The Cruciatus Curse

The way the world turned lately brought a nervousness to the air, a nervousness that weighed heavily on everyone. Steps were more likely to drag, necks were frequently bent, eyes often aimed down, and every little thing that disturbed the sombre atmosphere was liable to cause distress. The screeching of brakes as the train pulled into the station sounded more grating than it ever has before. The shuffling feet seemed more a funeral march than excited school children. Even the castle itself has never looked so frightening, like the haunted house that it quite literally was. The darker and more dangerous version of a haunted house. One that didn't guarantee your safety, but threatened to destroy it. One that housed monsters. It wouldn't have been surprising if not a single person attended Hogwarts that year, many weren't planning on it with the death of Dumbledore and the takeover of the Dark Lord, but they were being forced to, lest they paint targets on themselves for the ire of the evil.

Despite new-made laws and requirements, the student body was much smaller than it has been in the past. This was due largely to other new-made laws; no Muggle-born would dare attend, they already had targets on their backs as plain as day. There were others that chose to risk running instead of returning too, those who would undoubtedly be at risk for who they are beyond blood status, or perhaps just being wise enough to skip town and stay as far away from Dark Lords as was possible. Like the Muggle-borns, some weren't really given the option.

For Daphne Greengrass, she would have gladly travelled abroad and stayed as far from this conflict as possible. Her parents were stubborn though, and wished to stay in the country, ride this out and hope the good guys win but expect the bad guys to win, then make the most of it no matter the outcome. Still, Daphne could have left regardless, she was seventeen, she could drop out and run and hope those in charge didn't take it out on her family. The real reason she didn't go that route was that route left her sister alone, and while Astoria insisted she would understand, that she had friends and would be OK, Daphne couldn't quite bring herself to do that. And since Daphne was staying, Tracey was staying too. Her best friend and cousin wouldn't abandon her, despite that her parents were on the run to protect her Muggle-born father, she would stick it out with Daphne, lay low and get through the year. What they would do next was hard to say, they would need to wait and see the state of things at that point.

Right now, the state is nervous, if not downright terrified. No one knew what to expect school to be like, but everyone knew it wouldn't be the same as it was. Dumbledore being gone was devastating. Not only because he was a Headmaster that was simply synonymous with the school, but also because he was the one who kept the students safe at Hogwarts last year. But not even he was safe.

Now Professor Snape was Headmaster, the man who apparently killed Dumbledore. The very obvious between the line rhetoric in the Prophet is that the Dark Lord now has control, and he was the one who placed his servant in charge of the school. For a long time, Daphne had a hard time deciding if Professor Snape was a good professor or not. He's obviously intelligent, though didn't seem the most capable at passing on that knowledge. At least as a Slytherin he was a right sight better than he was for the other houses. He was a monster of a teacher for students in Gryffindor – especially Potter – to the point where everyone could tell how unfair he was to the Gryffindor Golden Boy. Not that Slytherins would acknowledge such things in public. Out of principal, because of house rivalries and other stupid things.

Harry Potter. He wasn't on the train obviously, he would have been a fool if he was. Part way through the trip the train was forced to stop while Death Eaters searched for "undesirable number one". He wasn't someone Daphne ever interacted with at Hogwarts. He was in Gryffindor and even if he wasn't, he was rather intimidating. Only Pansy and Draco and the like tried to rile him up, and would usually end up the worse for wear for it.

Now that he was gone from the school, being hunted desperately by the Dark Lord lest he fulfils a prophecy as the Chosen One or whatever the truth of the matter is, Daphne couldn't help but wish she expressed her support while he was here. He was the main focus of the frightening forces threatening their world. It would be absolutely terrifying to be in his shoes right now. The way to proceed for the year to come was certainly to lay low and not draw attention to yourself. Well unfortunately that was never an option for Potter, he's been in the spotlight from the time he destroyed the Dark Lord the first time. Or perhaps he just damaged him badly, seeing as the Dark Lord was never destroyed.

It was a curious thing, being a Slytherin at school with Harry Potter. Her house was the enemy for him, yet there were people like Daphne who shouldn't be anyone's enemy. If she told him as much while he was here, said he had supporters even in Slytherin, would he believe her or be suspicious of her? Though that wasn't something that even crossed her mind during sixth year or before. Only now that he was literally being hunted did she wish to express those feelings.

