Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I do, however, own a copy of the book.

A/N:

Chapter Eleven: The Dueling Club

The seventh day after the formation of the Great Alliance, Draco, Harry, and Hermione were walking across the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a small piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Squeamish Fineagain and Dean Thomas, who used to love Football, beckoned them over, looking excited.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" Squeamish said. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days."

"You got that right. I'll go, it'll be entertaining at the least," Draco said.

"Aren't you interested in learning how to duel?" Hermione asked.

"My father expected me to be a Slytherin."

"What does being Sorted into Slytherin have to do with anything?" Hermione asked.

"You get your rooms based on how well you duel. The better you duel, the better rooms you get. In first year, I knew more nasty curses than most Professors in the school. Believe me, I know how to duel."

As they walked away, Draco grinned.

"Why are you grinning?" Hermione asked.

"Just remembering last time around," Draco said.

"What happened," Harry said nervously.

Whenever Draco grinned when remembering the last time around, it was never good for Harry.

"Nothing, just don't talk to the snake. Most wizards can't do that," Draco said.

"Don't talk to what?" Hermione asked.

"The snake," Draco replied.

"What snake?" Harry asked, getting increasingly nervous.

"The snake that Nott will conjure," Draco said.

"He can conjure a snake, and I'm not supposed to talk to it?" Harry said incredulously.

"Really that's why you're upset? Because I told you not to talk to a snake? Seriously, don't talk to the snake. Remember, as far as the Wizarding World is concerned, talking to snakes is a dark ability."

"Oh, fantastic!" Harry groaned.

"Harry's a Parseltongue? Of course he's a Parseltongue. Why am I bothering to ask. If something inconvenient could happen, it's going to happen to Harry."

"Hey, that's my line!" Draco said.

"Stop it guys. Enough joking at my expense," Harry said.

"Really, do you know how much stress your idiotic, sometimes suicidal life causes me? Or how difficult it is keeping you alive so you can kill the Dark Wanker? It's gets a little annoying. Try to stay out of trouble at least once in your damn life."

Harry and Hermione wanted to go to the Duel Club, and Draco thought it could be entertaining at the least, so at eight o'clock they hurried back to the Great Hall. The long tables had vanished, and a golden stage appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles. Exactly as he expected. The ceiling was velvety black, and most of the school showed up. Draco remembered that officially, the Slytherins didn't know how to duel, so it would have been suspicious if the Slytherins didn't show up. Thus, he knew that every Slytherin in the entire school was there.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Hermione said excitedly. "Someone told me that Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young- maybe it'll be him."

"Or, maybe Lockhart," Harry said. "He's certainly skilled and capable enough to teach a class how to duel."

Then, Gilderoy Lockhart, the man who was not a pansy, walked onto the stage accompanied by Severus Snape. Two very talented duelists. Draco was actually starting to think these students might actually learn something.

"Gather round, gather round. Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me? Good. Professor Dumbledore asked me to start this club, to train you in the unexpected. The world is a dangerous place, and Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and I believe that you should be prepared to face it. To begin with, Professor Snape and I will begin with a little demonstration, show you how a sanctioned duel will look. The protocols, if you will. The rules of engagement. Shall we begin Professor Snape?"

"Of course," Severus drawled. He had a smile on his face. Oh, Severus was going to look foward to fighting against the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Draco could tell that Severus wanted to discredit him so badly. The only problem was, Lockhart was actually a good Professor in this time line. Lockhart earned his position. This would be a good, but harmless fight.

Lockhart and Snape bowed to each other. They turned away from each other, and walked ten paces. They raised their wands, and lowered their wands. Then, before Snape could do anything, Lockhart struck.

"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart shouted.

It happened so fast, so suddenly, that even Severus was caught unawares, and the Disarming Charm hit it's mark. Snape was flown backwards, and his wand was thrust from his body. Lockhart wasn't done yet. He pointed his wand at Severus.

"Petrificus Totalus," Lockhart continued.

"That was the Disarming Charm, combined with the Total Body Bind Curse. Very useful combination. Disarming Charm, as you saw removes your opponent's wand, and thus their weapon from their persons, and the Total Body Bind, well, it does just what it says on the tin. Should both your spells make their mark, you will win the duel, however, don't expect it to hit your mark. I very much suspect that your Potions Master took the Disarming Charm on purpose, just to let you see the effects of the spell. He probably wasn't expecting the Total Body Bind, though, because let's face it, nobody volunteers to go through the Total Body Bind. Now, here's a spell that will remove most curses."

