Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 4

Harry walked into the DADA classroom for his first lesson with Mad-eye Moody, Angelina close by his side as always. It had been four days since he received his schedule and they'd all been looking forward to having their first class with the new defense teacher. He frowned when he saw that all of the tables had been moved to the sides of the room. Mad-eye himself was perched at his desk, his wooden leg propped up against it, and his electric blue eye floating in a glass of water. Behind him he could hear Alicia muttering to Jill how disgusting the sight was. Harry wisely said nothing as at the second Alicia had whispered the words, Moody's head snapped over to them.

"Disgusting you say? Well girlie, this is what happens when you are unprepared for the world!" He shouted the last few words, his fist slamming down on the desk, causing a few jars to fall over. "Now line against the wall with the others!" he ordered and they all hastened to obey, standing in a long line with the Ravenclaws. Moody strapped the wooden leg back onto the stump of what had been his real leg and stood up just as the last of the students walked through the door, joining the line at the scarred man's glare.

"It has come to my attention that your previous years have been rather lacking when it came to the reliability of teachers, though it seems that you have covered much. Your previous teacher, Professor Lupin, has contacted me. It appears that you have covered minor offensive and defensive spells fairly well. Didn't expect much less from him. However, it seems that from your third year through your fourth, you had some… incapable teachers."

"Got that right," Fred muttered. "That idiot Lockhart couldn't teach a levitating charm to a seventh year."

Harry might've imagined it, but he thought he saw an approving gleam in Moody's eyes. If it had been there at all, it was gone in an instant, so he couldn't be sure as the normal cold mask reappeared. "The next few lessons will consist of a series of tests to see how much you have learned. Today," The old ex-auror gave an evil grin. "We test how well you do against you worst fear."

Harry froze. His old fear of dementors was long gone and replaced with the thing that had ever really struck fear into his heart before them. He'd been three when Voldemort killed his parents, and yet there was part of the night that he still remembered. He remembered the tall, pale figure in the dark cloak, his snake-like face. He noticed several people glance at him, remembering their third year when Quirrel had introduced them to Boggarts. Back then it had been his mother that the Boggart had formed into, dead on the floor.

"Harry, you're hurting my hand," Angelina whispered. Harry sent her an apologetic glance and his hand loosened around hers.

"Everyone form a line." Moody kicked a large trunk and it slid to the front of the classroom as everyone moved to form a line in front of it. A logical part of Harry knew that he should get it over with, but instead he went straight for the back, tugging Angelina with him. There were several others doing the same thing, not looking forward at all to facing their greatest fears. Most had thoughtful expressions on their faces, thinking about what they could do to make it funny. "Ready Weasley?" Moody asked and Harry saw that George was at the front, with Fred behind him.

"Yup." George answered, seeming confident. Moody unlocked the shaking trunk and for a few moments nothing happened. And then Harry saw a figure crawl out of the trunk, his already red hair coated with blood. It was Fred. "George…" he groaned, reaching his hand out. Harry felt Angelina stiffen beside him and he squeezed her hand as George shouted, "Riddikulus!" And then Fred was suddenly on a unicycle, his hair a bright pink rather than red and wearing Slytherin robes. The room laughed and George moved off to the side, a bright grin on his face.

"Thanks a lot for that, brother," Fred called out as the boggart shifted it shape again.

The line moved slowly and Harry saw that many had the same fears as they did back in third year. Lee had faced against a giant snake, Sam's fear was clowns (which already had people chuckling), and a Ravenclaw boy, Dane Sheldon, had found himself once again in front of an acromantula. As they neared the front Angelina slipped behind Harry and in front of Alicia. He glared at her over his shoulder and she smiled encouraging. "Go on, it'll be fine," she whispered, reaching up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Easy for you to say," he muttered as the girl in front of him, Kayla Greene, rushed off to the side after turning the Boggart into a black and charred looking Professor Snape. Even Moody got a chuckle out of that one, before he noticed that it was now Harry's turn. Harry put up an emotionless mask, telling himself that this was just a damned boggart, that it wouldn't hurt him or anybody else, nor would he let it. Then the boggart began to change its shape.

Red eyes burned into his own and Harry had a flash back to that night. He could hear the crashes from the battle downstairs as James Potter fought for his live and the lives of his wife and son. He could hear his mother screaming, pleading with Voldemort to take her life, but spare her child's. The boggart let out a familiar chilling laugh, throwing back his pale head. "I'll kill them all, Harry Potter, the same way I killed your parents!" Some people in the class screamed and Harry could hear a thud as someone fainted and fell to the floor. He raised his wand. "Riddikulus!"

