A/N: Hey guys I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all my readers for your support with that let's get on with the story. There will be passages for book 4 in this chapter you'll know when. —-
This was it Harry and friends were on the Hogwarts Express bound for another year at Hogwarts. After the drama of the World Cup Amelia Bones came to the Burrow to inform Harry that she was very grateful for him helping her niece and that she took care of the Restriction problem for him. She also told him that if there was ever something he needed from her she would be happy to assist in repayment of the debt of saving Susan. Harry also made sure to Floo Remus and Sirius about the World Cup and Dark Mark, they urged Harry to be careful and follow his instincts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat alone in a compartment chatting idly about the coming year.
"Hoping for a better year Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Honestly, just a quiet one would be nice. One where my life is not on the line, just me and my friends and the occasional sickness once a month." said Harry, chuckling at the last bit.
"Yeah you are going to be getting sick a lot this year aren't you." Ron quipped.
"Three days every month maybe or if it's a bad turn. I may need some help coming up with excuses. I know Dumbledore said all the teachers would be made aware and not draw notice, the only one I foresee not going along with that is Snape." Harry explained.
"Never your favorite that greasy git." Ron said.
"Oh Ron, he is still a professor, at least honor the title." Chastised Hermione.
"He's barely a professor, Hermione. All he ever does is put the potion recipe on the blackboard then berate everyone who isn't in Slytherin on how terrible they are." Harry said quickly.
Knock came at the door as Susan Bones appeared.
"Harry, I've been asked to deliver a message from Daphne." Susan said quietly. "She asked me to deliver it to you and be the go-between if you have a response, she said she explains in the note."
She gave Harry the letter.
Dear Harry
Firstly I wanted to thank you for what you did for me and Susan at the World Cup, I don't need to imagine what would happen had Malfoy caught us. He has been after me for sometime now. Harry I don't know if Hermione has told you or not but she and I have become friends as we share Ancient Runes together and I would like to extend that friendship to you. Now I know given my house you might be skeptical of being friends with a slimy snake as Weasley calls us, but given the events of the World Cup I think you know I'm not one of Malfoy's ilk. Susan and I have been friends for many years; she can vouch for me as well. There are some things going on down in the snake pit that you should know and I would be happy to relay them to you. If this is of any interest to you, send a reply with Susie.
-Daphne
"Thanks Susan, tell her I'd be happy to but we may want to find a better way than using you as our personal owl. No offense but Hedwig will get very jealous if anyone or thing is carrying my letters. Would you care to join us for the rest of the journey?" asked Harry.
"Oh Unfortunately I can't. I need to find Hannah and go over some things that Aunt Amelia told me, but I'll see you at Hogwarts." she replied.
"Ok Susan and are we still going to do the study sessions this year?" Hermione asked.
Susan quickly nodded and left, closing the door behind her.
"When did you have study sessions with Susan Bones?" Ron asked, shocked.
"We had them all last year along with Daphne Greengrass. We all have Ancient Runes together and worked on assignments together often." replied Hermione.
"You hung out with a snake? Hermione, how could you?" asked Ron, appalled at the idea.
"Well it really started after christmas when you and Harry weren't talking to me. Susan and Daphne stepped up to help me through that time." she replied, sullenly.
"Oh yeah that." said Harry, remembering what a terrible friend he'd been.
The three of them sat quietly for a while and Harry eventually fell asleep to the sound of rain on the windows. Hermione woke him when it was time to get changed before the train arrived at Hogsmeade station. As the train pulled into the station the gentle rain turned into a brutal downpour. The three got out onto the station and greeted Hagrid, who was leading the first years to the boats then climbed into a carriage with Neville, Susan, and Ginny. The carriages creaked and groaned through the muddy drive up to the great oak doors. When they got out they saw Professor McGonagall waiting on the marble stairs.
"Bloody hell!" Ron said, looking out towards the lake. "If this keeps up the firsties are gonna drown. ARGHHH BLIMEY!"
A large red water balloon landed on his head and exploded. They looked up and there was Peeves with a bunch of water balloons cackling.
"PEEVES! I'M ALREADY WET. I'M COLD AND IF I GET HIT WITH ONE OF THOSE BALLOONS I"M USING THAT SPELL MY FATHER USED ON YOU." Harry yelled.
"Not doin nuffin already wet. Little squirts! Peevesey just havin' his fun an' welcomin everyone back to hoggy I is." said the Poltergeist, floating inside the castle.
