The following morning, The Great Hall was full of chattering students discussing their expected course schedules and watching for their Head of Houses.
"So Hermione, care to explain how you're going to try and take a billion courses again this term?" Ron asked while shoving porridge into his mouth.
"Oh, I'm not actually," Hermione said with a shrug. "After dropping divination, I only needed to let go of one more course to be at the normal workload, so I quit muggle studies. I don't think I'll need it for the future anyway, but I might continue with it for independent study purposes."
"Hermione, how exactly did you make it to your classes last term? We always wondered-" Harry started, before being interrupted by Professor McGonagall.
"Here you go, Mr. Potter, your course schedule. I trust Professor Black will keep an eye on you throughout the mornings." A hint of a smile played at her lips as she handed Hermione and Ron their schedules as well, and Harry got the idea that she too was very happy to hear Sirius had been proven innocent and would be working at Hogwarts.
"Blimey," Harry said as McGonagall moved on to hand out schedules to the fifth year students. "Sirius wasn't joking, we have double charms in the mornings on Mondays."
"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Hermione asked, as she looked through her schedule.
"Yeah, Harry! Our Mondays are going to be great, we've got Care of Magical Creatures after that and then Defense to end the day."
"Tuesday and Thursday is potions though," Harry mumbled. "I'd almost rather have one day of double potions than two days of regular potions. Not to mention, I only get one day with Sirius."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll see him more than that, mate! The bloke really likes you, obviously. He was given his freedom and he accepted this job just to be with you, giving up his days of doing whatever he wants." Ron said, bringing his own attention back to the breakfast foods in front of them.
"Oh, Ron, you never know. He might have wanted to work, right Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry, however, was not listening, as he had just noticed Professor Moody staring at him from the teacher's table.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, following his line of vision.
"Creepy old bloke, isn't he?" Ron asked, looking in the same direction as the other two. "Wonder when our first class with him will be?"
"The full moon is in a few days, I bet we'll have Moody today. Remus is probably getting sick…" Harry said, feeling guilty that he hadn't offered Remus any help last night before he left for Sirius's chambers.
Hermione nodded in understanding before noting the time. "Come on, we'll be late for Sirius if we don't hurry."
"Good morning Class," Sirius said, striding into the classroom and flicking his wand to open the giant windows. He abruptly turned around and leaned against the front table, flashing a smile at the students that made him look years younger. He was dressed in dashing blue, casual robes that looked like something he might have worn when he was younger, and had his long hair pulled back in a low ponytail. He did, in fact, look the youngest Harry had ever seen him, sporting a clean shave to accentuate his jawline. Harry faintly heard Lavender and Parvati giggle behind him. He snickered as he noticed almost every Gryffindor girl, excluding Hermione, seemed to be hanging onto Sirius's every word as he spoke about summoning charms. He turned around to see if the Ravenclaw girls were equally as enamored with Sirius, when he heard a voice to the left of his desk.
"Mr. Potter, are you paying attention?" Harry practically jumped out of his chair as Sirius raised his eyebrows, lips forming a small smile. Harry felt a blush form as the giggling from all the girls audibly increased. Ron laughed as well and Harry nudged him before taking out his wand and notebook to prepare for the lesson.
"Now that we've gone over the spell, I've hidden multiple different objects throughout the room." Sirius began, walking through the rows of desks. "The list of the objects are on the board and I want you to try and summon these objects to your chairs. The person who summons the most objects will win a chocolate frog, courtesy of Professor Lupin's secret stash of chocolate. Don't mention that to him during your defense classes," He said with a sly smile. "If you want practice with an object directly within your line of vision, I've set up an area in the back where you can do so. I'll be walking around if you need help. Good luck."
Hermione had already summoned three of the objects by the time Ron had managed to reveal a necklace, but he couldn't bring it all the way to the desk. Harry wasn't doing much better, making a cup that had been hidden fly out but, consequently, hit Neville in the back of the head. Most of the girls had flocked to the back of the room where the practice area was, wanting "guidance" from Sirius. Harry stifled a laugh at Lavender's disappointed face when Sirius had quit working with her to help someone else.
By the end of the double charms period, Hermione had successfully summoned twenty-eight of the forty objects Sirius had hidden, winning the chocolate frog and Sirius's praise, as well as receiving jealous gazes from the girls who hadn't been as successful. Harry hung back as the class filed out, telling Ron and Hermione he would meet them at Hagrid's hut.
