Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.

Hi all! I hope this finds you all well! Thanks so much for the reviews!

If you've noticed, I've tried to be really good about updating lately. I've tried to do it once a day, and I'm really sorry I haven't been able to since Saturday. The reason was because on Sunday and Monday, I was ill in bed! I wasn't able to choke a mouthful of food down, let alone think about updating! But you'll be pleased to know that I'm back on my feet now, eating again. I'm just very tired from being sick, but I figured I'd make you all happy with an update anyway. So please enjoy!

On a side note, when I was revising this story, I decided to take an entire chapter out of the original version because every scene in that chapter was a scene that happened in the real canon. I figured it would be really boring to read canon again, so what I'm doing is I'm going to devote just one paragraph to it instead of an entire chapter! I hope that this is a better version than what I originally wrote.

Please let me know what you think! I am keeping the Unforgivable Curses scene in because what happens afterwards is completely original.

Chapter 15: An Unforgivable Twist

The next few days passed, and classes were extremely interesting. In Care of Magical creatures, "interesting" was another word for "taking things too far". Blast-Ended Skrewts were the topic of discussion, and they were creatures you did not want to cross. For several of the students, the lesson did not pan out well; they ended up being stung or bitten!

Harry would never forget the scene that happened later that day, however. Draco Malfoy was in the Entrance Hall, spouting off about an article in the Daily Prophet. Apparently, people at the Ministry were being blamed for what had happened at the World Cup, and Arthur Weasley was mentioned. After a few insults were traded back and forth, Draco fired a spell at Harry from behind.

And Mad-Eye Moody was not impressed at all. With a flick of his wand, Draco Malfoy had turned into a pure white ferret. Moody then proceeded to bounce Malfoy around on the floor, to the delight of many of the students. Harry, however, felt uncomfortable. Ron grinned; after all, it was only Malfoy! But Harry still felt chills up and down his spine about the whole situation.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall stopped the spectacle, and Moody ended up taking Draco to Professor Snape. Needless to say, at dinner that night, it was the talk of the entire school.

The following days passed without much incident, unless you counted Neville melting another cauldron in Potions. Snape seemed to be in an especially foul mood this year, and gave Neville detention. Harry, Ron, and Hermione surmised that Snape was in this mood because of Moody. He hadn't liked all the previous Defense teachers, but he didn't show any open animosity to Mad-Eye. Instead, it was taken out on all the students.

Everyone was looking forward to Moody's first lesson. On Friday after lunch, they hurried into the classroom. Moody wasn't there yet, so they all sat down at their desks.

Soon, a clunking sound was heard, and the ex-Auror came into the room. It was his wooden leg which was making the clunking noise. His magical eye was spinning around all over the place.

"Wo," whispered Seamus Finnigan in awe. "Bet the old codger can see out of the back of his head!"

"I heard that, Finnigan," Moody growled. "My ears work too, you know."

Seamus looked ashamed. It was obvious he was intimidated by Moody. "Sorry," he mumbled. Moody just gave him a glare.

Once everyone was seated, Moody started his lecture. "Put your books away," he boomed. "You won't need them."

Harry remembered that last year, Professor Lupin had said the same thing to the class in their first lesson, and it had ended up being all about boggarts. He could distinctly remember Neville's turning into Snape, and when he said RIDDIKULUS! Snape was wearing his grandmother's clothes and the vulture-topped hat she always wore.

"Right then," said Moody after he had finished taking attendance. "I had a letter from my predecessor about this class. He informed me that you have a good grasp on dark creatures, so now we will work on curses. I'm here to show you what wizards are able to do to one another; I've got one year to show ..."

"You mean," interrupted Ron, "you're only staying one year?"

"Yes, Weasley," Moody growled. "I am doing this as a favor for Dumbledore. Then I will go back to my retirement." He let out a harsh laugh.

"Now, straight into it," he continued after a few seconds. "Curses. They come in all strengths and forms. I'm supposed to be teaching you countercurses and just stop there; this is what the Ministry of Magic prefers. But Professor Dumbledore reckons you can cope with seeing what illegal dark curses can do. If a wizard's going to put one on you, they're not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Patil, this is not Divination!" Parvati's face immediately reddened and she silently slipped her star chart back into her bag.

