Where'd You Go

The first day of classes were always the worst. The hallways were crowded with first years running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to make it to class before they were late. That was why I woke up earlier than I did for the rest of the year and dressed quickly before walking down to the common room. Harry was already awake, staring into the empty fireplace.

"Hey. What are you doing up so early?" I asked, taking a seat next to him on the couch.

"I couldn't really sleep," he said, turning to face me.

"Nightmare?" I raised my eyebrows, hoping that wasn't it. He nodded once, and I slowly frowned. There was no way to stop a nightmare, even in the wizarding world. It was unfortunate.

"Do you want to wait for Ron and Hermione? Or should we go get breakfast?" I wasn't all that hungry, but I did want to get to the Great Hall before everyone else filed in. I didn't want to leave the others behind though.

"I think we should wait. Hermione should be up soon, and you know Ron loves to eat." We both laughed. Ron's eating habits were ridiculous.

"You know, I never really thanked you for what you did back at the World Cup. You saved us. I wouldn't have known what to do if I were on my own." I shook my head, placing my hand on his knee.

"There's nothing to thank me for, Harry. I wasn't going to let you get arrested or die for something that wasn't your fault. Frankly, the ministry should have taken better precautions." I was still curious as to how Death Eaters managed to do all the damage that they did. According to Mr. Weasley, there should have been loads of security, yet a family was tortured and belongings were destroyed. It didn't make sense.

"I know, but you didn't even have to think about it. It was like instinct for you. I don't think anyone's ever protected me like that." I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. He put his arm over me, and I snuggled into his side.

"Someone's got to. You're always protecting everyone else. Someone needs to protect you for a change." I felt his lips press against the crown of my head. My relationship with Harry was hard to explain. We never dated, nor had we ever thought about it, but we'd always been close. Closer than normal friends would be. Hermione mentioned it to me before, but I never said anything to Harry, and things remained the way they were. It's not like we were a complicated situation. We just cared deeply for each other, and I knew that was something that wouldn't change.

"Morning." Hermione descended the steps looking perky as ever. Ron followed right behind her, looking like he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. Harry and I stood, disentangling ourselves from one another.

"Morning. You sleep well?" I asked as we made our way down to the Great Hall, though it was alive with people, half the students were still in bed, which I was thankful for.

"Yes, actually I did. I'm excited to start classes." I scoffed, shaking my head with a smile. Of course Hermione was excited to start classes. We sat down at the Gryffindor table, and I poured myself a small bowl of cereal. I never had much of an appetite in the morning, and today was no different. McGonagall was walking up and down the aisle handing out time tables. She handed us our slips of paper, greeting us briefly before moving down the rest of the table.

"We've got Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin," I grumbled, suddenly in a sour mood. I really didn't understand the house rivalry and why it even existed. The Slytherins were nasty for absolutely no reason. They weren't any better than the rest of us but they sure did like to act like it. It was annoying.

"That's not a surprise. We get stuck with them every year." For once, I wanted to be in class with someone from Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. At least they were civil toward each other and everyone else. It was like a fight for attention with Slytherin and Gryffindor. And with Snape as a professor, potions was an absolute nightmare. The smallest thing cost Gryffindor points simply because he didn't like us.

"Well I, for one, hope Moody doesn't pick favorites. Lupin was the sanest teacher we had, and I'm pissed that he's gone," I said, pushing my bowl away from me. I only had a total of three bites, but I wasn't sure I was going to be able to eat anything else. I sipped at my cup of water, trying to plan out my schedule accordingly.

"Come on. It looks like everyone's leaving. We better get to class." Charms wasn't the easiest task to go through in the morning. Majority of the class was still half sleep and sending things flying into the walls. It served for a bit of entertainment for the people that were actually awake, but I was happy once it was over. Transfiguration passed slowly, simply because McGonagall wasn't the nicest person in the morning, and she didn't tolerate sleeping in her classroom. We had essay that was due at the end of the period, and that kept everyone busy until we were dismissed.

"Do you think Professor Moody's going to be a good teacher?" Hermione asked as we walked up the stairs. The boys were right behind us, whispering to each other about God knows what.

"I'm not sure. He's seen things we haven't, so that's a plus. I think he could help us, but he seems a little...off." The image of him drinking from a flask the first night was still burned into my brain. Harry seemed to be over his suspicion, but I wasn't over mine.

"I assume they call him Mad-Eye Moody for a reason." I shrugged, following her into the classroom. I was thankful when she didn't take a seat directly in the front. She was an over-achiever, but I didn't like the attention that came with sitting next to her. Normally, if she raised her hand, the teacher would call on me instead simply because I was in the vicinity and trying not to draw attention to myself.

"What do you think all that stuff is?" I asked, motioning toward the front of the room. There was a desk full of different bugs, and a large magnifying glass was sitting right in the middle. The chalkboard on the side of it wasn't giving any indication of what was going, and Professor Moody hadn't actually come out of his office yet.

"I'm not sure. I didn't really know bugs were part of the Dark Arts," Hermione mumbled sarcastically. I flipped through my textbook, hoping to get some kind of hint, but nothing stood out. We'd just have to wait.

