Disfigured

5

The day Corin had been curiously awaiting had arrived at last. Finally, she was going to Moody's class and she might be able to find out why on Earth her father, the narcissistic asshole that he was, had anything to do with the great Mad-Eye Moody. But today, she would get to go to his class and possibly discover why they were acquainted.

The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody's first lesson so much that they all arrived early on Thursday after lunch, queuing up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. Corin scoured the line from the back with Harry and Ron.

"Where's Hermione?" She hissed at the boys. They shrugged. She didn't turn up until the bell rang, looking flustered but determined.

"Been in the–"

"Library," Harry finished for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats. They hurried to the front of the classroom, getting four seats dead front and center. In a rush, all of the students on the classroom pulled out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and they waited, unusually quiet for fourth years. Sure enough, they heard his distinctive leg clomping down the corridor and he entered the classroom, looking as menacing as ever.

Without saying a word, he whipped out a roll and proceeded to call it, his real eye focussed on the paper, his magical one whizzing around to look at the students. When he called Corin's name, his eye paused on her, looking at her with suspicion. But then he went on to the next name to stare at them for a brief second.

"Now," He said, clapping his gnarled hands together, "I received a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. It seems you are well versed in Dark Creatures. But it seems that you are very behind on Dark curses. Who can tell me about the unforgivable curses?"

Hermione's hand rose into the air and he called on her. "The unforgivable curses are illegal, and they will get you-"

"A one way ticket to Azkaban," Moddy growler, scribbling in the chalk board. "Can anyone name an unforgivable curse?"

Surprisingly, Ron's hand shot into the air. Corin felt her stomach twist. She knew everything about the unforgivable curses all too well, as she had seen all three used on a human before. And she had experienced most of them. She felt her heart rate pick and her breathing shallow. Absently, she ran her fingers to touch her scar, which started to burn as if she had just received it.

"The Imperious curse?" Ron answered, in a questioning fashion.

"Ah, your father would know all about that. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble back in the day," Moody remarked, before reaching his hand into a jar of spiders, p
lacing the curse on it. The spider began to tap dance, but Corin just just her eyes. All she could see or hear was the fire, and the screams of her father coming from within, burning eternally in her mind.

"You think that's funny, do you? What if that was you?" Moody barked and the laughter subsided. The "Only Miss Westerfalls has any idea of how serious this actually is. Total control..." he trailed off. "Another one!" Shakily, Neville Longbottom raised his hand into the air and Corin gripped the desk until her hands and face were chalk white. Someone pried her had from the table and slipped it into theirs. Harry patted her hand delicately, but made no other move to notice her.

"The C-cruciatus curse," Neville stuttered out. Corin gripped Harry's hand harder. Moody preformed the curse and Corin shut her eyes tight, but all she could see were the years and years of abuse she had put up with before the incident.

"Stop it!" Hermione called out. "Can't you see it's bothering him?" Corin opened her eyes to see Neville as pale as herself and trembling where he stood. He sank into his seat, still shaking.

"Very nasty. Don't need knives or fire when you have that curse. Can you give us the last one, Ms. Granger?" Moody said, putting the spider back in the jar. Hermione shook her head.

"The killing curse," Corin spoke up, her eyes still shut tight. She could see the man quivering at the end of her father's hand, her mother's wand curled inside his hand so he wouldn't be detected. A flash of light, either from real life or from her vision burst from behind her veiled eyes. The man crumpled to the floor.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Moody slammed his gnarled fist on the table, making everyone but Corin jump. She was still distanced from reality, tryin to calm herself down. Harry's hand flew out of her's in surprise. "Well? Copy that down!" Reluctantly, Corin wrote down the stuff on the board, until the words weren't even legible anyone because her hand was shaking so badly. "Class dismissed!" Moody barked. "Westerfalls, stay here, I want to talk to you."

The rest of the class piled out, Harry, Ron and Hermione promising to see her at lunch. Corin started at her hands, one of which a pink scar wrapped around to the tip of one of her fingers. Moody pulled a chair up and sat in front of you.

"So..." he began. "You're Edwin's kid."

"How did you know?" She scowled.

"Your face. Looks just like his," Moody pointed out.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Corin spoke through gritted teeth, aggravated that she had to think of her father again.

"Huh. Clearly wasn't a good parent," Moody raised his eyebrows as well as he could with the scars attesting his face.

"No," Corin said shortly. "He was a disloyal, hypocritical, narcissistic pig." Corin spat the words out like they were poison in her mouth. "I'm glad I killed that little bitch." Instantaneously, her hands clamped over her mouth, regret surging through her body. "I didn't mean that. It was an accident."

"What happened, Westerfalls?"

"He was an awful father," Corin found herself saying, the first time she had ever spoken about it, except for that fateful night when her mother had asked her what happened. "Really. Didn't want the Dark Lord to know where he was when he came back, so none of us could use magic. I tried to contain it, but sometimes, I couldn't help it. I was a young child, it was hard to keep in. Every time I did it, or anything else, or nothing in particular, he would beat me. Soon enough, muggle torture wasn't enough. He started using the cruciatus curse and the imperious curse to make me harm myself or try and slowly kill me. When I was eleven, I was fed up. He was drunk, yet again, and called me names. He came at me and my magic exploded out of me. It killed him."

"Well, he deserved it. Edwin was always a swine," Moody said, rather gently for his gruff personality. "Come on. Go see Madam Pomfrey to calm yourself down." Corin felt her face and realized she was crying.

"Sir?" Corin paused and turned to him, her cheeks steaming with tears. "How did you know him?"

"Got himself into a spot of trouble with the Ministry. It was my job to round him up," his gruff manner returning. "Now, get yourself to the hospital wing. I won't have you falling apart on my behalf." Corin nodded and fled to the hospital wing with a note Moody had handed her. Her breathing shallowed. Why had she told her teacher, the ex auror, that she was a murderer? And why hadn't he been bothered?

Her trip to the hospital wing was a blur. As soon as Madam Pomfrey had forced a potion down her throat and another into the pockets of her robe, she was off to go see her friends again. But still her mind was troubled. And it wasn't just Edwin that plagued her.

She had liked it when Harry held her hand. A lot. And he was quite the thing. Nice, kind, adventurous, dangerous. But then Draco Malfoy came to her mind. The bad boy that was so untouchable, it just made her want him more. There was a clear choice, but Corin wasn't sure what tshe was going to make. Perhaps, she was just going to be her mother again, falling for the man who wouldn't treat her right, the bad boy. Corin cringed as she thought it. That wasn't the life she wanted. That was for sure. She didn't want to make her mother's mistakes.