- Text Size +
Alastor Moody



The man had his back to the doorway as Lily ran into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, but the moment she'd crossed the threshold of the door, he flicked his wand over his shoulder and the class door banged shut and the sound of clicking locks filled the air. "Have a seat Miss Evans," growled the professor, never turning his head.

Lily practically ran to take the empty seat beside Remus, tugging her book from her bag as she put it down at her feet.

The man had been breaking the chalk that lined the lip of the blackboard, snapping the pieces into little nubs and making a pile of them at one end. Now that they were all in and seated, he cleared his throat, dusted off his hands and turned around, looking them over, a frown on his face. His uncovered eye roved over them quickly, then zeroed in on Remus. "You're Lyall Lupin's kid," he said. It wasn't really a question, but Remus nodded. The man's eye swiveled then to Sirius. "And you. You're one of the Black boys."

"Yes, sir," Sirius answered.

The man licked his lower lip slowly, studying him. "I remember you. And your father. Orion Black, a regular patron of Knockturn Alley, I recall. Interesting. So you're in Gryffindor, are you?”

"Yes, sir," Sirius said.

“Well then. Your parents must be… very proud, I'm sure,” he mused. Then, with a nod, and not another word on the topic of their identities, he turned away, walking across the room to the open windows. He seemed lost in a day dream as he stood there for several long moments, his arms folded across his chest, fingers rapping against his elbow. The students looked at one another uncomfortably as he seemed to have forgotten they were there at all. Then, suddenly, still staring outside, he quietly muttered, "Constant vigilance."

Lily could tell the boys were just as confused as she was by the expressions on their faces.

The man took another long moment of staring out at the grounds before turning back to face them. "Write that down,” he said. He magicked the shutters closed on the window and with a click a little brass hook held them fast. "CONSTANT vigilance." He'd roared the first word.

There was a hurried scratching of quills on parchment. Lily underlined the phrase twice to remind herself of the emphasis the man had put into the words.

“What's the best way to deflect Dark Magic? By expecting it. Always. Knowing at any moment you could fall prey to it. These are dark times, dark arts are being practiced all around. Your defenses are useless unless you are prepared and ready to face them. Keep your eyes shut – you're dead." The man walked swiftly back across the room to the chalk board, snatched the chalk from where it hovered in front of the board and scrawled messily CONSTANT VIGILANCE across the slate. He circled it. "Everyone asks me how I have done it, staying alive in a job like I've got, and this -" he rapped the board with his knuckles, "- is the only difference between myself and any other wizard. Anyone who does not stay constantly upon his toes is apt to fall prey to the wizard that calls himself the Dark Lord and his followers. You're likely to be killed. Cursed! Fed poison! Blasted to bits! Plenty of ways to end up dead."

Lily was leaning back in her chair, eyes wide. His roughness was startling and attitude terrifying. The way he was making out, there were dangers all around, lurking in the very corridors of Hogwarts… But surely Hogwarts was safe, Lily thought, wasn't it?

Remus timidly raised his hand.

"What?" the man asked gruffly.

Remus looked like he'd swallowed a toad. "It's just, um, please sir – who exactly are you?"

The others all nodded, glad someone else had had the courage to ask the question.

Except Sirius.

Sirius knew who he was already.

"The name is Alastor Moody," said the man, "I am an Auror of the Ministry of Magic - a dark wizard catcher," he added.

"An auror!" James lit up. "Brilliant!"

Sirius was staring down at his book.

“Have you caught many dark wizards before?” Peter questioned in a squeaky voice.

Alastor Moody looked at Peter for along, withering moment. Peter's face grew red as Moody stared. After a moment, Moody turned away. “I've caught my share,” he murmured.

James's voice was eager, “Is that what happened to your eye?”

Lily and Remus both wore the same horrified expression at James's terribly rude question, but instead of seeming offended, Moody laughed and pointed at James, “You. I like you.” Moody made his way 'round the big desk, still cluttered with things that belonged to Professor Tutman. Moody's eye made its way over the assortment of things that had been left behind.

“Thanks,” said James boldly.

Without responding to James, Moody had gone back to the blackboard and started writing on it as he spoke, keywords from what he was saying, creating a sort of mish-mosh of words on the board. “Your trust is a precious thing,” he explained, “It must be earned, not even freely. You can never know who might be the one who is working for the enemy.” He underlined the word enemy twice. “Could be anybody. And don't think you're safe, just because you're in school. Sometimes it is when you are safest that you are most at risk! Yes...” he said slowly, “Even at Hogwarts.”

“So you know about Professor Tutman, then,” Sirius said. “Dumbledore's told you what happened.”

He looked back up at the five first years slowly.

“What happened?” Lily whispered to Remus. “What's he on about?”

But Remus was staring, transfixed, up at Alastor Moody.

Moody studied them for a moment. “What do you lot know about Tutman?” he questioned.

“You mean besides the fact that he's been imperiused?” Sirius asked.

Moody put down his chalk and walked over to Sirius's desk, leaning down to look into Sirius's eyes. Lily looked horrified from the end of the table as Sirius stared back at Moody's one eye with just as much intensity as the teacher was looking into his two.

