Warnings: Torture. Death. Crucio.
Written for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
House: Thunderbird
Class/Task Number: American Magical History. 5. [someone with trust issues]
Bonus Prompts:
[emotion] Fury
[spell] Fidelius Charm
Word Count: 1975/4500
Shattering His Trust
A look into Alastor Moody's life before he became paranoid.
People usually assumed that Mad-Eye Moody had always been a vigilant Auror; after all, he spent most of his time eyeing everyone around him with distrust and reluctance.
They were wrong.
Alastor Moody had been a reckless, yet determined, young Auror back in the day. He'd rushed after Dark wizards and witches with absolutely no plan or strategy. He'd been the bane of his Head of Department's life; he often ended up scolded and admonished by his superiors.
He'd often head out on missions on his own, with no partner to back him up or support him in his time of need. Oftentimes he would end up in St. Mungo's as a result of his thoughtlessness and inattentiveness.
And then, he met her.
Mary Goodwin.
Merlin and Morgana, he fell in love with her instantly.
He bumped into her at the Ministry Ball they'd held in honour of the new Minister for Magic's election.
Her long platinum-blonde hair fell in soft and tranquil waves down her back. She wore a turquoise-blue gown made of soft, satiny fabric, long and loose. A semicircular, high collar made of silk-like materials headed the ankle-length robes. Like a lover, it seduced the senses and conveyed with utmost skill the art of pleasing. She walked like she danced; sweetly, sensually, gracefully.
Everyone gazed at her with awe and adoration as she walked past them, an innocent smile on her face that lit her from the inside out.
"I'm so sorry!" Alastor cried when he stepped on the hem of her dress and almost spilled his drink on her.
"I'm Mary Goodwin," she introduced herself, her gloved hand outstretched towards him, her smile wide on her face.
"I'm Alastor Moody," he replied, nervous with such a beautiful woman in front of him.
He didn't have much luck with the opposite sex. He preferred to spend time tracking down Dark wizards and witches.
"Aren't you going to ask me to dance?" Mary smirked.
"I.. okay. Would you like to dance?" Alastor stammered.
"Of course." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the middle of the large ballroom.
As they twirled under the large chandelier that twinkled with softly-lit candles, Alastor fell in love with her beautiful grey eyes.
Neither of them could take their eyes off of each other; they spent the entire night dancing and laughing.
"May I take you on a date tomorrow?" Alastor asked, hopefully.
"I apologize, but I have some work tomorrow. How about the day after tomorrow?" she suggested.
"That's perfect. May I pick you up?"
"How about I meet you at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour?" Mary suggested.
"That will work for me." Alastor was in over his head already.
"I'll see you then," Mary smiled and kissed his cheek, before she left.
Alastor watched the blonde leave, his heart in his throat. Merlin, he was in love!
As the days passed, Mary and Alastor were rarely seen without the other in public. Alastor loved walking through the throngs of people with Mary's hand in his.
An impulsive man by nature, Alastor asked Mary to move in with him a month later.
To his utter delight, she agreed, a bright smile on her face.
They moved into an old, abandoned cottage in the woods which had definitely seen better days; but the two of them soon turned it into their home.
Not once did Mary talk about her past - she would sometimes vaguely mention her father who'd died a couple of years ago.
Alastor didn't see the signs.
And he definitely didn't see the storm rising on the horizon; a storm which would change him forever.
Six months into their relationship, Mary asked him to introduce her to his family.
Alastor happily agreed, unaware of the troubles that lay in wait for him.
The day he took her to his ancestral manor was the day his life took a turn for the worse.
Early in the morning, Mary greeted him with breakfast in bed.
As they kissed, Alastor felt a small twinge in his gut; his Auror-honed instincts told him something was wrong. But he ignored it — it was his lovely girlfriend, after all.
They spent the day curled up on the couch together. In the evening, Mary glanced at the clock that hung on the wall.
"Should we go now?" She asked him.
Alastair said, "Sure. Go get ready, then I'll take you to meet my parents. I'm sure they'll love you — just as much as I do."
Mary's smile was wide, but something was wrong with it. Alastor couldn't understand what was off about her smile, but he refused to think too much about it.
Once Mary was ready, Alastor produced a small piece of parchment and handed it to Mary.
"What's this?" She asked, as she glanced at the address.
"My house is under the Fidelius Charm. My father's a bit paranoid, I guess. He's always thinking people are out to get him," he said, amused.
Mary chuckled darkly. "Oh, really?"
Alastor nodded and said, "Yeah, all my family's been in the Auror business. Most of them go bat-shit crazy after they retire."
Mary laughed and nodded. "That's understandable."
She stared at the address in her hand and memorised it, a little smirk on her lips.
When they Apparated to the manor, everything changed. Mr and Mrs Moody, both retired Aurors, took one look at Mary Goodwin and tried to whip their wands out.
But it was too late.
"Expelliarmus!"
Their wands flew into Mary's hand. The next second, Alastor found himself tied up with a powerful Incarcerous.
"Who are you?!" Mr Moody screamed as he tried to protect his family.
"Protego!" Mrs Moody cast a wandless shield.
"Oh, no, no, no! This won't work, not at all," Mary cooed as she suddenly snapped the older Moodys' wands.
"Who are you?! What do you want?!" Mr Moody snarled as he tried to cast a few wandless spells, but for some reason, he was unable to.
