CHAPTER FOUR
The first class the next morning was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Moody. Ophelia found herself playing with the small chain around her neck as she waited anxiously outside of his classroom. She absentmindedly twisted the pendent back and forth along the chain as she drew up all of the possible scenarios that could occur during the class. She didn't think that Moody would single her out during a lesson with so many witnesses, but knowing the ruthlessness of the man, she couldn't rule anything out. She dropped the pendent suddenly as the tapping of wood against stone echoed from down the hallway. Everyone became silent as Moody rounded the corner and hobbled toward the classroom. The crowd of students parted like the Red Sea as he grumbled under his breath, searching for his wand in his large, deep pockets.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom hadn't changed much from how Lupin had had it last term, though Ophelia was quite invested in the jar of spiders sat atop the desk as soon as she set her eyes on them. She sat down slowly and apprehensively as she pulled her textbook from her bag. She nearly jumped as the chair next to her scraped against the floor and Blaise slumped down. Ophelia had her guard up— possibly more so than she needed to. She heeded her mother's warning, but didn't want Moody to so much as glance in her direction in fear she might explode.
"Put those books away." He grumbled as he hobbled to the front of the room. "There's no need for books in my classroom."
Hesitantly, Ophelia slipped her book back into her bag that was propped up against her chair, and watched as the others did the same.
"I'm aware of how behind you are in this course. Professor Lupin has explained that you are quite knowledgeable in dark creatures, however, you're incredibly behind with dark curses." His blue eye was shifty and all over the place, taking in each student, studying them carefully. "Right, first I'm going to take attendance. I'd like to get to know you all before we begin."
He began naming off names from a long list of parchment, his fake eye zipping to each student who responded to their name while his natural eye remained glued to the parchment.
"Ophelia Rosier." He grumbled, glancing up from his parchment with both eyes. Ophelia responded with a quick 'here' before allowing her lips to return to a small frown.
There were only few students who Moody paused at. Most were children of rumoured Death Eaters: Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore and herself. He also paused when he'd reached Harry Potter, a sense of intrigue and curiosity washing over the man's features. Ophelia wanted to roll her eyes, it was always all about Harry Potter, but she refrained in fear that his freakish eye would catch her. Once finished, Moody slapped the parchment down on his desk and turned to face the class once again.
"So, as I was saying, curses come in many shapes and forms. The Ministry has advised me to only teach you the counter curses, however, I don't believe you should be waiting until sixth year to actually learn about the dark curses. So, who can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"
Hermione Granger's hand rose into the air — as usual. Moody pointed to her and she righted herself, sitting up tall and proud. "Three, sir."
Moody turned to the blackboard behind him and wrote the word unforgivable in thick, messy letters. Ophelia swallowed hard. She hadn't expected their first class to dive in so deep, but she should have expected it from an ex-Auror.
"And they are so named?" He asked, turning back to Granger.
"Because they are unforgivable." She said matter-of-factly. "The use of any of them will—"
"Earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban." He smirked, glancing around the room, his eye purposely landing on Ophelia. "Or death."
The room felt a long pause as Moody's eye lingered on Ophelia for almost longer than she could handle. She felt Blaise's hard gaze on her as she bit down hard on her cheek, drawing blood. Moody seemed to quickly realize he'd gone into a daze staring at a fourteen year old girl, and quickly returned to the blackboard.
"The Ministry doesn't agree with teaching you these curses so young, but I disagree! You need to know what you're up against! You need to be prepared!" His eye zipped quickly to the back of the room. "You need to find another place to put your chewing gum besides the underside of your desk Mr Finnigan!"
Most heads turned to face where the Irish Gryffindor boy sat, looking petrified as he muttered something under his breath.
"I CAN ALSO HEAR ACROSS CLASSROOMS!" He chucked the piece of chalk toward Seamus, who ducked just in time. "Now, which curse should we see first? Mr Weasley?"
See?!
Ophelia was shocked. If Dumbledore knew that Moody would be showing them Unforgivable Curses he would surely shut it down. Would he expect them to practice on each other? Impossible.
Ron Weasley stood from his seat wearily as Moody nodded expectantly at him. "M-my dad told me about one—" he stammered. "T-the Imperius curse."
"Correct!" Moody hobbled over to the glass jar filled with spiders and allowed one to crawl up into his hand.
"Engorgio." The spider grew to about twice its size before he pointed his wand at the spider once more. "Imperio!"
Ophelia watched with wide eyes as the spider stood on two legs and began to tap dance. It tap danced across his desk while everyone laughed— everyone except Ophelia and Moody.
"Think it's funny, do ya?" He snapped. "Would you like it if I did it to you then?"
The laughter ceased.
"The Imperius curse allows total control of the subject, the victim." The spider rolled around and around, it's legs flailing unwillingly. "Should I have it jump out the window, then? Drown itself? Jump down one of your throats?"
Ophelia heard Blaise gulp beside her. She could feel her own heartbeat quicken. She didn't like where this class was going one bit.
