Chapter Eleven - Chaos
According to the twins, all the teachers had practically vanished from the corridors which led to the suspicion, courtesy of Tabitha Hart, that they had tied them all up and shoved them in a broom closet. Typically, Skye would have thought this nonsense, but as the corridors remained eerily quiet as they journeyed to the empty classroom that would stage their duel, she couldn't help but think that was the only plausible explanation. Meeting up with Adam and Mikey, it seemed that they had a similar experience.
"This is just freaky," Mikey commented, shuddering slightly.
"Maybe they're all having a party?" Adam inputted, raising one finger.
"I can just picture it; right now McGonagall is leading the conga line, while Dumbledore does the cha cha," George mused.
"Can we please focus? I think they're already here…" Tabitha huffed.
As their group entered the empty classroom, they came across a group of students sat on the tables that has been pushed to the side of the room. Skye frowned when she realised the only person she really recognised was Lilith herself.
"Who are these people?" She whispered, frowning.
"Those two on the right are from our year," Fred revealed.
"Then those two talking to the girl with brown hair are from the Slytherin Quidditch team. They're fifth years," George added.
"Fifth years?" Skye squeaked.
"Don't worry, Skye. They're complete idiots. All brawn and no brains," Tabitha reassured her, giving her a grin.
"What about the girl?" Mikey wondered.
"Louise Hawking, fourth year Ravenclaw and junior duelling champion," came an answer from behind them. Their group turned to see Luke enter the room, only to bypass their group and head across the room to the other side. "And I make Seven. So, where is your Seventh?"
Their whole group gasped slightly as Luke smirked at them from across the room, Lilith looking practically elated.
"Erm, Luke. You're supposed to be on our side," Adam pointed out, clueless.
"Sorry, but I had other plans," he shrugged. "So do you have a Seventh, or do you forfeit?"
"We're not forfeiting! Just give us a minute," Tabitha barked, turning swiftly around to join their huddle.
"What are we going to do?" Skye hissed. "Can we battle with six?"
"No. It has to be seven or they win by default," Fred told her.
"Those creeps, they had this planned the entire time!" Tabitha growled.
"Why would he do this?" Mikey sulked, saddened. "He helped us train. We were friends."
"Just give up. There's no-one that can help you now," Lilith called over, smirking.
Mikey sighed, turning around to face them.
"You're right, but this just proves what cowards you are, and I won't forget that. I won't let you push me around anymore, Lilith," he announced, glaring at her and Luke.
"So do you forfeit?" Luke repeated, face neutral.
"No."
All eyes turned to the doorway as a small rebellious voice emerged. Skye was surprised to see a small pale figure with messy dirty blond hair skulk into the room to stand by them.
"Ethan? What are you doing here?" Lilith raged.
"I'm their Seventh," he announced, eyes hardened.
"Oh no you're not, you little bug!" Tabitha growled.
Ethan turned to her and met her gaze with his cloudy grey eyes.
"Either I'm your Seventh, or you forfeit. Choose," he commanded, eyebrows raised.
Skye held Tabitha back by grabbing her arm, remembering how Ethan had tried to warn them about Luke.
"He's our Seventh," she confirmed, nodding.
"Err… no offence Skye, but he is very likely to blast us in the back," Fred warned her.
"No, he's not. I trust him. He tried to warn me about Luke, but I didn't listen to him. If he hadn't have shown up, we would have forfeited and they would have won anyway," she explained.
She looked at Mikey, giving him the final decision. Mikey nodded, deciding to trust her judgement. At that, with a final exchange of apprehensive glances from the rest of their group, the six of them took their positions, lining up in a long row.
"Take a position behind us," Skye muttered to Ethan.
He gave her a long glance before nodding and taking a position behind her, taking his wand from his robes.
"That's right, you coward," Lilith scowled, "hide behind your friends. I can't believe you would betray your house and your family just to side with this filth."
"Please," Ethan rolled his eyes. "They're just a means to an end. You see Lilith, I'm tired of you having the respect and dominance in this family. I think it's about time I took charge."
"Sounds like your typical evil motives to me," Tabitha muttered, huffing.
Skye rolled her eyes, watching as Lilith and Luke exchange words, too quiet for them to hear. While Luke maintained his calm and calculating composure, Lilith looked worried. For her, something important was at stake. Finishing their exchange, they moved into their formation, with the two fifth year's at the front, Lilith, Luke and Louise positioned behind them, and the two third year's flanking their side. Suddenly, the tension in the room spiked as they considered their opponents, wands drawn in preparation.
