I'd never been in the Muggle Studies classroom before, but I knew that it must be much darker and drearier now than it had been before. Alecto stood behind her desk, looking almost like Umbridge with her short, stout structure. If she wore pink instead of black, she would have reminded me greatly of the bitch.
Alecto was more like an hyena though, always smirking or cackling. Right now she was simpering out at all of the sixth year students as a row of skulls on her desks stared out at the class despite their hollow eye sockets. The other Slytherins in our year were seated on the right side while the Ravenclaws sat quietly on the left.
"There will be no talking!" She shouts as we take our seats. Theo had learned his lesson after his punishment this morning. Although it was mild, it was still a punishment no less.
Barely a minute into class, a Ravenclaw boy rushed into the room and took his seat. He was late. Any other professor would have ignored it but not Alecto. She did not waste time shouting. She simply raised her wand and utter the curse I had been afraid of.
"Crucio!"
Tthe Ravenclaw boy's shouts to echoed alone against the walls, everyone's fearful eyes glanced between Alecto and the boy. One Ravenclaw girl had stood, prepared to fight Alecto, but the Professor quickly flicked her wand away from the screaming boy and toward her, and the girl cowered before she could become the next victim.
The tortured boy was still whimpering when Alecto continued with class.
"I hope you all enjoyed that demonstration," Alecto said, her expression so ecstatic that she looked like she'd just won the Quidditch World Cup. "My brother will show you more in your Dark Arts class, but for now, let's get back to the subject of filthy Muggles, shall we?"
No one spoke.
Guilt filled me as I glanced over at the tortured Ravenclaw boy, who had been hauled into his seat by two of his friends. He was shuddering and moaning quietly as the brave girl stroked his arm tenderly. It was unfair the way they were being treated just because they weren't in Slytherin.
I was in Slytherin, and I was one of the Dark Lord's servants. I'd have to do something much worse than be a minute late for her to punish me so severely. And yet she'd so easily used an Unforgivable Curse on an innocent boy. It made my insides twist with fury.
"Petulant scum! Anyone want to give me three reasons why we hate Muggles? Only three—though I know it'd pleasure you to give even more..." I don't think anyone was actually paying during class.
The remainder of Muggle Studies was horrendous. Apparently we would have a quiz next class, in which we would have to state the ten best reasons why Muggles all deserved to burn in a fire. It was quite an interesting list that I would have to memorize.
As we left class I noticed how uneasy most Slytherins looked. As much as they boast about the Dark Arts, they had never seen the curse enacted upon someone in real life. Not like Draco and I had. We hadn't just seen it, we had lived through it.
Charms was not nearly as dreadful as Muggle Studies had been, but I could hear the strain in Professor Flitwick's voice as he taught. He didn't allow anyone to ask questions, and his notes on the blackboard were unusually sloppy. Everyone was terrified of what was happening to this school, and if Muggle Studies was not enough to confirm it, Flitwick's fear was.
I feared this would be a repeat of my fifth year. No learning, no fun, only fear.
Lunch was much quieter than breakfast had been. All of the seventh year Slytherins were still numb over the events of our first class, and word had somehow spread throughout the rest of the school that Raelyn Slytherin had, essentially, tortured a Ravenclaw boy. Whoever started spreading the rumor had left out the big important fact that it had been Alecto.
