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The sprawling Moreau estate was all but deserted, which was odd for the summer season. It was well known that the Moreau family was large, filled with cousins so numerous that the summer estate was always bursting at the seams with the large, well-off family. Now for the first summer ever, it lay barren except for the immediate family and their staff. Gardeners lazily rested in the shade away from the mid-day heat, speaking quickly to each other and some holding their crosses. The number of gardeners did not match the size of the estate, and should any self-respecting French elite walk past, those who didn’t know the secret of the Moreau family, might tutt to their walking partner and assume the Moreaus were new money, attempting to fit in with estates nearby but couldn’t afford the proper number of gardeners.
When the Moreau house staff went about shopping for the family, other staff crossed the street and some began to pray, holding their crosses to their lips. They would avoid all eye contact, even though many of the maids had known each other since childhood, before their work took them to separate families.
Those who knew of the secret of the Moreau family would not be surprised to see two Catholic fathers exit a carriage and take the estate in before they set off down a winding dirt path towards the front door. They would take in the robes, the knapsacks, the crucifixes hanging from their necks and think nothing of it. What would only stand out as odd to them was the fiery red Irishman hair of one, and the rather thick spectacles of the other, practically enlarging the brown eyes behind them. It wouldn't surprise them to also hear them speaking in English as they walked, their hushed tones harsh as they whispered. This had been a normal sight for the past three months.
It was common knowledge to all in the area that Josephine, the youngest girl of the Moreau family, had become possessed by a demon while riding through the woods bordering her estates. Her maid had been the one to tell the story of stumbling upon a witch’s sacrifice, sobbing while explaining the animal-shaped mask and the odd Latin language she used when Josephine startled her. Catholic priests from all different parts of the world came to try and exorcise young Josephine of the demon that plagued her, and after the 20th exorcism her family had stopped coming to church and accepting priests, all hope lost.
What would surprise the muggles would be the wooden wands hidden in the large crucifixes in the father’s knapsacks, the odd drawings in the spectacled father’s journal with various attempts of translations, intermixed with the Catholic Rite of Exorcism, and the conversation the red-haired one:
“You’re going to get us killed, Sebastian,” he snapped.
“Relax, Ezra, I’ve spoken with the maid, she went to Beauxbatons and knows we’re coming,” Sebastian sighed, flipping through his journal and pulling his glasses off his face to rest in his hair, squinting as he read over his notes. “I really have awful handwriting.”
“That’s exactly what I want to hear before I go break a curse with you,” the other ‘father’, Ezra, muttered through gritted teeth. “Why did you ask me again?” He sped up, Sebastian’s long legs causing him to stride much quicker towards the home.
“Because you speak the best French, and you are the only person I trust to help me,” Sebastian clapped Ezra on the back. “I think this one might be difficult for me, and who better to help than my good old brother, who broke his first curse on yours truly?”
Sebastian Sallow had been entered into a blood debt after a descent into the Dark Arts during his fifth-year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His twin sister, Anne, had been cursed by a dark wizard and Sebastian had been desperate for any way to cure her, unable to cope with the grief of losing his sister after losing their parents at a young age. He had nearly died due to the debt, cursed to become an Inferi and haunt the catacombs where he had once found the Relic, until his two best friends told the potions professor, Professor Sharp, an Auror, who then reached out to independent curse-breaker Raphael Rakepick. It was Rakepick who bargained for Sebastian’s release, took him in, and pulled what he could of the curse out of him and got him back to Hogwarts to finish his education. Ezra, Raphael’s son, became like a brother to Sebastian and they spent all their time together during Sebastian’s final year of Hogwarts and were apprentices together in Raphael’s organization, R. Now they were master curse-breakers with their own camps to manage, and Sebastian was lovingly known as “Uncle Bast” to Ezra’s children.
Though the look Ezra gave may have suggested otherwise, both men knew they would die for the other in a heartbeat. Ezra then rolled his eyes and continued walking, fiddling with the collar of his robes.
“You’re too soft, Sallow,” Ezra sighed, and Sebastian laughed. “I mean it, Bast, this is insane.”
