Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing and following this story! =)
September 1st, 1994
Harry took another glance around his room before taking his trunk and duffel bag downstairs. Summer was over and it was time to leave for the Hogwarts Express soon. Harry couldn't wait as he loved Hogwarts but it was the first time he was sad to see summer end. It had been the best summer of his life.
"Everything packed and ready to go?" Snape asked when Harry entered the kitchen. He gestured at the overly filled table and rolled his eyes. "Dobby wanted to make sure we had a proper breakfast before we left."
Harry grinned at the abundance of eggs, bacon, hash browns and pumpkin juice. "Did Dobby already leave for Hogwarts then?" He asked as he sat down and dished himself up some breakfast.
"He did," Snape answered as he sipped his coffee. "Should I repeat my question?"
"Huh?" Harry was confused for a moment and then smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm packed and ready to go. It's the first time I'm not one hundred percent excited to be going back to school." He admitted. "Before I couldn't wait because of, well…you know."
"Yes, I know." Snape said as he thought dark thoughts about those muggles that Harry had had to endure for so long. "You had an enjoyable summer then?" He sounded pleased.
Harry nodded. "It was great! Thank you."
Snape shook his head. "You deserve to have pleasant summers Harry. You do not need to thank me." He hesitated. "I had an enjoyable summer also," His first summer of being a father had gone well, overall.
Harry seemed happy with his admission, his eyes brightened as he continued to eat.
After they were done eating Snape leaned forward in his seat. "I want you to be careful when you stay in the Slytherin dorms," He said seriously. He had been furious when he had heard of how the Zabini's had treated his son and his friends at the World Cup. "Be on your guard around Blaise and his friends. I will do what I can to keep him in line but I know how sneaky and cruel teenagers can be. You will remember the spells I taught you to do before you eat or drink anything around them?"
Harry nodded. He had been taught how to detect if his food or drink had been tampered with.
"It shouldn't be a problem as Dobby will be overseeing your meals personally but it is best to be careful," Snape added. "Also, you will tell me if Zabini starts bothering you. Or anyone else for that matter."
Harry made a face at the thought of tattling. "But," He began.
"Harry, he could cause real damage to you. Do not let your pride get in the way of letting me know if he or anyone else starts actively bullying you," Snape interrupted. His stern gaze did not soften until Harry nodded his understanding.
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"So scar head how was your summer with your new dad?" Cormac McLaggen asked sarcastically. He and his friend Alexander Williams had entered Harry's dorm, smirking at him.
Harry gritted his teeth as he unpacked his trunk in his Gryffindor dorm. He really didn't want to start the year off with a school fight. "It was great actually. Thanks for asking." He said evenly.
Ron snickered.
"Did you learn any dark spells from old Snape?" Cormac continued as more Gryffindors gathered behind.
Harry whirled around and stared at Cormac's sneering face. "Would you like to find out?" He raised an eyebrow and started to pick up his wand.
Cormac looked horrified and he and Alexander turned and pushed through the small crowd to make their escape. Some of the students followed while the rest began clapping.
"Good show Mr. Potter!" Fred Weasley said. He turned to his twin. "Isn't it great to have our very own dark wizard Forge?"
"It sure is Gred!" George saluted Harry. "If you start your own group, we would like our dark mark to be a lightning bolt."
Harry rolled his eyes, laughing and waved the twins away.
"That was brilliant Harry. Did you see Cormac's face?" Ron chuckled.
"Hopefully he will leave me alone this year," Harry sighed. "He pretty much did last year after I was adopted but he seems ready to start bothering me again."
"We can handle him," Ron said dismissively as he unpacked. "
Harry grinned, thankful to have such good friends.
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Half an hour later, Harry unpacked the rest of his belongings in his Slytherin dorm, telling Draco and Theo about the scene with Cormac.
"And they say Slytherin are the bullies," Theo shook his head as he leaned back on his bed.
"Yeah, it's usually the Gryffindorks," Draco said as he tossed a toy replica golden snitch in the air and caught it. He grinned when he noticed Harry's glare. "Don't worry Potter; you're only half a Gryffindork now."
