I do not own Harry Potter. Please leave a review, have a good day, and thank you for reading.
Chapter 2: A(n) (Unsurprisingly) New DADA Teacher
Good rest was hard to come by for Zahra when she had to worry about the tournament everyday. Other than a few housemates, no Slytherins wanted to chat with her. Only her friends, Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise Zabini dared to stand by her.
A few unfriendly spells were launched her way in the hallways this week, but none ever landed. Zahra quickly shielded and tallied their name into memory. She decided if a person got three strikes then she would retaliate. Until then, they were not worth her time.
As a champion, albeit a false one, she could skip classes whenever she wanted, and had really made use of her allotted time. Zahra could often be found in the library searching for mentions of the tournament. However, today's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was one she could not resist attending. Professor 'Mad Eye' Moody would be instructing them on the unforgivable curses. The professor's namesake came from the magical eye strapped to his grizzled face from years in the auror corps. While lacking the aesthetics, the man was extremely skilled with a wand, one of the best in England in his prime.
At precisely four in the afternoon, Zahra joined the rest of her classmates for class. After the shower she took to rid herself of the sweat she worked up during her training following lunch, she felt refreshed. By instinct, she found a seat next to Daphne. A few minutes later, the professor entered his classroom. He leaned heavily upon his cane, pounding it off the floor every step.
"You probably have already heard what we are discussing today from the years before you. Now, the ministry does not wish me to tell you this. Much less show it. Definitely not casting it to teach you how to resist it. The three unforgivable curses."
He slammed down the blinds of the windows making the classroom considerable darker. "Can anybody name one of them?"
When he was called upon, Neville Longbottom shyly answered, "The cruciatus curse."
"Good, Longbottom. Five points to Gryffindor," Moody said. "The cruciatus curse. Also known as the pain curse. As suggested, the spell causes extreme pain to the victim. Long exposure to it will result in paralysis, severe injury, or death."
Reaching into a glass jar on his desk, the professor extracted a large black spider the size of ones palm. Then, with a sharp flick of his wand, he inflicted the curse upon the poor creature. The spider writhed on his desk for several seconds before the curse was removed. "Used for several seconds like that, the curse will have no permanent effects. However, if I held it for say, several minutes, it can start to corrupt the nervous system. Usual side effects of short term exposure are headaches, aches and pains in the limbs or places hit with the curse, and fever. Next one?"
"Miss Greengrass," he called.
"How about the Imperius curse, sir," she responded.
"Yes, your parents would know about that one. Devastated the ministry in the first war. Tough days those were. Anyways, five points for Slytherin. The imperius allows complete control of the recipient unless they are willful enough to resist. Today, we will see if you can resist my attempt to curse you. But first."
One more spider, one more curse. This time Moody made it jump around the room from desk to desk. Zahra would have paid to capture Malfoy's face when the spider scurried up his arm. Or maybe Weasley's. Hopefully, for his sake no spiders were included in the tasks. It gave Zahra material on the other champions though.
"Can anyone name the last one," said Moody with his usual harsh tone.
Of course, the bookworm's hand shot up in the hair as if she was reaching for the sky. At least she stopped shaking it around like a dog after a bath as she used to do in first and second year. "The killing curse. Avada Kedavra."
"Yes, Granger. Take five points for your house."
"Simple but effective. No shield can defend you from it. Only dodging or dragging something into its path can stop it. Only one person has been known to survive it. And he's sitting in this room."
All eyes turned to Harry, including her blue ones. Quickly, she turned away feeling bad for contributing to Harry's dislike of being the center of attention.
After a few silent moments, Moody turned and freed the last tarantula. However, the creature had no time to enjoy its newfound space. A bolt of green light left the spider dead on his desk.
"Those are the three unforgivable curses," concluded Moody.
Granger interrupted, "Sir, what is that shimmering just over your left shoulder?"
"Very good, Miss. Granger," Dumbledore said with his infamous grandfatherly smile. He discontinued the disillusionment charm on himself to reveal him standing just where Granger noted. Would have been impressive if Zahra didn't see it first. And she already knew what it was. Besides, who in their right mind would let him do this unsupervised? Dumbledore's voice jerked her back into the present. "Twenty-five points to Miss. Granger for a good observation. That gives Gryffindor the lead for the house cup."
Mumbles were heard from the Slytherin's but then they remembered they had potions with the Gryffindors tomorrow morning. Zahra, she could care less. The tournament was far more pressing.
"Why doesn't your house go first then?"
"Anyone brave enough to go first? No takers. Potter, get up here," the younger of the slightly eccentric professors asked.