"So," Moody went on, "do any of you know what curses are punished the most heavily by wizarding law?"

Harry remembered his conversation with Sirius and Remus, and he raised his hand. Hermione's hand was also up, along with Neville's. "POTTER!" roared Moody. "What do you think?"

"The Unforgivable Curses, sir," said Harry.

"Very good, very good," growled Moody. "The Ministry had a lot of trouble with those curses back when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was in power. Can you name one of the Unforgivables for me, please, anyone?"

This time, Moody called on Ron. "My dad told me about the Imperius Curse," Ron answered swiftly.

"Ah, yes," said Moody. "The Imperius Curse. That was the one which totally flummoxed the Ministry. Many people who were caught and accused of being You-Know-Who's supporters claimed they were subjected to this curse. Let me show you what it can do." He opened a tin on his desk. Inside were three spiders. Ron's face turned white. "Oh, no," he moaned quietly. "Not spiders!"

Moody took one of the spiders out of the tin and held it in his hand. "Ah, little beauty," he crooned. Slowly, he raised his wand and pointed it at the insect. "Imperio!" he intoned.

Then, the spider started doing some amazing things. It did cartwheels, it jumped back into the tin, jumped out again, and did more acrobatics. A lot of people in the class laughed, but Harry kept a straight face, for he realized the seriousness of the curse.

"Think it's funny, do you?" snarled Moody. "You won't think it's funny when someone casts it on you! What should I make it do next? Drown itself?"

Everyone stopped laughing and looked warily at the ex-Auror. He took the curse off the spider and placed it back in the tin. "Complete and total control," he said. "When one casts the Imperius Curse on another wizard, the wizard will do absolutely anything the caster asks them to. If I were to cast it on a student and tell them to kill another student, they would probably do it. However, there are ways of fighting off the Imperius Curse, and I will be showing you how to do that later in the year."

"You mean, you'll be putting it on us?" squeaked Hermione, shocked. "But you said that's illegal!"

"Well, if you don't want to learn," sneered Moody, "you can leave, Miss Granger." Hermione immediately hung her head, looking appalled at her behavior.

"Right then," said Moody. "What is the second Unforgivable Curse? Yes, Longbottom?"

Neville said in a shaky voice, "The ... the C-cruciatus Curse."

Harry remembered what Sirius and Remus had told him about Neville's parents going insane from this curse. He could see terror in Neville's eyes; this was going to be awful for him, to watch something be tortured by a curse which made him pretty much an orphan.

"Yes, the torture curse," said Moody quietly. He took out another spider from the tin, promptly pointed his wand at it, and said, "Crucio!"

The spider immediately started to twitch. Harry had no doubts that if spiders could scream, this one definitely would be screaming. He felt sick to his stomach as he watched it writhe around on the floor. He looked at Neville, whose face had gone white, and he was shaking all over. He put his head in his hands; he couldn't bear to watch.

"Stop it, stop it!" Hermione suddenly cried, pointing at Neville. "You're upsetting him, stop it!"

Moody grunted, shook his head, and took the curse off the spider. "Horrible, horrible," he muttered. "Not very nice, is it? But you have to be prepared. You need to know what you're up against. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared so loudly that everyone in the room jumped.

Harry suddenly felt an awful feeling of foreboding. He knew what curse was coming next, and even though he had seen it performed twice in his dreams now and also at the Quidditch World Cup, , this didn't make it any easier at all. He would always feel sickened whenever he saw it done.

"Potter," Moody growled, "can you name for me the final curse?" His magical eye was looking at Harry in a way that made him feel exposed and vulnerable.

"The Killing Curse," Harry managed to say. "The Avada Kedavra."

"Well done," said Moody. "Yes, that's right." He picked up the third spider, and raised his wand at it. Harry wanted to close his eyes, but he was somehow transfixed at the sight. "Avada Kedavra!" Moody bellowed. A sickly green light burst from the end of his wand, and there was a rushing noise. The light hit the spider. It immediately dropped to the floor, dead. Many people in the class gasped.

"Yes, very nasty," said Moody. "And that was done to many, many human beings. One second alive, the next second not."

Harry's thoughts whirled. He imagined his parents' lives being snuffed out by that light, just like that, and Voldemort's cruel, high-pitched laughter. He remembered his mother's screams of "take me, kill me instead!"

