Song:
Control (Halsey)
"Who is in control?"
"What's the point of this?" Callisto asked, her eyes fixed on the announcement right outside the DADA class. She was about to walk in the class with Narcissa for the lesson, when she noticed a piece of parchment stuck on the wall by the door.
"They need our permission to use the spell on us." Narcissa answered, signing her name under the small text. "Dumbledore takes that shit seriously."
Narcissa extended the quill for Callisto to take, only to be met with a stern head shake.
"Absolutely not."
"Is there a reason you're hogging the paper, Elphie?" And there she was, saved by the bell, or rather James Potter. "Some of us need to sign."
"Haven't your parents told you not to sign what you don't understand?" Callisto mused, moving to the side for him to put his signature on the parchment.
"I know what the Imperius curse is, Elphaba." James rolled his eyes. "Thank you for the concern though."
"Oh no," Callisto retorted. "I just assumed you can't read."
"Okay, this is enough." James sighed, patting her on the head before he got inside the class. Callisto and Narcissa followed him inside and took their seats, watching as the class slowly filled.
"Are you sure you don't want to sign your name?" Narcissa asked, trying to reason with her. "This is a controlled environment. If the first time you get subjected to it is during a fight you won't know what to expect."
"I don't fancy having Collins telling me what to do."
"Having Collins telling you to stand up is much better than having someone make you kill your friends, Callisto."
Narcissa didn't know, but that struck a very specific string in Callisto's head. Unfortunately for Narcissa, it didn't do anything towards convincing her to sign up. Instead, it only made Callisto more hell bent on not signing up for that "lovely experience".
"I'm not doing it." Callisto repeated, shaking her head. "I've told you before. I don't care how good of an experience this is supposed to be, I'm still not signing up."
"But the war-"
"Maybe if your family wasn't giving Voldemort everything he pleased we wouldn't have to worry about being able to resist the Imperius curse." Callisto blurted out, regretting what she had said the moment she heard it out loud. Narcissa's eyebrows furrowed and she turned to the front of the class, a stern look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Callisto muttered, tapping her shoulder lightly. "What your family does isn't your fault and I shouldn't have blamed you. I just really can't go through that and I took it out on you..."
"Try being less of a bitch next time and we can make that work." She answered, gesturing between them. "Is there a reason you can't or are you just pulling a Callisto?"
"Pulling a Callisto?"
Narcissa smirked, "Being difficult for no reason."
"You're not letting this go, are you?" Narcissa shook her head. "In that case, in Durmstrang I had a DADA teacher who was an ass. I was talking in his class once with a friend and he got very mad, so he decided to do the 'mature' thing and he used the curse on me. He made me use the cruciatus curse on my friend and I couldn't snap out of it. I freaked out, it was a mess. My point is, I don't want to do this and I won't."
"That's...rough, buddy." Narcissa murmured, putting her hand on Callisto's shoulder. "How is he not in Azkaban or something?"
"He has money." Callisto shrugged, sitting further back on her seat. "Plus, nobody would do anything about it so there's no point."
"That makes sense." Narcissa sighed, dipping her quill in the ink pot to start writing the introductory notes on the board. Remus, Sirius and Peter got in through the door, heading for their seats. Just like every other time, Remus looked around him before he glanced at her and lifted his middle finger as a way to salute her. Callisto repeated the gesture, instead of rolling her eyes like she usually did, earning a surprised look.
"Sit down, everyone." Collins instructed, looking pointedly at Sirius who was still walking to his seat at an incredibly slow pace. "We have a lot of work to do today."
Collins took the parchment from the entrance of the class, skimming over the names signed under the short text.
"As you've probably read by now, the ministry and Headmaster Dumbledore instructed that there is a class dedicated to teaching how to resist the Imperius curse. Unfortunately, Death Eaters aren't particularly concerned with the legality of their actions, so I can assure you that they won't hesitate to make you do terrible things if they understand you're gullible. In my opinion, you shouldn't have been given the option to drop out of this lesson, but the Ministry didn't agree."
Callisto narrowed her eyes. It was obvious by the way Collins was talking that she was going to make her life hell for not complying with what she thought was correct.
"We will be starting today and we will probably finish the training in our next class, to make sure you all get at least two chances to try it out." She explained. "Knowing all that, is there someone who foolishly doesn't want to participate?"
Callisto raised her arm, watching awkwardly as everyone else kept their hands down. Nonetheless, she averted her gaze straight to Collins who was looking at her with utter disappointment in her eyes.
"Miss Claire." Collins acknowledged, shaking her head. "May I ask why?"
"Am I required to provide an explanation for not wanting to participate in something that's optional?"
