Chapter 236: Unforgivable Curses

The next morning, the storm had subsided, but the Great Hall's ceiling still bore a heavy cloud of gloom.

As Alaric ate his breakfast, large swirling clouds of grayish-blue hovered above him.

However, he hadn't eaten much when he noticed quite a few people looking for him today.

First was Roger from seventh grade, followed by Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff and the twins from Gryffindor.

The first two were clearly there to gather intelligence.

"This morning, I heard from the girls' dormitory," Roger asked mysteriously, "You're not planning to enter the Triwizard Tournament, are you?"

"No, I'm not old enough," Alaric casually replied.

"Oh, come on, age can't possibly stop a genius like you," Roger didn't believe that for a moment.

"Everyone thinks you must have a hundred ways to get around that restriction."

At that moment, Diggory joined them.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked, "Did I miss something?"

Diggory and Roger were old rivals but on good terms.

"We were just saying that Alaric isn't entering the Triwizard Tournament because of his age," Roger smirked, "Seems like a ridiculous excuse."

"Well, okay," Alaric shrugged helplessly, "My real reason is that the tournament holds no challenge for me. It's just not interesting, so that's why I'm not participating."

"Though the reason disappoints me, I'll choose to believe it," Diggory sighed with a bitter smile.

"We all know if you were in, no one else would stand a chance. There's only one spot in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Oh, have some confidence, guys," Alaric patted their shoulders insincerely, "If you work hard, I think both of you have a shot at becoming champions."

Of course, it was just a chance; the spot would undoubtedly go to my dear Hermione—he thought to himself.

Nevertheless, Alaric's words eased their minds. With Alaric out of the picture, there weren't many at Hogwarts who could compete with them.

The two glanced at each other warily.

—You're my biggest competition!

After a brief farewell, Roger and Diggory hurried away.

Next to find Alaric were the Weasley twins. 

They wouldn't turn seventeen until next April, but becoming champions was a huge temptation for them. 

Alaric simply brushed them off, saying he didn't know the selection process.

...

The courses of the new semester were exciting. In Professor Sprout's Herbology class, she taught students how to extract pus from bubotubers.

They looked like dark, slimy giant slugs emerging straight from the soil. 

Each wriggled slightly, adorned with shiny boils filled with liquid. Despite their ugliness, their pus was highly valuable, the best remedy for stubborn acne...

In Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class, he taught everyone how to handle blast-ended skrewts.

They resembled deformed, shell-less lobsters—pale gray, sticky, and terribly frightening. 

Many legs sprawled out in all directions, with no visible heads. 

Each crate contained about a hundred, each about six inches long, crawling and bumping into the sides of the crate, emitting a strong stench of rotting fish and shrimp. 

Occasionally, a blast-ended skrewt's tail would shoot out sparks, followed by a soft pop as it propelled forward a few inches.

Of course, other classes were interesting too, but the most anticipated one was Defense Against the Dark Arts with the new teacher, "Mad-Eye", Alastor Moody.

Shortly after his arrival at school, Moody had already instilled fear in many young wizards due to his scarred appearance, his creepy magical eye that Snape avoided at all costs, and his nervously vigilant demeanor.

However, some students welcomed him, including Harry and Ron, because on the first day of school, he had turned Draco into a white ferret for attacking Potter from behind.

Moody's first class was on Thursday.

Upon entering the classroom, Moody's first words were, "Put away those textbooks. You won't be needing them."

This excited Hermione; she was certain this teacher wouldn't be like Lockhart.

"Alright," Moody continued after taking attendance, "I received a letter from Professor Lupin explaining the curriculum for this class.

It seems you've learned quite a bit about dealing with dark creatures like Boggarts, Red Caps, Grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, correct?"

The students murmured in agreement.

"But in terms of curses," Moody said, "You still have much to learn—much to learn. 

So, I'm going to introduce you to some curses that wizards cast on each other. I've spent a year teaching you how to deal with dark magic—"

Next, he explained the three Unforgivable Curses.

He opened a drawer on his desk and took out a glass jar containing three large black spiders, crawling incessantly inside.

Moody reached in, grabbed one spider, and placed it on his open palm for everyone to see. Then he pointed his wand at it and muttered.

"Imperio!"

The spider on Moody's palm started somersaulting, cartwheeling, and tap-dancing on a tightrope made of its own silk, causing laughter all around—except from Moody.

"Find that amusing, do you?" he asked gruffly, "Would you like it if I did it to one of you?"

...

The laughter died almost instantly.

"Under my complete control," Moody whispered softly—by now, the spider was rolling over and over on itself.

"I can make it jump out the window, drown itself, or jump down the throat of any one of your classmates..."

Next came the Cruciatus Curse. Moody enlarged the spider so everyone could see it clearly, then—

"Crucio!"

Immediately, the spider's legs curled up tightly against its body. It flipped and twitched violently, swaying back and forth.

It made no sound, but if it had vocal cords, it would surely have been screaming desperately. Moody didn't lower his wand; the spider continued to convulse and twitch more intensely—

"Stop it!" Hermione shouted sharply, unable to watch any longer.

Finally, it was the Killing Curse.

Moody raised his wand, aimed at the spider, and uttered the incantation—

"Avada Kedavra!"

A blinding green light pierced the air, accompanied by a cacophony of chaotic noises, as if an invisible behemoth flew overhead—simultaneously, the spider flipped over, lying motionless on the table, without a scratch, yet undoubtedly dead.

This brutal scene left the young wizards deeply unsettled. Several students struggled to suppress screams, while Hermione trembled continuously.

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