Harry Potter and the Obscurus

Chapter 107 Mad-Eye

Ever since he'd met Professor Trelawney in his third year, Moran had never imagined he'd want Harry to attend her classes. But life is unpredictable. After the ordeal of Baboon tuber pus and the Blasttail, Divination became the best class of the week.

The next two days were uneventful, except for Neville being punished by Professor Snape with solitary confinement for burning through the sixth cauldron in Potions class.

Finally, Thursday arrived, and all the fourth-year Gryffindor students who were eagerly waiting for Moody's first class finished their lunch early and lined up in a long queue outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

“I heard that Professor Moody was removed from his frontline position at the Ministry of Magic because he can no longer distinguish between a handshake and premeditated murder. Do you think... he might attack us at school?”

"If you're so afraid, why did he come to queue up so early?"

"But he's Mad-Eye! I heard from my mother that he's the one who brought half the dark wizards in Azkaban. To have someone like that as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, my God, even the Aurors in the Ministry of Magic don't get that kind of treatment."

"I think Professor Lu Ping is very capable. It would be great if his health wasn't so bad and he wasn't sick so often."

Dean, Seamus, and Neville's discussion was overheard by the trio who arrived last. As the few students who knew the real reason Lupin left Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, and Hermione subconsciously avoided the topic.

A short while later, the classroom door opened automatically, and the students who had been waiting at the door for a long time immediately filed in.

They hurriedly found their seats and took out their textbooks, "Black Magic: A Guide to Self-Defense," waiting in an unusually quiet atmosphere throughout the classroom.

A few seconds later, amidst a series of heavy footsteps, Professor Moody, wearing a specially made prosthetic leg, entered with a strange and arrogant gait. As he walked to the podium, leaning on his cane, he spoke without turning his head:

"Put away all those substandard textbooks; you won't need them this semester."

The students became even more excited, their movements unusually swift, as if afraid of missing something, quickly stuffing their books into their bags and then returning to their sitting postures as before.

"After I agreed to teach here, Professor Lupin sent me a letter. He said that you have already mastered a lot of basic knowledge about dealing with dark magic creatures, including Boggarts, Red Hats, Hinkpunk, Grindylows, Kaba, and werewolves, is that right?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Yes, the problem is obvious. You are all quite ignorant about how to deal with spells, at least most of you are. Over the next year, I'm going to show you what wizards do. And listen, I'm not talking about fair duels. When dealing with dark magic, you must think like dark wizards to have any chance of survival. One year, just one year. How much you learn is up to you."

"What? You mean just one year?"

Ron, who greatly admired Moody, blurted out the question instinctively.

"Yes, just for a year. Dumbledore asked me to do him a favor and also serve as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. After I finish teaching you for this year, I'll go back to my retirement. You must be Ronald Weasley, right? Your parents are very brave and strong people. I hope you won't embarrass them in this class."

Professor Moody kept his head down as he spoke, but his magical eyes were fixed on Ron's location like a predator's, making Ron's hair stand on end.

"Alright, let's get back to the point. Spells, something you've been practicing for years, come in many different forms, each with its own magical composition. According to the Ministry of Magic's curriculum, I should teach you various counter-spells, but as I just said, that's not the way to think when dealing with dark wizards. You must learn about illegal dark magic spells as early as possible. Put your gum somewhere else, Mr. Finigan!"

Simon Finigan was startled.

Clearly, Moody's magic eye could see not only things in blind spots, but also things through wooden desks.

"So next, can any of you tell me which spells will incur the most severe punishment from the Ministry of Magic?"

Several hands were carefully raised into the air. Apart from Hermione, even Ron, out of admiration for Mad-Eye, tried to answer the questions.

"Weasley!"

"Yes! Ah... my dad once mentioned a curse, including during the Quidditch World Cup riots, those people... those people claimed they were under... a Death Curse or something, right?"

"very good!"

As he spoke, Moody excitedly used his prosthetic leg to walk to the drawer near the podium. He took out a glass bottle and pulled out a huge spider.

"Imperio!" (Soul leaves body)

As a wisp of magical light drifted from the tip of Moody's wand, the giant spider leaped from his palm with a "whoosh," and using a thin thread hanging from its rear, the spider began to swing back and forth like a child playing on a swing.

The students stared intently at the large spider hanging on Moody's hand until it swung more and more violently and broke its silk, at which point a few of the more timid girls gasped in surprise.

Snapped!

