After breakfast, and once I'd concluded my first-year tour and dropped them off at their first classes, I headed to my own class.
On today's schedule was Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindors, Charms with the Ravenclaws, and of course, Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins.
I walked into Potions class early, as I often did, sitting down at my station, which I shared with Fred, George, and Zacharias Smith, another Hufflepuff that I only knew vaguely.
I sat down beside George, pulling my hair up into a ponytail in preparation for class.
"You missed a spot." He said, gently pulling a large chunk of hair out of my grasp. I slapped his arm with the back of my hand, pulling it back again. "How'd the firsties like their tour?"
"Ugh, they loved it!" I exclaimed, securing my hair and turning to face him, "Oh my gosh, they were so excited, and they had so many fascinating questions. I think they left actually feeling confident for the day ahead."
George smiled, leaning his chin in his hand.
"You're adorable when you're passionate." He said.
"Shut up." I said, covering his face with my hand and shoving him away from me. "What is this big project you just had to message me about?"
"You loved the Nondescript Note, don't act like you didn't," He said, "I'll let Freddie explain, he's the mastermind behind this one."
"You called?" Fred asked, leaning down between us and putting a hand on each of our shoulders. I shook my head, turning to look at him and crossing my legs.
"What's your big plan Freddie?" I asked, smirking at him.
"We are going to make an aging potion." He said. My smile fell.
"No you're not." I said seriously.
"We are." George said as Fred moved across the table to sit down on his still. "Its how we're going to get past the age line and put our names in the goblet."
"And?" I asked. "Not only will it not work, even if you do get chosen, everyone is going to know that you cheated."
"We turn Seventeen in April," Fred argued, "We're only a few months behind the cut-off, and who wouldn't love having one of us as the Hogwarts champion?"
"Your mother, maybe?" I suggested. "Who is expecting an in-depth report of your financial and academic progress by the end of the year? Shouldn't you be focusing on that?"
"We are focusing on that," George argued, "There's a 1,000 Galleon prize and to be honest...we kind of need the money."
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Why?" I asked suspiciously. Fred and George shared a look before averting their eyes to their desk. "What happened to the money you got from Ludo? The bet from the cup?"
They didn't answer for a long moment.
"Fred and George Weasley, what happened to your money?" I insisted.
"Ludo Bagman paid us in Leprechaun gold." George admitted, looking up at me. "It disappeared. We've been writing him since the cup, but he hasn't answered, so...we're broke."
My eyes widened.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.
"Because we can handle it," Fred told me, "Especially if we win the Triwizard Tournament, which we can't do unless we enter, which we can't do unless we make this aging potion, which is why we need your help."
"I am fairly certain that both of you are better at potions than I am." I pointed out.
"Maybe," George said with a shrug, "But, you have the unique advantage of being the best friend of Snape's darling niece, which means that you are more likely to get away with...stealing the ingredients from Snape's store."
"Are you out of your mind-" I started.
"Oh, yes," George said, leaning closer to me, "But if there's anything my insane mind is confident in, it is your ability to convince anyone and everyone that you are a harmless, innocent little girl who couldn't possibly be involved with anything nefarious."
"Oh, of course I can," I pointed out, leaning towards him, "But why should I?"
"Because we're your favorite people in the world," He retorted, "And you want to help us accomplish our dreams."
"I do, but I'd say I've done more than my fair share of helping you. What's in this for me?"
"Our eternal gratitude and appreciation."
"Gratitude and appreciation are the same thing."
"Ahem." George and I looked up to see Fred staring at us with a bewildered expression. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
George and I both shifted away from each other, instantly uncomfortable.
"Fine, I'll do it," I said, "But if I get caught, you better make sure it doesn't reflect badly on Siara."
"You got it." Fred said, his eyes shifting between us, lingering on his twin. I looked around, making sure no one was watching me before grabbing my scarab beetles, which would be needed for my Skele-gro healing potion. We needed five for the recipe, so I took one of them, dropping it into my bag, where Bay wasted no time beginning to snack on it. I then raised my hand.
"Professor?" I asked. Snape sighed, moving over to stand beside our table.
"What do you need Ms. Scamander?" He asked dryly. I offered him an apologetic look.
"My Bowtruckle ate one of my Scarebs," I said, "I'm so sorry, Professor. Can I go to the cupboard and get another one."
He shot me a look, but handed me the key nonetheless. Another student caught his attention and he hurried across the room while Fred slid a list of ingredients across the table.
"You so owe me." I muttered, taking the slip of parchment.
"Don't we always?" George asked with a smile.
~~~
By some miracle, I managed to take the ingredients and sneak them back into the classroom without detection. Fred and George spent the class switching back and forth between the potions, with me monitoring the one that was actually assigned.
After that, we were headed straight to Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Alastor Moody.
