The Gryffindors and Slytherins were sat in the dungeons for their Defence Against the Dark Arts class and were waiting on Moody's arrival.
Robyn was in a much better mood now as it had been a week since the train ride or the Quidditch world cup, meaning it had also been a week since Harry and Cho had talked.
They hadn't passed each others paths again, making Robyn even more happier, though she hated to admit it. She wanted Harry to be happy but if it involved another girl then Robyn couldn't handle that, even though she was really trying.
Moody's wooden leg hitting against the ground alerted everyone and they all sat straighter in their seats.
Everyone was particularly excited about this class; Moody was meant to be a really cool teacher. At least that was what Fred and George had said.
Although Robyn was also excited to see what Moody was capable of, she missed Lupin quite a bit and she was also slightly scared of Moody from all the things she had heard about him from her parents and brother.
"Alastor Moody." He wrote his name on the board, the chalk squeaking against the black board.
"Ministry malcontent. And your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions? 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?"
Everyone gasped at his words, some even beginning to shake with fear as if he had said the Dark Lord's name. No one had ever taught them about the Unforgivable Curses, and they weren't even meant to learn about them until they were in their older years.
Robyn looked around the room. Everyone was too scared to speak. Even Hermione was too shaken to raise her hand.
Feeling a boost of confidence, Robyn slowly raised her hand. People eyed her with surprise but she couldn't help but catch the grin that was slowly appearing on Harry's face and her confidence lifted even more.
Yes, Robyn was still slightly nervous around people. Yes, she was still aware not everyone liked her. But with the events of last year she really couldn't give a damn anymore. She was sick of being shy. She was sick of stuttering like a fool. She was sick of letting people walk all over her and controlling her.
Though since last years events people had started to warm up to her a lot more as they saw the real Robyn thanks to the trio. Now most of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws liked her, the only real problem now were the Slytherins.
"Ah, Miss...Thompson, was it?" Moody asked, his voice gruff and low.
"Yes, s-sir." Robyn nodded, wincing as her voice shook. She had never volunteered to answer a question before and though it seemed quite simple, Robyn thought it was rather terrifying and knew it was going to take a bit of getting used to.
"And three, sir. There are three Unforgivable Curses." Robyn said, her eyes meeting Moody's and a shiver ran down her spine. She couldn't help but think something was off. Something was wrong.
"And they are so named?" Moody huffed, his eyes not leaving Robyn, signalling for her to carry on.
Robyn looked around the classroom just in case he was talking to someone else but everyone seemed too shocked to speak. Robyn felt her face heat up as she looked at her lap. Everyone in the class was looking at her in awe. Harry winked at her, causing her to smile slightly. Robyn then remembered she had a question to answer.
"Because they are unforgivable. Use of any one of them will..."
"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. Now the Ministry says you're too young to see what these Curses do. I say different! You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk, Mr Finnigan!" Moody interjected Robyn as he glared at Seamus. Seamus blushed.
The mention of Azkaban reminded Robyn of Sirius. She hoped he was okay.
"Aw, no way, the old codger can see out the back of his head." A student called out and some laughed.
Mad-Eye wheeled around in anger and threw the piece of chalk he had in his hand at the student who dared to speak. Robyn jumped at the violence.
"So, which curse shall we see first? WEASLEY!"
Ron jumped out of his skin and let out a small whimper. "Yes..." he squeaked, his voice an octave higher than usual.
"Give us a curse." Mad-Eye demanded, taking a step forward.
"Well, my dad did tell me about one... The Imperius curse."
"Ahhh yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the Ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why."
Moody popped open a jar in which a small spider with long legs was sat happily inside.
"Hello. What a little beauty." Moody mumbled to himself. Some students rose their eyebrows at him, amused and slightly scared.
He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the oblivious spider. Robyn gasped, not at all liking what Mad-Eye was doing.
"Imperio." He spoke clearly.
The spider went rigid. It's legs twitched and something about it made Robyn feel sick. Moody used his wand to send the spider flying on to one of the desks. Students laughed. Harry, Robyn, Hermione, Ron and Neville did not.
"Don't worry. Completely harmless." Mad-Eye said once he saw some of the students were unsettled.
"But if she bites... she's lethal!"