The sound, neither too loud nor too soft, echoed through the quiet classroom; clearly, the spider had fallen quite hard.

Seeing that the students still had expressions of amusement, a barely perceptible hint of disappointment flashed across Moody's face. What he really wanted to demonstrate was the Imperius Curse's invulnerability to physical damage; unfortunately, given the age and understanding of fourth-year students, it was still difficult for them to grasp his intention.

The wand flipped and shook, and the spider stood up on its four hind legs. Under the control of the magic, it no longer behaved like an arthropod, but instead became like a human, dancing a tap dance.

"Hahahahaha!"

"You think this is funny? If I used a spell on you, would you still be laughing?"

The laughter that had just begun vanished instantly, and the students who had been overjoyed began to show tense expressions as they were now being watched by the demonic eye.

"Completely...at the mercy of others."

“I can make it jump down your throats!”

"Or I'll bite you with my fangs!"

The giant spider hopped around the classroom, and every time Moody spoke, the young wizards he was disciplining with the spider would scream. Luckily, Ron had a severe arachnophobia and didn't laugh out loud; otherwise, if Professor Moody had slapped him in the face like that, he probably would have gone straight to Madam Pomfrey's office.

For the next three minutes, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was in chaos, before gradually calming down.

By the time Professor Moody put the exhausted spider back into the glass bottle, many students were already disheveled.

"More than a decade ago, before Voldemort fell from power, many wizards who refused to be his henchmen were controlled by the Death Eaters using the Imperius Curse. The Ministry of Magic was swamped back then; they even had to spend a fortune mass-producing Veritaserum to distinguish who was truly being forced. But don't misunderstand me, I'm not telling you this just to tell you how dangerous the Imperius Curse is. On the contrary, I want each of you to remember that the Imperius Curse can be resisted!"

Some of the wizarding students, who had just recovered from the shock of the flying spiders, involuntarily shuddered again. In their eyes, calling Voldemort by his name was a dangerous act that should be avoided at all costs.

However, what is lost on one front is gained on another.

Mo Ran felt much more at ease after hearing Professor Moody utter the name "Voldemort".

It's worth noting that from the moment Harry entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, this former Auror behaved remarkably similarly to Barty the Younger from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." While in the original story, Barty the Younger most likely used Veritaserum or some other means to mimic Moody's mannerisms during class, this level of similarity immediately raised alarm bells in Mo Ran's mind.

it's good now.

Death Eaters who call their master the Dark Lord out of worship, awe, or simply fear would never utter the name Voldemort. Having figured this out, Mo Ran found Moody's voice, which sounded as if it had been razor-sharpened, much more pleasant.

"In later lessons I will teach you how to resist the Imperius Curse, although you'd better avoid being hit by it. Okay, does anyone know any other spells similar to the Imperius Curse?"

The demonstration of the Imperius Curse's effects using a spider didn't dampen the young wizards' enthusiasm; on the contrary, significantly more people responded to the question this time. As Moody's Evil Eye darted around, it finally locked onto Neville.

"You answer."

“There is… there is a Cruciatus Curse, Professor.”

Neville's voice was soft; he seemed somewhat surprised and regretful of his bold act of raising his hand.

Moody stared intently at Neville, not just at the demonic eye, but this time, he looked at him with both eyes simultaneously.

"You're Longbottom, right?"

"Yes, Professor."

Moody stopped talking. After a brief silence, he clapped his two scarred hands.

"Classmates, I hope you can give Mr. Longbottom a round of applause."

"Huh? You have to clap for answering a question? I think this old man is just like Dumbledore."

Malfoy's muttered complaint earned him a piece of chalk on his forehead. He wanted to threaten him with something like "I'm going to tell my dad," but he backed down after meeting Moody's magical gaze.

"Mr. Longbottom's parents fought bravely against Voldemort, and his blood is far nobler than some of the people in this room. I said it! Applause!"

Moody's sudden outburst startled the Slytherin students. The scattered applause instantly turned into a thunderous roar.

Neville blushed deeply; he hadn't expected to receive praise from his teacher in a class outside of herbology.

"I won't demonstrate the effects of the Crucifixion for you. Its incantation is Crucifixion, which can inflict the most extreme pain. If used for too long, it can even cause irreversible damage to a person's spirit. Now that we know two Unforgivable Curses, would any of you like to tell me what the third one is?"

As Moody spoke, he paced between the students' desks, his prosthetic leg making a dull thud on the floor, which made Hermione, who was raising her hand to answer a question, tremble slightly.

