Chapter 7 Defense
It was several days later and the snog was, for the most part, forgotten. Harry found it quite amusing to watch his parents bicker. They were just like Ron and Hermione…
"Defense today!" James announced as he sat down.
"You're just excited because you think Professor Jones is hot," Lily scoffed.
"Too right she is. Having a teacher that young and pretty is enough to make me want to do my homework!"
"You're such a superficial pig!"
"Aw… no worries Evans. You'll always be my favorite."
"You disgust me!" Lily got up and moved away from James and Harry. She shot a glare at him as she sat down next to a snogging Alice and Frank.
"Good job, mate!" Remus said sarcastically. "You're really winning her over."
"Urgh shut up!"
"Guys! Guess what we just heard." Peter said as he and Sirius sat down.
"What?" asked Harry, Remus, and James.
"Some of the Slytherins were talking about being initiated for something."
"What do you mean? Like death eaters?" James asked.
"Yah!" Peter responded.
"Who was there?" Remus asked sharply.
"Oh, there was a whole load of them. Snape and Nott and Rosier were there. They also mentioned Lucius Malfoy and you know he's a death eater if I ever saw one."
Sirius looked glum. Harry stared at him and asked, "Who else was there?"
"Regulus," everyone stared at him. "It seems he's following in the family footsteps. I knew there wasn't any hope when I ran away…but still."
Harry smiled sympathetically. "It still sucks."
"Yah. I should've realized. He was always rather close to my dear cousin Bella and the Lestranges."
Harry's fists clenched at the mention of them. She would one day kill Sirius just because of Harry's gullibility.
"Anyway, let's talk about something else. Anyone have any prank ideas?" Sirius asked, changing the subject.
"I do!" James said. "I was thinking we should charm the Slytherins to…"
Harry arrived in Defense, and like all of the other boys sat towards the front. Professor Jones was really quite attractive. Harry had to admit that it felt weird to think that when back in his time, she would be almost the age of Mrs. Weasley.
"Today class," she began. "We will be going over the unforgivables. In light of the recent attacks that have been occurring, Professor Dumbledore has decided that you are at the right age to learn about them and how to defend against them."
The Slytherins smirked at each other, obviously thinking of the attacks.
"The three curses are the cruciatous, the imperious, and the avada kedavra. Who would like to tell me what all of these do?"
Snape raised his hand. "The cruciatous is used to cause pain. The imperious can be used to control someone. Avada kedavra is the killing curse."
"Correct. Now who wants to tell me how to block them?"
James answered this time. "Don't get hit."
"Right again. No spell will allow you to block them. Ducking is your only option. The cruciatous and avada kedavra have never been fought off."
Harry inwardly smirked. 'No boy-who-lived status yet!' he thought.
"It has recently been proven that a very strong wizard is able to fight off the imperious though. Does anyone have any questions?"
Everyone shook their heads no. "Professor Dumbledore also wanted me to ask you if any of you had any experience with any of these curses. It is important for you to be truthful. We want to know and we want you to realize how many people have been affected by these attacks. Please raise your hand if someone you know has been attacked by death eaters."
Quite a few people raised their hands, including James, Sirius, and Harry.
"How many of you have been attacked, personally?"
Hands went down, leaving only a couple. People stared at Harry, who was in the front row.
"How many of you have had one or more of these curses preformed on you?"
Harry's hand was the only one up. He brought it down so that it wasn't extending all of the way, in vain hope that no one would notice it.
"How many of you have had family members who experienced a curse?"
A few more hands went up along with his.
"How many of you have had family members die from these attacks?"
Harry and James both had their hands raised, as did a couple of others. He was saddened to know that more of his family had been killed by death eaters, but reasoned that they all must be dead by the time he was one anyway, since he ended up with Petunia.
"You see class. This isn't a joke. People are out there being tortured and killed over silly blood issues. I very much hope," she said softly, "That you will remember this talk if you are ever approached to take part in these crimes." She stared at the Slytherins. "Like Professor Dumbledore told me, 'it is time to choose between what is right and what is easy.'"
The bell rang and everyone filed out of class, their minds racing with thoughts.
Later that evening Alice, Frank, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Peter, James, and Harry sat alone in the Gryffindor common room, still irregularly serious after that day's class.
"So Evan," James began. "I don't mean to be rude, but in defense class today, you raised your hand a lot. I don't really know a lot about you and I think all of us are kind of wondering…"
Harry froze. He could not have this conversation with these people. Three of them were dead because of him. Two were insane. One was a traitor and the other was left behind. "Well," he started cautiously, thinking of how to word it. "Do you remember when I said that Sirius reminded me of someone?"
"Yes…" responded the marauders.
"He was killed a few months ago."
"I'm so sorry! It was probably someone in my family that did it," Sirius said disgustedly.
Harry flinched almost imperceptivity. Both Lily and Remus caught it.
"What about you? You said you were attacked. What happened?" Peter asked eagerly, oblivious to Harry's feelings.
"I'd rather not talk about that." Harry unconsciously rubbed his scar.
"Come on! I've seen the scars," Peter kept going. "Like that one on your forehead…"
"That's from a car crash," Harry interrupted; uneasy about where the conversation was going.
"And there's a few on your arm."
"Those were from many different things," Harry said hurriedly.
"And there's that one on your hand. It says something!"
"Should we be concerned that you seem to stare at Evan so much?" James asked.
"It says something? What does it say?" Sirius asked. He grabbed Harry's hand and looked at it. "I must not tell lies," he read off.
"How'd you get that?" Frank asked curiously.
"He probably doesn't want to talk about it," Lily hissed at him, feeling strangely protective.
"No… wait I want to know how you got that too," Alice said to Harry.
"Blood quill," was all he said.
"But those are illegal!" Peter exclaimed.
"So is being stabbed, kidnapped, and tortured," Harry muttered softly. James and Lily who were on either side of him heard and exchanged looks but did not comment. "I have to go do my transfiguration essay. I'll talk to you guys later," Harry said as he grabbed his stuff and left for the library.
"It sure seems like he has had a tough life," Alice commented.
"I still feel like there's something about him that he's not telling us, something important," Remus said thoughtfully.
"Give the boy some privacy!" Lily said. "He can have secrets if he wants."
"No, trust me, I'm fine with people having secrets," Remus began. The marauders exchanged looks. "But I just get the feeling that whatever he isn't telling us is going to have a major impact on us someday."
It's scary how right he was.
