The Unforgiveables

After leaving the classroom, Harry walked toward the dungeons, after all, it was Potions class- Snape's class.

Half way to his destination, he encountered groups of Gryffindor and Slytherin students heading in the same direction towards the dungeons.

A strange atmosphere hung about them; undoubtedly, they were discussing his recent remark about Snape's favouritism toward Slytherin. The students seemed excited and overwhelmed with what had happened and they all were busy in giving their opinion on that matter, there was something strange about it.

Although their conversation was hushed, their excited chatter was laced with an undercurrent of gloom and fear.

The expressions of several students, especially those from Gryffindor, were marked by tension. Even Ron who was usually very chatty and rarely kept his mouth shut, seemed unusually quiet.

Harry soon spotted Hermione and approached her. Her face, too, bore traces of anxiety.

"Hermione," he called, catching up to her from behind.

"Harry!" Hermione's face lit up with joy, and the tension in her features softened slightly.

"What happened?" she asked, worry again edging her voice. "What did Headmaster Dumbledore say?"

"Nothing significant," Harry replied. "He taught me a method to control my anger… I'll tell you all about it later."

Hermione nodded in relief.

After a brief pause, to phrase his words, Harry added, "The atmosphere here… feels a bit off."

Hermione sighed deeply before beginning to explain.

"Firstly, nothing special happened in Ancient Runes class," she said. "When Professor Babbling returned after placing you in detention, she did not seem focused at all."

"She appeared lost and did not teach us much," Hermione added. "We mostly revised the previous topics."

Harry merely nodded, as this was not something surprising. After the little revelation he had made to her earlier, this was expected.

"We then had Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione continued.

"In that class, Professor Moody taught us about the three Unforgivable curses."

"He not only lectured the theory… but actually demonstrated them—on some of the creatures," Hermione added.

"It was so painful and torturous for them," she said with a pained voice.

"Professor Moody," Hermione said hesitantly, "acts quite strangely…"

At that moment, Harry recalled what had happened in his previous life. The demonstration of the unforgiveable curses by Alastor Moody.

Whether by fate or his own actions, he had missed that class.

Although Crouch—disguised as Moody—had gone overboard by giving a 'visual experience' of the three unforgivables, it was also true that Hogwarts' education system had made the students so soft that merely witnessing unforgivables being used on creatures left them gloomy and frightened.

This was especially true for the Gryffindor students—many of whom were muggle born, or even if half-blood or pure-blood, they and their parents belonged strictly to Dumbledore's camp. It was nearly impossible that any of these students that they might have been trained differently from how they were being educated at Hogwarts.

Yet one student had been affected more than any other student by witnessing the unforgivables—the Cruciatus Curse, to be specific—and that student was Neville Longbottom.

Harry scanned the crowd for Neville but couldn't locate him.

"I do not see Neville," he commented, prompting Hermione to cast a quick glance around. Like Harry, she could not find him either.

"Maybe he has gone to the bathroom," Hermione guessed.

"After class, he looked the most affected by the demonstration of the curses—and that's understandable," she said.

"You know… Neville is not really brave," Hermione added, with a hint of sympathy.

Harry nodded, though inwardly he disagreed. It was true that Neville was not the bravest, and he might have been deeply affected by the Cruciatus Curse. However, this time the reason was personal too. His parents—Frank and Alice Longbottom—had been tortured by the same curse, inflicted by Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. As a result, they were driven to insanity, left in a vegetative state, and since then had been placed at St. Mungo's Hospital.

After a few more quiet moments of walking, Harry and Hermione reached the dungeons. They found seats together.

Meanwhile, Ron, still fuming, was deliberately keeping his distance—a fact that did not particularly bother Harry. It seemed better that Ron maintain his distance for now.

Not far from them, Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis sat nearby. Harry offered a charming smile in greeting to the 'ice princess' and Daphne blushed before returning a gentle smile.

Their quiet wait in the dungeon was interrupted when the classroom doors burst open with a bang, and Severus Snape strode in.

His usual 'hateful' sneer was in place, his greasy, sticky hair framing his face, and his billowing robes trailing behind him.

However, both Snape and the students were aware that his reputation had taken a devastating hit after he had been sent flying by one of Harry's spells, even with Dumbledore's intervention.

All eyes were now on Snape as the tense atmosphere in the dungeon thickened with anticipation.

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