As he laughed, Voldemort's tongue began to swell and fall out of his mouth, still growing continuously. The twins cheered suddenly when they saw the Great Lord Voldemort fall victim to one of their Ton-Tongue Toffee. Harry grinned with satisfaction and shouted, "Take that you pale bastard!" Then he pocketed his wand and went to join the twins. Lee clapped him on the back and he grinned at them, turning to watch Angelina and Alicia face their fears. Angelina stepped cautiously forward, as Voldemort was still there, his tongue now reaching the floor as he peered at her. He was still an imposing figure and Harry shivered, remembering Dumbledore's letter in response to Harry's dream.

If you remember, back in your third year after facing Professor Quirrel, I spoke to you about Voldemort trying to return to his former power. It is apparent that he is now making another attempt. I will do my best to ensure that this doesn't happen, but I will not lie, there is only so long that we can continue to thwart his attempts. Do not worry about it yet. But do keep an eye out for any strange behavior among those you know.

Harry shivered again. Even though the old man had told him not to worry, Harry couldn't help it. One of the most powerful Dark Lords ever to live was close to returning to power and was looking for him. How the fuck could he not worry?

….

"I still can't get over what you did to that Boggart mate," Fred said later that night as they were all counting the money that the twins had earned that day from selling their merchandise in the common room. Word of what had happened in that class had spread quickly, as normal, but Harry didn't pay much mind. He was used to it.

"Yeah, seeing You-Know-Who suffer at the hands of one of our products is really paying off for us," George added.

"Glad I could help," Harry grinned, sliding a stack of sickles off to the side. "Fifty-seven sickles," he said to Lee who was marking down the numbers on a piece of parchment. This was how they did these things. Harry counted sickles, Fred counted knuts, George counted galleons, and Lee wrote it all down, acting as the banker. Fred obviously had the most work, counting all of the knuts, while George definitely had the easiest next to Lee.

"Right, so now it twenty-eight galleons, fifty three sickles and however many knuts."

"That's a pretty nice turn out," George nodded happily. "Imagine what it'll be like having our own shop! Once we win that prize money from the tournament we'll have it made boys!"

Harry laughed and stood up, stretching out his arms. "Well, see you guys tomorrow probably."

"And where do you think you're heading off to?" Fred asked slyly, pausing in his counting.

Harry grinned. "Where do you think?"

"Well we don't know since you don't tell us what class room you and Angie sneak off to," George said.

Harry kept on grinning. Even though he and Angelina agreed that they wouldn't have sex on that first night at Hogwarts, it only lasted two days before Harry decided that they should check out the Room of Requirement Sirius mentioned in his last letter. The place turned into whatever you wanted and even though Sirius gave him the information so that he could train, Harry hadn't used it for that yet. Either way, now he and Angelina had a place to go where they wouldn't be walked in on as nobody seemed to know about the room. The marauders had only stumbled upon it while running away from the Head Girl after one of their pranks. "Who said it was a classroom?" he asked before walking out the door with a pair of extra clothes for the next day along with his wand and invisibility cloak. He wouldn't be returning to the dorm room until after breakfast.

Angelina was waiting for him in the common room as she had been for the past three nights, sitting on the couch with Katie, Alicia, Katie's friend Leanne, and Arianna. When she saw him she said quick good-bye and walked up to him, snaking her arms around his neck. "Finished?"

"Fred's not. But I'm free for the night." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Then let's go."

….

Harry awoke the next morning in the large king size bed that the room provided. Angelina's naked body was draped across his own and he could feel every curve of her body. Her breath tickled his chest as he stroked her cheek. She didn't stir at all. He stared at her for a few moments, captured by her beauty. He could easily imagine waking up like this every day for the rest of his life. However he realized that if they didn't get up soon, they would miss breakfast a possibly be late for Ancient Runes. He couldn't imagine trying to explain to Vector where they'd been, so he gently shook her shoulder.

"Angie, time to get up," He murmured, and she groaned in protest. Grinning, Harry flipped her over onto her back and her eyes snapped open, glaring at him as he hovered over her. "Morning."

"Let me sleep, Harry," she moaned and pulled the blanket over her head. Harry pulled it back and threw it to the side, revealing her bare body. He couldn't help but stare for a few moments. She was so beautiful it was impossible not to. But he brought himself out of his trance and leaned down to capture her lips briefly.

"Can't. I don't fancy explaining to Vector where we've been when we show up late. Besides, I'm hungry."