With a small hesitation, Harry rose to obey his DADA professor. He shook the professors hand before standing in front of the class reading to weather the assault. "Ready Mr. Potter."
"Ready as I'll ever be, professor."
Counting down from three, Moody cast the curse on his student. He appeared to be giving Harry orders but Harry never budged. Until he did. The curse took hold forcing him to walk over to Moody's desk. Then, he bent his legs and prepared to leap. But at the same time he broke free of the curse, face planting on the table with the corner impaling his stomach. Add falling backwards to the list and Madam Pomfrey would have a visitor. Most of the students watching, winced at the sight, pitying their classmate. Malfoy laughed and started spreading not funny jokes. Ignorant of the glares he received, he continued until Moody took a point from the house of snakes. Bastard.
Moody decided to finish the golden trio all at once summoning Weasley next. Disappointing to watch as a so called champion, pranced around the room at Moody's order. Only after a minute of failure did Moody retract the curse relinquishing control back to the boy.
"Miss Granger," he called. Her display of mental strength left much to be desired for Zahra. She hoped to face and learn from the best competition. So much for that. At least, there were three able champions that might show potential.
He sifted through the ranks of Gryffindor students exposing their weakness. Only one was able to resist and it was partially. Zahra kept a close eye on her classmates because powerful allies would be invaluable if Voldemort returned. Among the list only one fourth year Gryffindor, Dean Thomas. The boy had significant power, control unseen in muggle-borns, and could be useful.
"Now your turn Slytherin. Again, any volunteers?" Moody tried. With a grimace and shake of the head, he commented, "Expected."
"Lucius's son. Malfoy. Why don't you come up here?"
Draco pushed in his chair and strutted towards the teacher. Then Moody cast the spell. Draco's eyes glazed over and he turned to Moody for commands showing once again the boy was all talk. For fun, Moody made the boy dance an Irish jig in front of the class. Even Dumbledore seemed amused.
With no successes in the rest of the class, Zahra approached her professor. Last but not least, she told herself preparing for the curse. Moody started to swing his wand in the pattern of the imperius curse. Her battle instincts took over. Wand now in hand she unleashed a stunner on the retired auror. With catlike reflexes, Moody conjured a shield which absorbed the blow. "Good girl. See, the best thing to do is not let yourself get hit by it in the first place. If you can summon something to block it, good. If you can dodge it, even better. The best way, you just saw. Don't even let your opponent finish the spell. Now, let yourself get hit this time, Ms. Kovalenko."
Stashing her wand back into her usually disillusioned holster, she turned and faced the professor.
"Ms. Kovalenko, I believe you cannot carry a wand holster inside Hogwarts," Dumbledore said putting his grandfather act on again.
"I believe there is no rule against it. Unless they have changed it of course. Even then, I would have to be informed by my head of house. I received no warning, so if so it is not my fault. Right, Professor Moody?"
"Right on, Ms. Kovalenko."
Dumbledore huffed but this was out of his power. If he really desired to fix the rule it would have to be brought up at the next staff meeting.
"Ready?"
"Yes, professor."
Zahra closed her eyes and focused on her magic as she felt the curse wash over her. It reminded her of the first time she endured the controlling curse.
*Flashback*
"Ready, Zahra?" Harry asked as he glanced down the massive pipe under the sink in the second floor prefects bathroom. Lockhart's screaming had stopped as he descended out of hearing range. "No, but no time like the present right?"
Before Harry could stop her, she jumped into the pitch black hole. Thinking to cast a cushioning charm, she was surprised when her back met a steep sloping surface cool to the touch. Not that Zahra had a chance to think about that. It began to level out winding her through turns at speeds of around twenty miles an hour reminding her of a muggle roller coaster. At last, she glimpsed a flash of light and moments later thrown into the chamber landing hard on her bottom. Directly on a pile of small animal bones. Zahra winced knowing she would feel that one tomorrow.
Screaming through the tunnel could be heard as Harry flew down the massive slide. Scrambling out of way, she watched as Harry cracked the bones upon his landing. Zahra helped him up, a little gingerly, as the ride disoriented him when she accidentally bumped into Lockhart.
"Hey," Harry shouted, and for a second Zahra had no clue as to why. In the confusion, the fraud, Lockhart, stole his wand back, and focused it upon them. "This journey has come to an end I'm afraid."
Harry and Zahra looked at each other. And then they looked back at Lockhart.
"Now, I may not be all that good with a wand, but I do know how to perform a memory charm. Oh, they'll talk about you, the two poor, young kids who lost their minds inside the chamber. Obliviate!"
