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On the morning of Wednesday, May 6th, 1992, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather had just finished a breakfast of pancakes, sausage links, and Budweiser when Heather piped up, "Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah, I have a very practical lesson planned for the day, but I feel it best if I instruct each of you one on one. I'm going to ask you, one at a time, to come outside. When I'm done with each of you, I will come back into the house and call the next person out. Harry, please follow me to the backyard."
Next nanosecond, Harry and Heather rose from table and went outside. It was a mild seventy two degree day, and the sky was bright, blue, and clear as the sun shone overhead. After some recent rains, the lawn was a very lush green.
As Harry and Heather faced each other, Heather retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand and pointed it directly at Harry.
"Imperio!" cried Heather.
Harry instantly felt his mind wiped blank into a blissful sense of nothingness.
"Do somersaults across the lawn!" spoke a voice in the back of Harry's head.
Harry prepared to obey, but another voice woke up in the back of his head.
"You'd only embarrass yourself if you did that Harry!" declared this second voice.
"Do somersaults across the lawn! " repeated the first voice.
"The results of doing so would be humiliating! " protested the other voice.
""Do somersaults across the lawn! " called out the first voice for a third time.
"I WON"T!" shouted out Harry, who suddenly became aware of his surroundings again.
Heather looked stunned.
"Harry!" gasped Heather in a shocked voice, "You just threw off the Imperius Curse! Very few people can do that."
"I'm guessing, " said Harry smartly, "That you not telling me what you were going to do to me was part of the lesson."
"Mind works the right way, Harry," said Heather approvingly, "The Imperius Curse is used for control, and no one is going to tell his or her victim that he or she is about to control him or her."
"How serious of an issue is the Imperius Curse?" Harry asked Heather uncertainly, "It seems a lot of people who have claimed to have been controlled by the Imperius Curse have been liars."
"That's why the Imperius Curse is such a complicated issue, " said Heather wearily, "A lot of people HAVE lied about being victims of the Imperius Curse but there have also been legitimate victims of the Imperius Curse. The problem is that the known existence of the liars means true victims never get the benefit of the doubt."
"I get the impression that you aren't too happy about teaching me about the Imperius Curse like this but feel that it is necessary." declared Harry observantly.
"Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and I all feel that way, " said Heather uncomfortably, "We don't like that you are getting a practical Imperius Curse lesson, especially as young as you are. But we feel it is important for you to know what it feels like in case you ever come across it. There are still threats against us out there you know."
Harry looked into Heather's eyes and saw dilemma within them.
"You are morally opposed to teaching us how the Imperius Curse but feel that doing so is part of us all being prepared for whatever comes, " realized Harry.
""Yeah, " admitted Heather, "I hate doing this, especially since I myself am using an illegal curse on my students. But sometimes life is hard. Stay here, I'm going to go fetch Amy."
"Okay, " said Harry simply.
Heather quickly returned outside with Amy and pointed her wand straight at Amy.
"Imperio!" cried Heather.
Amy immediately felt herself experiencing an empty mind and an elated blankness.
"Dive onto the lawn!" called a voice in the back of Amy's mind.
Without hesitation, Amy took a dive and landed face first in the grass.
"Stand up! " called the voice in the back of Amy's head.
Amy obeyed only to have the voice say, "Dive onto the lawn!" again.
Amy dove a second time and again landed face first in the lawn.
"Stand up! " called the voice again
Amy stood up again and at this point Heather removed the curse.
Amy's struggle with the curse was much more in line with what Heather had expected from this lesson.
Amy now felt a little sore and her face was full of grass, a sight that Harry and Heather giggled at when they saw it.
"Hey, grassy girl!" Harry teased Amy.
Amy put her hand to her face and did realize that her face was full of grass.
Amy didn't mind Harry and Heather ribbing her a bit, but she brushed herself off and asked, "What happened?"
"I put the Imperius Curse on you," explained Heather, "Not to my surprise, you were not able to fight it. We're going to practice fighting it a bit more going forward, but in a first attempt, I expect the results I got from you even Harry resisted it."
"Why didn't you tell me what you were going to do?" Amy asked Heather, "I might have been able to resist it if I had known what was coming."
