“Well, this chapter title's interesting,” Luna said, after studying it for a good two minutes.
“What is it?” Hermione said, sounding a bit wary and more than curious. Cedric and Harry also looked curious to know.
“The Unforgivable Curses,” Luna read.
“WHAT?!” Cedric said. Hermione and Harry looked over to him.
“I take it that you know exactly what these are,” Hermione said.
“Yes, I do,” Cedric said.
“I do as well,” Luna said. “Almost all of the wizarding world knows them. The ones that don' are the Muggleborns who haven't run into them when reading a book.”
“What are they?” Harry asked.
“The worse curses ever,” Cedric said. “The first, and probably tamest – though still nasty – is the Imperius Curse, which allows a person to have complete control over someone or something else. The next is the Curciatus Curse, which delivers unimaginable pain to someone; people have been said to have been driven insane from the pain, in fact. And the final one is the worst one, and, arguably, the most known one, and it's name automatically tells you what it does. It's called the Killing Curse, and it basically kills you, leaving no signs of how you died.”
“Just like how the Riddles were said to have been killed, right?” Hermione said. Cedric thought about it, and then realized that she was right.
“Yes,” he said. “I can't believe that I didn't realize it until now, though.”
“I don't think you were thinking about what it was that killed them, just that it had been someone magical,” Harry said.
“Yeah, but I probably should have realized it anyway, since it's also of Frank Bryce, that old Muggle, was killed as well,” Cedric said, remembering how Frank ended up dying as well. He felt like beating himself up over it
“Oh,” Hermione said. Luna decided to read before anything else could be said.
The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions.
“Well, since it's something that normally happened, I don't think it counts,” Harry said.
Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrelful of horned toads.
“Exactly what has caused him to decide to do that, I wonder,” Hermione said.
“You know why Snape’s in such a foul mood, don’t you?” said Ron to Harry, as they watched Hermione teaching Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the toad guts from under his fingernails.
“I'm sure that Neville will be glad to learn that,” Cedric said.
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Moody.”
It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for the fourth year running.
“Actually, from what I've heard, he's been going for it since he became the Potion's professor,” Cedric said.
Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it – but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt animosity to Mad-Eye Moody.
“Considering who Moody is, and considering who he is, it makes a lot of sense that he'd do that,” Luna said.
Indeed, whenever Harry saw the two of them together – at mealtimes, or when they passed in the corridors – he had the distinct impression that Snape was avoiding Moody’s eye, whether magical or normal.
“It wouldn't surprise me if he was. I know that, if I had the rumours that Snape's past has, then I'd do the same as well,” Cedric said.
“I reckon Snape’s a bit scared of him, you know,” Harry said thoughtfully.
“Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad,” said Ron, his eyes misting over, “and bounced him all around his dungeon ...”
“Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that he'd dream of that,” Luna and Hermione both said.
The Gryffindor fourth-years were looking forward to Moody’s first lesson so much that they arrived early after lunch on Thursday and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung.
The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.
“Wow, that has to be the first time it's like that,” Harry said. “I mean, usually, you're probably the first person there.”
“Been in the –“
“Library,” Cedric said.
“– library,” Harry finished her sentence for her.
“It's kind of obvious to figure out,” Harry said.
“C’mon, quick, or we won’t get decent seats.”
They hurried into three chairs right in front of the teacher’s desk, took out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited, unusually quiet.
“That sounds rather strange,” Luna said.
“We've probably been looking forward to this lesson since hearing about it,” Harry said.
Soon they heard Moody’s distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes.
“You can put those away,” he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, “those books. You won’t need them.”
“Interesting,” Harry said. “Is he going to start off with a practical lesson like Professor Lupin did?”
“That, or he just plans on having a lecture that you need to take notes on,” Cedric said.
They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking excited.
“I'm not surprised, since you won't be needing your book, after all,” Luna said.
Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled grey hair out of his twisted and scarred face and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swivelled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.
“So he knows who each of you are,” Cedric said. “And so he can make sure that there isn't a person missing.”
“Right then,” he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, “I’ve had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you’ve had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures – you’ve covered Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas and werewolves, is that right?”
“That sounds about right,” Hermione said. “Though I would have imagined that there would be more to that list as well.”
“Yeah, there should be,” Cedric said.
There was a general murmur of assent.
“But you’re behind – very behind – on dealing with curses,” said Moody.
“That is true, though I don't think your supposed to learn about them before fifth year,” Cedric said, looking puzzled. “Of course, I can't say if that's true or not. I mean, not only am I only about to start my third year, but with the changing of teachers so often, and the fact that everyone has their own method of teaching, well, it's hard to know what type of schedule there is when it comes to what's supposed to be taught when.”
“So I’m here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I’ve got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark –“
“What, aren’t you staying?” Ron blurted out.
“I have the feeling that Moody is a realist,” Cedric said. “He's probably noticed how no one has stayed longer than a year, and knows that he's very unlikely to keep the job beyond a year.”