"Thanks so much," Harry said sarcastically. "And there are bullies in Slytherin, unless Zabini and Parkinson have transferred to another school."
"No, they're here." Theo said. "Unfortunately," He suddenly grinned. "Hey Draco, remember in our first year how Pansy declared that you and her would be married after Hogwarts?"
"She did?" Harry began laughing.
"Her parents had told her it would be a good match," Draco said. "I told her to lay off whatever deluded potion she had been drinking and to leave me alone."
"Now it appears she has her sights set on Zabini," Theo said.
"Talk about a downgrade." Draco smirked. "I'm looking for a girl with beauty and brains and Parkinson has…neither."
Harry shook his head in amusement as he put the last of his clothes away. Daphne is both beautiful and smart, he thought idly as he flopped down onto his bed.
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Harry had decided to spend his first night at Hogwarts in Gryffindor; it would feel weird for him not to. He wanted to see all his friends so he was sitting with Slytherin for the start-of-term feast. Blaise Zabini had given him a cold stare when he had sat down but Harry just ignored him.
"Summer is over," Theo groaned, dropping his head onto the table. "No more sleeping in as late as I want; now it's just essays and tests to look forward to…"
"And seeing your friends all the time, eating great food, learning new spells…" Tracey continued for him.
Theo raised his head, considering. "The food here is fantastic," He agreed. He grinned at Tracey's sigh. "And of course being with my friends," He conceded.
"Don't forget Quidditch," Harry said happily. He couldn't wait to start playing again.
Dumbledore stood and tapped his spoon against his goblet to get everyone's attention. "Welcome back to all previous students and welcome to all newcomers! A few things before we indulge in our start-of-the-term feast. First, to all first years and a reminder to the rest of you, the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students and there is to be no magic performed outside of your lessons. To those who break these rules, you will experience detention or loss of house points." He warned before smiling brightly. "And now, let the feast begin!"
Everyone cheered when the tables filled with delicious looking food and it didn't take long for students to fill their plates. "I wonder who the new Defence teacher is," Daphne said as she took a sip of pumpkin juice.
Harry looked at the empty seat at the head table. "I don't know," He said thoughtfully. "Dad never mentioned it and I didn't think to ask." He took a bite of pot roast, enjoying the company of his friends as they reminisced about the World Cup.
After the feast was over, Dumbledore once again stood up and got the room's attention. "I do have a couple more announcements before you return to your dorms. First, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be taking place this year."
"What!?"
"Why?"
"It's probably Snape's fault, he hates anything that makes students happy!"
Harry turned at hearing his Dad mentioned and glared at the Ravenclaw table, where Jeremy Stretton was glaring right back. "Git," Harry muttered. He was upset too but it was stupid to think his dad had anything to do with it. His heart sank as it set in that there would be no Quidditch. Playing had always been a great stress reliever for him and loved the feeling of freedom that came with flying in the air.
"No, why are they doing this to us?" Draco groaned.
Dumbledore had waited patiently for the outcry at his announcement but now he held up his hand. He was about to continue when the doors to the great hall opened and a man with a prosthetic leg, a magical false eye, and a badly damaged face made his way to the head table.
"Wow, has he seen better days or what," Theo murmured.
Harry watched as the man shook hands with Dumbledore and made his way to the empty chair. He noticed his dad had a displeased look on his face. So dad knows him and is not a fan, Harry thought to himself.
"I would like to introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Alastor Moody." Dumbledore said brightly. "Welcome Professor Moody."
Moody gave a grunt as he poured himself a drink and filled up his plate, not caring that everyone else had finished eating and began devouring his food.
"Mad-eye Moody," Draco whispered. "I've heard about him. He used to be an Auror. He's known as one of the best."
"And the craziest," Tracey said quietly. "I've heard he's quite barmy now, always paranoid about something or other."
