Light and Darkness

YEAR 6: THIRTY

YEAR 6:

THIRTY

Halloween; one of the most anticipated feasts of the school year. Classes finished early, the weather was dry, everyone seemed to be in high spirits, for the first time in a long time. There was great excitement around the school today as today, at the feast, the names of the three champions for the Triwizard Tournament were going to be pulled. After classes had finished for the day, I slipped out of the common room and headed to Moody's office. I haven't spoken to him since the first class this year. Now, I just sit in the back and remain quiet which is a shock for me and the rest of the class as I am usually the one to speak out and get in trouble. I marched straight up to the top floor of the castle, ascended the large spiral staircase and eventually made it to the office belonging to Moody. I swung the door open to reveal an empty classroom except for one large figure at the top of the class, packing away a series of apparatus. "Sorry." I exhaled after nearly running up all those stairs, "Are you busy?"

The large figure, turned and looked to me with a smile, "Not at all, come on in." Moody gestured me to head into his office. I shut the door to the classroom and skipped by him and went up to his office, "I'll be up in a minute." He said, taking a swig from his hip flask once again. I walked into his office and sat down in the leather chair propped opposite his desk that was filled with all kinds of apparatus. Not long later, Moody entered the office and closed the door behind him, "Now, Bexley, what can I do for you today?" He said walking around his desk and sitting down opposite me.

I cleared my throat, "Well, I've wanted to come the last few weeks, but hadn't seemed to find the right moment. I was just hoping that we could talk. Like, you know, about me, you, my parents." I clasped my sweaty hands together.

Moody leaned forward in his chair, the leather squeaking with every movement, "If that's what you want. Now, Bexley, you must be 100% certain you want to hear this," I nodded my head, "Because once you hear it, you can never go back."

I nodded my head and cleared my throat, "I'm ready."

"Okay," Moody exhaled, "Well, I'm sure you're well aware of the Dark Lord and his work." I nodded along with what he said, "After his downfall, many other Death Eaters claimed to have been bewitched by the Dark Lord into doing his work, others were killed by Aurors and others, like myself and your parents, were captured and sent to Azkaban."

"Why would his followers pretend to be under the Imperius Curse?" I asked.

Moody shrugged, "Because they weren't loyal. Afraid of the consequences, but not me nor your parents. We were loyal, we knew where we stood." There was a slight pause before he continued, "Anyways, after the fall of our master, we needed to locate his whereabouts. So, myself, Bellatrix, Rodolphus and your uncle, Rabastain, managed to get our hands on one or two Aurors, but they were no help -"

"By using the Cruciatus Curse on them?" I questioned, "I remember hearing them screams when I was younger."

"Yes indeed, I'm so glad you remember." Moody smirked, "They were kept in your basement, until their mental demise. I think they are residence at St. Mungo's now."

"They're still alive?" I questioned, "I just assumed that they had died."

Moody shook his head, "No, we could have just killed them, but we thought insanity would be best suited. We were eventually caught and captured and put on trial. Apparently, the crime was so heinous that they never heard of such the thing in court. My father, actually, presided over the hearing and didn't believe our innocence and sent us all to Azkaban."

I paused for a moment, "Then how are you here, sitting in front of me? And my parents are still stuck in Azkaban?"

Moody sighed, "My mother was ill. Very ill. Her dying wish was to see me before she died and since my father has a high position in the Ministry, they granted them access to see me. My mother actually came up with the idea. She convinced my father to use Polyjuice Potion and switch her out for me. My father smuggled me out under an invisibility cloak and my mother took my place, dying in that rotten prison as me. I was under my fathers control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior, one of which was the Quidditch World Cup. I sat in the back of the Ministers box wearing the invisibility cloak -"