Well, another day, another chapter. You know, while researching and rereading the books, I realized that Hogwarts is quite the deathtrap, especially during Chamber of Secrets. Was it really too much to ask that the students be moved to a building that doesn't have an unknown monster stalking the halls? The could probably hold class somewhere else if they absolutely had to.
Rowan immediately led Johnathon back to the Common Room, and immediately rushed over to Felix, pulling the prefect into a corner along with him and Johnathon.
"Felix, we really need your help." Rowan said, causing Felix to smile and shake his head slightly.
"I suppose this is about your most recent confrontation with Merula." He said, laughing slightly as the two younger Slytherins looked at him with surprise. "Word travels fast, and you'd be amazed how many people can be watching you at Hogwarts, even if you think you're alone. Wait, that makes it sound a lot creepier than I meant it to be." He said when he saw the somewhat disturbed looks on Johnathon and Rowan's faces. "But I've realized that she really has it out for you, and I wouldn't be doing my job as a prefect if I didn't at least teach you how to defend yourself. Although I hope you realize this is all under the table." He muttered, making sure that his voice was low enough that only the three of them could hear. "Dueling isn't allowed on school grounds ever since the club was shut down, if you tell anyone who you learned it from, I'm going to deny it completely."
"Don't have to tell me twice, it's basically the same rules my brother and I had whenever we told each other about our plans to sneak out to do stuff after bedtime." Johnathon said with a conspiratorial grin.
"Good, then meet me out at the training grounds, all the other classes should have ended by now, so they should be empty. I'll go off first, wait for a bit and then leave, and make sure that nobody follows you." He said before walking out of the Common Room. Johnathon and Rowan spent a few minutes talking about nothing in particular, mostly the results of a few recent Quidditch tournaments, before trying to walk out of the Common Room as naturally as possible, which was admittedly difficult to do when they were also glancing over their shoulders every once in a while to make sure nobody was tailing them.
Eventually they reached the training grounds and, true to his word, Felix was waiting there for them, and the grounds were completely empty. "Good, it seems nobody followed you. Now, I'm going to be teaching the two of you how to duel, but make that you only use it if it's absolutely necessary. Now, do either of you two actually know any dueling spells?" He asked, Rowan shook his head while Johnathon teetered his hand back and forth in a so-so motion.
"I know some incantations and practiced some wand movements, but never with an actual wand, and I've never actually cast them." He admitted.
"Well, luckily for the two of you, Slytherin keeps a secret dueling book in the artefact room. I got it before coming here, so I'll teach you some spells out of it, make sure to consult it if you ever need some more tools." Felix said as he pulled an old, leather-bound book from his bag and presented it to the two of them.
Johnathon reached out to take the book, but when his fingers brushed against the leather binding, images flashed in his mind and he fell down to his knees. "Gaah!" He shouted as he clamped his hands down on his head. He could see them flashing before his eyes, overlapping images of a stairway shrouded in mist, a walking suit of armor, and ice covering Hogwarts, spreading faster and faster until eventually the entirety of the school was encased in it, and a voice ringing in his ears echoing constantly. When he finally regained his senses, he found himself bent over and staring at the ground, breathing heavily and sweat dripping down his face.
"Johnathon, are you okay?" He heard Rowan asked and he lifted his head, seeing Rowan and Felix crouched down in front of him, looking worried.
"I saw…something, something flashing in front of my eyes, and in my mind." He said before describing just what he had seen. "And there was a voice, it was hard to make out, but it said something like 'The ice is here. The vault will open.'"
"That's concerning." Felix said as he tapped his chin. "It could be possible that your brother had these visions to, it might explain the rumors about him going mad. Visions can often make someone who suffers from the appear insane to outside observers. Are you absolutely certain of what you saw?" He asked, causing Johnathon to nod as he stood up shakily.
"Absolutely, it was like watching it from a distance, but I knew what I saw." He said.
"Well, take the book and concern yourself more with learning from it for now. But if you have any more visions, make sure to tell me as soon as possible." Felix said, as he held the book out again. Johnathon hesitated a bit, as if fearing that touching it again might prompt another vision, but eventually he did, his fingers clasping the worn leather as he opened it up. His eyes immediately fell on one of the first spells listed in the book.
"What about this one, Rictusempra?" He asked holding it up so that Rowan and Felix could see it.