I sat down, once again beside George, and pulled my textbook out of my bag. A shadow appeared beside my desk and I looked up, spotting Moody's wife standing beside me, gazing down at me.
"Good Morning." I greeted.
"Senicka Scamander." She said. I raised my eyebrows. "Your reputation proceeds you. The other professors speak very fondly of you."
"Do they?" I asked. "That's nice. You're Professor Moody's wife, aren't you? Acantha, they said?"
"Good memory," She replied, "It would appear there is more to you than a pretty face."
"Thank you?" I said, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Acantha!" Moody bellowed from the front of the class. "Stop bothering the students! Get over here."
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Senicka," She said, smiling at me with a strange glint in her eyes, "I'll be seeing you around."
She walked over to Moody, who began talking to her in a low voice before taking a flask out of his coat. He took a sip before passing it to her, and she glanced at me again before taking a sip herself.
"What the hell was that all about?" George asked. I shook my head, furrowing my eyebrows.
"That was weird, right?" I asked, turning to look at him.
"Beyond," He agreed, "Though I figure you'd have to be to find Mad Eye Moody attractive."
"You can put those away, those books" Moody said, moving away from his wife and gesturing to our textbooks, "You won't need them."
"Could've predicted that." George muttered.
"Alastor Moody," He introduced, turning to write on the chalkboard, "Ex-Auror, Ministry Malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. This is my wife, Acantha, she'll be assisting me from time to time. I am here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. You're all sixth years, which means that you are set to begin addressing the unforgivable curses. 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?"
George raised his hand.
"One of the twins, eh?" Moody asked. "You'll be Arthur Weasley's son."
"Yeah." He said, putting his hand down. Moody nodded.
"Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago," He commented, "Go on, boy. Unforgiveables, how many?"
"There're only three, aren't there?" George asked. "Unless you count the time Fred and I hit Quirell in the back of the head with magical snowballs. Turns out You-Know-Who was under there the whole time. I'd be willing to bet he hasn't forgiven us for that."
Everyone laughed, while Moody simply glared in George's direction.
"You think its funny, do you?" Moody asked. "Making an enemy of the dark lord?"
No one was laughing anymore.
"Well..." he continued, "We'll show you these curses and see how funny you think it is. You are correct, Mr. Weasley, there are three unforgivable curses, and maybe your desk-mate can tell me why they are so-named."
"Because they are unforgiveable," I replied, "The use of any of them will-"
"Earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban, correct." He finished for me, continuing to write on the baord, "The ministry says you're of the right age to see what these curses do, and for the first time, I'm inclined to agree. You need to know what you're up against! You need to be prepared! You need to find another place to stick your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk, Mr. Tintwhistle!"
"No way," Elias Tintwhistle, a Hufflepuff whispered, "The old codger can see out the back of his head."
Moody turned around, hurling his chalk at him.
"And hear across classrooms!" He shouted. "So...which curse shall we see first? Weasley! The other one!"
"Yes, sir?" Fred asked, seeming undeterred.
"Stand." Fred nodded, rising to his feet. "Name a curse."
"Right. My dad did tell me about one of them, the Imperius Curse?"
"Yeah, well your father would know all about that," Moody said, "Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago."
I raised my hand.
"Yes, Scamander." He gestured to me.
"Is that because of the Death Eaters, sir?" I asked. "The ones that claimed You-Know-Who was forcing them to do his bidding?"
"Right you are..." He said. "Cowards, the lot of them. Citing the unforgivable curses as a way to get themselves out of Azkaban...just so they can get drunk and blow up Quidditch matches! You saw that one first hand, didn't you, Ms. Scamander?"
"Yes, sir." I agreed. "So...do you think that the Death Eaters that attacked the cup are some of the same people who claimed they were under the Imperious Curse?"
"I do," He agreed, turning around to face away from me, "Perhaps this will show you why."
He moved back to a table full of bugs and creatures, lifting the lid off of one of them.
"Hello." He greeted, sticking his hand inside. "Lovely little beauty."
We all watched as he pulled a Spider out of the jar, casting Engorgio on it to make it bigger and easier to see.
"Imperio!" He cast, moving his wand and forcing the spider to jump onto George and I's desk. George sat back, but I didn't move, leaning forward to inspect the creature. Was it in pain? Did the Imperious curse hurt it?
I understood that we needed to see what the curses look like but...do we really need to subject innocent creatures to them?
Moody waved his wand, propting the spider to crawl up my arm, settling on top of my head. Everyone laughed.
"Don't worry. Its completely harmless," Moody said, "Oh, right. Forgot who I was talking to. You love these little buggars, don't you Ms. Scamander."
"Should we really be using these curses on living things?" I asked, looking up at the Spider on my head.
