Maya felt a lot better after a good night's sleep, and the following morning at breakfast she hardly gave the Tournament another thought. It was useless to dwell on negative things outside her control, and so she shifted her focus towards the timetable that had just been handed to her by Professor Snape. This proved to be another disappointment, though, since it transpired that she had some of her least favourite subjects on Monday. 'Ugh, are you serious, first History of Magic, then Care of Magical Creatures with the Gryffindorks because obviously right, and then, wait for it… double Divination!' Maya said, angrily running her finger down the Monday column of her timetable. This day, and all Mondays for the foreseeable future, would be a real struggle after the weekend.

'Should've picked Arithmancy, shouldn't you?' Draco said indifferently, unpacking his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home that his eagle owl had just brought him. Maya never really saw her owl Aurelia in the Great Hall because she did not correspond with anyone, but she sometimes took the owl with her for walks around the grounds. She felt it really helped her clear her mind.

'Yeah, yeah. Believe it or not, but even I make mistakes' Maya said, rolling her eyes and stirring her porridge. A few minutes later, the fourth year Slytherins made their way to the History of Magic classroom for their first lesson of the year. Professor Binns was droning on about goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century, and Maya managed to fight her stupor long enough to take at least some notes on this boring and completely irrelevant subject. Relief was great as always when the bell rang, and it felt quite good to be outside in the fresh air when they made their way to Hagrid's cabin.

When they arrived they found the Gryffindors already there, standing next to a bunch of open wooden crates on the ground from which an odd rattling noise reached their ears. When the Slytherins drew nearer they could see some truly disgusting creatures, at least in Maya's opinion. The creatures looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. They were about six inches long and Hagrid had packed about a hundred of them in each crate, so that they were crawling over each other. To top it all off, they were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish and Maya quickly pulled her white uniform blouse over her nose.

'Blast-Ended Skrewts!' Hagrid boomed happily when the entire class was standing around the crates. Maya could not help but look into the crates, even though this was against her better judgement, and saw that every now and then sparks would fly out of the end of a Skrewt, after which it would be propelled forwards several inches. 'On'y jus' hatched, so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Like a cool project!' Hagrid said proudly.

'And why would we want to raise them?' Draco sneered, but undoubtedly voicing the question that every single one of them had. Vincent, Gregory, and much to Maya's annoyance, Pansy, chuckled appreciatively at his words. Hagrid seemed stumped at the question and so Draco went on in his drawling voice. 'I mean, what do they do? What's the point of them?'

Hagrid thought hard for a few seconds. It seemed to be quite the effort, but then he said roughly: 'Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Try 'em on a few diff'rent things, I've never had 'em before, see what they'll go fer…' To the horror of the entire class, Hagrid then had them pick up squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates.

'All right, Maya, your turn' Draco said after he had dumped a portion of frog liver into their crate. Maya pretended she could not hear him; she was too disgusted to participate in what she deemed a completely pointless activity anyway. The Skrewts did not even seem to have mouths, and were still randomly blasting off. 'Maya?' Draco tried again.

'There's no need to repeat yourself, Draco, I ignored you just fine the first time!' Maya snapped at him.

'Wow, okay, dunno what your problem is' Draco said, somewhat taken aback by his friend's random rudeness.

'These disgusting creatures. And sometimes I try to be a nice person but then my mouth doesn't cooperate, sorry' Maya shrugged.

'Eurgh! Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?' Gryffindor Lavender Brown said, distracting them all.

'Ah, some of 'em have got stings. I reckon they're the males, the females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies, I think ter suck blood' Hagrid said enthusiastically. His enthusiasm was not exactly shared by his class, and here and there people quickly withdrew their hands from the boxes.

'Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive! I mean, who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, bite and suck all at once?' Draco said sarcastically. The Slytherins chuckled again, but when they made their way back up to the castle for lunch an hour later they were rather pissed with Hagrid, which seemed to be a regular occurrence by now.

'Imagine me thinking those Flobberworms last year were the worst we'd get in that ruddy class' Maya said, rolling her eyes. She had blatantly refused to do anything with the Skrewts and instead had Vincent and Gregory do her work for her. She did not feel guilty about it; sometimes she had the right to act like a princess.

'I still don't get how that oaf wasn't fired last year!' Draco spat angrily. It seemed the whole Buckbeak thing was still a sore point to him, and Maya just said she did not understand that either. After a good lunch, they went their separate ways. Maya, unfortunately, had to go to double Divination, Draco to Arithmancy and Vincent and Gregory to Ancient Runes.

