Gryffindor is for the Brave

Huge, major, earthquaking shout-outs to J.C. and Danaki, who are putting a great deal of effort into making this story presentable. And to Arianrhod at the Sugar Quill, who helped me get started and whose advice I miss.

I would like to sincerely apologize for the lack of updates recently; this chapter and the next were plagued with technical difficulties, absent muses, and beta confusion. Hopefully updates should begin to be more regular.

Author's Note Regarding Spoilers and New Information: This story was plotted based on information from Books One through Four. Although I will work hard in subsequent chapters to see that nothing directly contradicts anything in Order of the Phoenix, the fact remains that the plot isn't really based on that information, so some of it may not directly coincide. There should, however, be very few spoilers (I will put warnings on chapters if they become necessary).

Oh, and I made up all the characters for this before I had any inkling of anything that would happen in Phoenix. Any similarities, therefore, are entirely coincidental. Honestly. ;) Now I'm shutting up, and here's your chapter.

Chapter Three
Imperio

The next several weeks passed much as the first had done, until one Friday morning in early October.

The day was bright and warm, putting most students in a good humor. There was quite a stir at breakfast, owing to the Daily Prophet's scandalous report that the barriers between the wizarding and Muggle worlds were still holding up. No other paper would have had the nerve to print anything that suggested they wouldn't, but that was the Daily Prophet for you, everyone said. Evan, one of the few students who subscribed, was characteristically stoic, but Julia was so excited that the word "Muggle" had appeared in a public newspaper, she was almost late to Schwartz's class.

Nevertheless, Minerva and her friends arrived at the Curses and Countercurses classroom with a few minutes to spare, and took their customary seats near the middle of the room. The class was chatting loudly about the expected quiz that day -- something Schwartz had hinted at darkly on Wednesday. No one was looking forward to it; Schwartz's exams were notorious throughout the school.

As the clock at the head of the room clicked to nine, the din quickly died down and the class faced the door expectantly. Hating wasted time, Schwartz made it a habit to enter the room at nine on the dot, and begin class. After only a month, the class was so used to this routine that they stopped talking even before he came in.

This morning, however, he did not. A chiming bell announced the hour, the class was silent, but the doorway remained empty. The clock continued to tick, unconcerned, while the students exchanged incredulous looks. Did anyone else hear it strike? Did anyone else find it odd that the most punctual teacher in the school, the one you could set your watch by, was late?

A minute passed, then two. Uneasy whispers began. Minerva exchanged a look with Julia, then checked the clock again. Was he ill? That must be it, but why didn't a substitute arrive? Why hadn't they heard anything? Minerva checked her timetable again -- was it possible she had mistaken the day, or the hour? That couldn't be; the rest of the class was here, too. Was there an announcement they had all missed? It couldn't be their fault, could it?

Finally, at nine-oh-six, when Rory Demos was threatening loudly to just pick up and leave, Schwartz walked through the doorway. He seemed not to notice the astonished stares of his students, or even to recognize their presence. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair rumpled, and his robes wrinkled and stained with sweat and ink. Minerva sat wide-eyed and almost frozen. While the professor was not especially vain, he always made it a point to dress carefully and comfortably -- not to mention keeping his clothes immaculate. It was clear he had been wearing these robes since yesterday, and judging from his eyes, he hadn't slept, either.

Schwartz glanced around the room distractedly and looked shocked to see his group of seventh-years staring at him. His eyes darted to the clock, and he blinked several times as if unsure what the numbers could mean.

Dazed, he strode over to his desk and rummaged through his parchments until he found the roll sheet. The sound of rustling was deafening in the silent classroom, and the searching seemed to take a very long time. When he finally found it, he brought it slowly to the front of the room and paused before beginning to read the names.

"David Accolast?"

No one said anything. "No David then?" Schwartz asked after a second, trying to be cheerful.

"Sir?" Rory asked, confused. "Sir, this is the seventh year class. I think Accolast is in third year. You've got the wrong paper."

Schwartz shook his head. "Oh, yes, of course, I apologize." He rummaged through the papers again and came up with the proper roll sheet.

"Tinita Arroyo?"

Tinita raised her hand, relieved. "Right here, sir."

"Very good. Martha Beckett, yes, I see you..."

The roll call proceeded almost as normal, marred only by Schwartz's mispronunciation of three names he had always said correctly, McGonagall among them. When he finished, he seemed almost at a loss. "Take out your textbooks, class."

