Lily's Son

Chapter 46

It was two days later they got his first taste of Moody's class, the first thing he said as he came in put the books away nobody would be needing them. Harry grinned at his friends as they did as they were told; all of them were fidgeting in anticipation. It wasn't every day they got lessons from an Auror, not just any Auror but one of the most known Aurors in the wizarding world. He had retired from the Auror corps but was a good friend with Dumbledore apparently, and taken the job for that reason - as a favour.

"I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class; you have covered pretty much everything about Dark creatures. Boggarts, Red Caps, Grindylows, Kappas and werewolves is that right?" asked Moody.

"Yes sir" said Hermione, and everyone else murmured assents. Hermione, Draco and Neville looked over at Harry in concern. It was well known in their circle that Harry did not like Lupin at all.

"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 to do each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark -"

"Aren't you staying?" blurted Harry. Why couldn't they get a teacher that lasted more than a single year? He didn't understand it at all, and he was wondering why they were behind? It was because they didn't have a single decent Defence teacher.

"You're James Potter's son ante ya? I am only staying for the year, special favour to Dumbledore…one year then back to retirement" said Moody. He had a very awful grin on his face, making his scars worse and his face contort like he was in agony.

"Yes Sir," murmured Harry, he was rather excited about this class now! Getting to do proper curses this was going to be great. Hopefully it would be spells they hadn't already learned themselves in their secret room or when they were on their summer break.

"So- straight to it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter-curses 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" said Moody "But Dumbledore has a better 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" said Moody.

Hermione frowned, what was Dumbledore up to now? If the Ministry was against it why would Dumbledore risk their wrath when he was already on thin ice? Looking over at her friends she could see they were clearly thinking the exact same thing as her.

"So…do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?" asked Moody.

"Weasley?" said Moody after some hands had been raised.

"My dad told me about one…is it called the imperious curse, or something?" said Ron.

"Ah, yes," said Moody nodding "Your father would know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time the imperious curse." His eye went to Draco in particular with a nasty look in his eye.

"Yeek," squeaked Ron when Moody had withdrawn spiders from his desks it caused everyone to roll their eyes. Everyone knew Ronald Weasley's worst fear was spiders; they remembered the Boggart just last year. Although it wasn't just Weasley there was a few shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

Hermione and Harry listened intently to Moody's lecture about the Imperious curse, they didn't laugh like the others in front of them did when the spider was imperious cursed. Eventually he stopped the spell after effectively scaring the day living shit out of everyone by saying he would teach them to beat it. They all stared at each other alarmed…wondering what on earth he meant by that but knowing nonetheless.

"Anyone else, know another one?" asked Moody.

Cho Chang slowly put her hand in the air, seeing as nobody else was about to do it.

"Aye?" asked Moody.

"The Cruciatus Curse" said Cho quietly.

The spider was quickly 'Engorgio'ed and the curse was cast Harry didn't react but half of the class winced at the spiders actions. Twitching horribly, rocking from side to side, no sound came from it but Harry could imagine what it must be going through.

"Nev, Nev!" said Harry, squeezing his shoulder; his friend was paler than any picture he'd seen of a vampire. He was trembling under the table; he could feel it from where he was sitting. He knew why he was, the entire group knew what had happened to Neville's parents but everyone else was ignorant to it. "Just breathe." he told him firmly.

Hermione pursed her lips, trying to stop herself from screaming at the teacher. As soon as she was out of this classroom she was complaining, she didn't know who to go to but she would be complaining - to everyone - so they knew what on earth was going on at Hogwarts.

"Right, anyone else know another?" said Moody bluntly.

Harry twitched in fury, now understanding why Dumbledore had permitted this. The fucking arsehole was playing mind games, he didn't care about him but the fact Dumbledore was going after his friend made him even more furious. "Don't let it get to you, Dumbledore's just desperate - he's playing mind games Nev."

Nose twitching in anger he raised his hand his face filled with fury. He didn't care what the old Auror did quite frankly, he wasn't about to let him or Dumbledore win this little bloody game.

