Hermione learnt a lot about House Elves over the next week. Somehow, House Elf enslavement had gone on for centuries, and for some reason no one had done anything about it before. Often times, Elves have poor working conditions and are never paid, and, most remarkably of all, a House Elf had never been in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, despite the fact that there was a centaur, a merman and vampire were all members of that department on separate occasions
Hermione decided that she needed to do something big. She knew that, unfortunately, the Ministry for Magic wild never listen to the views of a fourteen (nearly fifteen) year old girl. She therefore decided to start small, and get everyone at school on her side. If she could get her peers interested in her cause, maybe they could be the generation to finally abolish House Elf enslavement forever, as well as all other forms of Magical bigotry. She decided to start a club, as that would be a very obvious way of showing the outside world that the members cared and wanted change
However, on the Thursday, the prospect of Professor Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, drew thoughts of House Elves out of her head, though it wasn't enough to stop her from spending all get lunchtime in the library and therefore nearly being late
She ran to the classroom and found Ron and Harry waiting for her
"Been in the-"
"Library" Harry finished "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats"
They managed to get three seats at the front of the classroom and took out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self- Protection. The class waited, until finally they heard Moody walking down the corridor and entering the room
"You can put those away" he said, walking over to his desk "those books. You won't need them"
As they put their books back, Moody did the register. His magical eye focused on every person when they answered, while his normal one stayed glued to the list
"Right then," he said, as Blaise Zabini answered to his name "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"
There was an affirmative noise from everyone
"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses" said Moody "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark-"
"What, aren't you staying?" Ron said, his voice unnaturally loud in the silent classroom. Moody's eye fixed on Ron, and Ron went pale. To Hermione's surprise, Most smiled
"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said, and Ron nodded timidly "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago... Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore... One year, and then back to my quiet retirement"
He gave a short shout of laughter before clapping his hands together
"So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking"
Lavender went red. Moody's eye seemed to be able to go through solid objects, as Lavender was showing Parvati something under the table
"So... do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"
Hermione raised her hand, and so did Ron. Moody pointed at Ron
"Er" said Ron "my dad told me about one... Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"
"Ah, yes" said Moody "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse"
Moody opened a draw in his desk and took out a glass jar with three spiders on it. Ron recoiled. Moody took one out and put it on the palm of his hand, before pointing his wand at it
"Imperio!" muttered Moody. The spider jumped off Moody's hand and began to swing on a thread of silk, almost like a trapeze artist. It then did a back flip onto Moody's desk and starting doing cartwheels. Moody flicked his wand again and the spider started to tap dance
Hermione knew that the spider wasn't in control but she couldn't help finding it funny. The entire class was laughing, except Moody, that is
"Think it's funny, do you?" he said "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"
The laughter ceased in an instant
"Total control" said Moody quietly "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..." Ron shivered
"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being con- trolled by the Imperius Curse" said Moody, presumably talking about when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at full strength "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will"
"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, making everyone jump
Moody put the spider back in the jar
"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"
To Hermione's surprise, Neville's hand joined her own this time. Normally, Neville only raised his hand in Herbology, which he was exceedingly good at
"Yes?" Moody said to Neville
"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse" says Neville very quietly
"Your name's Longbottom?" asked Moody. Neville nodded, but Moody didn't say any more
Moody picked up a second spider and put it on the desks. Hermione didn't particularly like large, scuttling insects, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the arachnid in front of her, oblivious to the fate that was about to befall it. The Cruciatus Curse was the torture spell
"The Cruciatus Curse" said Moody "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea. Engorgio!"
The spider grew, and Ron shoved his chair as far away from it as possible. Moody pointed his wand at the spider
"Crucio!"
At once, the spider began to twitch and jerk, as if in horrible pain, but Hermione's attention was directed to Neville. He was going pale, his fists clenched and he stared, horrified at the spider
"Stop it!" Hermione yelled, not liking to see her friend like that. Moody flicked his wand and the spider relaxed, though it continued to twitch
"Reducio" Moody said, and the spider shank again. Moody put it back in the jar
"Pain" he said quietly "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse... That one was very popular once too. Right... anyone know any others?"
Hermione raised her hand again. It was trembling
"Yes?" said Moody
"Avada Kedavra" Hermione whispered, not taking her eye off the third spider.
"Ah" said Moody "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra... the Killing Curse"
The third spider seemed to know what was coming for him, as, when Moody put it on the desk, it tried to make an escape. But, it was too late
"Avada Kedavra!" Moody yelled
There was a flash of green light and a rushing sound, as if someone had opened a window in a gale. The spider was knocked off it's feet and landed on it's back on the edge of the desk. It was dead.
"Not nice" said Moody, knocking the spider onto the floor "Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me"
Everyone turned to a now blushing Harry. Hermione wondered how he must be feeling. That was almost certainly the curse that killed his parents, and he had just witnessed it first hand
"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it" said Moody "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"
"Now, if there's no countercurse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the class jumped once more
"Now... those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus - are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills... copy this down..."
They spent the rest of the lesson making notes on the Unforgivable Curses. When the bell rang, Hermione was surprised to hear that people seemed to think that it had all been very entertaining, as if they hadn't seen the looks on Neville and Harry's faces
"Did you see it twitch?"