"Mr. Potter, thank you for getting rid of him. He's been hitting everyone since the carriages started arriving. I only wish you could have done it a little quieter." McGonagall said, clearing her ear with her little finger.
"Yea mate that was a little over the top. You ok?" asked Ron.
"I'm fine, just wet and cold and it's making my skin crawl." Harry explained.
"Oh Mr. Potter I'm sorry I forgot here, let me fix it." exclaimed the Professor, waving her wanted casting a warming charm on Harry and his friends.
Harry sighed contently. "Thank you Professor, that feels much better. Now I know this is Ron's line but come on I'm hungry."
The group walked to the Great Hall and sat down and waited for the sorting to be done before Dumbledore gave his welcoming speech. Nearly Headless Nick floated by and praised Harry for dealing with Peeves. The Sorting Hat sang its new song to begin the sorting. Colin Creevey's little brother Dennis had been sorted to Gryffindor. After the Sorting the feast started and much to Hermione's dismay it became a contest for Harry and the desserts had vanished Dumbledore got up to his podium and tapped it twice with his wand.
"Good evening. Now that we are all fed and watered I'd like to get my start of term notices out of the way. Mr. Filch the caretaker has asked me that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." Dumbledore said with a stern expression. "I would also like to inform all the new students that the Dark Forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students and remind some of our older hands as well. The village of Hogsmeade is also forbidden to anyone under third year or does not have permission from their parents. I have the unfortunate sad duty to inform you all that the inter-house quidditch cup will not be taking place this year."
"WHAT!" yelled Harry, Ron, Fred and George at the same time.
"I know this disappoints most of you but there is a reason. There will be an event starting in October and continuing through the end of the school year. This event will be 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—"
Just then the enchanted ceiling flashed bright as lighting and the crash of thunder loomed overhead. From the doorway of the Great Hall a spell struck the ceiling calming the tempest to a dull thunderstorm. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.
A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped. The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening. One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye—and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness. The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right hand side.
"May I introduce to you all the man who will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year, retired Master Auror Alastor Moody." said Dumbledore to the stunned student body.
"Moody as in Mad-Eye Moody, that man is a legend according to dad. Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to him." Ron said.
"What happened to his face? That eye doesn't look normal." asked Harry.
"Well like I said he's probably locked up half of Azkaban dark curse wounds can't be healed, so chances are he's taken his fair share." replied Ron.
"Now as I was saying, I am pleased to announce that Hogwarts will play host to a legendary event that hasn't been held in over a century, The Triwizard Tournament." Dumbledore announced. "The Triwizard Tournament is an event that brings together three magical schools for a series of challenges. From each school a single champion is selected and let me be clear if chosen you stand alone. These tasks will not be for the faint of heart, they will be dangerous, they will be trying, and they will be extremely difficult. But that is all I can tell you for now the others from the two schools shall be arriving on the last week of October and the champion selection shall take place on Halloween. On the day of their arrival the Ministry will go over some of the changes they made this year as well as reveal the impartial judge for the champion selection. Now off to bed pip pip." Dumbledore explained.
Up in the common room everyone was ecstatic about the Triwizard tournament. Most were walking about how they would enter or what they would do with the prize money. Harry just wanted to make sure he stayed as far away from it as possible. The following Monday saw classes begin and they weren't too pleased with the results. The Herbology lesson with the Hufflepuffs had them working with Bubotuber pus which had the nasty side effect of causing extremely painful boils when it came in contact with the skin when not properly diluted. After Herbology they had to not only deal with the Slytherins but also Hagrid decided they were going to raise exploding, stinging creatures dubbed Blast-Ended Skrewts which was arguably less fun than turning in Harry's opinion. After that it was off to Divination where Harry and Ron knew it was a pointless class but were still hoping for an easy O.
After Divination Harry and Ron headed down to meet Hermione and head to dinner when they met Malfoy and his goons. They had just entered the Entrance Hall when they heard his voice.
"Weasley! OI Weasley!"
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Asked Ron.
"Did you see your father made the paper?" Draco asked, holding up a copy of the Daily Prophet.
The article, while getting Mr. Weasley's name wrong which Draco also made fun of, went on to talk about an attack on Professor Moody during the summer. During this attack Moody's bewitch dustbins sent garbage all over the place, reports say it was a false alarm and that they had to apply memory charms to muggle policemen who witnessed the attacking dustbins.
"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house—if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"
Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.
"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Harry. "C'mon, Ron…"
"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"
"You know Draco I wouldn't talk about people's mother's like that they may turn it back on you or worse your own mother would have to teach how to behave like at the world cup." said Harry, smirking.
