Till The End | h.p

auror

The next morning, they head down to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. Sam decides to sit next to Hermione. She sees Moody standing at the front of the class.

"Alastor Moody. Ex Auror, Ministry malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I am here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?"

Everyone remains silent.

"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?"

"Three, sir," Hermione informs.

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them will-"

"Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban, correct," Moody finishes, "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."

Moody turns around to write on the chalkboard, "You need to find another place to put your chewing gum besides the underside of your desk, Mr. Finnegan!"

The class turns to see Seamus trying to remove his gum, "No way. The old codger can see out the back of his head."

Moody turns abruptly and throws the piece of chalk at Seamus, "And hear across classrooms! So which curse shall we see first? Weasley!"

Ron, startled, skrieks, "Yeah?"

"Stand. Give us a curse."

Ron slowly stands and looks down at Harry, "Well, my dad did tell me about one. The Imperius Curse."

"Oh, yeah, 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 pulls out his wand and calls for Seamus to step to the front of the class. He does so, hesitantly.

"Imperio!"

Seamus begins to do cartwheels and flips off of desks. The whole class drops their jaws and laughs. The professor then calls Harry up.

"Try to withstand the curse, it requires the greatest strength of will."

He casts the curse again and this time Harry begins to dance an Irish jig. Sam rolls her eyes at the lesson, and Moody catches it.

"You seem to disagree with my teaching methods, huh?" He practically shouts at her.

"Yes, in fact, I do." She states with a determined glare.

"Then let's see you withstand it, Miss-?"

"Black," she answers as she steps up to the front, allowing Harry to finally stop dancing.

He watches her with slight worry.

"Imperio!"

Sam can feel the curse trying to take over, but she takes a deep breath and resists. She focuses on her emotions that leave no room for further influence. The class watches as she does nothing but stare in determination. Moody lowers his wand.

"Black? And your mother?"

"Montclair," she says as she straightens her posture.

The professor visibly stiffens and leans back away from her slightly. He nods for her to sit back down. She walks off with a blank expression as everyone stares at her in astonishment.

Out of nowhere, Moody shouts, "Class dismissed."

They look at each other in confusion as he limps up to his office. Sam stands and gathers her books before exiting the class. Harry, Ron and Hermione catch up with her.

"How did you do that?" Ron asks in wonder.

"My will was stronger than his, I guess."

The rain is pouring down relentlessly as they make their way into the Great Hall. The Goblet of Fire stands high enough off the ground that even Sam can't reach it. Sam sits in between Hermione and Harry as Ron sits on his other side. Hermione pulls out a large book for, in her terms, light reading. Sam pulls out her notes on Arithmancy. Harry and Ron sit and talk as others in the hall either study or enter their name into the tournament. Everytime someone puts their name in, claps resounds through the hall.

A large crowd obnoxiously enters shouting, "Come on, Cedric. Put it in!"

Two of his friends push him into the circle that surrounds the Goblet. As he drops his piece of parchment in, he turns and makes eye contact with Sam. He grins widely at her, she returns it with a small smile. This action doesn't go unnoticed by her friends. Cedric and his friends exit the hall.

"Eternal glory. Be brilliant, wouldn't it?" Ron asks in envy, "Three years from now, when we're old enough to be chosen."

Harry chuckles slightly, "Yeah, rather you than me."

Sam gives a small smile at that.

The twins come barging in yelling, "Yes!" as they hold a vial of liquid in their hands. Everyone claps loudly. They high five people as they pass them. They stand behind Sam and Hermione.

"Well, lads, we've done it."

"Cooked it up just this morning."

Hermione smiles smugly, "It's not going to work."

"Thank Godric," Sam whispers.

The twins kneel down on either side of Hermione.

"Oh, yeah?"

"And why is that, Granger?"

Hermione points to the circle that surrounds the Goblet, "You see this? This is an Age Line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?"

"So," Hermione scoffs, "a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by a dodge as pathetically dimwitted as an Aging Potion."

They both smirk.

"But that's why it's so brilliant."

"Because it's so pathetically dimwitted."

They laugh and stand up again as they shake the vials.

"Ready, Fred?"

"Ready, George."

"Bottoms up," They say in unison.

As they down the vials, they jump into the circle and nothing happens.

"Yes!" They shout and the crowd cheers.

As they both pull out pieces of parchment with their names on it, Sam calls out to them, "Fred, George, if either of you put your names into that goblet, you won't survive the tasks... because I will kill you myself."

Without saying a word, they both dropped their names into the fire. As nothing appears to happen, everyone cheers loudly... until both of them are flung out of the circle and they hit the floor. As they begin to sit up, long white beards and white hair start to grow and wrinkles form.

"You said!"

"You said!"

They begin to tackle each other and roll around on the floor. However, Krum walks in and stops the commotion. He enters the circle and places his paper in the fire. As he turns to leave he glances at Hermione. A small blush creeps up her cheeks and Sam giggles.