"Seven, six, five…"
Skye drew in a sharp breath, her adrenaline spiking as she readied herself for chaos.
"Three, two, one."
A chorus of spells were bellowed, Skye adding her Softening and Sticking Spell to the mix, each aimed at the back wall. However, their group hesitated, watching as Mikey was tackled to the ground by Ethan, stray spells whizzing over their heads. Skye suspected Luke had informed them of their strategy as they targeted the person who was supposed to launch the Smokescreen. However, it seemed someone had been able to evoke it anyway. Their group stood to attention, wands raised where their enemy had stood, a chorus of 'Ventos' of different strengths being shouted.
A gale force wind filled the room, causing the smoke to retreat into the back wall. The fifth year Slytherin was the first to be taken out, slamming into the third year girl on the way, causing them both to stick to the back wall and bounce around. However, the second fifth year was launched back to meet an invisible wall.
"Shield spell!" Skye called, realising why he had seemingly come to a stop in mid air.
Cursing Luke into oblivion, Skye prepared herself for their retaliation, watching as the winds died away. The first to rush forward was Louise, the fifth year Slytherin charging out in front of her. A plethora of spells were launched from behind him, carefully aimed so not to hit her teammate. One managed to hit George, his body collapsing to the ground.
"Petrificus Totalus," Skye bellowed, hitting the fifth year to cause him to seize up. However, Louise was ready for them, pushing the fifth year forward so that he fell towards a raging Tabitha, managing to trap her under his stone cold body. Skye watched as she targeted a helpless Tabitha, the spell launched hitting Adam in the chest as he rushed in to protect her, causing his giggles to fill the room as he collapsed, clutching at his sides.
"Skye!" Tabitha yelled.
"Locomotor Mortis!" Louise called, aiming her wand in Skye's direction.
"Protego," she bellowed, watching as the shield absorbed the spell, slightly disappointed she hadn't managed to deflect it back at her.
However, seemingly it didn't matter as Louise collapsed, caught in a Leg-Locking Jinx. Looking behind the shocked girl, Skye was pleased to see George was back on his feet, Ethan at his side.
"Stupefy," Louise bellowed from the ground, her wand still in hand.
George collapsed to the ground, stunned, as Skye launched a Disarming Spell in her direction, while Ethan also hit her with a spell from the back, causing ropes to wrap around her arms and legs, making her fall to the ground.
"Behind you!" Skye warned him, watching as Lilith approached.
Ethan span to face her, her face contorted into rage as they began to blast spells at each other. However, their battle was interrupted as a large explosion sounded in the room, throwing Skye backwards as her ears began to ring. Opening her eyes, she realised she had been caught in her own Sticking Spell, her body bouncing around while Luke smirked in her direction.
"Well this sucks," Fred frowned, his own body in a similar situation a couple of paces from her.
Skye watched helpless as the battle raged on. Currently, Ethan and Lilith were engaged in an intense battle. Meanwhile, Luke's eyes narrowed on Mikey and Tabitha as Mikey attempted to pull her free from under the burly fifth year. Seemingly, he wasn't the only one who noticed their struggle, the third year boy also zoning in on them.
"Tabitha, Mikey! Watch out, they're coming!" She exclaimed, trying to pull at her adhered arms.
Skye could only watch as Mikey raised his wand, plumes of smoke being admitted as he evoked a Smokescreen Spell. Watching intently, the seconds dragged on as Skye squinted to watch Luke and the third year fire spells into the smoke. Tabitha emerged bellowing from the smoke, directing a Jelly-brained Jinx in the direction of the third year boy. He collapsed, a vacant look on his face as he hit the ground. Next, her sight was set on Luke himself.
"Flipendo!" She bellowed.
Luke's retaliation occurred in a blink of an eye, a Shield spell being evoked to redirect Tabitha's spell back at her, launching her across the room with a thud.
"Melofors!" Mikey bellowed.
Skye and Fred burst out into fits of laughter as they watched Luke's head shift into a pumpkin. His arms raised to it in panic, Mikey bellowing as he charged towards him, pushing him into the range of the Sticking Spell. Together they fell, their bodies bouncing up and down, the Pumpkin splitting to reveal Luke's surprised face.
"Go Mikey!" Fred cheered.
Skye frowned.
"Mikey, you're stuck aren't you?" She sighed, watching as he tried to pull his arms away from the floor.
"A little," he admitted, looking sheepish.
