Chapter 10: Unforgivable
"How'd you do it, Harry?" Ron asked with a scowl.
Harry Potter looked at his friend slightly perplexed. "Do what?"
"How did you manage to cheat and get your name in the Goblet of Fire?
Harry felt his cheeks flush with anger. "I didn't, Ron. Somebody else put my name in the cup. Just like I told everyone, and just like Dumbledore told everyone."
"I don't care that you were picked," Ron lied, "but the least you could have done was tell me about it. You know I wanted to enter!"
"Look, Ron, I didn't enter it. Just knock it off."
"Fine," Ron growled, turning over in his bed to ignore Harry for the rest of the night. "Some friend you are."
That was the beginning of Harry and Ron's feud.
Most of the school had decided that this was not Harry's fault. Initially, they had been suspicious of him, but Harry had been so vehement in not wanting to participate and so angry at whoever had put his name in that there weren't many who honestly believed the Boy-Who-Lived had entered himself. That didn't stop the Slytherins and Draco Malfoy from taunting Harry and passing out some juvenile pins and buttons meant to embarrass him. Quite a few of the Slytherins had taken to wearing the buttons around school, but that really hadn't bothered Harry.
Until he saw Ron wearing one.
Ron had grinned when he noticed that Harry had seen him wearing the insulting badge. Support Cedric: Potter Stinks! Harry stalked away and the feud was taken to new heights.
No longer was Harry content to simply ignore Ron. After this insult he would push by him in the halls when the red-head refused to make way for him. In Charms and Defense class Harry would immediately master any spell being discussed, getting points for Gryffindor and garnering the applause and attention that he knew Ron was jealous of, while watching the boy flounder due to his jealousy and self-doubt.
Hermione did her best to keep the peace between the two friends. She refused to give Ron the cold shoulder, insisting she cared for both of her friends, even if one of them was being a bigger prat than the other. She even continued to help Ron on his homework, careful to divide her time evenly between studying with Harry and spending time with Ron. Of course, after Harry ended up with a higher Charms score on his essay than Hermione, the young witch became a bit snappish with Ron, blaming him for the time she didn't have to read more because she had to deal with the youngest Weasley boy.
Ron seethed beneath the combined effects of watching Harry constantly being praised and cheered while he struggled, having Hermione scold him for not doing his own work and causing her grades to slip, being the only one of Harry's supporters who still thought the Boy-Who-Lived had entered his own name, and worst of all, suspecting that he was the one who was wrong and that Harry was somehow not to blame. But then, it wasn't like Hermione's grades had really suffered, Harry had only scored one mark higher than her. And wasn't it bloody obvious that Harry had entered himself and this innocent act was just that…an act? This had nothing to do with him being jealous of Harry!
Ron watched as Harry walked right past him once again, without trying to make up with him or apologizing for not entering him in the tournament too. Ron clenched his fists in frustration. He'd try and hex him right now if he wasn't certain Harry would blast him halfway to Hogsmeade in retaliation. What could a wizard like him do against a wizard who beat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named when only one years old?
.
Defense Against the Dark Arts had taken a very dark turn with the introduction of Alastor Moody as this year's instructor. The ex-auror was intimidating in a way that none of the other teachers had been, and far less kind than Professor Lupin had been. Remus Lupin had left the post to help work on research on the homorphous charm which Harry had shown to be so effective in curing lycanthropy. Thus far since Harry had managed to cure him, only a handful of powerful wizards had managed to successfully cure another werewolf and at significant magical cost. Remus wanted to help make it easier so that more of those afflicted with lycanthropy could be cured. Which was why Dumbledore had once again needed to recruit someone to teach the class and why the school was stuck with a paranoid sadist for a Defense teacher, and surprisingly it wasn't Severus Snape.
Moody was reputed to be an excellent trainer for aurors, at least he had been before he had gone partly insane from paranoia. And from the first couple lessons it was plain to see he was far more confident and competent than Quirrell or Lockhart had been. However, his methods weren't exactly what one would call child friendly. First thing he did when he got in the classroom on the first day was start throwing hexes around the room. And it hurt!
Students learned "constant vigilance" in the classroom. Mad-eye Moody might cast a hex at anyone at any moment. The first lesson they were learning was "DODGE!" and the second lesson they were learning was "DODGE!" They had begun to learn basic shielding spells, but they were still having to just get out of the way. Thus far, only Harry had managed to put up an effective shield in time when suddenly targeted by Moody, which had earned Gryffindor a number of house points.
Today, though, Professor Moody was teaching spells that he would not be casting on students. Or at least, they hoped. He was teaching the Unforgivable Curses.
