Chapter Ten –A Dog and the Unforgivables
Rial sat in the back of the Defense classroom with Draco, Blaise, Tor and Pansy. He was exempt from classes due to his studying for the First Task but he was still paying attention to the class. He was listening to multiple conversations when he heard the door to the classroom swing open. No one else heard it and he watched as a tall, black-haired man entered the room and took a seat off to the side.
He was dressed in the gold-trimmed black robes of an Auror and had a thin, handsome face and dark eyes. Rial almost gaped at him but restrained himself in time. It was Sirius. Sirius Black, the same man he'd seen in the old Quidditch picture almost a week ago. His former godfather sat scanning the room with alert eyes, watching Moody without expression.
Rial turned back to Moody, who'd just finished taking roll call. He tried to put the Auror out of his mind but it was hard, he'd really liked Sirius. The warm smile, the eyes filled with laughter. Sternly he turned his attention back to Moody and tried to listen to what he was saying.
* * *
Sirius sat on the edge of a windowsill, watching the class as he resisted a grin. Being here again was wonderful, he could easily remember when he'd been the one sitting there, interested but acting as if he wasn't. Defense Against the Dark Arts had been his favorite class, he'd sat with James and Remus planning some of their best pranks in this classroom. After Remus had been chosen as Prefect for Gryffindor he'd tried to act disinterested but Sirius had always been able to wheedle him into putting in an idea or his opinion.
He scanned the students, watching as a couple noticed him and tried to act as if they weren't curious about his presence. His reason for being here was a serious matter but it still made him laugh to see the inquisitive glances. When Dumbledore had told the Ministry he'd be allowing Moody to demonstrate the Unforgivables to his classes they'd insisted on sending an Auror to keep an eye on things. Sirius had been released from his boring paperwork and had jumped at the chance. He'd be here for three weeks, through the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament.
A group of Slytherins sitting near the back caught his attention and he looked at them, trying to identify them based on their appearances. The one with red hair and blue eyes had to be a Zabini; the elder patriarch had the same eyes. The Parkinson girl was identified by her pug nose, her mother had 'gifted' her with that. Sirius smiled faintly at Torian Lestrange, the boy was his second-nephew and had brains behind his attractive face.
He looked at the other one and snorted. Pale face, gray eyes, white-blonde hair…he's GOT to be a Malfoy. Lucius' proud son was his near mirror image, smaller and slighter than his regal father but with the promise of that graceful height in long bones. Going to be as attractive as his father as well… Sirius mused before cutting off his train of thought.
The last one looked familiar to Sirius but he couldn't place him right away. Slender and of fair height, with long bones and a narrow face. Pitch black hair and emerald eyes… Hang on, he's got Lily's eyes! For a second he considered the youthful elegance and handsome features before he finally placed the face with a name. Harry! Or Rial, I guess.
He stared at Zachary's former twin, startled that he hadn't recognized the boy earlier. He'd seen him a couple of times at the Potters', though he had never stayed around long. He had always seemed frightened of people, with a nervous expression permanently planted in emerald eyes. Now he watched Mad-Eye with casual confidence, a small frown on warmly-tinted lips.
"All right," Moody growled, staring around the room with his magical eye. Sirius resisted rolling his own; Mad-Eye did that purely for intimidation. To his surprise Rial actually did roll his, muttering something to the Malfoy child which made him muffle a laugh.
"How many of you know one of the Unforgivables?"
Hands shot up. Mad-Eye concentrated on one trembling one and said, "You there, what's your name?"
"Longbottom," the Gryffindor said with a squeak. Neville, Sirius remembered. Frank and Alice's boy.
"Well then, Longbottom, what's one of the Unforgivables?"
"The C-Cr-Cruciatus Curse," Neville stammered.
"You would know that one, wouldn't you?" Moody growled. Sirius caught his breath, ready to speak in case Alastor started elaborating.
Instead the retired Auror pulled a spider out of a cage. Sirius watched as red-headed Ron Weasley backed up as far as he could, staring nervously at the spider as Moody enlarged it to twice its normal size. He resisted snorting with laughter, he'd forgotten about the youngest Weasley boy's arachnophobia.
Alastor pointed his wand at the spider and snapped, "Crucio."