Dumbledore returned to his announcement. "The reason Quidditch will not take place this year is due to a very special event that will be starting in October and will continue throughout the school year. I am quite you confident that you will enjoy it immensely." Dumbledore smiled broadly. "Eternal fame and honor is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament! The Tournament is a contest that will be held between three schools, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Durmstrang Institute and of course Hogwarts. A student from each school shall be selected from the Goblet of Fire and will complete in three dangerous tasks, which will be judged by magical ability, intelligence and courage. The student who wins shall receive the Triwizard Cup and a thousand galleons."
Students began talking amongst themselves excitedly. Dumbledore raised his voice a bit to be heard over the excited chatter. "However, there is a restriction that has been placed on the Tournament for everyone's safety. To submit your name in the Goblet, you must be seventeen."
"No fair!" Draco protested.
"So we can't have Quidditch or compete in the tournament?" Theo groaned.
"It should be fun to watch at least," Daphne said sympathetically.
Harry joined the groaning but mostly it was for the no Quidditch than the not being able to compete. He wanted a break from anything dangerous for a change.
"We better get a Slytherin champion at least," Draco grumbled.
"Or a Gryffindor one," Harry grinned. He caught the half eaten biscuit that Draco had thrown at him and was about to throw it back when he caught sight of the frown his dad was sending his way. Harry sighed and put the biscuit down, smiling innocently at his dad.
Dumbledore concluded his speech by saying that the representatives from the competing schools would arrive on the evening of October thirtieth and stay at Hogwarts until the end of the Tournament. Once he dismissed the students, the room became loud as students began talking about the tournament and who should enter. Harry stood outside the doorway after he said goodnight to his Slytherin friends and waited for Ron and Hermione.
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"It's completely unfair that you have to be seventeen to compete!" Ron ranted as he, Harry and Hermione sat in the common room.
"It's for the safety of the students," Hermione said primly. "People have died competing in the past, they want to make sure whoever is selected has enough magical education to defend themselves."
"So? Who says we aren't as capable as any seventeen year old?" Ron asked, sitting up straighter. "Look what the three of us have accomplished in the last three years."
"You mean almost getting killed?" Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly! Almost," Ron said triumphantly. "After the stone, the chamber, and Pettigrew we could handle three measly little tasks."
"Measly? They are highly dangerous," Hermione shook her head as she began writing in her notebook.
"Well, we are almost seventeen and we could handle it!" Fred and George sat down next to them.
"Yeah, our birthday is in April! It's not fair to be excluded for being mere months away from seventeen." George huffed.
"I wonder if anyone from Gryffindor is going to enter their name," Harry said as he glanced around the room.
"I'm not giving up; we will find a way to enter our names." Fred said determinedly. George nodded his agreement.
After the twins had left, Hermione chuckled. "They will never be able to enter their names. The Goblet will be enchanted not to allow anyone under seventeen to enter." She said knowingly.
"A thousand galleons," Ron said wistfully. "Think of what you could buy!"
"All the sweets in Honeydukes?" Harry grinned, knowing how much of a sweet tooth his friend had.
Ron nodded eagerly. "For starters!" He said enthusiastically.
Harry stood up and stretched. "I'm knackered. I'm going to turn in."
"I'll go up too," Ron said.
"Goodnight," Hermione said distractedly as she kept writing in her notebook.
"What is she working on? We haven't even had class yet!" Ron wondered out loud as he and Harry walked upstairs.
"I have no idea. It can't be our summer homework; she would have finished that the first week of summer." Harry said as they entered their dorm.
"Knowing Hermione, it's probably next summer's homework." Ron snickered.
September 4th, 1994
"Constant vigilance!"
Harry exchanged amused glances with Daphne as Professor Moody lectured his Defence class. He was convinced if you looked up the word paranoid in the dictionary, Alastor Moody's picture would be there.
"It is because I am always on guard, always prepared that half the cell blocks in Azkaban are filled thanks to me," He limped to the board and began writing. "You need to be aware of the danger that is out there," He glanced back and stared at Harry. "Some of you already are, I am sure."
Harry sighed and leaned back in his seat. Of course he knew what was out there. Voldemort. However, there had been no signs of him returning since Pettigrew had been put in Azkaban. In fact, so far there had been no signs of danger or attempts on his life. It really was a nice change.
Moody slammed his hand down on his desk. "Who can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?" His magical eye rolled around as he looked at the students.