"That seems good, it's probably for the best if we start off with something simple." Rowan said.
"I agree, I'll show you the motions, try and conjure it first, then practice on each other to make sure that it's having the intended effect." Felix said, brandishing his wand, and flicking it at a rock, causing a jet of silver light to shoot out and collide with the rock. "Rictusempra is good for a diversion during a duel, after all, most people can't cast very well when they're laughing." He explained before performing the motion again, this time without the incantation so that he wouldn't cast the spell, and Rowan and Johnathon could get a good look at his motions.
Johnathon pointed at a rock, mirrored the gesture he'd seen Felix make, and shouted. "Rictusempra!" A smaller jet of silver light shot towards the rock, but gradually began to lose speed and altitude, until it hit the ground about a foot in front of the rock.
"Impressive." Felix said, a brow raised in intrigue. "You seem to have a bit of a knack for dueling spells."
"Well those were always the ones I was most interested in. Jacob would show me the motions whenever he came home, and I got really good at copying them." Johnathon said with a pleased smile. "But I've got to keep going. I won't stop until I get it perfect. Rictusempra!"
The training lasted for about an hour, Johnathon managed to start reliably casting Rictusempra at about the thirty minute mark, and then he began to help Rowan with his own casting. It was about forty-five minutes into their lesson that they began practicing the charm on each other, soon making one another buckle over with laughter each time they cast the charm.
"Alright, you two, I think that's enough for now." Felix said, stepping between the two once they'd calmed down from their most recent fit of spell-induced wheezing. "Johnathon, you seem to have a talent for this, and I imagine Merula is going to try making more trouble for you eventually. I suggest you ask Professor Flitwick for some advice or instruction, he used to be a first class duelist, from what I've been told. But try to phrase things carefully when you ask him, we wouldn't want him thinking that you're the one who wants to start trouble." Felix said before glancing at the sky, which was beginning to turn orange as the sun sank ever closer to the horizon. "Alright, now run along, you'd better go get yourselves some dinner before you turn in for the night. Trust me when I say you don't want to go to bed hungry."
"Sure thing!" Johnathon chirped as he and Rowan rushed off in the direction of the Great Hall, the dueling book hugged tightly to Johnathon's chest.
The next day, Charms was their final period, and Johnathon chose to stay behind so that he could ask Professor Flitwick for help.
"Is there something you wanted, Mister Selwyn?" The diminutive Charms teacher asked, having noticed that Johnathon hadn't moved from his seat as all the other students had been filing out of the classroom.
"Yes, professor. I heard you used to be a dueling champion, and I was wondering if you would have any spells you could give me." Johnathon asked
"And just why would you want to ask about that? The Hogwarts curriculum already provides extensive lessons on defensive spells." Professor Flitwick said, although judging by the tone in his voice he already had his suspicions about why Johnathon might have been asking.
"I require some…advanced instruction, Professor."
"And just why would that be?" Flitwick asked pointedly.
"Professor, I would love nothing more than to not need any sort of skill in dueling. But I'm afraid that it's probably going to be a necessity in the near future if I want to protect my friends, and myself…" He said before smiling disarmingly. "Besides, I've always liked going on adventures, and a few good dueling charms would probably come in handy in that line of work."
"Hmm, wanting to defend your friends is an admirable goal, but dueling should be used only as a last resort." Professor Flitwick said as he rubbed his chin. "But, I am afraid that you do seem to attract trouble due to you brother's reputation. Very well, I will teach you one spell, the most essential spell for any duelist, Expelliarmus." He pulled out his wand and held it up so that Johnathon could see it. "Watch carefully, Expelliarmus is meant to disarm the opponent without causing injury." Johnathon watched Flitwick's movements like a hawk, trying to commit every subtle twitch to memory as the professor demonstrated the movements of the spell, he then began to mimic the professor's motions. "Hmm, you have a good eye for movement, but try and make the twirling motion a bit tighter." He suggested, examining Johnathon's movements and offering suggestions in motion. After about fifteen minutes, the professor seemed satisfied after Johnathon had managed to do the motion flawlessly twenty times in a row. "Good, you seem to have the motion down, now try it on me."
"On you, professor?" Johnathon asked, even if he knew the professor was an experienced duelist, it was still hard to bring himself to try out his new spell on such a small person, what if he did it wrong and hurt him?
