Disclaimer: I do not own anything of this story. Harry Potter and all of the notable characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

Magnolia Crescent

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Curses Class

"Greeting, class. I am going to be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, year four," Sirius announced as he wrote his name on the board. "And this is my teacher's aid, Mr. Lupin," he said, raising a hand to Lupin who simply waved. A few students shied away from him. "And just to clear things up, he is taking his meds and will be taking time off during that time of the month," Sirius said, gaining a nervous chuckle from the class.

"Sirius," Lupin scowled, but he pretended to ignore him.

"And he is on my pay role. So, anyone wants to complain, take the third floor corridor and the door on the right hand side. He has three heads and a nasty disposition but you won't get much farther if you complain to the headmaster," Sirius said, eyeing a few of the Slytherins. "Now then, I have looked over the past events of this class and I am disappointed. So, I have taken the liberty of introducing to you three spells that will get you a one-way trip to Azkaban. Since each of you are now at the age where you can be tried as an adult, I feel it is a good idea to tell you what not to do so you don't get thrown in. Anyone care to tell me the names of these three curses?" he asked with a cheerful smile. Hermione raised her hand.

"The Unforgivable Curses," she answered. Sirius nodded as he wrote the name on the board.

"Good, and can you give me one, Miss Granger?"
"The Killing Curse," she said in a low tone. Sirius nodded as he wrote that down as well.

"Right," he paused to take a deep breath. "This is going to be a heavy lecture so brace yourselves. Also, this is going to be the tone for most of my lessons. The Killing Curse, as such named, is a death sentence. Only one person has survived," he said, glancing at Harry for a moment. "And exactly how he did so, we are not sure. So it's recommended not to use this spell. Or if you see green, try not to stand still.

"Now then, on to the next curse. Can someone else tell me the next one?" Sirius asked. Harry raised his hand. "Yes?"

"The Imperius Curse," he answered as Sirius wrote it on the board below the other one.

"Yes, this one I can do a demonstration on." He moved to a jar on the table and pulled out a spider before pointing his wand at it and enlarging it. "Imperio," Sirius whispered. "Now this one is a bit tricky; it makes the one under the spell act at the will of the user. Now dance!" he shouted as the spider danced. It continued for a few more seconds until Sirius had it stop. "Now then, do I have any brave souls?" he asked, allowing the spider to crawl back into the jar. Nobody moved. "Surely someone here has some nerve. This is one of the only spells that can in face be fought off. It shows a strong will and a strong mind. Who wants to show off?" he asked, rephrasing the question.

Harry finally stood up. "Well, good to see the great house of Gryffindor still has its courageous few. Imperio! Now then, Harry, I want you to confess your undying love for Mr. Weasley." Ron went as white as a sheet and the rest of the class began laughing.

Harry stood straight as a board but didn't utter a sound. "No," he said sternly. Sirius nodded.

"Okay then, how about taking a seat?" Sirius asked, his wand still held out but Harry didn't move. He could feel a silent whisper telling him over and over to sit down. Each time, it sounded so tempting but he refused to move. "Very good. Normally, the simpler the request, the easier it is to get the target to comply. But as you can see, Mr. Potter has proven that two spells in the Unforgiving section have no effect on him." He pulled his wand away, leaving Harry to shake his head and sit down.

"So, any more brave souls? It's my hope that by the end of the semester, none of you will be able to be controlled. Now then, there is one more but I am not going to touch on it too much. I knew a couple who had a bad run in with the torture spell, good people," Sirius said, nodding as he walked behind his desk.

"This spell is called the Cruciatius Curse and it causes immense, enough to scar someone. Luckily, this is one of the harder spells to pull off, requiring full and unrelenting desire to cause another witch or wizard pain. Which is very uncommon in this day and age. Prolonged exposure can cause severe mental trauma and, like the Killing Curse, there is no known defense. Anyone caught can say goodbye to their freedom and let me tell you, it is not a nice place. In fact, one could call it a fate worse than death – take it from someone who has been there.

"Now then, back to class. I have a few things we need to get caught up on so I won't have time to explain every little thing. Anyone who has question or wishes to have a more 'hands-on' approach, feel free to see me after class. Or even better, show up at the Dueling Club," he said. "Now that the shameless plug has been placed, let's get on with class. Now then, the exact origin of the Killing Curse can be traced back to the middle ages. However, it's exact origins are unknown…." Sirius went on to explain the history behind the curses, taking care to avoid uncomfortable histories.

When the class was finally over, everyone hurried to shuffle out. Harry nodded at his godfather as he approached Neville, sitting down with him as Harry left.

