Year Four: The Goblet of Fire

The three magical schools of Europe compete for eternal glory in the form of the Triwizard Tournament. Death Eaters are rising, gathering followers to join Voldemort. Dark times are approaching, threatening everything Marie loves. It's time for bravery. To be the light in terrible darkness...

Chapter Six- Constant Vigilance

The next few days went smoothly enough with nothing too dramatic occurring after the Draco-ferret incident. The blonde still refused to talk about it and turned bright pink whenever it was brought up. The only notable event would be during their first Potions lesson on Wednesday with the Gryffindors and Neville Longbottom had managed to melt his sixth cauldron and earn himself detention with Professor Snape. As the weather continued to clear up there was an interest humming through the student grapevine. Professor Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The fourth years had heard the older students talking about how awed they had been by his knowledge.

"He's just been there, you know?" said Miles Bletchley, fifth year. "He has all of the life experience. It's really amazing."

Marie and her classmates didn't have the course until Friday, much to their disappointment. Though it was Thursday when something out of the ordinary caught the girl's eye. She had been making her way through the castle after Charms when she spotted Neville in the hall walking with a strangely slow pace, his feet dragging. Noting the odd behavior, she made her way up to him, jogging so to catch up.

"Hello, Neville," she chirped. He visibly started, unaware that anyone was nearby. His eyes were red rimmed and cheeks pink from being rubbed too hard, she noticed. She watched the weak color fade from his face as he looked at her and her concern only increased.

"Marie," he manged, voice cracking. He was carrying the book Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, and his hands suddenly gripped it so tightly that his knuckles went white. Brown eyes dared to glass over and his jaw clenched tightly, his whole body stiff.

"Neville, why-why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, startled. It was clear that something was upsetting him and she took a step closer, worried. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

He mutely shook his head, using his sleeve to rub at his eyes again. He made to say something, but the words wouldn't come so he shut his mouth soundlessly. Heart beating faster, Marie led him by the arm over to a nearby bench so to take a seat. Luckily the hall was mostly deserted as most of the castle had migrated to the Great Hall for dinner. Shrugging off her school bag, she turned to face the Gryffindor.

"Please tell me what's wrong," she pleaded. "At least tell me you're all right."

He took a deep breath through his nose, shoulders slightly shaking as he composed himself. "I'm not hurt..."

"Thank goodness," she sighed, some of the tension leaving her. "Can you tell me what's wrong or if I can help?" Silence fell over him again as he looked at her with the saddest brown eyes. There was something so troubled about him, but she didn't know how to understand. He just continued to look at her like his heart was ripped out.

Their friendship was a strange little thing, the Gryffindor boy and Slytherin girl. Glances and smiles from across the hall or classroom, the valentine card she had given him in second year, small moments of encouragement and contact. She had even gone up to his grandmother at the end of first year and promptly told her that Neville had won the House Cup for Gryffindor with every ounce of her eleven year old authority. They were a funny set of friends with minimal contact and yet unwavering loyalty.

She reached out and placed a hand on his arm, now begging. "Please, Neville, why are you looking at me like that? What's wrong?"

"H-have you had class with Moody yet?" he asked. Confused by the question, she shook her head.

"No, we have him tomorrow afternoon. Is that what this is about? Did something happen in class? You should report this to McGonagall-" He quieted her concerns when he took her hand from his arm and settled for holding it, contact warm from her hands and cool from his. The grip was tight and tremoring.

"It wasn't Moody's fault," he said, voice quiet. "We were discussing the Unforgivable Curses in class. I-it was why...It's why I'm upset..."

Marie kept her silence. The term Unforgivable Curses was familiar and she knew the Killing Curse was one, but apart from that, she couldn't recall any of the others. Neville looked back at her carefully.

"I-it reminded me of you...back in first year..." he continued. Her brow lowered in confusion.

"What about me?" she asked.

He looked a bit sheepish, some healthy color returning to his face. "At the end of first year, when Captain Tess came to see you, I-I was the one who showed her the way to the Hospital Wing," he explained. "And she...well, I think she was talking to herself more than me, but she-she mentioned that you had been hit by that curse..."

Crucio!

She inhaled sharply, looking up at him with wide eyes. He knew?

"I-I didn't-I mean-I haven't told-anyone about that," Marie stammered. She never told her classmates of that spell. Not Draco, not anyone. They only knew that she was in the Hospital Wing and she feigned ignorance as to how she arrived. Tess and Remus were aware, as were Snape and Dumbledore, but the moment was never mentioned again and she wasn't interrogated about the incident. It made the memory easier to bury.

His hold on her hand tightened tremendously as he turned to face her fully. "Marie, you've got to tell me. D-did that happen to you because I couldn't stop Harry and the others from leaving the tower that night?"

Panic was evident across his face as he waited for her answer. Marie took a quick breath, surprised by his question.

