The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Seven | The Imperious Curse

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Tri-Wizard  Tournament since its inception. On Christmas Eve night we and our guests gather in the great hall for well mannered frivolity. As representitives of the host school I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the yule ball is first and foremost... a dance."

Ariana fought the urge to groan as she listened to Professor McGonagall describe the Yule Ball. She and her fellow female Gryffindors (fourth-year and up) sat opposite the males in a large classroom, cleared of tables, and made into a makeshift dance floor.

Whispers broke out among the girls. The boys, however, all groaned. They were nit as excited as the girls, with the exception of Ariana, who was mouthing across the hall to Harry, Ron, Fred and George.

"Silence. The house of Godrick Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons."

Ariana withheld a snort of laughter when she spotted the Wesley twins challenging each other to say "babbling, bumbling band of baboons" faster than McGonagall, but decided to hold her tongue.

"Now to dance is to let the body breathe, inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight. Inside every boy a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr Weasly, will you join me?"

Ariana bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing as a horrified Ron was pulled up onto centre stage.

"Now, place your right hand on my waist," McGonagall said, much to Ron's disgrace.

"Where?" He blurted out.

"My waist," McGonagall told him, firmer this time around. Ron done as he was told, still looking spooked, and one of the boys wolf whistled. "Now bend your arm. Mr Filch..." The caretaker put the pin in place on the massive grammaphone, starting the music. The pair began to waltz around the floor. "One two three, one two three, one two three."

After dancing around the floor for a few minutes to show the others what they'd be doing, Ron was released, making some of the colour come back into his pale face.

"Everybody come together," McGonagall said, signalling for both sides of the room to congregate.

The girls sprang to their feet, eager to get started, except Ariana who Hermione pulled onto her feel. The boys eventually got up, none of the wanting to spend their time waltzing about.

"Now, you shall each be assigned a partner who you will remain with during these lessons."

Ariana was assigned to George Weasley; she suspected it was due to her height, since her eyes were level with the tip of his nose. Hermione and Harry were partnered, and Ron, to his dismay, was paired with Lavender Brown.

They remained there for two hours, being taught the choreography for the ball. It was also revealed that the champions have to open the ball with a waltz; George didn't hesitate in teasing Ariana after this relevation had been made.

All in all, it wasn't as bad as Ariana had anticipated. She mainly got through the class my having a laugh with her friends, which is exactly what she usually done. George was quite a good dancer, which Ariana pointed out many a time, because she knew he hated it. As per usual, they teased each other relentlessly, but it was friendly fire.

Once the class was over, the boys practically ran out if the door as if they had been locked in there for three years.

The four Gryffindors attended their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, wondering what Mad-Eye had in store. He hadn't seemed very stable during their classes and he told them this period was going to be 'hands on'... It was concerning.

As it happens, Moody performed illegal curses in them. Each student was told to fight off the Imperious Curse and until they did, it was not lifted.

It was awful. Ariana felt as if her head had been filled with dense fog, meaning she couldn't find her way to her own brain. Her entire body was at the mercy of someone else, it was her driving force.

It made her absolutely furious.

Her home life was controlled by two Monsters, and she was not about to allow it to happen if she could help it. The anger helped fueled her fire of determination, allowing her to fight the curse off.

She snapped up to her feet, free of the curse. Her wand instinctively became aimed at Mad-Eye's head, his mechanical eye looking straight at its tip, but she lowered it.

The class applauded as she moved to sit down. During the period, she watched over thirty other students try to fight the curse, but Harry was the only one except herself to succeed.

As they made their way towards the Great Hall for dinner, Hermione was disgusted by their teacher's actions.

"He performed an illegal curse on students!" she exclaimed, her face reddened. "It's despicable."

"I agree, but it could be helpful. Don't you think?" Ariana asked, being the voice of reason.

"Yes, it could be, but it's mad!"

"Hermione, his nickname is 'Mad-Eye'!" Ron added, waving his hands in the air.

"That's no excuse! Why would someone Dumbledore hire someone like that?" Hermione asked, her voice lowering back to its normal octave.

Harry and Ariana looked at each other, they knew what Sirius's opinion on this matter was.

"What're you two looking at?" Ron asked, eyeing Harry and Ariana.

The pair of wizards explained their conversation with Sirius to their friends as they went down for dinner.

Hermione agreed with him, thinking it was a great idea to have an Auror here whilst Karkaroff resided within the grounds, despite her wish that it was a different one.

Ron was shocked about a 'former' Death Eater being allowed into the castle in the first place. Unlike Hermione, he liked Mad-Eye, since he had personal experience with the Dark Arts.

It was a heated discussion, but a good one nonetheless. Ariana thought that while his methods were insane, they produced good fruits... Most of the time.