Chapter 7 – Hogwarts on a good day
Not even Ron's eldest brother remembered a DADA teacher falling victim to the curse this quickly and it had become a hot topic in the Gryffindor common room. Wild theories were bandied about whether the curse was getting stronger or whether a new one had been cast by Voldemort last year. Harry had even heard Lavender telling a first year girl that Professor Wohl himself had cast the curse because he knew it would get him into Hogwarts.
He doubted anyone had the kind of foresight to cast a curse on a teaching position on the off-chance that Dumbledore would eventually employ him.
The detention that he'd been scheduled to have with Lockhart had been rescheduled of course, and he'd ended up having to help Ron clean the trophy room. It had been a particularly nasty experience because Ron kept throwing up slugs over everything.
As it turned out though, the new Defenxe professor was fantastic. Harry felt almost like a fully trained wizard every time he whipped his wand out of his sleeve, he could shield himself and disarm someone. Wohl's homeworks were probably the only ones nobody struggled to get in on time – minor hexes and jinxes, exercises to speed up reaction times and occasionally they had to research some awesome wizard from history.
He leafed through the book he'd borrowed from the library earlier, trying to find out some extra details about Meridith Maleficent; a half fairy who'd become famous for petrifying young muggle girls. Professor Wohl had promised to teach a new jinx to the top assignments and he was desperate to learn the Bat Bogey Hex.
He was interrupted by a loud commotion near the notice board and looked over to see Percy Weasley pinning up a sheet of parchment. He pompously called for room, looking down his nose at the students craning to read the notice.
"Professors Wohl and Flitwick will be running a duelling club on Monday evenings before dinner.' He announced, then threatened to take away people's quills if they didn't let him through as they crowded around to sign up.
"A duelling club?" Hermione stared at the crowd around the board
"Yeah, with Professor Flitwick," Ron said. "It sounds awesome! You know he's a duelling champion right?"
"Let's hope participants don't fail to show up like Malfoy did, last time," Harry joked, turning back to his book. He really wanted to earn that jinx and the parchment looked pretty long so he could sign up later. "Hermione, what's wrong?"
"Professor Wohl, that's who," the girl said. "Did nobody else hear the headmaster's warning?"
"This is approved," Dean Thomas pointed out, returning to the fire after signing up, "Really, Hermione, I've never seen a wizarding duel, and they say it's spectacular! I thought you of all people would approve of a teacher actually willing to teach."
"Yes, but Professor Wohl... He seems to want to change the world single-handedly."
Harry's fingers wandered to his scar, and he remembered standing face to face with... well... the back of Professor Quirrel. There was no way he'd be missing that sort of duelling.
He grabbed his quill and joined the crowd around the board.
.
To say the room was packed would be an understatement. The two professors cast additional stands, not much unlike those at the Quidditch pitch, so that everyone could see. There were piles of flyers near the room entrance, on which basic duelling spells were listed: reference name, incantation, wand movement, and an explanation of its effect. Professor Wohl, like always, stood in the middle, thriving on the attention he was given – in this one aspect he appeared disturbingly similar to Lockhart.
"The wizarding duel is the civilized way for sorting out conflicts, and arguably the best way for anyone to test his or her magical powers. You must be aware what your goal is: whether to humiliate, maul or defeat your opponent, or to raise your own reputation, catch the attention of a specific person, or simply to rise to a challenge, win a bet, or increase your skills. All of these are acceptable, when you're challenged to a serious duel, but always pick your goal before greeting your opponent. Today, obviously, our goal will be to educate in a safe and controlled environment."
"The most important part, apart from your opponent of course, are the accepted limitations," Professor Flitwick continued while Professor Wohl took a breath. "In formal duelling, and especially championships, everyone has already met one another and there are rules agreed on in advance. For example, the opponents can agree to only use spells of a specific colour, or swear to cast loudly, which can be very distracting once you got used to silent spellcasting."
"Or to hold your beer in the other hand and not spill it; the possibilities are endless," Professor Wohl earned a giggle from the upper years. "Once I was assisting in a duel where the set limitation was to have the letter U in every incantation. One of the duellists cast a Stupify, the other used the Cruciatus curse. Yes, the letter U was the ONLY limitation," he repeated, hearing the murmur of some older students. "That's why the rules need to be clear and exhaustive. It's not illegal if both parties agreed to it."
"However, Unforgivables ARE prohibited in this school, duelling club or not," Professor Flitwick hastily pointed out and several Slytherins made disappointed noises.
"What are they talking about?" Harry quietly asked.
"Unforgivables are very, very dark magic, completely illegal of course." Hermione replied.
"Oh, thanks."
"Professors, what chance does one stand against them?" an impatient Ravenclaw shouted in.
"In that particular duel, the one with the Stupify won," Professor Wohl recalled. "She had a very concentrated mind, and it was hardly the first time she was facing that curse. There was some screaming, but then she stood up, ready to continue. The other? May I remind you, there's no U in Protego." He might have murmured something about their dormitory losing three bottles of vodka in a single night, but Harry wasn't sure he heard it right.
"Please take a look at the sheets you've been given," the tiniest Professor continued. "Today, only the listed spells are allowed. There will be free rounds later in the year, but even then you'll be asked to only use spells that you can reverse in under three seconds, and needless to say, you are expected to do so."
The two professors then continued demonstrating the proper greeting and the casting stance. Wohl bowed fluidly for someone as old as him, then swept into a casting stance with that awe-inspiring speed that he always demonstrated in class. For whatever reason his movement depended greatly on whether or not he had a reason to use his wand.
"The bow is not only for your opponent," Professor Wohl stated. "It's just as much the acceptance of the agreed-upon rules, and of course, you're calling on the power of magic in what's almost a ritual. Beware those that try to break the constraints of a duel."
They called on a student to count them down – was that a flicker of fear in Flitwick's eyes? Both wizards cast their spells. A bolt of red light shot from both wands, a massive shield erupted from Wohl's wand and Flitwick dodged, casting another spell even as he twirled out of the way. Wohl cast again, three spells in quick succession then slammed his shield back into place just in time to catch Flitwick's jinx. The tiny professor cast his own shield this time, the spells slamming into it with cracks like a rifle.
Now Wohl was on the offensive, sending spell after spell flying towards his opponent. Flitwick deflected each one with a swish of his wand, then dove to the side. Three jinxes shaved his hair but he managed to get a purple bolt off towards the older wizard. Wohl was forced to stop and put up his own shield and Flitwich launched another volley from his prone position.
Wohl shielded most, then managed to duck under the last, getting back on the offensive. A tickling charm splashed where the tiny professor had just been lying as he rolled and a red disarming spell caught him just as he fired off another spell. His wand soared into the air and Wohl reached out to catch it, just in time for his own wand to be snatched by Flitwick's final spell.
The hall applauded as the two teachers shook hands and returned each other's wands, even Ron's old rat appeared like he had enjoyed the show. Harry remembered the fat little pet to have watched the DADA classes as well, although he tended to sleep through the rest of the day.
After the teachers bowed to each other in a formal acceptance of the draw and in a display of continued respect, older students were called forward, who would then be asked to pick someone from their own house to train with, and so on. Harry soon found himself facing a very awkward Percy Weasley, who looked like he'd lost a bet simply by giving in to his curiosity and attending the club.
Ron ended up against George and was mercilessly tickled across the duelling floor and Hermione ended up against a fifth year girl, who was thoroughly beaten in one of the quickest duels of the evening.
With quidditch training starting the same week, Harry firmly believed this September couldn't have ended any better.
