The Other Potter

XCIV. UNFORGIVABLE CURSES

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"Alastor Moody."

He wrote his name on the chalkboard as Mia was sitting next to Hermione.

"Ministry malcontent," he went on, "and your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here                          because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?"

Nobody said anything.

"When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach," Moody went on, "but first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron's and Hermione's. Moody pointed at Hermione.

"Three sir," she said as Mood nodded.

"And they are so named?" he asked as Hermione looked at him.

"Because they are unforgivable," she said, slightly shocked he would even ask them that. "The use of                          any one of them will. . . ."

". . . .will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban.                          Correct," he growled as Mia watched him, "now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" He turned around and began scribbling on the board. "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!"

Mia turned around and grinned when she saw the look on Seamus' face.

"Aw no way," Seamus whispered, "the old codger can see out the back of his head." Moody threw the chalk at Seamus and it would have smacked him in the face if he didn't duck.

"And hear across classrooms!" he yelled. He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together. "So, which curse shall we see first?" He looked around the classroom and his eyes landed on Ron. "WEASLEY!"

"Yes?" Ron whimpered.

"Give us a curse," Moody demanded.

"Well, my dad did tell me about one," Ron said, glancing at Mia before back to Moody, "the Imperious Curse."

"Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that," Moody said, "gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why."

Moody opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. A large black spider was scuttling around inside it. Moody reached into the jar, caught it and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"

The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance

Everyone was laughing, everyone except Mia and Moody.

Mia watched as the spider was being thrown around the room like a rag doll. She didn't even laugh when the spider got thrown onto Draco's face.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter died away almost instantly.

"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats. . . ."

Mia watched with a slightly pitiful look.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do did You-Know-Whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse," Moody went on, "but here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars? Another, another. . . ."

Hermione's hand flew into the air again and so, to Mia's slight surprise, did Neville's. The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring.

"Longbottom is it?" he asked, looking at Neville who nodded. "Up."

Neville stood up, looking nervous.

"Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology," Moody said as Mia watched Neville.

"There's the, um," Neville said in a small but distinct voice, "the Cruciatus Curse."

"Correct! Correct!" Moody said, rather excited as Mia furrowed her eyebrows, "come, come." The two walked up to the desk as Mia watched Neville. "Particularly                          nasty. The torture curse." Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Mia was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently. Mia looked at Neville and her eyes went wide. Neville's hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified.

"Stop it!" Mia yelled as everyone looked at her. Moody didn't stop. "Stop it!" she yelled, her eyes glowing red as Moody's wand flew out of his hand and landed on the floor with a clatter. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch. Mad-Eye stopped as he looked at Mia, shocked as her eyes glowed bright red as she watched him with a cold look on her face. He picked the spider up and walked to Mia's desk and put the spider in front of her. She looked down at the spider with a sad look.

"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable                          curse Miss. Potter," he said as Mia slowly looked up at him, a horrified look on her face.

"Like hell I will," she said, her voice shaking. Everyone looked at her worried, especially Draco.

"Avada Kedavra," Moody said, pointing his wand at the spider.

There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound. Instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries as Mia looked away, her eyes watering.

"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only two known people has ever survived it, and they're sitting right in front of me."

Moody's normal eye landed on Mia while his magical eye landed on Harry. Mia refused to look at him as she stared at the spider. So that was how her parents had died, exactly like that spider. Had they been unblemished and unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?

Mia couldn't help it. She grabbed her bag from underneath the table and walked out of the classroom, not saying a word as her brother, Ron and Hermione looked at her worried. As she walked past Draco, he sent the girl a worried look as she carried on walking. She slammed the door open and walked out.

She walked down the corridor, her head down.

"Miss. Potter?"

Mia looked up and saw Professor McGonagall walked down the corridor.

"What are you going out of class? Have you got permission?" Mia took a shaky breath.

"I couldn't stay in there any longer," she said, "we were being shown the unforgivable curses and. . . ." she trailed off as McGonagall nodded.

"Understood," she said as Mia looked confused.

"You're not giving me detention or anything?" she asked confused.

"Not this time," she said with a slightly sad smile, "take care."

Mia sent her a small smile before she walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room.