Pariah: The Other Malfoy

Chapter 32: Unexpected Guests

Conversations turned to the World Cup after that. I fell awkwardly silent, aware that my friends had a suspicion my father was involved in the attacks. I was ashamed of it, especially as his excuse was drunkenness.

We arrived at Hogwarts some time later and took the self-drawn carriages up to the castle. We walked into the Great Hall, ready to watch the sorting of the first years. All around me, students were looking at me strangely and Madam Pomfrey, who for some reason was attending this feast, started towards me but was stopped by Dumbledore. He said something to her and she nodded but throughout the whole feast, she kept looking at me.

I knew why. They wanted to have a conversation regarding my transformations, and she wanted to check me over. I was certainly not looking forward to it, but it was a necessity.

Dumbledore introduced the new DADA teacher, Mad-Eye Moody. He was an ex-Auror and had lost an eye and a leg. My father disliked him for obvious reasons, but I was somewhat looking forward to his classes. I missed Lupin, but I was sure Moody couldn't be too awful.

The conversation regarding transformations didn't happen that night, much to my delight. Instead, I found myself collapsing in my bed, passing out almost immediately.

Our first class was DADA. Moody certainly lived up to his name, he was completely mental. His fake eye seemed to be magical and saw everything, no matter how sneaky you were.

"Sit down!" he barked as we walked into the class.

I glanced at Tobias, my eyes widening. This class was certainly going to be interesting.

"When it comes to the Dark Arts, I believe in a more practical approach," he said, "But first, who can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

"Three, sir," Hermione spoke.

"And they are so named?" he pressed.

"Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them..." she was cut off.

"Earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban, yes. Who can tell me the first of the three curses?" Moody asked, staring over us. "Mr Weasley."

Ron looked shocked for a second, before speaking.

"My... my dad told me about one," he said, "The Imperius Curse."

"Ah, yes," Moody said, "The Ministry had a bit of trouble with that one a few years ago. The Imperius Curse gives the caster total control over his victim."

He took a spider out of the jar and muttered "Imperio".

He made the spider dance around the room, landing on people's faces and causing amusement. I didn't laugh, frowning instead at his blatant use of illegal curses in front of us.

He seemed to specifically target Draco with the spider, making it crawl over his face and causing him to panic. But the laughter died down soon after, when Moody made it perform its next trick.

"What should I have it do next? Jump out the window? Or, I could make it drown itself," Moody suddenly lowered the writhing spider towards a bowl of water and the laughter died out as everyone realised why the curse was unforgivable.

The spider was released and placed back into a jar before Moody looked over us again.

"The next curse? Mr Longbottom, do you have a curse for us?" Moody asked, staring at Neville.

"The... Cruciatus Curse," Neville said in a shaking voice.

"Yes," Moody took out another spider and this time placed it on my desk, my eyes widened in fear, "This curse causes agonising pain to any who suffer it. Prolonged exposure causes insanity, and it was a favourite for Death Eaters. Crucio."