Hermione raised her hand. "There are three, Professor."
Moody nodded and crossed his arms. "And why are they called Unforgivables?"
"The use of any one of them will send you to Azkaban," Daphne answered.
Moody nodded tersely. "A one-way ticket there for those who use them. Well, most of those who use them." His eyes traveled over to where Draco and Theo were sitting.
Harry frowned, hoping Moody wasn't going to be unfair like Sinistra was. Before he could dwell on it further, he was distracted by his thoughts as Moody set a jar on his desk that held a spider. He looked over at Ron, whose freckled face was pale as he stared at the jar. Holding back a laugh, Harry turned back to the front.
"The ministry would keep you innocent from how these spells work but thankfully, Dumbledore believes you are better off kept informed. How are you supposed to defend yourself against a curse you have never even seen?" Moody took the spider out of the jar and then pointed his wand at it. "Imperio!" The spider began doing an eight-legged dance across the desk, causing several students to laugh.
"Ah, think it is funny do we?" Moody glared at the class. "I have total control of this spider. If I wanted to I could have it jump out of a window or drown itself…Or crawl down one of your throats." He smirked.
"Merlin," Ron whispered, looking like he would pass out at the thought.
"Imagine if I did this to you?" Moody stopped making the spider dance. "Imagine I had total control over you. Still funny?" He once again slammed his hand down on the desk. "Constant vigilance!" He pointed his wand at Dean Thomas. "Try to resist it. Imperio!"
Dean's eyes took on a slightly glazed over look as he began to hop around the room and sing at the top of his lungs. Half the class snickered while the other half looked shocked at the curse actually being cast on a student.
"Is he mental?" Ron gaped.
"There is no way the Headmaster approved this, right?" Hermione asked, clearly upset.
"He is called Mad Eye Moody," Harry replied. His eyes widened when he caught Moody's magical eyes staring at him. "Oops." He muttered.
Dean was released from the spell and sat down in his chair, looking confused. Harry grimaced as Moody's wand pointed at him and Moody incanted the spell. Instantly, Harry felt a floating sensation, light, happy and without any worry.
"Hop around the room."
Harry started to do just that but then in the back of his mind he wondered why he would do such a thing. He didn't want to so why should he? He fell over in mid hop as he attempted to stop himself.
Suddenly the floating sensation disappeared and Harry found himself sitting on the floor, staring up at a surprised looking Professor.
"Huh," Moody looked at him thoughtfully as Harry returned to his seat. "Well Potter, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised considering you have already survived one of the other curses." He pointed at Harry's forehead.
Harry shrugged in response, not sure what to say to that.
Moody limped to the board to write Imperius Curse. "Death Eaters who were caught after Voldemort's fall used this curse as their excuse. Some people may have bought that but I never did." His eyes roved over to the Slytherin side of the room again.
Draco's face flushed and his eyes hardened. "Git," He muttered after Moody had looked away.
"Moving on," Moody returned to his desk where the spider was resting. "I have two more curses to show you. These two, I won't try on any of you however." He smirked as he pointed his wand at the spider. "Crucio!"
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Harry rushed from the classroom, ignoring the calls from his friends and ran into the boys' lavatory. He felt like he was going to be sick. Watching the final two curses being performed had been horrible. The Avada Kedavra…Harry shuddered and splashed some cold water on his face. He thought of his parents. Had it really been that fast? Did that mean they hadn't suffered? Harry wiped his face and noticed that Neville had walked into the room, looking pale.
"Are you okay Neville?" Harry asked in concern as Neville also splashed some water onto his face.
Neville nodded shakily. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said hoarsely. "Defence was rather intense today." He grabbed a paper towel to dry his face. "You were brilliant though, resisting the Imperio."
Harry stared at his reflection, his emerald eyes focused on his scar. "Thanks."
Neville hesitated as though he was thinking about saying something. "I…I'll see you later," He mumbled as he turned and left the room.
Harry wondered why Neville seemed so upset, although he knew his friend was fairly sensitive. He wondered if the other students were upset at what they had seen too.
