Chapter 8
Tomorrow came and went. I didn't have any Slytherin classes that day, and so avoided the affection of Draco. No witch or wizard, even the muggle-born ones, knew who Steve Irwin was, and so my admittedly stellar imitation went unnoticed in Care of Magical Creatures. I had a bit of a pout after that, but I finally figured out when lunch was, which was excellent. "I swear, everyone in America thinks you people have terrible food," I said to Luna through a mouthful of chips. "They are so wrong. So. Very. Wrong."
"I'm glad you think so. I wonder what there'll be for pudding…"
I smiled. Pudding.
After lunch, I glanced again at my schedule again. Dark Arts with the Slytherins. I groaned, causing Luna to look up. "What's wrong, Jack?"
I pointed at the parchment. "Looks like I'll have to face the attentions of Mr. Malfoy today, after all." I shrugged. "It's not so bad, really. Annoying, but I never have to carry my books, and he usually has sweets in his bag. Is it wrong for me to use him like this?"
"I don't think so. Though you should be very careful."
"Why's that?"
Luna looked around, then whispered, "I'll tell you later."
"Okay…" I sensed there was something suspicious going on, and I wanted to find out. Apparently the information was too sensitive for the great hall, though. I shrugged my bag onto my shoulders. "I'll see you later then."
"Bye."
I managed to get to the entrance hall before I sensed a pale presence behind me. I turned around and smiled as best I could. "Hello, Draco. Fancy seeing you here."
"Hello, Jack." He wasn't actually bad looking. He was attractive in a pale, thin sort of way. But there was something about him that unnerved me. That something was probably what Luna would tell me tonight. "Ready for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." He took my books, as I expected him to. "It's not my strong suit, but I'm not terrible, per se."
"It's mine, though. You can look on with my notes."
"Thank you. I'll try to keep to my own, though. Wouldn't want to get you in trouble." He smirked at that. I didn't know why.
When we entered the classroom, we took a pair of seats near the front. The professor was an odd, lumpy-looking fellow with a lopsided leer. He greeted the class, and I decided that I did not like him at all. I made snap judgments about people, which was probably a bad thing. However, I was usually right. His introduced himself as Professor Carrow, and welcomed us to his Dark Arts class. I assumed this was short for Defense Against the Dark Arts, since that was too much of a mouthful. When he revealed our first assignment to us, I began to rethink my assumption.
He asked us to produce our textbooks, and began his lecture on what would come to appear as his favorite topic. "The unforgivable curses," he wheezed, chalk writing his words on the board, "can in some cases, be forgivable. Their name is inaccurate, as these curses can be quite useful in times of struggle, and hardship. Some people on this earth," the chalk squealed, "deserve to die. Not many people deserve this, and only if they have a truly negative impact on this world." I could hesitantly agree with that. I had taken Muggle Studies, and knew about famous muggles such as Charles Manson, and Hitler. "In this class, we will learn about how to be prepared for these situations, should they arise. And now," he said, "for your first test." He distributed on each desk a glass jar, encased in which was a small green frog. I started feeling nauseous. What did he expect us to do?
"Now, no wands- repeat after me. Avada Kedavara." Quiet incantations rippled across the room. Draco said it boldly and clearly. I couldn't even get the words past my lips. Carrow's eyes slid towards me. "Don't be afraid," he said, smiling lopsidedly. "You're not going to be killing anyone. Just practice, in case you have to. For… defense." His smile grew wider.
"I know plenty of jinxes and curses to incapacitate someone, Professor. Is this… well, I mean… I can't."
"You can and you will, Miss…"
"Harcourt."
"Ah." His eyes widened, and his threatening tone suddenly turned sweet. "Would you like to practice on something smaller first… say, a spider?"
I sighed, biting my lip and looking at the desk. I didn't want to get in trouble again. "Yes, I think that would be easier. Yes. Thank you."
"Can I have a spider too, professor?" said a voice from the back of the class. Carrow glowered, and the voice fell silent and the hand dropped. Draco looked at me curiously.
"It's just a frog, you know."
"I know. I'm… squeamish."
"I'm not." He waved his wand, and with an incantation and a flash of green, the frog lay dead at the bottom of the jar. He looked up to me, gauging my reaction.
I smiled weakly. "D'you think the house elves will serve frog legs for dinner tonight?" He chuckled quietly, and Carrow returned with an ugly brown spider in another jar.
"Here we are, Miss Harcourt. Now, try and perform the spell, if you would."
"Yes, sir." I closed my eyes, then opened them again, staring at the spider. "Avada Kedavara," I muttered. There was no green light. I sighed, and Carrow simply nodded encouragingly. "It usually takes a few tries."
"I will try again, then. Avada Kedavara," I said, louder this time. Still, nothing. About halfway through the class, I was finally able to kill the spider. The knot in my stomach only tightened when the jar with the frog was placed in front of me. I was able to kill it, but I didn't feel any sense of accomplishment, even when Draco patted my shoulder and told me how well I was doing. The curse came far too easily to him, in my opinion.