The green spell aimed at Harry missed badly, as if he had not used a wand in forever. Zahra stepped in and quickly blasted him into a wall.
"Whoops," Zahra shrugged, skipping into the tunnel, not even worrying to check on Lockhart. Harry soon followed her, for he was not worth checking on, and they continued towards their goal, to save the life of the foolish girl.
After navigating the length of a particularly long passageway, they came to a ten foot high drop off. For safety, they transfigured rumble and bones into a suitable latter. McGonagall would be proud. While a little shaky, Zahra managed to make it down. However Harry didn't. On the third to last step, the rung collapsed disintegrating under his sneakers. Fortunately, it was only a two foot drop.
The next obstacle the pair of parseltongues came to was a passageway sealed by a metal door. Seven snakes spruced up the door giving Harry an idea.
"$Open$"
An animated snake larger than the rest snaked around the others as it slowly unlocked. When Zahra and Harry stepped through, they found themselves in the main chamber. Several snake statues lead up to a forty foot tall statue of Salazar Slytherin. "Ginny!" shouted Harry rushing to her body. Zahra hurried over as well, but she paid closer attention to her surroundings. She was the first to see a handsome black haired boy who wore Slytherin robes. Running through her memory, she could not recall any six or seventh year who resembled him.
"Who are you?" Zahra asked gesturing to the boy. She drew her wand and pointed it at him. Not the best way to have a conversation, but Harry's friend Weaslette was hurt.
"I would ask the same but Ginny already told me who you are. Or at least the little she knew about you. Me, on the other hand. My name is Tom Riddle."
"Tom," pleaded Harry, "you have to help. She's cold."
"Yes, poor Ginny here," Tom said sitting next to Harry. "You know, I started to feel bad for her about halfway through. After she wrote the third message. But the process must be complete."
"So she was the one behind the messages. I don't believe it! She would never…"
Tom frowned, "I made her write them. The petrifying was Slytherin's pet. But I forced her to write the messages in her own blood. I made her kill all the roosters."
"So you are Slytherin's heir. Weird, I never heard of you," Zahra said pinching her eyebrows in a fake look of concentration.
"Oh I'm sure you have. I am Lord Voldemort." Tom proclaimed.
Using the flagrate spell, he wrote out Tom Marvolo Riddle in fiery red letters. With a bit of magic he rearranged the letters to spell out I am Lord Voldemort.
"Expelliarmus," cast Zahra. Voldemort deflected it into the ceiling shaking the whole cavern.
"You're going to have to do better than that, girlie," Tom insulted.
"Confringo, Unpraesidium,Stupify, Bombarda,Depulso, Stupify," cast Zahra in quick succession.
Tom easily blocked the first one without effort, absorbed the shield breaker, before sidestepping the third curse. To defend himself from the bombarda, he cast an area shield farther in front of him which prevented the other three spells from finding their target.
"My turn," he smirked.
A rainbow of light colors shot at her even faster than Uncle Cyrus could muster. With skill she never knew she had, she avoided getting hit by all but one. She even managed to send a few back via a return shield. Voldemort continued pressing Zahra content to let her exert herself. Her right forearm bled from a cutting curse which would have been very damning if she wasn't lefty.
The lopsided duel continued with Zahra on the defensive for about another minute. But with all the energy, magical or not she used up, it felt at least thrice as long. Then, a green curse knocked her straight in the chest. Zahra collapsed to the stone floor with a scream. Tom laughed evilly approaching her writhing form.
"How does it feel to be put under the cruciatus curse? You could join me. Never again would you know pain. We could rule the world, you know?"
"Never," shouted Zahra through clenched teeth. Behind Voldemort, Harry recklessly charged without a wand to help his friend in need. The only problem was he was across on the other side of the chamber.
"If not willingly, by force then. What will they say when they discover the body of a Slytherin and a Gryffindor dead in front of Slytherin's statue. The great Harry Potter, who died saving the school from the Heir of Slytherin while the real Heir Slytherin escapes to later take over the whole magical world." Tom drawled pacing in front of her while keeping the pain curse active.
"C'mon Harry," thought Zahra as she laid on the wet chamber's floors. Then, Tom moved over to the side to reveal Harry, frozen by one of Tom's jinxes.
"There's no one to help you. I give you one last chance." offered Tom.
"No."
"Very well. Imperio."
A wave of magic washed over Zahra and she wanted nothing more to kill Harry. Wait What? Zahra got up to her feet and leveled her wand at Harry. Inside her head, she fought Riddle who had controlled her body. With sheer force of will, she thrust him out turning her wand on him.