"Back during the first war," Moody lowered the spider onto the desk as he continued, "many witches and wizards were being controlled by the Imperius curse. It was quite the task for the Ministry to figure out who was telling the truth, and who was lying." His eye stopped on Draco for a split moment before returning to spinning around in its socket.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He barked, slamming his fist down on the desk where Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown sat. "It is the only way to avoid an Imperius curse!"
Moody picked up the spider once more. "Anyone else know any Unforgivable Curses?"
Granger's hand flew into the air, as expected, but at the same time, so did another. Neville Longbottom's hand rose slowly. He was obviously unsure of whether he truly wanted to answer the Professor's question, but it sparked something in Moody. He excitedly called on Neville to give his answer.
"T-the Cruciatus Curse." Neville whimpered as he slowly sat back down into his seat. Ophelia's eyes darted to Neville, her brows knotted in utter shock that such a cowardly boy could be brave enough to choose the curse that had so brutally tortured his parents.
Moody swept over to Neville, placing the spider on top of his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. "Longbottom, is it?" He asked, and Neville nodded nervously, his Adam's apple bobbing as he attempted to swallow.
"Crucio."
Instantly, high pitched squeals echoed from what Ophelia assumed was the spider. It appeared to be writhing in pain. She tried to look away, but her eyes wouldn't allow as she watched the spider cry out while it's body jerked and writhed. Ophelia could just imagine the exact same reaction from a human. Endless pain. Torture. No sense of control. She wondered if her father had ever endured it. She wondered if he'd ever casted it. Surely, he had.
Ophelia's thoughts were brought to a halt by the sound of Hermione Granger screaming. Ophelia cut her eyes to the girl who was now standing with tears rolling down her cheeks, demanding that Moody stop. She then glanced to Neville who was as white as a ghost, close enough to passing out. His knuckles were white as he clutched onto his desk for dear life. Moody, who seemed to be almost enjoying the torture, was also brought back to the present and immediately stopped his curse.
"Pain." He said lowly. "You wouldn't need any other forms of torture if you were able to perform the Cruciatus Curse... Who can tell me the last one?" He returned to the front of the room, placing the spider back upon his own desk.
No one answered. Those who knew the final curse sunk down into their seats, not wanting to be the one who had to say it. No one wanted to see what would happen to the spider should he perform an example. Moody had a smirk upon his lips as he hobbled down the centre row of desks. Ophelia was careful not to make eye contact with him, and she swore she wouldn't, until the tapping of his peg leg stopped just in front of her desk.
"Miss Rosier." His voice was smug, taunting even. "You've been awfully quiet this lesson. How about you give us our last curse."
Ophelia shook her head.
"I know you know it, Miss Rosier." He taunted. "Tell me the name."
Biting her cheek, she gripped onto the wand that was tucked into her stocking. She knew Moody could see her grab it— he could see through the desk, but she didn't care. She could feel all eyes on her now. Some curious as to why the Professor was so blatantly picking on her, others worried what she might do.
"Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse." She muttered quickly, letting go of the grip on her wand. She still didn't look at Moody, but she could tell he was smirking menacingly. Was he purposely taunting her because of his pride for killing her father? Was he that seriously messed up from his life as an Auror that he took pleasure in other's discomfort?
Moody dropped the spider onto her desk. "Avada Kedavra."
A flash of green light appeared right before her eyes and the now spider lay on its back, its legs curled inwards towards its belly. There was no mistaking that the spider was dead.
Ophelia's breath caught in her throat. She wanted to vomit. Her body was fighting with her emotions, but she remained stoic, refusing to show the psychotic man that he'd affected her. He turned away, leaving the carcass on her desk.
"The Killing Curse. Not pleasant." He muttered, placing his wand back into his pocket. "There's no counter curse, no way of blocking it. There's only one person that has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."
Everyone turned and looked at Potter. Ophelia normally would have scoffed at Harry Potter gaining attention once again, but for once she was content with it, seeing as the attention was now off of her. Ophelia wondered whether or not Moody had killed her father just like that. So carelessly, so quickly. She wondered if he'd seen it coming, or if Moody caught him off guard from behind.
Moody's voice cut through her thoughts as he continued speaking about the Killing Curse. "The curse requires quite a bit of magic behind it. None of you could conjure it at this stage, and I'm not going to teach you how. The curse is fed by intense hatred and power. You have to truly want to see the person dead."
"I'm teaching you about these curses because you need to know what's out there! Even though there are no counter curses, you'll still be more prepared knowing the premise of the curse rather than knowing nothing at all. Just remember, constant vigilance! Now, take out a quill and parchment and write this down—"
The rest of the class was spent taking notes. Ophelia found her hand shaking slightly as she wrote while avoiding the dead spider that was still left on her desk. She knew Moody hadn't removed it for a reason, and she wasn't about to make a scene by swatting it onto the floor. She needed to seem impartial and uncaring in regards to him. She wasn't going to let him crack her.
After class, the only thing anyone could talk about was Moody's lesson.
"And did you see the way he stared at Rosier while he used the Avada?" Lavender Brown said a little too loudly to Seamus Finnigan. "It was so creepy!"
