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Professor Moody's reasoning, while a bit far-fetched, made a certain amount of sense given his own history. It was said that he lost his leg after being betrayed by a fellow Auror.
Being on guard at all times became his personal motto.
He only ever ate food he had prepared himself, and the same went for water. He carried a rose-colored hip flask with him everywhere and took a sip from it every now and then.
Everyone thought he was a bit odd, but they had to admit his magical skills were top-notch, and there was a lot to be learned from him.
One day at breakfast, an owl swooped down and delivered a letter to Harry.
Harry, expressionless, simply tore the letter to pieces and continued eating his breakfast.
The practiced movement showed that this was clearly not the first time he'd done this.
"Is he still sending you letters, Harry?" Neville asked, swallowing a mouthful of egg.
It was obvious who "he" was.
Harry nodded without a word, taking a gulp of milk.
Ever since Dudley told them that drinking more milk would help them grow taller and stronger, every member of the "Discipline Group" drank a large glass of fresh milk with their breakfast.
And it had really worked, you could tell just by looking at the builds of Harry and Neville.
After learning that the fourth-years were proficient in counter-curses, Professor Moody changed his teaching strategy.
For this class, for example, he announced that he would be casting the Imperius Curse on each student in turn to demonstrate its power, to see if they could fight its influence.
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His explanation was that the more frequently you were exposed to the Dark Arts, the better you could defend against them.
By constantly learning and growing while under attack, you would eventually become proficient, and only then could you truly protect yourself.
There was some truth to his words, and everyone agreed with the approach.
One by one, the young wizards came forward to stand before Moody, who cast the Imperius Curse on them in a line.
Under the influence of the spell, one student after another performed the most bizarre actions.
Some hopped three times around the classroom.
Others mimicked hamsters, stuffing their mouths with nuts until they couldn't fit any more.
Some, like Goyle and Crabbe, even performed a series of incredibly flexible dance moves, things they would never be able to do under normal circumstances.
The funniest, though, had to be Seamus, who crouched in a corner like a mushroom and didn't move a muscle.
Hardly anyone was able to resist the curse; they only returned to normal after Moody lifted the spell.
What was the use of learning so quickly? When faced with truly powerful magic, their weaknesses were still exposed.
Moody was very satisfied with the current situation.
"Dursley, your turn."
Moody's magical eye swiveled, scrutinizing Dudley—the one wizard he couldn't see through, even though he clearly wasn't using any visible protective enchantments.
Now, at such a close distance, he still couldn't see anything.
"That spell won't work on me," Dudley said calmly.
"You're saying you're immune to the Imperius Curse? Every wizard thinks that. They all insist they're the special one, but the truth is, they're not."
Moody scoffed at Dudley's claim.
Dudley stood before Moody, watching him raise his wand, point it at him, and utter the incantation: "Imperio!"
A strange feeling washed over him, as if a force were pulling him, trying to make him soar over rooftops and into the sky...
But Dudley simply stood still.
The pulling sensation began to grow stronger, accompanied by a particularly easy, carefree feeling, attempting to empty Dudley's mind...
But Dudley still didn't move.
Seeing that Dudley was completely unaffected, Moody put even more effort into the spell, no longer caring if his target was a young wizard. This time, he was casting it with his full power.
But no matter how hard he pulled, Dudley remained standing right there.
He just stared at Moody, expressionless.
It was as if he were saying, "See? I told you it wouldn't work."
"Excellent. Now that's what I'm talking about."
After a stalemate, Moody finally lowered his wand.
Yes, he had given up.
"Look, everyone, Dursley resisted the Imperius Curse. He did it."
"Remember this feeling. Hold onto it, and that's the only way your enemies will never be able to control you."
As expected from Mr. Dursley, to be completely unaffected by the Imperius Curse.
A powerful Dark Wizard is just different.
The other students, who knew the power of the curse, looked at Dudley with a sense of pure admiration, and he'd subtly earned a little more fame.
Moody tried the spell on Dudley a few more times, and each time, it failed.
He must be joking. Dudley was confident enough to take on spells from a dozen wizards with his bare chest; why would he be afraid of one person's Imperius Curse?
After Dudley passed, it was Harry's turn.
Moody cast the Imperius Curse on Harry in the same manner.
While Harry wasn't completely unaffected like Dudley, his resistance to the curse's command was clear.
Moody told him to jump high, but Harry only lifted a leg without doing anything else.
This made Moody very happy. This was the second young wizard with the power to resist the Imperius Curse.
The 'happiest' part was yet to come.
Next was Granger. She did even better than Harry. When Moody told her to spin around, she just twitched her shoulder and did nothing else.
This was the third underage wizard to resist the Imperius Curse with sheer willpower.
The performance of the three of them was an eye-opener for the other students.
"Longbottom, your turn."
The same thing happened again. Neville's performance was a little weaker than Harry's and Hermione's, but he still successfully resisted the action Moody told him to do.
'True members of the Discipline Group.'
The fifth one...
"Malfoy."
Moody's eye glinted as he looked at Draco, who stood before him.
"Imperio!"
"You're a ferret."
Draco's eyes widened.
"I don't think I'm that kind of creature. If I had to choose, I'd choose a dragon."
To Moody's surprise, Draco also resisted the Imperius Curse.
'Lucius's son... he's got something.'
"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"
Draco hadn't even moved on when Ron, who was behind him, impatiently stepped forward.
'It's time to show them some real skill,' Ron thought, as he stood before Moody, waiting for him to cast the spell.
Moody knew Ron was part of the group. The performance of the previous few had already shown him that they possessed the will to resist the Imperius Curse, and he assumed the youngest Weasley would be the same.
He casually cast the spell on Ron.
"You're a duck."
Ron froze, his eyes glazing over. He put his hands on his hips and crouched on the floor, waddling in place with tiny steps.
"Quack, quack, quack, ah, ptooey!"
Draco looked on in shock.
The students were speechless.
Even Neville and Harry couldn't help but cover their eyes.
'Who told you to relax when someone was casting a spell on you?!'
'How confident were you to not focus on resisting the Imperius Curse?'
'Truly the disgrace of the Discipline Group!'