Endgame

Chapter 46

Defence against the dark arts class - Hallie's fourth year

"Alastor Moody, ex auror and your new defence against the dark arts teacher."

Hallie noticed he was a very stern man who looked like he didn't like any nonsense. His clothes, which were burned with a few holes, juxtaposed from that of Remus Lupin's, their teacher last year. This man didn't have a friendly exterior, as plainly described by the leather studded boots and jacket he wore. The most impressionable thing about this man was his quizzical eye, that darted around the room - perhaps looking for its next victim.

"When it comes to the Dark Arts," he said while Hallie took in the leather furnishings on the shirt he was wearing. "I believe in a practical approach."

Both the bleak exterior of the walls, which were devoid of any colour other than black, and the heightened sense of tension that had entered the room as soon as Moody spoke made everyone a lot more tense.

This man wasn't to be messed with.

"How many unforgivable curses are there?" He questioned.

Hallie shuttered at the thought of learning them. She believed that they weren't meant to study them until their sixth year at Hogwarts, which was two years away. Hermione was the only one brave enough to raise her hand, despite the room being full of Gryffindors.

"Three, sir," she said, her voice sounding a lot pitchier than usual, probably due to the fear surrounding how awful these curses were.

"And they are so named?" He asked, writing it in chalk on the board.

Well that much is pretty obvious, thought Hallie.

"They are unforgivable," Hermione stated nervously. "Any use of one of them will earn you—"

"A life sentence in Azkaban."

"Now the ministry think that you're apparently too young to understand what these curses do," he said with authority in his voice. "I believe you need to know what they are, what they do, and what you're up against!"

"You need to be prepared!" He shouted, making Dean Thomas look completely aghast.

"Weasley, get up!" He shouted at Ron who looked as if he had been shot back by the stunning charm.

He stood up straight away. "Er, yes?"

"Give us a curse," he said, staring straight into Ron's eyes. Hallie noticed there wasn't a flicker of emotion in Moody's as he waited for an answer.

"Well my dad did tell me about one," Ron said nervously. "The imperius curse?"

"Oh yeah your father would know about that one," he said. "Gave the ministry a hard time a while ago."

Hallie watched as Moody walked over to a glass container that was sitting on a tattered old wooden desk that looked like it had been there since the founders at Hogwarts were at school. She flicked her eyes towards the other glasses that contained all other creatures and plants. Moody finally picked out a spider, and enlarged it to double its size.

"Imperio," he stated, and the spider began to flick across the room. Moody had total control over what it was doing. A lot of people began laughing as they watched him put it near a lot of students. Hallie, of course, was not bothered by this state of imprudent nonsense. At the end of the day, that was still an unforgivable curse he was using.

"Smart little creature," he said heartily, hiding the sneer of both delight and hunger behind his eyes. "Lists of witches and wizards fully believe that they only done you-know-who's bidding under the influence of the imperius curse. The problem is, how do we sort out the liars?"