Not noticing Ophelia walking behind them, Blaise cleared his throat, causing Lavender to turn back with a look of horror on her face. She said nothing as she moved aside for Ophelia to pass.
"You OK?" Blaise asked quietly as they reached the Entrance Hall. A quick, curt nod told Blaise that no, she wasn't OK, but not to ask any more questions. He remained silent until they reached the Slytherin table. Not a single word was said about their lesson within their group, but that didn't stop everyone else from staring at her as word spread throughout the castle about Ophelia and Moody's weird interaction during class.
Thomas had already fussed over her after lunch, gripping the sides of her face and forcing her to look into his eyes. Thomas was the only one who could get through to her, but even he didn't know how to feel about Moody's sudden interest in Ophelia. Moody hadn't batted an eyelash at him, even though Moody was the one who threw his father in to Azkaban. There was something that intrigued Moody in regards to Ophelia, and Thomas was clearly worried. When he'd suggested writing her mother, Ophelia pushed Thomas away, stomping up to her dormitory. There was absolutely nothing her mother would do other than remind her to compartmentalize.
Ophelia skipped dinner that night. She couldn't bear the feeling of hundreds of pairs of eyes on her, and the whispers behind her back. Normally, such a thing wouldn't bother her, but the way that Moody set her on edge, she felt as though she was ready to explode. She sat in the empty Common Room while everyone else was having dinner, her eyes staring into the crackling fire, but her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't shake the image of that spider from her mind. It was almost comical, her feeling empathy for an arachnid, but it wasn't really the spider that she pitied. It was her father. That flash of green light that smashed into the spider blinded her vision every time she'd thought about it. The spider hadn't expected it, its eyes merely focused on her as everything suddenly went dark. What truly shook her to the core, though, was that Moody's eyes were entirely focused on her as he casted the curse. His eye contact did not break. She wondered if he'd imagined her dying in order to properly cast the killing curse while pointing at a harmless spider. She wondered if one day he would attempt to cast it on her just like he did to her father. Perhaps he wanted to end the Rosier name entirely.
The portrait hole swung open suddenly, breaking Ophelia's concentration in the fire. She turned her head to see students filtering in, their stomachs full from dinner while hers grumbled furiously. She didn't feel hungry, though. She felt waves of nausea in between the growls. She noticed Draco's blonde head enter through the portrait hole among the thick crowd of other Slytherin students, and she had entirely expected him to completely ignore her, but instead, his gaze caught hers and he stalked towards her with something similar to shame across his features.
"Hey, Eff." He muttered, as he shifted his gaze to his shoes. He hadn't called her by her nickname since sometime last year. She swallowed and gave him a curt nod. "Do you mind if we talk?"
Draco's head nodded towards outside of the Common Room, clearly he wanted to speak out of earshot. She stood, brushing out the folds in her skirt and followed Draco silently from the Common Room and into the corridors.
"I er—" he ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it slightly. "I wanted to make sure you were OK. After everything today, I can't imag—"
"Hey O!" Her name being called distracted her attention away from Draco as she saw Cassius bounding down the hall towards them. When she turned back to Draco, his mouth was shut and his lips formed a thin line as his jaw clenched.
When Cassius reached the pair, he nodded to Draco as he wrapped his large, muscular arm over Ophelia's shoulders. "Alright Malfoy?" He asked, and Draco merely nodded.
Ophelia turned her attention back to Draco who had shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Sorry Draco, what were you saying?"
"Nothing." He said as nonchalant as possible.
Ophelia furrowed her brows, knowing there should have been more to the conversation, but with Cassius standing there, she knew she'd get nothing more out of him.
"I'll see you later, then." She replied, her eyes watching him closely. He showed no sign of any emotion. She allowed Cassius to turn her away, leading them back to the Common Room. She glanced quickly over her shoulder to see Draco watching her walk away, but his eyes quickly shifted to the wall beside them. She turned back forward, leaning into Cassius.
"What did he want?" Cassius demanded once out of earshot of Draco. "He wasn't being cruel to you again, was he? I heard all about your argument last night." His jaw was tight, the anger and possessiveness clear in his expression.
"No, it was nothing like that." She said. "He wanted to make sure I was OK after the Defense Against the Dark Arts class today."
Cassius' face relaxed. "Thats why I came to find you. I didn't see you at dinner, I was worried."
"I'm alright." she forced a smile. "It was just an uncomfortable lesson for me, especially since he killed my father. It just seems as though he has some sort of vendetta towards me."
Cassius held Ophelia tight in the centre of the Common Room. Neither really cared much about the onlookers now that Draco had practically outed them last night in the Common Room. It had been the topic of conversation that morning, but the gossip quickly shifted to the events of their Defense Against the Dark Arts class by the afternoon.
A/N:
Posting a day early because I had a breakthrough in my writers block and wrote a few chapters!
I hope you're enjoying it so far. Remember that some scenes and dialogue are used from the book and movie and I do not take credit for that :) just Ophelia's incorporation into the scene :)