Angelina sighed in exasperation. "You are the least romantic person in the morning ever to live," she muttered, sitting up and pushing him to the side.

"And you're still violent."

The two quickly changed into the clean clothes they brought and stuffed their dirty ones into Angelina's bag, along with the invisibility cloak. That done they raced down to the Great Hall in time to catch the end of breakfast. They got many knowing smiles from their friends which were promptly ignored.

"I heard that Hagrid's got some nasty creatures planned for us today," Sam announced. "I regret taking that class. I should have taken Runes."

"What's he got?" Harry asked around a mouthful of eggs. Angelina punched him in the arm as punishment for talking with his mouthful and he looked balefully at her.

"Apparently they're called Blast-Ended Skrewts. He's got every year taking care of them," Jill answered.

"I'll bet they're for the tournament then," Alicia said with a thoughtful expression. "But they can't be all bad if he's letting third years work with them."

"Alicia, have you ever met Hagrid? Or have you just forgotten past meetings with him?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, remember those hippogriffs?" George asked. "I nearly died laughing when Buckbeak nearly tore Montague's arm off."

Harry grinned at the memory too. Buckbeak, the hippogriff he'd saved from death by bringing up to the minister (who tried very hard to get on good terms with Harry each time they met) that Montague had provoked the creature by plucking a feather and insulting it. "Too bad he didn't. I would never have to deal with that asshole again." He looked around at the incredulous faces of the girls. "What? It's true!"

"Don't worry mate," Lee said. "We're on your side."

"Why thank you. At least some people here have a brain." For this he received another punch in the arm, this one even harder. "Ouch! Ange!"

"Don't call your girlfriend brainless and you won't get punched."

"Babe, you're going to punch me either way."

….

"One love feeds the fire! One heart burns desire. Wonder who's crying nooowww…"

"Will you shut up?"

Harry scowled at Alicia. They were all sitting in the courtyard for their free period with the twins, waiting for their second Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson to start. Lee was in Divination and Angelina was in Arithmancy. They were already nearly done with their second week of school and it had definitely proved to be one of the hardest years yet. "It's Journey!"

"Let me guess, another classic?"

"Yeah!"

"Well I don't care. This is my only free period and I don't want to spend it listening to you sing."

"You're so hurtful." He looked over at the twins who were sitting on another bench, heads low over a piece of parchment as they whispered back and forth. Every once in a while one would scribble furiously on the parchment. Harry knew that they were writing to Ludo Bagman who had tricked them with Leprechaun gold. The cheap prick had paid them with the fake gold which disappeared after a few days as a way to pay for the bet he lost at the World Cup. He obviously didn't know how in over his head he was for messing with the twins. They could be ruthless.

"No, don't write that! It sounds like we're threatening him!"

"Isn't that what we're doing?"

"Well yes, but we can't make it so obvious!"

"Oh dear…" Alicia grumbled. "I really don't like the sound of that."

Harry shrugged. "Bagman's fault for tricking them. Personally, I'm just going to ignore it. You probably should too."

"I plan on it."

They heard the bell sound for them to go to their next class and they hurried back into the school. They were each as reluctant to be late for Defense as they were for Potions. While Snape could cut you apart with his demeaning words, Mad-eye could rip you to shreds by screaming even harsher words. But the man had trained aurors for a living. To Harry, it really made no sense for Dumbledore to appoint this man as a teacher. That opinion grew stronger as the class began.

"Today class, I will be teaching you about the unforgivables. I expect that you know of them?"

"Hardly," Ravenclaw Brian Adams snorted. "Lockhart didn't give us more than their names back in fourth year. I doubt he even knew what they were for."

The class chuckled and Moody nodded approvingly. "I see. Very well. Then that's the first part of today's lesson. Weasley, I don't care which one of you, name one of the unforgivables and state what it's for."

"Imperius," Fred said immediately. George finished with, "Used to control the minds of others."

"Good. Yes, with the imperius curse you can indeed have another do whatever you want them to, even things that are out of their normal capabilities, something which will be demonstrated today. Back during the first war there were many witches and wizards being held under the curse and it was up to the Ministry to figure out who was acting as a result of the curse and who was doing it of their own free will." Moody paused and stopped his pacing, his magical eye staring around at all of them, once again lined up against the wall. "The curse can be fought however, with strong will. Now, another one. Briggs, give another!"

Scott Briggs looked a little flustered at being called upon so randomly and it took him several moments to answer. "The Cruciatus Curse, sir, is used for torture."