"Don't you think it's the responsible thing? Don't your classmates have a right to know?" Collins asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, I don't think Lucious Malfoy or Marlene McKinnon will ever really think back to their time at Hogwarts and have a crisis over me not wanting to take part in this." Callisto stated, a laugh being heard from the back of the class where Marlene was sitting with Lily. "Besides, I don't owe anyone an explanation. I let you know I am not interested, so I don't really understand why we're still discussing this. "
Callisto knew Collins was a prick. She had known that for a long time. Yet, she never really expected to hear what she said next.
"Although your opinion is heard," She smirked, letting the parchment down. "Allow me to assume that due to your accident and condition, you do not have the capacity to make a considerate and clear decision."
"I'm sorry, what?" Callisto blurted out, watching as Collins took out her quill and scribbled down something on your parchment.
"Hence, the decision must be made for you." She finished, all the color draining from Callisto's face. "You will be participating just like everyone else. End of discussion."
"She literally said she doesn't want to!" Remus exclaimed, his eyebrows furrowed. "It's not a mandatory lesson."
"My decision is made, Mr. Lupin." Collins calmly stated. "Now sit down before I give you a year's worth of detention."
"No, ho-"
"I understand, Miss Collins." Callisto interjected, her calm demeanor throwing Remus off. "However, I don't tend to let cunts make my decisions for me. Hence, consider me gone."
And just like that, Callisto took her bag from the floor and exited the classroom with an overly sweet smile plastered on her lips. For a brief moment, she considered banging the door closed behind her, but she decided against it and headed to the exit of the castle.
There were no people in the Lake, either because they had classes to attend or because of the snow covering the ground. The wind was blowing maniacally, causing her clothes to be covered in snow after just five minutes of being outside, but other than a slight breeze she didn't feel cold. It was ironic how she couldn't stand the cold all these years, and now it had taken a borderline snow blizzard to make her feel a bit chilly.
Callisto took off her robe and placed it on the ground under a tree, before she sat down. She wasn't going to turn up for another lesson with Collins there. Hell, she'd rather learn and revise the entire syllabus on her own and only step foot in that class to sit for her final exam. After all, it wasn't as if Collins was a great teacher who could provide her with something other than a headache. She didn't even really need DADA to become a damn good potion master, but her aunt had insisted on her taking the class. She had almost torn her eyes out when her aunt told her, but the last thing Callisto wanted to do was sadden Elena in any way, so she did it.
"Jesus, Elphie! It's freezing out here!" The voice of James Potter disrupted the rant in her mind. He was shaking from the cold, Sirius and Peter not looking much better compared to him.
"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Callisto asked, disregarding his comment. She should be freezing, but for some reason that wasn't the case. Either way, she didn't really care.
"We got kicked out." Peter replied, shrugging. "Remus was sent to Dumbledore's office and Lily is still in class, making Collins' life harder."
"What the hell happened there?" Callisto questioned, her eyebrows furrowed. Remus being sent to Dumbledore's office seemed more than just weird. Usually, if something happened in class the head of the student's house was notified and only if the situation wasn't resolved would Dumbledore get involved.
"After you left Remus got in a fight with Collins and because she's a bitch she sent him to Dumbledore's office." Sirius explained, sitting down next to her. "And then when he left we got in a fight with her to avenge both your honors but she was over it and she kicked us out of the classroom."
"You shouldn't have said anything." Callisto shook her head. "You got in trouble because of me."
"No, she was being irrational." James stated, motioning for them to get up and follow him towards the direction of the much warmer castle. "You have your memories back and you're almost fully recovered."
Peter nodded in agreement, "Plus, since when is getting poisoned and losing your memories considered a condition?"
A new wave of anger and stress washed over Callisto. Surely, having an accident was just unfortunate but she could come up with an excuse to stop the gossip quite soon. Having a condition that was allegedly serious enough to impair her judgement was an entirely different thing. Anyone could make up whatever story they wanted and torment her with it until she graduated.
"I have no idea." Callisto mumbled, her eyes fixed on the entrance of the Castle.
James and Peter didn't seem to notice how deep in thought Callisto was, or if they did, they didn't pay much attention to it. However, to Sirius' eyes, something was obviously wrong. Callisto didn't seem to be visibly fuming like he had expected her to. Instead, she just looked terribly stressed. He couldn't really determine what was that threw him off, but he could have sworn there was something else that bothered her.
"You wanna come sit with us?" Sirius asked, as they entered the castle. Callisto hesitated for a moment, but she nodded and followed them towards the Gryffindor common room. Just like any other time, the Fat Lady scowled when she saw her but allowed them to enter, murmuring something about blondes that Callisto didn't bother to pay attention to.
"So, lads and Elphie." James stated once they were all seated down. "How are we going to get back at Collins for all that?"