After Maya had reluctantly emerged at the top of the stepladder, she again went to sit with Harry and Ron, even though the latter did not seem pleased about it. Maya still did not feel like sitting with Pansy. She felt that Pansy and the other Slytherin girls, Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass were rather stereotypical teenagers with their giggling and gossiping (at least that was what Maya often saw them do together) and in her opinion there was only so much room for silly behaviour when you could rather spend that time on developing yourself. Maya had definitely become more social since she had first set foot at Hogwarts and even opened up to some people, but she still felt only like hanging out with people who were useful to her in some way, like Draco with his powerful family. Vincent and Gregory had already been his friends and thus she got them as a package deal, but it was always convenient to have people in your circle to do your bidding even if Maya actually found them annoyingly stupid. Sometimes Maya inadvertently felt like a bad person for judging people on being 'useful' or not, but then she could not have distractions with ambitions of her level and besides, everyone judged people on one thing or another, right?

'Hello' Maya said, as she sat down. The familiar sweet perfume from the fire met her nostrils and all the curtains were closed again. She hated this class in so many ways.

'Hello Maya' Harry said, and even Ron mumbled a perfunctory greeting, but then the misty voice of Professor Trelawney right behind them made all three of them jump.

'Good day' Trelawney said, peering down at Harry with the tragic expression she always wore whenever she laid eyes on him. Her favourite activity in the world appeared to be to predict Harry's death, and she never let slip by an opportunity to do so. Maya was cool with that; maybe she would inherit the fortune his parents had left him should one of Trelawney's predictions ever come true. After all, even a broken clock is right twice a day. 'You are preoccupied, my dear. My Inner Eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within and I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. Alas, there are difficult times ahead for you…' Trelawney said dramatically. Harry just looked stonily back; he was slowly getting used to the professor's act, which was ultimately nothing more than lucky guesswork and a spooky manner. Maya giggled behind her hand and Ron rolled his eyes. Trelawney seated herself in a large winged armchair before the fire, facing the class. 'It is time for us to consider the stars. The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance…' she started, but the rest was lost on Maya, who always felt rather sleepy in this warm and dark classroom. A quick afternoon nap while the professor droned on did not seem half bad…

Unfortunately though, Professor Trelawney finished shortly and then gave everyone a complicated circular chart in which they were supposed to fill in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. It was dull work, requiring much consultation of timetables and calculation of angles. Maya was longingly thinking of dinner when suddenly Lavender Brown started squealing excitedly. 'Ooooh, look, Professor! I've got an unaspected planet! Which one's that, Professor?'

Professor Trelawney immediately strode over and peered down at the chart. 'It is Uranus, my dear' she said.

'Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?' Ron said promptly, apparently unable to restrain himself.

Maya rolled her eyes and then bore them into Ron's. 'Smooth, Weasley. Real smooth' she muttered, as some Gryffindor boys sniggered at his words.

'Now, now, Dursley, don't be jealous, I'd love to look at Uranus too. Unfortunately your hair always covers it, though' Ron said, winking mischievously at her.

Maya inadvertently went red. She hated it, but it happened. 'Oh, you can see my anus if you want to, Weasley, but only when I can literally sit on your face!' she said.

'Kinky' Ron said, and Maya, lost for words for once, just muttered a disgusted 'ugh' in response. Professor Trelawney had heard Ron's joke and it was perhaps because of this she gave them so much homework at the end of the class. Maya joined Harry and Ron on their way to the Entrance Hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. Maya spotted Draco, Vincent and Gregory and went to stand with them, while Draco was brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet, a malicious grin on his face.

'Weasley! Hey, Weasley!' he yelled. Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had caught up with them, turned around to look at him. 'Your dad's in the paper! Listen!' Draco went on, and he began to read from the article. 'It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office' Draco read and then looked up. 'They can't even get his name right, Weasley, one could say he's a complete nonentity, isn't he?' he said mockingly, then went on. Everyone in the Entrance Hall was listening now. 'Arnold Weasley, charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved with a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. It appears Mr Weasley had rushed to the aid of 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. It transpired that Mr Moody had once again raised a false alarm and Mr Weasley was forced to modify several memories' Draco finished, flipping the paper over and holding it up so that a picture of Mr and Mrs Weasley standing outside their house was revealed. 'Nice house, Weasley! And your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?'

