Dark Lord Potter
Chapter 21
The Dueling Club
The month of November passed by quickly for Harry, Draco, and Tonks. For the first time Harry could remember, he had a lot of free time while at Hogwarts. Besides no longer having private lessons with McGonagall, Marcus Flint had decided to actually focus on passing his NEWTs to avoid a 9th year at Hogwarts. Because of that and the fact that Slytherin didn't play another Quidditch game till after Christmas break, Flint reduced the practice schedule to once per week.
Six days after Harry's argument and falling out with McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher had asked him to stay after class and spoken to him about restarting his private lessons.
::Flashback::
"Please take a seat, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said.
Harry simply nodded and sat in an open chair.
"I wanted to speak to you and see if you had any desire to restart our private lessons," McGonagall said shortly.
Harry was caught off guard by the statement. He had been sure that she wanted to scold him for flaunting his abilities in class. Since their argument, Harry hadn't brought any of his advanced Transfiguration books to read in class just in case. Needless to say, the only thing that took his mind off how bored he was during Transfiguration was showing off his knowledge and practical abilities.
"Well, to tell you the truth, ma'am, I have not thought about it. I mean, as much as I appreciated the private lessons, I like what I'm doing now," Harry said honestly.
"Mr. Potter, I thought you had a desire to get a Mastery while you were still in school? Surely you realize that you'll be putting that in jeopardy," McGonagall said.
"I don't believe I am, ma'am. I believe I'll be able to do fine by myself. After all, I can do practically any spell correctly after only a few tries," Harry said arrogantly.
McGonagall was of course shocked at the boy's blunt answer. "Mr. Potter, I can assure you even with your natural gift for the subject, you need a mentor to guide you and show you what to do," she said.
"Really. Like Dumbledore was your mentor," Harry said sarcastically.
"That's Professor Dumbledore or Headmaster to you, Mr. Potter. You will treat your teachers with respect," McGonagall said shortly.
Harry instinctively narrowed his eyes. "No offence, ma'am, but the Headmaster has done very little to earn my respect. I noticed the day after the paper came out that you had a problem with what I said about the Headmaster. I don't believe we'll be able to work together because of your resentment of my opinions about the man. Good day," Harry said as he got up and left a stunned Minerva McGonagall sitting in her office.
::End Flashback::
Harry was very glad that Professor Flitwick didn't seem to be upset about the newspaper articles. They spent most of their first private lesson discussing it, and what had happened in Professor McGonagall's class, but Flitwick was nothing but supportive as he listened to what Harry had to say. After that, though, they never brought it up again and went back to practicing Charms.
Harry continued to improve at animation and Flitwick began to teach him how to control larger complex objects. So far though, the largest object Harry had animated was Flitwick's desk, which he made act like a horse and trot around the classroom with Flitwick riding it. While they advanced in their animation study, Flitwick also taught him some household charms to prepare food. Harry of course found the spell to make knives slice, mince, and dice by themselves very interesting. While he was learning it, he fantasized about tweaking the spell so that they would instead attack the Dursleys. Along with the basic household charms, Flitwick showed him the spell to animate pictures from a camera, taught him the spell to animate objects while transfiguring them, and the theory behind making portraits talk and have personalities.
Besides Flitwick's private lessons, Harry had a ton of time to himself. He wasn't letting it go to waste, though. After his history class on Wednesday, he dedicated the rest of the day to practicing Occlumency. With no Quidditch practice to interfere, Harry was able to practice for a good nine or ten hours, and that was if he even bothered attending History. Combined with the time Flitwick gave him during class and after each private session, Harry was advancing quicker than even Salazar ever thought possible. At the beginning of December, Harry had 21 mental walls in place. In fact, Harry was starting to find that the hardest part of Occlumency was thinking of different types of walls to protect his mind. His last wall had taken on the image of the Berlin Wall, complete with graffiti that said 'Stay out, Dumbledore!'
During the two hour sessions that Harry would have had with McGonagall, Harry would go into an unused and empty classroom in the Dungeons and practice Transfiguration. After a few powerful Locking and Silencing Charms on the door, Harry would take out his copies of Defensive Transfiguration and The Big Book of Transfiguration. After he had all his books out, he would call Andi and ask for whatever objects he would need to transfigure.
Harry was advancing quicker than even he ever thought possible. In one month, he had managed to complete all the third year and almost half of the fourth year practical book lessons. He scoffed when he remembered how McGonagall had said he'd barely be able to finish fourth year by the end of the year.
Along with the basic school curriculum though, Harry also worked on controlling transfigured objects in a duel. The Big Book of Transfiguration described that the easiest creatures to conjure during a duel were dogs, cats, birds, or snakes. Harry, of course, found the counter curses to dispel all the creatures, as well as several less known spells that would turn the creature into a more frightening version to be used by the person who transfigured it. The easiest of these spells were turning a snake conjured by the spell Serpensortia into a larger, more powerful snake by saying Engorgio Transfigo Serpensortia followed by the type of snake you wished it to turn into. The most mentally challenging of these spells was the spell Engorgio Transfigo Avis. Because the Avis spell sent out a large group of birds, the transfiguration was more difficult, as one had to concentrate on turning the entire flock of birds into a single larger creature.
