Chapter 6
And so tomorrow came. At 2:30, Caroline waited with Harry, Ron and Hermione behind the castle for Malfoy.
As they waited, more people began showing up. In one day, word had gotten around that the new girl and the Slytherin Prince were going to fight and people wanted to watch.
"Is this all right?" Harry asked, concerned for her. "If you want, I can tell them to go away."
"It doesn't matter," Caroline said. "They've been staring at me since I first arrived here, why is now any different?" Harry shrugged.
A few minutes later, Malfoy and a whole Slytherin posse showed up. He sneered at her and she glared back.
"Ready?" he took out his wand.
"Are you?" she asked. She turned and picked up the sword. She smiled evilly at him and unsheathed it slowly, letting the sound echo through the air. Never underestimate the advantages of a little drama. She dropped the sheath and pointed the sword at him.
"A sword? We are desperate." He tried to cover his fear with cockiness, but Caroline saw the look in his eyes.
They shook hands and assumed their positions.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Malfoy shot the Leg-Locker Curse at her. She swung the sword. It bounced off and hit the wall of the castle. Malfoy stared in shock, but quickly recovered his senses.
"Incarcerous, Expelliarmus!" Same result for both.
They fought for a good five minutes without rest. Malfoy was getting frustrated. He was breathing hard. With every spell, Caroline took a small pace forward, and Malfoy, wanting to keep normal dueling distance, kept backing up.
They both stopped to catch their breaths and he stared at her. "Where do you even get hold of a sword in this day and age?" he demanded.
"It has been in my family for four hundred," she told him with pride.
Malfoy took a deep breath. "Relashio!"
Caroline swung the sword again, but this time with more accuracy. The brief breather had let her gather herself, so when the spell came at her, she deflected it at a straight angle. It bounced back and hit Malfoy.
Fiery sparks hit his hands. He yelped and dropped his wand. He dove for it, but stopped short. Between him and his wand was a 29 inch green blade. They stood frozen in a tableau for a moment.
"Up," Caroline ordered. "Slowly." Malfoy straightened. His eyes were fixed on the sword. She kept it trained on his throat. None of the spectators moved or said anything.
"You will leave us alone from now on," she had slipped into using the royal plural without realizing it. Malfoy nodded slowly, not wanting to make any sudden movements. "You will stop picking on students younger than you." Another nod. "And you will stop referring to muggle-born students as mudbloods in and out of our presence." There was a fractional pause before he nodded again. "Good." Caroline lowered the sword and backed away from him, keeping her eyes on him. When she was with her friends again, she turned and picked up her sword's sheath.
"Serpentortia!" Malfoy had grabbed his wand and shot one final spell at her. A snake sprung from the end of his wand and flew at her. She dropped the sheath, swung the sword, and sliced the snake clean in half. She glared at him.
"That was low," she said. Her voice was quiet, but dangerous. She advanced towards him, repelling spell after spell. She bounced a spell back at him that stung him in the hands. He jumped back, but not in time. She swung the sword one more time and the tip caught his arm.
"Ah!" he clutched his arm. She had nicked him, just lightly, but it was enough to make him bleed. "You little-"
ZAP! A bolt of electricity jumped from her hand and shocked him. He staggered back, clutching hand.
"The next time you challenge us, I'll maim you," Caroline snapped. She whirled around and stomped off.
*~*~*
Caroline managed to avoid Slytherin contact for the rest of the week, mainly because they were avoiding her. No one could understand how a magic-less girl with a sword had bested the Slytherin Prince. It was the first time since arriving at Hogwarts that Caroline hadn't minded the stares and whispers that followed her through the school. The teachers, for their part, remained oblivious, or if they did know, they didn't say anything. She knew Malfoy wouldn't say anything because that would involve admitting that he challenged her, which was also against the rules. They had both duelled, but he had challenged, making it his own fault.
Potions was the only awful class. Snape could tell something was going on, but no one was telling him anything. Malfoy spent the class shooting her dark looks. He wanted to get her in trouble, she knew it, but he was having a hard time figuring out how to do it without getting in trouble himself.
"Class dismissed," Snape said. Everyone got up to leave. "Malfoy and Chant stay behind." Caroline glanced at her friends. What could he want to talk to her about?
"We'll wait for you outside," Hermione said.
Caroline and Malfoy approached Snape's desk.
"I don't know what is going on but your anger is disrupting the class," he glared at them sternly, even Malfoy. "Are you going to tell me?"
Caroline studied her fingers. She felt Malfoy staring at her, waiting for her to say something.
"Caroline has a sword in her room," Malfoy blurted. She whipped her head around and glared at him.
"What?" Snape stared. He hadn't been expecting that.
"A sword. It's big and sharp and green. She was waving it around showing off yesterday during the staff meeting."
Snape rounded on her, having regained his composure. "Is this true?"
Caroline's mind raced. Damn. Why had she picked an adversary who was so smart? She could deny it, but then they might search her room, but would they find it? Yes, they would. They had magic.
"It's purely ceremonial," Caroline said slowly. "I was giving a swordplay demonstration to a few students." She lied easily. No reason to let Snape know that she had threatened his favourite student's neck.
"Possession of a weapon on school property is against the rules," Snape said. "You must see the headmaster."
Twenty minutes later, Caroline, Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore were all in Dumbledore's office. Caroline had retrieved the sword and Dumbledore was examining it like a kid with a new toy. He flexed it lightly and flicked it with his finger, listening to the sound that it made. He peered at it through his half moon spectacles, admiring the patterns engraved into the blade.
"She brought a weapon from her world into this one, and kept it hidden," Snape was saying. "Who knows what her real motives were for coming here?"
"I told the truth!"
"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Snape said. "How do we know that you're even really from another world? Maybe you work for the Dark Lord and were sent to infiltrate the school."
"Dark Lord? That sounds like something from a bad paperback novel."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Does that answer your question, Severus?"
"She might be lying."
"Sybil said that she is who she said she is."
Snape made a noise.
"I know you don't think much of her, but I trust her," Dumbledore said. He turned to Caroline. "Out of curiosity, why did you bring a sword to a school?"
"It's a family heirloom. It's been in my family for four hundred years. I couldn't leave it behind."
"You had planned on leaving you old identity behind, why not leave it?" McGonagall asked. Caroline shrugged and looked at her shoes. She really had no idea why she brought it either. With every day that passed it was looking more like a stupid idea.
"Well," Dumbledore stood up. "I think we can close this matter, no damage was done, permanently, at least." His eyes twinkled at Caroline and she froze. Did he know? But how?
Snape began to say something about punishing her, but Dumbledore cut him off.
"Is a wand not a weapon as well, Severus? And a more dangerous weapon at that," Dumbledore smiled at her. "I think you had better let me keep it here, in my office. It will be safer here than in your room, now that everyone knows that you are in possession of a sword."
Caroline nodded solemnly. She stared at the sword for a moment. She knew that he was right. The sword would be safer in his office. So why did it feel like she was leaving a part of her behind as she left the office?