Lost Memories

viii. beauxbaton & durmstrang

Walking down to the common room, I was welcomed with little jack-o-lanterns, purple and black streamers, and bowls of candy. The entire atmosphere was very cheerful and lighthearted instead of its usual stressful tension.

I giggled at the sight of the floating pumpkins and gourds. It was two days before Halloween and also the day before the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs came to Hogwarts. Pulling my long brown hair into a low ponytail, I pulled on my sweater and grabbed my bag which had my fake wand, books, and writing material in it.

Since it was Thursday, today we had to go to our Dark Arts class with Professor Moody. To our surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether we could resist its effects.

"But — but you said it's illegal Professor," Hermione stated as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said — to use it against another human was —"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swivelling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione's face went pink as she mumbled an apology. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Harry and Ron grinning at each other. I, on the other hand, was upset.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperious Curse upon them. I watched as, one by one, the class did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!"

I watched as Harry looked as if he were high. Moody's eye contact did not waver from Harry's and slowly, Harry bent his knees as if he were to begin jumping. In a few seconds, Harry's face changed from his state of euphoria to confusion to pain. Oddly enough, Harry almost jumped, but didn't, causing him to fall forward towards the desk next to him.

"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice, "Lastly, our new student: Harring."

My heart raced at the idea of being under the curse. If wizards and witches couldn't control themselves against Moody, then how would I? Slowly, I walked to the clearing, where every other student stood. My hands shook as I placed them at my side.

Hot fear ran through my body, from my head to my toes, as Moody lifted his wand, "Imperio!"

It was the strangest feeling. Now I know why Harry looked high, I felt as if I was floating. But oddly enough, it felt as though someone had tried to chip away at a small block in my brain. I didn't like that. It was as though there was something in me that tried to push it away, but it didn't seem to work very well.

And then I heard a voice echoing in my head: Jump out of the window.

I gasped, "no!" Around me, I felt the burning eyes of others while soft gasps echoed in the room. The chipping was gone but there was a small hole in the mental block.

"Huh," Moody called. Tell everyone the truth...

I opened my mouth, preparing to spill my secret.