Amy. His hand was steady despite what he was about to do.
Given the child's current desperately weakened physical condition, her nearly exhausted life force, a simple Stunning Spell would probably make her sleep forever. Her body simply lacked the reserves to survive even minor magical trauma.
And that was, at present, the best possible outcome available to her.
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