Because of Flint's decision to reduce Quidditch practice, Draco also had a lot more free time on his hands. Harry and Draco decided, along with Tonks, Blaise, and Ginny, to spend their extra time each weekend working on more advanced offensive and defensive spells.
Draco had written home to his father asking for any books that might have a list of spells in them that they would be able to perform, regardless of whether it was in the restricted section. Lucius hadn't disappointed and provided them with the titles of three books, one in the restricted section and two in the main library, as good books to start learning.
Once Harry memorized the titles, he shifted into his shadow form after the library had closed and nicked the book from the restricted section as well as those from the main library. When Draco, Tonks, Ginny, and Blaise asked why he had stolen the two books that he could have just checked out, Harry simply answered that he didn't want Dumbledore knowing what he was up too. Soon Draco, Tonks, Harry, Blaise, and Ginny were often seen with their noses buried in the books Advanced Jinxes, Cursing your Enemies, and Spells that Hurt. Of course, Harry had charmed the covers, so to anyone else they appeared to be simple school books.
The last week of November, the five friends felt that they had learned enough to begin practicing against each other. So, on Saturday and Sunday mornings, they decided to get up early before breakfast and go to a very large unused lecture room in the Dungeons. They used only the spells they knew the counter-curses to, but since the five of them had read different sections of the three books, they soon found themselves constantly facing spells they were unfamiliar with.
Harry had initially started to read the book Cursing your Enemies; however, when Flitwick let it slip that most curses and hexes were based on charms, Harry abandoned the book for Spells that Hurt, which was the most advanced book from the restricted section. Harry took a great deal of pride in being the only one who could really do the more advanced curses and counter curses. His reading of Defensive Transfiguration and The Big Book of Transfiguration also provided Harry with a lot more knowledge than the other duelists had. Because of that, Harry was the hardest duelist to strategize against. He could summon snakes or birds, overwhelm you with pain curses, or charm inanimate objects to attack you. All the while defending himself from basic jinxes and spells using simple transfigurations or the Protego shield.
Tonks was the second best duelist of the group. Her extra year of schooling allowed her to practice many of the reasonably advanced Jinxes and Hexes the two standard library books contained. Next to Harry, she probably had the second largest amount of spells available to use, and since her spells didn't require a lot of energy and focus, her strategy was to simply overwhelm her opponent through quick casting and keeping them on the defensive.
Unlike Tonks, Draco probably had the smallest spell selection. He, like Harry, had spent most of his time reading the book Spells that Hurt; however, he didn't have the advanced knowledge or natural aptitude for charms that Harry did. So Draco focused on the simple pain spells at the beginning of the book and tried to perfect them. His strategy in the duels was fairly simple. Hit an opponent with a pain spell, cause them to lose focus, and then follow with a stunner. As crude as his strategy seemed, it worked. While Draco never beat Harry and struggled against Tonks and Blaise, he was the duelist everyone liked facing the least, since they knew that, win or lose, they were going to be hurting afterwards.
Blaise was the most strategic of the lot, as well as the most rounded. He read passages from all three books, so he was well versed in curses, jinxes, hexes, and some mild pain spells. He would often come up with very unusual combinations to attack with, that left his opponent constantly on edge. Blaise's only problem was that once his strategy was interrupted or thrown off, he wasn't the most agile and was easily stunned.
Ginny was the weakest duelist, and was only able to do spells out of the book Advanced Jinxes; however, she quickly proved that she was capable when she beat Draco by using a spell known as the Bat Bogey Hex. The spell caused a person's bogeys to turn into bat wings, which tore at the victim's face until they surrendered. When Harry, Draco, Tonks, and Blaise had asked where she found the hex as it wasn't in the book, Ginny said that her older brother Bill wrote her and gave her the spell when he found out about how Ron, Percy, and the Twins were treating her.
While Harry, Draco, Blaise, and Tonks all gave sympathetic smiles to Ginny, inside they were seething. After Ginny's brothers found her being tutored by Draco in Potions, they had started to constantly accuse her of family disloyalty. Ginny, of course, put on a strong face and told them to bugger off, but Tonks had told Draco, Harry, and Blaise that their accusations really did hurt her. Just some of what Ginny had to put up with on a daily basis was pranks from the twins, Ron's constant belligerent tongue, and Percy wanting nothing to do with her. On top of all of that, her mother wrote her and while she was supportive and offered words of encouragement, she subtly hinted that her father was disappointed about her being placed into Slytherin.