"Confringo!"
*Flashback End*
"Professor, have you cast the spell yet?" Zahra asked reopening her eyes. She found this to be an effective strategy though it would not sustain her on the battlefield.
Moody chuckled. "Well done. I believe a round of applause for Ms. Kovalenko is in order."
Cheerful claps from her friends were joined by hesitant ones from a few Gryffindors, and then there were some who neglected clapping. Nonchalantly, she walked back to her seat.
"Well," Moody concluded, "That's the end of class. Ms. Kovalenko, will you stay behind?"
A pang of fear struck her, would she be in trouble for casting the spell at her teacher or something worse? She stood before his desk where he sat tinkering with a Rubix Cube.
"Where'd you get that professor?"
"This," he said holding it up, "I stole off Albus's desk and I still haven't been able to solve the damn thing."
Zahra laughed at her professors antics. "So you wanted to see me?"
"Yes," confirmed Moody, putting the toy down, "about your performance today."
Zahra nervous intensified and her hand started to drift to her wand. Just in case.
He broke into a wide grin, "That was brilliant. The look Albus had on his face. Most of the Aurors I trained in the academy could never do that."
"Thanks, professor."
"But I will ask. Your reflexes. Skillfulness with a wand. Where did that come from? You are quicker than half the people that show up at the academy." Moody asked.
"Professor, I've been training. Not only for the Triwizard Tournament, but before that. I don't want to be just another pureblood housewife," lied Zahra.
"Well, if your husband lets you then, I will tell you to consider the aurors. I can even give you a letter of recommendation." Moody said a little skeptical.
"Thanks. Is that all professor?"
"How are you doing? I mean your name just got placed in the Triwizard tournament an event in which many contestants have perished in."
"Most of my time now is training and researching. It takes up a lot of time. But I still think I'm doing pretty good," Zahra answered.
"Ok. And Ms. Kovalenko, good luck."
"Thanks, Professor Moody," said Zahra as she walked out of class.
Zahra caught up with Daphne and Tracey as they headed to Charms class using the secret passage from the third to fifth floor that she and Daphne discovered in first year.
"Hey!" she shouted in Tracey's ear making the girl jump.
Tracey complained loudly while both Daphne and Zahra laughed. "What did he want from you, Zahra?"
"Nothing actually. He complimented me on my ability to resist the imperius curse and casting speed. He said that if I wanted to become an auror he would give me a letter of recommendation," Zahra explained.
"I still don't like him. He makes me uncomfortable in class," Daphne shivered. "Especially during that lesson."
"I understand why Dumbledore wanted us to see that," Zahra reasoned.
"Yeah, and if it's true and Voldemort will return, we need to be ready. The death eaters will not hesitate to use curses like those on us," Tracey weighed in.
"Voldemort will return," she said with conviction. "That night when he attacked Ha- I mean Potter at Godric's Hollow, he didn't die completely."
Daphne raised an eyebrow that did not go unnoticed by Zahra. She mentally cursed herself. After three years of a quiet, unknown friendship (besides that one error last year), it could come out.
Arriving at charms saved her. The fourth year Slytherins shared this class with the Ravenclaws. They filled in three seats on the right side of the classroom which usually was the Slytherin side. Between the houses, two carts. One with pillows inside, the next filled with bricks, and closes to Flitwick's desk, a row of chairs. Once everyone was seated Flitwick closed the door with a spell he taught them last year.
"Today, we will starting on new content out of this years book," Flitwick explained. "The first charm we will learn is the summoning charm. And if you prove you understand it, we can move on to its counter-curse, the banishing charm, understood?"
"Okay for the summoning charm, the incantation is Accio and the wand movement is a flick at what you want to bring to you and a flick towards your own body. Like this," he advised. With the double flick, he summoned a pillow out of the pile.
He banished it back into the pile. "Once you have the pillow keep it on your desk. Then move onto the brick and then the chair. The larger the mass of the object the harder it is to summon or banish. The last object, the chair, is a test of precision to land it on the legs. The key is to envision what you want. You have an hour."
Since she already learned the spells for the tournament, Zahra finished summoning the three objects in less than a minute. "Good job, Ms. Kovalenko, take ten points for Slytherin."
The Ravenclaws leered at her upset that the 'fake champion' completed the task before they did. Malfoy sneered at the girl for her past insults. His bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle tried their best to look intimidating. Instead of paying them any attention, Zahra marched up to the tiny professor who she could not see over his desk as he rifled through drawers. When his head finally appeared, he asked, "Ms. Kovalenko, can I help you?"
