Deep down in the lowest levels of the ministry, beyond the black tiled walls and through the enchanted door led to a circular room with twelve handle-less doors, waiting to be opened. Occasionally rotating as others pass through one door to disguise which one they had stepped through. Yet there was only one right door for this moment, passing through it leads to a room that is almost empty. Dim lighting grants only the vaguest of insight about it. A stone archway with a black curtain sat in its center, shifting lightly with an unfelt breeze.
No one spoke within this room, some studied the archway and its mysteries. Others were taking notes on other aspects that this chamber presided over. Ignore them to find what you seek, deeper into the chamber is a smaller chamber, containing the documented records of all things that those here researched. From the things within, to those without connected to it. In the more recent section you find what you seek. A document given the label of #C294. Opening it you feel as if hope and love have escaped from the world but it passes almost as quickly as it came.
“Department of Mysteries report #C294, The O’Dwyer Family Curse.”
As one’s gaze moves along the report they see that some of it is redacted away, the author's name becoming nothing but a blur and an empty memory when one looks away from it. A warning given that if one wasn’t an Unspeakable, that they would not have to worry about the information in this document for a great deal longer, and that one should take comfort in their final moments.
“The O’Dwyer family curse, or more recently dubbed. The Prolonged Death is believed to have begun with one of their family members born in the 1800s. Due to pureblood families often writing out or removing members of their family that have caused any form of shame from their family trees, it is difficult to discern exactly which ancestor caused this curse. All that is known is that it has existed for at least three, potentially more generations.
Our research has indicated that the curse is a result of exposure to powerful death-related dark artifacts for prolonged periods of time. The Ministry has always tacitly approved of their collection of artifacts due to very few of them ever being used for their intended purpose and have elected to instead keep watch should this change or should the curse begin to take a more obvious and troublesome state. As it currently stands, we have only noted two separate variations of this curse that can appear within the O’Dwyer family, currently dubbed the Dormant and Active forms.
The dormant variation of this curse is by far the most common and poses very little risk to the ministry or wizard kind in general. The most often seen traits of this variation are mundane at first glance. Early signs of hair losing pigment, ranging from strands of white present throughout their entire life, to hair on the top of one’s head losing all pigment entirely at an early age. The more useful trait is in the uncanny ability to “sense” when dark objects or magic is nearby. Testing has indicated that they are unaware of the precise location of the object, just that “the feeling” gets stronger as they get closer to it. Considerations for assigning dormant curse-bearers to aurors for assistance in tracking maligned wizards is currently being reviewed.
The active variation of this curse is much more difficult to deal with. Most notably due to it presenting as the dormant variation until a high-stress situation forces it to manifest. During situations in which the subject's emotional state rises to an unacceptable level, they begin to grow physical manifestations related to their perception of death. In the case of the current active curse-bearer, it is strands of black seaweed like material that manifest from the limbs and body. Should it be unable to or refuse to bring themselves back to a stable emotional level, these manifestations will begin to grow and violently assault any nearby object or living being, choosing to assault that which brought stress to the subject before anything else.
While the current appearance of the manifestations is that of a seaweed like substance, they have been shown in our testing to have a remarkable level of strength. Akin to an Obscurus or a very well aged Kelpie. The longer that the curse-bearer remains in this high stress state, the more aggressive and uncontrollable this manifestation becomes, requiring one to quickly pacify them whether by rendering them unconscious or using a mind-altering charm to ease their mental state as they will have little ability to pacify themselves during this time.
As things currently stand with the O’Dwyer family and this curse, the ministry has chosen to take a wait and see approach due to various reasons. The first of which are the fact that they seem more than willing to self-regulate those who possess the active variation of Prolonged Death by training them to stay apathetic to the world around them or stay intently focused on what they are doing to not let their emotions get out of hand. The secondary reason is due to the O’Dwyer family’s deep rooted ties within the ministry itself, often found working with or for it to have built a level of trust.
At this time, if you are currently reading this form. You have been assigned as the watcher of the most recent O’Dwyer member to present the active variation of this curse. By all accounts he has done well in keeping it controlled, but this should be treated as if it is liable to change at any given time. If this change occurs, from the time of first manifestation until it has been deemed controlled once again, the subject is to be treated as a non-being and treated as such until the situation is brought under control.
Research into breaking this curse will continue for the foreseeable future, current estimation by several chambers of the department of mysteries is that it should be broken within the next six to seven generations, remarkable speed for a bloodline curse such as this! Stay optimistic and stay silent - Unspeakable (Redacted)”