During the rustling, he searched his papers, as if hoping to find some sort of plan. Cera Brighton raised her hand as she slapped the workbook on her desk. "Sir? Were we not going to have a quiz today?"

There were groans and muted swear words from most of the rest of the class, Minerva and several Ravenclaws excluded. Julia didn't say anything, but her eyes threw daggers.

Schwartz looked at her for a long moment before smiling. "Canceled, Miss Brighton. But thank you for the reminder; it's rescheduled for next week. Instead, why don't you start the reading on Petrification? It's something I very obviously can't demonstrate."

The class obediently opened their manuals and began the reading, but whispers crisscrossed the room like insects. Minerva, increasingly annoyed, tried to keep her mind on the textbook, but she couldn't help glancing up at Schwartz often. He was pale, and sat at his desk, just staring into space. Occasionally his lips would quirk into a smile.

After less than ten minutes, Elspeth Cooper, a Slytherin Minerva recognized from her Runes class, put up her hand. When Schwartz didn't see her, she waved it, cleared her throat, sighed, and finally began speaking. "Sir?"

He revived himself. "Yes, Miss Cooper? Did you have a question?"

"No, sir, just wondering if you were all right. You seem rather distracted."

Everyone stared. Asking that of a teacher ...! But it didn't seem to register with Schwartz, who merely smiled again secretively. "Yes, Miss Cooper, I am perfectly well."

"Sir? What's happened?" Drawing courage from Elspeth's example, Rory had now also shut his book and addressed the teacher. "Something's happened," he added, not very coherently, by way of explanation.

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Demos, something has indeed happened." Schwartz's smile was bigger than ever. "In fact, I have just --" he broke off cryptically. "My research," he said instead. "I have just --- my research is going extremely well."

Research? Minerva thought. I didn't know he was doing research. On what, I wonder? She put her head back down, determined to focus on the reading. It wasn't her business.

Rory seemed to have other ideas. "What were you researching, sir?"

"The mind, Mr. Demos," Schwartz answered enthusiastically.

"The mind, sir?"

Minerva gave up hope of getting the reading done. She shut her manual and added the pages to her list of weekend homework.

"The mind, the will. And I've just made quite a breakthrough." His smile had grown until it was almost maniacal, and energy was threatening to burst through his skin.

"What was it, sir?"

"A new spell, I've just perfected a new spell --"

"Will you show us?" That wasn't Rory, it was Margara, a Slytherin girl with a very obvious crush on Schwartz.

"I couldn't teach any of you -- you'd do better to continue with your reading --"

Minerva took out her book obediently, then put it directly away again as students all over the classroom began speaking out of turn.

"Cast it, Professor, please! Let us see --"

"You could cast it on me, I wouldn't mind --"

"I bet it's really interesting --"

"-- good learning experience --"

"-- chance to see something new --"

"-- good for you to experiment --"

"-- I trust you --"

Schwartz raised a hand for silence. He glanced around the room at the students' faces, excited and interested, and smiled, his face a mixture of indulgence, excitement, worry, and curiosity. It was clear he hadn't been able to test it on a live subject, whatever it was. Temptation playing across his face, he shook his head sadly.

There were groans.

"Please, Professor, just show us."

"Just an example. We could see what real wizards do --"

"--we'll be graduating soon--"

"--you wouldn't have to cast it on a person--"

"--I trust you--"

He hesitated a moment longer before grinning widely. "Very well. Move all these desks out of the way."

Excited but slightly hesitant, the class did so, spreading out in a rough semicircle just in front of their chairs. A few perched themselves on top of the desks; most simply stood, nervous and fidgety, having caught some of Schwartz's excitement.

Minerva, standing with Julia and Evan, noticed the former tapping the desk and biting her lip with excitement. When she looked at Evan, however, she was surprised to see his face troubled and nervous.

Margara eagerly stepped toward the center of the open space, eyes gleaming. Schwartz saw her, however, and shook his head. "No, Miss Liek. I think it would be better if we tried something else first ... ah, yes ..." He spotted a spider web on near the ceiling in one corner. "Accio!" The spider zoomed into his hand, and he set it gently on the floor, and the students crowded around to see more clearly.

"Back up," he ordered the class harshly. "I don't want this hitting one of you if something goes wrong." Students reluctantly pressed against one another and the desks, away from the spider, who was standing oddly still in the center of the floor. Schwartz took a deep breath. "Imperio!"

Nothing happened. The spider continued to sit, unmoving, as Schwartz gestured with his wand. He said the strange word again, more forcefully -- "Imperio!" -- but to no effect. Schwartz sank into a chair, deflated.