"Yes?" asked Moody both eyes on Harry Potter.

"Avada Kedavra - The Killing curse" said Harry, green eyes challenging Moody's.

The last spider was killed quickly in a flash of green light; Harry continued staring never once giving away his true feelings. He didn't let go off Neville, he'd stopped trembling at least.

"Not nice," he said "Not pleasant. And there's no counter-curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting here right in front of me."

Harry wanted to sneer so badly, but refrained from reacting at all, he and his friends were all silently fuming through.

Surprisingly enough he said no more about it, he went on to tell them the three spells were the Unforgivables. Before long they were taking notes on the Unforgivables until the bell rang. "Mr. Longbottom stay behind." barked Moody.

Neville looked up in surprise he just wanted to get out of this damn classroom not stay in it longer. "I have another class, sir," said Neville, standing up his legs still felt shaky. He'd never seen the curse performed but realized a long time ago that they had been hurt so badly they'd gone insane from the pain of it. To see the spider writhing in agony…had made him see his own parents from pictures he had of them screaming in agony. He felt sick, he wanted some fresh air and he wanted it now.

"It will only take a minute." demanded Moody.

"Let's go Neville," said Draco, "I'm afraid he's feeling unwell, sir, I'm taking him to his Head of House."

Before Moody could get another word in edgewise, the three friends had boxed their friend in and gotten him out of the classroom without further incident. Instead of heading towards their next class they quickly made their way out of Hogwarts. They were simply furious about what had gone down.

"You don't think he would resort to that to get one over you for what happened last year do you?" asked Hermione. Sickened to the core, Headmasters were supposed to guide and protect students not let this happen.

"You've seen him angry…he would do anything he's a spiteful character - I should tell my dad what happened see if we can get something done about it. Even when he's not here he's got everyone else doing stuff for him." scowled Draco angrily. "Dad knows this, it's why he didn't want me near Hogwarts." he wouldn't give up his friends for anything anyway.

"I wonder if all the classes will go through the same thing of if he's not going to hide his attempt to get to us." snapped Harry, breathing in the fresh air as they got outside.

"Where are we going?" asked Neville stopping short.

"Going to Professor Sprout, she should know what's happening!" protested Harry.

"Professor Snape has more chance of doing something about it though," Draco pointed out thoughtfully.

"True," mused Harry.

"I'll be fine, guy's." said Neville already looking better.

"You should never have been in that class," snapped Hermione, "Neither of you, that…that…that's the equivalent of mental torture!"

"It just doesn't seem right…Moody is really paranoid but would he really risk his reputation by using those spells in front of fourteen-year-olds?" wondered Draco.

"He just did," scoffed Harry.

"How do you do it, Harry? Get angry like that instead of feeling sick?" asked Neville, in awe of how strong his friend was.

"Nev don't compare yourself to me, what happened to you is different from what happened to me." said Harry softly, "The end result was the same, but circumstances' are so different."

"Harry's right," said Hermione, "Come on, let's go see Professor Sprout."

"I'd rather not," decided Neville, "Us complaining just lets Dumbledore know he's won."

"If you are sure," said Harry staring at Draco, Hermione and then Neville.

"I am," Neville told them.

"Alright, but if anything else happens…I we go to Severus together. Agreed?" said Draco firmly.

"Agreed," replied the three teens, Harry and Hermione weren't as comfortable with giving in - it could be exactly what Dumbledore and Moody wanted.

The next defence class was just as bad, but he hadn't singled any of them out thankfully. Everyone had been put under the imperious curse; no one other than Harry, Neville and Draco had been able to fight it off. Hermione had managed to struggle slightly but not effectively able to fight it off completely. By the time the two period class was up, everyone was grateful to leave, especially Harry and his friends, who were physically exhausted. It took a great deal of will power to throw off the Imperius Curse.

"The way he talks," growled Harry wobbling out of the defence classroom feeling very bloody weak "You'd think we were going to be attacked any minute." scowled Harry.

"You alright there Harry?" asked Luna, looking concerned, frowning when she noticed that Neville and Draco were wobbling weakly as well.

