Eddie checked his timetable the next morning and found that his first class of the week and year would be taught by none other than Moody. With his doubts largely lifted the previous evening, he strolled into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom at ten to nine and took his seat next to Hannah, anticipating not the Unforgivable Curses, but a more standard Defense lesson. He whipped out his copy of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and chatted with Hannah and Lily while waiting for Moody.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Moody had arrived, at precisely a minute to nine.
"Always arrive early," he announced in place of a morning greeting. "Allows you to prepare for surprise attacks. Granted, I'd give yourself more than a minute, but it's still a sound principle. Now, I see you all have your textbooks. Fantastic, because you won't need those."
A series of dull scrapes sounded as chairs were pushed back and students hastily returned the books to their bags.
"Would one of you care to inform me on what you all learned with Professor Lupin last year?"
"Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas and werewolves, sir." Hermione rattled off at top speed.
Moody made a sound that almost sounded like appreciation. "Hermione Granger, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir," she beamed, always pleased with herself when she impressed a new teacher.
"Hm. You're bright, I can tell that much. So you've had a bit of experience with creatures. But you're behind- very behind..on curses."
Eddie's heart sank. The floating feeling that had been buoying him for the past several hours had gone. Was this Crouch, after all? Had Dumbledore really not prevented Moody from being attacked?
But there was no time to process this, as Moody was already explaining the idea of curses to them.
"Now, the thing you've got to know about curses, is that they aren't your ordinary hexes and jinxes. They're darker than that. They're not spells you can use as a practical joke. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, technically, the Ministry of Magic says that you're not supposed to see 'em until the sixth year. Dumbledore disagrees- and so do I. I think Dumbledore's got a better idea of your nerves than some public-appeasing, swindling, double-crossing bureaucrats.'
The delivery of that line was dripping of contempt. Eddie made a mental note to speak with the headmaster immediately following the lesson. However, at the cost of making this note, Moody had hurled a piece of chalk at his forehead, which Eddie was able to dodge at the last second.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared. "Pattinson, is it?" Eddie nodded, eyes wide with fear. And a pause- Moody twitched for a moment. "Well, Dumbledore has told me all about you."
"He- he has?" Eddie asked hesitantly. Lily glanced from Eddie to Moody to back again.
"Well, not everything, I don't know when you get out of bed in the morning, do I?" Moody asked rhetorically, this drew a few weak chuckles from the class. "No I meant- you've had a few run-ins with dark forces. That right?" Eddie nodded.
"Good, well you should be able to give us our first curse."
"Er- the Imperius curse?"
"Oh yeah. Real nasty piece of work. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago, Death Eaters were lying about being Death Eaters, saying You-Know-Who had 'em under this. Some were lying, some telling the truth. You just didn't know."
Moody opened his desk drawer, and pulled out a spider, which made Eddie shudder a little, knowing what he would do to it.
"Imperio!" the professor snarled.
The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk, and began to swing backwards and forwards as though on a trapeze.
It stretched out its legs rigidly, did a backflip, and landed on the edge of the desk.
Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its legs and went into a tap dance. This drew some laughs from the class which were silenced immediately when Moody threatened to do the same to them. He chuckled to himself as he rolled the spider back into his palm.
"How about another? Another curse?"
Trembling, Hermione rose her hand.
"Ahh..Granger." Moody nodded towards her. "Another Unforgivable Curse?"
"The-" she hesitated, not wanting harm to come to the spider. "Cruciatus curse?"
"Correct, Miss Granger." Without any further preamble, he pointed at the spider and muttered, "Engorgio!"The spider swelled three sizes until it was about as large as an orange. "Needs to be a bit bigger so you can see…Crucio!"
The arachnid began to thrash and to shake. Its entire body vibrated in pain. A thought flashed across Eddie's mind- Neville. He whipped around in his chair, almost cricking his neck, to see his Gryffindor classmate white as a sheet, staring dead ahead with an empty expression. Moody noticed it too- and immediately stopped the curse, and shrunk the spider to normal size.
"Pain. Terrible pain. The worst sort of pain, beyond what any of you can imagine." His magical eye swiveled to glance at Neville, who hadn't moved.
Then, without asking for the class to give him the last curse, Moody raised his wand once more, pointed at the spider, and cried, "Avada Kedavra!"
Instinctively, Eddie gripped Hannah's hand, and they watched the life leave the innocent spider. Moody was barely hiding his sly smile.