Skye turned her attention back to the fight between the two cousins. Each of them we're breathing heavily, their battle having raged on for too long. Suddenly, two spells collided, causing a force big enough to blow them both backwards. Ethan hit the wall, slumping against it, while Lilith just glided back, slowly coming to a stop. Smirking, she picked herself up, charging towards Ethan as he tried to move, groggy. Raising his wand, he aimed it towards the floor.
"Glacius."
As Lilith rushed towards Ethan, she came across the patch of floor he had targeted his Freezing Spell on. Her momentum sent her flying, her feet skidding across the floor, sending her back to meet the floor. She let out a grunt as the wind was knocked out of her, her wand rolling across the floor.
"Did we just… win?" Skye asked, slightly stunned.
"You know what, I think we did," Fred laughed.
"How the hell do we get out of this?" The fifth year Slytherin grunted.
Fred looked at Skye expectantly.
"To be honest, I would have expected the Sticking Spell to have been released a while ago," she admitted, guiltily.
"The teachers are going to kill us if they find us like this," the third year Slytherin girl huffed.
A sigh came from Louise as she squirmed on the ground, her arms and legs still bound.
"Come on, kid. Release me and I can start countering all these spells," she told Ethan, who was giving her an apprehensive glance. "I'm not going to hurt you. I only did this because Luke asked and I had to admit a Duel of Sevens sounded pretty cool. Nothing personal, I swear."
Deciding she sounded pretty sincere, Ethan shrugged and countered the spell, causing Louise to rub at her hands in relief. Then, she picked up her wand from the floor and aimed it at the wall where everyone was stuck.
"Brace yourselves," she grinned.
Skye let out a yelp and she and the others stuck to the back wall fell to the ground. Mikey rolled off of Luke, looking relieved to no longer be lying on top of him. No longer stuck to a wall, Skye ran over to check on a groaning Tabitha, while Mikey and Fred went to check on Adam and George respectively.
"Are you ok?" She wondered, offering her a hand.
"I landed on my but. It seriously hurts, Skye," she groaned, rubbing her backside.
"Well at least it's well padded," she laughed.
"Hey!" Tabitha yelped, giving her a punch on the arm.
"Err, Skye? Some help here?" Mikey asked, leading a still giggling Adam across the room.
"Pleeeassee," he tittered, tears falling from his eyes. "Make. It. Stop."
"Finite Incantatem," she said, aiming her wand at Adam.
"Oh, geez. If I knew it was that easy I would have done that during the duel," Mikey huffed, rubbing the back of his head.
Meanwhile, Adam was expressing his eternal gratitude, bowing and scraping at Skye as if she had just released him from a guesome curse. With a shake of her had, she turned to find most of the students had been taken care of, George being the final person to have his stunned state countered by Louise with a Rennervation Spell. The only person left was the burly fifth year she had Petrified.
"What about him?" She asked Louise, indicating the Slytherin.
"He got in my way," she shrugged, deciding he was fine as he was. "That spell fades over time anyway."
"Right," Skye stated.
"Man, this Duel of Sevens is a tricky business, huh?" She chirped up gleefully. "I'm mad I got taken down, but I suppose it's kind of flattering to think it took three of you to do it. Maybe next time, eh?"
Louise gave Skye a wink, causing her to think the girl was positively bonkers. Skye never wanted to participate in a Duel of Sevens ever again.
"I think we should be heading back to our Common Rooms before the teachers begin to magically reappear," Mikey suggested, gulping slightly.
"Erm, thanks for your help," Skye told Louisa. "Do you need help getting back?"
"Please, I was evading teachers well before your time," she grinned. "But let's do this again sometime. It was fun."
The group watched as Louisa headed out the classroom with a wave.
"I would call this experience anything but fun," George stated.
"Where's Ethan? He might want someone to go with him too," Skye realised, looking around.
"I'm pretty sure he's gone," Adam pointed out.
Skye glanced around the room, noticing that Adam was right. Ethan wasn't anywhere is sight. However, it seemed that the other Slytherins and Luke were still regrouping, Luke glaring at the lot of them. Skye let out a sigh of relief as she realised he would be fine as long as he got back before they did. Then, her eyes met Liliths which raged and narrowed, making her green eyes spark.
"Come on," she muttered. "I don't think it's a good idea to lurk around here much longer."
"See you later, losers!" Tabitha chirped up as they headed out.
"Tabitha!" Mikey scolded her.
"Don't be so sullen, Mikey. We won," she stated gleefully. "Tomorrow as we enter the Great Hall, we will be greeted like heroes."