"What's wrong pup?" Sirius asked, walking over to where Harry was slowly placing his textbook in his bag.
"Well... I'm normally pretty decent in charms, but I couldn't summon anything at all." Harry mumbled looking down.
"Harry, that's alright, hardly anyone beside Hermione did. If you're still having trouble in a few weeks time, I'll work with you, alright? Now, surely you don't look so glum because you didn't move a cup ten feet. Tell me what's really wrong." Sirius said gently, leaning against Harry's desk and looking him in the eye.
"I just… I want to do well in... you know." Harry mumbled, flushing red and looking out the door fleetingly.
"Ah, I see. You know Harry, your father wasn't the best at charms either. I mean, don't get me wrong, James was brilliant. Charms just wasn't his strong suit. Quidditch and transfiguration were, whereas I was better at charms and non-verbal defensive spells. Just because I'm good at this," Sirius gestured to the classroom, "doesn't mean I have any expectations of you. I know you will do your best, and that's all that matters to me. Okay pup?"
Harry nodded and Sirius smiled, patting him on the back. "Alright, you best be getting on then. I'm having tea… well I'll probably drink a brandy, but anyway, I'm going to Moony's tonight after lessons to see him since he's getting weaker. Join us so we can hear about your first day."
Harry nodded and bid goodbye to Sirius before running off to join the rest in Care of Magical Creatures, where he was met with an unpleasant sight.
"Ah, Harry! Just in time. I was showin' the class the project for the year." Hagrid said, placing a strong hand on Harry's shoulder. "Blast-ended Skrewts, I bred 'em meself."
Harry watched in astonished horror as the ugly creatures oozed and shot fire at his classmates. "Hagrid… what exactly are we doing with these things?"
"You're raisin' 'em! I can' exactly do it meself, so I thou' it would make a good project." Hagrid said, beaming at Harry. Harry attempted to smile back, but it turned into a grimace as one of the skrewts began moving too close for comfort. "Well get on, Ron 'n Hermione need your help!" Hagrid pushed him over to his friends and the three of them attempted to avoid injury throughout the class period, occasionally guiding one of the skrewts over near the Slytherins.
After an almost injury-free class period, the Gryffindors and Slytherins walked to the Defense Corridor for their first class with Moody. The students sat down and waited for Moody to arrive.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE." A strangled voice yelled, walking out from the circular office above the classroom. "That is the most important lesson I will teach you in this class. Understood?"
Murmurs of "yes professor" rang throughout the classroom as Moody clunked down the stairs and to the blackboard. "Good. Now, who can tell me what the Unforgivable Curses are?"
Hermione timidly put her hand in the air, clearly uncomfortable with the question. Other students tensed at Moody's mentioning of the curses, but didn't dare speak.
"Miss Grainger?" Moody rasped, walking to her.
"The unforgivable curses are three of the worst spells that can be used on a wizard. They're illegal, and the user will be sent to Azkaban if caught."
"That's correct," Moody mumbled, clunking back to the front where he had a jar containing a spider. Ron looked at the jar wearily, and Harry knew his friend was probably terrified of Moody's lesson.
"The Ministry doesn't believe you should know about the Unforgivable Curses as fourth year students, but I think otherwise. You need to be prepared for what's out there. So, I'll begin with the Imperius, or the curse to control someone."
The class began to laugh as Moody made the spider do cartwheels and hop from desk to desk. "Yeah, you think that's funny do you? What if I…" Moody moved the Spider above fire, "burned him alive?" The class immediately went silent.
"Drowned him?" Moody mumbled, bringing the spider above a caldron of water. "Caused him to kill someone?" He said, throwing the spider on the desk in front of Ron, who immediately yanked his hand away. "Yeah, not so funny, is it? This curse can be used to make someone kill their own child. It's not a laughing manner. Understood?"
The class nodded, the majority looking back down at their laps. "Next curse… perhaps, Mr. Longbottom, you can help me with it?" Neville looked terrified at the idea, but stood nonetheless and walked to the front. "What's the name of the curse, boy?"
"Th-the.. The cruciatus. The torture curse" Neville mumbled, cringing at the name.
Moody nodded thoughtfully before yelling "crucio" at the small spider. It immediately began to seize, and Neville looked close to tears after a few moments watching.