Moody’s magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled – the first time Harry had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless a relief to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile.
“I have to admit, it does sound like it would be a relief,” Hermione said.
Ron looked deeply relieved.
“You’ll be Arthur Weasley’s son, eh?” Moody said. “Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago ... yeah, I’m staying just the one year. Special favour to Dumbledore ... one year, and then back to my quiet retirement.”
“I doubt it's all that quiet,” Harry said, thinking about how they already knew that he had enemies.
He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.
“So – straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms.”
“That's true,” Luna said.
“Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I’m supposed to teach you counter-curses and leave it at that. I’m not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you’re in the sixth year.”
“So, he can tell us about some curses, so long as he shows us the counter-curses to them as well,” Harry said.
“But the really bad ones are left until later,” Hermione said.
“More than that, they are technically left for only those who are allowed to continue in N.E.W.T. DADA to learn about,” Cedric said.
“You’re not supposed to be old enough to deal with it ’til then. But Professor Dumbledore’s got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you’re up against, the better.”
“That is true,” Hermione said. “Of course, with our ages, it might be a better idea to wait because we also may not be mature enough to understand the severity of them.”
“How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you’ve never seen? A wizard who’s about to put an illegal curse on you isn’t going to tell you what he’s about to do. He’s not going to do it nice and polite to your face.”
“Not unless he's mocking them,” Cedric said.
“That would only happen if a, the person underestimates their opponent, or b, their opponents are in a position that allows him to do so,” Hermione pointed out.
“You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I’m talking.”
Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope
“Idiot,” Hermione said, shaking her head. Since Lavender was one of those who admired Trelawney and believed in everything she said, Hermione really couldn't feel sorry for the girl being called out as she was. Besides, she should have known better than to do that during a class.
under the desk. Apparently Moody’s magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head.
“So ... do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?”
“I take it the ones he's talking about are the ones that are the chapter title,” Hermione said. Cedric nodded.
“Exactly how heavily punishable is a person who performs these curses?” Harry asked.
“Azkaban for life for using any three,” Cedric said. “And those that do are most often put into the maximum security area – meaning, the place where the prisons are guarded by dementors twenty-four-seven.”
“So, they basically get extreme torture,” Harry said. “I take it that death is thought to be too kind for them.”
“That, and the fact that some think it's too extreme as well,” Cedric said.
Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron’s and Hermione’s.
“I'm not surprised that Ron's hand is in the air – with his father working at the Ministry, he'd know what the curses are. I am a bit surprised that your hand is in the air, though, Hermione,” Luna said.
“I probably read them somewhere in a book,” Hermione said.
“That would explain why you'd know them,” Cedric said.
Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.
“Er,” said Ron tentatively, “my dad told me about one ... is it called the Imperius curse, or something?”
“Well, his dad would have definitely known, and would have mentioned, that one,” Cedric said.
“I take it that you say that he would have mentioned that one because it's something he'd mention a lot,” Hermione said. Cedric nodded.
“That's the curse that Malfoy Senior says he was under when caught with several other Death Eaters,” Cedric said. “Many of the Death Eaters running around probably got off for saying they were under it.”
“Ah, yes,” said Moody appreciatively. “Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius curse.”
“Let me guess, it gave them a lot of trouble because of that little fact you just mentioned,” Harry said. Cedric nodded.
Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large, black spiders were scuttling around inside it.
“Ron's going to love that,” Luna said.
Harry felt Ron recoil slightly next to him – Ron hated spiders.
Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it.
He then pointed his wand at it, and muttered, “Imperio!”
The spider leapt from Moody’s hand on a fine thread of silk, and began to swing backwards and forwards 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 unmistakeably a tap dance.
“He's making it look like it's something fun,” Hermione said, shaking her head.
Everyone was laughing – everyone except Moody.
“Because he knows what the spell does,” Luna said.
“Think it’s funny, do you?” he growled. “You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?”
“I doubt that we would,” Harry said.
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 ...”
A shudder went through everyone at that. Worse than that, they could all see themselves being placed under curse and being forced to do one of the first two options.
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.
“Yeah, that was something that the books I've read about that time have said to be common,” Cedric said. “And, like I said, quite a few actual Death Eaters said that they themselves were under it.”
“Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will”
“I guess that they're no way to find out who's lying and who was acting of their own free will,” Hermione said.
“Not that I know of,” Cedric said. “I would have thought that would have been obvious since I already mentioned that Death Eaters used it before.”
“Oh, well, honestly, for the Death Eaters, I would imagine that it wasn't just saying that they were under it that helped them out,” Hermione said. “I would imagine that more than a few used their money to help them out.”
“Which probably means that there could be, they just never bothered to check to see if they were being truthful or not,” Harry said.
“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.
“We weren't expecting him to do that,” Hermione said.
“I was wondering when it would come up,” Cedric said. “That's one of his favourite phrases to say often.”
Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar. “Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?”