After a preamble about students needing to be prepared to know what they were up against and explaining that using any of the curses on another person would land you in Azkaban prison for life, Moody demonstrated the curses one by one on an animal. He asked what the class knew about the curses. Eager to score some points in his personal feud with the suddenly studious Harry Potter, Ron Weasley was the first to raise his hand. When called upon, he mentioned the Imperius curse.
"Yes, your father would know all about that one, Weasley," he said as he brought out spider and placed it under the curse, forcing it to dance around the room. "Gave the Ministry all sorts of trouble years ago during the war."
Harry watched as Alastor Moody used the first of the Unforgivable curses on the spider. After forcing the spider to play around, jumping on people's heads, and then land right in front of him, Moody cast the second one. The Curciatus.
Neville had volunteered the name of that one, but the boy was visibly affected by the sight of the spider in excruciating pain. The arachnid was left quivering on the ground and Neville shook in sympathetic pain. Until Moody finished it off with the Killing Curse. The same one that had killed Harry's parents. The same curse that The Boy Who Lived But Whose Parents Hadn't saw in his nightmares.
This was disturbing in and of itself, but when Moody asked for a volunteer to attempt to throw off the Imperius curse, Harry went cold. He absolutely knew that he would be the one who would be called on. His intuition was immediately borne out.
"Mr. Potter! You're a powerful wizard, I hear. You've already shown, in this class no less, that you're strong enough to block a curse from a full grown adult wizard . Let's see how you handle this one, though. Come on up. Stand right there. Don't worry, I promise this won't hurt a bit." Seeing Harry's hesitation, Professor Moody added, "It's up to you, but this is a chance for you to understand what the curse feels like so that you can fight it. So, what do you say, Mr. Potter?"
Harry swallowed hard. Dumbledore trusted Moody. And it was true he needed to be prepared against curses like this. He nodded his head. At Harry's nod, the ex-auror looked at him and called out, "Imperio!"
Immediately, Harry felt a sense of euphoria and well-being. It was like all his care, all the burdens of his life had been taken away. He was floating on a cloud in which it didn't matter what decisions he made. He felt the command 'jump on the table' and he did so. There was no need to question why. No need to think about consequences. He was aware of everything going on around him, but it didn't matter.
"Mr. Potter can reportedly cure a werewolf, destroy a dementor, and even defeat a Dark Lord. Yet here he is, completely under my control. Throwing off the Imperius Curse is not primarily a matter of magical power. Even the magically strongest among us can be caught in this curse by the weakest dark wizard if you are not mentally prepared for it. It's a matter of will. The will of the caster against the will of the victim."
Harry heard everything Moody was saying. It all floated through his mind. Somewhere, deep inside him, there was a piece of him that found this information important. The rest of him, however, did not care.
"With this curse, as long as the victim is under its power, you can make anyone do anything. I can make Mr. Potter do whatever I want, whether it is good or whether it is evil. I can make him tell me all his secrets. I can make him spy for me. I could even make him kill his own friends."
Suddenly that part of Harry that cared about what was being said and what was going on around him became alarmed. He was not in control of himself. Moody could make him do anything now. Anything. Unless his will was stronger. Did he believe himself stronger than the professor? Magically, he knew he was strong, but how about will power? How do you know if your will is strong or not?
"Jump off the table," came the verbal command along with an identical mental compulsion. A large part of him wanted to just go along with what was said. Going along with it was simple and easy. Painless.
But the part of him that cared had a problem with blindly obeying this command. That part knew itself to be the master of his own mind. The master of his own magic.
"No, sir," Harry replied. The euphoric feeling was suddenly gone. "I don't feel like it. I think I'll stay up here a few moments longer."
There was a shocked expression etched into Alastor Moody's face for a moment before he schooled his face to that of an approving look. Then the man turned to the rest of the class.
"Fifty points to Gryffindor," Moody pronounced, with a lick of his lips, "for disobeying a professor. Potter here fought off the Imperius curse in under one minute. Very impressive. Each of you will get a turn now to see if you can do any better. Line up."
At the conclusion of the class, Moody hurried over to speak with Neville Longbottom. The boy had taken the demonstration of the Cruciatus hard. Harry, however, was deeply disturbed for a different reason. He decided to take a trip to see the headmaster.
.
"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You must have something grave on your mind if you are up here to visit me instead of spending your free period out among your friends."
Harry smiled at the professor's assessment. "Sorry to disturb you sir, but after my class with Professor Moody, I had some questions about the nature of magic that I think only you can help me with."
Dumbledore inclined his head, giving the Gryffindor student permission to continue. "Lemon drop?" he asked just as Harry began.
"No thank you, Professor," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Professor Moody gave us a class on the Unforgiveable Curses today, and afterwards I was left wondering why these curses are Unforgivable and not other spells."
"An important question, Harry, but one I believe Professor Moody could answer as well as I."
"Yes, sir, I understand he's my Defense professor, but…I think what we both know about magic is part of it, so I thought it best to come to you."