"Don't worry, Mister Selwyn, I've taken much more serious spells than a beginner's Expelliarmus." Professor Flitwick said with a chuckle as he raised his wand.
"If you say so." Johnathon said with a shrug before waving his wand. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted in a clear voice, a jet of faintly scarlet light shooting from his wand and colliding with Flitwick's hand, wrenching his wand from his grip and sending it sailing backwards into a pile of books in the rear of the classroom.
"Haha, very good, Mister Selwyn. Perhaps you might have a future as a duelist." The professor said as he shuffled to the back of the room to retrieve his wand. "But remember what I said, dueling outside of any official competition should only be a last resort. After all, it's impossible to lose a fight that don't get into in the first place. You might also consider practicing with Mister Copper, he's also quite gifted with charms."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you very much, Professor!" Johnathon said, bowing deeply to Flitwick before grabbing his bag and darting out the door, and wide smile on his face. He'd been a bit surprised to hear that Ben had a talent for charms, but he supposed that looks could be deceiving.
The following morning, he had Potions, a class which had quickly become one of his least favorite due to the presence of Snape, and Merula's insistence on sitting next to him, he walked into the classroom and took his seat between Rowan and Merula, firmly ignoring yet a verbal barb from the purple-eyed girl. They were working on brewing Wiggenweld potion, which he was quite happy to see, since the dueling book had suggested learning how to make it, since its healing effects could come in handy during duels. He'd already made sure to memorize it flawlessly, and made a show of examining his new cauldron to make sure that it hadn't been tampered with. When he had finally finished brewing it, he crossed his arms across his chest, feeling quite proud of himself.
"Wow, Johnathon! Your potion looks perfect." Rowan complimented as he glanced at the potion.
"It seems to be passable." Snape drily opined as he came over to examine their respective potions. "Miss Snyde's on the other hand is flawless."
"I am aware that hers, is better, Professor Snape." Johnathon said, causing Merula to look rather shocked at his admission that she'd actually done something better than him. However, that look of shock soon changed to one of irritation with his next sentence. "That's why I was watching everything she did while she made it, it will be flawless, next time."
"Hmm, well I suppose you can at least be bothered to learn from your betters, Selwyn." Merula scoffed, only for Johnathon to turn his smiling visage towards her.
"Ah, but if I learn from them and improve where they failed, they shall not stay my betters for long." He retorted in an annoyingly cheerful tone of voice.
"That is enough from the both of you, I will not have fighting in my class, especially from you, Selwyn." Snape said, shooting a withering look at Johnathon. "Now clear your stations, class is over."
"I'm really sorry about that, Johnathon, it seems like Snape also really has it out for you." Rowan said as he and Johnathon left the class.
"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle. Although I do wonder what made Snape decide to go into teaching, he clearly doesn't seem to enjoy it." Johnathon pondered, prompting a shrug from Rowan.
"Maybe he just likes tormenting children." He suggested, and Johnathon nodded, that certainly seemed like a distinct possibility, although perhaps 'enjoyed' wasn't quite the right word, he couldn't imagine Snape taking joy in anything.
"Hey, Johnathon, Rowan, come here for a moment!" They heard a voice shout at them from down the hall, and when they turned to look, they saw Felix standing at the opposite end of the hall, motioning for the two of them to come over to him.
"Come on, Rowan, let's go see what he wants." Johnathon said before they walked down the hall to see Felix.
"I hope you two have been practicing, because now it's time to put it to work. I want the two of you to come with me to the courtyard, we're going to have a practice duel." The prefect said quietly. The two first years glanced between each other and nodded.
"Sure thing." They said, almost in unison, before following the prefect through the winding halls of the Dungeon to the Great Hall, up the staircase, and out into the courtyard. They took their place at the far side of the courtyard, near the entrance to the long, wooden bridge that led away from Hogwarts and onto the sloping hill that bordered the lake and the Forbidden Forest.
"I hope you two have used your time wisely and managed to learn a dueling spell." Felix said as he crossed his arms.
"We have, we've both learned Rictusempra and how to brew Wiggenweld potion, and Johnathon told me that he managed to learn Expelliarmus, he's been trying to teach it to me, but I don't think that I've got it quite down, yet." Rowan spoke up, earning an approving nod from Felix.