Hermione’s hand flew into the air again and so, to Harry’s slight surprise, did Neville’s.
“Why is that so surprising?” Luna asked.
“Well, so far, Neville doesn't seem to be the type to volunteer information a whole lot,” Harry said. “That, or, somehow, I just don't realize that he might know about what it is Moody's talking about, since he doesn't appear to be show much knowledge yet. Of course, I can't really say what it is, since what I know of him is only what's in the books so far.”
The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology, which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring.
“I wonder which one he'll say,” Hermione said.
“I don't know,” Cedric said.
“Yes?” said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.
“There’s one – the Cruciatus curse,” said Neville, in a small but distinct voice.
Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes.
“Your name’s Longbottom?” he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again.
“Why is he asking that?” Hermione asked. Cedric, who suddenly remembered something, went pale.
“I think I know why,” he said, but he refused to elaborate. Truthfully, he was slightly surprised, not that he had forgotten this little fact he'd just remembered, but that he even remembered it at all, and with just a little hint.
Luna, able to guess that he wasn't going to say anything, went back to the chapter before anyone could press him about what it was that he was hiding.
Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further enquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.
“That amost makes it sound as though it knows what's coming,” Harry said.
“The Cruciatus curse,” said Moody. “Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea,” he said, pointing his wand at the spider. “Engorgio!”
The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretence, Ron pushed his chair backwards, as far away from Moody’s desk as possible.
“Yeah, he must really not want that spider to accidentally come near him,” Hermione said.
Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered: “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 –
“Okay, I think we get the idea,” Harry said, completely white. He wasn't the only one – only Hermione still had colour to her, though it was greenish colour.
“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.
“Don't tell me that he was put under that in some way, shape, or form,” Hermione said, looking over to Cedric, knowing that he was hiding something about that curse and Neville. At least, he had said that he had an idea as to why.
“As far as I know, he himself has never been put under it,” Cedric said. Hermione nodded, relieved a bit, though she still wondered why Neville's reaction was like that. She did not notice the fact that Cedric has been specific about his answer to her. Nor did she realized the fact that just because Cedric hadn't heard about it didn't mean that Neville hadn't been put underneath the curse before.
Moody raised his wand. The spider’s legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.
“The aftershocks,” Luna muttered
“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.”
“Let me guess: the Death Eaters?” Harry said. Cedric nodded.
“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.
“Since I doubt your the only one who knows, it seems that your the only one who has the courage to say what it is,” Cedric said softly.
“Yes?” said Moody, looking at her.
“Avada Kedavra,” Hermione whispered.
Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.
“So they definitely know what it is,” Hermione said. “Does that mean that they didn't know that it was one of the curses heavily punished by law?”
“I don't know,” Cedric said. “I would think that they would, but I have heard of some people being told about that curse as more of a nightmare than anything.”
“Ah,” said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lop-sided mouth.
“Why is he smiling about that?” Hermione said, frowning.
“I don't know,” Cedric said, though he too frowned. As far as he knew, Moody was no fan of these curses – using, speaking favourably, or smiling about them were things that Cedric would not expect him to do.
“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.
Harry cocked his head, wondering why he was feeling that.
“Avada Kedavra!” Moody roared.
There was a flash of blinding green light
Harry's eyes went wide. There it was again, the mention of the blinding green light that he remembered seeing any time he tried to remember what happened to his parents. Suddenly, like with his book self, he felt a sense of foreboding go through him, and he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to hear what was going to happen or not.
He wasn't given much of a choice, though, as Luna, unaware of his thoughts, continued reading.
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.
Harry's face went blank, hiding his inner turmoil from the others at hearing what the spell actually did. At the moment, most of him wished that he didn't know what the spell actually did. Well he thought dully at least now I know what it was that killed my parents, as well as what it was that killed that Muggle Frank in the first chapter. The knowledge didn't do anything for him expect make him wish he was still ignorant about it.
Several of the girls stifled cries;
“I have the feeling that they weren't expecting that to happen,” Hermione said quietly, her eyes on Harry. Like him, when the chapter mentioned there being a flashing of blinding green light, she remembered what it had said about his memories of how his parents died, and was a bit worried about how he was taking it. She couldn't see what his emotions were, however.
Ron had thrown himself backwards and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded towards him.
Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.
“Not nice,” he said calmly. “Not pleasant. And there’s no counter-curse. There’s no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he’s sitting right in front of me.”
Harry felt his face redden as Moody’s eyes (both of them) looked into his own.
“I...survived that?” Harry said, surprised at the revelation.
“Apparently,” Hermione said. “In fact, that's probably why you have the title you do. I mean, it's one thing to have simply survived Riddle's attempt on your life. It's another thing entirely to do that when the curse used to kill you is apparently unsurvivable if it shouldn't hit you.”
“Yeah, it does give a whole new meaning to that title, doesn't it,” Luna said.
