The Unforgivable Curses

The following two days passed with nothing of significance happening. The only thing close to that would be Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions.

Snape, who now reached new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave Neville detention over it, resulting in Neville returning from it in a nervous collapse, having been required to disembowel a barrelful of horned toads.

"It's clear why he's in a foul mood." David said to Arthur as they watched Chrys teach Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the toad guts from under his fingernails.

"Moody." Arthur replied.

It was well known that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job and has failed to get it for the fourth time in a row. Of course, Snape despised the previous Dark Arts teachers and wasn't shy to show it. Yet he seemed to be strangely wary of displaying such overt disdain towards Moody. In fact, when Arthur saw them together, whether during mealtimes or passing each other in the corridors, it seemed that Snape was avoiding Moody's eye, both normal and magical.

"That greasy haired git must be scared of him." Arthur pondered over.

"Oh… just imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad and bounced him throughout the dungeon in front of all the Slytherins." David said, making Arthur enjoy that image in his mind.


All the fourth year Gryffindors were looking forward to their first lesson with Moody to the point that they arrived early after lunch on Thursday and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had rung.

The trio all hurried into three chairs right in front of the teacher's desk, taking out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Self Guide to Self Protection and waited very quietly.

Soon, Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps came down the corridor and he entered the room, still as strange and as frightening as ever. They could see his metal foot protruding from under his robes.

"You can put those away…" He growled, stumping to his desk and sitting down. "...those books. You won't need them."

This left everyone looking excited as they all returned their books into their bags.

Moody then took out the register and shook his mane of grizzled grey hair out of his scarred face before calling out the names, his normal eye moving down the list while his magical eye swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.

"Right then." He said after the last person declared themselves present. "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?"

Everyone told him so.

"But you're behind, very behind, on dealing with curses." Moody then said. "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 -"

"So you're not staying?" David asked

Moody's magical eye stared at the silver haired boy, who looked back strongly. Moody then smiled for the first time Arthur had ever seen him smile. It made his already his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than before, though it was a relief to see that he can do something as friendly as a smile.

"You'll be one of Benjamin Merlon's boys, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore… one year, and then back to my quiet retirement."

He then gave a harsh laugh and clapped his gnarled hands together.

"So… straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it 'til then. 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. 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. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."

Lavender jumped and blushed as she was showing Parvati her completed horoscope under her desk. It now seems that Moody's magical eye can also see through solid wood.

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

Various hands rose tentatively into the air, even David's and Chrys'. Moody pointed at David while his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.

"My dad told me a lot about the Imperius Curse." He said grimly.

"Ah, yes." Moody said appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."

He got heavily on his mismatched feet, opened a desk drawer and pulled out a glass jar. Inside it were three large black spiders that scuttled around inside it. Arthur tensed up as David recoiled slightly next to him. Arthur wasn't the biggest fan of spiders, but David was truly scared of spiders.

Moody reached in the jar and caught one of the spiders, holding it in his palm so that everyone could see it.

He then pointed his wand at it, muttering "Imperio!"

Then the spider leapt from his hand on a thread of silk and then started swinging backwards and forwards like it was on a trapeze. It then stretched its legs out rigidly before doing a backflip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it now did cartwheels in circles.

Moody jerked his wand, making the spider rise onto two of its hind legs and did what had to be a tap dance.

Everyone, except for Moody, Arthur, David, Chrys and Mike, laughed. Arthur especially was truly disturbed by what he was seeing.

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

This made the laughter die out completely.

"Total control." Moody then said quietly as the spider balled itself up and started rolling over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…."

David shuddered at the thought of that last point.

"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse." Moody said. Arthur knew that he was referencing the days when Voldemort was all powerful.

"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, making everyone in the class jump.

Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.

"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"

Chrys' hand rose in the air again, and to Arthur's surprise, Neville did as well. Herbology was the only class where he volunteered any information as it was his best and favourite subject. Even Neville himself was surprised at his own daring.