"I'm impressed, learning the disarming charm in your first year is no small feat. Now, for a proper duel, you should both bow to one another. Depending on the type of duel, you may also be expected to then turn around and walk a few paces apart before turning and beginning when a signal is given, but for our purposes you'll just be starting at the proper distance apart." He said, pointing to two spots on the flagstones which Johnathon and Rowan moved to. "Alright, on three, I want you to begin. One. Two. Three!" With that, Felix jumped out of the way and Johnathon immediately snapped his wand up.
"Rictusempra!" He shouted, sending a jet of silver light careening towards Rowan, who managed to duck under it at just the right time, the light grazing a few hairs on the top of his head.
"Rictusempra!" Rowan immediately countered with a spell of his own, which Johnathon leaned out of the way of, just barely avoiding it colliding with his arm. The duel continued in this manner for about a minute, the two of them trading Rictusempras and dodging out of the way just in time, but eventually an idea came to Johnathon's mind, he'd noticed that Rowan had been growing closer and closer to the fountain in the center of the courtyard, he had even used it as cover a few times, and Johnathon realized just how he could use it to his advantage when he saw Rowan's reflection in the water.
"Rictusempra!" He shouted, but this time it wasn't aimed at Rowan, but at the water in the fountain. The streaking spell collided with the water and sent it flying, a good portion of it splattering over Rowan. Rictusempra may not have had much of an effect on solid objects like stone, but it seemed that the sheer force of it could still move a decent amount of water. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, a sparking jet of scarlet hurtling towards Rowan's wand which he, his vision being obscured the cascade of water that had hit him in the face, could not see coming. The disarming spell collided with Rowan's wand and sent it tumbling to the ground a few feet away.
Rowan groaned a bit at the realization at what had just happened, although whether he was dismayed at having lost, or by the fact that now his robes were wet, Johnathon couldn't quite tell. "Well, looks like you got me." He said, raising his hands in surrender before going to pick up his wand.
"An impressive display, Johnathon, although I'm not certain your…creative use of the environment would fly in an official duel." Felix said as he walked up to the two of them. "But Rowan, you should probably go change into some new clothes, wouldn't want you to catch a cold. And Johnathon, you seem to have a good inclination for dueling, I think the both of you are ready to defend yourself if the time comes." He said proudly.
"Thanks, Felix, we really appreciate it." Rowan said as he and Johnathon headed back into Hogwarts, quickly making their way to the Slytherin Common Room. Johnathon settled down into a seat near the fire, while Rowan went to go get changed. When he came back, they were about to settle in and talk, but then another student came barging into the Common Room.
"Hey! I just saw Merula picking on a someone in the courtyard!" He shouted, causing quite a few students to perk up and head out of the room. Rowan and Johnathon glanced at each other and sighed before rising to their feet and following the crowd.
Just as the student had said, Merula was there in the courtyard, surrounded by a group of students from all the Houses, and the focus of her ire seemed to be a familiar Gryffindor. "Looks like she's targeting Ben, again." Rowan muttered as he and Johnathon pushed their way through the crowd.
"You're an embarrassment to everyone in our year." Merula snapped at Ben, waving her wand menacingly in his face. "Mudbloods like you shouldn't even be allowed at Hogwarts. Leave the magic to real witches and wizards."
"Really, Merula, making trouble again?" Johnathon said as he stepped forward from the crowd, placing himself between Ben and Merula.
"Well, well, it seems you don't ever learn, do you Selwyn?" She said, with a malicious grin as her eyes shifted from Ben to Johnathon. "Why don't you just make like your mad brother and disappear."
"And deprive Hogwarts of my beautiful face? I'm pretty sure nobody would benefit from that. Even you have to admit I make Slytherin the best looking House be default just by existing." Johnathon said as he flicked a few strands of hair out of his eyes dramatically. His sarcastic boasting drew more than a few laughs from the surrounding crowd. "Perhaps you should be the one to disappear. Maybe you could take the time to learn to be a better person."
"You want to see me go away? Then make me, Selwyn." She said, the two of the glared at each other, seemingly forgetting all about the surrounding crowd, but then.
"If you want to do this here and now, we can, Snyde." Johnathon said, making a deep, mocking bow. "Ladies first, although you hardly have the manners befitting a lady." He said as he straightened up and flourished his wand.
Merula flicked her wand and yelled "Rictusempra!" Just like in his earlier duel with Rowan, Johnathon dodged the blast, and responded with his own.