"The Killing Curse..No blocking this one. No defense against it. And no known survivors. It's quick, painless…final."
Goosebumps rose on Eddie's neck when he said this, as it reinforced that Harry had indeed died in this reality.
When the bell rang, he exchanged looks with Lily and jerked his head in the vague direction of Dumbledore's office. Silently, they rose, and proceeded out of the classroom.
Taking the now familiar route to the headmaster's study, Eddie shared what he'd observed back in Moody's class.
"He's very obviously Crouch, I can't see why Dumbledore wouldn't know unless…the owl must've been intercepted!"
"What? By who?"
"I don't know. But Sean definitely wrote it. That would mean- that Crouch and Voldemort know about us- our plan- one of us could get roped into the Triwizard-"
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Eddie insisted. "Besides, you're starting to hyperventilate."
Arriving at the gargoyles, Eddie gave the password of "Ice Mice" (Dumbledore had handed him a list), and led Lily up to the brass door knocker, which he let slam three times before Dumbledore answered.
"Ah, Pattinson, Jackson. Staying out of trouble, I trust?"
Flustered, Eddie spoke quickly. "Yes, sir- I think Moody is a Death Eater."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Was this something in your universe?"
"Yes sir, Barty Crouch Junior- he was thought to be long dead but he's alive, he escaped Azkaban-"
The headmaster raised a long finger to silence them.
"When I'm not sure of something-"
"But we are!" Lily exclaimed.
"-I often just let things play out the way they're meant to."
"Professor, I can guarantee that Crouch is a Death Eater!"
"How?" he asked. "Can you force Crouch to reveal himself?"
Sheepishly, Eddie sighed. "No.."
"Then, we wait. I often find that in the long run it's for the best."
Eddie couldn't believe this. The world was turning upside down. Dumbeldore was urging patience and now they knew for sure one of their names would be drawn to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Knowing that he couldn't convince the centenarian, he left without so much as a goodbye.
However, he paced plenty that evening in the common room, not even bothering to sit down upon entry. He even closed his eyes because they were getting too heavy, but felt no urge to sit down. His mind was racing. Someone he knew (or perhaps himself) was going to compete in one of the most deadly wizarding competitions known to the world, and it wasn't just going to be Cedric Diggory. Finally relenting, he flopped down into the nearest armchair. It was so comforting. So warm. So smooth. He was just gonna close his eyes for five minutes and then go up to bed….
"If he doesn't get up in the next ten minutes I'm gonna throw this Bludger at him."
"Lily, no."
"Fine, Quaffle then. Justin, what the hell are you doing?"
"Brought a little something from breakfast."
"Ew."
"Cmon, Ernie's idea."
"Ernie!"
"Hey, it's called being funny."
"Why am I covered in egg yolk?"
"EDDIE!" the room exclaimed. "You're finally awake!"
"Finally? How long have I been asleep?" he yawned.
"Fifteen hours."
Eddie shook his head. "Oh jeez- time?"
"Three PM."
"We're sorry," Lily apologized. "We wouldn't have done it, but it was getting weird."
Eddie stared at her, not even paying mind to the bit of yolk sliding down his cheek. "Go on."
"Well- I don't want to elaborate- it was quite personal and quite none of my business."
"If everyone heard it then it's now their business." Eddie urged her, his heart pounding.
Lily sighed. "Every now and then, you'd shout out a name, one of ours. One of the Fateful Eight's."
What the hell is happening to me? Eddie thought frantically. He was having dreams, premonitions..Dumbledore was of no use, he'd just give vague advice. Could it have been possible that he'd somehow turned into a Seer? Eddie didn't know if it was possible.
Brushing eggs off his face, he calmly told the others that he needed fresh air alone.
"Yeah Hannah, sorry, that includes you too. At least, right now."
Taking his broomstick and gliding it not too far from where Harry meditated with Hedwig in the Chamber of Secrets film, he sat down, took a deep breath. He had to slow his mind down. It was crashing waves like an ocean. He needed to get it to be a nice, tranquil pond. Or the lake, right now, of which the waterline was unobstructed by the squid. He didn't have access to the internet anymore, but he was able to imagine the softness of James Newton Howard's Fantastic Beasts score washing over him. For several hours he sat in the cool fall breeze, watching the sunset glow his auburn hair before fading beyond the distant trees. Some time later he returned to the castle, vowing to repeat this exercise at least once a week. He had no nightmares that night, nor for some time.