"Yes?" Moody said as his magical eye rolled over, fixing solely on Neville with interest.

"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse." Neville said with a small and distant voice.

Moody was now looking at him very intently with both eyes.

"Your name's Longbottom?" He said as his magical eye swooped back to the register. Arthur felt like his interest in Neville was more than just knowing the curse, but he didn't know what that interest could be.

Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further enquiries. He turned back to the class at large, reaching into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it stood motionless, seemingly too scared to move.

"The Cruciatus Curse." Mood said. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea." He said, pointing his wand at the spider and "Engorgio!"

The spider swelled, now larger than a tarantula. David now pushed his chair backwards, getting as far away from Moody's desk as possible.

Moody then raised his wand, pointing it at the spider and muttered "Crucio!"

The spider's legs bent upon its body, rolling over and started twitching horribly, rocking from side to side.

Arthur knew that if it had a voice, the spider would be screaming in absolute agony. Moody didn't move his wand as the spider now started shuddering and jerking more violently -

"Stop it!" Chrys said shrilly.

Arthur looked at her, seeing that she was looking at Neville instead of the spider. He followed her gaze and saw that Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him. His knuckles were white as his eyes were wide and horrified.

It seems that this particular curse has some unfortunate significance to Neville.

Moody then raised his wand and the spider's legs relaxed, though it continued to twitch.

"Reducio!" He muttered and the spider shrunk back to its normal size. He then put it back into the jar.

"Pain." Moody said softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… that one was very popular once, too. Right… anyone know any others?"

Arthur looked around and based on everyone's faces, they seemed to be wondering what would happen to the last spider. Chrys' hand then shook slightly as she raised it for the third time.

"Yes?" Moody asked, looking at her.

"Avada Kedavra." She whispered, like it was something dirty.

Several people looked uneasily at her, even David.

"Ah." Moody said with a slight smile, twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and the worst. Avada Kedavra… the killing curse."

Arthur frowned as he realised that this just might be the spell that was used to kill his parents.

Moody put his hand into the glass jar, and as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it and placed it on the desktop. It then scuttled across the wooden surface.

Moody then raised his wand, making Arthur fill up with a horrible foreshadowing.

"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.

A flash of blinding green light along with a rushing sound that sounded as though an invisible something soared through the air filled the classroom. And instantly, the spider rolled onto its back, unmarked, but very much dead.

Some girls stifled cries, David threw himself backwards, nearly falling over his seat and Arthur stared at the spider, barely shaking with horror as he now knew that this was the very spell that killed his parents, and even Frank from that dream.

Moody then swept the dead spider off his desk and onto the floor, snapping Arthur out of his staring state.

"Not nice." Moody said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no counter curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."

Arthur now fully understood how he stood out in the wizarding community while both of Moody's eyes focused entirely on him. He also knew that everyone else looked at him and Arthur just stared at the blank blackboard to ignore everyone staring at him….

Arthur thought about his parents' death many times for the past three years ever since he learned that they were murdered, ever since he learned that night where Wormtail had betrayed his parents' whereabouts to Voldemort, who had come to their cottage. How Voldemort first killed his father, who tried to hold him off as he told his wife to take Arthur and run… and that Voldemort advanced on his mother, who he told to move aside to kill Arthur, but she begged him to kill her instead, using herself to shield her son… and so Voldemort killed her before turning his wand on Arthur….

He knew of these details thanks to the Dementors he fought last year, making him hear the voices of his parents before they died, as that is what a Dementor does: forcing their victims to relive the worst memories of their lives, drowning powerlessly in their own despair….

Moody was speaking again, though sounding from a great distance. Arthur pulled himself back to the present and listened to what Moody was saying.

"Avada Kedevra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it. You could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nose bleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it. Now, if there's no counter curse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He roared, making the whole class jump again.

"Now… those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius and Cruciatus - 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 practise constant, never ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills… copy this down…."

