NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Sixteen

     The first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson happened on Wednesday of that week. Calypso made her way over to the empty seat between Pandora and Dorcas, setting her books down on the desk and sneaking a glance at her newest teacher. Professor Arcturus was rather tall and had a stony look on his face as his dark gaze swept over the faces of his students. 

     Standing across the aisle from her was Sirius and he leaned against the desk, speaking lowly to Marlene and grinning at her. Marlene laughed at something he said to her, though Calypso thought she saw James sneakily roll his eyes at the pair of them.

       "Everyone take your seats," Professor Arcturus instructed them. The rest of the students who lingered returned to their seats as Professor Arcturus leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. "Can anyone tell me what the three Unforgivable Curses are?"

          Calypso glanced across the aisle where Lily Evans sat with Alice and Marlene. The pair grinned at each other before their hands shot into the air, along with a few other students who were eager to answer the question. Professor Arcturus looked over the participants before nodding his head at Calypso, silently telling her to answer the question.

          ''There's the Killing Curse which causes instantaneous death, the Cruciatus Curse which causes severe pain, and the Imperius Curse which causes the victim to perform whatever the caster wants them to. All of these curses are illegal and casting them results in immediate imprisonment in Azkaban.'' Calypso said.

      ''That is correct, Miss Krane, ten points to Ravenclaw.'' He said. ''The reason we are starting off learning about these three curses are because, by the end of this term I expect for you all to know exactly how to prepare yourself if you are faced with any of these curses, especially with the rumors going around that You-Know-Who Imperiuses his victims. This year we will also be dueling quite a bit, you'll have to write multiple essays, and you'll have homework nearly every night. Some of this is mainly in preparation for your O.W.L.'s next year, but the rest is because I want to prepare all of you for the world out there. Are there any questions?''

       The entire class went silent. Dorcas sighed when Professor Arcturus mentioned the amount of homework that they had and Pandora stared off dreamily into space, most likely plotting the next invention she was going to create.

       ''Excellent. Now, who can tell me what the Impediment Jinx is?"

       Everywhere Calypso went, she found someone talking about Sirius and Marlene's new relationship. They had been dubbed the couple of the school and everyone was gushing about how cute they were together. Even Sirius's Fan Club liked them together!

      ''Why is everyone obsessed with them?'' Calypso asked during breakfast when she heard a few Ravenclaw girls to her left whispering and giggling about how cute Sirius and Marlene were while they sat with each other during breakfast. She stuffed a biscuit into her mouth. Dorcas gave her a look before snatching the bread out of her hand before she choked.

        ''Don't you think they make a nice pair?" Dorcas asked, staring pointedly at the side of Calypso's face. Calypso narrowed her eyes at her friend.

       "Do you?" Calypso asked. Dorcas shrugged and glanced over to where Pandora was eating breakfast with some fifth year Ravenclaw boy who liked to play Gobstones. 

       "Maybe there's something in the air. There's a lot of couples this year."

      "Is this your way of telling me you and Benjy got back together?" Calypso asked, fixing Dorcas with a deadpan expression. Dorcas let out an exasperated sigh.