"Alastor Moody."

Gene jumped awake with a jolt at the coarse voice, her chin slipping in the palm of her hand and she heard Lorelai snort a laugh beside her. As tired as she had been for the past week, she had barely been able to sleep in the comfort of her own bed.

Gene was restless. She had been for months at home, and somehow it had worsened at school. All she could see, all she could hear, all she could even think about was Voldemort and her mother, and now her nightmare from the beginning of summer. Gene was almost sure of the fact that she was seeing directly into Voldemort's own mind, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself of its ridiculousness.

She watched as Moody wrote his name on the board, throwing the chalk across his desk carelessly. The rest of the class, including Gene, watched on as he stalked across the room, each and every one of them silent with fear.

"Ex- Auror. Ministry malcontent. And your new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of
story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?" he asked the class and they were silent still, "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 answered, her voice wavering.

"And they are so named?" he asked further.

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

"Will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Correct. Now 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, and you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr Finnigan!"

The class gasped, turning to find Seamus indeed attempting to stick his gum under his desk, though Moody hadn't even turned from the chalkboard.

"So, which curse shall we see first?" the Professor asked, before, "Weasley!" he exclaimed, causing Ron to look up worriedly before nodding. "Give us a curse."

"Well, my dad did tell me about one," he said, "The Imperious Curse."

"Yes, 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." he headed back towards his desk, opening a small jar to reveal a spider.

All of a sudden, he lifted his wand and sent it flying around the class, landing on various students faces, while Gene only watched on, not amused in the slightest. Draco began to laugh in his seat directly in front of her, which soon proved to be a mistake.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked Draco, sending the spider onto his face and he attempted to slap it away. "Talented isn't she? What shall I have her do next?" he asked as he suddenly hovered the spider by the window, "Jump out the window? Drown herself?" he holds the spider over a bucket of water, and it wriggled in discomfort.

Gene frowned, the sight of the curse in its worst form taking place making her sick, even to a spider. Finally, Professor Moody had relieved the creature of the curse, turning to the class once more as his mechanical eye shifted between the faces of abject horror.

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the imperious curse. But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?" he shrugged his shoulders, watching as the students raised their hands, "Longbottom, is it? Up." he stood up, "Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology." Neville nodded.

"There's the, um- the Cruciatus Curse." Neville answered, clearly in discomfort. It was obvious why. Everyone knew what had happened to his parents.

"Correct! Come, come." he walked back toward the desk, "Particularly nasty. The torture curse."

Following the gesture of Moody, Neville stood to his feet anxiously, following him as they went to his desk. Moody raised his wand and began to torture the spider, it squealing and it writhed in pain. Neville watched on, almost as though he couldn't look away.

"Stop it!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed, "Can't you see it's bothering him? Stop!" she cried out, her heart sinking at the tears that welled in Neville's eyes.

The Professor glanced behind him at Hermione, blinking a few times as the torture ceased and the spider stopped squirming, though it let out a few squeals of agony as it recovered. Gene was positively horrified by their new Defence teacher, and she truly couldn't fathom such a cruel practice being necessary for a class to witness.

"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Granger." he approached Hermione's desk, unable to look the Professor in his eyes.

Hermione shook her head, swallowing thickly. Then, Moody turned to the spider to cast a final spell, causing the spider to quiver and twist in pain before laying still, leaving the class silent once more.

"The Killing Curse. Only two people are known to have survived it. And they're sitting in this room." Professor Moody told the class, stood at the very front as he looked at both Gene and Harry.

Gene's jaw tensed as she turned away, feeling the gaze of nearly every student on her as she began to pack her bag and prepare to hurry out of the class. Having witnessed such terrible acts, the reality of such curses and dark magic, it only furthered an idea that had planted itself in Gene's mind over the summer more.

"Brilliant, isn't he! Completely demented, of course. Terrifying to be in the same room with. He's really been there, you know." Ron began on a rant about Mad-Eye, though Gene and Hermione didn't follow.

"There's a reason those curses are unforgivable. And to perform them in a classroom." she scoffed, shaking her head, "I mean did you see Neville's face-"

Harry began to nudge her in warning as they turned to find Neville halfway down the steps, staring out of the stained glass window silently.

"Neville?" Gene began softly, her hand touching his shoulder.

Suddenly, Moody approached them, heading down the steps at speed as he pat Neville on the shoulder. Gene's eyes narrowed at the sight.

