Having had six separate Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, Harry was by now well used to seeing the classroom undergo several changes according to the style and tastes of the teacher.
It had been through the gloomy period when Harry was taught by Professor Quirrel; passed through seemingly unscathed the time when its walls were bulging with pictures of their second teacher Professor Lockhart, it seemed to miss it's walls once teaming with magical creatures and curious looking trinkets when Harry's favourite teacher Professor Lupin was there; it had been laden with heavy looking books and demented portrayals of the effects some curses have with Moody, and had just recovered from being plastered with grotesquely cute, fluffy kittens when Harry had been taught by Professor Umbridge. Now the room seemed to vibrate with an essence of all five of his previous teachers.
As usual, the room had long and strange shadows cast over it by the Dragon skeleton, but now a new skeleton stood next to it- a complete rearing Unicorn's skeleton: it's horn reaching into the sky at five, maybe six feet long. The room had always contained six or seven bookshelves, but now these seemed to be brimming with different shaped vials of strange looking liquids, preserved claws of some strange beast, skulls of all species of magical creatures leered out from the topmost shelves and- sitting isolated on a shelf of its own, a bejewelled dagger which glinted in the light- it's hilt decorated with a golden crown with a single, rectangular ruby nestled in its centre. Along the higher walls, above the bookcases, were four long, thin, flat cabinets- each engraved with the name of a curse. The walls not containing a bookshelf were lined with long wooden benches- each contained a stand holding weapons of every sort- all seemed to refract the light shining through the windows so that it reflected around the room.
After five or so minutes, the door leading to Professor Nirethyls's Office opened and out strode the teacher, accompanied closely by her dogs. The seated Slytherins and Gryffindors all seemed to hold their breath as their teacher for the year crossed to her desk where she remained standing, one hand resting on a corner of the table. Harry couldn't help but smile as he noticed Kaiser padded over to his wickerwork basket in the one free corner of the room: while Oblivion, on the other hand, sat down right next to his mistress's heel.
Harry saw Nirethyls's eyes sweep the room and it's occupants, taking notes about every one of her new pupils, before finally stopping. She spoke- authority heaped into her every word.
"Good morning, welcome to your first N.E.W.T Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. As you are fully aware, my name is Lucia Nirethyls- and I will be teaching you this year…" she was cut short when Seamus interrupted.
"Why do you say that Professor?" Nirethyls looked at Seamus, her features cool and calm, yet her eyes looked as if they held a sarcastic comment.
"What do you mean by that Mr. Finnegan?" She raised an eyebrow as Seamus blushed- sliding down in his seat as he spoke under his new teachers piercing gaze, then said in a croaky whisper.
"I just…well… I didn't think you would say for a year only…" His blush worsened as Nirethyls continued.
"You thought that I would not anticipate leaving?" He nodded. A corner of Nirethyls's mouth lifted into a knowing smile and, despite the piercing look in her eyes, said more kindly.
"I think by your sixth year Seamus that you should know Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers do not last here: and might I also be so bold as to remind you that I am still an Auror in the Ministry?" Seamus sat up as he joined the rest of the room laughed- not a roar, but a soft one as if they did not know how to react. Nodding at the reaction, Nirethyls ended the laughter by clearing her throat. The silence returned to the room, all eyes on the woman at the front. Noting that she had everyone's attention again, she walked over to her left (naturally, Oblivion followed) and took out her wand. She didn't even need to ask for them to look as she tuned to face her class again. Looking above her, she flicked her wand four times and the four cabinets opened: for the first time, the class saw what they contained.
"As you might have guessed by the names of the five "Unforgivable" Curses on the front, these robes are the remains of the five people who have been cursed by them." Her voice rang across the empty room: it was a well known fact that only two of the teachers in Hogwarts had the gift of being able to attract undivided attention, and they were Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Now it seemed there were three.
"So, now you have seen these robes, I'm sure you have all come to the conclusion of what I will be teaching you first." She paused, an ordinary person would be seen for trying to do it if for a dramatic effect, for Nirethyls it just seemed to come naturally. "I will be teaching you how to recognise and block an Unforgivable Curse, both with and without wands. If I feel that you have made a positive enough progression, I will also be teaching you how to cast them." Now the silence that had been held for over twenty minutes was broken by the gasps and excited mutterings of the pupils. Harry looked around him to see Draco Malfoy talking excitedly with Crabbe and Goyle: he heard the familiar snort of his best friend.
"Look at him- he's probably delighted to get the chance to curse someone accurately- and with a good reason to boot. He'd probably use the "Oh I was only practicing Professor" routine."
Harry nodded in agreement- if there was one thing he could rely on Ron for, it was a sarcastic comment about Malfoy and this one didn't seem to disappoint. The sound of a throat clearing brought the silence back and the class as a whole turned back to their teacher.
"Right, now that I have your attention I would like to stop whatever hopes of cursing your rivals might be going through your heads and warn you. I will be teaching you how to block and repel these curses and I fully agree that there will be some accidents; however, if any of you are under the impression that you can fool me into believing that you have cast one of these curses either under the hold of, or practicing one: I. Will. Not. I have spent long enough time in my true profession to be able to recognise a fully meant curse when I see one being cast or the effects of one."
