Mafalda proved to be a permanent fixture the following days after the beginning of term. Rastaban didn't mind her presence but she seemed very impressed with herself. He couldn't blame her though she was reading through books that were for second and third years as if they were for five year olds. But still she could be quite full of herself at times.
The only time he could spend away from her was during classes. Somehow she always seemed to appear out of nowhere whenever he went from one class to another. She spoke about how simple her classes are and how she was the first to lift a feather during Charms. The only difficulty she had was with flying classes, she had a hard time turning the broom to where she wanted.
Aside from Mafalda's attachment to his side very little notable things happened. Professor Snape seemed more crabby than usual and gave Neville detention after he melted another cauldron. It was obvious that he was peeved that he didn't get the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. Rastaban was hoping that Snape was going to get the job after Professor Lupin, the only good teacher they ever had in the subject, left.
"See you after class, Rastaban." Mafalda nodded to him before she walked away.
"Right." He sighed before he entered the classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Entering the class he found that he was the first student there. He quickly took the middle seat at the front. Not a moment later the door burst open revealing the Gryffindors piling into class. He watched with silent amusement as they scrambled for seats. Somehow amongst the chaos Harry ended up sitting next to him.
"Strange, I'm usually the only one who shows up early." He commented as he noticed the Gryffindors' giddiness, "You all seem excited."
"After what happened with Malfoy we all want to see what Moody can do." He replied receiving a chuckle from the Slytherin.
"Speaking of which." Rastaban muttered as the rest of the Slytherins entered the classroom.
The Slytherins took their seats just before the final bell rang. They class all took out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and then they waited. The silence was tense before they heard the thumping and squeaking of metal. The door finally swung open and in limped Professor Moody.
"You can put those away." He growled as he limped through the class and towards his desk, "The books, you won't need them." He sat down.
Rastaban gave him a skeptical look before he put his books away with everyone else. He then took a roll call to make sure everyone attended class, his larger eye darting its gaze across the room towards anyone who raised their hand.
"Right then." His gravelly voice grunted, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures, you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas, and Werewolves, is that right?"
Moody got a few affirming murmurs in reply.
"But you're behind, very behind, on dealing with curses." Said the former auror, "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark -"
"What, aren't you staying?" Ron suddenly asked.
The large eye darted around before it landed at Ron. The student looked incredibly apprehensive before Moody smiled. The smile only made the professor more gnarled. Despite this Ron sighed in relief.
"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son?" Moody said and Ron nodded, "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago. . . . Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore. . . . One year, and then back to my quiet retirement." He then clapped his hands and laughed causing the whole class to flinch, "Straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to find a better place to put your chewing gum, Mister Finnigan."
Everyone turned to see Seamus with a wad of chewing gum on his thumb. Moody's eye must see through object such as desks where Seamus was going to stick his gum.
"So, which one you know which curses are most punished by Wizarding law?" He asked before he suddenly exclaimed, "Weasley!"
"Yes?" Ron almost yelped.
"Name a curse." He ordered.
"Well my dad told me about one. The - the Imperius Curse." He stuttered.
"Yeah, yeah your father would know about that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble, that one." He replied before he got to his feet and took out a jar from his desk.
Inside the jar were three rather large spiders. Hermione felt Ron recoil next to her. Moody reached in and snatched one of the spiders from the jar. He then pointed his wand at the arachnid, "Imperio!"
The spider leapt from the professor's hand on a nearly invisible thread of silk. It swung back and forth as if it was a circus act. Finally it swung upward, did a flip and landed on Moody's desk before it began to do a cartwheel. Everyone aside from Rastaban and Moody laughed at the sight of it.
"Think it's funny, do you?" Moody sneered, "Would you still be laughing if I did it to you?" He asked, causing all of the laughter to die out.
"Total control." Moody said as the spider folded its legs and balled up before it rolled around, "I could make it jump out the window, drown itself, throw itself down your throats. . ." His large eye then darted towards the class causing everyone to freeze, "Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse, claiming they were forced to do You-Know-Who's bidding." Rastaban sparred a glance at Harry seeing that the boy's full attention was on the professor, "Now here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?"
The class remained silent, "The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone got what it takes. Better avoid being hit with it when you can." He warned before he barked, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Everyone jumped back.
"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?" Moody asked after he stuffed the spider back in the jar.
Two hands shot up, Hermione's and, surprisingly, Neville's. Rastaban's heart dropped when he saw Moody look to Neville.
"Yes?"
"There's one. . .the Cruciatus Curse." He said with his small voice.
Harry noticed that Rastaban had looked down at his hands. The boy's hands were laced together in such a tight grip that his knuckles turned white. The Slytherin boy's breath began to quicken as if he was out of breath.
