The Allure of Darkness

Champion

Defense Against The Dark Arts [September 5th]

Hadrian watched the new DADA professor with mild interest. He'd only caught a slight glimpse of Professor Moody at the welcome feast, and he certainly looked different than the defense professors they'd had in the previous years–which was saying a lot, considering one of the professors was a full-fledged werewolf.

For one, the man had a magical glass eye that Hadrian couldn't quite tear his eyes off of. It spun around, surveying the entire room with a suspicious look–if glass eyes could even look suspicious in the first place

According to Draco, their current professor was considered to be the most famous Auror of all time. He'd caught a countless number of Death Eaters and other Dark Wizards, and Hadrian had heard his father cursing Moody a multitude of times in the past. But based on Draco's somehow endless knowledge of the gossip mill, the man was so insane in his war tactics and paranoid defense strategies that he'd earned the nickname "Mad-Eye Moody".

Hadrian didn't need any further convincing of the reasoning behind his professor's nickname when the man announced that today their lesson would be consisting of Unforgiveable Curses. His eyebrow had risen slightly at that, surprised the strictly regulated Hogwarts curriculum would allow students, let alone fourth-years, to learn about the darkest spells in the wizarding world. He smirked a little. At least the darkest spells the general population knew about.

He couldn't control his incredulous expression when Moody further explained that the lesson wouldn't be reading about the unforgivables, but about experiencing them.

"But Professor Moody, I don't want to experience the killing curse," Blaise had said quite plainly, "I don't want to die. At least not before I can get Lisa Turpin from Ravenclaw to let me snog her in the Library."

"Don't be stupid," Moody had spat while the rest of the class snickered, "I'll be demonstrating the Cruciatus curse and the killing curse on these spiders," He gestured to his desk where there were indeed a few jars of spiders waiting, as though it were a much more rational idea.

After watching Moody torture and kill a few spiders, even Draco had looked slightly green in the face. Destiny bit her lip and glanced at Neville who had turned a shade of deathly white after the entire ordeal. She reached for his hand under the desk, but Neville jerked away from her. He didn't look at her the entire lesson.

Hadrian studied his nails in disinterest when the Professor walked to the front of the room and glared at the rest of the class.

"Can any of you idiots tell me what the third, and final unforgiveable curse is?" He barked, his magical eye sweeping across the room.

"The Imperius curse, Sir," Theodore Nott, another Slytherin in their year, spoke quietly, as though he were afraid of attracting any unwanted attention. As the professor kept his beady eyes trained on him, Nott hurried to add, "It lets you control someone else's mind."

"Correct, Mr. Nott," Moody grunted, "Five points to Slytherin." He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms, fixing the class with an unfriendly glare, "Today, you'll see how it feels to experience the Imperius curse firsthand."

"You can't mean you're going to cast the curse on us!" Alexander Potter squeaked, going pale at the mere notion.

"Of course, I am," Moody scoffed, "How else would you learn? When a Death Eater is making you jump off a cliff?" He shook his head and procured his wand, pointing it straight at Potter, "Now Mr. Potter, let's see if your supposed Chosen One reputation lives up to resisting the Imperius curse."

It turned out Alexander Potter could not, as a matter of fact, resist the Imperius.

Hadrian watched amusedly as the boy twirled around the classroom dancing to a tune seeming to only exist in his own head. The entire class laughed as Potter sashayed and pirouetted around the room–or at least he tried to.