The class exchanged glances, puzzled and upset. Minerva overheard Rory Demos wondering aloud whether this meant they were likely to get out early, but, like most of the class, chose to ignore him. She wondered if they'd go back to the reading now, or if Schwartz would try again. She didn't particularly care, she decided -- an interesting demonstration or less weekend homework. Julia, she noticed, looked disappointed, but Evan seemed, if anything, more relaxed.

After a long moment of painful disappointment, Schwartz rose and attempted a smile. "Sorry to get everyone's hopes up," he said, with geniality that sounded false. "Of course it wouldn't work. It was designed for people -- I'm tired, probably not casting it properly -- and there are still some kinks to work out."

Margara's eyes went wide. "If it's for people, let's try it on a person, Professor!" she cried.

Schwartz smiled, a trifle condescendingly. "I think I was hasty this morning, Miss Liek. It may be that there are significant problems -- I'd have to test it to see."

"Test it now, Professor," Elspeth suggested. "We'll help. You said it was designed for people --"

"I could not teach any of you to cast it on me in so short a time."

"Cast it on me!" three Slytherin girls cried out at once.

Schwartz sighed. The whole class could see he very much wanted to try it anyway, but was restraining himself. "It's not ready. It might not work ..."

"Then there's no harm done," Margara supplied. "Professor, I'm of age, and I'm volunteering."

He bit his lip. "It might not be safe," he said, but everyone could see he was weakening.

"I'm volunteering, Professor. I trust you."

"It would be inappropriate during class time..."

Irene, Margara's friend and another volunteer, laughed scoffingly. "If this isn't learning, Professor, I don't know what is," she said candidly.

He wavered, then seemed to think of something that decided him. "Very well, Miss Liek. Step into the center."

Margara grinned at her friends and took a large step forward to stand in the center of the room.

Before Schwartz could utter a sound, Evan put up his hand. "Sir, if it's not ready to be tested, perhaps we shouldn't test it," he said firmly. The class, Minerva included, stared at him in surprise. Evan's knuckles were white, gripping the desk he was sitting on. "We don't know what the side effects might be if it goes wrong," he pointed out, rather weakly after his outburst.

Schwartz smiled hollowly. "If it goes wrong, Mr. Schraeder, nothing will happen. Believe me. It's actually quite safe -- I will be in control the whole time." He gave an odd half-smile. "If it goes right, it may even be enjoyable."

Evan nodded curtly and subsided, but if anything, his knuckles gripped harder. The skin on the sides of his mouth was pale and tight with tension.

Schwartz looked for a long moment at Margara, standing in the middle of the ring, and took another deep breath. "Imperio!"

Something definitely happened, but it was difficult for a moment to say exactly what it had been. Margara, still facing Schwartz, slowly began to smile. Her pupils got larger and larger until her whole eyes seemed black with them, and then looked as if they had swallowed up the rest of her face. She was very still, but a high-pitched giggle escaped her mouth. Her head was frozen, tilted at an odd angle, giving her the look of a marionette with a broken string.

A male voice from one side of the room was heard, quietly and hesitantly saying, "Mara?"

She didn't react.

Schwartz, meanwhile, had gone white. "Miss Liek," he managed to rasp. Her head rolled around slightly, and she walked toward him, laughing. He backed away hastily and before she could reach him she bumped into a desk. She didn't seem to notice except to laugh a little harder and try clumsily to climb over it. "Miss Liek, stop," Schwartz said, his voice just barely holding steady. Margara froze in place again.

Schwartz's color came back in a rush, his face going pink, then red, with excitement. He took a step forward very deliberately. "Miss Liek..." he was at a loss for a moment, and then, "Miss Liek, hop on one foot."

Margara immediately let go the desk and stood up straight. She grasped her left foot in one hand and began to jump up and down rhythmically, robotically, never stumbling, never faltering, still grinning energetically. Minerva watched in horrified fascination, unable to turn away. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Julia watching through her fingers and Evan tense as a spring, lips twitching nervously. But her attention remained on the girl in the center of the room, still hopping in time, never losing her balance or missing a step, smiling broadly all the while. Shouldn't she be tired by now? Minerva wondered. How long has it actually been?

"Miss Liek," Schwartz's voice cut through the steady clacking thud of Margara's school shoes hitting the wood floor of the classroom. "Stop hopping." She did so at once, but still clutched one foot. "Stand on both feet." The left foot went down, her smile never faltering.