"Longbottom is it?" Moody asked with both of his eyes on Neville. The boy nodded before Moody limped back to his desk and pulled out another spider. Placing it on his desk he sneered back at the students, "The Cruciatus Curse. Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get an idea of what it's capable of." Moody then pointed his wand down at the spider, "Engorgio!"
The spider slowly began to grow larger before it was bigger than a tarantula. The skidding of a chair could be heard as Ron had pushed his chair back. Rastaban remained frozen in his seat, his gaze transfixed on his hands.
"Crucio!"
Against his better judgment, Rastaban raised his eyes towards the desk. What he saw sent a chill¹of terror down his entire body. The spider was on its back, violently twitching and herding about. He didn't register how long he stared at the spider until he heard Hermione's shrill scream.
"Stop it!" Hermione screamed as she looked at Neville's terrified state.
Harry followed her gaze and saw Neville. His hands were clenched on his desk and his eyes were wide and horrified. He then saw Rastaban in the same state but he had closed his eyes and seemed to be out of breath. Harry didn't know exactly what to do so he just discreetly placed his hand on Rastaban's arm causing the boy to freeze. The older boy was about to pull away before the Slytherin let out a sigh, he wasn't relaxed but at least he isn't on the verge of a panic attack anymore.
Finally Moody swung his wand and the spider stilled but not without some twitching, "Reducio." The spider returned to its regular size and returned it to its jar, "Pain." Moody said uncharacteristically softly, "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone when you have the Cruciatus Curse. . . that one was once very popular as well."
Rastaban could only swallow down a wad of bile that built up in his throat. He finally opened his eyes to see Harry's hand still placed over his laced ones.
"Right. . .anyone know any others?"
The room stilled save for Hermione as she raised a shaky hand up in the air.
His eyes darted towards her, "Yes?"
"Avada Kedavra." She whispered.
The room stirred uneasily as Moody nodded, "The worst of the three, the Killing Curse."
Everyone watched in pregnant silence as Moody grabbed the last spider that tried to escape. The spider scurried away after the professor placed it on the desk but it didn't get far, "Avada Kedavra!"
A jet of green light blinded the class and the spider rolled on its back, dead to rights. Ron almost fell off his chair as the dead spider rolled towards him. Gasps and stuffed shrieks were heard through the room.
"There is no countercurse." Moody said hauntingly calm, "No blocking it. Only one person has been known to have ever survived it, he's sitting right in front of me."
The entire room's eyes slowly crept towards Harry. It was Rastaban's turn to take Harry's hand in his own. The Gryffindor kept his eyes locked on the board ahead of them.
They wrote everything Moody told them too. The Unforgivable Curses was what the trio of curses were called. When class ended Rastaban was one of the first out of the room. He avoided the side glances that were thrown his way as he made his way down the corridors.
Looking over his shoulder he stopped and his breath caught in his throat. Neville stood alone in the corridor looking at the wall as if it was a horrifying monster. Rastaban's hands tightened around the strap of his bag as he hesitantly approached the boy. What should he say, what can he say?
As he pondered what to do Neville noticed him causing Rastaban to freeze, "Neville. . .I want to say. . .no. . .I wanted to ask. . ." It was as if someone tied his tongue in his mouth, "Are you alrig - "
Before he could articulate a proper sentence Moody appeared out of nowhere, "Are you alright son?" He placed a hand on Neville's shoulder and the boy only nodded, "Come on, we'll have a cup of tea, I want to show you something." He said before leading Neville back to the classroom.
He watched the pair of them walking away before they briefly stopped to talk to Harry and his friends. Rastaban decided not to stick around. He headed for dinner and Mafalda of course found him along the way. He didn't pay much attention to her as he found a seat at the Slytherin table.
Time went on and eventually the Triwizard Tournament was upon them. In the time leading towards the arrival of the foreign students Moody had been a demanding professor. He had them practice resisting the Imperius Curse and so far only Harry had managed to even resist it for a moment. Rastaban's other classes were far easier than Defense Against the Dark Arts.
There was a sign at the entrance hall declaring the date of when the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would arrive. The foreign students were set to arrive on Halloween. Some of the Slytherins boasted about joining the tournament, he had overheard Cassius Warrington loudly state that he'll be the first to enter.
When Halloween finally came the entire castle was in anticipation. Hardly anyone paid much attention to class aside from Hermione, Rastaban and Mafalda. Classes ended early that day and all the students pulled into their houses to put their things away before rushing back to the entrance hall. The heads of houses formed them all in four lines.
"Crabbe, Goyle look ahead!" Snape snapped at the two bumbling idiots, "Bulstrode, stand up straight!"