"STOP IT." Hermione yelled. " STOP IT. CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S BOTHERING HIM."
Moody looked at Neville like he just noticed he was standing there. "Right. Crucia." The spider stopped flailing, but remained twitching on the table and Neville stood staring at it. "Perhaps, Mrs. Grainger, you can tell me the last curse." Moody said, moving towards their desk.
Hermione shook her head, tears filling her eyes.
"Ah. Mr. Potter? Do you know the last one?" Moody asked, turning on him.
Harry, taken aback at being called on, shook his head. "No sir, I don't." The class immediately began murmuring, clearly surprised that Harry didn't know the curse.
"Well, I suppose you should, considering you're the only one known to have survived it." Moody mumbled, turning back to the twitching spider at the front of the room. "Avada kedavra," He said, as a flash of green light shot from his wand and killed the spider. Harry stared at where the spider laid, not sure how to feel about seeing the spell that took his parents from him.
"Harry!" Remus said cheerfully as Harry walked into his living quarters. Harry managed a weak smile, then sat in a chair across from Sirius and Remus, who were on the couch. Both of them immediately frowned, and Sirius leaned forward. "What's wrong kiddo? I saw you less than twelve hours ago and I thought you left my room feeling happy. Did something else happen?"
Harry nodded, not meeting either of their gazes. "What?" Lupin finally questioned, summoning a cup of warm butterbeer for Harry.
"You can do that charm too?" Harry huffed, causing Sirius to bark a laugh. "Come on pup, it was your first day, you'll get the summoning charms. Now tell us what's wrong."
Harry didn't really want to bring up Moody's lesson again, but knew they wouldn't stop asking if he didn't explain it. "Well, Professor Moody er… he taught us something today. I don't really know why it bothered me, but I wasn't the only one uncomfortable, no one was really talking or anything either. Neville in particular got upset…"
"Just tell us, Harry. If Moody's doing something wrong-" Remus started, being cut off by Harry.
"Don't tell anyone. I don't want to be the reason something happens to Moody." Harry mumbled.
This did nothing to comfort Sirius or Remus, and both of their facial expressions grew concerned. "Harry, Moody will be fine and more than likely not be sacked for a bad lesson plan. But if we know, we can talk to him about making it more appropriate for the rest of the year. Just tell us what's got you bothered." Sirius said, moving to kneel in front of Harry.
"He… he taught us about the unforgivable curses." Harry said, not meeting his godfather's gaze.
Sirius stood and pinched the bridge of his nose as if deep in thought. "Oh Harry…" He started.
"He showed us the imperius with a spider and then… then the cruciatus, and that's where Neville got really upset. Hermione yelled at Moody for upsetting Neville, so then he asked her if she knew the last one. I think she did, but she didn't want to say it… so then he asked me…" Harry said, trailing off.
Sirius and Remus were both looking at him. "No one ever told you how they were murdered, have they?" Remus mumbled.
Harry shook his head. "No, but I've seen the green light in my nightmares… I recognized it immediately when he killed the spider he was using."
Sirius pulled Harry up and hugged him, rubbing his back and stroking his free hand through his hair. No one said anything for a few minutes and Harry stayed wrapped up in Sirius's embrace, unmoving.
Remus began to write something down, and after five minutes, he finally spoke up. "Don't worry, Harry. Moody and I will… discuss some things about our lesson plans this year. He shouldn't have shown you guys that dark magic, especially since you can't really… defend yourself from those spells. I mean, there are exceptions of course, but… well it's N.E.W.T. level stuff, so there was no reason for him to simply show you them at all. As soon as the full moon's over..." He trailed off, but Harry nodded his understanding, then looked up at his godfather, who was smiling down at him.
"Here," Sirius said, moving Harry back into his chair. "I'm going to get some food, why don't you tell Moony about the more enjoyable parts of your first day?"
"Like how funny it was to watch the girls in class swoon over 'Professor Black?'" Harry said, smiling at his godfather's amused expression.
"Or you could tell him how I had to reprimand you for not paying attention," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair as he moved toward the kitchen.
Remus chuckled, "Now that sounds like an interesting story."
Harry smiled and told him about the rest of his first day, then listened to both Sirius and Remus's own Hogwart's stories for the rest of the evening, feeling the best he had all day.