Ron was shaking with fury and Harry and Hermione held him back. 'Get stuffed, Malfoy! Come on Ron…' Harry said, but Draco went on.

'You were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter? Tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?' he sneered. Maya would be lying if she were to say she did not enjoy every second of this fight.

'And your mother, Malfoy? That expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?' Harry said.

'Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter' Draco said softly but furiously, whipping out his wand. Harry, however, had turned away and did not see it. Then everyone heard a loud BANG and a roar which echoed through the Hall.

'OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!' Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase, his wand out and pointing at a white ferret. Even though Maya had seen it with her own eyes, she could hardly believe it. Moody had transfigured Draco into an animal! She was in total shock and too terrified to speak or even move a muscle. Vincent made to pick up the ferret, but Moody shouted again. 'LEAVE IT!' He then started to limp towards the ferret, pointed his wand at it and it promptly flew ten feet into the air. The ferret then fell with a smack to the floor, and bounced upwards once more. 'Never… do… that… again…' Moody said, speaking each word as the ferret painfully hit the stone floor and bounced upwards again. Maya watched the scene in horror and actually bit her lip to stop herself from crying, but she did not have the courage to come to her friend's defence. Rescue came in the form of Professor McGonagall, who was coming down the marble staircase, possibly alerted by the sounds of this 'spectacle'.

'Professor Moody! What are you doing?' she asked bewildered, her eyes following the bouncing ferret.

'Teaching' Moody said casually.

'Teaching? Moody, is that a student?' Professor McGonagall shrieked, dropping the books she had been carrying.

'Technically, it's a ferret' Moody growled.

'No!' cried Professor McGonagall, pulling out her wand and a moment later Draco had reappeared, lying on the floor in a sorry heap, 'Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!'

'Oh, but we do send eleven-year-old kids to a dangerous forest at night which is filled by centaurs, spiders, trolls and dark wizards?' Maya spat angrily, filled with all sorts of negative emotions.

Professor McGonagall quickly looked at her but then fixed her eyes on Moody again. 'Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you that? We give detentions or speak to the offender's head of house, Moody!'

'He might've mentioned it. But all right, I'll do that then' Moody said unconcernedly.

'My father will hear about this! You know who my father is?' Draco whimpered.

'Why, your mother didn't tell you?' Moody growled, walking over towards Draco and seizing his arm. Next second, everyone watched how Moody marched Draco off towards the dungeons. 'I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape, and tell your father Moody's keeping a close eye on his son…' Moody's voice slowly died away as they walked down the stairs. Everyone then entered the Great Hall, muttering excitedly about what they had just witnessed. The Slytherins, however, were still in shock and Maya had completely lost her appetite.

They did not see Draco until they returned to the Slytherin common room after dinner. He was still very shaken by the event and did not speak much. 'Does Hogwarts even run background checks on teachers? This bloke's obviously totally deranged and you know what I always say, people who have problems, are problems' Maya said angrily. She really felt for her friend, but did not know how to make the situation better. All she could think of was being supportive and going the extra mile to be nice. It did not really seem to help, though, and the next two days Draco went out of his way to avoid Moody. Meanwhile, Neville melted his sixth cauldron in Potions and was promptly given detention by Professor Snape, but even that did not cheer Draco up. Maya knew he was dreading their first DADA lesson on Thursday, and she too felt a bit scared of Moody. She had already decided she would not raise her hand in his classes, so as to not draw any attention to herself.

The Gryffindor fourth years were so excited for their first lesson with Moody that all of them were already there when the Slytherins arrived. The Slytherins felt rather anxious and quietly sat down, while the Gryffindors were chattering happily. They abruptly stopped when they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor and Draco gulped. He and Maya sat in the very back of the classroom, with Vincent and Gregory right in front of them as shields. Moody looked as strange and frightening as ever when he entered the room. 'Put those books away, you won't need them' he growled as he limped to his desk. The class exchanged looks of excitement. 'Right then. I've heard from Professor Lupin you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures. You've covered Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas and werewolves, is that correct?' Moody asked. There was a murmur of assent, mostly from the Gryffindors. 'Good. But you're behind, very behind, on dealing with curses' he continued, and Maya inadvertently sat up straight. Curses? This was exactly the type of class she needed. Maybe Moody would teach them a bunch she did not know yet. 'I've got one year to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. So, straight into it. Curses come in many strengths and forms. According to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses 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. Apparently, you're not old enough to deal with it 'til then. I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better and Professor Dumbledore reckons you can cope. Besides, how are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen?' Moody went on.