Draco laughed. "What are you laughing at?" Moody taunted in anger before sending the spider flying on to Draco's face.
Draco screamed and tried to get the spider off himself. The class went silent, all disturbed by what Moody was doing.
Finally, Mad-Eye removed the spider from Draco's face and left it so the spider was dangling in the air, spinning around slowly. It still twitched.
"Talented isn't she? What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window? Drown herself?"
The spider was sent plummeting into a bucket of water. Robyn had to turn away as the spider struggled and wriggled.
"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the Imperius curse. But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?" The class was silent as Mad-Eye placed the spider back into the jar.
"Another.. another.. Come on come on. Longbottom is it? Up."
Neville stood straight up, trembling slightly.
"Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology."
Neville nodded stiffly. "There's the um... The Cruciatus curse." Neville whispered, his eyes turning sad.
"Correct! Correct! Come, come." Moody signalled Neville to step forward and so Neville did.
"Particularly nasty. The torture curse."
The Professor took out his wand again and pointed it at the poor spider.
"Crucio!" Moody hissed and the spider squealed in pain. Robyn began to shake and even covered her ears, the sound echoing in her head. It was horrible.
Neville looked pretty shook up as well and he had a hard time looking away from the wailing spider.
"Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering him, stop it!" Hermione cried, her voice cracking and was just as disturbed as everyone else.
Mad-Eye stopped.
Moody picked up the spider which was still making a noise. "Perhaps you could give us the last Unforgivable Curse, Miss Granger."
Hermione shook her head, her face turning grave. Robyn looked at Harry.
The whole class didn't make a sound nor did they move for fear they would have to say the two horrible words. The two words that had killed so many innocent people.
"Avada Kedavra." Robyn mumbled quietly but her voice was loud against the deafening silence. She put her head down as people looked her way.
Moody nodded and muttered the curse, the spider dropping dead. Robyn gasped again in horror.
"The killing curse. Only one person is known to have survived it. And he's sitting in this room." Mad-Eye approached Harry's desk and all eyes turned to him.
Robyn grabbed his hand as his body went stiff. He really didn't like attention. Maybe he should be used to it after all these years. But he really wasn't. He still hated it.
Moody took a drink from his metal flask and all Robyn could think was Moody wasn't really as cool as Fred and George described him to be. She also couldn't get over the fact that something was wrong.
>>>
Everyone had left Defence Against the Dark Arts now and were all walking to their next class. All the students had seemed to have gotten over the shock of what Moody had done during the lesson and were now all discussing it excitedly. Ron was one of them.
"Brilliant isn't he! Completely demented of course. Terrifying to be in the same room with, he's really BEEN there you know." Ron said as Hermione, himself, Harry and Robyn made their way up a spiral staircase.
"There's a reason those Curses are unforgivable, and to perform them in a classroom. I mean did you see Neville's face." Hermione fretted.
Robyn hadn't spoken since being inside the classroom. Her body trembled and her mind was full of the disturbing things she had just learnt. She felt sick to her stomach.
"Well done." A voice from beside Robyn spoke.
Robyn jumped and turned to see Harry smiling slightly. Though Robyn could see he was still affected by the events previous as well.
"Huh?" Robyn mumbled, completely confused.
"You spoke out in class. Voluntarily." Harry said.
"Oh. Yeah. That. It was nothing." Robyn mumbled, looking at the floor, her face red.
"You might think it was nothing but I thought it was very brave of you." Harry said before running up a couple of steps to meet Ron and Hermione who had stopped by a very disturbed looking Neville Longbottom.
Robyn looked at Harry, only able to see the back of him as he was facing Neville. She grinned. Despite her feeling like absolute rubbish from the lesson previous and everything before that, she managed to grin.
She felt something bubble up inside of her. Like an explosion of happiness bursting to life. She couldn't help but feel all giddy as she greeted Neville.
"Neville? Are you alright?" Robyn asked as she stared at his face. Pure horror.
Neville did not get a chance to speak for Mad-Eye was soon next to them all.
Moody patted Neville's shoulder. "Son. You alright?" Neville nodded.
"Come on, we'll have a cup of tea. I want to show you something." Neville was reluctant as if trying to come up with some excuse not to go. But as Moody walked away, Neville had no choice but to follow in his wake...
(Hey. Sorry it's taking me so long to upload.)