"Harry?" Theo's voice came from the doorway. "He's in here!" Theo called over his shoulder. Theo entered the room, with Draco and Ron behind him.
"Is he okay?" Hermione called from the hallway.
"I don't know. He looks upset," Ron called back.
"I'm fine," Harry sighed.
"Is he crying?"
"No I'm not!" Harry yelled back indignantly.
"You can't go in there!" The door opened and Daphne entered, ignoring Hermione's admonishment.
"Harry, are you sure you are all right?" Daphne asked seriously. "It's okay if you aren't. I can't believe Professor Moody could be so heartless!"
"I can't believe he had permission to show us those curses," Draco said as he began studying his reflection in the mirror above one of the sinks. "Although I suppose it is useful to know exactly how they work." He ran his hands through his hair. "I don't like him though."
Hermione and Tracey slowly crept into the lavatory, checking around to make sure no other boys were around. "Harry?" Hermione looked worried.
"I am fine," Harry assured her. "It just…took me by surprise actually seeing it performed. Actually, I didn't like seeing the Cruciatus preformed either."
"Poor spider," Tracey murmured.
"How did you resist the Imperio?" Hermione asked curiously.
"I don't know," Harry answered. "I started to hop around the room and then I just questioned why I was doing it."
"You're never normal are you, mate?" Ron chuckled.
Harry sighed and his eyes met Daphne's sympathetic ones. It was true; once again he had stood out from everyone without meaning to. "I wish Remus was still teaching." He said.
"Or Sirius," Theo grinned. "Think how fun that would be!"
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yeah, Sirius and my dad working in the same place would be a blast." He shook his head. "I don't think they will ever get along." He murmured.
"That's why it would be fun," Theo smirked. He sighed and pushed Draco away from the mirror. "I know you are used to having a mirror tell you how wonderful you look but please, have some respect for yourself."
Draco glared at him as the rest of his friends laughed. "Looking good is showing myself respect," He insisted. "And I do not own a talking mirror!" He shrugged. "Anymore, at least. I threw it out last year when it said my hairstyle made my face look pointy."
"It does," Ron muttered.
Hermione threw Ron an admonishing look and was about to say something when the door opened and a first year student walked in. He stopped and stared when he saw three girls in the lavatory.
"We were just leaving!" Hermione squealed as she rushed by the first year.
"Uh, looks like we are in the wrong loo!" Daphne grabbed Tracey's arm and hurried both of them out of the lavatory, leaving the boys' to their laughter.
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Snape was passing through the corridor that led to his Slytherins common room when he first heard about the incident in Defence.
"Do you think it's true?"
"I don't know Tabitha. I'm going to ask Daphne as soon as I see her," Astoria said somewhat excitedly. "I wonder if Professor Moody will show us the Unforgivable Curses too."
Snape stopped walking and turned around. "Excuse me?" He stared at his second year students.
Tabitha straightened up but Astoria just smiled brightly. "Hi Professor Snape!"
"What were you saying about the Unforgivable Curses?" Snape asked somewhat impatiently.
"Oh, well Betsy Chambers heard from Troy Watson that Professor Moody showed the fourth years the unforgivable curses today." Astoria explained. "There is talk that one of the curses was performed on students!"
"What?" Snape shook his head. "There is no way a professor would do such a thing." Even someone paranoid and crazy like Moody, he thought. "You shouldn't spread such gossip around." He admonished them.
"What gossip?"
Harry, Daphne, Draco, Theo and Tracey walked up behind Snape looked at his dad curiously.
"Daphne, is it true? Did you see the unforgivables used?" Astoria asked eagerly.
"Yes," Daphne answered with a frown. "And it was not a nice thing to see." She told her sister.
Snape stared at them in shock. "You did see it? Explain!"
"Professor Moody showed us all three curses, on a spider." Draco spoke up.
"He also used the Imperious curse on two people in class," Theo said.
"He didn't!" Snape practically yelled. "That mad, old fool…" He paced slightly. "Which students?"
"Um, Dean Thomas and…me." Harry admitted. He took a step back at the sheer look of anger on his dad's face. "It was no big deal."