Lockhart pointed his wand at Severus and said, "Finite Incantem."

Instantly, Severus got up, and turned towards Lockhart, his glare obvious. Lockhart seemed unaffected. Lockhart was probably an expert occlumens. However, Lockhart probably got the idea anyways, as he turned towards the crowd.

"That's enough with demonstration. I'm going to come amongst you now, and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me, that would be most wonderful."

Then, Lockhart and Severus went through the crowd, and started pairing people. Draco was paired with Squeamish Fineagain. Excellent. Draco still hadn't forgiven Squeamish for that insulting comment that made Hermione cry in the girls bathrooms last year. The comments that put her in the path of a troll. Squeamish probably didn't even remember that comment, but Draco did. Very well. He'd have fun making Squeamish pay for those disparaging remarks. Maybe it was time for Draco to show a little more power than he usually did. After all, if he was going to lead these people in the coming war, he needed to give a show of his true power eventually. Draco would do this without uttering a single word. Draco pointed his wand at Squeamish, and the fun began. First, Draco did the Curse of the Thousand Bogies. Then, Draco used the Jelly Legs Curse. Then, he used the Vomiting Slugs Curse. And, finally, he ended with The Curse of One Million Nightmares. Squeamish was forced to go to sleep, screaming, vomiting slugs. A fitting justice for that comment about Hermione. Then, he turned, and saw everyone staring at him.

"What? Seamus deserved every curse and more," Draco said.

"I think we better show you lot how to deflect unfriendly spells," Lockhart said. "How about a demonstration pairing. How about Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley?"

"Bad idea, Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox. How about Nott and Potter?" Severus drawled, his face in a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea, Professor Snape," Lockhart said. "After all, the fastest way to learn is amongst your enemies. Isn't that right Professor?"

"Of course it is," Severus drawled.

"All right, Harry, when Theodore curses you, you move your wand like this," Lockhart said as he demonstrated how to deflect curses. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now, give that Theodore kid hell. Three, two, one go!"

"Serpensortia!" Nott bellowed, with his wand pointed at Harry.

The next thing everybody knew, a snake appeared out of nowhere. Soon after being summoned, the snake proved that it was not the least bit interested in Harry. It seemed more interested in Finch-Fletchley. Draco then, raised his wand, pointed it at the snake, but he was to late, for right before he was about to unleash his curse, and kill the snake, Harry hissed at it. The damage that Draco hoped to avoid was done. The school now knew that Harry was a Parseltongue. They believed him to be the heir of Slytherin. Draco needed to call an emergency session of the Great Alliance. After all, this is part of the reason he formed it.

Draco broke out of his stupor, killed the snake with a cutting curse, walked over to his best friend, grabbed his arm, and pulled him away. Draco needed to have a talk to Harry about following orders. Then, he needed to contact the other members of the alliance. He had to prove Harry's innocence before the other students. Hopefully without Hermione's getting petrified.

"You just had to do it didn't you?" Draco said.

"What?" Harry asked confused.

"You had to talk to the damn snake! And don't pretend this is the first time it's happened. There are probably hundreds of snakes in the world calling you friend! God damn it! Why can't you just ignore a snake?" Draco said frustrated.

"It was going to attack Justin. I stopped it."

"I know that. Hermione knows that. You know that. Everyone else just saw you egging a snake on. Encouraging it to attack a Muggleborn."

"What?"

"Harry, very very few wizards in the world are Parseltongues. In the past fifty years, there have been two of them. You and the Dark Wanker. Before that, attending Hogwarts, just you, the Dark Wanker, and Salazar Slytherin. Now, everybody knows that you share a rare gift with Slytherin. As far as the school is concerned, you are the only suspect in these attacks. As far as they believe, you are the only possible Heir of Slytherin."

"But that's ridiculous. I can't be descended from Slytherin," Harry said.

"You're going to find that hard to prove. After all, Slytherin lived hundreds of years ago. For all we know, you could be," Hermione said.

"Maybe not. After all, Harry is from an old, powerful Pureblood family. Families like that, like to keep family trees. They like to prove their lineage, as to prove their right to a seat on the Wizengambot. The Potters are one of the few families in the world, where documentation might exist proving that you are not descended from Slytherin. Or proving that you are, either way. The only question is, do you want to find out?"

"I do," Harry said. "I want to prove that I'm not behind the attacks."

"Good. Then, we need to call a meeting of the Great Alliance."