Not that such expressions would help him in any way. Whether he was just running or finding a way to fight, words wouldn't be of any use to him. Especially not words from a Slytherin, something that represents the source of his antagonists. Besides, Daphne had no time to worry about wherever he is right now, she was far too busy worrying over herself, her sister, and Tracey.

'Well so far nothing's blown up,' Tracey muttered quietly.

She was looking toward the booming voice of Professor Hagrid who was corralling the first years over to the boats as per usual. It was a bit of a surprise to see him there, the man being a half-giant and all. Not that Daphne personally had any problem with half-anythings, she just knew the Dark Lord did. It probably meant He Who Must Not Be Named didn't have complete control of the school yet, despite Snape being Headmaster. His presence was comforting somehow. A piece of normal in this new strangeness.

As the pair of Slytherin girls neared the carriages, Daphne kept one eye on her sister who was walking ahead of them. It was more likely for Astoria to spend time with her friends than her sister while at school, which was fine, but the unknown of how the term would start made Daphne feel overprotective. Just beyond her sister, walked some people who she had once called friends, though they were never particularly close. Draco was flanked as ever by Crabbe and Goyle, but there was a difference in the way they each moved that was easy to see for anyone who looked. The two cronies marched with puffed out chests and an important air, as if they were better than the peers they shared the pathway with. Normally they looked troll-like in the stupid way they looked constantly to their leader who stood between them. Now they seemed more confident, but somehow also even more stupid. Normally Daphne wouldn't think so cruelly about her classmates, boys she stopped being friendly with during fifth year when they crossed too many lines to be deemed forgivable, but memories of some of the things they said after Dumbledore was killed made her come close to the word hate with her opinion of them.

The word reached her mind rather easily when she looked at Draco Malfoy's back. What he did, leading Death Eaters into the castle to kill Dumbledore, was unforgivable. Even if he only did it under threat of death from the Dark Lord – as his nervous muttering last year would suggest – he went too far. He should have run like the rest of the people in similar situations are doing. Draco was one of the primary reasons for the nervousness in the air as the quieter than usual crowd approached the carriages. It was his scheme that continued the fall of dominoes toward the world being overcome by darkness.

She'll say this for him though: he, unlike his two cohorts, was not walking with pride, he looked like he shared in the rest of the students' nervousness. His shoulders were slumped, his feet dragged, and he did not talk loudly and confidently over Crabbe and Goyle's stupid discussion about which desserts they would eat in the Great Hall tonight. Perhaps there was even some remorse in the way he walked, though that was a lot to read into someone's posture.

At the carriages, Daphne and Tracey veered away from the crowd, moving more to the back without even needing to communicate. It was mainly to put some distance between themselves and the three classmates they wanted nothing to do with at the moment and ever again. The other was for a brief reprieve from the crowd so they could talk in private.

'She'll be fine, Daphne,' Tracey placated in response to Daphne's worried look.

Not that her worried look had to do specifically with Astoria, though it was a good guess on her cousin's part. It was more of a general worried look that would no doubt be present quite frequently in the upcoming months.

'I hope so,' Daphne replied. 'As fine as the rest of us anyway.'

'We'll all be fine,' Tracey claimed. 'I have a feeling school will get back into the ordinary swing of things – or close to ordinary anyway.'

'I hope so,' Daphne repeated. 'I have things to learn at this school.'

After she graduates, Daphne wants to get an apprenticeship as a Healer, and having NEWTs in Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Potions was a must. Her mother was a Healer, and passionate about her work. Daphne spent some of her time during the summer working part-time at St Mungos, just doing administrative work, but also getting the opportunity to tag along with her mother to some interesting cases where she got to learn a thing or two. For the longest time Daphne couldn't decide if she wanted to commit to that career path, but after seeing her mother at work she was sold. It filled Daphne with pride, watching her mum helping people like that, it was something she found she wanted to feel about herself. Following in her father's footsteps didn't feel as important, learning the family business of importing and exporting potions ingredients and other magical things. Not that her father has anything to do with the nitty gritty of the business, he has his minions who take care of that. He wanted Daphne to learn how to run the business for when he retires, but it's Astoria who'll go that path, she was more the type to be interested in lucrative business dealings rather than hard, meaningful work.

