Facing the Imperius Curse
-It was a rather knackered Harry that made his way to Professor Moody's classroom on the 24th of October. It had been just over three weeks since the Delegations had arrived, though Harry had not particularly interacted with any of them. Hogwarts School was now growing slightly colder, the last of the leaves having fallen to the earthen floor nearly a week prior.
The three weeks had done quite a number to dampen the excitement for the Tournament, though that was in part because most students now realized they could not enter. Those who believed themselves capable of fooling the age line Dumbledore had whipped up (chiefly Fred and George) were now examples of the fact.
Ron, as well as many of the other Gryffindors, were hit the hardest. Harry had quickly decided against telling the redhead that he never had a chance in the first place. He didn't think Ron would take that all too well.
Salazar had kept to his word, holding informational discussions on wandless magic with Harry. Although the portrait did not know it, Harry had begun secretly practicing the magic during his spare time. The general concept was fairly simple: as long as you have intent, power, and a deep connection to your magic, the limits were your imagination.
Well, not really, but that's close enough.
Harry was having a particularly hard problem with the third part. Intent was fine, as he could focus for a small period of time. His magical power was now somewhere in between that of the average fifth or sixth year, which should be more than enough for a basic piece of magic. The connection to his magic, however, required Occlumency, and Salazar had chosen not to teach Harry about that yet. He had simply told Harry that if he wished to learn the art, he would have to first truly understand his emotions, something Harry had not done just yet.
That was not to say Harry couldn't do anything wandlessly; he was still capable of performing his feats involving lightning, and he was now fairly certain he was developing the same for fire. He had tried it out many times with the torches on the walls. If he focused enough, he could make the fires both grow and shrink, something which he took great pride in. Salazar had not been nearly as impressed upon hearing the news.
The bonds of friendship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione were weakening slightly. Harry often spent too much time away from the others, Ron spent too much time complaining angrily or staring at the admittedly gorgeous Veela girl across the hall, and Hermione was severely annoyed by the actions of the other two.
Harry was pleased to note that his other relationships were going well. He had grown a bit closer to Tonks and Hestia during the past several weeks, to the point where they allowed him a decent amount of leeway. Just a few nights ago both Hestia and Tonks had spotted him sneaking back to Gryffindor Tower after spending time in the chamber. Neither had said anything, as there were other Aurors with them.
That had rather surprised Harry; Hestia was certainly the more strict out of the two; he would have expected her to rattle him out. Thankfully, she had not. That had not, however, meant that they did not speak to Harry the following day; they had spent the better part of an hour reprimanding him for his irresponsible behavior. Still, they did not tell anyone of Harry's midnight stroll.
There was also the Veela girl that Ron was particularly fond of. Harry did not know her name, having never actually talked to her, though he did have some sort of strange connection to her. Every now and then, their eyes would meet; sometimes in the Great Hall during meals, other times when they passed each other in the halls. The only people who seemed to notice were the three Gryffindor chasers, who occasionally teased Harry about it. Thankfully, they only ever did so when nobody else was around; Harry was sure Ron's reaction to the news would not be pleasant.
Although they did not speak to each other, Harry was now completely certain that the girl would be Beauxbatons champion. He had occasionally seen her practice magic by herself, just outside of the Beauxbatons Carriage; her magic was leagues above the magicals within her age group, and even most above it. He had also never seen her in the company of others, though Harry supposed that was to be expected given her apparent Veela heritage.
As for Durmstrang, Harry was also certain that his initial guess was correct. Krum could often be spotted diving into the Great Lake with his classmates, or practicing magic on the deck with them. He too had magic that was vastly superior to that of most others in his age group, although it was not quite as good as the Veela girl's.
He must have spent most of his time practicing Quidditch instead.
He had now come to a partial consensus on who the Hogwarts Champion would be. He was hovering between Cedric Diggory and Roger Davies, having ruled out Angelina long ago. While she was authoritative and popular, she was not overly talented in her magic. That was not to say that the other two were prodigies, but they definitely were Angelina's betters in that particular field.
Not that I'll ever tell Angelina.
Harry stumbled through the door to Moody's classroom and was surprised to see the Professor speaking to six members of the Auror Guard, including Tonks and Hestia. Most of the class was already seated, all looking equally confused as to what was going on.
Harry took a seat in the back corner of the classroom, earning a disapproving look from Hestia. He made gestures to Hestia, trying to ask her what was happening. Unfortunately for Harry's curiosity, she shook her head, gesturing to pay attention to Professor Moody.
"Well then!" growled Professor Moody, turning to the class, "I think I've told you that we'd be doing this! Any guesses?"
No one answered the question.
"Constant vigilance! Remember to pay attention, it could save your life one day!" Moody half shouted, "No matter, today we will be attempting to fight off the Imperius Curse."
I knew he was a nutter.
The reactions of the class were as one might expect them to be: some were horrified, some scared, and one (none other than Harry Potter) was glaring at Auror Tonks, who smiled cheekily.
Apparently Moody had received permission to perform the curse on all students fourth year and up, with Aurors to make sure that the exercise was being performed safely. Harry was fairly certain it wasn't a coincidence that Tonks and Hestia were both in his lesson; Hestia probably wanted to make sure he was safe, and Tonks likely wanted to see Harry looking like an idiot.
Harry watched as each of his classmates were called up to the front of the class, made to do the most bizarre things. Hermione was forced to teach the class, Dean to sing the Hogwarts School Song, and Ron to pretend he was a spider. Each and every student seemed incapable of fighting off the effects, although Neville seemed to fight the curse slightly.
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