𝙀𝙐𝙋𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙄𝘼 ➣ 𝐷. 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦✔

𝟐𝟑 | 𝑴𝑶𝑶𝑫𝒀 & 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑼𝑵𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑮𝑰𝑽𝑨𝑩𝑳𝑬 𝑪𝑼𝑹𝑺𝑬𝑺

"𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗬. 𝗘𝗫-𝗔𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗥, 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗬 malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." The man writes his name on the small chalk board behind him before turning back to us, his hands behind his back. "I'm here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story, good bye, the end. Any questions?" Everyone is silent so Moody continues. "When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

"Three, sir," Granger answers. I feel my throat tightening slightly as Moody turns to the board and begins writing down the word "unforgivable".

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them will--."

"Earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban; correct. Now, the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different! You need to know what you're up against, be prepared. You need to find another place to put your gum besides the underside of your desk, Mr. Finnegan."

I furrow my brows and turn my head in the direction everyone else is looking to see a Gryffindor boy had been, in fact, about to put his gum on the underside of his desk. I faintly hear him muttering something about how Moody has eyes in the back of his head before suddenly, the man spins around and chucks a piece of chalk at him. Beside me, Draco leans back away from the boy, his back resting on my shoulder for a moment. "And hear across classroms. So, which curse shall we see first?"

Everything settles down after a moment, but the air is still filled with tension. Draco looks at me with faintly pink cheeks and mutters an apology. I just shake my head to let him know that it's not a big deal. I jump a little when Professor Moody shouts Weasley's name. The boy looks frightened when Moody tells him to stand, doing so slowly. "Give us a curse."

"Well, my dad did tell me about one. The Imperius Curse."

Moody nods and takes a step back. "Your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago; perhaps this will show you why."

My eyes follow the man as he walks back to the desk in the front of the room, reaching into one of the glass containers. When he pulls his hand out with a Giant Tailless Whip Scorpion on it, my skin crawls. Those things have always given me the creeps. I can't stand scorpions, much less scorpions that look like they crawled straight from the darkest depths of Azkaban or the dark forest. They are my second biggest fear after heights.

Moody points his wand at the bug and mutters a curse, making it bigger. And I mean like twice as big to the point that part of its body is spilling over the professor's hand. Professor Moody shouts, "Imperio," before making the bug fly over to a table with two Gryffindork boys at it. Draco is snickering beside me, and as much as I want to join him, seeing that insect slowly make it's way closer to me is frightening. Moody makes the scorpion jump from one table to another, and at one point, I see it land on Crabbe's face. When it lands on Weasley's head, I almost crack a smile, but my happiness is short-lived when all of a sudden, it comes flying toward Draco and I. All my senses are jumbled, and as my fight or flight instinct kicks in, I instinctively grab Draco's hand, squeezing it. I stay put in my seat as the bug lands on Draco's face, making him panic. He cries for me to get it off, but I'm to afraid to touch it.

"Talented, isn't she? What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window?" The bug suddenly leaves Draco's face, hitting a large magnifying glass on the way to the window. Our hands are still linked, but neither one of us makes a move to pull away from the other. A small noise comes from the insect as it falls to a bucket of water, flailing desperately to keep from falling in, the only thing holding it up being Professor Moody. "Drown herself?"