The Red Rose That Has Green Thorns

“Inferi are not, as the muggles would term them, zombies. The myth of a zombie is derived from the Inferius, it’s true, but the notion that they may eat brains like a zombie is utterly false. this was the primary fear of muggle-born witches and wizards in the time of Lord Voldemort. A fact common with both a muggle’s ‘zombie’ and an Inferius is that they are in fact, reanimated human corpses. The spells on them should fade once the body has partially deteriorated, but a strong enough spell can hold even the bones together indefinitely.” Professor Creevey paced through the room as he talked.

“The spell that reanimates these corpses for a dark wizard’s purposes should break when the animator dies, or is killed, or is stripped of his wizardly powers and sent to Azkaban. However, if the spell remains, it was either immensely strong…or the real animator pulled one over on you and thus, made a complete and utter fool of you. But no hard feelings, eh? Everyone makes mistakes. That’s beside our point, however. The point is that Inferi are reanimated corpses used for a twisted witch or wizard’s evil purposes. The point is that you know what they are capable of. The point is that many of you already knew these things before you entered my classroom, even for the first time as first years.

“Some of you know that fire repels the Inferius. However, what I aim to teach you by the end of our class period together is how to destroy them - not the corpse itself, but the curse upon the corpse. Please turn with me to page 487 in your books, and we will begin.”

The Inferius. I groaned inwardly. Even the thought of them has always, always freaked me out. Right now, there’s even a weird tingle of unease creeping up my spine. Perhaps it was the recollection of Uncle Harry’s story…it got me every time, anyway.

“Is everyone there?” Professor Creevey asked. I jumped, and then realized I was only on page 453. I hurriedly flipped to the right page and looked back up expectantly. Professor Creevey looked around.

“If our guests today want to look off of those nearest them--” Scorpius, Al, and I, he meant, “--then please don’t hesitate. If you’d prefer to look at a book of your own, I hav e a few extras you can use.”

“I can look off of Albus’,” Andy spoke up first, looking semi apologetically at me before scooting back to Al’s desk. I grinned. Joe then opted to share my book and Demitri looked off of Scorpius’.

“You have ten minutes, then, to read the passage entitled, ‘Three various ways to repel the Inferius’. Afterwards, we will have a discussion about what you’ve read and by tomorrow I expect you to have one paragraph about each way and how they are useful in different situations.” Professor Creevey instructed. “Your time to read begins now.”

I looked back down to my book and read;

“THREE VARIOUS WAYS TO REPEL THE INFERIUS

“The first of these three ways is the most common, as it is easy to use in a tight spot. The Inferius had fire, and shy away from it. Even a first year student can use this technique, as long as they have a wand. This technique, however, does not repel them for very long and they will come right back.

“The second way is a bit more complicated. In dark times, when Inferi are known to be about, keep a bottle of fire that has a gram of poudered Draught of Living Death inside. Although the Inferius are already dead, this may still make the curse holding the corpse together and forcing them to do the evildoer’s bidding temporarily break. This leaves you an opening of escape that you would be ill-advised and very, very foolish to ignore.

“Lastly, and the most difficult, is finding the perpetrator. It is not recommended for anyone other than a trained professional, like an Auror or other Ministry Official. The perpetrator is often a highly dangerous dark wizard or witch that you should not interfere with (unless you are, as previously stated, a trained Ministry Official in such lines of work). Once the animator is found, he or she can be forced to lift the curse and go to Azkaban, or resist arrest and be killed.

“However, there is one other rare way for authorities to deal with the dark wizard or witch who controls the Inferi (earlier seen termed as an animator). As stated, this is a very rare punishment. If the animator resists arrest, before the potential captors resort to killing, they may resort to the ‘stripping’ of the animator’s magical powers. He or she is often put in a permanent ward of a wizarding hospital afterwards. The reason for this is the same as the reason for the rarity of this method: it can damage the very being of a person.

“In effect, this makes about five ways to repel the Inferi, but three basic categories. Remember: fire will work in a pinch, and if there is a serious threat of an encounter with an Inferius, carry a jar of fire that is infused with powdered Draught of Living Death. Leave other methods to those who are prepared for them.”

I couldn’t suppress my shudder as I completed the reading and prodded the book closer to Joe. He looked at me curiously, and I indicated the book. He rolled his eyes with a grin and continued to read just as Scorpius leaned back, a look of slight disgust on his features as he glanced toward me. I shuddered with emphasis and he nodded in agreement.

“Magic stripping?” I mouthed. He nodded.

Yes, it sounds bad. Stop thinking that way you perverts! Be mature.

I sat in silence, pondering over the stripping of one’s magic and how it damages their being. And is there some sort of alternate way to remove or contain all magical power indefinitely, rather than stripping the power or killing the witch or wizard?

‘Being’. I’m sure that they mean your soul when they say ‘being’. like after a Dementor’s Kiss takes your soul, all that’s left is an empty corpse.

I shivered a bit more violently at the grotesque images I was conjuring for myself and glanced back at the textbook. There was a short paragraph on the page nearest me that I started to read entitled “Animators”.

“Animators: Controllers of the Inferius

“Sometimes, even in the event of an animator’s death, the curse may linger. Experts have several theories on why this may be, and they all revolve around the animator themselves. The first is that, after their death, they stay as a ghost and the bonds of magic that hold the Inferi in thrall will not fully sever. This is the most prominent theory. Another is that an animator will give up a piece of his or her soul each time they create an Inferius. Thus, the piece of soul will linger, keeping the corpses it has animated enslaved. The other theories are many and varied and would require a whole book just for them.”

I shuddered at the thought. An Inferius being created is one thing, but being kept in slavery so long, even after death and the death of the animator, is freaky. To think that somehow, somewhere, there could be Inferi still held captive by a piece of the soul of their long dead animator…it’s horrible.

“All right. That should have been sufficient time for you to have finished reading. Now, the discussion.” Professor Creevey stood ready at the front of the room.

“Fire is more effective than Perelli gives it credit for,” someone, a Hufflepuff, finallys aid after a brief silence. “From everything I’ve read before now, fire always saved people.”

“Yes, but that’s only because help got there soon.” said a Ravenclaw.

“How do we know someone hasn’t just driven them off with fire? That they didn’t come back?” another Hufflepuff added to back up his friend.

“Inferius don’t have control of themselves,” Scorpius spoke up. “Fire repels them only temporarily, but if their animator had wanted something done, even fire won’t keep the Inferius from being like the puppets hanging from the end of the string.”

The Hufflepuffs sulked and the Ravenclaw made a sort of slight grunt of agreement.

“The last way seems dangerous,” another Ravenclaw spoke. “Especially if the animator were to keep a few of his…erm…puppets…nearby. The Aurors could be attacked from multiple sides.”

“They’re trained for that,” Al said. “That’s probably why it suggests you don’t try the last method unless you are one.”

“Even so,” the Ravenclaw replied stubbornly, “it’s just as dangerous for them as it is for us.”

“Aurors are more well trained than we are,” Scorpius jumped in, “after all, they’re much better equipped to deal with any danger than your average Hogwarts student. Even a seventh year like us.”

“How d’you know that, huh?” a Hufflepuff glared at Scorpius, which kind of ticked me off. “It’s not like--”

“It’s not like what, huh?” I interjected.

“Maybe he knows because he’s working on becoming an Auror himself!” Al joined in, and we said this simultaneously. Scorpius looked at me and Al, raising an eyebrow at us.

“A Malfoy? Becoming an Auror? Ha!” Said another Ravenclaw. This just about blew my head off, and I stood up. Behind me, I heard Al’s chair scrape out, too.

“For a Ravenclaw, you’re pretty stupid.” I said bluntly. “Old family prejudices can go to Hell as far as I’m concerned. And you’ll regret laughing at what someone wants to be when you get beat out for the job by the person you’ve mocked. Besides that, you shouldn’t base a person’s aspirations on what their last name is. It’s judgmental, and fundamentally wrong and as a Ravenclaw - a seventh year, no less! - you should know better.”

Al made a kind of angry sound of agreement behind me.