“Listen,” Sebastian stopped and turned to Ezra. “I’ve already written up the initial report for this curse and it’s worth looking into. Raphael’s been looking at the duration of curses before they become incurable, and she’s a prime candidate. She’s only been cursed for a few months, and Ez,” Sebastian’s gaze softened. “She’s only 10. If they put her through anymore of those muggle exorcisms, they’ll kill her.”
“Jesus,” Ezra rubbed his mouth with one hand, the other on his hip. “What kind of curse?” When Sebastian didn’t respond, Ezra’s gaze softened and he rested his other hand on his hip. “It’s like Anne’s, isn’t it?”
Sebastian said nothing for a minute as he fiddled with his journal. “It’s too late for her, but it’s not too late for Josephine.”
Ezra clapped Sebastian on the back. “Then let’s go.”
Sebastian knocked on the door and they waited for it to be answered, Ezra going up on his toes and looking around.
“Do you think we’ll go to Hell?” He asked suddenly.
“What?” Sebastian looked over, furrowing his eyebrows as he let out a small laugh.
“For impersonating muggle priests,” Ezra pulled at the robe.
“IF this is all real,” Sebastian held up the crucifix. “And we get sent to Hell for helping rid a little girl of a curse, then it’s not worth getting into Heaven.”
Satisfied, Ezra clasped his hands in front of him. Sebastian slipped on a pair of black leather gloves, as the remnants of the Relic curse gave him poor circulation to the point that his hands were unnaturally cold.
A footman opened the door and stared at the two men tiredly. Sebastian smiled.
“Bonjour,” he began uncertainly. “Je suis…un prêtre…”
Ezra rolled his eyes and translated. “Good morning, we’re here to see Josephine, we’re from the Derry parish.”
The footman looked to Ezra and said something, and Sebastian tapped at the cover of his journal with his fingers.
“He said Derry’s been here already,” Ezra explained. “The family just want to let Josephine pass away in peace.”
“Tell him we’re it, according to…the Cardinal?” Sebastian wrinkled his nose. “Bad time to forget their hierarchy. Tell him we’ve done this before and we know what to do.”
“Before I promise that,” Ezra said out of the corner of his mouth. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes,” Sebastian smiled at the footman. “May we?” He gestured to the foyer and the footman stepped aside.
A woman who could only be Josephine’s mother ran from the sitting room, crying and waving her handkerchief at them. “Non!” She wailed. “ Non! Non plus de prêtres!” She pressed the kerchief to her mouth and sobbed. Sebastian was the first one to reach her and wrapped an arm around her before she collapsed.
“We’re it,” Sebastian promised Ezra. “Tell her we’ve done this before and we’ll get Josephine right again.” He ruffled through his knapsack and pulled out a forged note from a fake family, claiming to have their daughter healed by them. He handed it to Ezra, who translated.
Josephine’s mother cried as the letter was read and she turned to Sebastian, grabbing his face roughly. She spoke in a harsh, low tone then turned to Ezra.
“She says if you are lying, her husband will shoot you.”
“Deal,” Sebastian’s voice was gentle as he rested a gloved hand on the mother’s upper arm. “Tell her it’s a deal.”
The maid, Auralie, who Sebastian had met showed the curse-breakers to Josephine’s room.
It smelled of sick and sweat, and as much as Sebastian wanted to open a window he didn’t want to run the risk of breaking the statute of secrecy any further than he was about to.
Josephine was sickly and tinged with green, her black hair stuck to her head with grease, covered in sweat, and her eyes fluttered open. At the sight of Ezra and Sebastian she cried out and began to thrash, trying to muster the strength to leave the bed. Auralie ran to her side and spoke in quiet, soothing tones while smoothing the sweaty hair away from her forehead.
“She’s telling Josephine that we’re very powerful priests,” Ezra explained as Sebastian began to unpack his knapsack. Sebastian moved to the side so Josephine could see him take out bread and wine, the crucifix where his wand was hidden, and small containers of goblin metal that he had emblazoned with signs of St. Peter should any Muggle catch a glimpse of it. “That she may see odd things, but that it’s God helping us remove the demon.”