Maya hung on his every word. This was quite possibly going to be the most interesting lesson she ever had at Hogwarts. No more boring goblin rebellions or pretending to care about planet movements, the time for Dark curses and how to deal with them (or, if Maya was extremely lucky, how to perform them even) had finally come. This was the sort of subject she lived for, and suddenly she was not scared of Moody anymore. To her, this man was the key to some crucial development as a witch.

'Now, do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?' Moody asked the class and several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Maya's, who in her excitement promptly broke her resolution. Moody pointed at Ron.

'Er, my dad told me about one… the Imperius curse?' Ron said hesitantly.

'Yes, yes, gave the Ministry a lot of trouble, your father would know that one' Moody said, nodding vigorously, and Ron relaxed a bit. Maya expected Moody to ask about another curse, but he heavily got to his feet, opened his desk drawer and took out a glass jar containing three large, black spiders. He caught one of them, held it in the palm of his hand for everyone to see and then without warning pointed his wand at it with the word 'Imperio!' The class watched in awe how the spider did a backflip and went into a tap dance. Some students began laughing, but immediately stopped when Moody asked them if they would like it if he did it to them. 'Total control. Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by this very curse. It can be fought, however, and I'll be teaching you how. But be warned, it takes real strength of character and unfortunately not everyone's got that. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' he barked suddenly, causing everyone to jump. 'So, another illegal curse?'

To Maya's surprise, Neville raised his hand. He usually only did that in Herbology. Moody pointed at him. 'There's the… Cruciatus curse' Neville said with a trembling voice.

Moody considered Neville for a few moments. 'Your name's Longbottom?' he asked. Neville nodded, but Moody left it at that, probably much to Neville's relief. Moody reached into the jar for the next spider, placed it upon his desk, pointed his wand at the spider and said: 'Engorgio!' The spider swelled at once and was now easily larger than a tarantula. Moody had not lowered his wand and now said: 'Crucio!' The spider immediately rolled over and began to twitch horribly. It was clear it was in a great deal of pain, but Moody did not stop. Maya was utterly fascinated and she was gazing at the spider. She could only imagine how powerful it must feel to be able to inflict such pain on others.

'Stop! Stop it!' Hermione said shrilly. Her eyes were fixed not on the spider but on Neville, whose hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white and his eyes wide and horrified. Moody obeyed, and the spider somewhat relaxed even though it was still twitching.

'Pain. Very often the most powerful weapon known to man,' Moody said softly, 'right, anyone know any others?'

Maya raised her hand again, and Moody looked her way. 'Yes, Ms… Dursley?'

'Avada Kedavra, the killing curse' Maya said matter-of-factly, but most students looked uneasily around at her. Moody, however, seemed to take no notice of the calm and indifferent way she had said it.

'Yes, the last and also the worst. The killing curse indeed. It's not pretty' Moody said, catching the last spider. He placed this one too on his desk and then without any hesitation said: 'Avada Kedavra!' There was a flash of blinding green light and the spider immediately rolled over, unmarked but unmistakably dead. The class gasped in shock, but Maya just looked at it all in awe, as if it was some kind of spectacular show. One day she would be able to cast that spell herself, it was only a matter of time and she frankly could not wait until that day would come.

Moody looked at the spider for a few seconds and then swept it off the desk onto the floor. 'There's no blocking it. Only one person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me.' The entire class was staring at Harry now. Maya had never understood why Harry had survived that curse, she for example was much more talented than he was. She had now seen how his parents and her aunt and uncle had most likely died, though. At least it was quick she thought without much emotion. Moody in the meantime went on. 'To perform this curse successfully one needs a powerful bit of magic behind it. I'm not here to teach you how to do it' (Maya felt a surge of disappointment) 'but you've got to know. Now, Avada Kedavra, Imperius and Cruciatus are known as the Unforgivable Curses. They suffice to get you a life sentence in Azkaban and they are what you're up against. You need preparing and arming, but most of all, to practise constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Now get out your quills…'

They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. When they left the classroom half an hour later, most students were discussing the curses in awed voices; Maya clearly had not been the only one who had considered this lesson to be some kind of spectacular show. For some reason that made her feel slightly better, even if she did not really understand why.