“But, how do we know for sure that's the actual spell I survived,” Harry said. “I mean, I barely have memory of that night, and what memory I do doesn't say anything about the spell he used on me, and, well, Riddle really can't talk about it to others, so I don't see how they can know.”
“If they have his wand, they might have been able to tell, but it appears that he has it,” Cedric muttered, thinking about what Harry said. “So, that can't have been it...”
“Whoever it was that released any of the information about this to others, most likely just assumed that's what happened,” Hermione said. “And, they must have had some pretty strong evidence for it as well.”
“They might have assumed it because Riddle was known to like using that curse when it came to killing someone,” Luna suggested, before going to back to the book.
He could feel everyone else looking around at him, too. Harry stared at the blank blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really seeing it at all ...
So that was how his parents had died ... exactly like that spider. Had they been unblemished and unmarked, too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?
“I know, based on what I've heard about what my mother said, that it's probably what she'd seen and heard,” Harry said, remembering the Dementor's effect on him in the last book, and what they forced him to hear.
Harry had been picturing his parents’ deaths over and over again for three years now, ever since he had found out they had been murdered, ever since he’d found out what had happened that night: how Wormtail had betrayed his parents’ whereabouts to Voldemort, who had come to find them at their cottage. How Voldemort had killed Harry’s father first. How James Potter had tried to hold him off, while he shouted at his wife to take Harry and run ... and Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so that he could kill Harry ... how she had begged him to kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her son ... and so Voldemort had murdered her, too, before turning his wand on Harry …
“I hate that we have to be reminded of this,” Hermione muttered.
Harry knew these details because he had heard his parents’ voices when he had fought the Dementors last year – for that was the terrible power of the Dementors: to force their victim to relive the worst memories of their life, and drown, powerless, in their own despair …
“A rather apt description of what they can do,” Luna said.
Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it seemed to Harry. With a massive effort, he pulled himself back to the present, and listened to what Moody was saying.
“Especially since it's probably important,” Harry said.
“Avada Kedavra’s a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it – you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I’d get so much as a nose-bleed.”
“Not that any of us should test it,” Hermione said.
“But that doesn’t matter. I’m not here to teach you how to do it.
“Now, if there’s no counter-curse, why am I showing you? Because you’ve got to know.”
“That's true,” Cedric said. “No matter how unpleasant they are, you do need to know them.”
“You’ve got to appreciate what the worst is. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” he roared, and the whole class jumped again.
“I wonder if we'll ever become immune to that,” Harry said.
“If he says it enough times, and in a loud voice, maybe,” Hermione said.
“Now ... those three curses – Avada Kedavra, Imperius and Cruciatus”
“Why is the one curse being called my it's incantation over it's actual name?” Harry asked.
“Because it's known by the incantation more than it's actual name,” Cedric said, shrugging. He knew that it was a simple reason, but it was the reason nonetheless.
“– are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That’s what you’re up against. That’s what I’ve got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practise constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills ... copy this down ...”
“And now it's time for note taking,” Luna said.
“At least the demonstration part is over with,” Hermione said.
They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang – but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth.
“I have the feeling that what's being said isn't something that should be said about it,” Harry said.
Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices – “Did you see it twitch?” “– and when he killed it – just like that!”
“Yeah, they, at the very least, were not emotionally mature enough to know that those curses are not the type of curses to be talking about in awed voices,” Cedric said, shaking his head.
They were talking about the lesson, Harry thought, as though it had been some sort of spectacular show, but he hadn’t found it very entertaining –
“Because it wasn't,” Hermione and Harry both said.
and nor, it seemed, had Hermione.
“It seems that your book selves think the same way that you two do,” Cedric said.
“Hurry up,” she said tensely to Harry and Ron.
“Not the ruddy library again?” said Ron.
“One, the library isn't ruddy, and two, I've yet to ask them to go to the library so far, so Ron shouldn't assume that I automatically want to take him there,” Hermione said, frowning.
“What do you think you're telling them to hurry up for?” Luna asked, though she didn't need to. Being the one reading the chapter meant that she was able to see what reasoning the book Hermione had. She was just curious to know if the one in the room listening as she read was have the same wavelength as her book self.
“Neville,” Hermione said. “After seeing his reaction to that one curse, if I'm any kind of friend to him – and I do believe I am – I'd want to make sure that he's all right.”
“No,” said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side passage. “Neville.”
Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus curse.
“Did he ever lose it?” Harry asked.
“Chances are that he didn't,” Luna said.
“Neville?” Hermione said gently.
Neville looked around.
“Oh, hello,” he said, his voice much higher than usual. “Interesting lesson, wasn’t it? I wonder what’s for dinner, I’m – I’m starving, aren’t you?”
“I don't think that the curse was one he should have named, much less seen, if he has this reaction to it,” Hermione said.
“Neville, are you all right?” said Hermione.
“Oh, yes, I’m fine,” Neville gabbled, in the same unnaturally high voice. “Very interesting dinner – I mean lesson – what’s for eating?”
Ron gave Harry a startled look.
