Arnold's Wizarding World

Chapter 13: Defence Against the Dark Arts

I actually finished this chapter a long time ago, but college got really busy, and I kind of forgot that I had some stories pending until now. Sorry for the delay.

"You're not half bad mate."

I set my wand down and rubbed my wrist, slowly feeling it get tired. Ron had been testing my skills since we arrived at the Ministry this morning, and it was nearing lunchtime, so I was starting to feel tired.

"Boris was right, even if he was a git, your magic is advanced," Ron concluded.

"Thanks," I answered. "Is there a way to prevent your wrist from hurting?"

Ron rose an eyebrow, "It hurts?"

I nodded, flipping my wrist back and forth and massaging it.

"Your position is probably wrong," Ron vocally wondered. "Hold up your wand."

I did as I was told, and Ron nodded in realization. "I was right. See, you're bending your arm, and you're making your wrist do all the work. You have to extend it completely to avoid getting tired quickly. Also, bending your arm messes with your accuracy, you'll strike someone accidentally if you don't hold the right position."

"But I've managed to do well in The Hole," I inquired, observing my wand curiously.

"Sheer dumb luck," Ron shrugged. "No offense lad, but I'm telling you from experience. You don't want to have issues with your wand."

I nodded, something in my head was telling me that I should listen to him.

"I'm surprised by your knowledge though, it's like I'm looking at someone who actually went to Hogwarts. The Hole taught you exactly what they teach first year students in terms of Defence Against the Dark Arts. But because your magic is so advanced, Hermione and I are going to teach you spells that are a bit harder, and forbidden."

His tone got serious as he pulled out his wand, writing three phrases in the air.

"The Cruciatus Curse, the Imperius Curse, and the Killing Curse. The three unforgivable curses. It's illegal for wizards to use these curses, so illegal, that we would be sentenced to life in prison if we get caught using them. There are exceptions though—" he grabbed my wand and waved it in my face. "If you're an Auror, or the Ministry and the Auror department allowed it, or there is a war breaking out and you need to defend yourself, you're fine, because you're using them for good."

He returned my wand, "But if you're Voldemort, or La Sombra, and you use the unforgivable curses for evil, then congratulations, you've just earned yourself a ticket to Azkaban."

"What do they mean?" I asked, almost too afraid to ask.

"That's for Hermione to explain. She's much better at explaining things than I am. I am going to teach you how to cast them. The Ministry and the Auror Department are nominating you for a permit to the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and are waiting to see if the wizards in charge in your country will allow you to use the unforgivable curses. You would only be given a permit after you have passed your training. You will need it for when you return to your hometown."

"Wait, there are wizards in my country?" I asked, this information coming to a complete shock to me. What the? Since when? Did Grandma and Grandpa know? Did the President of the United States know? Was it in the Constitution? Man! Mr. Frank was supposed to go over the Constitution, and I was missing it all! IS THE PIGEON MAN A WIZARD!? IS THAT WHY HE FLEW OFF INTO THE SUNSET!?

Suddenly overwhelmed with the possibility of being surrounded by wizards in my everyday life, I felt myself growing dizzy.

I mean, I know Boris had mentioned something about the Magical Congress before, but the thought of actually living amongst wizards had just hit me now.

I need to lie down.

Ron laughed, "You look like you're about to faint. Of course there's wizards in your country, you've got one of the best wizarding schools out there. Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that's where you'd go if you were a wizard. They're not as good as Hogwarts, of course, but I'm bias."

I frowned. Suddenly, all those Disney Movies involving magic like Peter Pan or Mary Poppins didn't seem as far fetched as they did before. I wonder if pixie dust existed, maybe Ron can teach me.

Wait, didn't Peter Pan and Mary Poppins take place in England? Oh, my head hurts.

Wait a minute. HOW DID DISNEY KNOW!?

I made a mental note to ask Hermione if Walt Disney was a wizard later. I can no longer trust what I think I already know.

"Alright then, the last thing you'll need to learn is the Patronus Charm. If you would have known this charm since the beginning, you could have avoided this whole mess."

I gave him an unamused glance, and he laughed.

"I'm only joking mate, I know you couldn't have done it anyway, you're a muggle. By the way, fun fact, in America, muggles are called No-Majs. So don't go off calling yourself a muggle to your American wizard friends, unless you want them to look at you odd."

"Thanks," I drawled.

We heard a knock and Hermione stepped in, "Sorry I'm late, I had to fill out a bit of paperwork. Apparently, we have a new Minister."