"We can turn all her clothes into frogs except for her pajamas." Peter proposed, earning a nod of approval from Sirius. "Or, we can make everything she eats taste like pig shit."
Callisto smirked, an idea popping up in her mind.
"Actually, I think I can handle her just fine."
"Sit down, Mr. Lupin." Dumbledore said calmly, motioning for Remus to take the empty seat opposite from him. "How are you feeling today?"
"Ehm...good, Professor." Remus mumbled, his gaze averting to the lunar calendar on the wall behind the wizard. Remus knew the full moon was exactly in a week, but being reminded of it was never something he looked forward to. "About what happened in the DADA lesson, I'm not sure Miss Collins has told you exactly what happened."
"To my understanding, Miss Collins was unfair to Miss Claire and you stood up for her. Is that right?"
"She wasn't just unfair." Remus corrected. "She practically forced Callisto to participate in a lesson that's not mandatory and talked about her accident in front of the entire class."
"Not just her accident." Dumbledore stated, his pale eyes twinkling behind the crescent glasses. "Miss Collins mentioned her condition too."
"What condition?" Remus asked, feigning ignorance. "Callisto is sick?"
Dumbledore chuckled, shaking his head. "I suggest you don't pursue acting, if that was ever part of your career plan."
"Noted, Professor." Remus muttered, his cheeks heating up. "Yes, she mentioned that too."
"And I imagine that made Miss Claire very upset."
"She left the classroom before she...called her a cunt." Remus specified, biting the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from bursting out laughing. Dumbledore however didn't seem to share the sentiment because he chuckled again.
"Miss Claire truly is a character." He said absentmindedly. "If I may ask, are things in your relationship going well? Her aunt is a dear friend of mine and I promised her Callisto wouldn't be miserable here."
"Professor, Callisto and I aren't dating." Remus clarified. By now his cheeks were as red as his house emblem at the insinuation made by Dumbledore among all people. "We're just friends."
"Are you sure?" The wizard asked, leaving his glasses on the table. "In that case, forgive me for the misunderstanding, Remus. I just assumed you two are dating, but it seems like I was wrong."
"Professor," Dumbledore nodded. "What about the DADA thing?"
"Oh, right!" He exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "Of course, you and Miss Claire aren't in trouble. I'm afraid I can't say the same thing for Miss Collins. There is obviously a reason why Callisto didn't want to participate in the class and as long as it is not a mandatory class according to the ministry, Miss Collins had no right to make a scene."
"Thank you, Professor." Remus said, a small smile as he stood up.
"No problem, Mr. Lupin." Dumbledore muttered. "Give Miss Claire my greetings."
Remus left the room and walked down the staircase, almost not noticing his friends waiting for him right outside.
"Oi, Moony!" Sirius shouted, making him stop on his tracks and turn around where the others were standing. "Did you not see us?"
"Sorry." Remus mumbled, sighing. "Well, this was weird."
"Are you in trouble?" Callisto asked, hoping that the answer would be negative. He didn't deserve getting in trouble because of her.
"No." Remus answered, smiling. "In fact, neither of us is in trouble. Except for Collins, of course."
"She's in trouble for sure." Peter smirked. "Callisto has a plan."
Remus turned to Callisto, "What plan?"
"Wouldn't you like to know." Callisto mused, enjoying the annoyance in his eyes. "What did he say?"
"That we aren't in trouble, but that Collins is fucked. Then he asked some stuff about you and said something about your aunt being friends with him."
She furrowed her eyebrows, "What stuff about me?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
"Touche."
"I know." He smuggly replied. "Why were you all waiting here?"
"Marlene kicked us out of the common room." Peter answered, as they walked away from Dumbledore's office.
"Correction," Callisto specified. "Marlene kicked YOU out of the common room. I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted."
"Why was that, by the way?" Sirius whined, his lips pursed together.
Callisto smirked, "We play for similar teams."
"You don't play Quidditch." James observed, running a hand through his hair. "Neither does Marlene. She's the commentator."
"I play other things."
"What things?" Peter asked, not noticing the mortified look on Remus' face.
"Let's not, maybe." The boy muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
"If both Marlene and Callisto do that, do we really want to know?" Sirius pondered for a moment. "Yes, yes, we do actually."
"The bass, Sirius." Callisto sighed. Although they both did play the bass, that was not what she was referring to. "Marlene and I like to play the bass?"
"Together?"
"I'm confused..."
"Doesn't matter." Callisto smiled. "Let's go get lunch and we'll talk about the bass later."
~ ~ ~
Collins sucks. We all hate Collins.
But
Protective Moony vibes >>>>
The gif killed me in so many ways. Who allowed him to look that good huh???? Someone tell me