The conflict between Ginny and her brothers reached an all time high on the seventeenth of November, when Ron said loudly that he didn't consider Ginny a Weasley - in the middle of dinner in the Great Hall. This, of course, resulted in Ginny breaking into tears and running out of the room. Harry was sure that the teachers would have given Ron detention for a month had not Draco, Blaise, Harry, and Tonks all cursed him in front of everyone. Much to their shock, though, Professor Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore decided only to take away five points from each of them. Another shock came when Draco went to comfort the youngest Weasley when they found her crying in a secluded corner of the Slytherin common room. Draco never mentioned what he said to her, but whatever it was cheered Ginny up immensely, as well as strengthened her resolve not only against her brothers, but also against her father, who had yet to write her.
Ginny wasn't the only person with problems, though. Harry and Dumbledore's non-existent relationship seemed to be the only thing the press had written about in the last month. Apparently, someone let it slip that McGonagall wasn't giving Harry private lessons anymore, and slowly a school wide rumor that Harry and McGonagall were arguing became front page news. According to the Daily Prophet, McGonagall had chosen to side with her old mentor over the bright young hero of the wizarding world. Harry actually partially agreed with that, but never told anyone, he didn't need to go confirming the Daily Prophet's ridiculous rumors.
After the story about the falling out with McGonagall, the Prophet ran a series of stories describing how Dumbledore was stopping Harry from transferring to Beauxbatons in France. Harry actually laughed out loud when he saw the front page that day. McGonagall though looked quite nervous as if she wasn't sure if it were true or not.
Dumbledore, for his part, never seemed to notice the bad publicity he received, but kept his distance from Harry. Truth to be told, the two hadn't spoken since Halloween, but if you believed the Prophet, they were constantly arguing and at each other's throat.
Harry actually was wishing that something would take the student population's mind off a non-existent relationship between Harry and Dumbledore. Everyday, he was pestered by Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs asking what his problem with Dumbledore was.
Unfortunately, the only thing that students were even briefly interested in besides Harry and Dumbledore's apparent feud was the Chamber of Secrets. Since there hadn't been any more petrified pets or cryptic messages, everyone had started to chalk it up to a very elaborate prank. Several people even suggested that it was the Weasley twins who did it. Harry laughed when he heard that rumor. He pointed out that the twins didn't have enough brain cells to stump Dumbledore or to have studied enough about Hogwarts to find out about the Chamber of Secrets.
Harry, though, had bigger problems than a non-existent relationship with his headmaster. The bigger problem's name was Gilderoy Lockhart. After Harry blasted him in the paper as the worst teacher he'd ever had, the man had made it his personal mission in life to make Harry read every single passage from his books in front of the class. Lockhart apparently thought if Harry read about all his supposed deeds over and over again, he would start to believe them. For Harry, it was pure agonizing torture. When Harry went to Professor Snape to complain, Snape just told him in a shockingly sympathetic tone that a professor could ask whoever he wanted to read during class.
Transfiguration was another class that Harry wasn't enjoying. Where once he used to be able to read ahead in his books, he was now forced to take notes during the class in order to stay awake. Of course, Harry got back at McGonagall by raising his hand to just about every question and giving such a detailed answer that his year mates were left scratching their heads. Because McGonagall was a fair teacher, she had to award him at least twenty points for each of his thorough answers. It had become a running joke in Slytherin to not raise your hand even when you knew an answer in Transfiguration. Even if McGonagall only called on Harry four times a class, that was still eighty points to the twenty or thirty they would have otherwise earned.
Harry practically never attended History of Magic anymore, which made his Acceptable in the class even more impressive. He told Professor Binns that his Goblin financial advisor and him were only able to meet on Wednesdays during history class, but if he ever didn't have a meeting he would try to attend. The entire class was shocked when Binns seemingly waved off the excuse and told him that it was fine as long as he got his work in on time.
Charms was Harry's favorite class as he either got to show off advanced animation with Flitwick, practice Occlumency, or read ahead in his book on Advanced Charms Theory. On the practical days, Harry had to assist anyone having trouble. Since the Slytherins had Charms with the Ravenclaws, Harry rarely had to assist them. Every now and then, he would try to strike up a conversation with Su Li, but the girl didn't ever have anything to say.
Astronomy was still a fun class, although Harry rarely put forth much effort in it. In fact, Astronomy was the only class where Harry's grade started to slip. He still had an Outstanding, but even Sinistra told him that she thought he could be doing better. Once Harry told a few simple lies about how he was annoyed with all the stuff the paper was saying about him, Sinistra smiled and told him that she understood it was an annoying problem to deal with.
Harry was actually pleased that he seemed to be doing well in Potions this year without as much help from Draco. While he still appreciated all the help Draco gave him during the practical lessons, Harry found that he was starting to understand the theory of Potions better. His grades on essays were now consistently an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding. Even Snape had noticed and told him that his written work showed that he was at lease passably literate.