“Clever girl,” Sebastian called over his shoulder with a smile. Auralie smiled at him, offering a polite ‘merci’ before sitting down by Josephine’s side.
Sebastian looked at the small goblin metal flasks, and sent another silent word of thanks to Isadora and Charlie, without whom this particular curse wouldn’t be able to be broken. He rolled one through his fingers.
“Got your anchor?” Ezra asked. Sebastian fished out the photo Charlie had sent, one of them, with Anne and Ominis, and smiled. Ezra took it in for a moment, then pulled out his own photo of his companion and two children. They put the photos back in their pockets and Sebastian took the crucifix in his hand and slid his wand out of the hidden compartment.
“Expecto Patronum,” he whispered, watching as a fox materialized itself and awaited instruction. “Stay out, long as you can,” Sebastian leaned down and let his gloved hand trail across the top of the patronus’s head, and it inclined it’s head as if receiving a head scratch.
“Didn’t your patronus used to be an owl?” Ezra asked, casting his own patronus, watching as the beagle bounded around.
“It did,” Sebastian sent Ezra a sheepish smile.
“Ahhh,” Ezra teased, watching the two patronuses chase each other around.
“Task at hand,” Sebastian warned. He pocketed his wand and went to Josephine’s bedside and sat down at her side. “Je suis Sebastian, ma chère,” he said as he took one of her hands in both of his. He looked to Ezra. “Tell her we’ll get her feeling better in no time,” Sebastian asked, and Ezra translated. “Ready?”
Once Ezra nodded, Sebastian pulled out a small vial of water and made the sign of the cross for Josephine’s benefit. It was just tap water, but he still did the sign of the cross on her and tried not to cry at the way her face was frozen in fear. He handed the water to Ezra, who copied the movement before moving to Sebastian’s knapsack.
“How do I say don’t worry?” He asked Ezra. Ezra had been setting up the self-reporting quill in Sebastian’s journal, and he stopped for a moment as he thought it over.
“Ne vous inquiétez pas,” Ezra said as he returned to his work. “Record date, December 12 th 1904, Southern France. Sebastian Sallow and Ezra Rakepick, Master Curse-Breakers on site.”
“Ne vous inquiétez pas,” Sebastian promised, mimicking Ezra’s accent as best he could while squeezing Josephine’s hand. “Ne vous inquiétez pas.”
“Oui, prêtre,” the girl whispered. Auralie stepped to the window and drew the curtains, the daylight snuffed out, then sat on the windowsill with her hands clasped in front of her mouth.
“Bien, fille courageuse,” Sebastian squeezed her shoulder and Josephine gave him a small smile. Sebastian reached and grabbed the crucifix and handed it to Josephine, who took it. “Do not interfere, no matter how she screams,” Sebastian warned Auralie. “If our concentration is broken we risk transferring the curse, or worse, killing her. We have broken far worse curses than a rogue Ashwinder’s petty magic, so trust that we’ll get her right again,” he promised, and Aurelie nodded as she started crying.
Sebastian pulled out his wand and Ezra followed. He stood up and stepped his right foot back, casting a diagnostic on Josephine. Being muggle, her color was a light blue, but with harsh red nodes.
“Stomach,” Sebastian called. “Head, chest.”
“Clear, I also see stomach, head, and chest,” Ezra called back. “Record show location of curse to be stomach, head, and chest.”
“Clear to begin?” Sebastian asked as he looked from the diagnostic to Josephine.
Ezra stood on the other side of the bed. Josephine looked at him. Ezra smiled kindly. “Je suis Ezra, fille courageuse,” he whispered. Without breaking concentration, Sebastian reached into his pocket and handed Ezra the goblin metal container. “Container opened, ready for curse. Clear to begin.”
And so Sebastian began breaking Josephine’s curse.