"Professor, I was going to wait until after class but I got a little impatient. I was wondering if you could offer me some dueling instruction?" Zahra questioned.
"Usually I would never offer instruction to anyone who has not passed their O.W.L.s with a grade less than outstanding." Flitwick said making Zahra's shoulders droop. She and every other student could probably use instruction from the former world class dueler. "However, I would love to teach a witch with your skill set. There's only one problem. The tournament requires professors to not be able to help their champions. Sorry, I would love to but I'm afraid I cannot."
"Ok, professor," Zahra flatly said, "Can I go now?"
"Why don't you banish those objects back into place as an exit ticket?" Then you can leave." Flitwick said more of an instruction than question. Easily, the pillow, the brick, and last but not least, the chair flew back into place.
"Another five for Slytherin for excellent spell casting."
Zahra turned to leave intending to visit the library before continuing to the dungeons. But when she heard Flitwick call her name, she wheeled around to face the professor. "Ms. Kovalenko, good luck. If you survive the tournament, please come back. I'd like to teach you and maybe even take you on the dueling circuit."
"Thank you, professor," Zahra responded before walking out.
Then she thought of a better idea. Skipping the fourth-floor landing, she headed to the second floor and a wailing ghost's bathroom. Fortunately, Myrtle was nowhere to be found, and she entered the chamber undisturbed.
As Harry recommended, she called for stairs in parseltongue. A set of metal stairs appeared spiraling into darkness. Zahra appealed for light. Sure enough, torches magically lit the three hundred foot climb. Then, Zahra tried something else.
"$Elevator?$"
Zahra sighed after nothing happened. Curse wizards for their lack of understanding of muggle culture. So, Zahra made the three-minute descent down the stairs. At the end of the staircase, instead of following the tunnel of reducing slope, a passageway lit with torches signifying the way to go. The long passageway continued for a long time before making a sudden harsh slope downwards. When she got to the bottom, she saw a shimmering in the air. Behind the shimmering, she saw the main chamber. Directly across from her was one of the snakeheads. Zahra stepped through the shimmering and appeared inside the snake's mouth. With a little girl-like squeal, she jumped out into the main chamber. Sure enough, the intimidating statue of Salazar Slytherin stood to her left.
Cautiously, she stuck a hand back into the snake's mouth, when nothing happened her whole body. She stepped through the shimmering and back into the stone passageway. Interesting. However, that was not what Zahra was there for. She entered the chamber making a beeline for the library.
Once Zahra entered, she browsed the shelves for the book she anxiously wanted to get back to. Now that she finished reading the book, she thought herself ready to try it. Just like apparition, it required the full focus of the castor and according to the book and confirmed by Harry got easier over time.
Zahra set aside the book and took a deep breath of preparation. Imagining herself a few feet away, by a small table set up for reading, she closed her eyes. Then, she felt an unmistakable pull on her body. She let this force take her away if only for less than a second. Roughly, Zahra crashed into the ground landing rough on her backside. The force jarred her eyes open. Large shelves full of books in front of her. Check. A square wooden table about five feet behind her. Check. To her right the remains of the column of flame created by her flaming attempt. The flames disappeared, leaving not a trace because of the magic that powered the spell.
Quickly, due to the amount of magical energy expended, Zahra collapsed into something Harry called a beanbag chair that Harry transfigured and enchanted. He once told her about the time he first saw one, when Vernon Dursley once bought it as a Christmas present for his son only for Petunia Dursley to ban it from their house citing the safeness of the product. With a few spells, such as an unbreaking charm, Harry reduced the potential for injury.
Waving her wand, she summoned a book of random from the nearest shelf unwilling to get up from the comforts of the chair. An ancient book with faded gold print flew into her hands. She tucked her wand back into holster to focus on the book. Zahra read the title: Parseltongue and What It Means for Your Spell Repertoire: Book 1.
The book was so ancient it never identified the author or authors. Slytherin's house crest was proudly displayed on the spine where the publisher's label would be on a muggle book.
Unbeknownst to Zahra, it was several hours later. About halfway through the second book in the trilogy, she didn't want to quit. At this point, Zahra knew her eyes would close any minute now. However, she fell asleep just like that, with the book across her lap and yesterday's clothes still on.
Thanks for reading! I wanted to explain why Tom Riddle didn't just overpower them in the flashback. In my mind, in order to cast spells he was using the energy he was gaining from Ginny through the diary. So he used too much energy forcing himself to use the basilisk instead. Anywho, what do you think will happen next?