All I Have Left

Chapter Fifty Three

The next morning I sat next to Daphne in Defense Against the Dark Arts, the entire class unusually silent as we pull out our book for the class and wait for Professor Moody to show up. 

We were all very excited for the class. We've heard many things from the students who had already had him, saying how cool he was. 

And then the doors slam open, the sound of clunking echoing the room as Professor Moody takes each step, his wooden leg hitting the ground. 

"You won't need those." He says as he walks up to the front of the classroom. "Those books, you won't need them. You can put them away."

Excitedly, we all return our books in our bags, eager for the lesson to start. 

He pulled out a long piece of parchment and started to call out names for attendance, and after everyone was marked present, he put it away and clasped his hands together.

"Right then. I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had pretty good thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures. You've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?" 

We all murmur our assent, too frightened to fully speak.

"But you're behind- very behind- on dealing with curses." He announces. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark-"

"What, aren't you staying?" Ronald blurts out. 

Moody spun around and looked Ronald right in the eye, obviously making him very nervous. But then Moody smiled, a genuine smile, and we all became confused.

"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh? Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago. Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore... one year, and then back to my quiet retirement." Moody tells us, laughing harshly. 

"So, straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until your in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it until then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. 

"How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put on an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

We all turn around in our seats to look at Lavender, who was showing Parvati something under the desk, and we see her blush and nod, tucking the thing back into her bag.

"So. Do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by Wizarding law?" Moody asks us. 

I raise my hand, along with Hermione, Ronald, and several other people, but Moody pointed at Ronald. 

"Er... my dad told me about one. Is it called the Imperius Curse or something?" Ronald asks tentatively. 

"Ah, yes. Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse." Moody nods. 

He then bends down and opens a drawer to his desk, taking out a jar with a large black spider inside and sets it down on his desk, pointing his wand at it. 

"Imperio!" He growls. 

The spider then starts doing all sorts of tricks; cartwheels and tap dancing, flips and jumps, to everyone's amusement. We all laugh as we watch Moody take control over the spider completely. He then looks up at us, scowling.