The spider started twitching and shaking. Sirius knew that if it could speak it would be screaming. The Cruciatus was excruciating, he knew from personal experience. It was his cousin Bellatrix's favorite curse. The older Longbottom's had been tortured by her in the last war. It had been Sirius' painful job of taking Neville to his grandmother's as a year-old infant and explaining to Alice's parents that their daughter was now insane.
"Stop!" a voice shouted. Sirius looked around and saw that it was Hermione Granger, one of Zachary's friends. She was staring at Neville, who was shaking and pale-faced.
Moody stopped and growled something about pain, about the Cruciatus being pure torture. He briskly asked the class, "All right, who knows another one?"
"Miss Granger?"
"The Imperius," she whispered.
The total control Moody had over the spider made many students laugh, but Sirius noticed that the child formerly called Harry Potter stared at it quietly, not laughing or smiling. Sirius could see comprehension in his green eyes, the true understanding of how horrible the Imperius was.
"Think that's funny, do you? How would you like to have someone in control of your every action? There was a good deal of witches and wizards who fell under this curse in the last war, the things they did would make your skin crawl," Moody snapped. "You can break the Imperius but it takes concentration, willpower and CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared the last two words, making the entire class jump.
"All right, what's the last one?"
"You there, your name and the curse," Moody snapped at Rial.
Green eyes narrowed before the child said coolly, "Rial. The last one is Avada Kedavra."
He pronounced it perfectly and Sirius noted that he kept his hands away from his wand as he said it. His voice was without inflection and he didn't blink as Moody stared directly at him.
"Correct. The Killing Curse."
Moody set the spider back on his desk. The thing started scurrying toward the other edge, as if it could sense something bad was about to happen. Sirius felt that familiar chill run down his spine as the ex-Auror shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
The eerie green light erupted from his wand and sped toward the spider with a strange whooshing sound. It was as if the curse was killing sound as well, leaving total silence and destruction in its wake. The spider was flipped onto its back and lay there, dead. Sirius shivered, he'd seen far too many friends like that over the years.
The class was murmuring quietly in shock, staring at the dead spider. "There is no counter-curse for the Killing Curse. Only one has been known to survive it and he's sitting right in front of me," Moody growled, staring at Zachary, who smiled winningly. Sirius rolled his eyes, his godson was a damn show-off, worse by far than either himself or James.
"Professor?" A girl squeaked.
"Yes, Patil?"
"Why isn't the Dark Mark considered an Unforgivable?"
"Good question. Usually this isn't brought up until 7th year but since you asked I'll tell you that even if you knew the incantation for the Dark Mark, you have to have the mark to make it appear. It doesn't harm people so it's not considered one of the Unforgivables."
"What is the incantation?" the same girl asked again.
"Morsmorde," a voice murmured.
"What?" Moody snapped. "Who said that?"
Rial looked at the ex-Auror with blank green eye and said it louder, clearer. "The incantation for the Dark Mark is morsmorde, Parvarti Patil."
He pronounced the word perfectly, with the strange roll of the last part coming off his tongue without hesitation. Sirius resisted the temptation to blink, the incantation was difficult to pronounce and most never heard it until 7th year, like Alastor had said.
"Correct again," the ex-Auror growled. "Ten points to Slytherin."
The class was staring at the quiet Slytherin, who leaned back in his chair and surveyed them without expression. He looked frankly bored as Moody began lecturing, his left hand making swift notations on a piece of parchment. After that he didn't even seem to be paying attention to the class, instead making notes from a large book on the desk next to him.
A nervous tap sounded on the door behind Sirius and he watched as a tiny 2nd year appeared. He resisted a laugh, it was impossible to remember being such a little twerp all those years ago. They almost seemed to get smaller each year.
"Professor?" the boy squeaked.
"Yes?" Moody growled.
"The Weighing of the Wands and the press release is in a few moments. Potter and Rial need to go to the trophy room."
"I'll escort them, Alastor," Sirius offered. A great deal of the class jumped and blinked at him, wondering where he'd come from.
"Take them away then, Black," Moody growled.
Rial had already put away his parchment, quill and book by the end of the conversation and he neatly grabbed his bag and stood, muttering something to the Slytherins that made them smile and laugh. He was standing by the door by the time Zachary put his stuff away and came to the door. While Zachary instantly asked him all sorts of questions about what he'd been doing and about his parents Rial remained aloof, walking in silence.