"Another one? What happened to Kingsley Shacklebolt?"

"He resigned," Hermione answered, a strained look on her face. "I don't get it, he was doing a good job."

"Ah well, it must've been too much for the lad," Ron reasoned. "Arnold is ready to learn about unforgivable curses by the way."

"Right," Hermione said. "We'll start with the Cruciatus Curse. That curse is designed to torture your opponent by inflicting agonising pain. If you do it for too long, it will drive your opponent mad."

"That's terrible."

"It is, that's why it's unforgivable," Ron agreed.

"The next one is called the Imperius Curse, it allows the caster to control another's actions. It takes a lot of resistance to not let it affect you, Ron will teach you about that. And finally, the Killing Curse, it's in its name, it's a curse that immediately kills your opponent. It's the one you saw Draco use on Boris."

"Oh, you mean Abracadabra?" I asked.

I'll never be able to hear the word abracadabra and think the same again. I suddenly got a flashback of the magic show I did two years ago where I had thought I had made Helga disappear. Why didn't any wizards correct me? I feel cheated.

"No, you pronounced it wrong. Abracadabra isn't a spell," Hermione corrected. "Though I understand, it's a common mistake for those of us who are muggleborn."

You mean to say that every single Disney movie that used abracadabra when casting spells was wrong? Wait, why abracadabra? That's so similar to the killing curse… Oof, now I really need to ask Hermione if Walt Disney was a wizard.

You know what, I wonder if hocus pocus is a spell. I kind of don't want to ask.

"And those are all the curses, do they make sense?" Ron asked.

I nodded.

Hermione smiled, "Very well, you and Ron will resume training after lunch."

"What a long day," I exclaimed as I crashed onto the bed Mrs. Weasley had lended to me. "Being a wizard is tiring."

"You think you had a long day? Try spending a whole day trying to explain to Mr. Weasley what a beeper is, not even Pataki could do it, and her own Dad used to sell them," Gerald answered as he sat on his back, letting his head hang off of the edge of the bed.

"Gerald, did you know that the United States had wizards too?" I asked.
"Well, I kind of figured, why?"

"Do you think the President knows about them?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Mmm, he might. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew, the government hides a lot from us, I've been saying this. Like aliens. I haven't trusted the government ever since the Area 51 fiasco happened. Aliens exist man, and they're hiding it from us! And one day, the aliens are gonna come and eat us all!"

I gave him a half lidded glare, "Gerald, if aliens do exist, they're probably too far and too busy to eat us all."

"How do you know? Just a few weeks ago you thought wizards were a storybook Disney fantasy. Mark my words, those aliens are coming."

"Speaking of Disney, I'm starting to think Walt Disney was a wizard."

"Why?"

"He portrayed a lot of magic in his movies!" I exclaimed. "Where did he get those ideas? And you know how some Disney movies use abracadabra as a spell? Where did he get that word from? And don't you think it's kind of creepy that abracadabra sounds a lot like the killing curse?"

"Ooo, this sounds like one of those cool conspiracy videos Jamie O likes watching so much."

"Well, what do you think?"

"Well it wouldn't be the first conspiracy about Walt Disney. Jamie O and I were once watching an episode that claimed that Walt Disney froze his body."

"Gerald—"

"What? You don't actually think he's a wizard do you? There's millions of authors and writers who have written about magic, and millions of people who have used abracadabra. I don't think it's got anything to do with Walt Disney."

"So I shouldn't ask Hermione if she thinks Walt was a wizard?"

"What are you morons talking about?" Helga asked, stepping into the room with a scowl.

"Helga, do you think Walt Disney could've been a wizard?" I asked, noticing Gerald facepalm.

Helga stared and blinked at me for three seconds, before turning around and leaving the room.

"Does that mean no?" I asked Gerald, who hung his head over the edge of the bed again and groaned.

"Crucio," Ron iterated as he had me hold both our wands. "I'm not holding my wand because I don't want to cast the curse. A Professor during my fourth year used it on an animal, and Hermione would have my head if she found out I did the same. But that's basically the word you use. Here's the catch though, you really need to want to hurt the opponent, or else your attempts will be weak. I've never used the curse myself, but Harry has, and it didn't go very well."

I nodded, making an uneasy face. I didn't want to crucio anything, or anyone, it's mean and cruel.

