Chapter 188
The students waited quietly in the classroom, contrary to their usual manner, until they heard the sound of Moody's wooden footsteps in the corridor. He then entered the room with his strange, fear-inducing appearance. As soon as he took his seat, they could see his wooden leg beneath his clothes before he said, "You can put away those books, you won't need them!"
Indeed, they put the books back in their bags, and Ron seemed excited and eager for the lesson to begin before Moody pulled out a roster and started calling out the students' names, his healthy eye focused on the list while his magical eye watched whoever answered until he was sure everyone was present. But after he shouted Albert Black's name aloud, Albert gestured with his hand that he was present in the class.
Moody was surprised by this. The fake Moody did not expect that the person he fought against in the forest during the Quidditch World Cup was Albert Black, whom his leader, Voldemort, desperately wanted to kill!!
After seeing that the warnings Peter always gave him not to drop his guard around Albert, and that because of him Peter's true identity was exposed, the fake Moody began to take this matter seriously.
The fake Moody did not show any strong reaction, although he was surprised by it, but he changed his reaction and said, "Alright, I received a letter from Professor Lupin about this class, and I learned that you have experience in dealing with creatures of the Dark Arts. I think you've dealt with a Boggart.... haven't you?! And also Red Caps and Werewolves... Is that right?!"
Everyone murmured in the affirmative, and he continued, "But you're still completely behind on curses. And I'm here to teach you what wizards can do to each other, and all I have is one year to teach you how to deal with and face the arts..."
Ron rushed to ask, "What? You're not staying?!"
Moody's magical eye turned toward Ron, who looked scared, but after Moody smiled—the first time Harry had seen him smile, and the effect of his smile was strong on his wrinkled face, making it look even more wrinkled—it completely put Ron at ease. Then he said:
"You must be Arthur Weasley's son... aren't you?! Your father helped me out of a big jam a few days ago. Yes, I'm staying here for one year. It was Dumbledore's wish for me to work for one year and then return to retirement." Then he laughed a loud laugh before clapping his hands and saying again, "Alright... let's begin... Curses. They can be more than a powerful image, and according to the Ministry of Magic's instructions, I'm required to teach you defensive spells, and I'm not supposed to show you the Unforgivable Curses or those associated with the Dark Arts, as that wouldn't be until you reach your sixth year. But Professor Dumbledore had a different opinion... he believes you can handle it, and I think the sooner you learn them, the more you can protect yourselves. How can you protect yourselves from something you've never seen before? A dark wizard who hits you with a curse isn't going to tell you what he's going to do. You need preparation... He won't do it with a friendly smile on his face, so you must be careful and alert, and you should pay attention when I'm talking, Miss Brown."
Lavender looked flustered and embarrassed, as she had been passing the astrological scribbles she had finished to Parvati under her desk. It seemed Moody's magical eye could see what was happening behind the wood of the desk. Moody continued, "Alright... does anyone know which curses carry the maximum penalty in the Magical Law?!"
Some hands went up, including Ron's, Hermione's, and Albert's. Moody pointed to Ron, even though his magical eye was still focused on Lavender. Ron replied, "My father told me the name of one... I think it's the Imperius Curse."
Moody replied, "Yes... your father must know it. It caused the Ministry big problems back then."
Moody opened his desk drawer and took out a glass jar containing three large black spiders. Harry felt Ron tremble beside him, as he hated spiders.
Moody reached out and picked up one of the spiders, holding it up in his hand for everyone to see. The spider slipped out of Moody's hand but remained suspended by a thin silk thread, swaying back and forth before suddenly flipping itself over, snapping the thread, and falling onto the desk, where it began to spin in circles.
Moody took out his wand and pointed it at the spider, which began to raise and lower its legs in what looked like a dance. Everyone laughed except Moody, who said, "You think it's funny... don't you?! Would you like it if I did it to one of you?"
The laughter suddenly stopped. He continued, "I can make it jump out the window or throw itself into one of your mouths..."
Ron shivered at the thought before Moody continued, saying, "Years ago, many witches and wizards were controlled by the Imperius Curse, and one of the Ministry's jobs was to try and figure out who was under the influence of the curse and who was acting of their own free will."
Harry knew he was talking about the time when Voldemort was at the height of his power. Moody continued, "The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll teach you how, but it requires the strongest will and not everyone can do it, and it's best to avoid it if you can." Then he returned the spider to the glass jar before asking, "Does anyone know another curse? An Unforgivable Curse??"
