Alastor Moody stared at the black brick-arched ceiling of the Ministry in confusion as he lay on the ground, his body occasionally convulsing with flashes, trying to process how he had ended up in this situation.
Nymphadora Tonks, his "protégée" as an Auror in training, had been performing decently, more than decently, in fact. Denying that he felt a tinge of pride in her progress would be lying to himself.
Talent, motivation, and that never-give-up spirit that could only be found in young people. She adapted well, taking only three days to start developing reflexes to his ambushes and surprise attacks, when he had expected it to be no less than a week.
Perhaps she was a bit emotional and loathed paperwork, but who didn't at her age?
So that day, when he returned from investigating the source of the Acromantula venom on the black market, without much success, Moody frowned when he heard that she wanted, no, NEEDED a vacation.
He could understand it.
He was not a gentle mentor; being gentle with her would only get her killed by dark wizards sooner.
Auror training was not something people with a weak mindset or mediocre skills could endure; the amount of stress was hard to handle for many, even if they managed to keep up.
Giving a talent like her a vacation would be a complete waste!
Then it happened, the retaliation of day X, known in the future as "The Stare into the Abyss."
Moody had no choice but to agree to give her a vacation, half impressed that she had not been intimidated by him and had managed to take his magical eye, but also half disgusted when he saw where it was when he retrieved it.
He had to soak the magical eye in pure alcohol for days and some potions to get it back to pristine condition before putting it back in place.
Days passed, and amid his busy schedule, he remembered that today was the day his protégée would return from her vacation, refreshed.
What better way to welcome her back than with a surprise attack?
Constant vigilance!
He seriously hoped she had not lowered her guard and lost her reflexes, just to be kissing that boyfriend of hers.
Oh, Moody knew about Barnaby.
How could he not investigate the closest people to his star student?
(Deny me that Moody wouldn't do that.)
Son of the half-giant who serves as the keeper of keys at Hogwarts, unknown mother, a magical talent that managed to ridicule the most outstanding and vain students, possessing much strange magic and some unique creatures that no one seemed to recognize.
Moody didn't even have to think about how he managed the backing and protection of the world's greatest magizoologist, Newt Scamander. A complete troublemaker in his time, though not a bad guy, rather one who caused headaches.
He still remembers how his ears buzzed when his previous magical eye EXPLODED when he tried to look at the boy from afar during one of his visits to Diagon Alley, adding another burn to his face that they skillfully treated at St. Mungo's.
Moody was a regular at the institution, a VIP, so to speak.
Was he furious? No, that event only made Moody feel respect for the boy.
Some kind of enchantment to prevent covert spying?
A magnificent move!
If it weren't to avoid revealing that he was spying, he would have asked Tonks to try to get some enchantments for her Auror boyfriend.
Ah, it's a pity that due to the past actions of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the boy seemed annoyed with the Ministry. A bit like Newt, actually. Birds of a feather flock together.
Moody believed that if he could teach him to be an Auror, he could create a true monster.
A monster that would make dark wizards soil their pants at the sight of him!
But not everything was positive, Barnaby didn't like Dumbledore.
Moody could see it at a glance and couldn't blame him, not after seeing the place where the half-giant had to live with his son or knowing the salary he got to live on.
With the size of Hogwarts castle, was there no place for them to live inside?
Even Filch had an office and residence!
Moody positioned himself and waited by the fireplace connected to the Floo Network, ready to test Tonks' reflexes the moment her face appeared in the green flames.
Constant vigilance!
It didn't take long for her to appear; her punctuality had also improved a lot compared to the early days. The moment of truth had arrived!
"Expelliarmus!"
A red light shot from Alastor Moody's wand and rushed towards Tonks, who, surprised, widened her eyes and raised the hand holding her wand...
No, a staff?
The next thing Moody knew, he was lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling, his body convulsing and unable to gather the strength to straighten up.
"Are you okay?" Tonks' head appeared in his field of vision as she bent down next to him. "Another one of your ambushes? Right when I come back from vacation?" She shook her head. "You realize that was predictable even for you, right?"
"Does that mean what you did to me was on purpose?!" Moody shouted, his face red from having been seen coming from afar, though secretly satisfied that she had paid attention.
"Sorry, sorry," Tonks apologized, still smiling. "I needed to test if it worked," she said, waving the staff in her hand.
"Is she imitating me?" Moody couldn't help but think in that direction, believing his protégée wanted to emulate him and looking at the object in question.
Quite elegant, with the head of a Thunderbird at the top with folded wings embracing the body, made of wood with smooth and straight grain, a satin cyan color.
Damn, Moody could see that the quality of that thing was no joke, even the carving was incredibly vivid; he almost had the impression that the Thunderbird was giving him a warning look.
Tonks drew her wand and with some gestures, Moody recovered and got up.
"Which shop did you get that from?" he couldn't help but ask, planning to go there after finishing today's work.
"I made it myself with my own hands!" Tonks announced while putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest, snorting proudly and shining with pure satisfaction and accomplishment.
Even she didn't believe she could make something so cool!
"You?" Moody seriously doubted that statement, after all, it was a well-known fact among many Ministry colleagues that Tonks was a bit clumsy.
On the first day of training, she knocked over an umbrella stand at the entrance.
"Well, maybe I had a little help from my boyfriend…" she admitted, her cheeks coloring as she remembered some... events during their couple project.
She could still feel large, warm hands on the back of hers, guiding her and pointing out the best places to carve. The breath tickling her neck as he helped her slowly polish the wood and…
"Nymphadora!" Moody shouted. "You're-!"
"Don't call me that!" Tonks shouted back even louder, her hair turning red, whether from the anger of someone using the name she didn't like or from having her daydreams interrupted.
Moody winced as his ears hurt; yes, this was definitely the real Tonks.
Tonks, for her part, took a deep breath, slowly calming down as she felt the staff in her hand, which had turned red like her hair in anger.
It was curious how she had to take a potion to grow her hair, to cut enough to use in her staff, achieving the effect of the wood changing color in sync with her hair.
Even Barnaby didn't expect that effect!
And thinking about her boyfriend, she distractedly remembered that something happened at the castle, and she couldn't miss it for the world.
Something about a guy named Nicolas wanting to break someone's legs.