“You know, that almost makes it sound as though he's just realizing what effect the one spell had on Neville,” Hermione said, frowning. “I mean, did he not pay attention.”
“Neville, what –?”
But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping towards them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively,
“We're probably afraid of what it is that he's going to say,” Harry said.
but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.
“It’s all right, sonny,” he said to Neville. “Why don’t you come up to my office? Come on ... we can have a cup of tea ...”
Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody.
“I can't say that I blame him,” Hermione said. “He seems to be rather scary, after all.”
He neither moved nor spoke.
Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. “You all right, are you, Potter?”
“Yes,” said Harry, almost defiantly.
“I wonder why you were like that,” Luna muttered.
“Probably to show that I can handle it,” Harry said. “And, as much as I hate to say it, it's kind of true, especially when it compares to how Neville is handling seeing the one curse being used.”
Moody’s blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry.
Then he said, “You’ve got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve got to know. No point pretending ... well ... come on, Longbottom, I’ve got some books that might interest you.”
Neville looked pleadingly at Harry, Ron and Hermione,
“I don't think that any of us will do anything,” Hermione said. “I mean, we can't exactly stop a teacher from talking to a student in their office.”
but they didn’t say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, one of Moody’s gnarled hands on his shoulder.
“Poor Neville,” Luna said.
“What was that about?” said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.
“I don't know,” Hermione said. “I just...I just know that it's somehow connected to that curse, but how...”
“I don’t know,” said Hermione, looking pensive.
“I'm probably wondering what it was about that curse that had Neville acting the way he did,” Hermione said.
“Some lesson, though, eh?” said Ron to Harry, as they set off for the Great Hall. “Fred and George were right, weren’t they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn’t he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right –“
“He did not just say that to Harry, did he?” Hermione said. “How tackless.”
Harry frowned at her, though he did agree. However, he didn't think she had a right to get on Ron's case for it when it was already shown that she could be just as bad, especially if it came to trying to prove someone she didn't like wrong, such as Trelawney. The incident in the previous book, concerning Lavender's pet's death sprang to his mind.
Of course, he would admit that it was her book self who had done that, not her herself, and it was already showing that the two were slightly different from each other. The Hermione reading with them was able to understand that the way she was acting in the books was wrong, and he knew already that she was planning on changing the way she was, even if she didn't look too excited about the prospect.
But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Harry’s face,
“At least he knows that he said the wrong thing,” Luna said.
and didn’t speak again until they reached the Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better make a start on Professor Trelawney’s predictions tonight, as they would take hours.
“Just make it up,” Cedric said.
“You really should,” Hermione agreed.
Hermione did not join in with Harry and Ron’s conversation during dinner, but ate furiously fast, and then left for the library again.
“I wonder just how far I've gotten into whatever research I've been doing,” Luna said.
“Well, if I went to the library every day this week, and didn't have much homework to do, I'm probably close to finished,” Hermione said. “After all, it's not like I'm reading everything, just those that will have to do with House-elves, assuming that's why I'm going to the library as I am, and I have the feeling that it is the reason why.”
Harry and Ron walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry, who had been thinking of nothing else all through dinner, now raised the subject of the Unforgivable Curses himself.
“I wonder what it is about the curses that has me willing to bring them up,” Harry said.
“Wouldn’t Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we’d seen the curses?” Harry asked, as they approached the Fat Lady.
“Technically, no,” Cedric said. “The curses are only punishable if used on a human – and, of course, by that, I mean witch or wizard. Anything non-human, and the rules don't exist.”
“Yeah, probably,” said Ron. “But Dumbledore’s always done things his way, hasn’t he, and Moody’s been getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and asks questions later – look at his dustbins.”
“That is true,” Cedric said.
“Balderdash.”
The Fat Lady swung forwards to reveal the entrance hole, and they climbed into Gryffindor common room, which was crowded and noisy.
“Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?” said Harry.
“I s’pose,” Ron groaned.
“Well, you do still have three days before it's due to work on it,” Cedric said, sounding a but amused at their reaction to having to do it.
“Yeah, but we really should just get it done with, that way we don't have to deal with it during the weekend,” Harry said.
They went up to the dormitory to fetch their books and charts, and found Neville there alone, sitting on his bed, reading. He looked a good deal calmer than at the end of Moody’s lesson,
“I guess that tea did him some good,” Luna said.
though still not entirely normal. His eyes were rather red.
“You all right, Neville?” Harry asked him.
“Oh yes,” said Neville, “I’m fine, thanks. Just reading this book Professor Moody lent me ...”
He held up the book: Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their Properties.
“Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I’m really good at Herbology,” Neville said. There was a faint note of pride in his voice that Harry had rarely heard there before.
“With what's been said about him before, I can't say that I'm surprised that Neville never showed any pride before,” Hermione said. “So far, it's not like anyone actually ever says that he's good at anything.”
“He thought I’d like this.”
Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said, Harry thought, had been a very tactful way of cheering Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was good at anything. It was the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have done.