Hermione's hand shot up quickly, and to Harry's surprise, Neville also raised his hand. Herbology was the only lesson Neville participated in, and Neville himself seemed surprised by his boldness, especially when Moody pointed to him, saying, "Yes... you!!"
Neville replied in a low voice, "Yes... the Cruciatus Curse."
Moody looked at him with both eyes this time, then asked, his healthy eye checking the roster, "Your name is Longbottom... isn't it?!"
Neville nervously nodded before Moody returned to one of the spiders, placing it on the desk, saying, "The Cruciatus Curse. It needs something bigger for you to realize it." Then he pointed to the spider, saying, "Engorgio"
The spider's size began to increase dramatically. Ron looked at it in terror, then left his seat and moved to the back of the class. Moody raised his wand again and pointed at the spider, saying, "Crucio!!"
Immediately, the spider raised two of its legs and began to press them against its head and push them from side to side without making any sound, but Harry was sure that if it could make a sound, it would be screaming. Moody did not raise his wand, and the spider began to tremble with greater force until Moody raised his wand again, and the spider calmed down before he raised his wand again and said, "Reducio." The spider returned to its normal size before Moody picked it up again and returned it to the glass jar before saying quietly, "Pain... You won't need a knife or any torture tools to cause pain to anyone if you know the Cruciatus Curse. It was common in the past as well!!"
"Alright... does anyone know more?!"
Harry looked around and found everyone's faces eagerly anticipating what would happen to the third spider. Hermione raised her hand for the third time, but Moody did not choose her to answer; instead, he chose the person behind Hermione, who had also raised his hand high.
Moody spoke, pointing his hand toward the person, "Yes... you!!"
Albert, who was the person who raised his hand high, spoke, saying, "Avada Kedavra." Everyone looked at him in astonishment, while Moody smiled, saying, "Ah... Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse!!"
Then he reached his hand toward the glass jar, and as if the third spider knew what was about to happen to it, it tried to escape his hand until he grabbed it and placed it on the desk, then raised his wand, saying, "Avada Kedavra!!"
Moody pointed his magic wand at the spider to herald the use of the Killing Curse!!
But Albert stopped in his place and said, "Professor Moody!! I have a question I don't know the answer to!"
The fake Moody was in a state of ecstasy as he was enjoying torturing the spider and wanted to kill it quickly!! But Albert's words snapped him out of that ecstasy, and he forced himself to say, "Come on... tell me your question!!"
Everyone, including Hermione, was watching Albert, who was standing above them, having risen from his seat!!
Albert spoke confidently, saying, "If my opponent uses the Avada Kedavra curse... how can I protect myself from that curse?!!"
After the fake Moody heard this bold and serious question, he put the spider back in the glass jar, looking at Albert seriously, and said, "Well... there are two ways and no third, and the first is harder than the second for you to save yourself. The first is to be someone with a very strong reaction, and to have anticipated that your opponent will use the Killing Curse, so you can also cast a spell like the Disarming Charm to disarm your opponent. This is the first way, and it is very difficult, as you must only focus on predicting that your opponent will use this curse. If your prediction is wrong, you will rest in peace in the end."
Moody walked a few steps forward, pacing between the rows in the classroom among the students, and he continued to speak, saying, "As for the second way... it is the most difficult of all, and that is to possess a strong defensive barrier. Headmaster Dumbledore is the only person I know who has this thing, and that makes it easy for him to ward off the Killing Curse with complete ease, unless Headmaster Dumbledore wants to let the Killing Curse hit him and die. Other than that, it is impossible for the Killing Curse to strike Headmaster Dumbledore's body!!"
After the fake Moody finished speaking, he took a small flask that was on his desk and began to drink from it heavily...
But Albert did not stop there. He threw his question again at the fake Moody in order to extract more information from him about this matter at this time when the fake Moody still did not know that Albert knew his true identity.
Albert: "Well... you mentioned, Professor Moody, that Headmaster Dumbledore possesses a sturdy defensive barrier that allows him to ward off the Killing Curse. Is this barrier a curse, a legendary artifact, or what?!"
Moody gave a wide smile and said, "Headmaster Dumbledore was in the first war against - you know who - and his followers, facing them alone, and he was warding off their Killing Curses using this colorless defensive barrier. Through my discussions and experience with him, I discovered that it was an artifa
ct and not a curse!!"
To be continued...