"No big deal?" Snape voice was low and dangerous. "No big deal! Mad Eye performed an unforgivable curse on you and you dare say it is no big deal?" He knew having Moody as a professor was a bad idea. He would demand Dumbledore fire him immediately.
"I was more upset at seeing the Avada Kava performed," Harry said quietly.
Snape shut his eyes for a moment, trying to control his anger. Oh, Moody was going to answer for this. How dare he perform the curse that had killed Harry's parents in front of him?
Snape opened his eyes. "Why don't you go to our quarters so we can talk for a bit? I would like to hear everything that happened," He said more calmly.
Harry looked around the small crowd that had formed from students wanting to hear the story and thought that going to their quarters sounded like a good idea. "Okay." He turned to his friends. "I'll see you guys at dinner."
Snape walked in silence alongside Harry as they made their way through the dungeons. As soon as he got the whole story from Harry and insured his son was indeed all right, he would storm into Dumbledore's office and let that old coot have it. Once they entered their quarters, Snape gestured for Harry to sit on the sofa. "Start at the beginning."
"Professor Moody began teaching us about the three unforgivable curses. He first showed how the imperious curse worked by performing it on the spider. Some kids laughed and it seemed to upset him, like he thought we weren't taking it seriously enough." Harry began, leaning back. "He then performed it on Dean, had him hop and sing around the room. He talked about how using the curse meant you had complete control," Harry paused. "Um, well we thought he was sort of mental to do it and I may have said something about how he is called Mad Eye and he heard me."
"So he performed the curse on you." Snape finished.
Harry nodded. "I started to hop around the room but then I fell over."
"He made you fall over?" Snape asked, confused.
"Um, no. I sort of resisted the curse," Harry admitted.
Snape's eyes widened slightly and he crossed his arms as he pondered this new development. Resisting the Imperious Curse was a very rare skill indeed. "That is quite admirable," He said. "However, he should never have performed these curses on students. He was out of line to even show how they worked. You're only fourth years!"
"He said the ministry didn't want us to know but something about Dumbledore thinking we were ready," Harry told him.
Snape felt his temper rise. Albus had actually approved this? Was the man growing even more insane in his old age? "Unbelievable!" He muttered.
"Then he showed us the cruciatus and Avada Kedavra." Harry finished. "On the spider." He looked at his dad. "The killing curse…so it was fast and painless? It looked to be…although I remember my mother screaming when the Dementor's were near me," He half murmured to himself.
Snape sighed and sat down next to Harry. "The killing curse is fast and painless." He confirmed. "Your parents wouldn't have felt anything."
"But my mother screamed," Harry said quietly.
"I believe, based on what you heard last year, any screams would have been because she feared for your life, she feared that you would be killed." Snape said in a softer tone.
Harry nodded slowly. "I'm being ridiculous by being this upset. It's not like I didn't know how they died."
"It is different seeing it in person, however," Snape said.
"I wasn't the only one upset; several other students seemed upset too, especially by the Cruciatus Curse. I know the lesson upset Neville."
Snape stood up suddenly. "I need to talk with the Headmaster. I will see you at dinner." He said abruptly. He glanced down at Harry. "You will be all right?"
Harry nodded. "I think I'll stay here till dinner and start on some homework. If what happened during Defence is making its way through the grapevine, I'd like to be away from it for as long as possible."
"I do not blame you," Snape said as he pulled out his wand. "Accio Butterbeer."
Harry gratefully took the cold bottled drink as it floated towards him. "Thanks Dad," He said happily.
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"I knew it was a bad idea!" Snape snarled as soon as he stepped through the floo into the Headmasters office. "But did you listen to my concerns? Of course not!"
Dumbledore looked up from his desk. "Severus, what a nice surprise!" He automatically began to push his small dish of lemon drops towards Snape but the dish flew off the desk and slammed into the wall, shattering causing lemon drops to cover the floor. He frowned. "Was that really necessary Severus?" He sighed.
"Yes!" Snape snapped. "How else am I to get your attention that I am upset?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "You are usually upset about something, it is basically a given." He flicked his wand and repaired the dish and summoned it back to his desk. Another flick of his wand banished the broken pieces of candy on the floor. "So what has you upset today?"