"This is a practical lesson," said Heather in a businesslike voice, " In a situation where the Imperius Curse is used against you when it really matters, your enemy isn't going to give you fair warning. Having to do this lesson is against my own morals and soul as I hate putting the Imperius Curse on my students. But you've got to know what it feels like. We continue to face opposition you know."
"Have Susan or Hannah actually eat the grass, " suggested Amy with a smirk.
"I won't risk Susan's or Hannah's health by letting them eat grass, " said Heather seriously, "I know grass is supposed to be non-toxic, but it's terrible for human teeth and there are digestion issues with it." Speaking of Susan. let me go fetch her."
When Heather had brought Susan outside, she pointed her wand right at Susan.
"Imperio!" cried Heather.
Susan felt herself lose herself in a state of mindless happiness.
"Hop around the lawn on one foot!" instructed a voice in the back of Susan's brain.
Susan quickly began hopping across the lawn on one foot.
The effect was somewhat funny, and Harry, Amy, and Heather did giggle a bit while Susan was hopping around.
The voice kept telling Susan to keep hopping around the lawn and she kept it up for a while. She eventually got fatigued and fell down landing on her butt.
Harry, Amy, and Heather got big laughs out of this, and Heather took the curse off.
"You put the Imperius Curse on me!" Susan told Heather at once, "Honestly, Heather, I don't think my auntie's going to be very happy with you."
"I'm not happy about doing this myself, " confessed Heather, "None of the adults are very proud of doing this lesson and I despise myself for using the Imperius Curse on my students. But all the adults here grudgingly agree that this lesson had to happen. Your never know when enemies will strike, and we have plenty."
"I get it, " said Susan seriously, "We need to know what we're up against, we need to be prepared, and we need to know what this experience is actually like, especially the sudden and unexpected nature of it. You taught this the right way by not telling me what you were about to do."
"Wow, Susan, you've got your pulse on this, " said Heather approvingly.
"I didn't fight it off at all though, " said Susan humbly.
"Neither did I, " admitted Amy, "Heather says we will have more lessons to learn to resist the Imperius Curse but that she expected failure today. She's stunned that Harry was able to resist it."
"I suppose that means it's Hannah's turn then!" piped up Harry.
"Yes," said Heather briskly, "I'll go fetch her."
Once Hannah and Heather were outside on the lawn, Heather directed her wand smack dab at Hannah and cried "Imperio!"
Hannah felt that deliriousness of an empty mind and heard a voice in the back of her head tell her "Do gymnastics on the lawn!"
In her proper state, Hannah would have known she had no skill or talent for gymnastics but in her Imperiused state, Hannah did attempt several types of gymnastics and failed woefully at them, this becoming a source of humor for Harry, Amy, Susan, and Heather, who all smiled and laughed at Hannah.
This went on for a couple of minutes before Heather removed the curse and Hannah said instantly, "That must've been our practical Imperius Curse lesson. I sure as hell couldn't beat it, did anyone else."
"Harry did!" said Heather in amazement, before adding in a more serious voice, "Amy and Susan failed just as miserably as you did and that was what I expected from today's lesson was failure. We'll be practicing resisting the Imperius Curse a bit more, but my only hope for today was to teach you how it feels."
"Which is why you just did it with no explanation," realized Hannah, "You made the circumstances as close as possible to really facing it."
"In some ways yes, " said Heather crisply, "In some ways, no. Making it more realistic would've meant making the things I made you do far meaner, a line I chose not to cross as your teacher. To me, the important thing was knowing what the control and the sudden unexpectedness of that control feels like. I'm satisfied with how this lesson went even though it sucked having to do it at all."
"Mom, " said Hannah in understanding, "I know how hard it must have been for you to teach this lesson. Much respect to you."
"Let's go back inside, " said Heather and the Yellow Quartet followed her inside.
"Harry resisted it, Amy, Susan, and Hannah could not, " Heather informed Sirius, Remus, and Amelia.
"Atta boy, Harry! grinned Sirius.
"Harry is a strong willed wizard!" said Remus proudly.
"And very powerful in both focus and magic, " observed Amelia.
But there was an air of unease in the room from the adults' discomfort with the lesson the Yellow Quartet had gotten that morning.
And that was okay. Sometimes, uncomfortable things needed to be learned or taught.