Rowan yawned as she entered the Great Hall with thirty minutes to spare until the start of classes. When she neared her table, she saw her younger brother, Ethan, Dakota and June talking and eating together, covering their mouths so the food inside won't spill out onto the wood. 

"Good morning," Rowan greeted warmly as she passed the Gryffindor table, smiling when they greeted her back with equal warmth and joy. The house heads were walking around distributing schedules to their students, some not caring that the paper they'd thrown out landed in their student's breakfast. 

"Ms. Devearaux," Professor Flitwick greeted, handing her a piece of parchment, her schedule for the rest of her fourth year. 

"Thank you, professor," she thanked the short man and returned to her breakfast. She decided to have a bowl of cereal and a cup of apple juice. She never liked pumpkin juice. Looking over the paper, she saw that she had practically all the classes she had last year. The core classes: Astronomy, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), Herbology and History of Magic. And the three electives she chose: Care of Magical Creatures, Study of Ancient Runes and Divination. It sounded and looked like a lot, but she was a very intelligent person that is competitive with grades and knowledge consumption. The different studies allowed her to not only understand the different areas of magic, but include various opportunities for her when it was time to think of a career beyond Hogwarts. 

She didn't remain in the Great Hall for long. As soon as she was done with her breakfast, she was up and walking away towards her first class, shoving her book and schedule into her book bag. Since her eyes were down, she didn't notice somebody walking her way until she stumbled right into them, the book she was wrestling to get into the bag tumbling to the stone floor. 

"Oh," she gasped in surprise, stumbling back. Looking up, she saw that it was Alastor Moody, Hogwarts' new DADA teacher. "I'm sorry professor, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No worries," he grunted, leaning down to grasp the book and give it her. "And your name?"

"Rowan Devearaux, professor," she replied, taking the book back and finally pushing it into her bag. 

"Devearaux, huh? You're Maximus's girl, aren't you?" Rowan felt uncomfortable by how his magical eye was whizzing and spinning around, settling on her for a few seconds before turning again.

"Uh, yes," she answered, watching as he grunted again and limped away, heading into the Great Hall. She didn't know what it was, but whenever she looked at him, she felt this feeling of dread in her stomach... something evil and dark. Shrugging it off, she headed off to her first class: Herbology. 

*****

"Alastor Moody," the professor introduced himself as Rowan sat with her fellow Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs in DADA. He grabbed a piece of chalk and turned his back to them, a growl mixing with his voice as he continued to speak. "Ex-Auror... Ministry Malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?"

Nobody dared to speak as the man before them looked around the dark room. It as safe to say that the majority, if not all, were afraid of the scarred man. Rowan, however, felt suspicious if anything. She didn't know why, but something seemed wrong about him, and it wasn't his outer appearance. 

"When it comes to the Dark Arts... I believe in a practical approach," Professor Moody gave a little smile that gave no feeling of welcome. "But first, which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?"

Nobody raised their hands. Even the Ravenclaws, who were known as intelligent and competitive, didn't raise their hands to answer the man they deemed intimidating and scary. 

"Three sir," Rowan answered after a beat of tense silence. 

"And they are so named?" He asked as he turned back towards the black board with his chalk. 

"They're unforgivable because the use of any one of them will land you directly in Azkaban," Rowan answered, tightening the grip on her quill.

"Correct. Now the Ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" He growled, not making mention of the multiple jumps students enacted due to the sudden change in volume and tone. "You need to know what you're up against! You need to be prepared! So, which curse shall be we see first?" 

"Patil!" He yelled out. Padma, who sat next to Rowan, flinched and squeaked out a yes. "Stand. Give us a curse."

The dark skinned girl flinched again and looked down for a second, not meeting his eyes. "Well, there's the Imperious Curse."

"Oh yes, that curse gave the Ministry quite some grief a couple years ago. Perhaps this could show you why," he walked towards one of the animals incased in jars and cages, allowing Padma to sigh in relief and sit back down. 

"Hello," Professor Moody smiled in a disturbing manner, gathering a large arachnid into his palm. "Lovely little beauty."

"Engorgio," Moody muttered, and the spider in his hand grew about four time its actual size. "Imperio!" He moved his wand, and the spider landed on the front row table. The students sitting there shoved themselves back, gasping in fright and disgust at the creature. Next, he moved his wand and the spider suddenly landed on Padma's face, to which she screeched and tried to swat it away with her eyes closed and her entire body clenched tight. 

"Don't worry, it's completely harmless," Moody called out with a sinister chuckle, finding the uncomfortableness and fright of his students enjoyable. Students were laughing as well, but it died in their throats when Moody decided to mess with them as well. 

"Talented isn't she? What should I have her do next? Jump out the window? Drown herself?" The mood in the classroom instantly dropped, a dark feeling settling in as Moody moved the chittering creature near the window and then towards the water-filled bucket. He waved his wand, and the spider was back on his hand. "Scores of witched and wizards have claimed that they did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius Curse. But here's the rub: how do we sort out the liars? Another, another."

Nobody raised their hands again.

"The Cruciatus Curse," Rowan answered once more, not flinching as many did when the magical eye found her own. 