Herbology was another subject Harry felt he was doing a lot better in this year, as opposed to last year. With Neville as his partner, Harry couldn't help but learn a fair bit about the subject. While he could never hold a candle to Neville as far as Herbology went, he would get an O and probably end up being third or fourth in the school.
December 9th Great Hall, Hogwarts
"Hey," Harry said as he sat down for lunch.
"So, did you hear?" Tonks asked.
"Did I hear what?" Harry asked.
"Harry, you know you should check the notice board before you leave the common room," Draco said as he handed Harry a flyer.
Harry took the flyer and looked at it. "So what? We have our own dueling club, why do we need to go to this one, too?" he asked.
"Harry, it could be useful to hear what other people have to say. We might even pick up a few new spells," Ginny pointed out.
"Maybe. Who's running it?" Harry asked.
"Lockhart," Draco said in annoyance.
Harry choked on his pumpkin juice. "Lockhart. You want to go to a dueling club being run by that phony? Have you all lost your mind?" Harry asked.
"Well, if you had bothered to read the entire flyer, you would have seen that Professor Snape is his assistant," Tonks said with a smirk.
"Snape is Lockhart's assistant. Are you kidding me? Snape won two bloody dueling championships! Why would he be the assistant of that piece of dragon dung?" Harry asked in shock.
"Dunno, but it says here they will have several practice duels to demonstrate proper technique to people," Draco said as a smile crept across his face.
It took Harry a moment to put what Draco had said together. "Wait…wait just a minute. Snape is going to duel Lockhart?" Harry said with glee.
When everyone nodded their heads, Harry burst out laughing. "Then yes, yes we are going. I can't wait! When is it?" Harry asked.
"Saturday; we'll have to put off our dueling practice that day. I want to be in top form to curse the twins," Tonks said, smiling.
Harry just smiled back at Tonks. "Oh yeah. Do you think that Snape will let us duel with all the spells we know? I would love to introduce Ron to some of the curses I don't use on you guys," Harry said maliciously.
"No Harry, Ron is mine. I've actually already spoken to Professor Snape, and he promised to let me duel him in front of the entire school. He didn't want to at first, but when I demonstrated several of the spells I knew already, he was all too willing to let me embarrass my older brother. After all, an ickle first year shouldn't be able to beat someone older than them," Ginny said menacingly.
"Ah ok, well, I guess I'll take whichever twin you don't get, Tonks. Who are you all looking forward to dueling?" Harry asked.
"Thomas. I'm going to put the Mudblood in the Hospital Wing so that I don't have to tutor him on Sunday," Draco said with a feral grin.
"Granger," Blaise said simply.
"Really? I thought you didn't have a positive or negative opinion about Granger, Blaise? You know, the legendary Zabini neutrality," Harry pointed out.
"Oh, that hasn't changed. I just want to duel someone who can think like myself, and she has a sharp mind. I think it'll be a challenge," Blaise said.
Harry just nodded his head at that.
"Harry, don't you have tutoring soon?" Tonks asked, looking at her watch.
Harry moaned. "Why did you have to remind me? I swear I'm going to kill Creevey with my bare hands," Harry said as he quickly ate the rest of his food, said goodbye, and made his way to the library.
Once inside the library, Harry spotted the annoying first year Gryffindor Mudblood sitting at a table by himself. When Harry sat down, Creevey had his usual stupid grin on his face.
"Hiya, Harry. So, what do you want to start with today? I mean, I know we are suppose to be making objects fly and I'm not that great at it, so I thought we'd start there, but you're the tutor, I guess. So what do you think?" Colin asked quickly.
"Creevey, read the theory behind making an object fly for the first twenty minutes," Harry said icily.
"I already read that while I waited for yo…," Colin said.
"Then read it again," Harry snapped.
"Er…okay, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Make sure I know it. You're the best tutor, Harry," Colin said with a grin that made Harry want to vomit.
While Creevey was reading, Harry took out his diary on the Shadow Mage and began yet another attempt to try to figure out how to summon a Lethifold. He had started to write out as much of the theory behind summoning the creatures as he could before Le Roché went off on some bizarre tangent. While he didn't have a lot of information on the theory, it was far more concise and easier to read than Le Roché's journal.
Exactly twenty minutes later, Creevey put his book down and said, "Okay, so now what do you want to do?"
Harry checked his watch, closed the book on Shadow Mages, and stowed it in his bag. "Alright, Creevey, take out your wand and say 'Volo'," Harry commanded.
Colin excitedly took out his wand and quickly said the incantation.
Harry could only roll his eyes when the feather didn't even budge. "Watch my wand movement, Creevey," Harry said as he demonstrated the subtle flick and twist of his wrist.