Not that Daphne needed that validation, she just had a bit of a desire to help people, though not enough to do more than help them recover after they go through some conflict. Where it's safe in St Mungos or her own private practice or perhaps even as the future matron of Hogwarts. Leave the conflicts and wars to be dealt with by the Aurors and the foolhardy Gryffindors, she'll patch up their injuries after the fact.

'So when did Madam Pomfrey say you'll start?' Tracey queried while they waited for the carriages to move.

'I'll talk to her about it tomorrow,' Daphne said. 'She said she wouldn't want to take more of my time than a couple days a week, what with the expected added homework load.'

'Ugh!' Tracey groaned, then continued in a whisper, 'That would have been a good reason to not come back in itself. I can't wait till we don't have homework.'

'It's going to be even worse this year, too,' Daphne pouted.

One of the things Daphne was actually looking forward to was being taught some of the basics of a Healer by Madam Pomfrey. It's not often that the Matron takes a seventh year student as an apprentice, but when someone expresses a firm interest in the career path she'll take them on. Part of Daphne worried that with the course load of five NEWT classes, the extra work in the hospital wing will be too much, but she also knew that real life experience was invaluable for her future dreams, so was willing to buckle down and work hard. She wouldn't be taking part in any other extracurriculars this year, that's for sure.

'Davis, Greengrass, can we join you?'

Daphne resisted the urge to roll her eyes, Tracey wouldn't have appreciated her dismissing the boy she fancies. Stephen Cornfoot, a seventh year in Ravenclaw, was standing beside their carriage with a roguish smirk aimed at Tracey, who seemed to be fighting off a blush. Beside Cornfoot stood a boy who was either grumpy or nervous and wasn't making eye contact with them. Kevin Entwhistle was Cornfoot's best friend, also a seventh year Ravenclaw. Any time Stephen was in the mood to flirt with Tracey, Daphne and Kevin would ignore each other or make awkward conversation. Like right now, as Tracey eagerly invited the boys to join them.

Tracey and Stephen started flirting near the end of last year, and Daphne had a feeling things would escalate at some point. If she was being selfish, she really didn't want her friend to start dating anyone. It meant she wouldn't be around as much and there really wasn't anyone else Daphne spent time with at school, other than her sister on occasion. Her other roommates simply had different interests, so they never exactly became friends, at least not close friends. It was always Tracey and Daphne together.

The last time Tracey dated someone was in fifth year, and it meant a lonely year for Daphne. Blaise wasn't exactly the best boyfriend though, he was too selfish, too disinterested. Tracey confessed that the relationship became her following him around while he ignored her and did his own thing with his friends. Then if he was interested in getting some snogging in he'd expect Tracey to reciprocate. Then he'd try to push things beyond what she was comfortable with. Thankfully, Tracey put a full stop to their relationship during one such attempt, breaking up with him in a huff and swearing off boys forever in an elongated rant that made Daphne smile. Didn't quite keep to that commitment though, based on the way she was giggling at the not-at-all funny thing Cornfoot said.

'Have a good summer, Daphne?' Kevin mumbled, almost too quietly for her to hear.

And here comes the awkward small talk. Many times after Tracey started getting friendly with Stephen, Tracey has said that Daphne should get to know Kevin better, that maybe they'd make a good couple.

Daphne didn't date people. That is to say, she has never dated a person before, and has no interest in dating anyone now. Not that the thought of romance hasn't crossed her mind, it has quite a bit, but for the most part Daphne had no idea what she was doing with a boy. She's never had any close friends that were boys, she didn't know about boy things like Quidditch, she has never kissed anyone before, and she just generally didn't like boys. Boys have flirted with her, she knew she was beautiful, but she never found the desire to reciprocate. All that said, she was an adult now, and she genuinely did want to do the usual things like get married and start a family eventually, so she supposed a boy would have to be involved with that formula at some point. She knew that Tracey was hoping she'd try opening up. Apparently talking about boys was more fun when both parties were interested.

'It was a rather dour summer, given the present state of things,' Daphne said, trying for amenable but probably coming up short.

'Your family doesn't support the Dark Lord then?' Kevin asked.

The look of disgust she sent him wasn't something she could hold back. At least his question was more curious than disappointed. Daphne knew nothing about the Entwhistle family, but she knew Kevin considered himself a pure-blood. He's mentioned it not so casually before, as if that would be something important to Daphne – something to impress her. It meant nothing to her. If anything, that he would assume it would and thought perhaps she might actually support the changes the Dark Lord was committing made her rather dislike the boy.