"Indeed. One of the most popular curses for several death eaters. It causes an unimaginable amount of pain. Potter, you were held under the curse this summer." Harry watched every head swivel to him and Angelina gripped his hand tightly. "How long did the pain last?"

"Sir, I was unconscious when I was put under the curse, but for six days afterward I could barely move without pain. I was sick and I couldn't eat much more than half a slice of bread."

"I'm sure that's true." Once again Moody was pacing up and down the line as he explained more of the curse. "Not only does the curse cause pain, but there are many aftereffects of it, such as the ones Potter just mentioned. It is also not unknown for someone to completely lose their mind if held under the curse long enough. A mother would not remember her own son. You would be an empty shell, not unlike the result of a dementor's kiss." He stopped in front of Harry and fixed both eyes on his face. "I expect that you can give me the last one. It is, after all, the very curse that gave you that scar."

"Avada Kedavra," Harry answered without breaking eye contact. "The killing curse. Hit by it and you're dead instantly. The only counter is to move out of the way."

The man actually smiled a cruel smile at that answer. "Yes. The use of any of these three curses on another human being will get you a life sentence in Azkaban. Now, I will show you how each of these three curses work." He walked over to his desk where three tall jars sat, each containing a spider about the size of Harry's palm. Moody extracted the first spider and let it scuttle across the ground for a few feet before drawing his wand. "Imperio!"

Then the spider stopped its frantic escape and instead practically flew through the air onto one of the desks where it began doing a sort of dance. Harry couldn't help joining in on the laughter. It was quite the funny sight. But then Moody began forcing the spider to crawl over some of the students and things got a little chaotic. That's when Moody retrieved the spider, releasing the curse, and he put it back in the jar. "Everyone back in line," he ordered, the second spider already in his hand. It began trying to make its escape and Moody pointed his wand. "Crucio!"

Harry was never aware that spiders could scream, but this spider was positively screeching with pain. Had he himself been screaming the same way while he was unconscious? He looked at Angelina who looked like she was going to be sick pretty soon. The shrieking went on for about ten more seconds before Jill screamed, "Stop it already! We get it!"

Moody broke the curse and summoned the spider with his wand. It landed in the jar where it visibly deflated. "Pain. Unimaginable pain is the only thing one feels when being hit by this curse. Enough pain to make you wish that you were dead. And now for the last unforgivable." The last spider was released from its prison. It would only be free for about three seconds. "Avada Kedavra!" There was a flash of green light and the spider stopped moving, dead in its tracks. Harry closed his eyes. His parents had been killed that same way. "The Killing curse. Doesn't even leave a mark. To any muggle it would look as though it simply dropped dead without any warning."

"That's because it did die without a warning," Harry muttered, causing Mad-eye's blue eye to swivel toward him for a moment. The guy certainly had incredible hearing.

"Today's test is for all of you to attempt to throw off the Imperius Curse."

"But you said—"

"I am aware what I said Miss Baker," Mad-eye cut off the prefect. "But all of you must understand fully what these curses are before you leave this school. You must have CCONSTANT VIGILANCE! Now, Smalls, you first boy," he growled to Robert Smalls of Ravenclaw. "Imperio!"

They spent the rest of the class doing this. Harry watched Fred act like a chicken and George act like a monkey. Lee did several back hand springs, and Angelina jumped onto one of the desks and began skipping across them. Scott did a waltz with a broom and Arianna was forced to pretend that she was a bird. Not one that Harry saw managed to throw off the curse. And then his turn came. Moody gave him a feral smile and Harry barely had a second to prepare himself before a weightless feeling filled him, clouding his mind.

Jump on the desk.

Harry took a few steps forward, not really knowing why he was doing it. He bent his legs, about to jump and then he stopped. Why should he listen? Jumping on the desk, it seemed so unnecessary. He straightened his legs again. Fuck no, he wasn't jumping on the desk.

Jump!

No.

JUMP ON THE DESK!

The voice reverberated through his mind and Harry felt his knees weaken. I'm not doing it dammit! He shouted back, forcing himself to stay standing.

DO IT!

The voice was becoming angrier and that just pissed Harry off more. FUCK OFF!

And then suddenly his mind seemed to clear and Harry found himself on the floor. His head was pounding and he rubbed his temples, glaring up at Mad-eye. "What just happened?"

""You successfully threw off the Imperius curse. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now stand up and get back in line."

Harry pushed himself back onto his feet and walked back to his place by Angelina. "How'd you do it?" she asked, since it was her turn next.

"I'm just very stubborn," he answered since it was the truth. He simply just didn't want to jump on the desk. The headache wasn't really worth it though.