Colin nodded his head and tried again, and again, and again, and again. After nearly thirty minutes, Harry had corrected his wand movement seven times, his pronunciation eight times, and yet the first year still couldn't do the spell. The feather hadn't so much as budged in a half an hour. Putting his fingers to his temple, Harry was doing his best to fight off a headache. He wasn't surprised at the boy's pathetic spell work, it did take him to the middle of November to do the Levitation charm after all. "Okay, Creevey, let's call it quits for today. I want you to work on this in the common room tonight. If you are having any problems, ask Granger for help," Harry said.
"But we still have another hour," Colin said.
"I know, but I need to go to Madam Pomfrey for a headache potion," Harry said.
"Oh, okay. Hope you feel better soon, Harry," Colin said as he gathered his stuff and quickly left the library.
When Creevey was officially out of earshot, Harry mumbled, "feeling better already." His headache, though, wasn't going away as fast as Creevey, so after he slowly packed up his books, he left the library and decided to actually go get that headache potion. Not only would it solidify his alibi if Flitwick asked, but he could use one.
He slowly walked up several flights of stairs, and made his way to the Hospital Wing.
"Hello, Madam Pomfrey?" Harry called out.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. What can I do for you?" the matron asked, stepping out of her office.
"Headache potion, ma'am," Harry said.
"Of course, here you are, dear," Madam Pomfrey said, handing him a blue vial.
Harry quickly downed the contents and his head started to feel instantly better. "Thank you, ma'am, I needed that," Harry said.
"Yes, well, I'm glad I haven't seen as much of you this year as I did last year, Mr. Potter. Do try to only stop by for headaches," Madam Pomfrey said.
"I'll do my best, ma'am." Harry said with a smirk.
"Well, that's good, now is their anything else?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"No, that's all. Thank you again," Harry said as he left the Hospital Wing.
Since he was still a little hungry from his abrupt lunch, Harry decided to check out the kitchens and grab some food. He could always ask Andi to bring him anything, but he hadn't been back to the kitchens this year.
As Harry walked down a staircase to the second floor, he wasn't looking where he was going and he bumped into somebody on the landing. "Sorry," Harry muttered before he looked up. As soon as he saw who he bumped into, though, his blood ran cold. Standing on the landing with his camera in front of his face was a completely petrified Colin Creevey.
"Oh Merlin!" Harry shouted in shock.
As Harry inched closer to get a better look at the boy, Harry saw that just like Filtch's cat, he was frozen in a state of fear. His tense shoulders and the look of absolute terror on the boy's face behind his camera proved that. Oh Merlin, I've got to get Madam Pomfrey, I've got to do something! No bugger that, I can't be found at the scene of another petrifaction, I need to get out of here now! Let someone else find the stupid Mudblood.
Just as Harry was about to turn away from the frozen boy, a shrill scream came from the stairs above him. He turned to look and saw Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown staring at him in horror. Just great, the two biggest gossips in the entire school. "You two stay with Creevey, I'm going to go get Dumbledore," Harry barked, but the two girls just screamed and ran away from him in terror.
"Great, now I need to get a teacher," Harry muttered as he ascended the staircase, quickly raced down the corridor, and entered the infirmary. "Madam Pomfrey!" Harry shouted quickly.
"What is it now, Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked, coming back out of her office.
"There's been another petrifaction. I found Colin Creevey frozen on the landing between the second and third floor," Harry said quickly.
Harry watched as the matron's face quickly paled and her eyes widened. "Mr. Potter, is this a joke?" she asked quickly.
"No, ma'am. I figured you were the closest teacher, so I came back to get you," Harry said.
"Very well, let's go. I want you to tell me everything," Madam Pomfrey said as she grabbed her wand and some potions.
"Well, I was just heading down to get some food when I bumped into somebody. I said sorry and then when no one spoke in return, I looked up. Creevey was just frozen in the middle of the stairs with his camera out," Harry told her as they walked down the corridor. When they turned the corner to go down the stairs, though, practically every Gryffindor was there.
"There he is, expel him!" the voice of Ron Weasley yelled.
"Mr. Weasley, you will be quiet!" The sharp voice of Minerva McGonagall cut through the crowd, silencing everyone quickly. "Mr. Potter. Ah, Poppy, thank Merlin you heard."
"Mr. Potter just came and got me, Minerva, I understand Mr. Creevey has been petrified," Madam Pomfrey said as she tried to force her way down the stairs and past all the angry looking Gryffindors.
"Yes, I've sent for the headmaster, he should be here in a moment," McGonagall said.
"I am already here, Professor McGonagall," the calm voice of Albus Dumbledore echoed up the stairs.
Everyone, even Harry, turned to look as the aged old professor walked up the staircase with Professor Snape in tow. "I was in a meeting with Severus when we got your message. Poppy, is there any difference between this and Argus' cat?"
Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Creevey a few times before stopping. "No, Professor. It's exactly the same," she said.
"How very curious. Who found him?" Dumbledore asked.
"That bloody Dark Wizard right there! Lavender and Pavarti said they caught him in the act of petrifying him," Ron shouted as the Gryffindors started to scream for Harry's expulsion.