He started by dragging his wand’s tip down from Josephine’s forehead to her sternum, then to her right and left shoulder, mimicking the sign of the cross he had just done. It had been a particularly difficult spell to create, having to make sure that should Josephine’s family enter at any point, it looked like a real Muggle exorcism. He repeated the moment, taking care to rotate his wrist just so as he moved up and down, right and left, watching as the tip of his wand began to glow a sickly green.
“In nomine Patris,” Sebastian began, waiting for Ezra to echo. Josephine screwed her eyes shut. He continued through the Lord’s Prayer three times, then he began:
“De damnatus macula, de damnatus macula, pueir vidiri,” his voice took a melodic tone to it, moving through the words in a shaky vibrato as his wand began to vibrate, repeating the pattern over and over. “Pueri audiri,” he held this out for longer, hearing Ezra’s voice join his. “De damnatus macula, de damnatus macula, pueri vididi, pueri audiri…” they sang in unison.
Josephine screamed. Sebastian blinked back tears as she wretched in bed, thrashing her head from side to side. He swallowed and continued the pattern, and felt a tug at his wand.
“Ready container!” Sebastian used his other hand to grasp the wand’s handle as a sickly pale green light began to pool at Josephine’s throat. He took a small step back with his right foot, then with his left, pulling gently so as to not disrupt any of Josephine’s skin, bone, or muscle. A bead of sweat fell down his face as he held his breath.
“Container ready!” Ezra called.
Sebastian began to tilt the tip of his wand up towards the ceiling slowly. He blinked rapidly and took a deep breath as Josephine began to plead with him to stop. With a small twist of his wand it broke off, the sickly green light beginning to refract around the room. Sebastian held his wand up and rested his hand on the pocket with the photo. Anchor, Sallow, Anchor. He reminded himself.
Josephine rolled out of bed towards Auralie, who held her tight and smoothed her hair.
“Now!” Ezra screamed and Sebastian brought his arm down with force, letting out a small grunt of effort as the goblin metal took the curse. Ezra screwed it shut, holding it away from his body as he dug out a drawstring bag covered in runes. He dropped the container into the bag and readied the next one.
“Tell her two more,” Sebastian dabbed at his sweat. “Tell her just two more times then she’ll feel all better.”
Auralie whispered to Josephine, who shook her head as she sobbed. “Non, non, prêtre, non…” she sobbed. Sebastian used his gloves to wipe his tears away and went to pour her a glass of water. He walked back with it slowly then kneeled in front of her and held it out to Josephine, who was using Auralie for support. He held his other hand out, and Josephine shrunk away at first.
Sebastian waited. The mid-day sun had begun to make its way towards its afternoon home. It peaked through the drawn curtains, small spots of light in an otherwise dark room. At the rate this curse-breaking took, they would be done at midnight at the earliest. Sebastian stayed kneeling with the water out, and Josephine pulled her face away from Auralie’s chest to stare at the water. She took it and drank deeply. Sebastian held his hand out for her again, and Josephine rested her hand in his. He rested his other hand on top of hers.
“You are being a very brave girl,” Sebastian promised, patting her hand. “A very brave girl, and you will get to play with your brothers and sisters again very soon.”
Auralie translated and Josephine nodded, beginning to sniffle again.
“It doesn’t feel very good, does it?” Sebastian asked, voice soft. After Auralie translated, Josephine shook her head vigorously. Auralie took the glass from Josephine and set it on the windowsill.
“I know it doesn’t feel good,” Sebastian said, waiting for Auralie to translate. “Moi,” he pointed to himself. “Also had…had a demon, when I was about your age,” it felt odd to refer to it in Muggle terms. But he pointed to his chest again. “All better now,” he promised, resting his palm over his heart. Auralie translated.
“All better?” Josephine asked. She reached her other hand out and touched Sebastian’s face.
Sebastian smiled and nodded. “That’s right, all better.”
Josephine looked to Auralie, who nodded, and then the little girl went to lie back down in the bed.
The diagnostic hummed, two nodes left out of the three.
“The head will hurt her the most,” Ezra warned. Sebastian swallowed hard and nodded. “Are you sure you can finish this? I can take over.”
