"What was that all about?" asked Bryony, breaking the silence.
"I have no idea. We had just left the train to say goodbye to my parents and when we returned he was sitting here. Seems like he did it on purpose, but you never know with Gryffindors, do you?" Orion replied. "So, how long will he last, what do you think?"
"This arrogant prat? Against you? – Not minute", Bryony was confident. Orion smirked.
He took great pride in his abilities to duel. It was the result of hard training with his parents. They thought it to be the only appropriate way for a wizard to defend his honour, if legal means or a clever plan couldn't do it, anyway.
Obviously, he shouldn't have challenged the cockroach. He was stretching his father's rule a lot, considering that duels were forbidden at Hogwarts. But Orion couldn't help it. He just liked showing stupid, arrogant morons their place. And he had insulted his parents, after all. Still, he couldn't ignore the little voice in his head that told him he was acting remarkably like a pathetic Gryffindor. It wasn't the Slytherin way to risk his clean record over such a trifle. He should have wrought a careful plan, an intrigue, that the idiot wouldn't have known what hit him until too late.
"Alright, which one of you is going to be my second?" he asked, and as an afterthought:
"Not that you'd have anything to do," he beamed at them, but regretted it immediately. He could see in their faces that both girls were keen on joining him; but their education forbid them to put themselves forward.
What a dilemma. He knew he had to choose one. He knew the other would resent him. He didn't know which one to take. This is stupid. It's just a duel. It was evident that it was not "just" a duel.
Inside himself, he silently swore. Phoebe was the better duellist of the two. Plus, McLaggen had insulted her family, too. But Phoebe also tended to loose her temper. She could involuntarily land them in big trouble.
On the other hand, Bryony stayed calm, even when she was absolutely annoyed. This quality could serve him, as he didn't expect that his second had anything to do but watch. And Bryony's reactions were difficult to read. She could be plotting against someone and still pretend to be friendly with them.
You could almost cut the silence with a knife in the compartment when the door suddenly sprung open. The three Slytherins turned their heads automatically. "Hi guys, mind me joining you?" the boy standing there asked politely.