Sirius puzzled on it for a while and then realized why the youth was so nervous. He probably thought that since James had disowned him he wouldn't want anything to do with him. The beautiful emerald eyes flicked over toward him every once in a while with a strangely wistful look. Sirius wouldn't do anything of the sort to a child; he'd been shocked when James had disowned him in the first place. All because of his house, Sirius shook his head. He didn't understand, there had to be another reason for it. His friend was sensible, wasn't he?
They entered the trophy room to a small group of people. A photographer was setting up his camera according to the best light. The tall Madame Maxime was speaking in French to a girl with white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Veela relations, I'd bet. His theory seemed to be supported by the fact that Zachary instantly wandered over to say hello.
Rial snorted under his breath and walked over to the figure of one Severus Snape. Sirius stiffened before relaxing. He'd apologized a few years ago for the dangerous prank and the detestable nickname. To his surprise Severus had accepted it and if they weren't chummy they at least could have a civil conversation without biting each other's heads off.
Rial seemed to get along very well with the snarky Professor. As Sirius walked up they were discussing some topic that had nothing to do with their surroundings. Sirius looked around and saw wide-eyed old Ollivander, the ancient wand-maker. The Durmstrang champion was one Viktor Krum, who was scowling at the reporter. Sirius groaned mentally when he saw Rita Skeeter with her fake-jewel glasses, platinum blonde hair and red, red lips.
Skeeter had caused more than enough trouble with her poison-green Quick Quotes Quill, stirring up all sorts of rumors and secrets about people. She was a viper hidden behind a pretty face, always looking for the next scandal to fund her three-inch ruby claws. She saw him and gave a large, fake smile. He glared back with flat eyes, warning her off before she even tried talking to him.
The weighing of the wands was a procedure to make sure that the young wizards and witches wands worked for them before being put in dangerous situations. It had been around as long as the Tournament itself put in as a precaution by the original Headmasters of the three schools. Ollivander pronounced both of the foreigners' wands to be fine without much enthusiasm.
When Zachary gave him his wand he perked up considerably, smiling and looking approvingly at the wand. "11 ½ inches long, nice and supple, holly and phoenix feather. My boy, it may be a good idea to polish it once in a while, this wand is your life."
Rial smirked at the reprimand, watching as the wand-maker shot a fountain of water out of the end before passing it back to Zachary with a smile. He stepped forward and reluctantly handed over his own, a pitch-black wand with silver inlay. It was polished to a low, reflective shine and glimmered in the light of the trophy room.
"I remember this wand very well," Ollivander murmured, looking at it. "You take good care of it; it looks like it was recently polished."
"Once a week on the same day," Rial muttered back.
"8 ¼ inches long, surprisingly rigid. What does it work best for you in?"
"Defense, Charms, anything really," Rial answered.
"I would imagine Defense would be the best, considering its core. That was a rare find, solidified Basilisk venom is an unusual choice." Sirius blinked as he heard that tidbit. He could hear Rita's quill going crazy behind him. The venom of the most poisonous and largest of serpents as a wand core? Severus' expression was unreadable but he could tell the other was as surprised as he was from the white line around his mouth.
There was a loud BANG! Three doves shot out of the end of the wand along with a shower of rice. "In perfect condition," Ollivander pronounced. He gave the wand back to Rial, who placed it back in the holster around his right wrist. Lefties were rare in the magical world, Sirius only knew a few, himself included.
At 5' Rial was the shortest of the group. The photographer had him sit in a large armchair and had the others standing behind him. Even sitting he managed to dominate the picture, the expression in emerald eyes and his posture drew the eye to him. The next was an array of individual shots and finally the two foreign students were placed with their Headmasters. Zachary posed with McGonagall for his. Rial and Severus pulled off the perfect poised picture of a pair of Slytherins, complete with the small, unaffected pureblood smile. Sirius had to admit that it was strange to see Severus smiling.
After that it was time for the students to drop off their book bags and come to dinner. Severus offered him a seat and some small conversation and he gratefully accepted. His day had been interesting to say the least and he had some questions for the snarky Professor regarding Rial.