'I didn't mean to assume,' he said quickly, realising his mistake. 'It's just … Slytherin …'

He trailed off into inaudible mumbles, looking awkward and embarrassed. Then he leaned in and tried to save face.

'I don't like it either, for the record. It's kind of scary, you know? I – I mean, not that I'm scared or anything, I'm sure I can handle whatever happens.'

Be nice, be nice, be nice, she repeated in her head.

Boys were idiots. Was it some kind of baser instinct to not show weakness to the opposite sex? Also, she was less than sure about him not liking the state of things. Nothing that came out of his mouth was likely more than what he thought she wanted to hear, rather than him being genuine.

'What do you plan to do after Hogwarts?' she asked, trying to sound interested, then quickly letting her eyes glaze over while he went into his spiel.

She'd say this for the boy, once he found himself onto the subject of his studies, he proved himself to be a proper Ravenclaw and not shut up for the rest of the ride up to Hogwarts. Not that Daphne heard more than the occasional word, but he didn't seem to notice. Once in the Great Hall, she was able to escape with Tracey, who had just accepted a date for the first Hogsmeade weekend.

'He's so charming,' Tracey gushed once they were sitting down. 'I swear, whenever he looks at me with that little smile of his he makes my heart explode.'

'I'm happy for you,' Daphne said, pulling off the lie well. Apparently she was to wander Hogsmeade alone.

'I saw you were chatting with Kevin a bit,' Tracey continued. 'Maybe we could suggest a double date.'

She would rather be alone. But she also knew that Tracey would chide her for not even trying if she said that, so said as optimistically as she could manage, 'Sure, might be fun. If Kevin wants to anyway.'

'Oh, he wants to,' Tracey said dryly.

Looking over to the Ravenclaw table she saw Kevin ducking his head down at the last second. She had to admit, it was a little cute how he was watching her. More cute than creepy at least. Cornfoot was also making eyes at Tracey, that smile that she liked so much being wielded. It was a cocky, possessive smirk that said, "I know you want me as much as I want you", and it did seem to be true in this case. It was a good thing Cornfoot never thought to aim that smirk at Daphne. It would've gotten him hexed far before it got him a date.

Things like boys were pushed out of her mind when she looked up to the staff table. Snape looked out of place in the Headmaster's seat, gazing down at the students over steepled fingers. His face was too young, his expressionless mask too dour, and he was a murderer. He was the man that killed the old jovial Headmaster. Snape looked more a warden than a Headmaster. Which was perhaps appropriate, this school was a prison, and the two jailers sat on either side of the warden.

She knew them by their faces and reputation. Amycus and Alecto Carrow. Death Eaters. And now they were apparently professors. Yes, school would be very different this year than it has been in the past. Very different.

'They're creepy, right?' Tracey whispered, seeing where Daphne was looking.

'They're dangerous,' Daphne corrected. 'Just remember to keep your head down. No getting caught snogging Cornfoot in a broom cupboard.'

'Awww,' Tracey whined, though her heart wasn't really in it. She knew to take it seriously.

They weren't the only ones who kept looking nervously at the three Death Eaters at the professors' table. Most of the Hall was doing it, and when the first years came in being led by McGonagall, there was more than one that looked like they were about to bolt at the sight of the ominous Professor Snape sitting in his high backed chair. First years were always nervous before the sorting, this year it was significantly amplified. One named Ainsley, Holly jumped about a foot when McGonagall called her name, then her eyes began to water as she shuffled over to the conjured stool. It might've been funny then that she was immediately sorted to Gryffindor, but no one was in much of a mood to laugh in the tense atmosphere. No one blamed the young girl for her fear, they all felt it.

After the sorting, the meal was quiet and subdued, the occasional loud clang of a fork or knife had everyone tensing nervously. Save for some of the students from her own house, who were talking loudly and obnoxiously, apparently feeling completely at ease. Even in Slytherin, that was a small percentage. The Dark Lord sympathiser crowd, not the regular crowd. Though as the meal went on, Daphne noticed some over at the Gryffindor table were stubbornly getting louder as well.