Schwartz was breathing hard now. "Miss Liek," he said, "tell me the best way to cure a Petrification Curse."

"Mandrake..." she slurred, smiling as if intoxicated. The class laughed. Margara could answer better while under the spell than her in her normal state.

Schwartz's cheeks were flushed with excitement and his dark blue eyes were almost glowing. Every line in his face spoke of triumphant excitement. "Miss Liek, hop on one foot six times, then sit down, cross your legs, and recite the alphabet."

Minerva saw Julia furrowing her brow in confusion. "Probably wants to see if she can remember a sequence," she whispered. Julia's face cleared, and she nodded.

Margara sat down hard on the floor, having completed her hops, "A, B, C ..." She kept going all the way through Z, then sat still, smiling.

Schwartz was all but licking his lips in anticipation. "Miss Liek," he began, slowly and deliberately.

"Stop!" Evan's voice rang out across the room. Minerva jumped, and tore her eyes away from the scene in front of her to look at her friend. His lips were white with tension, and every muscle was taut as if trying to burst out of his skin. "Stop it," he said, more quietly but with the same firm air of authority in his voice. "Take it off her."

Schwartz's face changed. He looked stricken. He spoke a word, and Margara fell, unconscious, on the floor. Kit and Irene, her friends from Slytherin, jumped down nervously from the desks they'd been sitting on and cradled her head, trying to wake her. Schwartz watched impassively, his jaw tight. Evan turned away and looked very deliberately out a window. Minerva saw Julia's tiny hand reach up and massage his shoulder gently. He put his hand on top of hers for a moment, then covered his eyes.

The classroom was silent for a long moment, except for the murmurings of Margara's friends. After what seemed an eternity, she began to sit up.

"Why am I back? Did something go wrong?" She rested in Kit's arms, half up, and batted her eyelashes winningly at Schwartz.

"No." His voice was cold and firm. "The spell worked perfectly."

"Then why am I here?" she asked. "It was wonderful! Put it back on, if it worked."

"What? Mara, do you remember what you did?" Kit asked, his voice shocked.

"No. I remember what I saw and how I felt. It was beautiful! Euphoric. I saw visions. It seemed like it only lasted for a second, though. Why did you take it off me so fast?"

"You were under the spell's influence for more than ten minutes, Miss Liek," Schwartz said briskly.

"It felt like no time at all ... put it on me again!"

"No!" Schwartz said, with a vehemence that surprised Minerva. "The spell wasn't ready for testing," he continued more gently. "I should not have demonstrated it to the class. I apologize. And I particularly apologize to you, Miss Liek; it was an unfair burden to put on you. Thank you, Mr. Schraeder, for reminding me of my job." He sounded bitter and ashamed, but more angry with himself than with Evan.

"Burden!" Margara gasped out. "It was beautiful. I saw the most wonderful pictures! Put it back on."

"Mara," Kit said, very gently, "you were doing whatever the Professor said. You didn't know where you were -- you didn't recognize any of us -- you just followed what he told you --"

"I don't care!" she yelled. "It was the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced. I don't care what I did, I just want that feeling back!" She was almost crying with earnestness.

Schwartz drew himself up. "Perhaps another time, Miss Liek," he said, politely frosty. "For now, I must ask you all to put the desks as they were, and to take your seats. I apologize again for my distraction; our lesson will now resume as scheduled."

The class did as he said, so quickly it seemed they were under Imperio themselves. Minerva found she was both reluctant and relieved. It seemed impossible to resume normalcy after such a display, but one look at Evan told her she didn't want the spell put on anyone else.

When the desks were assembled, somewhat crookedly, Schwartz went back to the front of the room. His energy was gone, however, as he attempted, without notes, to speak about the three most common types of Petrification and the likely causes of each.

Most of the class also did not have its usual level of enthusiasm. Margara sat in the back, occasionally gazing reproachfully at Schwartz and being comforted by Kit. Every time the two made eye contact, Margara's angry and betrayed, Schwartz would falter in his lecture.

Evan threw himself into the class as if he could keep the professor on topic by willpower alone. Every time Schwartz paused for a moment, Evan would glower at him reproachfully. More than once, Julia and Minerva exchanged concerned looks behind his back.

