Gooooooood morning! (it's actually 20:43 here, but I've been studying all day... forgive me... I'm tired)
This chapter is a little slow, I have to agree, but there are great things to come, so don't give up on me yet!
I've been writing good stuff... you guys are going to looooove chapter 25 :)
I hope you guys enjoy this one anyway!
Thank you again for the follows, favorites, and to orlisgirl04 and missimpedimenta96 who reviewed last chapter and were so sweet. Lots of love.
Enjoy! x

wildest dreams
VOLUME I

CHAPTER EIGHT

A loud sigh escaped my lips when I sat in Charms class the next day. As happy as I was to be back at Hogwarts, and to see everyone again, I certainly could've done without the classes. Fortunately, the term was starting pretty well with Flitwick. I was good at spells – Flitwick kept telling me I was talented – so it definitely helped keeping me motivated. The class started with Flitwick giving his usual start-of-year speech, congratulating us on our OWLS. He told us we would start the year with nonverbal spells, which was something I was quite excited about. An apple appeared in front of each of us and we had to try and make it levitate without saying the incantation aloud. Only Angelina, me and a few others succeeded. Fred's apple had melted on his desk and York, a student from Ravenclaw, made it explode.

After Charms, I went to Ancient Runes with Alicia, while the others had taken other options. It was probably my favorite class – even though I wasn't very good at it, I found the subject fascinating, and I got along very well with the teacher, Mrs. Babbling, who kindly smiled at me when I came in.

When I sat in the Great Hall after the class, Fred and George were already eating – after all, they had a free period while I was in Runes.

"How was it ?" asked Fred.

"Not too bad" said Alicia.

"True, but I feel it's going to be a pain. We already have a homework and the readings."

"Remind me why you too three options again, Addy ?" asked George, frowning.

"Because, my dear, I need those three options if I ever want to get a job."

I stole a chip from his plate, eyebrows raised, and he chuckled. I had wanted to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry ever since I was little. I had no idea where it came from – it was just always what I wanted to do. I knew that by choosing this career, I had promised myself two very busy and difficult years at Hogwarts, but I knew it would be worth it in the end.

"We have DADA after lunch" said Fred with enthusiasm.

"I'm very curious to see that Moody in action" said Alicia.

"He's a genius, apparently" added Fred.

"You called him a nutter yesterday" I sighed.

"Yeah, well, you know what they say – there's a fine line between genius and insanity."

I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, Gred. Sure."

Then, Angelina and Lee came back from Care of Magical Creatures and told us about the class while we finished eating before we all walked to DADA. I felt excited, but also a little nervous. This Moody had not looked very reassuring. I already missed Lupin – after Quirrell and Lockhart, he had been like a breath of fresh air. Once we got to the classroom, I saw Angelina quickly sit down beside Fred. Smirking, I sat down with George, who winked at me.

"Interesting" he said once I had sat down.

"What is that supposed to mean, Forge ?" I sighed.

"Nothing."

I stared at him, but he was looking straight in front of him, smirking to himself. Groaning, I poked him with my quill.

"Oi ! What was that for ?"

"For being a git."

"How have I been a git ?"

"You just are."

I smirked. We stared at each other, and I suddenly felt like blushing. Why did I always feel like blushing when George was staring at me ? Maybe because he always that look in his eyes, that weird, terrible look that I enjoyed so much. I was about to blurt out something out of awkwardness, but fortunately, Moody chose that specific moment to show up.

"Alastor Moody. Ex-Auror. Say 'present' when I call your name."

As he called the names, his eye twirled around, intensely staring at everybody.

"Harlowe, Adelaide."

I was so captivated by his eye that I didn't even hear my name at first – it took George to give me a nudge before I reacted.

"Pr-present !" I stuttered.

"Hertown, Evan."

I breathed out, ignoring George's chuckle. What a great first impression. Moody quickly finished taking the attendance and put down the list, his blue eye carefully studying each of our faces. I had never heard a class be so silent.

"Professor Lupin sent me a letter to tell me where you were in the curriculum. You may think you are quite advanced, but I am here to tell you that you are not. I am here to teach you how to defend yourself – truly defend yourself. I am sure none of you would survive an attack from a Dark Wizard if one happened to enter this class today."

I raised an eyebrow. That was quite a welcoming speech.

"You must be ready, for whatever may come your way. CONSTANT VIGILANCE !"

"Yeah, definitely a nutter" whispered George.

Suddenly, Moody's eye landed directly on George, who seemed to tense. Then, the eye shifted on me, and I felt my eyes widen.

"Miss Harlowe, isn't it ?" he asked me in a calm voice.