“Actually, Professor Lupin pretty much showed that he thought that Neville was good by calling upon him in class,” Cedric pointed out. “Remember, that first lesson of the previous book, how Professor Lupin pretty much said that he was sure that Neville would perform wonderfully.”
“And he did, didn't he?” Hermione said, thinking. “I wonder...” She didn't elaborate.
Harry and Ron took their copies of Unfogging the Future back down to the common room, found a table and set to work on their predictions for the coming month. An hour later, they had made very little progress, though their table was littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and Harry’s brain was as fogged as though it had been filled with the fumes from Professor Trelawney’s fire.
“I don't think we decide to just make it up,” Harry said, shaking his head.
“I have the feeling that you will soon,” Luna said.
“Does that mean that we will,” Harry joked, knowing that, since she had the book, she could have gone ahead a bit and already seen that they would. She didn't answer him, though, going back to the chapter.
“I haven’t got a clue what this lot’s supposed to mean,” he said, staring down at a long list of calculations.
“You know,” said Ron, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration,
“So, it probably looks like mine,” Harry said.
“I think it’s back to the old Divination standby.”
“What – make it up?”
“That's most likely the best way to deal with homework from that class,” Cedric said.
“Yeah,” said Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink and starting to write.
“Next Monday,” he said, as he scribbled, “I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter.” He looked up at Harry. “You know her – just put in loads of misery, she’ll lap it up.”
“Yes, you need to make sure that you do that,” Cedric said.
“Right,” said Harry, crumpling up his first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering first-years into the fire.
“I wonder if I made it,” Harry said.
“OK ... on Monday, I will be in danger of – er – burns.”
“You will, actually,” Hermione said. “Cares of Magical Creatures is Monday, meaning that you'll see the Skrewts again.”
“I really hope that doesn't happen, then,” Harry said. He wasn't looking forward to being burned.
“Yeah, you will be,” said Ron darkly, “we’re seeing the Skrewts again on Monday. OK, Tuesday, I’ll ... erm ...”
“Lose a treasured possession,” said Harry, who was flicking through Unfogging the Future for ideas.
“Good one,” said Ron, copying it down. “Because of ... erm ... Mercury. Why don’t you get stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend?”
“That definitely won't happen,” Harry said. “You and Ron are really my only friends, so...”
“Yeah ... cool ...” said Harry, scribbling it down, “because ... Venus is in the twelfth house.”
“And on Wednesday, I think I’ll come off worst in a fight.”
“Aaah, I was going to have a fight. OK, I’ll lose a bet.”
“Yeah, you’ll be betting I’ll win my fight ...”
They continued to make up predictions (which grew steadily more tragic)
“Yes, that's probably the best way to do it,” Cedric said. “Just start out with some bad problems, steadily move towards injuries, and finish off with a horrible death.”
for another hour, while the common room around them slowly emptied as people went up to bed. Crookshanks wandered over to them, leapt lightly into an empty chair, and stared inscrutably at Harry, rather as Hermione might look if she knew they weren’t doing their homework properly.
There was some laughter at that.
“I wonder if I taught him to do that, or if he just picked it up,” Hermione said.
Staring around the room, trying to think of a kind of misfortune he hadn’t yet used, Harry saw Fred and George sitting together against the opposite wall, heads together, quills out, poring over a single piece of parchment.
“Well, that's unusual,” Harry said. “I wonder what they're doing.”
“Whatever it is, it most likely doesn't have to do with the tournament or Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes,” Cedric said. “Lee Jordan would most likely be there if it did.”
It was most unusual to see Fred and George hidden away in a corner and working silently; they usually liked to be in the thick of things, and the noisy centre of attention. There was something secretive about the way they were working on the piece of parchment, and Harry was reminded of how they had sat together writing something back at The Burrow.
“Which means that it could be a continuance of whatever they were doing then,” Hermione said.
He had thought then that it was another order form for Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, but it didn’t look like that this time; if it had been, they would surely have let Lee Jordan in on the joke.
“Which is what gives us our knowledge that it's not what they're doing,” Harry said.
He wondered whether it had anything to do with entering the Triwizard Tournament.
As Harry watched, George shook his head at Fred, scratched something out with his quill and said, in a very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the almost deserted room, “No – that sounds like we’re accusing him. Got to be careful ...”
“That tells us that whatever it is has to do with someone...” Harry said.
“Remember the match?” Hermione said. “The bet they made, and won. Remember how there was plenty of leprechaun gold around?”
“You think Bagman shirked on the deal, and paid them with leprechaun gold instead,” Cedric said.
“It would explain why they're being quiet, deflected on the questions from their mother, and yet have not done what you'd think they'd do once here at Hogwarts,” Hermione said. “It could also explain who George is talking about when saying 'him'.”
Then George looked over and saw Harry watching him. Harry grinned, and quickly returned to his predictions – he didn’t want George to think he was eavesdropping.