"I see. So, my boy, what is on your mind?"
"Well, sir, I understand that the Ministry classifies spells as 'dark' for different reasons. If the spell can only be used to harm others it's labeled dark. If it causes irreparable harm to either the caster or a sentient target it is classed as dark. I can understand that, sir, but Professor Moody said something about the Imperius curse that made me wonder why it was classed as an unforgivable."
"What was it that he said that caused you to have this doubt?"
"He said the caster could make the victim do either good or evil," Harry said meaningfully. "So, I was thinking, why make this spell an Unforgivable? Even the Killing Curse can be used to kill someone who is evil for a good purpose. So, why is it considered 'unforgivable' while other spells are just considered dark and have a light penalty? The Cruciatus I can understand, and I can agree with the Killing Curse, but why the Imperius, sir?
"I mean, I know using dark curses can turn a wizard towards darkness. That's been covered in class quite thoroughly. But isn't that also a matter of intent and belief, sir? If I think I'm doing what is right when I cast the spell, even if the Ministry considers it dark, won't my belief in the rightness and goodness of my act prevent the magic from corrupting my soul?"
Dumbledore sucked in his breath. "I can see now why you decided to bring this question to me and not your Defense professor. I am grateful you came to me with this. You have asked a very deep question, Harry." After a moment of consideration, Dumbledore looked at Harry directly. "Your intuitions are correct Harry. It is the intent and belief of the caster that is the root cause of corruption of the caster of dark magic, not the spell itself. And that, Harry, is the answer to why the Unforgivables are so terribly illegal."
"With the Cruciatus curse and the Killing Curse, I can see it, but not the Imperius," Harry responded. "The Imperius doesn't hurt the person you are doing it to. Sure, you can make someone do bad things, but shouldn't whether the curse is illegal or not depend on what you make the person do under the curse? The curse itself doesn't hurt you at all. Actually, it felt quite pleasant."
Albus Dumbledore reacted with such shock and alacrity that it greatly surprised Harry. In a flash the wizened wizard was standing inches from Harry, looking into his eyes with a piercing gaze. "How do you know the feeling of the Imperius curse, Harry?" A moment later, without even waiting for Harry's response, Dumbledore stumbled back away from him and placed his right hand over his heart as if in pain.
"Professor Moody demonstrated it for us, to help us know how to fight it. He didn't use the other curses on students, of course. Only on—"
"A spider," the professor finished for him. "I'm sorry, Harry. I did something just then that was not polite. I looked into your mind as you thought. But I had to know for sure. This is quite shocking." After Dumbledore collected his thoughts for a second, he returned his gaze to Harry. "Harry, you must never be alone with Professor Moody. He cannot be trusted. I am afraid he may have gone Dark already, and if he has not, he is in danger of going completely over to the other side."
Harry blinked in surprise. Sure, Moody was gruff and aggressive, but he was using the spell to teach students to defend themselves, not to cast it on others. "Sir, I don't understand…"
"Harry, the Unforgivable Curses are unforgivable because to cast them successfully you must have an evil desire in your heart. It's not just the effect of the spell that is so horrible, but the actual casting of it is itself a dark act. There are many spells that can cause harm, many spells that can kill and be used for evil. But the specific nature of these three spells require ill intent to even be able to cast. You, Harry, for all your power and knowledge of the nature of magic, could cast the Killing Curse a hundred times and you wouldn't be able to kill a small cat. Because you are good.
"The Killing Curse is designed for one thing and one thing only: to end life. To cast the spell you must want the target dead. Not just to protect others. Not to prevent a greater evil. You must, deep in your heart, with all your soul, want your target to die. You must comprehend their life and their being and then want to end it. Do you understand that Harry? Even on an animal, to truly want it dead…"
Harry started to get it. The intent. The belief. It made it so much worse than just a green flash of light.
"You already understand why the Cruciatus is a dark spell. You must desire your target to suffer terrible agony. But what of the Imperius, Harry? What is it that powers this spell? It is a desire to take the free will of another and bend them to your will. To successfully cast the Imperius curse, you must genuinely desire to dominate another. It is impossible, Harry, to cast any of these spells without having gone so far towards the Darkness that you can no longer be in the Light. And for that reason, with that comprehension, they were made Unforgivable. Anyone who casts such spells on another witch or wizard has no place in magical society."
Harry Potter felt it then. How used he had been while under Moody's compulsion. The idea of a wizard wanting to bend him to his will turned his stomach. He felt a little frightened.
"Harry," Dumbledore said gravely, "I believe we have found the one who entered you into the tournament. Now we need to find out why. He will be under constant scrutiny. But you must not be alone with him or allow him to place you under a spell again."
Harry nodded. They would both be watching Alastor Moody from then on.