"Alastor Moody," I hadn't seen him come out of his office, but he was quickly scribbling his name on the chalkboard, "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?" It was clear that he didn't want anyone to ask questions. He didn't wait two seconds before turning back to the desk behind him.

"Any idea what we're learning yet?" I whispered to Hermione, hoping she caught something I didn't. She shook her head, but she looked sort of terrified.

"When it comes to the Dark Arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which one of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are." My eyes widened when I realized what was going on. This had to be a joke. The last time I checked, we weren't supposed to be learning these until our final year. Surely he wasn't going to teach us about three things that could land us in prison. Half of Slytherin was in this room, and they were sure to try to them out on anyone they saw fit.

"Three sir," Hermione spoke up, her voice shaking. She was just as shocked as I was.

"And they are so named?"

"Because they are unforgivable. The use of any one of them will-" Moody cut her off, scribbling on the board once again.

"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. You need to find another place to put your chewing gum besides the under side of your desk Mr. Finnigan!" I didn't know how Moody saw that. His back was to us.

"No way. The old codger can see out the back of his head." Professor Moody whipped around, sending a piece of chalk flying in Seamus' direction. Half the class was laughing, majority of them being Slytherins, but I didn't find any of this funny. We were talking about the most serious topic we would be discussing this year. It wasn't a time for laughter.

"And hear across classrooms! So, which curse shall we see first." He stopped in front of Ron and Harry's desk, and I nearly lost my mind. He wasn't seriously going to demonstrate any of this in front of us. Had he even bothered to ask Dumbledore if it was okay?

"You don't think he's actually going through with this, right?" My voice was borderline frantic. Hermione turned to answer me, but she didn't have to.

"Weasley!" I could see the terrified look on Ron's face, and I felt bad for him.

"Yes?"

"Stand. Give us a curse." Ron looked at Harry and then up at Moody before immediately averting his gaze.

"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." He turned his back to us, reaching for something on the table. It was a disgusting looking bug, and I hoped he didn't send it in our direction, "Engrogio. Imperio." He sent the bug all over the classroom, placing it on students desks and on their heads. Ron got it to the top of his head, and Malfoy got it to the face when Moody saw that he was laughing. I tuned out the noise, not wanting to see any of this. I closed my textbook, preparing to leave.

"Hermione, I can't sit here and watch this." She placed her hand on my arm. I could see in her face that she was jus as freaked out about this as I was.

"He's not just going to let you walk out of class, Alex." I knew she was right. Moody didn't look like a lenient person, let alone a lenient professor. He'd filled majority of the cells in Azkaban. I knew he wasn't someone to be toyed with, but I didn't know how much longer I was going to be able to sit through this lesson.

"But here's the rub. How do we sort out the liars?" I'd missed most of what he said. The bug was in his hand once again, and I didn't want to see what he was going to do to it next, "Another, another." Was he really going to show all three? I watched Neville stand, and suddenly, I was afraid for him, "Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology." Neville nodded, clearly nervous.

"There's the um...the Cruciatus Curse." The way Neville was acting, he seemed to know quite a bit about the spell. I'd never been particularly close with Neville. He was in our house, but a lot of unfortunate things happened to him, including Hermione petrifying him during first year.

"Correct! Correct! Come." Moody seemed a bit too excited about what he was going to show us next, and walking out of class was sounding better and better, "Particularly nasty; the torture curse. Crucio." I watched Neville body start to shake, his face twisting in agony, and I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering him?! Stop it!" The words ripped from my throat before I could stop them. The class turned to look at me, but instead of embarrassment, I felt anger. How could he do that in front of a student? He took his hand away from the bug, picking it up and bringing it over to mine and Hermione's desk. I suddenly regretted saying anything because I knew what was coming next.

"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Tanner." I shook my head, tears springing to my eyes. Hermione grabbed my hand under the table. I squeezed, hoping it would make me feel better, but it didn't, "Avada Kedavra." Green light flashed, and I watched as the bug fell still on my textbook, bile rising in my throat. I stood, leaving my books as I ran out of the classroom. I took off, not really knowing where I was going, and I knocked into someone.

"Hey, are you alright?" I recognized the voice and hands that were holding my shoulders to steady me. I looked up, wiping underneath my eyes.

"No." It wasn't like I could deny it anyway. I was crying.

"Shouldn't you be in class? What happened?" His hands slipped down to mine, gripping my fingers tightly. His touch was comforting, and I took a couple deep breaths to try to calm myself down.

"Professor Moody. He taught the unforgivable curses today. He killed something right in front of me. I couldn't stay in there." I was on the verge of a break down, and I really didn't want to do it in front of Cedric.

"Is he even allowed to teach that to fourth years?" He sounded just as shocked as I felt when I found out, and I wondered whether or not I should have taken it to Dumbledore.

"I don't think so. Can I go back to the common room, please? I promise no one will catch me. I just can't go back there." Being a prefect, I thought he was going to tell me to go back class. He just nodded and rubbed his thumb across my cheek, wiping away another tear that fell. I thanked him and scurried off, cursing the day I got my acceptance letter.