Minerva herself was still in shock. She took notes mechanically, not registering the information that went from her ears to her fingers. She didn't know what to think. Margara said it had been wonderful -- Minerva felt a kind of treacherous curiosity to know exactly what "wonderful" meant, but she banished the thought as quickly as she could, disgusted with herself. Clearly, in the wrong hands, the spell was very dangerous. Schwartz wasn't exactly the wrong hands, of course, who better deserved to have control of the spell than the wizard who had created it, after all? And of course a Hogwarts teacher would never misuse such a thing. All the same -- trying out such a frightening spell on a student -- during class -- Margara was a seventh year and of age under wizard law, but still -- that couldn't be good? But Margara had said it was wonderful...

The bell rang, shattering Minerva's circular thinking. She gathered up her parchment and quills, and, still distracted, hurried out into the hall after her friends. She could tell that Julia was barely able to contain her curiosity about Evan's behavior, and was only silent because he still looked like a thundercloud, shoulders hunched and a scowl spread across his face. Julia was about to tap him on the shoulder and ask anyway when there was an interruption.

"All right, Schraeder, what did you think you were doing?"

The three turned, to find Margara behind them, backed by Kit and Irene. "How dare you?" she demanded.

Evan, if possible, went even more tense. "What seems to be the problem, Miss Liek?"

"What gave you the bright idea to tell Professor Schwartz to take the spell off me? It was none of your business."

"Margara --" Minerva began, but she was cut off.

"He made you sit on the floor and recite the alphabet!" Evan exploded. "You had no control over yourself! He could have asked you to take off your clothes and dance a jig and you'd have done it!"

"He didn't, did he?" Margara returned. "So what does it matter? Schwartz wouldn't have had me do anything embarrassing. I trust him -- as you don't seem to!"

"Sitting on the floor and reciting the alphabet was about the most demeaning thing I've ever seen --"

"I don't care. That's what you seem to be missing, Schraeder. It was all worth it. I don't know what he made me do, and frankly it doesn't make a bit of difference. It was still the best experience I've ever had in my life!"

Evan muttered something about a damn sorry life, but Margara just pressed on. "You had no right to tell him to take it off me!"

"Mara," Kit said consolingly, "Mara, it didn't look good from where we were. We didn't know you were enjoying yourself --"

"And you," she rounded on him, "defending a stupid, filthy Gryffindor -- who had the nerve to --"

"I wasn't!" Kit said, obviously hurt.

Margara put up a hand to silence him. "I don't care. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I just want all of you" -- she glared at the assembled students -- "to stay out of my way and keep your filthy noses out of my business."

She stalked off, closely followed by Irene and Kit, who threw a contemptuous look over his shoulder at Evan as he went.

As soon as they had left the corridor, Evan sagged against the wall. Julia and Minerva clustered around him, upset and confused.

"Are you okay?" Julia asked, very gently.

"I was trying to help," he said, voice rough and cracking with emotion. "It was awful, watching that ... I just wanted to help her."

Julia rubbed his shoulder knowingly. Minerva hesitantly stroked the other one, shifting from foot to foot. Evan looked very upset; should she mention that they had a class in five minutes?

She kept hoping he'd pull himself together. "Umm... Transfiguration ... five minutes," she said, rather incoherently, not wanting to either ruin the moment or be late for class.

Julia gave her a look that would rival a basilisk's. "Fine. Go to class, Head Girl. Ignore your friends," she said bitterly.

Minerva bit her lip, close to tears. She cared a lot about Julia and Evan... but she couldn't miss Professor Dumbledore's class, either. And he'd be so upset if she were late.

Evan lifted his face and smiled halfheartedly. "I am all right, Julia, Minerva. Thank you." He stood up straight and resettled his bag on his shoulder. "I just got a little upset. We can go to class now."

"Evan, I'd seriously be happy to skip with you, even if she won't," Julia said, still concerned and angry.

"No need," he answered. "I apologize for being so upset. Basic human dignity --" he paused, unclenched his teeth, and seemed to reconsider what he had been planning to say. "It is never to anyone's benefit to take away self-control," he managed finally, biting his lip and turning away from them.

The three started down the hallway, Evan still refusing to look at the two girls. "I suppose I overreacted," he continued. "But that spell was inappropriate."

"Yeah, I know," Julia agreed. "I'm actually glad you did. Somebody had to."

Evan nodded curtly, but said no more. Minerva dared not say anything either, after the way Julia had responded to her last comment. She hoped Evan knew he was important to her. That wasn't the sort of thing you said to someone, though.

Transfiguration was interesting, as always, but for the first time Minerva's heart wasn't really in it. She couldn't get Julia's expression out of her mind. And when she finally did, it was replaced by Margara, pupils dilated, with an expression of pure joy on her face.