Disclaimer: These characters are not mine (well… some of them are, but… never mind.) I know it. You know it. We all know it. And yet I keep on announcing it with every new chapter…

Chapter Three- Nervous guards, a new Defense Professor and a curious curse

Harry woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and optimistic. Considering his status as a prison inmate, this was not the most usual of circumstances, however, Harry had decided that this was the day. The day he would see what Azkaban looked like from the other side of the bars.. so to speak. Harry's cell didn't actually have bars- just a slot on the floor where meals appeared twice daily. In fact, Harry could hear the footsteps that were a prelude to his morning meal approaching. Oddly, there were two sets. He could also hear voices.

"I don't like it," said the first voice, "usually we have to cast slews of patroni to clear the dementors come feeding time, but I haven't seen a single one yet today. I haven't even needed to bring out my wand."

"I know what you mean," the second voice answered, "something's not right. I don't know what's going on, but I know I don't like it."

"Me neither," voice one again, "I want to get everyone fed and get out of here," Harry heard the man with the voice take a breath, "thanks for doing rounds with me- this whole thing is creeping me out."

"Yeah. Me too. It's not a problem, I didn't want to walk around this place alone either. Not when it's like this…"

"I know. Some of them… some of the inmates… I heard them talking. They never talk."

"Yeah. I wonder what changed…"

Harry grinned. He knew what had changed. His patronus shield was working far beyond his expectations. This was his first confirmation that he had managed to shield Azkaban in it's entirety. He was very pleased with himself.

Today was Tuesday. Ginny liked Tuesdays because she had both Charms and transfiguration. They were her favourite classes. In her mind, they epitomized everything that magic was- no props and accessories except your wand. She found them to be more based in thought and concentration than many of the other classes she took. Potions was just chemistry and Herbology was the gardening you had to get out of the way before you got to the Chemistry. It also helped that she liked Professors Flitwick and McGonnagall. Ginny also generally liked Defense Against the Dark Arts, but that was much less consistent than Charms and Transfiguration. It could be her most or least favourite class depending on who taught it.

This year, just when Ginny had been thinking that the curse of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had been broken and the same teacher would remain in the position two years running, Nymphadora Tonks had been arrested on spurious charges and sent to Azkaban. Now the class was being taught by a young upstart from the ministry named Klarion Derven. Ginny didn't trust Professor Derven. There was just something about him… not to mention that he worked for the ministry. She definitely didn't trust the ministry!

Professor Derven seemed to be a reasonably competent teacher- Ginny was certainly learning a lot. But there was just something in his demeanor… While he didn't have any Slytherin affiliations that she knew of, Ginny had noticed that the professor treated differently the students who were not born of pure magical lines. It was a subtle thing, but noticeable for one whose eyes were tuned to see such things…

Ginny shook off her dismal thoughts. She would be late for Charms if she didn't hurry and she had heard rumours that Professor Flitwick was going to teach a new charm today. She didn't want to miss it.

Ginny arrived in Charms class just in time for the beginning of class. She found her seat next to Andrea Lovejoy, a Slytherin girl. Ginny had always thought that she was misnamed for her house. At least she wasn't an overly offensive girl. Ginny had actually met Hufflepuffs with wider mean streaks than Andrea's.

"How are you doing Andrea?" she asked.

Andrea shrugged, "Alright, I guess. This is a weird year though- what with so many people getting sent to Azkaban and all…"

"Yeah," Ginny agreed quietly. She wasn't angry at Andrea for bringing up the sensitive topic. She was fairly sure that Andrea had a slight crush on Ron and so could really blame her for having the situation on her mind and wanting to talk about it. However, Ginny didn't really feel up to the speculation so she opted to change the subject, "Have you heard anything about the new charm Flitwick is teaching? Do you know what it is?"

"I think it's called 'The Coprolalia Curse'. I don't know what it does though."

Ginny lifted an eyebrow. She had a fair idea of what it might do… "Really? Coprolalia? Flitwick's going to teach us how to…" she was cut off by Professor Flitwick's entrance into the classroom.

"Good morning class," Professor Flitwick moved to the front of the room, "I trust that you are all aware we will be learning a new charm today. I must warn you in advance that this charm- or curse as it is commonly called- is not to be used with impunity. While I'm sure you will all find it's effects to be quite entertaining, it can grow quite… tiresome," a ghost of a smile slid across Flitwick's face. He surveyed the class briefly and then asked, "Now, will any of you offer to help me with a demonstration of the curse?"

Ginny looked down at the table, trying desperately to avoid making eye contact with Flitwick. This was one curse that she definitely did not want to help demonstrate. Not if it did what she thought it would…

It did.

Flitwick finally managed to coax a reluctant Niamh Conmor to volunteer to be cursed. He brought her up to the front of the class and instructed her to stand still. She did as he asked and awaited the curse. Ginny could see that she was nervous and had no idea what the results of the curse would be.

Colin Creevy, in his corner of the classroom had surreptitiously taken out his camera to immortalize the moment. Ginny thought that Niamh's reaction might be worth capturing on film, but she also thought that Colin would likely be disappointed. The curse wouldn't transform her or anything flashy like that. It would be interesting though…

Flitwick pointed his wand in Niamh's direction and executed a quick move as though he were tapping the wand against the air. As he did this, he spoke the word of the curse, "Coprolalio!"

The class collectively dropped it's jaw as Niamh let forth with a stream of profanity so vile it would shame a harpy. Ginny could almost feel the air burning at the touch of the words.

Belatedly, Colin snapped a photograph.

A/N: Sorry I've been so long about updating- I've been finishing up the last semester of my degree and it has consumed rather a lot of my time. Sorry again. I'll try and update faster in the future.

Please do continue to read my story.