"Are you insulting my mother?" asked Draco, angrily reaching into his robes for his wand.
"No actually I think it was more of an insult to you being knocked down by his mummy." said Hermione.
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy mudblood." he replied, drawing his wand.
Harry and Ron followed suit, both drawing their wands in Hermione's defense. Just then they heard the cold cruel voice of Severus Snape.
"Now what is going on here?"
Draco quickly put away his wand before Snape could see.
"Potter and Weasley are attempting to attack me, Professor." said Draco, quickly pointing at them.
"That's not true sir Draco drew his wand first." Hermione quickly came to their defense.
"Mr. Granger, Mr. Malfoy's wand is not even out. What could they possibly be defending you from?" Snape asked.
"That's because he stowed it while you were walking up Professor." replied Ron.
"Please do not lie Mr. Weasley. I'm well aware of your exaggerations when it comes to Mr. Malfoy." Snape sneered.
"Snape unfortunately Mr. Weasley was telling the truth. Young Mr. Malfoy drew his wand to attack Ms. Granger while Messrs Potter and Weasley drew to her defense" came the growling voice of Professor Moody.
"You saw this Moody?" asked Snape.
"Twice over Snape twice over. If it happens again I might be forced to take action." Moody replied.
"Is that a threat, Mad-Eye?"
"Aye Snape, that's a promise, now deal with your student and let the rest be on their way."
"Mr. Malfoy that will be two points from Slytherin and detention tomorrow night with me. Now all of you get to dinner." Snape shouted, at the rest of the crowd.
"That was interesting. I've never seen Snape take points from Malfoy." said Ron, laughing once they were all in the great hall. "I can't wait for thursday's lesson now"
Thursday's Defense lesson was here before anyone knew it. Gryffindors and Slytherins piled into the classroom wanting to see how the ex-Auror had to teach them.
"Alastor Moody ex-Auror Master of Academy and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Now I've gotten a letter from Professor Lupin looks like you lot are all caught up on yer dark creatures but you are dangerously behind on curses. So that's where I start, I've got one year to whip you into shape. You need to be prepared, you need to know what you're up against you need to put your gum in another place besides the underside of your desk Mr. Finnegan."
"Blimey the ol' codger can see out the back of his head." said a very shocked Seamus.
"And hear across classrooms." replied Moody, chucking something small at him. "Now who can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"
"Three sir." replied Hermione.
"Correct! Someone else, why are they unforgivable?" he asked. "Ms. Greengrass?"
"The three unforgivable curses are classified by the Ministry as being so malicious that the use of any on a fellow witch or wizard is beyond comprehensible and there is no counter to them also will earn.."
"Earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban, correct." Moody interrupted. "Now the Ministry says you're too young to know what these curses do. I however believe that if you don't know what you are up against how can you defend against it. Now who can tell me the name of one, Weasley stand."
"Well I remember my dad talking about the Imperius curse, how several Death Eaters escaped conviction by saying they were put under it." Ron said, shakingly.
"The mind control curse, yes. I'll tell you all this if there is one thing I cannot stand, it's a Death Eater who went free." Moody replied, walking over to a jar of spiders and picking one up.
"Imperio."
The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a backflip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.
Everyone was laughing—everyone except Moody.
"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"
The laughter died away almost instantly.
"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…"
Ron gave an involuntary shudder.
"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and Harry knew he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been 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, and everyone jumped.
Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.
"Now who can name another?"
To everyone's surprise Neville's hand went up.
"You! Longbottom is it? Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology." said Moody, his magical eye focusing on Neville.
"There's th-the Cr-Crus-Cruciatus Curse." Neville said, in a very shaky voice.
"The Cruciatus Curse also known as the torture curse." he replied and grabbed another spider from the jar. "Needs to be a bit bigger to see the effects. Engorgio. Now to show you all the effects Crucio."
At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Harry was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently—
"Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly.
Harry looked around at her. She was looking, not at the spider, but at Neville, and Harry, following her gaze, saw that Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified.
Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.
"Reducio," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.
"Pain," said Moody 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?"
Harry looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air.
"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.
"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered.
Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.
"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra… the Killing Curse."
He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.
Moody raised his wand, and Harry felt a sudden thrill of foreboding.
"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.
There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air—instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him.
"Very nasty, there is no counter, no shield, only one person has been known to survive it and he's sitting in this room." Moody's magical eye stared right at Harry.