Harry for his part knew that he wouldn't be getting expelled; he could always make a wizard's oath to prove he didn't do it. However, one didn't get the chance to ridicule the entire Gryffindor House very often. "As always, you Gryffindors are completely idiotic. I didn't petrify Creevey, I just found him…," Harry said.
"A likely story. Tell me, why did you run away from the scene of the crime, then?" Lavender barked.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I told you two to stay with him while I went and got a teacher? Of course, Gryffindor nerve being what it is, you and your other idiot friend ran off. Gryffindor courage at its best, I'd say," Harry said, earning a slight laugh from Snape, a reproachful look from Dumbledore and McGonagall, and a glare from every Gryffindor present.
"Why would they stick around so you could petrify them as well?" Seamus Finnegan yelled.
"Oh yes, Finnegan. In my second year at Hogwarts, I discovered a means of petrifaction the likes of which the headmaster has never seen before. That's such a likely possibility," Harry said sarcastically.
"Harry, why don't you just tell us what happened?" Dumbledore asked.
"Sure. As I told Madam Pomfrey, I was heading down to grab some food…," Harry said.
"He's lying! Everyone knows there are quicker ways to the Great Hall!" a sixth year Gryffindor shouted.
"Not the Great Hall, you idiot. I was going to the kitchens," Harry barked, causing the Gryffindors to all fall silent.
"Anyway, like I said, I was going to get some food when I bumped into Creevey here on the landing. Brown and Patil showed up and I told them to stay with the body while I went to get a teacher. They, however, being the stupid, narrow minded gossips that they are, decided that running away and informing all of Gryffindor tower was the better idea…," Harry said.
"Mr. Potter, five points from Slytherin," McGonagall said.
"Twenty-five points each from Patil and Brown then, Minerva. Clearly, your two brave Gryffindors couldn't find the fortitude to stay with a petrified body, and instead decided to spread rumors. I think that's a fair punishment," Snape said as McGonagall's eyes narrowed.
"Harry, what happened after that?" Dumbledore interrupted them.
"I went and got Madam Pomfrey, told her what happened, and brought her down here," Harry said simply.
"Poppy, does that match what Mr. Potter told you?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, Headmaster," Madam Pomfrey said as she continued to run spells on the petrified boy.
"Very well. Clearly, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Harry. Please go back to the Slytherin common room. I'm sure your house elf will be able to provide you some food if you are still hungry," Dumbledore said.
Harry just nodded and walked away from the still angry Gryffindors.
&&&
Two days had passed since the petrifaction and it seemed like the school could talk of nothing else. While Dumbledore made it known that Harry did nothing wrong, most of the school, especially the Gryffindors, thought otherwise. People would constantly shrink away from him in the hallway and refuse to meet his eyes during class. Harry really didn't care though, he actually liked not being pestered by people. Harry was just glad that the story hadn't made it into the newspaper.
While Draco found Harry's problem to be very funny, and encouraged him to scare first years as the evil heir of Slytherin, Blaise simply ignored it like nothing had happened.
Tonks, though, couldn't ignore it. She had always been an outcast in her house. Apart from Hermione and sometimes Neville, no one really bothered to speak to her when it wasn't about Quidditch. However, when she cursed a group of Gryffindors who were talking about trying to get Harry expelled, it seemed like the entire house unified against her. The twins even started a Ban Tonks from the Tower campaign. The idea was to periodically switch the password to the Fat Lady without informing Tonks, effectively keeping her out of the Gryffindor common room. This actually worked, since Neville could barely remember the password anyway and Hermione was often not informed of the switch because of her close relationship to Tonks. Eventually, McGonagall found out, though, and took 30 points each from the twins as well as revoked the prefect status from the fifth year prefect who was constantly changing the password.
Ginny also had to deal with an increase of accusations from Ron, Fred, George, and even Percy. Over the last forty-eight hours she had been relentlessly pranked and verbally abused for siding with Harry. She told Harry, Draco, Tonks, and Blaise that the only thing keeping her sane was the though of hexing Ron during the dueling club.
Luckily, Saturday came quickly and Harry, Tonks, Draco, Blaise, and Ginny all made their way down to the Great Hall, which had been expanded to hold several dueling platforms. As Harry and his friends entered the Hall, everyone quickly got out of Harry's path.
"Well, it looks like we're going to get a good view thanks to you, Harry," Tonks said with a smile.
"Just one of the perks of being thought of as the deranged heir of Slytherin," Harry responded as Lockhart took the stage.
"Thank you all for coming to the dueling club! I am, as you all know, your Defense teacher and five time winner of Witch Weekly's most charming smile, Gilderoy Lockhart," Lockhart said with a broad grin.
"Pompous ass," Draco muttered.
"I would like to introduce my assistant today, your Potions Master, Severus Snape. I understand that he has some experience as a dueler and while he didn't bring down the Kentwood werewolf, do listen to him," Lockhart said, flashing a smile again.