The rest of the lesson was taken up by taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell finally rang. When Moody dismissed them and they left the classroom, a wave of chatter burst forth. Most people discussed the curse in awe.

They still talked about the lesson as though it was some kind of spectacle. But Arthur didn't find it entertaining in the slightest. Same for David, Chrys and even Mike.

"We need to check up on Neville." Chrys said tensely to Arthur and David, pointing up a side passage.

There stood Neville, all alone halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with that same horrified, wide eyed look he had when Moody demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse.

"Neville?" She said gently, making him look around.

"Oh, hello." He said, his voice sounding higher than normal. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"

"Are you alright?" Chrys asked.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine." Neville replied, still in his unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"

"Neville, what -?"

The familiar metallic clanking was heard, coming from behind them. They turned and saw Moody limping towards them. All four fell silent, watching him with apprehension, though when he spoke, his voice was much lower with a gentle growl.

"It's alright, sonny." He said. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on… we can have a cup of tea…."

Neville looked utterly frightened at the prospect. He didn't even move or spoke.

Mood then turned his magical eye to Arthur. "You alright, are you, Pendergast?"

"Not exactly." He replied honestly in a grim tone. This made Moody's blue eye quiver slightly as it surveyed Arthur.

"You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending… well… come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you."

Neville looked at the trio pleadingly, who didn't say anything, leaving Neville no choice but to be steered away with one of Moody's gnarled hands on his shoulder.

"Okay… what was all that about?" David asked as he watched Neville and Moody turn the corner.

"I have no idea." Chrys said, looking pensive.

"I wouldn't really call that lesson amazing." David then said to Arthur. "To see those curses performed… that was just disturbing."


The three were silent all the way to the Great Hall until David said that they'd have to start on Trelawney's predictions tonight, which could take hours.

Chrys simply ate her dinner fast and left for the library again.

Both boys made it to Gryffindor Tower and Arthur decided to raise the subject of the Unforgivable Curses himself.

"Do you think Moody and Dumbledore would be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we saw the curses?" He asked as they approached the Fat Lady

"Maybe…" David said. "But Dumbledore does things his way, right? And Moody has been in trouble for years. He's the type to attack first and ask questions later. Balderdash."

The Fat Lady swung outwards and revealed the entrance hole, which they climbed through into the Gryffindor common room, which was now crowded and noisy.

"Let's get the Divination stuff over and done with." Arthur said.

"Alright." David shrugged.

They entered their dormitory and grabbed their books and charts, finding Neville there on his own, sitting on his bed, reading. He looked much calmer compared to the end of Moody's lesson, despite not being entirely normal. His eyes were rather red.

"You okay, Neville?" Arthur asked him.

"Oh, yes." Neville replied. "I'm fine, thanks. Just reading this book Professor Moody lent me…."

He held the book up: Magical Mediterranean Water Plants and Their Properties.

"Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I'm really good at Herbology." Neville said with a faint note of pride in his voice, which Arthur rarely heard. "He thought I'd like this."

Telling Neville what Sprout said had to have been a really tactful way to cheer Neville up as he was rarely told that he was good at anything. It would've been something Lupin would have done.

Both Arthur and David took out their copies of Unfogging the Future back to the common room and sat around a table to work on their predictions for the next month. An hour later, the two have made little progress, even with the table being littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols.

"It is so hard to figure out what this all means." Arthur said.

"Then it must be time for our go to Divination method." David replied.

"Making it all up." Arthur nodded in agreement. It may be lazy, but Arthur didn't care. Every other subject has some importance, whereas Divination doesn't.

"Okay…" David said as he started scribbling. "Next Monday… I'm likely to develop a cough, due to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter."

"On Monday…" Arthur muttered as he ignored the group of chattering first years by the fire. "...I'll be in danger of… burns…."

"Considering we're seeing the Skrewts on Monday, I'm not surprised." David rolled his eyes. "Now, Tuesday…"

"A possession will be in peril." Arthur suggested as he flicked through Unfogging the Future for ideas.

