Neophobia | H. POTTER [2]

4 | unforgivable curses

"Alastor Moody," the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher announced as he wrote his name onto the board. "Ministry malcontent. And your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story. Any questions?"

No one raised their hand so he continued, "When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

Hermione's hand shot up and the man called on her, "Three, sir."

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable," she explained. "Use of any one of them will..."

"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Correct," he confirmed. "Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different! You need to know what you're up against. You need to be prepared. You need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr. Finnigan!"

"Aw, no way," Seamus stated, "The old codger can see out the back of his head."

"So, which curse shall we see first?" the teacher inquired. He scanned the room, "Weasley!"

"Yes..." Ron trailed off warily.

"Give us a curse," he requested.

"Well, my dad did tell me about one..." the boy trailed off. "The Imperious Curse."

"Ah yes, your father would know all about that," he nodded. "Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why."

Moody popped open a jar with a spider in it and placed it in his hand, "Hello. What a little beauty." He used his wand to move it around the classroom. He dangled it over Ron's head and he appeared horrified, "Don't worry. Completely harmless."

"But if she bites...she's lethal!" Draco laughed at Ron's reactions. "What are you laughing at?" Moody moved the spider so that it was on Draco's face.

"Talented isn't she?" Moody asked. "What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window?" He slammed it against a magnifying glass before dangling it over a bucket of water, "Drown herself?"

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse. But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?" He looked around the room and spoke again, "Another, Another...Come on, come on." Neville had his hand raised and Moody called on him, "Longbottom, is it? Up." Neville stood up, "Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for herbology."

"There's the um..." he began, "The Cruciatus Curse."

"Correct! Correct! Come," he gestured for Neville to join him and he did, "Particularly nasty. The torture curse."

Hermione and Abigail exchanged a wary glance. Moody began to torture the spider with magic and it squealed in pain.

"Stop!" Abigail shouted and she stood up from her seat, "Look at him! Stop it!"

Moody stopped and saw that Neville was in fact bothered by it. He picked up the spider and walked over to where Abigail stood, placing the spider on the table. "Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Lupin." Abigail shook her head quickly, clearly not willing to say it and risk any further harm to the spider. "Miss Granger?"

"Avada Kedavra," Moody shouted and the spider disintegrated in front of them. Abigail took a seat as the Professor walked away, the scowl clear on her face. "The Killing Curse," he stated. "Only one person is known to have survived it. And he's sitting in this room." He approached Harry and took a drink from his bottle as he did so.

Harry watched the man with wide eyes and his gaze flickered out over to Abigail upon instinct, the frown on her face confusing him greatly.

A moment later, class was over and the students flooded out of the classroom, murmuring about their first lesson.

"Brilliant isn't he!" Ron exclaimed. "Completely demented of course. Terrifying to be in the same room with, he's really been there you know."

"There's a reason those curses are unforgivable, and to perform them in a classroom," Hermione pointed out, "I mean did you see Neville's face."

They see Neville standing by and staring out a window, his face pale from the previous events. "Neville?" Abigail tried but he didn't respond.

Moody approached Neville and patted him on the shoulder. "Son," he tried, "You alright?" He nodded, "Come on, we'll have a cup of tea. I want to show you something." Moody's gaze moved over to Abigail and she could have sworn his tongue stuck out for a brief moment.

She shook her head, pulling herself from her overactive imagination. She frowned as they started down the stairs, "I don't like him."

"We've had one lesson with him," Ron pointed out.

"And in that one lesson he used all three unforgivable curses in front of a room full of fourth years," she explained. "Maybe it's just me but that strikes me as odd, even for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Who do you guys think is going to put their name in from Hogwarts?" Ron asked as they entered the room where the Goblet was being held.

Cedric walked out past them after putting his name in and he smiled at them. He made eye contact with Abigail and they stared at each other until he had left the room, the awful feeling in the bottom of her stomach returning.

She shook her head and followed her friends who had moved to sit on the seats that were pushed up against the wall.

Both Fred and George entered the room. George looked around as they did so, "Thank you, thank you, well lads we've done it."

"Cooked it up just this morning," Fred explained.

"It's not going to work," Hermione pointed out in a sing-song tone.

The twins popped up behind her and moved so that one of them was on either side of her. "Oh yeah?" Fred inquired, "And why's that Granger?"

"You see this?" she pointed at the circle around the Goblet, "This is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?"

"So a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion."

"That's why it's so brilliant," George countered, "Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George?"

They jumped into the other side of the age line and cheered. They placed their name into the Goblet. A moment later, they were flung across the room and onto the floor. A full head of gray hair and a beard sprouting from each of their heads.

"You said..." George shouted accusingly and Fred scowled in response. The two then began rolling around on the floor fighting.

The room fell silent as soon Viktor Krum entered the room and put his name into the flame. He looked at Hermione as he left and she smiled in return.

Abigail raised a curious eyebrow at Hermione and Hermione shook her head, a blush rising to her cheeks.