"'Some dueling experience?' I guess winning two international dueling competitions isn't nearly as impressive as lying in a book," Draco said loudly, causing Harry, Tonks, Ginny, Blaise, and all the other Slytherins to laugh.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, but I will let my record stand for itself," Snape said flatly, although he flashed his godson a rare grin as he took his place next to Lockhart.
"Err, yes, now then, we are going to start off the day by having a small duel between Professor Snape and myself. So, Severus, if you will take your place opposite me," Lockhart said as Snape casually walked to the spot opposite Lockhart on the dueling platform.
"Now, first we bow," Lockhart said and went into an exaggeratedly deep bow. "Now, if Professor McGonagall will signal for the start of the duel," Lockhart said.
McGonagall simply shot off red sparks from her wand. A moment later, Snape barked "Expelliarmus." The Disarming spell slammed into Lockhart and threw him clear across the platform, while all the Slytherins cheered for their head of house.
"Ah yes, the Disarming spell. Good show, Severus. Now, of course, I let it hit me. If I really wanted to block it, I would have simply deflected it, naturally; however, it is a good spell to show them first. Now how about we have some volunteers try the spell. Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, why don't you get up here and give it a try?" Lockhart said.
"No, Gilderoy, it would be a waste of both Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy's time to do such a simple spell. I believe you should call upon…Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas," Snape said as the Slytherins laughed quietly at the subtle insult.
"Ah, yes, right you are, Severus. Mr. Thomas, Mr. Weasley, why don't you get up here?" Lockhart called.
Harry watched as Weasley and Thomas each used the Disarming spell on each other. Neither of them had a good command of the spell and often they would fire over their opponent's heads. Ginny was probably having the best time laughing as her older brother struggled to use a spell she mastered earlier in the semester.
After a good five minutes of Lockhart going on about how well Weasley and Thomas did, Snape decided that he'd had enough and said, "I have with me a piece of parchment. Should anyone wish to challenge someone they may approach and write their name down and the person they wish to challenge. I fully expect most of the people challenged to refuse, especially the Gryffindors challenged by the Slytherins. You are only allowed to challenge someone within two years of your own year. You will, of course, not be looked down upon should you not wish to duel. Now, due to time restrictions, we will only have ten challenges. Also, someone may only be challenged once. The line to make a challenge will begin after Ms. Weasley," Snape said.
Harry was laughing outright as he got behind Ginny, Tonks, Draco, and Blaise. In one move, Snape basically called all the Gryffindors cowards, assuring that they would meet any challenge, especially from a Slytherin. When it was Harry's turn to approach the list, he looked at the first few names.
Ginny Weasley Vs Ron Weasley
Nymphadora Tonks Vs Fred Weasley
Draco Malfoy Vs Dean Thomas
Blaise Zabini Vs Hermione Granger
Harry just smirked and wrote his name and George Weasley.
Instantly, the parchment updated itself and Harry saw his and George Weasley's name appear after Blaise and Granger.
When Harry was done, he joined Tonks, Ginny, Draco, and Blaise and waited for everyone to fill out their challenges. Five minutes later, everyone who wanted to challenge someone had done so and Snape took the parchment.
"The first challenge is from Ginny Weasley of Slytherin to Ron Weasley of Gryffindor," Snape said with a smirk.
Everyone heard Ron shout out in shock at being challenged by his younger sister.
"Clearly, Mr. Weasley is too frightened to take on his younger sister, so I suppose we shall move on to the next challenge between Nym…," Snape said.
"I'm not scared of my slimmy Slytherin sister. If she wants to get embarrassed, that's fine with me," Ron spat as he pushed his way forward and climbed up on the dueling platform where Ginny was already standing.
"You will bow, take your stance, and then begin on Professor McGonagall's signal," Snape said.
Ginny and Ron both followed Snape's orders and waited for McGonagall who a moment later shot off red sparks.
"Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted.
Ginny just watched as the Disarming spell shot out of her brother's wand and flew a good three feet over her head. "You know, Ron, I think you are supposed to try to hit the person with your spell," Ginny commented sarcastically.
Ron flushed red with embarrassment and Ginny immediately sent off her Bat Bogey Hex, along with several other troublesome jinxes.
All of Ginny's spells struck Ron in either the chest or the head. Soon the youngest male Weasley had bat wings coming out of his nose beating him across the face, puce balls forming on his arms, and was on the ground vomiting slugs.
"Minerva, I do believe Mr. Weasley has been defeated, wouldn't you say?" Snape said.
"I would have to agree. Ms. Weasley, would you be kind enough to perform the counter curses?" McGonagall said sharply.
"Of course, ma'am," Ginny said as she waved her wand. Instantly, the bat wings disappeared, the puce balls shriveled up and vanished; however, Ron didn't stop vomiting slugs.