"Oh no! No, Neville it wasn't your fault, not by any means!" she reassured. "You thought you-that it was your fault?" Her breaths were catching, throat growing tight with the image of first year Neville bearing the guilt appearing in her mind.

"No, it was never your fault-!" She moved from her spot and pulled him to his feet so she could bring him into a tight embrace with all the strength she could muster. With his added height, he bowed his head and hid his face in her shoulder as she kept them locked in the hug. Whispering words of reassurance, she could feel her shoulder become damp. The hall remained mercifully vacant as she heard him apologize.

"I-it just hits close to home..."

Nodding in understanding, she only hugged him tighter and nothing else was said.

Friday afternoon arrived with no incident and while her friends were eager for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, Marie couldn't help but fret. After her encounter with Neville, she didn't know how to visualize how the class would go. At first she had thought that it would be a simple introduction with stories from the Auror days, but now she didn't have a clue.

The door opened and released the class ahead of them, Ravenclaw seventh years, and Draco wasted no time in grabbing his friend's hand so to make their way inside. Spotting seats open in the front, the blonde picked his spot and Marie took the one beside him, nervously looking about, unsure of what to expect. Pansy and Millie took the seats on Marie's left while Greg and Vincent took the ones on Draco's right, claiming the front row entirely as the rest of the class filed in. While the Malfoy heir was eager for the lesson, he was still overly wary of Moody and with good reason. For the moment, his thirst for knowledge overpowered his fear of the teacher.

Alastor Moody stepped back into the room, the dull clunk of his false leg preceding him. He surveyed the room, magical blue eye going whichever way it wanted. He noticed the books that were already sitting on the desks as the Slytherins were all well prepared for the class. He gave a dismissing wave as he made his way to his seat.

"Put those away, you won't be needing them," he growled. It seemed to be his only way of speaking. Somewhat hesitant, Draco and Marie slowly put their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Moody took out a register and took the role for the class. It was unnerving to watch his false eye swivel about with its own kind of will. Every now and again Marie would feel as if it was studying her and then it would return to looking everywhere else.

"Right then," he grumbled, tossing the register aside. "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures-you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"

Marie nodded, smiling for the sake of praise for Remus. It made her happy to hear good remarks about his teaching after all of the trouble that happened last year. The rest of the class gave a general murmur of confirmation.

"But you're behind-very behind-on dealing with curses," said Moody. Marie sat up straighter in her seat. She most certainly did not want to be behind on anything, especially not when she worked so hard to earn her good marks. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark wizards-"

Marie raised her hand, concerned. Moody seemed surprised but nodded so she could ask. She lowered her hand, mildly pink when everyone gave her a similar look of confusion.

"Does this mean you're not staying, sir?" she asked. She held her breath as both of his eyes focused on her for a moment and for a moment, she thought she was in trouble for speaking up. Then, Moody gave a sort of smile. It was the strangest sight since it pulled all of his heavy scars in weird directions, but it was a smile nonetheless. He picked up the roster and gave a scar heavy smirk when he saw her name.

"Should have known you were Tess'...already questioning me," he gave a gravelly chuckle. "Trained that one myself, you know...Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore...One year, and then back to my quiet retirement." With a harsh laugh and clap of his gnarled hands, he rose from his chair, moving so to stand in front of his desk.

"So-straight to it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it until then," he gave a roll of his natural eye at the bit of legality. "But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. If you can't cope now, then at least you have time to learn how. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful."

He stomped his walking stick against the floor and leaned against the desk. The staff remained standing when he released it and he clapped his hands together again.

"So...do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"

Several hands rose cautiously into the air, and Moody pointed to Theodore Nott, a thin boy who sat near the back and typically kept to himself.

"The Imperious Curse?" he suggested. Moody nodded in agreement.

"Yes, the Imperious Curse. That's a very tricky one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble back in You-Know-Who's time." The ex-Auror moved heavily a few steps without his still standing staff and returned to the front of the desk with a large jar that held three oversized spiders. Marie eyed the jar warily and she saw that Pansy had scooted her chair back a bit, to confirm her distance. Pansy couldn't stand spiders or anything creepy for that matter. Moody dipped his hand into the jar and brought out a single spider for the class to see. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered,

"Imperio!"

The spider then jumped from the teacher's hand on a fine thread of silk and it began to swing back and forth. It stretched it's legs out and then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk where it promptly started to perform cartwheels. Moody moved his wand and the spider shifted onto two hind legs and went into a tap dance. Everyone was laughing and Marie couldn't help but smile a bit, intrigued by the spider's new found ability.

Moody was not laughing.

"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter was gone in an instant. The spider was now rolling about on the desk in a ball.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will. The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked and everyone jumped in their seats. Marie accidentally elbowed Draco sharply in the ribs.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Hands rose up again, Marie's included. Moody called on Crabbe, who rarely volunteered any information in any class. She and Draco shared a look of equal surprise. His voice was low but it traveled well enough for the class to hear.