“Have you taken Malfoy in yet?” Sirius pressed.

Moody's mouth curved into a smirk at last as he drew away from Sirius's face, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “You're a nosey one then, aren't you?” he asked.

Sirius shrugged.

Moody mused to himself. “Of course you've an invested interest, being Malfoy's your cousin.”

“I don't care about Malfoy,” Sirius spat, annoyed. Then, as an afterthought, he adde, “Sir,” in a much more respectful tone, “I care about dark arts being… defended against, I guess. And Malfoy's loaded with them.”

“I see,” said Moody. “I imagine you'd be rather good at spotting dark magic… given who your father is.”

Three sets of eyes turned to stare at Sirius - everyone's except for James's - and he had to fight to keep focused on Moody as their heads all swiveled in unison to look at him incredulously. James, mercifully, kept his eyes trained on the desktop in front of him.

“I imagine so, sir,” Sirius said.

Moody's smirk grew. “Did the house of Black leave a poor taste in your mouth, boy?” he asked, but the question was not taunting sounding, but more of a quiet pride.

“Yes, sir,” Sirius answered. “Quite poor.”

Lily vaguely recalled Severus once mentioning that Sirius was a cousin of his, and now she knew, thanks to Moody, that Lucius was a cousin of Sirius's as well. Was everyone at this school related to one another? she wondered. Was Sirius's father awful to Sirius like Tobias Snape was to Severus? Was Sirius really just a broken boy at heart – having gone through a lot of rubbish, the same as her darling Sev had done? Was there more to him than met the eye, just as Remus had told her back in the Fall? she wondered. Obviously, by what Moody had said, Sirius's father was rather into the Dark Arts. Perhaps Sirius Black wasn't entirely the bully that he made himself look like whenever they were near Severus. Perhaps Sirius Black had a reason for being so awful… a reason that could be turned around by caring for him rather than yelling at him?

Moody was back at the chalkboard. “I care about the dark arts being defended against, too,” he grumbled, taking up the chalk once more. “That's why I'm here. I'm taking care of things. Investigating. And today, I'm filling in for your teacher, who should've been more vigilant.” He rapped the board with his knuckles again by the words CONSTANT VIGILANCE. “If he had been, he'd still be here. Keep that in mind.” Moody turned and started writing again. “Now first thing's first… to know your enemy… I know you're only First Years and the Ministry wouldn't want to be knowin' too much, but I say to hell with the Ministry and what they want…” On the board, Moody had written out Lord Voldemort, Dark Lord, He Who Must Not Be Named, You Know Who. He waved his hand at the list. “The darkest wizard of our time… You Know Who.”

Lily raised a hand.

“Evans?”

“Why did you include He Who Must Not Be Named and You Know Who as his names? Why not just call him by his actual name?” she questioned.

“Because,” Moody replied, “These are titles he has given himself. To call him by those names are to give those names power, to acknowledge their authenticity. Deny him the right of being named as he wishes and you are defying him as well! Names are a mighty powerful thing, Miss. Evans. You Know Who knows that and he has vested quite a lot of power in the one he claims is his own. We do not give him the dignity of it.”

It made sense, what Moody had said, but it seemed that You Know Who sounded much more frightening than Voldemort to her…

“Now who here can tell me what a Death Eater is?” Moody scrawled the word across the chalkboard as he spoke, launching them into a comprehensive lesson on the current state of the dark regime...

“Blimey, that was brilliant,” said James wistfully later, when they'd gotten out of class. “Being taught Defense by a real Auror!” He was grinning. “You know, if I don't become a Quidditch player when I grow up, I might fancy a job in Magical Law Enforcement, like Moody.”

Sirius and Remus agreed, nodding enthusiastically. “Wonder how he lost his eye, though,” Peter said in a trembling voice, “Must've been something dark if they couldn't fix it at St. Mungos!”

“Could they magic an eye back in at Mungos?” Sirius wondered aloud.

“I'd be afraid I'd end up losing my eyes, too,” Peter shivered.

Sirius's voice was low with passion, “I wouldn't be worried about things like that. I'd love to put some of the dark wizards behind bars. Ones who really deserve it...” He didn't say it outloud, but he was ashamed to find his mind thinking of his parents as he said it. “It's about justice. About what's right.”

Lily said, “I think you'd be good at it.”

The boys all looked at her in surprise. Usually, as they walked from one classroom to the other, she stayed quiet and didn't speak to them. Unless it was to scold them for making fun of somebody or to say something they'd been joking about was stupid. She never, ever had just spoken to them to say something that wasn't a criticism – especially not to Sirius – and yet here she was complimenting him. Sirius had stopped dead in his tracks, the others halting only a few steps away from him. Lily took a moment to realize the others had stopped and turned back.

“What's the matter?” she asked.

“You,” Sirius said, “Why… Evans… Did you just say something nice to me?”

Lily blushed, “Oh … shut up, Black,” she demanded, and she hurried off ahead of them.