"So now what?" Ron asked as the two headed off. They had the rest of the day to themselves.

"I think I am going to head to the library," Harry said, biting his lip. Ron raised an eyebrow at that. "What? I figure I should learn some dueling spells. Since I can't fly on my broom this year, I figure I can at least compete in the tournament."

"Well, if that's what you want to do, I'll be up in the common room if you want me," Ron said with a shrug. Harry watched his friend walk off. The student body moved around him as Harry simply stood there by himself. Shaking his head, he quickly left, brushing off a feeling of loneliness, and made his way to the library.

"Expelliarmus!" a voice shouted, causing Harry to stop. He took a few steps back and spotted someone he never thought he would see practicing.

"Neville?" Harry asked as the fellow Gryffindor practically leaped out of his skin. He walked into the room and realized it was the Dueling Club.

"Oh, hi, Harry," he said, recovering from the initial shock.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, a little confused. "I thought you were talking to Sirius, I mean, Professor Black," Harry said, not really used to calling his godfather by his last name.

"Um, well, he figured the discussion would be a bit uncomfortable so he gave me the key to the Dueling room. To blow off some steam," Neville said. "I ran here so I could practice. I plan on trying out for the tournament," he said with a lopsided smile. "I-I don't actually think I can win, especially if Hermione is in it. But I want to try," he said with a nod.

"If you don't mind me asking, why was he concerned?" Harry asked. Neville looked away, the smile quickly vanishing from his face. "Sorry," Harry hastily apologized. "I didn't mean to. Look, I'll just get going, if it's okay with you," he said, wanting to back out since he didn't know what he was doing.

"No, you don't have to go. It's just painful," he said, trying to force up a smile but doing a poor job.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, it's okay," Harry replied. "I am not used to asking about these kinds of things. Sorry if I insulted you," Harry said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, no, nothing like that. It's just I am not used to people asking," Neville replied, not wanting to make Harry feel uncomfortable but doing a poor job of it.

"Yeah, I guess that's one advantage of being me; everyone kinds of knows about all my problems," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"Does it feel weird? Having everyone know about your past?"

"Most people don't talk about it and, to be honest, I have kind of gotten used to everyone knowing more than me," Harry replied with a shrug.

"Well, the thing is, my parents, they were hit with the Cruciatus Curse by two Death Eaters. They were tortured past their breaking points. Professor Black knew them so he censored out a bit of his lesson for me. Not that I mind, they were good people – heroes - but it makes me squirm whenever the curse is brought up," Neville admitted.

"Ah," Harry said, nodding his head. "That must be painful. If you want, we could practice a bit?" Harry offered, indicating the Dueling room. "Just randomly casting spells as a wall isn't much practice."

"Sure, I would love to. But you're probably a lot better than I am," Neville said as they walked onto the tables. "How about just the disarming spell?"

"Sounds good, the last thing we need is a trip to the nurse," Harry smirked as they both drew their wands. Both of them shouted over and over again, each time causing a wand to fly out of the other's hand.

Just as they were about to cast another spell, they stopped by the sound of sudden clapping. Startled, they turned to see the last person they had expected to find in the room.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed as they stopped to greet their audience.

"Oh, don't stop on my account, Mr. Potter. Mr. Longbottom, so good to see you as well," Dumbledore said with a calm smile as he glanced between the two boys.

"Ah, hello Headmaster," Neville said in a quiet voice.

"I do hope time hasn't gotten away from you. I think it's almost lights out," he said with a light chuckle. Harry and Neville quickly realized how dark it was getting and were about to start running to their common room when Dumbledore spoke again.

"Mr. Potter, could I have a word before you go?"

"Sure Professor," he replied, glancing at Neville who nodded before he left. "What do you need?"

"I haven't had time to talk since last year. I have to admit it wasn't the best of circumstances. I want to apologize – I have a habit of wanting to stick to my plans a bit more than I should," Dumbledore apologized.

"Oh, I had forgotten, to be honest, Professor. All water under the bridge," Harry said with a nod. He seemed to smile a bit brighter.

"Good to hear. I see you are readying for the Dueling Club tournament. Ah, that brings back memories," he said but his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah, I really want to win but Hermione and Leo seem far too good," Harry admitted.

"Yes," Dumbledore chuckled, "there always seems to be someone better. But in the end, we all learn at our own pace. Just try not to get yourself into a situation where you need to use this newfound skill of dueling.

"Of course. It's all for self-defense and with the way things have been, I am going to need it," Harry admitted. Once again, the old man seemed to darken at that truth.