"I'm not going to survive Defence this year, never mind you, Harry." said Draco, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily as the others all left as if nothing had happened. Then again they hadn't expended all their energy into fighting the Imperius Curse off.

Harry laughed weakly finding it amusing.

"What happened?" asked Luna, staring at them all blankly.

"Put the Imperious curse on us," sighed Harry, grimacing at the aches and pains he currently had. He wasn't going to be able to continue attending classes…he was just too bloody sore.

"Too bad it's legal for Aurors," grumbled Neville, otherwise he would have been very tempted to report him.

"Active Auror's yes, but maybe not retired ones," Harry said thoughtfully. "Merlin I think I need to go to Madam Pomfrey." he could barely stand.

"Severus, we should go to Severus for the potions," said Draco, "Let's go, we won't be able to last the rest of the day if we don't."

"You know he doesn't like you calling him that when we are at school," replied Hermione, shaking her head in amusement.

"Why do you think I do it?" grinned Draco cheekily.

"Is that right?" stated Severus, surprising the teen who jerked around staring wide eyed.

"Um…Professor Snape!" squeaked Draco, trying to sound afraid but his eyes were twinkling slightly.

"Mr. Malfoy," said Severus, giving him a pointed look as he raked his gaze over all of them silently concerned. "What is going on?" he demanded.

"Could we get a pain reliever sir? Professor Moody put us all under the Imperius Curse and I ache everywhere." Harry asked respectfully.

Severus' mouth thinned in displeasure, the Head of Houses and Minerva (who was also temporary Headmistress) was quite frankly going nuts over Moody's teaching habits. Unfortunately she didn't have the authority to let anyone go, otherwise Moody would have been sacked the first week. The students might think they were blind to what was going on, but the truth was they overheard the students talking all the time. They knew what he was doing, but there was nothing they could do - only Dumbledore who would be back very soon could do something about it.

"Ouch," muttered Draco, wincing as he moved the wrong way causing a flair of pain to shoot up his leg.

Severus opened his cloak and began to feel around his largened pocket for his potions kit. Hopefully he would have enough muscle relaxant to give the teenagers one each. Unwrapping it with difficulty, he found the green vials and plucked them out relaxing when he realized he had four of them. He knew Luna didn't share classes with them, so she couldn't be suffering from the affects of fighting off the Imperius Curse.

"Drink it all," stated Severus, thrusting a vial of the potion under each of the affected student's noses. He stayed and made sure they did what they were told; only relaxing once they began to look better. He really should be reading the books he had found on the Horcruxes…if they could be called as such they were ancient old scrolls from the Malfoy vaults, two had admittedly been found in the Black one though.

"Thanks," murmured Harry quietly, giving him a relieved grin.

"Do you have another class?" enquired Severus.

Harry, Hermione, Neville and Draco all wordlessly nodded.

"Very well, off you go." said Severus, gesturing for the five of them to go.

"I have defence, I'll see you guys at lunch," said Luna, giving them one more concerned look before sliding into the classroom. The look screamed 'Get me out of here' she certainly didn't want Moody trying that spell on her.

"Alright, see you later, Lune." said Harry, "Thanks, Professor." he added again before the four of them made their way to Charms.

Severus watched them go, before he turned and went back to his quarters, he had more important things to do than patrol the halls looking for students missing classes. He had to find out how to remove that damn soul shard from Harry before Dumbledore returned. Then he would need to continue his research at Malfoy Manor, he couldn't risk Dumbledore finding out what they were up to or Harry being one. He dreaded to think what the old fool would do, he didn't like to contemplate the idea that he would kill Harry - but he certainly wasn't taking the risk.

Been ages since I updated I know and I apologize but the muse for this one has sunk like a boat in the Bermuda triangle...I will continue though as I always do - I do not like giving up or abandoning stories so I hope it is good enough without the muse...for those that read a new place to stay thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews you gave me they were heartfelt and I loved every single one of them. I deeply appreciate all support given. So yes, thank you so much! Will Severus come up with something or will the ending be a shocker for both Severus and Lucius? R&R