𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 | 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿

Words Unspoken & Champions Chosen

CHAPTER SIX:

Third Person P.O.V.:

"That was a lie, Harry," said Hermione sharply over breakfast the next morning. "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it."

Harry had just joined Charlie, Hermione, and Ron in the Great Hall. He told them that the reason for him being late was because he wrote to Sirius early in the morning, assuring him that nothing was wrong, and that he must've been imagining his scar hurting; everything was fine, no need for the return.

"So what?" said Harry. "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."

"And you honestly think he's going to believe that?" Charlie questioned, "I mean for goodness sakes, Sirius is a lot of things, but he's not an idiot."

"Let's just drop it," Ron said, stuffing his face full of egg and sausage.

——————————————

Harry spent majority of that day worrying about Sirius. He never did express his concern with words, but it was visible from the look on his face.

As for Charlie, he preoccupied himself with helping Hermione with S.P.E.W. for a good portion of the day. He figured that it was best to remain on Hermione's good side before the delegations arrived and they had a newfound problem with Elaina hanging around.

He used his undeniable charm and connections around the school to sell a couple of the badges. Granted, majority of whom Charlie sold them to didn't understand the need for the organization, but obliged anyway because well, Charlie could be very persuasive. The brown eyed boy was content with selling the badges during lunch as it made Hermione happy, and that's all he wanted to see.

As for their classes, the lessons seemed be getting more and more intense, especially when it came to Defence Against the Dark Arts. On the day that the delegations were set to arrive, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of his students as a way to demonstrate its power and to see whether or not they were skilled enough to resist its effects.

"But — but you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said — to use it against another human was —"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way — when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely — fine by me. Off you go."

He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Charlie grinned slightly, he knew Hermione would rather eat Bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Charlie watched as, one by one, his classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

When Harry's name was called, and he was put under the effects of the curse, the boy began to shake, as though he was trying his hardest to resist. His entire body shook furiously, resulting in him crashing headfirst into Moody's desk to which the majority of the class had to stifle a laugh — the boy definitely had a concussion.