After the entire house was to Snape's liking he ordered them to head outside but not without warnings against shoving less they wish to eat dinner in the common room. It was a cold and drafty evening, the sky was clear allowing the students to see the moon rising over the Forbidden Forest. They waited in the cold air for a long while before Dumbledore exclaimed from behind the students.
"Aha! Unless I'm mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"
The students looked around but found no sight of them until a large periwinkle horse-drawn carriage skimmed over the Forbidden Forest. Several elephant-sized winged horses dragged the house-sized carriage through the sky towards the castle. The front rows of students drew back as the carriage descended nearer and nearer. Then with a ground shaking crash the carriage landed with the horse's hooves thumping and clicking.
The door flew open and out leapt a boy in blue robes. He leaned down and fumbled with something in the carriage before he folded open a set of golden stairs. The boy then stepped aside just as a large heel came out. What followed was the largest woman any of them had ever seen.
The large woman stepped down the stairs causing the students to see her true size up close. Her appearance was one of opulence her skin was a rich olive color, her eyes were large pools of black, her hair was pulled back into a bun over her neck. Her clothes were head to toe black satin and luminescent opals adorned her neck and fingers.
Dumbledore began to clap with the students quickly following suit. The woman's face relaxed into a gracious smile as she approached Dumbledore. She offered her a glistening hand and Dumbledore took it in hand and kissed it.
"My dear Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts." Dumbledore greeted.
"Dumbly-dort, I 'ope I find you well?" The woman asked in a deep voice.
"In excellent form, I thank you." Dumbledore nodded.
"My pupils." Madame Maxime waved her hand carelessly towards the carriage.
Everyone turned around to see a dozen boys and girls, they all looked to be around their late teens. They were shivering, their robes were clearly not meant for the cold. The blue fabric was fine silk and not one of them wore cloaks. A few of them had scarves which they wrapped around their heads. Rastaban noticed that they looked apprehensively looking up at Hogwarts.
"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.
"He should be any moment." Dumbledore answered, "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you rather step inside and warm up a trifle?"
Maxime looked back at her students before she answered, "Warm up, I suppose. But ze 'orses - "
"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them." Dumbledore said, "Though first he must take care of a situation with some of his other. . .charges."
"My steeds require. . .forceful 'andling." She doubted that their staff can handle the horses, "Zey are very strong. . ."
"I assure you Hagrid will be well up for the job." The Headmaster said assuringly.
"Very well." Maxime bowed her head, "Will you please inform zis 'Agred zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey."
"It will be done."
"Come." Maxime ordered sternly to her students. The Hogwarts crowd parted so that the Beauxbatons students and their headmistress could walk up the stone steps.
The students looked around for the Durmstrang students' arrival but Rastaban looked back at the large horses, transfixed. He could see their defined muscles underneath their short fur. Even the tallest of students only reached up to their forearms. Their long mains were braided to look like long white ribbons.
"The lake!" Lee Jordan's voice caught his attention, "Look at the lake!"
From their spot at the top of the grounds they all had a clear view at the Black Lake. The once smooth surface began to roll as bubbles came up from within the water. Waves pushed onto the muddy shores before they pulled away only to be pushed again. Suddenly a great whirlpool formed at the center of the lake. For a moment they watched as the whirlpool grew larger before a long pole began to rise from the epicenter.
"It's a mast!" Harry's voice could be heard over the mutterings of the students.
The ship slowly rose out of the water. Rastaban was mesmerized by it. It gleamed in the moonlight as it swayed on the choppy waters of the lake. It glided across the water and onto the bank. The large anchor splashed into the shallows. Rastaban saw a long plank being thrown onto the shore before he saw the large silhouettes of the Durmstrang students.
Walking up the lawns Rastaban saw their true sizes. The students were all clad in thick matted fur. The man leading them was in sleek and silver furs that highly resembled his hair.
"Dumbledore!" The man exclaimed making his way up the hill, "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"
"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff!" Dumbledore replied.
Rastaban's heart stopped at the Headmaster's name. Igor Karkaroff was a Death Eater like his parents were. He escaped his sentence by ratting out Augustus Rookwood who was a spy for He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.
"Dear old Hogwarts." The man smiled, revealing his yellow teeth, "How good it is to be here, how good. . .Viktor, come along, into the warmth. . .you don't mind, do you Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold. . ."
Rastaban gasped as he saw Viktor Krum approaching. He felt the heat rising in his face, his cheeks no doubt turned pink. He twiddled his fingers as he avoided looking at the Quidditch player. He remained still like a statue so as to not embarrass himself.
"Let's pile inside everyone!" Dumbledore exclaimed, "Please, let our guests inside first!"
"This will be quite the feast won't it?" Mafalda whispered excitedly.
Rastaban could only nod.