"Harry, you have been a brave young man – always being the first to run in and help others. Well, I shall not keep you any longer. Good luck with the tournament." And with that, the aged wizard had vanished from the room.

"How in the world he does that, I will never know," Harry scowled. "Must be a headmaster thing." He paused at the door when he noticed the keys were still in the lock. "Well, better get these back to Sirius. That wouldn't look good if he lost his keys," Harry thought aloud as he rushed back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Sirius?" Harry called, raising his voice as he entered the room. "Sirius, I have the key to the Dueling Club. I figured you would want it back!" Harry called out. In the silence that followed, he could hear some rummaging around in the back room.

"Crap." He could hear some talking and muttering in a voice he recognized as his godfather. Sirius suddenly burst out of the door, his black hair obscuring his face in the dark of the room.

"Sirius, are you okay? You look a little messed up," Harry asked as he realized his godfather was unkempt once again.

"Fine," he coughed, his sounding a bit off for a second. "I was just surprised. I was getting some sleep when you woke me up," he admitted, pushing his hair back. "Can I have the key back? You should be heading back to your dorm soon," Sirius instructed.

"You okay?" Harry asked, eyeing his godfather. "You have been acting odd as of late."

"What makes you say that?" Sirius asked as he took the key.

"Little things, details that don't seem to fit. My guess is you're still adjusting to life as a teacher?"

"You have no idea, it is so stressful. Not to mention, Remus has made a habit of pointing out every little flaw I have made over the course of my last classes," Sirius said, a bit worn.

"Well, hey, if you need someone to talk to, you know you still got me," Harry offered. Sirius chuckled a bit.

"I thought I was supposed to be the guardian?" Sirius asked with a warm smile on his face. Harry smirked.

"I always figured a family would look out for each other, not just one person."

"A good outlook. Look, I got some things I need to take care of. And you are late getting back to your dorm," Sirius noted. Before Harry could say anything further, he opened the door and quickly slipped back inside.

"Well, that was odd," Harry said, vaguely remembering that he had the Marauder's map back in his room. "Nah, I couldn't do that to his privacy," he said, shaking his head. "Polyjuice – someone could be impersonating him, his voice was different. But it hasn't even been a year. I don't really know everything about him, let alone all of his quirks," he frowned. Harry continued to mutter to himself as he walked to the Gryffindor common room.

"Mrow," a cat cried out and Harry froze. His eyes shifted to the side and he saw something he never wanted to see. Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, was walking up to him. Harry reached back on instinct but soon realized that he didn't have his invisibility cloak.

"Who's there?" Flich cried out. Harry felt a bit of panic rise in his stomach.

"Crap, I don't – " He was cut off when someone grabbed his shoulder. He was suddenly pulled away just as Filch walked into view.

"I know you're in here – a student out of bed," the old man croaked, looking around a bit but he didn't seem to see Harry. He glanced down as Mrs. Norris walked back into his hand. "We'll get 'em next time, my sweet," he muttered to the cat.

Harry glanced back to see his rescuer and spotted a head of blonde hair. "Luna, what are you doing here?" he asked, recognizing the odd Ravenclaw.

"Oh, just enjoying the view. Nothing strikes me as amazing like the sight of Hogwarts in the moonlight," she said smiling.

"Don't you think it's a bad idea?" Harry asked, looking back at where Filch had come in.

"I think it's worth the risk. Haven't you ever admired the school in the dark?" Luna asked.

"Not really, guess I never thought about it," Harry admitted.

"Sometimes you need to stop and admire things. Oh, come here. I need to show you something," she said suddenly, grabbing his hand and dragging him off.

"Wow," he admitted, glancing over the lake outside of the school and the moon reflecting off the water. "I never really did think about it."

"Did you know a muggle designed this place?" Luna asked as Harry glanced over at her. "It's a little obscure but the set-up was made by a muggle woman, someone called Rowling. The founder, Godric, took the idea and used it for a school. Most call it a rumor but stranger things have happened," Luna explained.

Harry nodded, not commenting as he looked at the water. "Well, I need to get some sleep. Do you do this every night?"

"Yeah, it's so nice to walk around without anyone to obscure my view," she admitted. Harry smirked at her.

"Well, maybe I'll join you some other time. Hey, are you going to be in the Dueling Club?" he asked. Luna glanced up at the moon for a brief second before giving a light shrug.

"Sure," she said with a bright smile. Harry swallowed a lump in his throat. He had a bad feeling all of a sudden. "I figure it would be a good opportunity to throw another wrench into the structure."

So, Hogwarts has more than one rule-breaking student? Just what is going to happen?

Next chapter will be up soon, promise!

~LE