"You say it."

"The Killing Curse, also known as the Avada Kedavra Curse."

Upon hearing this, the classroom fell into an unprecedented silence. Several students turned to look at Hermione uneasily, their expressions as if they had seen some dangerous monster.

"Yes, the Killing Curse."

Moody sighed and said:

"This is the most dangerous and powerful spell in the hands of a dark wizard. It is extremely unpleasant, and there is no way to break or reverse it. I hope you will never have to face such a curse in your lives, but trouble often comes knocking on your door, doesn't it?"

All eyes turned to Harry. Even though Moody hadn't named him, the lightning bolt-shaped scar on Harry's forehead spoke volumes.

"Harry Potter".

"I am, Professor."

"Dumbledore has praised your courage and talent more than once, and now it seems that these words were not unfounded."

"I think the principal is overpraising you, Professor."

"Whether it's praise or not isn't for anyone to decide, Mr. Potter. Now, tell me, if a wizard had to deal with an Avada Kedavra curse without counters or dispellers, what should he do?"

Professor Moody's words provoked Hermione and Ron's hostility; their previous fear and admiration for Mad-Eye Hoist replaced with hostile stares. Fortunately, this little test of emotional stability didn't make Harry lose his composure; he said gently:

"It's true that no spell can stop the Killing Curse, but like any other magic, it must hit first to be effective. Therefore, dodging and blocking are the best ways to deal with Avada Kedavra."

"To put it more clearly, Mr. Potter, are you suggesting that everyone should dodge spells by rolling around like Muggles?"

"If the situation is right, I think one should roll when necessary. After all, Apparition is still too early for a fourth-year student, and high-level Transfiguration that can summon large objects for defense is not something an ordinary wizard can master. Staying vigilant in life-or-death situations and using everything around us to survive is the true essence of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Don't you agree, Professor?"

Having received a satisfactory answer, Moody slowly removed his eyes from Harry's face.

Just as he had praised Neville earlier, he clapped his hands hard again.

“Well said! Absolutely right! Among you, I only see the qualities an Auror should possess in Harry. Dealing with Dark Magic is never child's play. Everyone must be prepared for potential dangers, always be vigilant, and never let their guard down! You! Now! Immediately! Take out your quills! Write down everything I just said, as well as the Unforgivable Curse!”

Moody's voice grew increasingly agitated, eventually turning into a shout.

"You must understand! You must realize what the worst thing a dark wizard can do for you is! Don't wait until you see the coffin to learn! This world is far more dangerous than you think! Imperio! Crucio! Avada kedavra! Develop muscle memory for these three spells! Your bodies must react the moment you hear them uttered!"

Inside the classroom, the professor's loud, roaring voice contrasted sharply with the students' quiet note-taking. Only after the bell rang and Moody announced the end of get out of class did the fourth-year students, having left the classroom, burst into a frenzy of discussion about the lesson.

"He is truly amazing!"

"He's a bit crazy, but only someone like him can deal with a dark wizard!"

"I think it was a bit too much for him to recite the Unforgivable Curse in class. You know, any one of those spells would be enough to put a wizard or Muggle in jail for life in Azkaban!"

"But he didn't. He was trying to prepare us, wasn't he?"

Lavender Brown, Simon Finigan, Parvati Patil, and Dean Thomas were all talking at once, and even Neville Longbottom was eager to join in the discussion.

"He even praised me, something I've never heard before..."

Deng!Deng!Deng!Deng!

A strange sound interrupted Neville before he could speak.

The Gryffindor students turned around and, noticing that the voice was coming from Professor Moody, the five of them returned to their previous silence, which they had maintained in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Child, are you free now?"

Moody tried to speak to Neville in a gentle voice:

"I hope you can come to my office. Come on, let's have a cup of tea."

The thought of having tea with Professor Moody made Neville, who was about to praise him, freeze. A mix of nervousness, worry, and surprise almost instantly overwhelmed the gratitude that had just begun to stir within him.

“Come on, Longbottom, I have some things that might be helpful to you.”

Neville looked at Lavender, Simo, Parvati, and Dean with questioning eyes. Unfortunately, none of them spoke. Helpless, Neville had no choice but to cautiously follow Moody in the opposite direction.

What do they mean by this?

Dean asked, looking in the direction Nave and Moody had left.

“I don’t know, but Professor Moody praised Neville in class earlier, so he probably wasn’t going to reprimand him.”

Lavender replied.