Hermione tapped him on the shoulder, and Harry looked at her. She was staring at him with concern. "Are you all right, Harry?" she whispered.

"I'm fine," muttered Harry in a monotone, but he was far from it. He simply couldn't believe that two words, six syllables, could end a life.

"You need powerful magic behind these three curses," explained Moody. "You've got to MEAN them. If you pointed your wands at me and intoned the Killing Curse without any feeling, it wouldn't even give me as much as a nosebleed. Now, that's all for today. DISMISSED!" he barked.

Harry shakily got up and walked out of the classroom with his two best friends. Ron and Hermione were now looking at him with even more concern. "Harry, you're shaking," said Ron. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," repeated Harry. He didn't feel like talking about how he felt about his parents.

Moody followed them out of the classroom, and he tapped Harry on the shoulder. Whirling around, Harry saw him do the same thing to Neville. "Potter, Longbottom," he said, and his voice was a much gentler growl than usual. "I know you were disturbed by this class. Would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me? I have some books you might like, and I can help take your mind off it."

Harry and Neville exchanged looks. They were both hesitant. "Go on," Hermione prompted quietly. "It'll be good for you." Ron nodded in agreement.

"All right," Harry and Neville agreed reluctantly. They walked with Moody through the hallway until they got to Moody's office. When they walked in, they saw that the office was filled with many mysterious objects. Moody shut the door and placed a locking charm on it. He saw the two boys looking at the instruments and smiled. "Those are dark detectors," he said gruffly. Pointing at a mirror, he said, "that's a Foe-Glass. It shows your enemies if they are near you at the time. Mine seems to be malfunctioning at the moment, however, for it shows your faces." Harry and Neville looked, and sure enough, they could see their own faces reflected in the Foe-Glass.

They sat down in chairs while Moody made them each a cup of tea. "Here you go," he said. "Tea for both of you."

As the two boys drank, Moody continued to talk in a low, gravelly voice. "Potter, I know my showing everyone the Killing Curse bothered you. But you've got to be prepared, lad. You've got to know what to do if You-Know-Who returns. I know it wasn't very nice, and I know it reminded you of your parents. But I hope you can take comfort in the fact that they were both very, very brave. And Longbottom, I am terribly sorry I had to demonstrate the Cruciatus. Your parents were also very brave and fought like true heroes. I was one of the Aurors there that night, who caught the Death Eaters who were torturing them. But I'm afraid we were far too late, the damage was already done."

Neville looked close to tears. He looked at Harry to see if he had already known about this situation, and Harry nodded guiltily and mouthed, "Sirius and Remus." Neville then stared at Moody, pain in his eyes.

"It's okay," he mumbled. "I guess we had to see it."

"As I said before, you need to be vigilant," said the ex-Auror. "Now, if you two are finished, you may go. I am sure you'd like some free time before dinner."

"Thank you, Professor," said Harry, and he and Neville got out of their chairs. They were just heading to the door when Neville said, "Professor, you forgot to unlock the door."

"Ah, you're right," said Moody. Suddenly, he raised his wand and pointed it at Neville. "Incarcerous!" he roared. As quick as a flash, he also did the same thing to Harry. The two boys fell to the floor, ropes binding their hands and legs

"Professor, what are you doing?" Neville gasped.

"Ah," said Moody, and Harry had a very bad feeling about this. There was a sinister smile curling the corners of Moody's mouth. "What am I doing, indeed. It's funny you should ask that."

"Is this supposed to be some kind of demonstration?" Harry wondered.

"You could say that," growled Moody, and then he let out a harsh laugh. "LONGBOTTOM!" he roared. "I told you that your parents fought like heroes. Ah, yes. But they lost in the end, didn't they? Well, they do say karma comes back to haunt those who associate with mudbloods and filthy scum like that!"

Harry and Neville's mouths gaped open in shock. This couldn't be happening. Mad-Eye Moody, one of Dumbledore's closest friends and a retired Auror, speaking like this? Moody continued to smile evilly at the two youths. "Don't look so shocked," he snarled. "Old Mad-Eye's just making a statement."

