Curse

A curse is the most severe of the three kinds of Dark charm, alongside jinxes and hexes. Curses are meant to cause immense suffering, and they are the strongest, longest lasting and least reversible Dark magic in general use. The three Unforgivable Curses sit at the far end of that scale. A curse is bound up with both the caster and the victim in ways ordinary spells are not: it can be laid without a spell being spoken at all, it can be placed on an object and hold for centuries depending on the skill behind it, and the counter to one need not be an incantation. First years at Hogwarts are considered nowhere near experienced enough to attempt magic of this kind.