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"Alastor Moody."
For once in his four years at Hogwarts, Maxwell Prince was wide awake in class. Terrified as to what would happen if he fell asleep in Moody's class.
Flitwick usually let the boy sleep, McGonagall too on occasion, while Snape would throw a book or two at the boy if he was dozing off. But with an Auror for a teacher he wasn't taking any chances.
"Ex-Auror," the man wrote his name on the chalkboard. "Ministry malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I am here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story. Goodbye, the end. Any questions?"
"What crawled up your arse and died?" Max muttered to himself, noticing Hermione give him a slight glare. He was sat behind the girl, Harry and Ron sitting on his left.
"When it comes to the Dark Arts I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?"
"Three, sir," Hermione said shakily.
Max suddenly went rigid at the girl's voice, noticing how uncomfortable she seemed.
"And they are so named?"
"Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them-"
"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban," the professor finished. "Correct. Now, the Ministry says you're too young to see what these curses can do. I say different!"
Max jumped at Moody's sudden yelling, rubbing his temples at the noise.
"You need to know what you're up against. You need to be prepared. You need to find another place to put your chewing gum besides the underside of your desk, Mr. Finnigan."
Max turned to see Seamus freeze, eyes wide as he looked up to see everyone turning toward him.
"No way. The old codger can see out the back of his head."
Moody threw a piece of chalk at Seamus, nearby students ducking out of the way.
"And hear across classrooms!"
"Merlin's beard, he's crazy." Max uttered, hands over his face as he shook his head.
"So, which curse shall we see first? Weasley!"
"Oh, Godric," Max winced at the thought of what Ron would say.
"Stand."
Ron did as asked, looking as if he were going to vomit.
"Give us a curse."
"Well, my dad did tell me about one. The Imperius Curse."
"Your father would know all about that. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief over it a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why."
Moody moved back to his desk, reaching into one of the many jars and pulling out a spider-like bug.
"Engorgio."
Max gagged at the sight of the creature, white knuckling the desk as he tried to fight the urge to viciously murder the bug.
"Imperio."
Moody made the bug jump in front of Dean, scattered gasps filling the room. He then moved it to Goyle's head, laughing as he did so.
"Don't worry, it's completely harmless."
"I'm somewhere else," Max told himself. If Moody were to bring that bug anywhere near him he would end up demonstrating the killing curse to the entire class.
Moody sent the bug onto Parvati, her and her sister gasping. Next, it landed on Ron's head, Draco's loud laughter carrying above the gasps.
"What are you laughing at?" Moody pointed at Draco, the bug jumping onto his face.
"Never kissing that lad again," Max told himself. He despised bugs more than nearly anything, and the thought of Moody sending it his way had his nerves heightened.
"What should I have her do next?" Moody asked the class. "Jump out the window? Drown herself?" He returned the bug to his hand with a grave look. "Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that the only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius Curse."
Max shook his head at that, he doubted Voldemort would go to the trouble of using the Imperius curse.
"But here's the rub," Moody continued. "How do we sort out the liars? Another."
Max bit the inside of his lip as he watched others raise their hands, digging his nails into his palm when he saw Neville raise his.
"Longbottom, is it? Up."
Neville stood, and from where Max was sitting he could see the boy's uneasiness. Needless to say, he was sure everyone in class missed having Lupin as a teacher.
"Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology." Neville gave a stiff nod to the professor.
"There's the, um, the Cruciatus Curse."
"Correct, correct. Come," Moody led him up to the desk. "The torture curse."
Max sat up in his chair as he watched the professor, not realizing how anxious he felt.
"Crucio."
The shrill sounds of the bugs screeching filled the classroom, Max's eyes widening as Hermione shuddered in her seat.
The Prince's heart dropped as he saw Neville shaking where he stood, leaning toward Hermione.
"The Crucio Curse killed his parents."
"Stop it! Can't you see it bothering him? Stop it," she shouted.
Moody seemed to ignore Hermione, Max standing from his seat angrily, and letting it fall to the floor.
"Professor Moody, that is enough!" Everyone turned to Max with wide eyes, the boy usually being the epitome of calm in nearly every situation.
"Mr. Prince." Moody shook his head as he picked the big up, walking toward the boy and setting it down on his desk.
"Perhaps you could give us the last Unforgivable Curse?"
Max hummed, taking out his wand and pointing it at the creature. He was willing to do it, but once he saw Hermione's tear filled eyes he lowered his wand.
"No?" Moody hummed, Max shaking his head in reply.
"I'm not very fond of killing things."
"Avada Kedavra."
Max watched as the bug died instantly, swallowing harshly as he met Moody's eyes.
"The Killing Curse. Only two persons have been known to survive it. And they're both sitting in this room."
Both boys met each other's glances, Harry and Max ignoring the stares coming their way as they looked to the ground.
