The true genius shudders at incompleteness.
Edgar Allan Poe
When Draco pops by the dungeons for his weekly tea with Professor Snape, he is surprised to find that he is not alone.
"... really think you should consider it!" finishes Professor Lockhart with great enthusiasm.
Professor Snape seems intent on meeting his enthusiasm with an equal amount of apathy and disdain. "I am not the club-hosting sort of professor."
"Oh, come now. Where's your good sportsmanship? You are surely the most competent duellist in the school – well, apart from me, of course!"
Professor Lockhart guffaws like he actually made a joke. Draco swallows the choke of laughter lodged in his throat. Professor Lockhart may be the most wildly incompetent wizard Draco has ever met, which makes his staggering amount of false bravado all the more hilarious. And yes, it does make Draco question the hiring practices of Headmaster Dumbledore, but damn it all if he's not the most entertaining man on two legs.
"Of course," Professor Snape says acidly.
"Perhaps I could at least get you to agree to a demonstration?" prods Professor Lockhart, smiling brilliantly. "An example duel between two colleagues could prove a useful teaching method!"
"Oh, my God," Draco says before he can stop himself, and they both turn toward him.
"Mr. Malfoy!" Professor Lockhart cries. "My apologies! I didn't see you there."
Professor Snape makes a small, pained sound.
"I'm sorry for intruding, Professors, and I couldn't help but overhear – if I may say so, Professor Lockhart, I think your idea sounds excellent."
Draco didn't think it was possible, but Professor Lockhart's smile gets even brighter. "Do you, indeed!"
"Oh, yes," Draco says, and it takes every trick in his book to keep his face earnest. "I would love to see you duel Professor Snape. I could learn so much."
Professor Lockhart spins on one of his shiny buckled shoes back towards Professor Snape. "You see, Severus?" he says knowingly. "That's your star pupil urging you to do it!"
"Oh, yes, Professor, do."
"That's enough, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Snape says, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"I shan't take no for an answer!" Professor Lockhart decides flippantly. "I'll speak to the headmaster about arranging the first meeting of the Duelling Club as soon as possible, and I expect you to be there, Severus! With bells on!"
He glides down the aisle leading to the door, but stops beside Draco with a mischievous smile.
"Play your cards right, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Lockhart says, "and I may give you some personal attention in imparting the art of duelling!"
Draco manages not to laugh, somehow. He even manages some reverence when he answers, "I would be honored."
Professor Lockhart chuckles and claps Draco on the shoulder. "Such a charming young man!" he says, gliding past and out of the classroom. It is not until Draco hears the telltale click that he lets himself collapse into fits of laughter.
"Thank you so very much," Professor Snape says wearily. "Now I have to spend even more time with the blowhard."
"He wants to duel you!" Draco laughs. "You! Professor, you've got to do it – I have to see—!"
"It seems I hardly have a choice now," he grumbles, standing and heading back towards his office. Draco follows behind, still laughing.
"Did I tell you that he loosed a herd of pixies in class the other day?" Draco says. "Must have been a hundred of them; thank Merlin I was able to—"
Draco stops quite abruptly when Professor Snape opens up the drawer of his office desk and produces a familiar book bound with green leather. Draco's smile falters.
"Any luck?" he asks, looking at him.
"None whatsoever," Professor Snape answers, setting it down. "You're right that it's saturated with ambient Dark Magic, but I've checked it over a thousand times and in a thousand ways – there's no hex, curse, or jinx. It's saturated with Dark Magic but there doesn't appear to be any Dark Magic actually attached to it. It seems to me to be nothing more than an unused diary. Perhaps it's absorbed some Dark Magic from proximity to more sinister artifacts."
Draco frowns and picks it up. The green leather is smooth and cool underneath his fingertips, and the acrid scent of Dark Magic is almost unbearably thick.
"It just doesn't seem like it can be a coincidence," Draco says, flipping through it. The pages are yellowing and frayed, but blank. "What are the odds that my father drops a book like this into the arms of an unsuspecting girl by accident, so soon after he's been in contact with the Dark Lord?"
"Stranger things have happened," Professor Snape remarks. "Ceylon or Assam?"
"Assam," Draco answers without thinking, and Professor Snape heads to the hearth to fill the kettle. "I'm going to look into it a bit more. Not that I don't trust your assuredly more learned opinion on the Dark Arts, but I just…"
Professor Snape shrugs. "As in all things, be cautious," he says. "Though I really don't think there's all that much to worry about. Still, I've been wrong before."
Draco doesn't answer. He's thumbing through the pages slowly, frowning, wondering, lost in thoughts of Dark Magic and blank diaries. Surely, he thinks, surely there's more to it than that.