“I can do it,” Sebastian smiled, adjusting his gloves. He patted the pocket where the photo rested. He cast a glance to the patronuses, and sensing it’s need circled Sebastian’s legs and allowed him to take a deep breath.
“Ready?” Sebastian asked Ezra. Ezra nodded. Sebastian looked to Josephine. “Ready?” He asked. Josephine nodded and screwed her eyes shut.
“In nomine Patris,” Sebastian began. Ezra began to echo, copying Sebastian’s wand pattern again. This time it was on Josephine’s forehead. Though there were two curse-breakers, only one curse in the human body could be broken at a time. Trying to break one or more could result in death, or worse, total disintegration of Josephine's body. It required focus.
Once again, Sebastian continued through the Lord’s Prayer three times, then he began:
“De damnatus macula, de damnatus macula, pueir vidiri,” they sang again, moving through the words with more fluidity than they had before. Again his wand began to vibrate, repeating the pattern over and over. “Pueri audiri,” he held. “De damnatus macula, de damnatus macula, pueri vididi, pueri audiri…” they began to sing in unison.
Josephine screamed again, worse now as the light began to pool at the middle of her forehead. She grasped at her hair and began to pull at it. Sebastian kept his focus, pulling until he felt a tug back. “Container ready?” He called.
“Container ready,” Ezra held the container up. Josephine moved from gripping her hair to gripping the bedsheets and thrashing, her hair covering her face. Despite how desperately Sebastian wanted to scream out words of comfort, he held the curse, and should he lose concentration he risked re-infecting Josephine, or infecting any of them. He breathed in through his nose, then out through his mouth slowly.
Turn the wand towards the ceiling. Twist gently, Watch the curse refract to try and fill the room. Anchor. Await partner’s readiness to receive the curse in the container. Bring wand down with force so it slid into the container. Container gets placed in protective bag.
Josephine lay still, and Sebastian rushed to her and rested two fingers on her neck. He focused in, feeling a pulse.
“She’s alive,” he breathed. He laughed in relief, rubbing sweat away from his forehead with his sleeve. Sebastian got himself and Ezra water, leaning against the wall. “Just one more. Once she wakes up I’ll give her a bit of chocolate then we’ll go again.”
There was a knock at the door. Sebastian and Ezra slid their wands into their pockets and Sebastian went quickly to dissolve the diagnostic, the patronuses evaporating. Auralie answered the door and began speaking to Josephine’s father in hushed tones.
“She’s explaining that there was more than one demon,” Ezra explained, joining Sebastian who had went to sit on the windowsill. “And that we’ve got two of them out.”
Sebastian nodded. “The stomach will be difficult.”
“That’s why you’re giving her the chocolate, right?” Ezra leaned his head on the wall.
“If she’s digesting it makes it easier to extract the curse from her organs rather than guessing,” Sebastian took another drink. Auralie shut the door.
“He wants to pay you,” she said in a thick French accent. “Whatever you ask.”
Ezra and Sebastian exchanged a glance.
“It’s free,” Ezra said finally. “No charge.”
Josephine groaned and Sebastian leapt up to his knapsack, breaking off pieces of chocolate for everyone in the room. Sebastian sat down next to Josephine and offered her a piece. She took it and nibbled at it, eyes tired.
“My favorite,” Sebastian said, raising the chocolate as if in a toast. He patted his stomach and Josephine giggled. “How do I say one more?”
“Un de plus,” Ezra said through a mouthful of chocolate.
“Un de plus,” Sebastian said in an excited, hushed tone while holding up one finger. “Un de plus, fille courageuse!” He shook her shoulder, just enough that she began to smile. They finished eating and Sebastian stood, watching as Ezra opened the last container. Sebastian took out his wand and looked to Josephine, who nodded. Sebastian re-cast the diagnostic and both he and Ezra re-cast their patronuses, Auralie even cast hers, a hare, which bounced around the room much to Josephine’s delight.