Snape's face darkened. "Moody," He answered coolly.
Dumbledore leaned back in his seat. "I know you disapprove of him teaching here Severus, you made that clear during the summer. However, I feel that Alastor will be an adequate professor with his experience in being an Auror."
"He is insane." Snape hissed. "He showed the fourth years the Unforgivable Curses! He performed them on a spider!"
"Yes, I gave permission for that." Dumbledore said calmly. "After what happened last year, I still am convinced it is just a matter of time before Voldemort returns. The students should be prepared."
"And it did not occur to you that it might be difficult, even cruel, for certain students to see those curses being performed in front of them?" Snape shook his head. "Even I could never do such a thing. My son is upset at seeing the killing curse performed as it makes him think of his parents. He asked me if it really was a painless as it looked or if his parents had suffered."
Dumbledore sighed. "Ah, I see. I am sorry Severus, I did not think of that. Of course Harry would be upset."
"He is not the only one. I was told Longbottom was quite shaken from the experience as well," Snape glared at Dumbledore. "The boy is far from my favorite student but even I would not demonstrate a curse that rendered his parents insane."
A look of regret crossed Dumbledore's face. "I will speak to Neville," He said softly. "Apparently I should have used better judgment in approving Alastor's lesson. Should I speak to Harry as well?"
"No, I have already done so," Snape sat down. "What of your judgment in allowing an Unforgivable curse to be performed on students?"
Dumbledore stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"
Snape smiled bitterly. "Yes, Moody performed an illegal curse on two students. The Imperious Curse was used on Dean Thomas and my son."
The twinkle left Dumbledore's eyes. "I did not approve that." He frowned. "Alastor either misunderstood me or got carried away."
"From what I heard, I believe he got carried away." Snape said with an eye roll. "That does not change the fact he performed an illegal curse. Shall I summon the Auror's or would you like to?"
"Alastor is an Auror, albeit retired." Dumbledore pointed out. "And you know they are licensed to use the Unforgivables. Now what did Alastor have the children do?"
"Mr. Thomas had to hop around the room while singing," Snape answered. "Harry was to hop around the room but managed to resist it."
"Really?" Dumbledore sounded pleased. "Very interesting. Harry has always been a remarkable child."
"Yes," Snape agreed. "The key word is child. I understand you want the students to be prepared for an eventual war, I do as well. However, taking away their childhood by horrifying them with these violent spells is not something I approve of. Harry in particular has already had three years of school where he has almost been killed. Is it too much for me to want him to have a relatively happy, normal year? Is that too much to ask for the child?" He asked in frustration.
A sad look entered Dumbledore's eyes. "No, it isn't." He said softly. "I will meet with Alastor to redo his lesson plans." He hesitated. "You should know, Alastor has been hinting that Harry should begin training. He has offered to teach him advanced defence on the side."
"No." Snape stood up. "Absolutely not, I can train my son just fine. In fact, I have already started doing so."
"Perhaps you both could," Dumbledore began.
"No! I will not have that deranged lunatic give Harry extra lessons where the boy will most likely be physically and emotionally damaged afterwards! He is fourteen years old Albus!" Snape snapped.
"All right, I only told Alastor that I would ask your thoughts on the matter." Dumbledore said, holding up his hands. "You are more than qualified to train Harry in defence. And I promise I will talk with Alastor about his classes. I will also summon Neville to my office after dinner to make sure he is all right."
"Thank you," Snape relaxed somewhat. "You know, if parents hear about what Moody did they may contact the ministry to have him removed from Hogwarts." Snape felt cheerful at the thought.
Dumbledore opened his drawer and pulled out a new bag of lemon drops, emptying them into the dish on his desk. "I will reassure any parents if I should hear from any of them." He smiled slyly as Snape stepped into the floo. "And Severus, remember it is Professor Moody." He yelped slightly as his dish of lemon drops once again flew off his desk again and into the wall. He gave a disapproving glare at his Potion's Professor as Snape disappeared into the green flames, laughing.
TBC: