[HP] Dearest Enemy

Alex had lunch with Harry as usual, and then took out the book he got from Knockturn Alley to look through.Seeing Tom in Knockturn Alley, however, choked like a bone in his throat, so Alex put down the book and moved the chair over to Harry's bed.

"What's wrong?" Harry stopped writing and looked up.Dumbledore had promised to help him convince his recalcitrant therapist to let him out before the holidays, and Harry had been preparing for next semester's classes these days.

"I went to Knockturn Alley today," said Alex, "and saw Tom running errands for a black magic shop owner. Do you know anything about it?"

Harry frowned imperceptibly, then nodded calmly: "I know."

"You know?" Alex's eyes widened in surprise, "Since when did you know?"

"Before you came back," Harry stated, "Dumbledore followed him in Knockturn Alley."

"And then?" said Alex, "you didn't stop him?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, then shook his head honestly: "I'm not going to get to the bottom of it."

Now Alex opened his mouth wide: "Merlin, that's Knockturn Alley! Even if Tom is an adult, you shouldn't pamper him like this!"

Harry slightly pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose: "No, this is not connivance."

"Harry." Alex stood up and held his friend's shoulder, "You'll spoil him."

"I haven't," said Harry seriously. "Tom's a good boy and he deserves to be pampered. He's been working in Knockturn Alley for a while, but he's never done anything nasty, and he knows what to do." What not to do. I want to trust him."

I've been trying to trust him.

"But Knockturn Alley is not a good place after all." Alex was still worried, and sat back on the chair, "You won't be happy to know what he did there."

Harry smiled helplessly, but didn't answer.It's not that he couldn't guess what Tom was doing. Harry knew him too well, so he couldn't trust him all the time.But now even if Harry wanted to, he couldn't yell at Tom.Harry could almost imagine Tom's expression when he saw his sick face, and then he knew what he would do and say after he was admitted to the hospital.The mistake was entirely his own fault, and Harry didn't want Tom to be angry and worried about him.

Alex finally just shook his head.

Two days later, the goddess of luck finally favored the man who was exhausted from the mark on Harry's back.Nick Flamel's reply finally brought news about the origin of the seal.Dumbledore's guess was right. This is a mark left by a very rare black magic curse. It has not appeared for 200 years, and it seems to be related to life.It's a pity that this long-lived alchemist didn't have a deep understanding of this curse, he only knew that the life of the cursed person would be threatened.On the contrary, Dumbledore used this as a starting point to consult a large amount of information, captured some clues, and then relied on his excellent deduction ability to finally figure out what the mark on Harry's back was.

"This is a curse that restricts the use of magic." Dumbledore said, "The magic power of wizards is not inexhaustible. Everyone has a limit. Excessive use of magic power will harm the wizard's body. But it doesn’t happen after the mana is restored. The curse amplifies the damage. It hinders the mana recovery every time you cast magic, so you feel extremely tired.”

"The difference between a wizard's body and a Muggle's is that our flesh also relies on magic, so it's not as fragile, but it's still the same in essence." Harry raised his head after finishing speaking, "I see what you mean, Albus .As long as I don't use magic, I'm fine."

Dumbledore nodded solemnly.

"How is this possible." Alex looked at Harry, "How can a wizard not use magic?"

"And this wizard has to teach hundreds of children how to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry stuck out his tongue, "I must be the first professor in the history of Hogwarts who collapsed on the podium because of lack of magic power."

"Hey, don't be so pessimistic, buddy." Alex patted Harry on the shoulder reassuringly, and turned to Dumbledore, "Is there no way out?"

Dumbledore shook his head: "Not yet. The only way to quickly restore magic power is to rely on potions. There is no doubt that potions will cause greater damage to the body after the magic power is exhausted. We cannot take this risk .”

"If it's just relatively simple magic, shouldn't there be any problems?" Harry asked, "The most commonly used and simplest kind?"

"Unfortunately, as long as it is magic, it will be threatened with a curse," said Dumbledore. "The safest way is not to use magic, Harry."

Harry shrugged, and Alex's face became serious.

"So I can't continue teaching?" Harry looked at Dumbledore. "I just ask for another year, Albus."

"I understand, Harry, I understand." Dumbledore nodded, "I will explain your situation to Principal Dippet."

"But if this goes on like this, one day Harry will fall ill because of it." Alex said with a frown.

"If it's a normal spell, it shouldn't do much harm." Harry patted his friend's arm reassuringly, "It's not that bad, Aaron."

"You." Alex sighed helplessly, seeing that there was no nervous expression on Harry's face.

"I have to go back and report your situation to Principal Dippet." Dumbledore said and stood up. "Stay quietly for another week, and I will help you persuade Mr. Brian to release you from the hospital."

"Thank you." Harry nodded at Dumbledore.Alex greeted Harry and sent Dumbledore away from St. Mungo's.

"If you don't mind, I would like to speak to you a few more words," said Dumbledore. "Shall we go to the tea room?"

Alex narrowed his eyes.Dumbledore walked upstairs without waiting for his answer, and he had to follow.

The two found a corner to sit down, and Dumbledore said straight to the point: "Actually, Harry's situation is more serious than what I just said."

Alex's eyebrows twitched, and he gazed at the blue-eyed man, making a please gesture.

"This kind of curse is indeed very rare and ancient." Dumbledore said, "It not only hinders the recovery of the cursed man's magic power, but more importantly, it will devour the cursed man's vitality. The more magic Harry uses, the more he will will become weaker."

"What!" Alex whispered in shock.

Dumbledore said solemnly: "Fatigue is just a condition that appeared at the beginning, followed by lethargy, and other symptoms will definitely appear. The mark on Harry's back is still very light now, but once the color of the mark begins to darken, Then it means that Harry's vitality has begun to drain. If the mark turns black, it means that Harry is not far from death."

