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Chapter Seven: The Dueling Club

Soon, the news that Colin Creevey was the monster's next victim, spread throughout the school along with the rumors and suspicion that went along with it. Students began stocking up on talismans, amulets, and other protective devices, for fear of being attacked. Neville was among those people and he carried around a smelly green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail.

"But Neville, you're not a Muggleborn," I reminded him as I nibbled on some toast in the Great Hall, "You're a Pureblood, remember? So you're likely to not be attacked." Though if Malfoy really was the Heir, then, I wouldn't put it past him to go after Neville too.

"They went for Filch first," Neville said, fear all over his round face. "And everyone knows I'm almost a Squib."

"You are not," I said, trying to cheer him up. "Don't listen to the others."

December arrived, bringing chilly air with it and Professor McGonagall was collecting a list of names of the students staying at Hogwarts over the holidays. We found out that Malfoy was staying for the holidays, which sounded very suspicious. We decided it would be a good time to get him to confess.

Unfortunately, our potion was still missing some major ingredients such as the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin. It was clear, the only place we would be able to find them were Snape's private stores.

"What we need," Hermione said, briskly as our next potion's lesson loomed in the near future, "is a diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need."

Harry and Ron looked very nervous at that thought.

"I think Jamie and I better do the actual stealing," Hermione continued in a straight-forward tone. "You two will be expelled if you get into any more trouble, and Jamie and I have got a clean record. So all you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so."

Harry smiled weakly, clearly far from excited about that.

"It shouldn't be too hard to manage that," I said, "especially since Snape hates you. But I'll ask Fred, George, and Mel for some tips on how to get on Snape's nerves enough to distract him."

So I found the twins and Mel in the common room and they were more than happy to share their 'wisdom.'

"How about a nice explosion?" Fred suggested, pulling out some Fillibuster Fireworks from his bag.

"You carry those around with you?" I asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"You never know when you're going to need them," Mel shrugged, as if it were obvious.

"Sometimes they just happen to go off in the middle of class," George said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "If you launch it right, it could potentially land in someone's cauldron and whatever's inside will hopefully make a huge mess all over the place. Just…make sure not to stand too close when the explosion happens."

"Got it," I said as I carefully took them from George's hands.

"Use them wisely," Fred said, patting my head with a grin.

"Will do," I muttered as I stuffed them into my bag and went to find Harry.

The Potions lesson was its usual one, with Snape criticizing the Gryffindors' work and praised the Slytherins'. Malfoy kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Harry and Ron, who ignored it. Retaliation would only get them detention.

I kept my eyes on my potion, waiting for Harry to take action. Finally, there was a sputtering and fizzing noise and I turned in time to watch the firework fly up in the air and land right in Goyle's cauldron, which exploded and showered everyone. Luckily, Hermione and I avoided being hit by the Swelling Solution and took our chance to slip silently into Snape's office. Hermione opened the door to Snape's private stores and while she grabbed the bicorn horn, I collected the boomslang skin. We put them in bags and hid them under our robes as we slipped quietly back to our seats. There was a long line of people at Snape's desk as he gave them a potion to stop the swelling. Malfoy had been hit too, his nose swelling to the size of a small melon.

When everyone was back to normal, Snape went over to Goyle's cauldron and scooped out the remains of the firework. The room was silent and still.

"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, "I shall make sure that person is expelled." He looked straight at Harry as he spoke, who tried to look puzzled.

"He knew it was me," Harry told us as we raced back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "I could tell."

Hermione and I threw the new ingredients we had stolen into the cauldron and Hermione stirred it feverishly.

"Snape can't prove it was you," Ron said, reassuringly to Harry. "What can he do?"

"Knowing Snape, something foul," Harry said.

"It'll be ready in two weeks," she said cheerfully.

"Perfect," I said, "just in time for the holidays. I can't wait to see the look on Malfoy's face when we catch him for good. I hope he's expelled."

Hermione stopped stirring and the potion frothed and bubbled.

The following week, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Klaus, and I were walking across the entrance hall when we noticed a small crowd had formed around the notice board where a sign had just been placed.