"There's the Cruciatus Curse," he answered, keeping his eyes down. Moody returned the spider to the jar, curse lifted, and pulled out the second one so to set it on the desk.

"The Cruciatus Curse," he grumbled. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea." He pointed his wand at the spider who didn't even try to run away. "Engorgio!"

Pansy's chair moved as far back as it could go as the spider swelled to a tremendous size, now larger than a tarantula or any spider Marie had ever seen. Professor Moody raised his wand once again.

"Crucio!"

At once, the spider's legs bent in on its body as it rolled over and began to twitch terribly, rocking from side to side. There was no sound, but it was clear that if it could, it would be screaming. Marie could only watch with wide, unblinking eyes, her mouth agape as she stared on, taking in the torture. Her hands had closed into fists on her lap, nails biting into her palms the longer she watched.

Marie screamed again and again, unable to convey the pain she was undergoing. She thrashed from side to side on the floor, clutching her head. Her blood felt like fire in her veins, burning up her every inch, charring her insides. Needles stabbed in every pore; pulse pounding, resounding in her skull and ears. It was as if all of the pain was crammed inside her body but her skin was three sizes too small, too small to handle it. She kicked, curled and arched but the pain wouldn't fade. Tears burned their way into her hairline...

She was the spider. She had no voice due to Quirrell sealing it away with a Silencing Charm and she couldn't scream to express the pain, the agony she was undergoing. She couldn't cry out, call for help, beg for mercy or for it to end. The spider writhed on the desk, a clear display to her as to how she appeared that night. Her body resounded with the dull ache of memories resurfacing. All of the thrashing did nothing to alleviate the pain or to even distract her from it. Nothing would make it go away. She didn't know what to do. She was only a first year and everything just hurt so much and she couldn't do anything to stop it. It hurt so much...

...her fingers twisting and pulling black locks. She was burning, freezing, cracking, breaking, exploding, imploding all at once while her mind was being held together by threads of sanity and positivity. Screaming again and again as she cried. Blood and saliva crawled down her chin, throat bloody due to her unyielding screams...

Draco had glanced over to the dark haired girl so to look away from the spider convulsing, his own revulsion stirring up his stomach. Marie was sitting absolutely rigid, locked into place while every ounce of color was gone from her face, her lips chalk. Her green eyes were wide and she didn't even blink as they welled up with tears, spilling over and dripping from her cheeks. She didn't make a sound.

"Stop it!" snapped Draco, glaring at the teacher. Moody raised his wand and the spider went limp with the occasional twitch. Only the magical eye seemed to notice Marie while he shrunk the spider back to its original size and placed it back in the jar.

"Pain," said Moody softly, his voice seemingly loud in the tense silence. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse...That was very popular once too."

No one said a word.

"Right...anyone know any others?"

This time Marie raised her hand, shaking. Moody nodded while Draco watched her apprehensively.

"The...Killing Curse," she managed softly, voice shaking. "It's the last one..."

"Ah, the last and the worst. Avada Kedavra...the Killing Curse." He put his hand into the jar and pulled out the final spider. The spider scuttled on the desk as Moody brought his wand up. Marie's breath caught in her chest due to the overwhelming sense of dread.

"Avada Kedavra!" he roared, voice shaking the room.

There was a flash of blinding green and a rushing sound, as if the life was pulled into a vacuum. Short cries were heard throughout the class, hands clapping over mouths as Marie watched the spider roll over, completely unmarred and yet undeniably dead. So that was what happened to James and Lily Potter? A blast of emerald light and then they were nothing? This was the curse that tried to kill Harry? If it had succeeded then it would have been the end for her as well. Nothing but an explosion of light swiftly followed by death.

"Not nice," Moody told them calmly, sweeping the spider off the desk. "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it and he's here in this school."

Harry, Marie mentally answered. Her Harry. Her brother. The brother who didn't even know that she existed, but her brother nonetheless. His lack of knowledge didn't lessen her love for him and in that moment, she was reminded how grateful she was that he did survive. Ever since she discovered his existence and connection to her, he had become her reason. For everything. When she was little she would read her books aloud to her stuffed bear, pretending that she was reading to Harry. She made up games they could play together, picked books she thought he might like, daydreamed about the time when they would be reunited. She kept the one family photo that had survived everything and hid it under her pillow while she counted down the days until she would go to Hogwarts to see him. She wanted him to find her, to see their similarities and to feel that love that can only come from family. Harry was the one thing that was just hers and she would protect him every step of the way.

Moody's voice sounded far away. "Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it-you could all point your wands at me right now and say the words, and I doubt I'd get as much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it. Now, there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared and the class jumped again, fully snapping Marie out of her daze.

"Now...those three curses-Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cuciatus-are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending."

REVIEW! Your thoughts would be lovely as always, my readers! Whew, bit of a dramatic chapter huh? But don't worry, next one should be fun!

Next time: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang! Featuring our lovely former Champions!

Yay! I can't wait!

Enjoy!