They began to break the last curse, where the wand movements had to be more intricate, drawing around internal organs, through the liver and stomach, Sebastian supporting his left elbow with his right hand as he pulled the curse out. Josephine was quiet for this one, her face screwed tight through the pain, and finally the curse was pulled out of her stomach.
It was the largest of the three, and in the quiet moments to come Sebastian would think again about Anne, how the pain occurred in her stomach more than any part of her body, but for now it was Josephine who needed him. Josephine, who let out a gasp as the curse broke from her stomach and her eyes rolled back as she passed out again. As the curse refracted both Sebastian and Ezra had their hands on their pockets where their photos rested, and once the curse began to slow in its movements Sebastian brought his arm down and it was contained.
“Bien!” Auralie cried as Josephine stirred. The diagnostic was clear aside from a few signs of inflammation which would heal just as a common cold would. “Bien, bien, bien!” Auralie ran up to Sebastian and hugged him as they laughed, and Ezra joined, the three of them looking at the clear diagnostic.
“Let me,” Ezra said as Sebastian’s knees buckled from exhaustion. “Go sit, I’ll modify her memory.”
Ezra spent 30 minutes adjusting her memories so that should she remember this it would appear to be a standard exorcism. Then Sebastian opened the door, seeing Josephine’s parents standing there and holding tight to each other, and he was able to smile and nod.
Her mother was the first to let out a cry of joy, collapsing into her husband who was sobbing. Sebastian stepped aside once Ezra’s wand was away, and he leaned against the door as he watched Josephine’s parents sit on either side of her, cupping her face in their hands and covering it with kisses. She was drawn, yes, but already had color back into her face and was telling her mother that she was hungry.
Sebastian offered Josephine communion to keep up with appearances, and her parents took communion with her. Ezra and Sebastian packed up their bags and left.
-
A week later, Sebastian and Ezra did something most curse-breakers never did.
They went back to visit.
As they walked up the long dirt walkway they heard the playful cries and laughter of children, and when they rounded the corner the voices all stopped.
“Prêtre!” Josephine cried, taking off from the lawn where her siblings were playing and running. Sebastian kneeled down and opened his arms and Josephine ran into them, knocking him onto his bottom as they both laughed. “Merci, merci, merci!” Josephine held tight around his neck and Sebastian hugged her close. Soon after Josephine’s siblings joined in, and Sebastian was covered in children thanking him for saving their sister’s life. Ezra watched, hands in his pockets, smiling as the group laughed.
They refused to let go, forcing Sebastian to stand up with children hanging from his neck and arms as Josephine’s parents came to say their thanks. Josephine’s father pressed Sebastian’s hands in his own, and Josephine’s mother kissed his cheeks before they went to do the same to Ezra. Auralie joined them, hands clasped in front of her and blinking back tears.
“Vien avec moi,” Josephine pointed towards the house, still clinging to Sebastian. She said something else that he couldn’t catch, and Ezra translated:
“She wants to give a tour,” he explained, before he asked Josephine’s parents if it was alright. They nodded and continued to speak with Ezra as Josephine slid off of Sebastian’s back, taking his hand, and took off for the house, her siblings running back to their game. Auralie went with Sebastian, translating as Josephine showed Sebastian their various rooms, her cousin’s bedrooms, and then their playroom. Once they reached Josephine’s bedroom she opened the door and gestured at it, her face shining with pride.
“A brand new bed!” Sebastian rested his hands on his hips. “Very nice, and it looks much better in here.”
The room had been completely made over, fresh wallpaper in bright flowers and colors, new curtains, and of course a brand new bed and carpet. It looked far different from the dreary room it had been a week ago. Josephine beamed with pride then led Auralie and Sebastian back out to the lawn.
As Sebastian and Ezra began to say their goodbyes, Josephine motioned for Sebastian to come closer. He kneeled down once more so they were at eye level to each other. Josephine rested a hand on her chest, then reached out and pointed to Sebastian’s.
“All better,” she said in uncertain English. “All better.”
Sebastian blinked back tears and smiled so hard his cheeks hurt. He nodded. “All better.”