Mary threw her head back and cackled madly.
Alastor gasped as her platinum blonde hair transmogrified into mousy brown hair, her petite figure lengthened and broadened, and her grey eyes changed to a dark black.
"Damgaard!" Mr Moody gasped and stumbled back with disbelief and horror.
"Wh- what's going on?!" Alastor cried, but no sound came out of his mouth. He realized he was Silenced.
He tried to Apparate out of there, but he felt unknown, strong wards around the manor.
His heart pounded in his chest as he stared at the woman he'd been in love with — was she even the woman he loved?
"You remember me, Kearney?!" Mary shrieked, her usually calm eyes bright with the fire that she'd hidden for so long.
"You're Everild Damgaard," Mr Moody hesitantly said, as he stepped to the side and tried to distract her from his wife and son.
"Aah! So you do remember! Tell me, Kearney, do you remember how you tortured my father and watched him die?" Mary — Everild roared, as spit flew from her mouth.
"I didn't kill your father," he said slowly as he tried to give his wife time to help their son.
As Mrs Moody tried to step closer to Alastor, Everild shrieked, "Crucio!"
Mrs Moody shrieked in agony and writhed on the ground.
"Stop, please stop!" She begged.
"Mum!" Alastor cried, horrified as he watched his mother twist and scream.
"Did your husband let my father live? No! Why should I, then?" Everild screamed and turned her wand on Alastor suddenly.
"Crucio!"
Alastor dropped to his knees as the grueling pain coursed through him. He wheezed loudly when Everild whirled around to look at Kearney.
"My father was innocent! He loved me, he cared for me! And you took him away from me! You!"
Everild's fury knew no bounds as she forced Mr Moody to watch his wife and son get tortured.
"He wasn't innocent! He was a Dark wizard who'd taken many innocent lives during the war against Grindelwald!" Mr Moody protested weakly.
"HE WAS STILL MY FATHER! I LOVED HIM! HOW DARE YOU TAKE HIM FROM ME?!" Everild's magic raged inside her, its intention to burst forth from her.
"It was my job!" Mr Moody yelled, exasperated. He glanced at his wife who was curled up in a ball on the ground nearby.
Alastor's eyes were half-lidded with shock and pain, as tremors still ran through him.
"I DON'T CARE! I'M GOING TO KILL YOUR FAMILY IN FRONT OF YOU AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE THAT!" Everild bellowed.
"L-Let's talk about this, shall we?" Mr Moody tried to say, but Everild's mind was made up already.
Mrs Moody suddenly picked up a vase and threw it at Everild, who blocked it with a wave of her wand.
She turned her head to look at Mrs Moody and hissed, "You should not have done that."
Mrs Moody heaved and panted as she stood up on shaky legs, and cried out, "I won't let you hurt my family!"
Everild cocked her head, as the rage still simmered in her eyes. She shook her head and said, darkly, "Very well. Avada Kedavra!"
"No!" Mr Moody threw himself in front of his wife. He fell to the ground, dead.
"KEARNEY!" Mrs Moody howled as she threw herself at her husband's corpse.
"No! Dad! Dad!" Alastor screamed as he tried to stumble over to his father's side.
"Bad luck, Alastor. I wanted him to watch you two die, but unfortunately, I'll have to make you watch your parents die instead!" Everild drawled as she fiddled with the wand in her hand.
"I won't let you hurt my mother!" Alastor cried as he somehow managed to escape the tight ropes around him.
"I'd like to see you try," Everild sneered as she pointed her wand at him.
"Mum, get back!" Alastor snarled, before he grabbed a spare wand from his inner pocket. He was his father's child — he never went anywhere without two wands.
"This ends now, Damgaard!" Alastor hissed, his heart cold with fury.
His mother dragged his father's corpse away, as the tears streamed down her face and she choked on her sons.
"Confringo!"
"Diffindo!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!"
"Bombarda!"
"Protego Maxima!"
The spells flew from both wands in a torrent. Mrs Moody watched with bated horror as the spells destroyed their surroundings. The roof caved in when a stray Bombarda hit it, the debris fell on Mrs Moody's frail body and she screamed in pain, completely defenceless.
"Mum!" Alastor cried, terrified, as he accidentally turned to look at his mother.
"Crucio!" Everild snarled, as her maniacal laugh echoed through the ruins along with Alastor's shrieks of agony.
"Now watch your mother die," she spat as she turned her wand on a bleeding Mrs Moody.
"No! Avada Kedavra!"
The spell hit Everild in the chest. She fell on her back and her head lolled to the side, her eyes still open with shock.
"Mum!" Alastor cried, as tears dripped down his face. He threw himself at his mother's barely-breathing body.
"Y-you'll be o-okay, mum!" He sobbed as he tried to pull her from the wreckage.
"It's okay, son," Mrs Moody whispered as she gently raised her bloodied hand and caressed her son's face for the last time, before her hand went limp and her weak heart stopped beating.
Alastor sobbed into his mother's shoulder for a long time. How could everything have changed so quickly? How could his dear Mary be a terrible villain in disguise? Had she even loved him — or was it all a front to get to his parents?
When the Aurors were contacted and they came to get the Moodys' corpses, Alastor watched them leave with a deadpan expression on his face. And the pieces of his crushed heart hardened into something stronger than goblin-wrought iron.
Please read and review.