"That's a good one." David said as he copied that down. "It'll be because of Mercury. How about you finding yourself face to face with the loss of an ally or friend?"

"Alright… because of Venus being the twelfth house." Arthur said, scribbling it down.

"Come Wednesday… I'll come off worst in a fight."

"And you'll be betting I'll win my fight…."

The two continued making predictions (each growing more and more tragic) for the next hour, with the common room slowly emptying out of people who all went to bed.

Crookshanks wandered over to the two boys, leaping into an empty chair and stared at Arthur, who stroked him.

As Arthur looked around the room to think of a misfortune he hadn't used yet, he saw both Jack and Kenny sitting together against the opposite wall with their heads together, quills out and poring over a single piece of parchment.

This struck Arthur as odd, it was similar to that one time before the summer ended, and they were in the thick of things, like they were planning something in a secretive manner. He was wondering what was going on with those two.

Kevin shook his head at Jack, scratching something out with his quill and said in a quiet voice that was still heard in the deserted room. "No… we don't want to sound like we're accusing him, remember? We need to be careful…."

Kevin then noticed Arthur was watching him and Jack. Arthur pointed at himself and placed a finger to his lips, saying he'll be quiet for now about what's going on between them before he returns to his predictions.

The twins eventually rolled the parchment up and said goodnight before heading off to bed.

They were gone for ten minutes when the portrait hole opened up and Chrys entered into the common room. Crookshanks then arched his back and purred.

"Hey, you two." She greeted the boys as they were just about finished.

"Been in the library all this time?" Arthur asked her.

"Yeah. I've been looking up on house elves, being very curious about them. I was able to find a certain book that explained how the house elves that work at Hogwarts because of Helga Hufflepuff to make sure that they could work and not suffer abuse as even the wizarding community back then looked down on house elves." She explained.

"Huh, she seemed to be a really caring and kind woman to do that." David noted.

"Yeah. If only everyone else felt that way." Chrys replied.

They ended up in a comfortable silence until a soft tapping was heard by the window.

Arthur looked and saw a barn owl illuminated in the moonlight as it was perched on the window sill.

"Athena!" He said as he launched himself out of the chair and pulled the window open.

She flew inside and soared across the room and landed on the table with the predictions.

"I was getting worried, girl." He greeted Athena with a couple of strokes.

"She has a response!" David said excitedly, noticing a grubby piece of parchment tied to her leg.

Arthur untied it and sat to read it as Athena fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.

"Well, what does it say?" Chrys asked.

The letter turned out to be a short one and seemed to have been scrawled in a hurry as Arthur read it aloud:

Arthur -

I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumours that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore - they're saying he's got Mad Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is.

I'll be in touch soon. My best to David and Chrys.

Keep your eyes open, Arthur.

Sirius

He looked up at the pair, who stared back at him.

"He's flying up north?" Chrys whispered.

"What did he mean by Dumbledore reading the signs?" David questioned with a frown.

"I have no idea… but I just hope he's careful." Arthur replied. "I don't want him to get caught because of me."

Athena then hooted at him, clearly asking for food.

"You're gonna have to go to the Owlery for food, sorry."

She hooted in an understanding way before taking off for the open window.

"I'm gonna go to bed. See you in the morning." Arthur then said.

Upon entering the dormitory, he put on his pyjamas and got into his four poster bed, laying there for a bit.

He knew telling Sirius was the right thing to do. It would be irresponsible to not tell his godfather about what happened, he's just concerned for his journey up north, considering he's on the run from the Ministry and the Dementors.

He eventually heard David enter the dormitory and silently went to bed.

The dormitory was uncomfortably silent as Neville's usual snores weren't present, meaning he was still awake as Arthur eventually found himself asleep.


Very grim, but very eye opening that lesson was. And does anyone find it interesting how the person that is pretending to be Moody is actually a good teacher when you think about it?