Nico, Voldemort's Older Brother (Being Rewritten)

Nico VIII

The next morning I woke up before dawn and groaned. Why am I awake so early? I wondered, trying to fall asleep.

After about ten minutes of tossing and turning, I decided to take a walk by the lake. I walked until the sun started rising into the sky, making it too bright to see. While children of Hades weren't vampires, I liked to think that any rational person disliked being blinded by sunlight.

When I shadow-traveled back to the common room, I saw I wasn't alone. I hid in the shadows and snuck up to see what a certain green-eyed brat was doing.

Harry was writing a letter. I couldn't read it, so I just went to the couch and sat down. After a while, he left and then came back—without his letter. I thought it was strange he was up so early, but I quickly forgot about it in the weeks afterwards.

Finally to our surprise, Professor Moody announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of us in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether we could resist its effects.

"But—But you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said—to use it against another human was—"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way—when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely—fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

I blinked in surprise at how he was acting towards Hermione. While I hadn't been to many schools in the past, none of the teachers had told us about something illegal, then gone and done it anyways. Perhaps Hogwarts was different, or perhaps it was because Moody was an ex-Auror...

Moody pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave.

Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. I watched as, one by one, my classmates did the most idiotic and strange things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it.

"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."

Harry moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Imperio!"

Harry bent his knees obediently, preparing to spring.

I laughed in my head as he smashed headlong into the desk, knocking it over and, by my experience with injuries, fractured both his kneecaps.

"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice.

"Look at that, you lot . . . Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention—watch his eyes, that's where you see it—very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!"

I watched as Harry was forced under the curse over and over and over. I glanced over at Hermione, uncertain of what Moody was doing classified as cruel and unusual punishment. If any of this had happened at any of my old schools, Moody would have been arrested for... something, and then fired.

"Now, Di Angelo!" He beckoned to me. I walked over to him, a feeling of dread sinking into my skin. "Imperio!"

Nothing happened, "Was that supposed to do something?" I asked, wondering if I was about to start singing musicals or tap dancing.