Mischievous Glint | George Weasley

Chapter 15

We were in Defence against the Dark Arts class. Our new Professor was Alastor Moody.
All the Gryffindors sat with their house partners. Unfortunately I had to sit beside Draco. Don't know why Moody did that but he did it anyway. He wrote his name on the board and began speaking.

"Ministry malcontent. And your new defence against the dark arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?"

Everyone stayed silent.

"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 raised her hand.

"Three sir."

"And they are so named?" He asked.

"Because they are unforgivable. Use of any one of them will..." She trailed off.

"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. 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!" He said turning to Seamus who was whispering bad things about him with his partner.

Mad-Eye threw the chalk at him in anger.

"So, which curse shall we see first? Weasley! Stand!"

"Yes." Ron shook in fear.

"Give us a curse." He ordered.

"Well, my dad did tell me about one... the Imperious curse."

"Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why." He said then went over to the table. He popped open a jar with a spider in it. He used his wand to send it around the class.

"Don't worry. Completely harmless."

He sent it to Padma's hand. The class was unsettled.

"But if she bites, she's lethal!" He then sent it to where Ron was sitting. He made it float over his head. Draco laughed as I glared at him.

"What are you laughing at?"

Mad-Eye then sent the spider onto Draco's face. Now it was my time to laugh but he turned to me, begging me to remove it. I grabbed my book but before I could crush the spider, Mad-Eye removed it making me miss then accidentally hitting Draco's face hard with the book. The whole class erupted in laughter as he grabbed his face in pain and groaned.

"Knight, you idiot!" I heard his muffled groan .

"Hey! You're the one who begged me to remove it. Pussy." I threw an insult.

"Silence! Talented isn't she? What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window? Drown herself?"

Mad-Eye had the spider over a bucket of water, it was wriggling.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do did You-Know-Whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse. But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars? Another, another. Come on, come on. Longbottom is it? Up."

Neville stood up. I leaned forward, ready to defend him if Mad-Eye pulled anything.

"Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for herbology."

"There's the um... the Cruciatus curse."

"Correct! Correct! come come. Particularly nasty. The torture curse." Mad-Eye began torturing the spider with magic, it squealed.