After Dark Arts, I went to the rest of my classes, using my free period to walk around the lake, taking off my shoes and letting the water lap at my feet. The air was still very warm, but the water was freezing. I waded in up to my calves, just far enough not to let the knee-length gray skirt of my uniform not to get wet. My black robes were bundled on top of a rock. Sighing, I placed my hands on my hips and looked at the sky. The sun set much later here- it would remain relatively light until nine or ten, whereas in the states, it would be dark by seven. I splashed out of the water and laid on the rock, holding my legs in the air so they wouldn't get dirty. When I was dry, I put on my socks and shoes, and headed to dinner.
Luna seemed tired, and unusually quiet. "Is something wrong?" I asked.
"I also had Dark Arts today."
"Oh. I see." I frowned. "They had us practice the Killing Curse on small animals."
"For us, it was the Cruciartis Curse."
"Oh dear."
"I have detention."
"Why?"
"Because I refused to do it." I felt guilty as soon as she said that. I should have protested in class, saying that what we were doing was wrong. I didn't know how much power my name held here, though, and I didn't want to get in trouble. That was always my main motivation. Obviously Luna's motivation was to do the right thing. I was sick with myself.
"Is something wrong with you, too?" Luna inquired, frowning.
"Um… no. Yes. I did it. I killed a spider. And a frog. And I shouldn't have."
Luna's silvery eves softened, and she patted my arm. "I'm going to show you something after dinner, alright?"
"Alright." Food appeared on the platters, distracting us for the moment.
We didn't head straight to the common room after that. I asked where we were going, but Luna only smiled and shushed me. I got the feeling we weren't supposed to be doing this. I didn't want to get in trouble again.
Luna stopped me, then held a finger up, indicating for me to wait. She walked three times down the hallway, and a door appeared in the wall. I was surprised. Even for a school of Magic, Hogwarts was surprisingly… magical. She opened it, and ushered me inside.
A group of students clustered inside a mirrored room. I recognized a few of them from class, like Terry Boot, and a few other Ravenclaws. I was still getting used to the faces from the other houses. A tall, gangly boy who looked to be in my year was addressing them. "Alright, we have to be on our guard this year, seeing what Hogwarts is turning into…" He turned around, spotting Luna and I for the first time. "Luna there you are… who's this?" His expression darkened. "Is she trustworthy? Luna you can't just-"
"Hello. Hi. Um, my name's Jack. Harcourt. Hey." I extended my hand, and the boy took it. His eyes widened.
"Are you the Princess?"
"Um, yes. Technically. But I'd rather you all not pay attention to that."
"Ah. Yes. Neville Longbottom. Welcome."
I looked around the group. "I hate to sound ignorant… but welcome… to what?"
"Dumbledore's Army, of course," piped up a Hufflepuff from the back.
"Oh." I turned around to Luna, and raised my hands in a gesture of confusion. Neville stepped forward instead.
"A few years ago, back when Harry went here… we had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who wouldn't teach us anything. And so he decided to teach us. Since then, we've sort of evolved… You know what happened to Dumbledore?"
"I heard it was murder. Nasty bit of business."
"Yes." Neville looked sad for a moment. "Well, you know that You-Know-Who's got his Death Eaters all over Hogwarts…"
I laughed at that. "Really? Death Eaters? In a school? What are they going to do, teach us to death?"
"Or teach us how to create death," whispered Luna. "Think about your Dark Arts classes today."
I thought for a moment. "Oh. Oh, you're serious." All of the faces staring back at me ranged from hopeful to skeptical. Finally, Neville spoke again.
"Yes. We're serious. And now, we want the Death Eaters out. We want to fight them. We want Hogwarts back."
"A noble goal. But Luna, why did you bring me here?"
"I wanted you to know the truth."
"You've only known me for two days."
"Some things you can just tell about people," she said. "You're going to be good for us."
"I… alright. Okay. This is a noble cause. Good." I frowned. "But how am I going to be going to secret meetings with my shadow?"
"Shadow?" asked Neville.
"She means Malfoy," Luna snarled, a level of aggression that seemed entirely out of place on her.
Neville thought for a moment. "You do realize that he and his family are all Death Eaters, right?"
"Um… Yeah, Luna mentioned that."
"Stay with him."
"What?"
Neville took a step towards me, hands spread in a pleading gesture. "Stay with him. Get close to him. Maybe he'll let you in on some information. You can spy for us. You'll be our double agent!"
"I did not come to Hogwarts to get myself in trouble! This sounds dangerous! I… I…" I looked around, at the faces of strangers. I owed them nothing. I owed the school nothing. I wanted to scramble back to America and get myself out of this mess. "I… I'll do it."
A quiet cheer rose from the crowd. People started shaking my hand, and I couldn't even think of remembering all of their names. Once introductions were over, Neville began questioning me on my Defense Against the Dark Arts abilities. He seemed rather disappointed, but immediately began teaching me.