"Imperio, that's the one you use when you want your opponent to do what you want to prevent someone from hurting somebody else, or when you want someone to show you where something is. Don't abuse it."

Well, that one was the least evil.

"The last one, I'm sure you're familiar with, Avada Kedavra. Is it making sense?"

I nodded, and swallowed a lump I didn't know was forming in my throat.

After spending the next few hours going over the patronus charm, Ron was satisfied with my progress and went to go tell the Auror department that I was ready to start combat training. I asked him if there was a restroom nearby and I headed out of the training room, only to bump into someone.

And this time, it wasn't Helga.

"Oof, sorry si— oh, hello Professor Malfoy."

Malfoy glared at me and shook his head, "I'm not a Professor, quit calling me that."

"Sorry."

He walked passed me, and I swiftly turned to look at him.

"Wait! Um, thank you, for helping me back in The Hole. That was real nice of you."

Malfoy turned to look at me, and I smiled, hopefully showing him that I was genuinely grateful. He blinked, and he looked a little somber. He then nodded before turning his back on me and leaving.

Well, that was something, right?

"He isn't really a bad person, is he?" I asked Hermione, who was picking at the chicken on her salad before eyeing me. She and I were eating alone today during lunch, because Ron was summoned by the new Minister of Magic for who knows what reason.

"Who, Draco?"

I nodded, "I'm not really sure what to call him anymore, since he wasn't ever really a Professor."

"Just call him Draco," Hermione reasoned. "He's only seven years older than you, and he's not old enough to be called 'Mr. Malfoy' yet. I also think he'd find that distasteful, considering that everyone calls Lucius that."

"Okay then, you don't think Draco really is a bad person do you?"

Hermione frowned, "Well, he certainly has his flaws, and the numerous times he's called me a mudblood don't quite help his case either. But I do recognize that he's slowly changing into something better than what he used to be. He was much more of an arse back when we were around your age, I once even slapped him across in the face."

"Woah," I blinked. "Why?"

She shrugged, "He deserved it, and it really toned his ego down a notch, especially considering that I had hit him hard. He's much more bearable to be around now, and I think that's how it's going to be from here on out. We all just have a silent agreement to remain civil with one another, something Ron is currently struggling with, but he'll manage."

"I think he's misunderstood," I mumbled, remembering all the misunderstood people I've met in my life. Like Big Patty, the Pigeon Man, Agatha Caulfield, Torvald… Helga.

"Misunderstood?" Hermione pondered. "How so?"

"Maybe Draco is a sweet guy inside, and he's just afraid to show it. Maybe he just needs a friend, someone to show him that life isn't just fog and darkness, it could be nice and fun too."

Hermione blinked slowly, "Come again?"

"Look, Helga will be the first to tell you that hiding your real self sucks, especially when you're afraid that people won't take you seriously if you pull off your mask. Maybe, if we do something nice for Draco, it'll make him feel like he's not alone, and maybe then, he'll smile a bit more, even if he doesn't smile in front of us."

Hermione shook her head and set her fork down, "Are you insinuating that we try to be friends with Draco? You do know that's hardly possible right? We have a history you know, he's done some pretty awful things in the past, and even I have boundaries, even if I have forgiven him."

I shook my head, "I'm not saying you should be friends with him, I'm saying we should do something nice for him."

"Okay, I'll humour you, what do you have in mind?" Hermione asked.

I froze, suddenly realizing that I didn't know anything about Draco, or his interests.

Hermione giggled, "See, it's not easy. What you're thinking of doing is sweet, and quite endearing, but if Draco isn't open enough to even tell us his favorite colour, I doubt we'll be able to whip up something that's even remotely acceptable."

I pursed my lips, dissatisfied. If Gerald were here he'd probably groan and Helga would probably face palm, because this was my thinking face.

The face I made when I was determined to get Mr. Hyunh and his daughter back.

The face I made when I helped Mr. Green with his campaign for city council.

The face I made when I was determined to save the neighborhood.

Because I had a new mission, and it was simple.

Get Draco Malfoy to smile.

Draco: What?

Chloe: This is the most Arnold ending I've written so far xD

Arnold: What IS your favorite color?

Draco: The hell should I know, ask JK Rowling

Chloe: True. Arnold, isn't your favorite color blue?

Arnold: Yeah, what's yours Chloe?

Chloe: Green

Draco: Not a bad choice

Chloe: Pfft, you're just saying that cause it's your house color

Draco: It's a superior colour

Chloe: Anyway, please review everyone :)