"-and when he killed it - just like that!"
"Hurry up" Hermione muttered
"Not the ruddy library again?" said Ron
"No" said Hermione "Neville"
Neville was just along the corridor, looking exactly the same as he had during the lesson
"Neville?" Hermione said quietly
"Oh hello" he said, his voice very high pitched "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"
"Neville, are you all right?" asked Hermione.
"Oh yes, I'm fine" said Neville much too quickly "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"
"Neville, what-?" Ron began
The dull clunk behind them alerted them to Moody walking over to them
"It's all right, sonny" he said to Neville, in a much gentler voice than Hermione had been expecting "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on... we can have a cup of tea... You all right, are you, Potter?"
"Yes" said Harry
"You've got to know" said Moody "It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending... well... come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you"
Neville begrudgingly followed Moody
"What was that about?" said Ron
"I don't know," said Hermione
"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron eagerly "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right-"
Thankfully, he shut up when he saw the look on Harry's face
Hermione didn't listen to Ron and Harry's conversation about Divination, and was at the library in record time. She found an empty desk and took out her notebook. She loaded her quill with ink and began to write
Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status
Aims:
Short Term:
○ Improve House-elves working conditions
○ Make House-elves master's lawfully obligated to give wages
Long Term:
○ Get an Elf elected into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
○ Letting Elves (and, by extention, all magical creatures in the 'being' division) carry and use wands
Members:
• Hermione Granger (leader)
• Ronald Weasley (treasurer)
• Harry Potter (secretary)
Hermione lowered her quill and thought. She needed some way to promote her idea. She didn't have enough money for leaflets or posters, yet, so what could she do? The idea came to her in a moment of inspiration. Badges! She raised her wand and muttered what she thought was the right spell. To her glee, a blank, red, badge appeared out of thin air and landed in her hand. She took her quill and tried to write S.O.A.O.F.M.C.C.C.T.L.S, but it wouldn't fit, so instead she wrote S.P.E.W., which stood for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. Hermione grinned
She spent the next hour or so making around one hundred of these badges, each one a different colour. After that, Madam Pince ushered her out of the library so she conjured a box, put the badges in it, ripped out the page in her notebook with the aims on it and went back to the Common room
Ron and Harry were two of the only people left in the common room. They both seemed to be doing homework - Divination, probably, and both seemed very amused with what they were writing
"Hello" she said brightly "I've just finished!"
"So have I!" said Ron putting down his quill. Hermione sat down and looked at Ron's 'predictions'
"Not going to have a very good month, are you?" she said sarcastically. He seemed to be getting burned, savaged and wounded in the same week
"Ah well, at least I'm forewarned" said Ron
"You seem to be drowning twice" said Hermione.
"Oh am I?" said Ron "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff"
"Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione, resisting the urge to smile
"How dare you!" said Ron, feigning anger "We've been working like house-elves here!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows
"It's just an expression" said Ron quickly, as Harry finished his 'predictions'
"What's in the box?" asked Harry, gesturing to it
"Funny you should ask" said Hermione, opening the box and letting them look inside
"'Spew'?" said Harry, picking up a gold badge "What's this about?"
"Not spew" said Hermione, rolling her eyes "It's S-P-E-W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare"
"Never heard of it" said Ron
"Well, of course you haven't" said Hermione brightly "I've only just started it"
"Yeah?" said Ron "How many members have you got?"
"Well - if you two join - three" said Hermione.
"And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron
"S-P-E-W!" snaked Hermione "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status - but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto"
She held up the page out of her notebook
"I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now"
"Hermione - open your ears" said Ron "They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!"
Hermione ignored him
"Our short-term aims" she said "are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long- term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented"
"And how do we do all this?" Harry asked
"We start by recruiting members" said Hermione brightly, glad that Harry, at least, was taking an interest "I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron - I've got you a collecting tin upstairs" that wasn't technically true, but shewasgoing tomake a collecting tin upstairs later "and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting"
Hermione grinned at them, but she was distracted from saying more by a tapping on the window. The three of them turned
"Hedwig!" Harry yelled. He got up, opened the window, and the snowy owl flew onto the table
"About time!" said Harry, following her
"She's got an answer!" said Ron eagerly, pointing to the parchment tied to her leg. Harry quickly took it off Hedwig's leg and unrolled it
"What does it say?" Hermione asked. Harry read aloud:
Harry-
I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore - they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is.
I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Harry.
Sirius
Harry stared at Ron and Hermione
"He's flying north?" Hermione breathed "He's coming back?" "Dumbledore's reading what signs?" said Ron "Harry — what's up?"
Harry hit himself in the forehead
"I shouldn't've told him!" he said angrily
"What are you on about?" said Ron
"It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Harry, hitting the table "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you" he added to Hedwig "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food"
Hedwig flew off, accidentally on purpose smacking Harry round face as she went
"Harry" Hermione started soothingly
"I'm going to bed" Harry snapped "See you in the morning"
He went upstairs. Hermione and Ron watched him go
"I should probably go as well" said Ron
"Hmm" said Hermione, still watching the stairs as Ron went to bed as well. Deciding there was nothing more to do, Hermione packed up her stuff and also went upstairs