"Expelliarmus!" He shouted, and the scarlet missile colliding with Merula's hand and causing her wand to fly up into the air, she reached up to try and catch it, and fumbled with it a few times, before managing to get it back into her hands.
"Flipendo!" She yelled, a blue bolt shooting from her wand and catching the unexpecting Johnathon in the chest. It felt like he'd been punched, and he staggered backwards, only barely being able to keep himself from falling.
However, she tried to follow up with another Flipendo, but this time Johnathon was prepared, he darted out of the way of the jinx, and to some surprise, actually darted in to close the distance between himself and Merula. "Rictusempra!" He shouted, and he was now so close that the charm had barely any distance to travel before it slammed into Merula's chest. She immediately collapsed to the floor, wheezing and howling with laughter, and glaring at Johnathon as tears poured down her face, he'd never thought he'd manage to see someone look so angry while laughing their head off. He aimed his wand at her hand and muttered his final spell. "Expelliarmus!" This sent her wand skittering to the ground, and she was far too busy trying to keep herself from collapsing to the ground due to how hard she was laughing to retrieve it.
Merula did, however, eventually manage to overcome the charm's effects and rose to her feet, her cheeks were now stained with dark streaks where they had absorbed some of her eyeshadow, leaving trails of it down her face. "Where did you learn that charm! That's no fair." She said angrily, stomping her foot on the ground. The impressed chatter coming that was coming from the crowd seemed to only infuriate her further. "You can't be better than me, nobody can be better than me!" She shouted as she picked up her wand and stormed up to Johnathon.
"I just showed I was. Now say sorry and stop bullying anyone, and I might consider teaching you that spell." He said with a grin.
"I'll never apologize to losers and Mudbloods." She hissed, only to realize that Johnathon's attention was no longer on her, but it on something behind her. She twirled around and immediately recoiled at the sight of Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick, both of whom looked less than pleased, she actually ended up jumping back to Johnathon's side in surprise. "P-Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick…I-" Before she could try to defend herself, Snape spoke up.
"I suspect this is your fault, Selwyn. Are you aware of Hogwarts' policy on unauthorized dueling." Professor Snape said.
"Yes, professor, I am." He said, some students let out small gasps as they saw him actually straighten up to look Professor Snape in the eye.
"And were you the one who cast the first spell?" Professor Flitwick spoke up, and Johnathon shook his head.
"I was not. You could ask anyone here to tell you." He said, gesturing to the crowd, most of whom nodded their heads in agreement.
However, any comment from Snape was temporarily cut off by Johnathon suddenly draping an arm around Merula's shoulders. "Of course, we both would share in the punishment if it was a duel. But it wasn't a duel at all, just a bit of a passionate disagreement between classmates, nothing quite so serious as an actual duel. Isn't. That. Right. Merula." He said with a smile that somehow managed to seem completely genuine and entirely artificial at the same time.
Merula looked about ready to protest, but then the gaze of Snape and Flitwick fell on her and she seemed to decide that playing along would be better. "Yes, just a little disagreement." She said through gritted teeth.
"Hmm, well then you will still be punished for this…disagreement on school grounds, you will report to the upstairs corridor in the West Tower for your punishment, the both of you." Snape said, before he and Flitwick headed back into Hogwarts, the crowd of onlookers, including Ben and Rowan followed, although they both gave concerned glances at Johnathon, who still had his arm slung around Merula. Once the two of them were alone in the courtyard, she angrily shrugged his arm off of her.
"What was that about Selwyn!" She snapped.
"Now, now, Merula, that's no way to talk to your savior." That comment only seemed to anger Merula more, which just amused Johnathon. "Alright then, let me spell it out for you. Starting a duel on school grounds would mean you'd get recommended for immediate expulsion, especially with so many witnesses and your history of bullying. I just helped you get off with a lighter punishment. You. Owe. Me." He said, punctuating the last few words. "And I'm going to let that eat at you, since I know you're going to hate being in my debt. But don't you worry, I'll make sure to call that favor in by the end of the year." He said with a laugh.
"…I. Hate. You." Merula bit out before storming off into Hogwarts, other students practically jumping out of the way to avoid the enraged Slytherin.
"I know." He said quietly in the now empty courtyard, before he headed off after Merula, a noticeable spring in his step. After all, they had a punishment to get to, and with any luck he'd be able to tease her even further once they got to the West Tower.