Theodosia Accidentally Transfers Bastet’s Curse to Isis

Theodosia’s attempt to remove the curse from the Cursed Bastet Statue becomes a transfer gone wrong: the hieroglyphs rise from the object but enter Isis instead of the wax figure prepared to contain them. The reversal leaves the statue peaceful, the cat feral and injured, and Theodosia confronting an urgent problem she does not yet know how to solve.

Preparation and Intended Remedy

Theodosia approaches the curse through a practical ritual assembled from scarce materials and careful precautions. Because she collects wax scraps, she can make a small figurine to receive the curse. Her replica is an imperfect likeness of a cat, closer to a slender tree trunk with ears, but she carves the appropriate hieroglyphs into its base and sets it ready. Its crude appearance is a sharp contrast with the exacting symbolic work the ritual demands: the figure is meant not merely to represent the curse’s destination, but to receive what she removes from the statue.

The potion combines rue with claret taken from a decanter in her father’s library. Rue is difficult to obtain and costly for Theodosia, but she keeps some on hand because magical recipes use it, and because she understands it as protection against evil spirits and curse-induced spasms. She grinds the herb with the claret in a mortar, then removes her gloves and draws a wedjat eye on each palm with a pencil stub. The safeguards reflect her awareness that handling a cursed object is dangerous, even as the improvised equipment and limited supplies mark how exposed she remains.

The Ritual and the Transfer

Theodosia wipes the Cursed Bastet Statue with a clean rag soaked in the potion, taking care to keep the cloth between her fingertips and the object. She chants from a book, following the principle that Egyptian magic depends not only on the right recipe but on saying the words with the proper tone. The effects initially seem to confirm that the procedure is working: the statue vibrates, the sulfur smell intensifies, and the hieroglyphs she had seen the previous night rise into view. Wherever the potion touches them, they shrink back.

When the potion runs out, the symbols have been reduced to half their former size. Still chanting, Theodosia watches them pull away from the statue and break free with a series of dull pops. They hover above it like an angry swarm. She holds out her protected hands, but the fumes are overpowering, and the ritual’s narrow focus is interrupted when Isis swipes at her ankle. Theodosia turns to address the cat, and the floating symbols stream toward it. The mistake is made visible at once: the hieroglyphs travel not to the waiting wax figure but directly onto Isis’s fur.

Isis’s Change and the Immediate Reversal

The moment the symbols touch Isis, she snarls. Her fur stands on end, her ears flatten, and a terrible yowl replaces the familiar presence of Theodosia’s pet. The account describes the change in stark terms: Isis is no longer her beloved companion but “Evil Incarnate.” The curse has moved, but the intended containment has failed. The ritual’s apparent success against the statue has become a danger to the living animal beside it.

The transformed cat attacks again, cutting through Theodosia’s woolen stockings and painfully clawing her shin. Isis arches her back, hisses, then hides beneath a bookshelf, where her low, demonic yowls continue. Theodosia cannot safely turn away to consult the book for instructions; she remains fixed on the cat, trying to understand what has happened. The contrast is immediate and unsettling: the Cursed Bastet Statue now sits as peacefully as before, while Isis has become the source of the scene’s threat.

Consequences and Significance

Theodosia recognizes that the ritual must be reversed, repeating the thought as she stares at the harm she has caused. Yet recognition is not a solution: she is unsure whether the change can be undone, and the scene ends with that uncertainty unresolved. The prepared wax figure and carefully chosen ingredients have not been enough; the episode turns on the gap between knowing the steps of a spell and maintaining control while carrying them out.

The failed transfer establishes the danger of magical work as both physical and procedural. The symbols respond to Theodosia’s potion and words, but the cat’s interruption diverts the ritual toward an unintended recipient. The calm statue offers no reassurance, because its quietness is the result of a curse displaced rather than safely contained. By ending on Theodosia’s resolve to reverse the effect, the episode shifts the action from removing a curse to finding a way to rescue Isis from it.