Longbottom seemed to be the loudest voice, all but glaring at the Death Eaters at the staff table as he spoke to Weasley (the girl one) and a few of his classmates. It was an odd sight to see. Longbottom wasn't the loud outspoken type that ruffled the feathers of unwanted authority. That was more of Potter's wheelhouse, with Ron Weasley as his backup. It was curious that Weasley (the Ron one) wasn't attending. It was against the law not to, and his sister was right there. Assumably Weasley was with his best friend (along with Granger who was a Muggle-born anyway), but with Ginny Weasley here it seemed he was leaving his sister out to dry. Hopefully she didn't face any repercussions on behalf of her brother's abandonment. She was Potter's girlfriend, if she isn't still. It wouldn't be surprising if they decided to use her to draw him out somehow.

But back to Longbottom, apparently he was looking to fill Potter's shoes with the Golden Boy's absence. Hopefully he doesn't go too far and bring the Death Eaters' wrath down on him. Not that she cared about how Gryffindors conducted themselves, Daphne just didn't want to see people get hurt. An attribute that, according to her mother, was important to becoming a good Healer.

'Your attention,' a voice drawled, drawing every eye to the new Headmaster standing at the dais. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't need to, he just spoke at his usual volume and expected everyone to hear him. 'There are a few changes of staff and the curriculum that you need to be made aware of. As you know, I am your new Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'

Roaring applause came from only one end of the Hall. Daphne and Tracey joined in at least a little, to blend in with the rest of their house. Other houses took up polite applause moments later, a bit more among the Ravenclaws than the Hufflepuffs. The Gryffindors were stubbornly silent.

'Your new Muggle Studies teacher will be Professor Alecto Carrow,' Snape continued, gesturing to the female Carrow.

Daphne barely held back her exclamation of incredulity. Many others did not share her restraint. It brought back to mind something she'd nearly forgotten though. The mysterious disappearance of the previous Muggle Studies Professor, Professor Burbage. Not such a mystery after all. The Dark Lord decided to make space for a new professor.

'What does that mean?' Tracey asked in a hushed whisper, the rest of the Hall murmuring similar sentiments, even the loud Slytherins looking confused.

Before Daphne could respond, Snape continued speaking.

'Muggle Studies will no longer be an elective this year, but a required class for every student. Your Head of House will speak to you about any conflicts in your schedule this may create.'

The silence was heavy as everyone took that in, and even when the confused murmur started it was much more subdued than it might've been for such an announcement. Daphne took the break in the Headmaster's speech to whisper one word to Tracey.

'Propaganda.'

'Furthermore, there will be no more Defence Against the Dark Arts class taught at this school.'

Not even the nervousness in the air was enough to stop the cries of outrage. Daphne found her voice was among them, but thankfully she was drowned out by the entire Hall. How am I supposed to become a Healer like this?! she demanded to no one. Counter-curses, effects of Dark creatures – there's a reason a NEWT is needed in Defence to become a Healer! Not to mention that while much of the class didn't pertain to healing exactly, it did certainly pertain to defending herself, and with the current climate, that might just be the most important thing to learn. But then, that's undoubtedly what they don't want to teach those who oppose the Dark Lord.

'Instead,' Snape called loudly, raising his voice for the first time, 'Professor Amycus Carrow will be teaching the new subject of the Dark Arts.'

'You can't do that!' Longbottom shouted, standing on the bench and pointing an accusing finger at the Headmaster. 'You can't force us to use the Dark Arts! You can't teach that in a school!'

'Sit down, Longbottom,' Snape snapped.

Others around Longbottom were reinforcing his statement, crying outrage, but they were quieting as the squat and lumpy Amycus Carrow rose to his feet and walked along the staff table toward the Gryffindors. Daphne caught McGonagall tense and draw her wand, but beyond that and gritting her teeth, she did not move.

'New rules this year,' Amycus said with a lopsided leer. 'And new punishments for those who think they're above the rules.'

There was a tense moment where the two just stared at each other. Then almost calmly, Amycus pointed his wand at Longbottom and spoke in a loud, clear voice.

'Crucio.'

Longbottom screamed. And Daphne, in her fear of witnessing the torture curse being used on a human being for the first time, gripped Tracey's hand painfully hard. But she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. She watched as Longbottom fell atop the table, wailing and writhing, his body twisting to odd angles as he had no way of coping with the pain tearing through him.

She knew this year would be different, would be more dangerous, but she had somehow underestimated how terrible things have become. Hogwarts was not the school she used to love. It is just another place that has succumbed to the Dark Lord. Another hell that invaded her life that she would need to adapt to, that she and the people she cared about needed to survive.