"Yes" I answered, my voice higher than usual.

"Do you know what the Unforgivable Curses are, Miss Harlowe ?"

"Er – I think so."

"Tell me !"

"Well, er – they are the worst spells you can cast. They require a lot of power and will, and the use of one is enough to send you to Azkaban..."

"Precisely. Good, very good."

Moody was smiling – or he looked like he was. I shivered.

"And you, Mr. Weasley ?" he said, turning to George. "Do you know one of them ? I bet you do."

"Yeah, I know of one" said George. "The Imperius Curse ?"

"Excellent. This curse has the power to control someone, to control their mind."

Moody turned to his desk and opened one of the jars that were on it. When he faced us again, he was holding a huge spider in his hand. There were a few gasps in the room, and I felt a shiver go through my spine. I had never liked spiders – I hated everything that crawled. He raised his wand and pointed it to the spider.

"Impero !" he said in a loud voice.

At first, nothing happened, but when Moody moved his wand, the spider followed, ending up on the desk in front of him. It was soon clear that he was controlling the spider's movements, as he made it float in the air and walk on someone's head. I found it quite amusing, and joined the general laughter.

"And now what ? What could I make her do ? Jump out the window ? Drown herself ?"

Oh. The laughter immediately faded as Moody brought the spider back to his hand.

"The Imperius Curse is the hardest to detect, because how can we know if someone is acting out of their own will, or someone else's ? That is why you need to stay alert… CONSTANT VILIGANCE ! C'mon, another one !"

A Slytherin raised his hand.

"What about the Cruciatus Curse, Professor ?"

"Ha, yes. Particularly cruel."

He put the spider back on his desk and once again pointed his wand at it. I had to slightly lean on George to be able to see, even though I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"Crucio !"

It was very faint, but I could still hear it – the spider was shrieking in pain. It seemed to be struggling against something invisible, something strong, something she couldn't fight back against. It was torture. I suddenly felt sick. What was the point of us ? Why show us this ? I didn't realize I was grabbing George's shirt until Moody ended the curse, and I relaxed.

"Sorry" I whispered, but George shrugged, not looking one bit bothered.

"The Torture Curse. It was You-Know-Who's habit to torture the wizards he captured, to torture them until they lost their minds and begged to be killed. The Ministry doesn't want you to know these things, but I believe you must be prepared ! You must know what is out there !"

I felt very uncomfortable. Would every class be like this ?

"What about the last Curse ? Anyone ? No ? Very well."

He pointed his wand at the spider again, and I dreaded the worst.

"Avada Kedavra !"

The spider collapsed on the desk, dead.

I was still shaken when we sat down at dinner. The image of that spider, falling dead on the desk, unable to defend itself – it was horrible. I didn't really know what to think of Moody – he seemed unstable to me, but also quite knowledgeable. It would be an interesting year, no doubt. We sat down with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Moody !" said Fred. "How cool is he ?"

"Beyond cool" replied George.

"Supercool" nodded Lee. "We had him this afternoon."

"What was it like ?" asked Harry with enthusiasm.

The twins exchanged looks.

"Never had a lesson like it" declared Fred.

"He knows, man" said Lee.

"Knows what ?" asked Ron.

"Knows what it's like to be out there doing it" said George.

"Doing what ?" asked Harry.

"Fighting the Dark Arts."

"He's seen it all."

"'Mazing" agreed Lee.

I shared a look with Hermione. She didn't look as excited as Ron and Harry. Ron fumbled through his bag to find his schedule.

"We haven't got him till Thursday !" he sighed.

I couldn't help but chuckle at his obvious disappointment, and turned to Angelina.

"Feels weird not to have Quidditch this year" I said.

"Yeah" she nodded. "And I would've been Captain."

"Really ?"

"Wood sent me a letter this summer, saying I should be the one."

"Well, you still have next year – hopefully."

"Yeah, you're right. But I'm still bummed."

"Me too. Merlin, can you imagine if Oliver was still here ? He would have fainted when Dumbledore told us there would be no Quidditch matches."

Angelina laughed, nodding.

"Instant heart attack. Have you gotten any news from him ?"

"Yeah, I saw him at the World Cup – he signed with Puddlemere United."

"You're joking !"

"Yeah, he was pretty happy about it."

I thought back on Oliver at the World Cup, and suddenly got worried. I didn't even know if he was all right. I quickly finished eating and went upstairs to write him a letter, asking him to write back, just to make sure he was okay. Fortunately, he answered me that same night saying that he and his family were fine. Relieved, I was able to relax in the Common Room all night with the twins – we played a few games of Exploding Snap – and I went to bed feeling much better than earlier.