The words come easier now than they had once; Avada Kedavra, Crucio, Imperio. The familiar words drip from his lips now.
The spiders on the table the unlucky targets, it’s easier to hurt them when he imagines that they are somebody-something else. The Imperio for his father, the curse that he had cast without a second thought for so long turned back at him. Crucio for Bellatrix, see what she would think of the torture cast upon herself, like the Longbottoms she had driven to madness. And Finally, Avada Kedavra for the Dark Lord. It wouldn’t work, but it might free him from his current existence if the dark lord decided to punish him.
Before Regulus had left, he had told Barty of Voldemort’s immortality hadn't believed him, but now, well... Regulus had been right. It didn’t matter though, Regulus was dead, and had been for years. He had defected and then went after the horcrux he had told him about in the dark of night when no one would hear. Barty tightened his grip on the wand, and cast the next spell with a little more anger. No, it didn’t matter, no one knew Regulus’s name anymore. Regulus hadn’t spoken to his brother in years, his parents were dead, and the Death Eaters never mentioned him, he had simply not existed as far as the world was concerned.
Harry Potter would defeat the Dark Lord, just as he had vanquished him years ago. And he would pay for his crimes somehow. Either the Dark Lord would punish him for failing, or he would receive the Dementor's Kiss. In a way, it was almost a relief. He had once cared about education and learning; had in fact succeeded at getting 12 O.W.L.s. Teaching these students now was a pleasure. One he was grateful to have, at least for a short while. He knew that tonight, after the potion had worn off he would mark the students papers, and pretend, at least for a few hours, that he really was the teacher, not masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody for the Dark Lord. It was better like that. Finishing the demonstration, he turned his eyes back to the class.
The curses might fall easier now, but they were still poison. He could still hope he would not need to use them again on another person.
It's funny that RAB, the acronym for regulus, means "regulus adores barty" when the first three letters of barty's name are BAR, so "barty adores regulus" too.