"Son. You alright?" he asked and Neville nodded distantly, "Come on, we'll have a cup of tea. I want to show you something."

The four glanced at one another warily before continuing on, though Gene had parted ways with them to make her way to the Owlery. There, waiting for her was Fig though he looked in terrible shape.

"What's wrong with you, eh?" Gene mused, passing the back of her knuckles over his head and back, to which he chirped graciously at. He shook his tail feathers before settling into the ledge while Gene removed the letter from his left leg.

Gene,

I'm heading north as you read this. Harry will know by now, but your scars hurting isn't the only strange occurrence recently. If it hurts again, go to Dumbledore, and don't argue with me on this.

I'll be in touch soon, you'll hear from Aurelia before me. Send Lorelai my best. Look after yourself, my love.

Sirius

Gene had never felt so angry after reading a letter from Sirius before in her life. This was all her fault, it seemed. If he got caught coming back... well, she didn't want to consider what would happen although she knew well enough. As frustrated as this made her, she tucked the letter into her robes and went about her day. She would have to find Harry later on.

Gene made her way down the tower and back into the main castle, to visit Professor McGonagall. Her idea from earlier was either going to combust right before her eyes or go completely according to plan. Gene wasn't counting on the latter.

"Miss Fiordalis." McGonagall said after Gene knocked thrice at her door. "I didn't expect your company today." she raised an eyebrow.

Gene mustered a smile, wringing her hands before her nervously which McGonagall seemed to notice as she gestured for Gene to sit at her desk.

"Well, Professor," Gene began, unable to meet her eyes just yet, "As you know, I'm a hard-working student. I hand in homework on time. I behave... mostly." McGonagall breathed a quiet laugh to herself at this, though Gene hadn't heard, "I do my best in class. And, well, I'm no Hermione, but I am a close second in Transfiguration and Potions." she said.

All of the above was true, to an extent. She was never one for school, her brain barely able to take in basic theories and formulas, not like Hermione could. She had a natural affinity for it. Hermione was smart because she worked for it.

Gene never quite had her drive for school, but that only made her want to work ten times as hard to prove her worth to McGonagall. They had only been back to school for just over a week or so, but Gene had been doing extracurriculars and taking on extra homework whenever she could.

But as McGonagall's stare bore right into Gene's soul, she was starting to wonder if it was even enough. Somehow, the Professor knew exactly where this was going and Gene was quickly shut up by the look on her face as McGonagall finally spoke.

"If you are about to ask me what I think you will, Genevieve, then I am afraid I am going to have to cut this meeting short." McGonagall said, going to stand until Gene shook her head, a look of despair across her features.

"Professor. Please, hear me out." she said, and McGonagall returned to her seat warily. "I'd like to try, at least."

"To become an Animagus?" McGonagall nearly laughed in disbelief. "Genevieve, I am concerned you aren't entirely aware of the consequences of such a process."

"I am." Gene nodded rapidly. "I've been researching all summer. I know the risks, but I can do it."

This part was definitely true. Gene could hardly forget the facts and research she had spent night and day revising, along with asking Sirius vague questions about his own Animagus form. He was unregistered, so her questions were very vague and discreet, but his answers helped enough. She also hoped that it meant he wouldn't be able to figure out why she was asking, so that he couldn't stop her.

"And you just- don't care about said risks? Is that it?" McGonagall asked. "You don't have the slightest concern that this might go wrong?"

"No." Gene smiled. "Because I know it won't."

McGonagall gave a short laugh, shaking her head in disbelief as she watched Gene for a moment, her will and determination never wavering, not even for a second. It reminded her of someone. She sighed now, a heavy one, her eyes softening as she looked at Gene.

"You are your fathers daughter." she said quietly, and Gene's heart leapt in her chest, doing her best to hide her smile at this. She imagined McGonagall didn't exactly mean it as a compliment. "Very well, Miss Fiordalis." she said.

"Really?" Gene said.

"You sound surprised." McGonagall raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing at Gene over the rim of her spectacles before standing up, and Gene quickly did the same. "This won't be easy. It'll take you months, perhaps years. And we'll have to go over the basics, of course, to ensure that your confidence is... well-placed. We shall meet three times a week, 10 o' clock, in my office." she opened the door for Gene to leave.

"Thank you, Professor." Gene nodded gratefully, offering a smile, to which McGonagall returned thinly.

"And by the way, Genevieve-" she called after her in the corridors, bringing Gene to a stop. "You aren't just a close second." she said, and Gene smiled.