Harry smirked: the words that she had just spoken seemed to correspond exactly with what he and Ron had just been discussing.
"Now, can anyone tell me that they have not heard what I have just said- because that is my first and last warning: I will not be repeating it to anybody who I know has not heard it. No? Then let us continue." Looking back at the cabinets, she pocketed her wand in her belt and indicated with a nod of her head to the closest cabinet. She began to pace in between the desks.
"This first cabinet- or the cabinet on the far right- contains the robes of someone who has been held under the influence of the Crucio curse. Now, I am aware that your previous teacher Alastor Moody touched a little on the effects of this curse by demonstrating on a spider- but the effect on the spider will be slightly different from that on a human. Can anyone tell me what the difference is?" As could be expected Hermione's hand shot up in the air, but that wasn't what attracted Professor Nirethyls's attention: it was the soft whispering voice next to her.
"It's more painful."
All eyes in the room flicked to the sober looking boy sitting next to Hermione: it was Neville Longbottom. Professor Nirethyls looked at Neville for a second before saying in a voice tinged with recognition.
"You're Neville, aren't you." It was a statement, not a question. Neville looked up to meet his Professor's gaze. He nodded.
Nirethyls frowned slightly, then said quietly.
"Yes, yes I thought you were. You'll forgive me- you probably don't like people telling you this: but I knew your parents, and I can't even begin to describe how brave they were. I'm guessing you know this because of what happened to them?" again, a nod, "Yes, you're quite right: it is more painful."
She broke the gaze she was holding with the boy in front of her to address the class again.
"The Crucio Curse was specifically designed for use on humans only as a method of torture in the past to retrieve information from captured spies or enemies: however, it was not used as horrifically as it is today. The curse was only meant to be used for a maximum of five seconds at a time: something Lord Voldermort and his Death Eater followers seemed to have forgotten. Now, in this cabinet here," she pointed to the cabinet next to the one she had just been talking about: it contained the remains of a robe which seemed to have been torn to shreds, "is the result of the Imperius curse. And before any of you say that it does not harm the person when it is cast, I agree, it does not: this is the result of someone who has unwillingly killed themselves by walking into a wood while under it's affect on a Full Moon." A collective gasp and following cries rose from the students as they realised what had happened. Harry, Rona and Hermione all shared a terrified look- none of them had forgotten the close shave they had experienced with the hairier side of Professor Lupin.
"The Imperius," she continued, "is probably one of the most dangerous of the "Unforgivables": it may not harm the person instantly, but the command given to the person under it's control could. Moving swiftly on, this next cabinet holds a set of robes from a person who has been under the most fatal of these curses- the Avada Kedavra. I don't think I need to go into great details on this one, but I will ask you to notice the current state of the robes: they are in pristine condition, not a thread out of place. This is why it is the most favoured of the curses- it is the most deadly and the curse will leave no evidence of it being used: so to the untrained eye or a muggle, there is no way of recognising the use of one." Professor Nirethyls had just started to walk away when Hermione's hand shot up into the air once more.
"Um, excuse me Professor. You haven't told us what the final curse is." Her voice had faded away as Nirethyls had stopped walking and was standing stock still. There was a smothering quiet over the class as they waited for their Professor to speak. They didn't have to wait long.
"You're right Hermione, forgive me. The final cabinet contains the robes of someone who was hit by the "Actaest Fabula" curse." Hermione gasped, and Harry was stunned to hear Malfoy say.
"But that curse hasn't been used in years- and it would take an exceptionally dark wizard to cast it!" Now Nirethyls had turned round and was facing Malfoy with a cold smile on her face.
"Yes, it did Mr. Malfoy- a very powerful wizard did cast it. It was not cast a long time ago either- it was cast relatively presently."
Hermione spoke soon after Nirethyls had finished speaking, but her voice was by no means loud.
"They can't have survived that- there's hardly anything of it left." She was right: the clothes gave the idea of once being a grand battle robe, along with a dragon-hide chest plate and re-enforced shi, knee and shoulder pads made of the same leather. But the present state of them could hardly be further from grand. The whole of the left shoulder and upper arm section was missing- only the lower arm sleeve was left: the edges were tattered and had a singed look. Part of the chest piece had been burned away as well, it was linked to the hole where the left sleeve would have been, but the edges were not just tattered: it was as though someone had drawn a flame design on the area and had then clean-cut it away, because the edges were clear and defined, but at the same time charred as if burned by a blazing flame.
"They did actually- barely, they somehow survived by some miracle: but yes Hermione, they did survive."
It seemed as though Harry was bursting with the question, so much that it exploded from his mouth in a blur of words.
"Did you know them!"
For the first time since he had met her on the train, Harry heard the fighting flame in Nirethyls's voice die: it became toneless, flat. She didn't look at him when she answered: her eyes were glued to the robes and a strange look was in her eye, like she was trying to remember something that had happened a long time ago, which pained her to relive.
"Yes, I knew them."
"Both of them?" Harry felt a jabbing in his ribs as Hermione rammed her elbow into his side, and yet he got his answer in one simple word.
"Both"