“Despite the fact that you kind of are,” Cedric said.
Shortly after that, the twins rolled up their parchment, said goodnight and went off to bed.
Fred and George had been gone ten minutes or so when the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room, carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked, in the other.
“I think I finished,” Hermione said.
Crookshanks arched his back, purring.
“I think Crookshanks is glad that your back,” Harry said.
“Hello,” she said, “I’ve just finished!”
“So have I!” said Ron triumphantly, throwing down his quill.
Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair and pulled Ron’s predictions towards her.
“I'm probably wondering what he came up with,” Hermione said. “That, or I'm just checking it out.”
“Not going to have a very good month, are you?” she said sardonically, as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.
“Well, with who wants to know, it makes sense that he wouldn't,” Cedric said.
“Ah well, at least I’m forewarned,” Ron yawned.
“You seem to be drowning twice,” said Hermione.
“Sounds a bit like a rookie mistake,” Luna said.
“I guess that it's a good thing for him that I'm looking through it,” Hermione said.
“Oh, am I?” said Ron, peering down at his predictions. “I’d better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging Hippogriff.”
“I wonder which of the two he'll change,” Cedric said.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit obvious you’ve made these up?” said Hermione.
“And you'd think that you would have known that it wouldn't matter considering which class it it,” Luna said.
“I suppose so,” Hermione said.
“How dare you!” said Ron, in mock outrage.
“I don't think he can be seriously outraged at you because he knows that it's true,” Cedric said.
“That, and either your not all that serious, or he's not being serious,” Harry said.
“We’ve been working like house-elves here!”
“I don't think that's the best thing to say to me right now,” Hermione said.
“I don't think so either,” Cedric said.
Hermione raised her eyebrows.
“It’s just an expression,” said Ron hastily.
“But not one he should be saying with how I've been thinking when it comes to them,” Hermione said.
Harry laid down his quill, too, having just finished predicting his own death by decapitation.
“Such a lovely way to die,” Luna said, shaking her head.
“What’s in the box?” he asked, pointing at it.
“Funny you should ask,” said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid, and showed them the contents.
Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colours, but all bearing the same letters: S.P.E.W.
“ 'Spew'?” Cedric asked.
“I don't think that it's quite that,” Hermione said.
“That's what it sounds like, though,” Cedric pointed out.
“I think that you should have thought of an acronym that didn't make people think of an unpleasant body function,” Harry said.
“ 'Spew'?” said Harry, picking up a badge and looking at it. “What’s this about?”
“Not spew,” said Hermione impatiently. “It’s S – P – E – W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.”
“I wonder if that was the best I could do or not,” Hermione said.
“I wouldn't be surprised if it's not what you wanted at first, and you just went with it because it has what you need to tell everyone about what your message is,” Cedric said.
“Never heard of it,” said Ron.
“Well, of course you haven’t,” said Hermione briskly, “I’ve only just started it.”
“Let me guess. If your telling this to them, you've found your new members,” Luna aid.
“I have the feeling that's true,” Hermione said. “And I have the feeling that I'm not going to accept them not becoming members, either.”
“That doesn't surprise me all that much,” Cedric said. “Since they're your friends, it makes sense that you wouldn't accept them not joining in.”
“Truthfully, I have the feeling that neither of us will actually join for any reason other than to keep you from bugging us about it,” Harry said.
“Yeah?” said Ron in mild surprise. “How many members have you got?”
“Well – if you two join – three,” said Hermione.
“And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew', do you?” said Ron.
“No, I have the feeling that I won't force you to do it,” Hermione said. “I'll be disgruntled about it, but I won't actually force you to do it.”
“S – P – E – W!” said Hermione hotly.
“I guess I'm going to be very touchy about what it's called,” Hermione said.
“I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status – but it wouldn’t fit. So that’s the heading of our manifesto.”
“Yeah, you won't be getting a lot of members,” Cedric said. “Not many will care, not even Muggleborns, as much as I hate to admit it. Truthfully, the best you'd be able to do is get some people interested in not wanting them to be abused or used as pawns.”
She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them. “I’ve been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries.”
“I think that right there says that, unless I wanted to know, I bother looking it through,” Hermione said, shaking her head. “In fact, I probably won't even speak to an elf about it, no matter when I may get the chance, because the information wouldn't come from a book, and, as far as my book self cares, I probably think that they're just brainwashed, and, therefore, have nothing true to say.”
“In other words, you'd be just as bad as the pure-bloods who abuse them are, only in the other extreme,” Luna said.
“Exactly,” Hermione said.
“I can’t believe no one’s done anything about it before now.”
“Hermione – open your ears,” said Ron loudly. “They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!”
“It doesn't fit in my world view, though, so it can't be completely true,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes at what an idiot her book self was being. She just knew that her book self would pretty much do something that would show that that she wasn't going to like what he said.
“Our short-term aims,” said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn’t heard a word,
“That doesn't surprise me a that much,” Cedric said.