"You're not Mad-Eye!" Harry blurted out. "You can't be! After everything I've heard about him, he would never say anything so cruel! I mean, Moody put many, many Death Eaters in Azkaban, for Merlin's sake!"

Moody's smile grew even more cruel. "Ah, good assumption, Mr. Potter," he said sarcastically. "The Dark Lord will be pleased with you, I can assure you of that. He will praise you for those skills ... that is ... before he kills you!" he sneered.

"Who are you?" squeaked Neville, looking absolutely terrified.

"You will see in time, my friends," the impostor mocked. "And what I told you about my Foe-Glass was a lie. It is functioning at 100 percent capacity!"

Neville and Harry struggled, trying to get out of their binds. The man disguised as Moody laughed uproariously and said, "Don't even think about screaming, you scum. I put a Silencing Charm on the room, so no one can hear you. And don't fight, either. It will be no use."

All the two boys could do was lay there in terror, wondering what this man was going to do.

After about a minute, something happened. Slowly, very slowly, Moody's features began to change. Before anyone knew it, he had morfhed into someone with straw-colored hair, someone Harry recognized from the newspapers and from his dreams. "YOU!" he snarled, still trying to fight. "Barty Crouch, JR!"

"Oh God!" yelled Neville. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," Crouch mocked. "Barty Crouch, Jr. at your service, sirs!"

"What the hell do you want?" Neville screamed. "Do you know what you did to my parents?"

"Of course I do, you fool," scoffed Crouch. "They do not even recognize you now, do they, boy?"

"HOW DARE YOU!" shouted Neville in rage. "HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS!"

"Oh, I dare, I dare," sneered Crouch. "And the Dark Lord shall return, and all you filth will die! It is true that that foolish Alastor Moody and his group of pathetic Aurors arrived at the scene of your parents' torture, Longbottom, but they got there too late. We'd already had our fun with Alice and Frank, I assure you. They pretended to be strong, but they were oh, so weak in the end. And your parents, Potter, their sacrifice will be in vain, for the Dark Lord will kill you! You do know about the prophecy, don't you, boys?"

"Prophecy?" Harry said, glowering. "What prophecy, you liar?"

Another horrible, horrible smile twisted itself onto Crouch's face. He started to laugh. "You don't know?" he jeered. "You mean, your precious guardians didn't tell you, Potter? And you, Longbottom, your good-for-nothing gran didn't tell you about the prophecy? Why, it was old Sybill Trelawney herself who predicted it. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. Don't lie to me, boys, don't think you can get away with it! You know about the prophecy, don't you? You're only pretending not to know! You know the rest of it! The Dark Lord only learned the first half! Tell me what I want to know, and no one need get hurt!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" said Neville in terror. "You're the liar, not us! I don't know what stinking prophecy you ..."

"BE QUIET!" Crouch roared. "Now, Longbottom, if you don't tell me the rest of the prophecy, I will show you first-hand what was done to your parents!"

"I don't know!" Neville shouted, tears streaming down his face. "I don't know what you're on about, you twisted madman!"

"Very well," Crouch snarled. "Watch your friend suffer, then!" He raised his wand and pointed it at Harry. In a menacing voice he roared, "Crucio!"

It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever felt before, pain that lanced through his entire body. It was like a thousand knives were cutting through every part of him, slicing through every organ. He was screaming, screaming so loudly that he thought his throat would go raw and his voice would stop working. He could hardly hear Neville's frantic cries over his screams.

Then, suddenly, the pain was gone, and Crouch was standing over them, smirking. "That's right, Longbottom, tell me what I want to know so I can inform the Dark Lord," he said.

"I'm telling you, I don't know!" Neville cried hysterically. "Don't hurt Harry, hurt me instead! I don't know about any prophecy!"

"I don't think so," leered Crouch. Pointing his wand at Harry again, he shouted, "Crucio!"

And the pain began anew, and Harry was blinded by it. He writhed around on the floor, feeling the most pain he had ever felt in his life. He'd rather have Vernon Dursley beat him senseless than experience this. He could still hear Neville sobbing in the background, begging it to stop.

