Chapter 48: Curses

Defense Against the Dark Arts had never been Cassius's favorite subject—not even remotely, ever since his very first class in first year—and his opinion had thoroughly solidified into dislike as time went on, especially with the professors never lasting more than two semesters. By now, as a sixth year still locked into the courses his parents had forced upon him, that feeling may very well have crystallized into pure loathing.

It certainly didn't help that there was something… off about Professor Moody.

Cassius couldn't quite put his finger on it, but his instincts were always on edge when he was in class: it felt like smelling smoke in a dry field, with no other sign of fire. Something was wrong, but he couldn't begin to figure out why or how.

Regardless, this period was shaping up to be especially bad.

Because the professor had just declared that he would be putting everyone in the class under the Imperius Curse—for the experience, to learn what it feels like to be placed under its control.

The Imperius Curse.

Please, no.

He knew how it felt well enough, he didn't need to be here—he didn't want to be here.

"Professor?" called out one of his fellow Slytherin, though not one he knew personally. "How could you get permission to use an illegal spell on students?"

"Would you rather be left in the dark?" the former Auror growled. "To not know how to fight for control of your own self, up until the moment it becomes life or death?" His blue eye pinned the student in place, even as he turned his head to look over the rest of class. "Alright then. Any of you that think so, the exit's right over there."

He gestured to the door, as if issuing a challenge.

Nobody moved.

Even though Cassius desperately wanted to leave, he stayed in place.

"Come to the front when I call for you," Professor Moody ordered, drawing his wand. "Steel your will, and try to throw it off."

One after another, his classmates bent under the Imperius Curse. With a grimace, Cassius watched as a Hufflepuff was sent dancing around the classroom. Another student was made to sing a slow lullaby—quite badly, though it was unclear if that was intentional—and the performance had the rest of the class laughing at him once the curse was released.

Cassius felt rather more like screaming.

"Warrington."

At his name, he forced himself to step forward. He walked, one foot after the other, and felt a frozen weight settle in his gut: stress building with each step. Sheer force of will was the only thing that kept him from shaking, that kept his breathing steady, standing there at the center of the classroom.

It would be temporary, Cassius told himself. There was no reason to freak out like this.

He could handle it.

Everything would be fine.

Then Professor Moody jabbed his wand forward.

No.

For a split second, it was as if he was seeing his mother there—her cold smile was overlapping with the professor's grizzled face, a glint of cruelty mirrored in those mismatched eyes.

No, no, no.

"Imperio," the professor intoned.

No!

The instant the Imperius connected, that horribly familiar calm was reaching for him, enveloping him, muting the bite of puppet threads sliding into his chest. It was quiet and peaceful and suffocating, even as it coaxed him toward just letting choice drift away on addled comfort.

His soul shivered, almost turning, almost giving in—

But it refused.

Not anymore, not ever again—Cassius was unwilling to bend, and the smothering control snapped before any commands could even whisper into his mind.

The curse hadn't pulled him under.

Professor Moody's blue eye was perfectly still, staring at him with something faintly like surprise: or perhaps annoyance, and frustration. He had seen something he hadn't expected, and under the gruff act, the former Auror was not pleased.

Cassius blinked, briefly confused as to what had just happened.

Then it clicked.

Oh.

Oh, no.

He had to do something.

He had to do anything—because if he remained unaffected by the Imperius Curse…

If that information somehow made it back to his family, his parents, then they would know. They would know he had broken free; somebody under one Imperius doesn't have the willpower to throw off another.

Then they would try to regain control.

And if they couldn't—

Oh, Merlin, he couldn't breathe.

Do something!

So…

He ran.

And he ran.

He wasn't sure where he was running, just that he needed to get away. To get somewhere safe, somewhere he could breathe again.

Corridors and stairs blurred together into a mess of stone.

So many stairs, and then he flung open a familiar door.

The Astronomy Tower was empty and quiet.

Safe.

Cassius slumped against the back of the door, slowly sliding down until he was sprawled limply on the floor. Staring out toward the balcony, at a narrow patch of sky, he focused on the wispy white clouds inching by on the chilly autumn breeze.

He could actually see a day moon, full and touched hazy blue.

Merlin, that had been dumb.

"I mean, really?" he muttered under his breath. "Running away?"

Now that he had space to think, he could at least admit that much. Not that he could come up with any better course of action, even after having some time to calm down.

Perhaps he could have faked being under control, but, since he didn't even know what command to fake, that probably wouldn't have worked at all anyway. Pretending to throw off the curse—as that might be better than apparently being wholly unaffected—would still have the same outcome he wanted to avoid.

By the time he was standing before Professor Moody, waiting to be cursed, it was too late for any better options.

So really, he should have just skipped class.

Not that he had any way of knowing what was going to happen—or rather, not happen.

"Ugh." He thumped his head back into the door behind him, staring up at the ceiling. "There's no point in wondering about what-ifs."

Alright then.

He needed a plan.

Obviously.

In that first week at home after the Imperius had been broken, before leaving for Hogwarts, Cassius had meticulously tailored his behavior to make sure his parents would think that nothing had changed. Making sure they stayed in the dark was his top priority.

If his parents learned about what had happened, that he had broken loose, he would be…

Well, actually, perhaps they wouldn't be able to regain control over him. Given how little effect the curse had had in class, he could guess that his parents wouldn't be able to reattach their puppet strings.

But even that thought struck an uncomfortable chord in his chest.

Because while he was thankful to remain himself, to be able to make his own choices, he also knew how his parents would react. If they couldn't keep him in chains, they would turn their attention to someone else, to find another tool.

His little sister.

He couldn't let that happen—he refused to let that happen—which meant he had to make sure his parents didn't learn about everything that had changed.

So, first of all, he needed to learn about everything that had changed: how and why the Imperius Curse had been unable to control him.

And he knew just the pink-slipper-wearing odd-ball to question.

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Undertale.

But seriously, how did Moody get permission for that?

Sorry to come back after a month of delay with such a short chapter, but that's just how things worked out unfortunately. On the upside, the next chapter is basically ready to go! I am definitely excited about the reduction in self-inflicted deadline stress (writing while stressed is hard).

Thanks for the support!

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See ya on the flipside, everyone!