Origami // Draco Malfoy

Chapter 23: Stop It

The holidays flew by in a rush. Some students went back to their families to celebrate New Year, but I stayed at the castle. Luckily, Padma and Parvati stayed as well so we spent that day playing games like Wizard's Chess and Gobstones.

Classes were now picking back up again. I had hoped we would start with something calm to ease into the busy class schedule, but of course, we had to start with Defence Against the Dark Arts. Moody was explaining ways to resist the Imperius Curse when Padma leaned towards me to whisper something in my ear,

               "So, are you going to talk to Dean any time soon? It's been two weeks."

               "Not this again," I sighed annoyedly.

This wasn't the first time she had mentioned Dean. In fact, she and Cho had been encouraging me to talk to him since Boxing Day. I accidentally let it slip that we had kissed, and Padma got so excited, she sent Cho an owl to tell her all about it. I didn't mind though; it was time they knew. They reassured me that first kisses were most likely always awkward and that such a thing shouldn't stop me from talking to him and working things out, though I kept telling them it wasn't even about the kiss. It was about Luna.

               "Well, Luna said she didn't mind what they did. Maybe you should take her word for it," Padma suggested.

               "He's a bully, Padma," I whispered curtly, "I'm not talking to him anymore."

               "All right," she reacted in a defending tone, "I'm just saying you should try to-"

               "Miss Patil," Mad-Eye stopped in the middle of his lecture about the history of the Imperius Curse and instead, started lecturing the girl next to me, "Do you require a microphone because you clearly want to speak over me."

               "I'm sorry, Professor," she apologised. I couldn't help but giggle at how terrified Padma looked. No matter how much everyone admired Moody, the man still scared every single student witless. And it wasn't just because of his looks. He felt that D.A.D.A. classes should be practical instead of theoretical, which often led to some uncomfortable situations. Nonetheless, I still looked up to him as a teacher. He had been a fantastic Auror, and his knowledge of the Dark Arts was remarkable, to say the least.

               As we were all leaving the classroom, Moody called after me, "Miss Willows, a word."

               "Is there anything wrong, Professor?"

               Professor Moody walked towards me in a lumbering sort of way while trying to balance himself on his wooden leg. "I was just wondering how your further preparations for your O.W.L.S. were going?" He asked in a croaky voice.

               "Excuse me, Sir?" I asked, staring directly into his fake eye.

               "You know. Your extra research on unforgivable curses," he explained and gave me a small grin.

At the start of this school year, I had asked him more information about the Ministry's insights on said curses. Without any judgement in his voice, he had explained to me that the Ministry doesn't track the use of unforgivable curses. It only tracks minors using magic outside of school. So, if you were to use an unforgivable curse inside the walls of the castle, there was no way for anyone to know what you did. "You can torture your classmates all you want," he had joked.

               "Oh, it's going well. I'm actually focussing on Memory Charms right now."

Well, that was a complete lie.