Alex stared at him blankly: "How could that be!"

"The mark appeared because of this accident, but the source of the curse is obviously related to Harry's previous experience." Dumbledore said in a low voice, "He has been to many places full of dark magic, I suspect that after he left England During that period of time, he was threatened by the curse, but for some reason the curse was not completed. This accident is undoubtedly a condition for triggering the curse, so it means that the mark of Harry being cursed will appear. Further Going forward, Harry's high fever before the mark appeared could be seen as a sign of being cursed, but none of us realized it at the time."

Alex fell silent.He had no idea what Harry had done to deserve this.Harry is only 36 years old, he is still young, and he is a powerful wizard. Even Dumbledore said that Harry's achievements may surpass him in the future. Is it because of this reason that he has to become a mediocre person?

"It sounds like Harry's magic power and life force are tied together." Alex said in a low voice, "As long as he uses magic, is he pushing himself into the arms of death?"

"In a sense, yes." Dumbledore replied sadly.

"So as long as he lives like a Muggle, there's no such danger?" Alex raised his voice.

"It will indeed prolong his life," said Dumbledore. "Everyone dies, Alex."

"There's really no solution?" Alex didn't realize he had clenched his fists.

"I'm sorry, I don't have the ability to break this curse." Dumbledore replied softly.

Alex stared at him, and finally put his hands over his eyes.

"No, Albus." The gray-eyed man murmured, "I can't stand this, how could this happen!"

"I can't tell Harry the truth directly." Dumbledore took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. "It's really hard to believe."

"How long will Harry live?" Alex asked softly.

Dumbledore looked at him, and after a moment of silence, he replied in a low voice: "According to my speculation, if he continues to live as a wizard, then he still has five years left. If he doesn't use magic anymore, he can live for at least 50 years."

Is there only so little time?Alex felt that Dumbledore's words were like a cold sharp knife, which not only pierced his heart, but also stirred it hard inside.

"Merlin!" Alex didn't want to believe it was true.

"Harry is a very smart man, he will guess this sooner or later." Dumbledore said sadly, "You are his most trusted friend, Alex. I don't know what conflicts there are between Harry and Tom, But he needs someone to take care of at a time like this. You are the only one who can. Take care of Harry, and just like you don't want to lose a good friend, I don't want to lose him as a good colleague."

"I understand." Alex replied tremblingly.Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder, got up and left.

Harry was going to die, his best friend, the person he loved, the person he trusted the most, was going to die in the near future, which was certainly the worst of all bad news.

Alex took a long time to stabilize his emotions.He stood outside the ward for a long time, still not knowing how to face the green-eyed man inside.Finally he opened the door and walked in.

"Have you chatted with Albus? It's been so long?" Harry, who was sitting by the window looking through a magazine, looked up and asked.

"Just a few words," said Alex with mocked ease, trying to maintain his usual tone and demeanor.

However, Harry was keenly aware of his friend's strangeness, and frowned slightly: "So, what did you say to Albus?"

"The German thing." Alex evaded Harry's eyes. "It's not a big deal."

"Alex." Harry put down the magazine and stood up, his tone becoming serious, "Look at me."

Alex turned his head away, grinned at him and shrugged: "I really didn't say anything."

"Dumbledore didn't finish his talk today," said Harry calmly. "He must have told you what the hell that was on my back. Tell me the truth, Aaron, don't hold back."

Alex looked at him, the smile off his face, his eyes full of sadness.

He will die, do I have to tell him this kind of thing by myself?

"Aaron, tell me." Harry lowered his tone, "Am I going to die?"

The gray pupils suddenly tightened, and Alex stared at him in shock: "Why do you think so?"

"That's true." Harry nodded as he spoke, feeling suddenly relieved for some reason.

"Harry, I... I'm sorry," Alex said finally, digging his fingernails into the flesh of his palm.

"It's okay, Aaron, don't act like I'm going to die." Harry smiled and touched his friend's arm, "It's not worse than I thought. Tell me Albus told you What?"

Alex was pulled into a chair by Harry, silent for a long time, and then repeated Dumbledore's word for word.Harry had been listening quietly.

"I see." Harry finally nodded, "Thank you."

"But Harry, don't you think—"

"I'm prepared," Harry interrupted him calmly. "I'm not afraid of death. Everyone dies eventually, it's just that I'm a little ahead of time. It's nothing to worry about, at least it sounds better than death." Much better than bombing accidents and dark wizard hunts."

Alex shook his head, he couldn't understand why Harry was so calm: "No, Harry, it shouldn't be like this."

"It's a bad thing, isn't it? It happened to me." Harry spread his hands, "But it happened, and I just have to accept it."

"But I can't accept it!" Alex stood up. "Are you so...you are so young, and you died for this reason? No, Harry, I don't want to see you like this!"

Alex hugged his friend hard: "Harry, don't just accept death like this, as long as it is a curse, there will be a way to break it. You and Albus are right, everyone will die in the end, but yours Death shouldn't be like this. Don't talk about death, Harry, I don't want to see you die like this!"

Harry was a little surprised when he was hugged by Alex, but soon became sad because of his friend's words.He didn't want to die either, he wanted to calmly accept the invitation of death when he was supposed to die, instead of watching his life go by bit by bit.Harry hugged his much taller friend back and patted him on the back lightly.

"I didn't say give up, Aaron." Harry said softly, "I still have a lot of things to do, and I don't want to die until I finish those things."

Alex didn't answer, just hugged the man in his arms even tighter.Harry would never understand why he was so sad.He had already lost his first important person, and he didn't want to lose the second.