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

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" Ron said, but seemed interested in the sign as well.

"Could be useful," he added to us as we entered the Great Hall for dinner. "Shall we go?"

"Definitely," I said, "I'm hoping I'll be able to use one of the spells on Malfoy eventually."

Harry, Hermione, and Klaus were interested in going too, so when eight o'clock arrived, we made our way back to the Great Hall. The tables had all disappeared and there was a golden stage against one wall. The enchanted ceiling was velvety black and it seemed like the majority of the school was here, holding their wands and looking excited.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Hermione said as we moved into the crowd.

"I heard Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young," Klaus said, "maybe it'll be him."

"Well, whoever it is," I said, "I'm sure it should be fun."

"As long as it's not—" Harry began, but he groaned. I looked up as Lockhart walked onto the stage along with Snape.

Lockhart waved his arm and everyone settled down as he called "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart said, flashing one of his wide, shiny smiles. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry – you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered.

Snape's upper lip curled menacingly while Lockhart just stood there smiling away. Lockhart and Snape faced each other and bowed, though Lockhart was far more dramatic with his. They raised their wands as though they were brandishing swords.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart explained. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry murmured as Snape gritted his teeth.

"One - two - three -"

They swiftly swung their wands over their heads, aiming them at each other, then, Snape cried, "Expelliarmus!" With a flash of scarlet light, Lockhart was knocked off his feet and flew backward, smashing into the wall. He sank down into a sprawl on the floor.

I could hear cheers coming from the Slytherins, especially Malfoy. Hermione was on her tiptoes, watching anxiously. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.

"Who cares?" Harry, Ron, and I said together.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Klaus said.

Lockhart got onto his feet, a little shakily, with his hair standing on end.

"Well, there you have it!" he said, as he regained his balance. "That was a Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown - yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy - however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see . . ."

Snape looked like he could kill Lockhart, who seemed to notice, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me—"

Harry and Ron immediately jumped to work together. And I felt awkward that there were only three of us left for pairing, but Snape made things more difficult when he reached us.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter -"

Harry had moved next to Hermione and I took Klaus' hand.

"I don't think so," Snape said, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger - you can partner Miss Bulstrode. Oh, and you, Miss Murray can partner Miss Parkinson. Mr. Baudelaire, you can partner with Mr. Zabini."

Malfoy came over with his usual strut, smirking as he reached Harry. I couldn't wait to see Harry wipe that smirk off his face. Another Slytherin came over too, Bulstrode, who was about the same size as Goyle. Hermione was looking from Bulstrode to me, wearily and I gave her an apologetic look.

Pansy Parkinson had made her way over wearing the typical Slytherin sneer on her pug face while a Slytherin boy, named Zabini went to stand next to Klaus.

"Face your partners!" Lockhart called. "And bow!"

I faced Pansy with a grimace and we both bowed.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents - only to disarm them - we don't want any accidents - one ... two ... three—"

Before I could even utter a spell, a jet of purple shot from Pansy's wand and I was knocked back. From the floor, I managed, "Locomotor Mortis!"

Her legs bound together immediately, and she fell onto the ground too, while I got to my feet.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted in alarm.

I ignored him and thinking of our Polyjuice Potion, I sent a jinx her way, which instantly made bits of her dark hair fall out and onto the floor around her.

She gasped, struggling to stand. "My hair!"

Another spell shot out from her wand and I felt a strange sensation in my nose, before blood began to drip from it. I pinched it to try to stop the bleeding, but it kept going.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, finally resolving to practice the new spell and Pansy's wand flew out of her grasp. I bent down and grabbed a chunk of her greasy hair, sticking it in my robe's pocket for later.

Still clutching my bloody nose, I took a look around as Lockhart continued to shout for people to stop. Ron had knocked out Seamus Finnigan and was trying to get him to wake up, his face ashen white. Klaus, whose glasses had already shattered, had managed to disarm Zabini and put him in a full-body bind. And Millicent Bulstrode currently had Hermione in the headlock, their wands lying forgotten on the floor.

