Daisy Potter and the Fallen Angel (Book 7, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 10 - Dark Arts

The class filed into the old Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom silently. This was a first, as my class was never silent; I was usually chatting up a storm with my friends, but today I was subdued, keeping my gaze on the floor as Terry tugged me by the hand to our usual seats in the back row.

I took my seat, looking down at the desk as I folded my trembling hands in my lap. I didn't dare look up at Professor Carrow, who'd been so eager to perform the Cruciatus Curse on me when I'd first arrived, and who probably wouldn't hesitate to do it again now that he was allowed to.

Kylie sat down on the other side of me, and Draco on the other side of Terry. The four other Slytherins that I was friendly with - Shannon, Pansy, Blaise, and Theo - all sat in front of me, and Terry muttered a quiet, "Thanks." to them. Why was he thanking them?

"All right, brats. Listen up." Professor Carrow barked, and I jumped. "In this class you will be taught the useful skills needed to perfect the Dark Arts. I will be teaching you different methods of combat, the use and application of dark magic, and the application of the three Unforgivable Curses."

There was an outbreak of muttering at this. I kept my head bowed.

"Unforgivable Curses?" Kylie said, her eyes wide. "Are you fucking serious?"

"All THREE of them?" Suzanne said, her voice trembling.

"Silence!" Professor Carrow said roughly, and the class went quiet again. "And all eyes up here."

I knew that he was speaking directly to me now. Reluctantly, I looked up.

The class was emptier than it had been last year. The twins weren't here, and neither were Hermione or Dean; the former for being Muggleborn, the latter for not having any living wizard relatives to prove his half-blood heritage with. Speaking of, I reminded myself to ask Colin how he was able to get in. Maybe he lied about his family tree. But then, why would he want to attend here?

But as I gazed around the classroom, my eyes finally landed on Professor Carrow. He was staring directly at me, a small smirk on his ugly, scarred face, his arms folded.

"Now, then. Today, I thought we'd start off with learning the basics: the Cruciatus Curse."

The class started murmuring again. Professor Carrow continued on as if nothing was wrong.

"It is the most crucial dark art to know. You will be able to do many things with it, including getting useful information out of someone, breaking someone's resilience, and, most relevantly, punishing somebody disobedient."

Professor Carrow's eyes glinted nastily at me.

"It is relevant because we will be using this curse on students who earn detention, as practice and as the staff's preferred method of punishment."

There was an immediate uproar, just like last night in the Great Hall. Terry leapt up from his seat, fuming, his fists clenched; Draco pawed desperately at him to try to get him to sit back down, all the while shooting glares at Professor Carrow; Kylie was staring at him with a disgusted look on her face; Seamus was telling Professor Carrow to 'get fucked, mate.'

"I won't be performing the Cruciatus Curse on anyone that goes here!" Terry spat. "But maybe on anyone that tries to hurt my friends!"

Professor Carrow took a step forward. "Is that so?"

"Yes, that is so -"

"I won't be torturing anyone, either." Kylie spoke up loudly, crossing her arms and tilting her chair back, an expression of pure disdain taking over the disgust on her face.