"How else do you propose we demonstrate?" He asked, flinging the spider across the room and land on Tinwhistle's face. He screamed in horror, causing everyone to laugh even harder. I did not. "If she bites, she's lethal!"
He began cackling along with the students.
"What are you laughing at?" He asked, jerking the spider over to perch on the end of Fred's nose. Fred only laughed, crossing his eyes to look at the spider as the students all watched on humorously.
"I'm sure its fine." George chuckled, sensing my discomfort. I nodded.
"Yeah...I'm sure all those people are too." I said, averting my eyes to my desk.
"Talented, isn't she?!" Moody laughed. "What should I have her do next? Jump out the window?"
He yanked the spider over, causing it to collide painfully with a large magnifying glass. I winced, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Drown herself?" He held the spider over a bucket of water, and we watched as the creature whined pitifully, jerking its limbs in an attempt to avoid the water below. The laughter died as he brought the spider over to sit in the palm of his hand once more. "As Ms. Scamander has said, scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius Curse. But here's the rub. How do we sort out the liars?"
He moved the spider to land on my desk in front of me again.
"Ms. Scamander," he said, coming over to stand in front of me, "Since you seem so knowledgable and curious about the dark arts, perhaps you can name the next unforgivable curse."
"Please, don't," I said sternly, meeting his eyes, "I understand that we have to see them, but this is an innocent creature. Please don't subject it to this."
"Your concern tells me that you know exactly what's to come," He said, leaning down to hold my eyes, "Answer. The. Question."
I bit my lip, glancing down at the spider.
"The Cruciatus Curse," I spat, meeting his eyes again, "Sir."
"Correct, yes. Particularly nasty. The torture curse. Crucio!"
The spider began wailing and squeaking in pain, writhing around atop my desk. I winced, averting my gaze.
"Ok, I get it, Professor! Stop it now!" I insisted.
"Pain," Moody narrated, not letting up, "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse. That one was once very popular too-"
"Alright, we get the point!" George snapped. "Stop it, can't you see its bothering her!?"
"Alastor!" Acantha appeared beside him, looking at her husband with hard eyes. "Stop."
He looked back at me, as if he'd lost sight of himself for a moment. He noticed the tears in my eyes and the way I was glaring at him before looking down at the spider. I reached down, ushering the spider into my hands and running a finger down its spine, calming it.
"Perhaps you could give us the last Unforgivable Curse, Mr. Weasley." He said, looking at George.
"The killing Curse." George said through a glare. "Pretty self explanatory, you don't need to-"
"Acantha."
"Avada Kedavra!" My eyes went wide as she cast the spell, the green light hitting the spider and causing it to die within my hands. I gasped, dropping it onto the table. I put a hand over my mouth. Images of the green light from my dream flashed in my mind.
"The Killing Curse," He continued, looking at me with hard eyes, "There's only one person known to have survived it...and he happens to be a student at this school. Avada Kedavra is a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it. You could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it-"
I stood up, shoveling my books into my messenger bag.
"Ms. Scamander, sit down!" Moody demanded. I ignored him, hiking my bag up on my shoulder and storming out of the classroom.
I leaned against the wall in the corridor, trying to calm my breathing.
The door opened behind me, and I looked up, expecting George to have followed me out, but was surprised as I saw Moody's wife.
"He can give me detention if he bloody wants, I'm not going back in there." I said, starting to walk down the corridor.
"I do wonder, Ms. Scamander," She called, causing me to pause, "If you would care half as much if it were a human that met the killing curse's fate."
I furrowed my eyebrows at her.
"What kind of question is that?!" I exclaimed. "Of course I would! It doesn't matter the species, using those curses is wrong! There's a reason they're unforgivable!"
"But you said...innocent creatures," She clarified, "Not everyone who meets their end by the wand is innocent."
I shook my head.
"It doesn't matter," I said, "Its not up to us to decide who lives or dies."
"That is a noble point of view," She said, "I would expect nothing less of a Hufflepuff. But in the wizarding world...in the way that it is now...that sort of nobility is exactly the sort of thing that might get you killed."
I threw my hands up, slapping them down at my sides.
"Well, then...I guess I die." I said, "I would rather leave this Earth being a good person than taking the lives of others. Innocent or otherwise."
She nodded, glancing down at her feet.
"I had hoped you were more mature than that," She said, "All the tales I've heard from your professors, I...I didn't think you'd be this naive."
"W...why are you asking my professors about me?" I asked suspiciously. "Why do you care if I'm naive or not, you don't even know me."
She shrugged.
"I have a sense for potential." She replied. "Come back to class, or don't, Senicka. Its of no importance to me. But trust me when I say that if you let the 'honor' and 'good will' of your house poison your mind, you're going to find yourself against people who are not burdened by your morals...and they will not hesitate."
"Yes, well...good for them." I said, turning around and stalking off.