"Correct, correct. Come, come," he burst out, waving her toward him with his wand. With slight hesitation, she raised herself from her chair and walked toward his desk, peering down to the spider he released onto the table. "The torture curse. Crucio."

The spider began squealing and bending its limbs as its body lit up in pain. Many looked away, but Rowan couldn't find herself to do the same. She stared, wide-eyed and horrified as the professor continued to torture the poor creature. Her vision blurred as her fists clenched so tight, she felt the skin of her palms tear. 

"Stop it!" Somebody cried out from the back. Rowan snapped out of her daze and stepped back, rushing towards her seat as Moody cleared his throat and released the spider from the curse. She kept her fists clenched, unintentionally digging her nails harder and deeper into the split skin. 

"Um, perhaps you could give us the last Unforgivable Curse, Ms. Patil," it was Padma who spoke out against the sider's torture, now Moody was looking for an answer from her. She cringed when he stopped in front of her and set the spider down on top of her book, but she refused to answer him; refused to look him in the eye. 

"No? Avada Kedavra!" It was dead silent, everybody replaying the image of the haunting green light shooting from Moody's wand, and wrapping its deadly arms around the spider, killing it instantly. "The Killing Curse. Only one person is known to have survived it, and his name is Harry Potter."

Class was dismissed after that, and many people practically fought each other to leave, not wanting to be in the professor's presence in the room any longer. Rowan slowly packed her bag and winced as her palms stung harshly. Crescent moons were indented onto her pals from her fingernails, blood leaking out of the split skin, and drying around it. Looking down, she found blood caked under her fingernails as well, which made her grimace and have extra care when packing her books away. 

Leaving one last look at the dead spider lying limply on her table, she left the room, her eyes wide and her face pale. 

*****

"Ryker?" Rowan questioned, finding her little brother sat up against a stone wall of one of the many corridors in the castle. She was on her way to the Great Hall for dinner, when she caught sight of his bright hair. His head snapped up to her, and she could see the tear tracks on his pale cheeks and the green eyes that were rimmed with red. Immediately, she moved towards him, her eyebrows furrowed in concern for her little brother. 

"I'm fine," the eleven year old muttered to her, wrapping his arms around his knees, his legs pulled up to his chest and book bag discarded off to the side. 

"Obviously you're not, because if you are, you wouldn't be out here alone and crying," Rowan told him, sitting down next to him and pulling him closer to her, allowing him to lean onto her. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

"It's stupid," Ryker muttered, angrily wiping away at his eyes, sniffling slightly. 

"Come on, I'm sure it's not," Rowan urged, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Did someone do something that upset you? If so, just tell me who and I'll curse them into oblivion. Was it Malfoy? It's him isn't it? That arrogant piece of-"

"Row! It's not him," Ryker laughed, his dull expression brightening up a bit as he saw his sister transform into her overprotective self. "It was just- it's- it's Defense Against the Dark Arts class..."

Rowan sighed. Moody's class. Of course. When she had his class earlier that day, it left her empty of emotion, like a void had made itself a home inside her stomach, leaving her sick and not hungry, which explained why she skipped lunch. Looking down, she eyed the light pink indents on her palms and thought back to how defenseless the spider was under all those terrible curses. The Unforgivable Curses. 

"Did he show you the three unforgivable curses?" Rowan asked quietly, making sure to keep eye contact with her younger and only brother. 

"Yes. He used them on a rat, and he was laughing, like he was enjoying tormenting that animal," Ryker choked, squeezing her into a tighter hug. "I understand that we have to know how to protect ourselves, but he didn't have to kill it. The worst part was, he kept looking at me for answers, picking on me, and when I refused to give another curse, he killed it right in front of me."

Rowan said nothing. She didn't know what to say, and how to comfort her brother, because she had endured the same thing, and she didn't know how to calm herself after the class, so she turned to pain. In the end pain makes you human. 

"Everything is going to be alright, Ryker," Rowan turned him towards her. "I want you to promise me something. Every time you enter and leave Moody's classroom, you remind yourself that you're not like him, and you're never going to be like him. Tell yourself that whatever he teaches you is strictly academic, and not meant for everyday use. Which means that he showed you the three unforgivable curses because he wanted you to see the damage that any one of those curses can do, and the consequences it can have to not only you, but the people around you as well. Promise me, Ryker."

"I promise," he mumbled, losing his frown and giving her a large smile of appreciation. "Thank you so much Rowan, I don't know what I'd do without you around."

"Crash and burn," Rowan teased, ruffling up his hair and standing up, pulling him up after her. "Now go eat dinner, your friends must be missing you."

"Aren't you coming as well?" He asked as he grabbed his bag off the floor. 

"No, I'm heading back to the dorms, I want to get a head start on my studies," she told him, pulling her bag over her shoulder and smoothing out the wrinkles on her skirt. 

"Only you Rowan," he scoffed, rolling his twinkling eyes. "I'll see you later then, goodnight."

"Goodnight," she smiled softly and watched as he disappeared into the Great Hall, leaving her alone in the corridors, with nothing but the painting as her company.