Crouch finally lifted the curse after an indeterminable amount of time. "Ah, I think that's enough," he sneered. "Can't have our Wonderboy going insane, can we, before he faces the Dark Lord? And Longbottom, I would kill you if I could. However, under the circumstances ..." He pretended to think for a minute. "I cannot do that, can I? Potter will go running to that fool Dumbledore and he'll tell him about everything. I have a plot to get you to the Dark Lord later this year, Potter, and we don't want Dumbledore knowing about it, do we? I don't want to look suspicious now, do I? I just thought I'd give you a little taster of what dark wizards can do to you. Just a practical lesson, you know." He grinned the most sinister grin the boys had ever seen. "Aren't I a good teacher?"

"Of course we'll tell!" Harry screamed, shaking from the effects of the Cruciatus. He felt weak and exhausted, and couldn't believe what had just happened.

"I'm sorry, Harry," cried Neville, looking horrified. "I didn't want him to hurt you, I tried to make it stop! I swear, I don't know about any prophecy!"

"It wasn't your fault," Harry consoled him. "I'm not blaming you. It's all Crouch's fault."

"Ah, how touching," sneered Crouch. "Well, back to the task at hand. I have learned how to cover my tracks extremely well. What Gilderoy Lockhart cannot do, I can."

"No!" Harry cried. "You coward! You're going to Memory Charm us, aren't you?"

"Well done, Potter," Crouch mocked. "Very, very good. You aren't going to remember any of this. The last thing you will remember is having tea with me. You will just assume that the blank spot in your mind is because you were so traumatized by the events in class today that you blocked that part of the day out. After all, I have only kept you here for about five minutes, so it won't be very noticeable. But ah, before I do that, let me fix myself." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a hip flask and put it to his mouth, chugging down the liquid. Polyjuice Potion, Harry realized. He's doing all of this with Polyjuice Potion. He watched as Crouch's face turned back into the countenance of Mad-Eye Moody.

"Well, now that that's done," Crouch growled, "we can get down to business. What did I tell you about struggling, boys?" he jeered, as Harry and Neville continued to try to fight their binds. "Once the charm is cast, I will release you from the binds and tell you to get up. You will do so upon my command, for the disorientation of a Memory Charm works almost like the Imperius Curse. You will both sit in your chairs like you were before, and then I will tell you that you can leave. You will not remember the first few seconds after the charm was cast. Is that understood?"

"Go to hell," Neville spat at him. "You'll end up back in Azkaban again, I swear you will."

"Oh, I will, will I?" Crouch sneered. "We'll see about that one, boy."

"Where's the real Moody?" Harry demanded.

"Ah, never you mind," growled Crouch. Pointing his wand at Neville, he intoned, "Obliviate!" and then did the same to Harry.

The next thing Harry remembered was sitting in the chair, Neville sitting across from him. "What happened?" he asked Moody. "I feel really shaky, I think I blacked out for a minute."

"Yeah, I don't feel so great myself," sobbed Neville.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Moody said in his gentle growl. "You two have just been traumatized by the events of the day. Potter, you don't look well at all. Here, I have a potion that can get rid of the shaking." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial. "Here you go, lad," he said. "Drink this." Harry gratefully put the potion to his lips and drank.

"You shouldn't have done that, boy," said Moody appraisingly. "Never just drink something someone you don't know well offers you. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

"Well, you're my teacher, and you're an ex-Auror. I trust you," Harry said.

"Ah, but do I deserve that trust?" asked Moody. "You hardly know me. You happen to be right, of course, that I am no Death Eater, but after all, anyone could fool you."

"Yeah, I know. I'll be more careful in the future," Harry said, starting to feel a lot better. The shaking subsided, and Neville's tears slowed down. He hadn't even realized he was crying.

"Well, if that is all," said Moody, "you may go. Potter, here is an interesting book for you on Defense Against the Dark Arts which I think you might like. Longbottom, Professor Sprout tells me you are very good in Herbology." At this, Neville managed a weak smile. "Here is a book on plants which I think might interest you." He placed each book into the two boys' hands. He then pointed his wand at the door, unlocking it.

"Thank you, Professor," said the two boys sincerely.

"Not a problem, not a problem," Moody reassured them. "I hope the rest of your day is productive."

And with that, the two boys left the room. Harry still felt a little shaken and exhausted, and Neville's face was red from crying. But all in all, they felt a lot better than they had when class had ended.