[AN: Sorry about the insanely long wait! Life gets crazy and my muse never shuts up and so I've been working on other stories, some of which I hope to publish! But anyway, here's the start of fourth year. (Quotes are bolded.)]

I was so happy when September finally came. On the train, I shared a compartment with my friends and laughed for the first time in months. Then Ryan brought up the rumors.

"So do you think they're true?"

"I don't know. I got new dress robes though, so..." said Antony.

"Probably. Sure it's dangerous, but if the Ministry approved it, then it can't be that bad," I said.

"Hold up. What are you guys talking about?" We all looked at Emma, having forgotten she was Muggleborn and wouldn't have heard the whispers we had. It took us awhile to explain it to her, since we went over the rumors and the history of the Tournament.

"I'm skeptical. If people died then there's no way they'd bring it back." I shrugged.

"Similar stuff happens with Quidditch. People disappear all the time, and Bludgers are nasty."

"Speaking of, did you guys go the Cup?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it! An amazing match!"

"You hear about what happened after?"

I let the boys talk and stared out the window, even though I couldn't see much of anything. I didn't want to think about the events after the Cup. I could still see those poor Muggles twitching.

Hogwarts was a welcome sight, even with the downpour. I could still hear the rain faintly in the Great Hall, but only during the quiet moments. The Sorting was nothing to write home about, not that I would anyway, but once the food was gone, that was worth noting.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year," Dumbledore announced. There was some whispers, but most were too shocked to make a sound. "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy- but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"

BANG. The doors to the Great Hall flew open and a strange man stood on the other side of the threshold. The hall was completely silent except for a clunk every time the man took a step.

Everything about him made me nervous. Some part of me recognized him, but I couldn't place him. I was to focused on his electric blue eye that swiveled about as though it had a mind of it's own.

Finally he reached Dumbledore, and they greeted each other quietly. The stranger sat in the empty seat at the teachers' table. I only caught the end of Dumbledore's introduction.

"... Professor Moody." I swallowed. This was just great! An auror was going to be teaching us. Not that he wouldn't know what he was teaching, but with my family's history…

I was jolted back to the present when Dumbledore cleared his throat and announced that the Triwizard Tournament would be taking place at Hogwarts.

I knew all there was to know about the tournament except for one thing: why bring it back? It hasn't been around for centuries.

Emma tugged on my robe, and I realized that everyone was leaving. Dazed, I followed my friends to Ravenclaw Tower, wondering what prompted this death tournament to be resurrected.

"If you'd be quiet, it would be easier to study," I snipped.

"Oh, come on, Lucy! It's a nice day, and it's not due till Thursday," Emma said, leaning back to soak up some sun. I sighed and looked back down at my book. I wasn't making much progress anyway, and Emma had a point. As I closed it, a loud bang drew our attention to the other side of the courtyard.

There was dead silence as Professor Moody limped towards a white ferret lying on the ground. Everyone's eyes, including my own, were glued to the curious scene that was unfolding. Moody pointed his wand at the ferret as it tried to scurry away, and it flew up in the air. The silence in the courtyard was broken by the ferret's squeals of pain as it bounced higher and higher.

"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice. My eyes flit to see who had spoken and found Professor McGonagall striding towards her coworker. The ferret was still bouncing. Then, with a loud snap, my brother appeared in a heap on the floor and was then pulled towards the dungeons by Moody. Slowly, everyone began moving and talking again.

I wasn't sure what to expect for our Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, but it certainly wasn't what happened.

"Do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?" Professor Moody asked. Several hands shot up. Moody pointed at someone.

"One of them is the Cruciatus Curse, right?" Moody nodded and took a spider out of a jar.

"Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said. "Engorgio." The spider was now roughly the size of a tarantula. "Crucio." The spider curled up on itself, rocking side to side, twitching. My stomach churned as I had the sinking feeling I knew what kind of pain it felt.

"Stop," I nearly shouted. "Stop it!" The spider relaxed some as professor Moody turned to focus on me.

"Pain," Moody said softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… You, name another." I swallowed.

"I-I don't know any, Professor." Both of his eyes were locked on me.

"Name."

"My name is Lu-Lucia Malfoy, sir." He nodded.

"Your father wouldn't have told you much of anything. He claimed to have been under the influence of another of these curses, the Imperius Curse. Imperio." The spider stopped twitching and did a series of acrobatic tricks. "This curse Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time… Years back, there were lots 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." He put the spider back into the jar. "Total control," Moody said quietly… "I could make it jump out the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…" My thoughts were racing. "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. "Does anyone know the last curse?"

"Avada Kedavra," someone whispered.

"Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra… the Killing Curse." Moody took the spider back out of the jar and placed it on his desk. "Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared. There was a flash of green light, and that was it. The spider was clearly dead. "Not nice… not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one person is known to have ever survived it: Harry Potter." There was silence in the classroom for awhile, then Moody began speaking again. I wasn't paying attention- I knew I should, but I couldn't. All three were too… familiar.