"Shut up, shut up! Enough about that stupid, stupid boy! You're acting like a child!" Hermione snapped at Draco. He had been complaining about Harry Potter once more, whining about how unfair it was that he was able to put his name in the Goblet, let alone chosen as a champion.
Draco crosses his arms and huffed. "It's not fair."
"Your ignorance and childishness will get you killed one of these days, Malfoy. It's quite obvious Potter didn't put his name in the Goblet of Fire. He's not nearly skilled enough in magic to fool Albus Dumbledore. Someone put his name in the Goblet, someone especially good at magic, good enough to trick the Goblet into thinking a fourth school was involved in the tournament, and they obviously put Potter's name in under that school. I'm willing to bet it's someone who wants to see him die in this tournament too. Potter's entirely inexperienced compared to the other three champions; he probably won't stand a chance alongside them."
This seemed to cheer Draco up significantly. "You mean Potter won't survive?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "As if Dumbledore would let him die."
The blonde pouted, but said nothing.
"C'mon, it's time for class," Hermione muttered, grabbing her things and leaving for Defense Against the Dark Arts without checking to see if Draco was following her.
In this particular lesson, Professor Moody decided it wise to begin work on curses: specifically, the Unforgivables.
"Who here could name any of the Unforgivable Curses?" Moody inquired.
The whole classroom shifted uncomfortably. Many, if not all of the Slytherin students had vague experience with the Unforgivable Curses, as many where the children of Death Eaters, though few had been proven as such.
It was Theo that hesitantly spoke first. "The Imperius Curse."
Moody nodded. "Ah yes. The curse that allows one to control another. Many of the Dark Lord's followers got out of incarceration by claiming Imperius." At this, he pulled a large tarantula out of his desk. "IMPERIO," he yelled, pointing his wand at the spider. Immediately, he flung it around the room. Daphne Greengrass shrieked when it landed on her desk and began crawling toward her. She stood abruptly and took a step back from her desk. The spider leapt back to Moody's desk.
"Who can name another?"
This time it was Draco who drew in a shaky breath and replied. "The Cruciatus."
"The torture curse. Causes immense pain to the victim. CRUCIO," Moody said, his wand once again pointed at the spider.
The spider twisted and shrieked obviously in pain. The Slytherin students grimaced and flinched away, but said nothing. Moody ended the curse shortly thereafter.
"And the final curse?" He asked.
"Avada Kedavra. The killing curse," Hermione answered, leaning back in her seat, anticipating what would come.
Moody nodded. "AVADA KEDAVRA," he shouted. Immediately, the spider perished, curling in on itself before all motion ceased.
The students in the classroom flinched, none having ever truly witnessed the killing curse performed before now.
"Now, it is in my opinion that you should be prepared to defend yourself against curses such as these, though, of course, the killing curse should be exempted as it cannot be defended from. You must remain CONSTANTLY VIGILANT. Dark wizards could be anywhere. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" The Professor was yelling by this time. But he took a breath and calmed down. "Today I will subject you to the Imperius Curse, and you will attempt to withstand the effects."
"This is an Unforgivable Curse you want to put on us! That's illegal," Hermione exclaimed.
"Well if you would prefer your first time under the curse be at the hands of a Death Eater, be my guest."
"That's not what I meant," Hermione muttered, but said nothing else.
One by one, the Slytherin students were placed under the Imperius curse. Each time, Hermione witnessed her fellow classmates do the most ridiculous tasks, though she could see the strain on their faces as they tried to resist it, meaning Moody's curse, though effective in control over action, fell short in every other department. When Moody turned to Hermione, she felt a soothing sensation wash over her. She felt calm and at peace and almost...submissive. At this thought, she turned to Moody and glared. She was submissive to no one.
Punch Blaise.
No, she thought. Why would I want to punch my brother?
Punch him. The sudden urge to punch her brother arose and Hermione felt her hand clench tightly.
No, she thought. I don't want to punch my brother.
NOW!
Before she could think, her arm flung up and snapped towards Blaise at immense speeds. He flung his arms up defensively, and Hermione felt his defensive magic wash over her and she was stopped before she could make contact.
Moody grunted. "You're good with offensive magic, Miss Zabini, but you have very poor barriers around your mind. Regardless, you almost managed to resist the curse. Well done."
He then turned to Blaise and pointed his wand at him, casting the curse. Hermione watched her brother, but he did nothing but stare blankly back at Moody. The professor growled lowly and intensified the curse. Hermione sucked in a sharp breath when Blaise didn't so much as flinch.
Finally, Moody broke the curse with a laugh. "Well done, boy. You have incredibly strong mental barriers. You'd do well to aid your sister."
Blaise fixed the Professor with a deadly stare. "If you so much as touch a hair on her head again, I will kill you." With that, he turned and walked out of the classroom. The bell then rang, and the rest of the Slytherin students followed him quickly.
~*~
The first task began one brisk morning shortly after their Defense lesson on curses. Heavily disinterested, Hermione watched sullenly, wishing she were playing Quidditch instead. Blaise rolled his eyes at her sulking and nudged her.
"The champions have to battle dragons," he told her.
She shot up, suddenly paying much more attention. "Are they now? Oh poor Potter must be stricken in fear!" She laughed, and those in the crowd of Slytherin students that heard joined her in her laughter.
Draco Malfoy arrived shortly after, sitting down quickly next to Hermione. "Bets on how long Potty lasts?"
"You're on," Theo said. "I say ten minutes."
"I say five," Draco replied. "Ten galleons?" Theo nodded and shook Draco's outstretched hand.
"I say if neither of you get it right, you both owe me ten galleons," Hermione called out.
The boys laughed but shook her hand anyway.
And so she watched as each of the champions battled their dragons, each managing to steal the golden egg that was their task until Potter was announced.
The whistle that announced he could begin sounded and Hermione cast a charm to time how long he would last, summoning a transparent stopwatch in the air that immediately began counting seconds.
Potter dashed behind a rock before the dragon could find him and brought out his wand.
"Oh please," Draco said, "he's not nearly good enough at magic for that."
But apparently he was. He had cast a charm that none in the stands could hear and waited. At first, the Slytherin thought Draco had been right, as nothing was happening. Then, a few minutes later, they all saw Potter's brook zooming towards him. He'd cast a Summoning charm impressive enough to summon his broom all the way from the castle.
He zoomed around the dragon, obviously attempting to get the giant creature to lift off the ground by diving towards it barely high enough that it couldn't reach him. Another few minutes later, it lifted off with enough power to break the chain that tethered it to the ground. Potter's eyes widened, and he was quick to fly away. He zoomed around the arena with the dragon close on his tail. This went on for a few more minutes before he saw his opening.
Hermione watched him adjust his flight course abruptly, flying down suddenly and grabbing the golden egg from the nest. The task had concluded.
Hermione glanced at the stopwatch, which read 23 minutes and 17 seconds. She smirked and the pair of boys groaned before forking over the gold.
The judges then scored the four champions and, to the absolute sheer and utter shock of the Slytherin crowd, Potter scored the highest alongside Krum and was now tied in first place.
Hermione pursed her lips in contemplation. Maybe the idiot boy stood a better chance than she first thought.