The Fifth Champion

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

"Now, the Ministry disagrees. They believe that you shouldn't be allowed to see the curses." Moody was quite the scary professor. He was continually pacing the front of the classroom, and Charissa found herself jumping every time his wooden leg cranked against the floor. "Dumbledore and I disagree. You need to know what you're up against, even as second years!

"Now, which one of you can name an Unforgivable Curse?" He walked all the way back to Charissa's row, standing in front of her. She shrunk back in her chair a bit, knowing the names of all three. "How about you, Ms. Malfoy?"

She shook her head, unwilling to answer. "Nothing?" Moody said, clearly wanting an answer. "Come on, I can see it in your eyes."

Charissa gulped. "Well, there's th-the Imperius Curse." She said quietly.

"Aye, you'd know all about that one, wouldn't you." Moody said, obviously referencing her father. Charissa sank further into her chair, scratching at her forearm again. He pulled a spider out of a glass jar at his desk, bringing it back to Charissa and setting it on her desk. She let out a small whimper, to which the Slytherins snickered.

"Imperio!" Moody said. The spider immediately stood up straighter. It jumped from desk to desk with amazing power before returning to Charissa's desk and jumping on her head. Charissa jumped out of her desk, shrieking and crying "Get it off! Get it off!"

Moody released his control over the spider after lowering it into the jar once more. "Funny, your brother had the exact same reaction." He laughed before walking back up to the chalkboard.

"The Imperius Curse," He began to explain. "Allows full control over anything. Many witches and wizards said they only did You-Know-Who's bidding while under the influence of the Imperius Curse, and if there's one thing I hate, it's a Death Eater who walked free." He said with a distinct look at Charissa before moving on. She felt her face turn red.

A Slytherin had named off another curse. "Ah, the Cruciatus Curse, the torture curse. Quite nasty." Moody said. "Crucio." The spider began to twitch and squeal in pain. Charissa sucked in a large breath, squirming in her chair. She looked extremely uneasy, like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

The spider continued squealing. Charissa felt tears at the corner of her eyes, felt her breath growing shallow. The boy in front of her reached back and patted her arm comfortingly, while Isabel put an arm around her. All around the class, the Hufflepuffs were turning towards Charissa with concerned looks on their faces; they could sense her panic.

"Stop it!" One of the Hufflepuffs at the front of the class exclaimed. "Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering her?"

Moody let go of his hold on the spider. Charissa relaxed, but only slightly. "Never known a Malfoy to be so weak hearted." Moody muttered. "So, Ms. Malfoy, can you give me the last Unforgivable Curse?"

"Avada Kedavra." Charissa mumbled under her breath, too scared not to answer.

"What was that?" Moody asked again.

"Avada Kedavra." Charissa coughed.

"Correct." Moody said. "Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse. No way to block it, no way to survive." He pointed his wand at the spider. "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light, a squeal, and then nothing. Charissa jumped. The spider didn't move.

Luckily, class was over. Charissa jumped up, clumsily packed her bag, and ran out of the classroom, not even waiting for the others. She sprinted down to the Hufflepuff common room, her bag hitting her legs as she ran through crowds of people.

Dinner was in an hour. The common room was fairly empty, the only other year having a free period being sixth year, and most of them were in the library studying. One sixth year was milling around, gathering up her things to go back to the dormitory. She looked sympathetic when Charissa ran in, and dropped her things. "I'll go get Cedric." She said.

"No, don't." Charissa responded in a tight voice. "I'm fine. I can handle this."

At that moment, Isabel, Lauren, Taylor, and Amber burst into the common room, Cedric on their heels. "Charissa!" Isabel exclaimed. "Are you alright? You look pale."

"I'm fine." Charissa said, her voice still tight.

Cedric turned to Amber and Taylor. "Run to the kitchens. See if they can give you some hot chocolate or something." He said. The two nodded and ran off, leaving Lauren, Isabel, Cedric, and the sixth year in the common room with Charissa.

"Charissa," Cedric knelt in front of her. "What happened?"

"I said I'm fine." Charissa shrugged.

"We all feel it, you're not." Lauren piped in. Cedric nodded in agreement.

"I'm fine." Charissa promised. "Much better now."

Amber and Taylor returned, handing her a small, steaming glass of hot chocolate.

"So, what happened?" Cedric asked as Charissa took a sip.

"Moody was picking on her in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lauren filled in. "And she panicked at the Cruciatus Curse."

"He showed those to second years?" Cedric looked quite upset at this. "What was he thinking?"

"Something about knowing what we're up against?" Isabel shrugged. "Anyway, he's barking mad."