“are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand-use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they’re shockingly under-represented.”
“Because they don't want it,” Cedric said. “After all, there is no law against them having someone in there,.”
“And how do we do all this?” Harry asked.
“We start by recruiting members,” said Hermione happily. “I thought two Sickles to join – that buys a badge – and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You’re treasurer, Ron – I’ve got you a collecting tin upstairs – and Harry, you’re secretary, so you might want to write down everything I’m saying now, as a record of our first meeting.”
“So, not only are we your members, but we're also part of the board,” Harry said.
“Seems so,” Hermione said.
“I have the feeing that you're not going to be happy since we won't show the proper amount of enthusiasm towards being apart of this little club,” Harry said.
There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the pair of them, and Harry sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione, and amusement at the look on Ron’s face.
“Makes me wish I could see what his face looks like,” Hermione said.
The silence was broken, not by Ron,
“Which is probably a good thing since his response most likely will not e the nicest response in the world,” Harry said.
who in any case looked as though he was temporarily dumbstruck, but by a soft tap, tap on the window. Harry looked across the now empty common room, and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.
“Hedwig! She's back,” Hermione said, looking happy. Harry was equally happy about it.
“Hedwig!” he shouted, and he launched himself out of his chair and across the room to pull open the window.
Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room and landed on the table on top of Harry’s predictions.
“About time!” said Harry, hurrying after her.
“She’s got an answer!” said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig’s leg.
“Well, it does make sense that she would,” Luna said.
Harry hastily untied it and sat down to read it, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto his knee, hooting softly.
“What does it say?” Hermione asked breathlessly.
The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry.
“Which will not make me all that happy,” Harry said.
“Yeah, if he was in a hurry to write it, then chances are that, most likely, it was written that way because he was in a great hurry,” Hermione said.
Harry read it aloud:
Harry –
I’m flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumours that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore – they’re saying he’s got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he’s reading the signs, even if no one else is.
I’ll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry.
Sirius
Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione, who stared back at him.
“Yeah, that is surprising to learn, since I can't see it being a good idea for Sirius to come back,” Hermione said.
“Especially considering the fact that he's still wanted,” Hermione said.
“Dumbledore’s reading what signs?” said Ron, looking perplexed. “Harry – what’s up?”
For Harry had just hit himself in the forehead with his fist, jolting Hedwig out of his lap.
“I take it that you wish you hadn't said anything because now Sirius s coming back and you're afraid that he'll end up getting himself caught somehow,” Cedric said.
“Yeah, and, if it happens, it'll be all my fault,” Harry said.
“Well, it won't because, for all you know, he could have decided to come back anyway,” Luna said.
“That is true, but I don't think that it's something that'll actually occur to me,” Harry said.
“I shouldn’t’ve told him!” Harry said furiously.
“You needed to tell someone, though,” Hermione pointed out.
“What are you on about?” said Ron, in surprise.
“It’s made him think he’s got to come back!” said Harry,
“I doubt that's what's actually did it,” Hermione said. “He even said it himself that it's just one thing in the mist of a few other things that's going on.”
now slamming his fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron’s chair, hooting indignantly. “Coming back, because he thinks I’m in trouble! And there’s nothing wrong with me!”
“But the dream that you had was important, and you should have told him what it meant,” Cedric pointed out.
“And I haven’t got anything for you,” Harry snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, “you’ll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food.”
“You shouldn't be taking your anger out on her,” Luna said crossly, frowning over to Harry.
“Sorry,” Harry told her.
Hedwig gave him an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing him around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.
“As she should,” Luna said.
“Harry,” Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice.
“I'm probably hoping that I'll be able to convince him that Sirius will be okay,” Hermione said.
“I’m going to bed,” said Harry shortly. “See you in the morning.”
“I don't think that I want to hear it,” Harry said. “No offence to you.”
“None taken. I can understand why you're so worried about him,” Hermione said.
Upstairs in the dormitory he pulled on his pyjamas and got into his four-poster, but he didn’t feel remotely tired.
If Sirius came back and got caught, it would be his, Harry’s, fault. Why hadn’t he kept his mouth shut? A few seconds’ pain and he’d had to blab ... if he’d just had the sense to keep it to himself …
“It would have done no good,” Hermione said. “Something else would probably end up coming up, after all.”
“Yeah, especially with the tournament going on and all,” Cedric said. Until it was known who was chosen, he wasn't going to be going to be discounting Harry ending up in the tournament somehow.
He heard Ron come up into the dormitory a short while later, but did not speak to him. For a long time, Harry lay staring up at the dark canopy of his bed. The dormitory was completely silent, and, had he been less preoccupied, Harry would have realised that the absence of Neville’s usual snores meant that he was not the only one lying awake.
“I hope Nevile's all right,” Hermione said, having the feeling that it was due to nightmares that was the reason why he wasn't asleep.
“That's the end of the chapter,” Luna said, handing the book over to Harry, who turned to the next page.