I moved towards them and cast a spell to knock Millicent back, away from Hermione.

"Thanks," she said, picking up her wand. "Oh, you have a bloody nose. Let me fix that." She did a little swish with her wand and the blood stopped. Then, we helped Klaus find his broken glasses and Hermione repaired them.

"That's better," he said, blinking behind his round glasses and then, he saw Zabini on the ground. "Oh, I didn't realize I actually hit him."

"Are you all right?" Harry asked, who had just ended his duel with Malfoy.

"We're fine," I said, "but Lockhart looks a little nervous. I guess he wasn't expecting all of this chaos."

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," Lockhart said, watching everyone nervously. "Let's have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you—"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape said, as he glided over. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face went pinker. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing to Harry and Malfoy to step onto the stage.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."

He raised his wand, and did a little wiggle movement, and then, dropped it. Snape smirked while Lockhart hastily picked it back up, saying, "Whoops—my wand is a little overexcited—"

Snape slid close to Malfoy, bending down to whisper in his ear. Malfoy's mouth curled into a grin while Harry glanced nervously up at Lockhart. "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"

"Scared?" Malfoy muttered.

"You wish," Harry said through his teeth.

Lockhart patted Harry on his shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"

"What, drop my wand?"

Lockhart clearly wasn't listening.

"Three - two - one - go!" he shouted.

Malfoy raised his wand instantly, yelling, "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded and a long, black snake burst from it, falling with a loud thud onto the stage between them. The snake raised itself, about to strike. Several students screamed and backed away, including Hermione. Klaus and I remained where we were, having experience with snakes since we lived with Uncle Monty.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said, clearly taking pleasure at the sight of Harry standing there motionless, staring at the snake. "I'll get rid of it..."

"Allow me!" Lockhart shouted. But when he shot a spell at the snake, it flew ten feet into the air and fell back down on the floor with an enormous smack. The snake, now furious, slithered straight towards Justin Finch-Fletchley. Raising itself with its fangs exposed, the snake was prepared to attack.

Just before the snake could do anything, Harry walked slowly towards the snake and opened his mouth, but instead of actual words…Harry began to hiss as if he were talking to the snake. After a moment, the snake slumped to the floor, rigid, with its eyes on Harry.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin Finch-Fletchley shouted, angrily and looking more fearful, ran out of the hall.

Snape stepped forward and made the snake vanish with just a wave of his wand. He was looking at Harry, shrewdly. I glanced at Klaus who looked just as confused as I was.

Hermione moved towards Harry and we followed along. Ron had already reached Harry, saying "Come on," in Harry's ear. "Move - come on -"

He guided Harry out of the hall, Hermione, Klaus, and I hurrying alongside them. Students moved out of the way as we passed, looking frightened. We dragged Harry all the way to the common room, Klaus included, and pushed him into an armchair before any of us spoke.

"Can someone please explain what just happened?" I said, "Why were you hissing at that snake, Harry?"

"He's—you're a Parselmouth," Ron said, though it didn't exactly clear up my confusion, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a what?" Harry said.

"A Parselmouth!" Ron cried. "You can talk to snakes!"

"I know," Harry said.

"You know?" I said, in surprise. "How long have you known this?"

"Yes, I know," Harry said, "Well, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once – long story – but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to—that was before I knew I was a wizard—"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.

"So?" Harry said. "I bet loads of people here can do it."

"Well, we knew a snake that was very intelligent compared to most snakes," Klaus said, "But even so, we never actually spoke to him."

"Not many other people can do that," Ron said with a nod. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

"What's bad?" Harry said. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin—"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?" I said.

"What d'you mean? You were there—you heard me—"

"You were speaking Parseltongue," Ron said. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything - no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something—it was creepy, you know—"

Harry's mouth fell open. "I spoke a different language? But – I didn't realize – how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"

Ron shook his head.

"D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" Harry said. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"

"It matters," Hermione said, quietly, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."

Harry gaped.

"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something—"

"But I'm not," Harry said, sounding panicked.

"That might be hard to prove to them," I pointed out.

"Besides," Klaus said, "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

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