"The last spell, Ms. Weasley;" McGonagall said.
"Sorry ma'am, but that spell can't be undone until it runs its course. He should be fine in a few hours," Ginny said with a satisfied smirk as she walked off the stage, looking very smug with herself. Ron, however, was staring daggers at his sister as he was taken to the Hospital Wing by Seamus and Neville.
"The next duel is between Ms. Nymphadora Tonks of Slyther…pardon me of Gryffindor and Mr. Fred Weasley of Gryffindor," Snape said.
Tonks flashed Snape a smile as she made her way onto the platform followed by Fred, who received a loud cheer.
As soon as all the formalities were done, and McGonagall sent up sparks, Tonks went on the attack. She quickly began casting every jinx, hex, and curse Harry had ever heard her use before. Fred was so unprepared for the onslaught of spells that all he could do was put up a pathetically weak Protego spell, which crumbled after stopping the first three hexes.
Soon, Fred was lying on his back with hex marks all over his face. His body, though, was covered in sores, bruises, burns, and puncture marks. He had no hair and his bald head was covered with acne and popped puce balls. As the entire hall fell silent in shock, Harry, Draco, Ginny, and Blaise's laughter was heard by everyone.
"Good show, Tonks. Twelve seconds, a new record!" Draco shouted.
"Ms. Tonks, what spells did you use on Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall asked, standing up.
"I lost count, ma'am. I know I used a few Skin Charring hexes, Puce Bubble jinx, Jelly Legs hex, the Stunning spell, the Hair Loss hex, the Blindness jinx, the Bone Sore spell, the Skin Sore spell, the Acne hex, and a few Bruising curses," Tonks listed off on her fingers.
The entire hall was silent as they listened to Tonks list off the impressive collection of jinxes, hexes, and mild pain spells.
"Where did you learn all those spells? Not to mention the fact that you should have known not to use that many jinxes, hexes, and curses together. It could have serious effects," McGongall said shortly.
"It was a duel, ma'am. It's not my fault he didn't properly defend himself," Tonks said with a grin as she climbed off the stage.
McGonagall herself took Fred to the Hospital Wing while Professor Flitwick took her spot to judge the duel.
"That was brilliant, Tonks, congratulations!" Draco said as he walked forward to take his place on the dueling platform.
"The next challenge is from Draco Malfoy of Slytherin to Dean Thomas of Gryffindor," Snape announced.
Dean gulped nervously before making his way onto the platform.
"On my signal, boys," Flitwick said as he fired off some red sparks.
Dean attempted to follow Tonks' strategy and immediately launched every minor jinx he knew at Draco. However, having dueled with Tonks, Draco knew most of the jinxes and hexes Thomas tried to use against him and quickly cancelled them out before going on the offensive.
Harry watched as Draco played with Dean for a good four minutes. Draco hit Dean with Skin Sore spells, Bruising hexes, even some rather painful Puncture spells. By the time Draco got bored and hit him with a Stunner, Dean was bruised from head to toe and barely able to remain on his feet.
Again, the entire hall was silent as Dean was carried to the Hospital Wing.
"The next challenge is from Blaise Zabini to Hermione Granger," Snape said.
Blaise stood up on the platform and waited.
"Is Ms. Granger going to duel?" Snape asked.
"I don't think she's here," Lavender Brown shouted.
"Yeah, I saw her writing in her diary before we left," Pavarti Patil said.
"The international rules of dueling stipulate that a duelist has five minutes to arrive for a challenge," Snape said.
When the five minutes ran out, Snape said, "Very well, Mr. Zabini. Please step off the platform, your challenge has not been met."
Blaise just shrugged indifferently and stepped down.
"The next challenge is between Harry Potter and George Weasley," Snape said loudly.
Harry strode forward and stood up on the dueling platform.
"Where is Mr. Weasley?" Snape asked.
"Lee Jordan went to get him," a voice shouted.
"Well, tell Mr. Weasley that he has five minute till the duel is forfeit," Snape barked.
The boy just nodded and ran off, probably to tell George.
Harry waited on the platform, hoping that the stupid Weasley would get back on time. With just twenty seconds left before the five minutes were up, a determined looking George Weasley ran into the Great Hall as all the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs cheered. The Slytherins cheered as well, but that was because they wanted to see another Slytherin send another Gryffindor to the Hospital Wing.
George quickly climbed on the stage. "Potter, I've got something special for you," George spat.
"I look forward to it, Weasley," Harry said sarcastically.
"Boys, bow," Flitwick instructed.
Harry and George complied and took their dueling stance. A moment later, Flitwick sent sparks into the air.
"Serpensortia!" George bellowed causing a viper to launch out of his wand.
Everyone in the crowed shouted in shock as the viper began to race right at Harry. "I thought all Slytherins liked snakes, Potter!" George shouted with a huge grin.
To everyone's shock though, Harry just started to laugh before saying, "Engorgio Transfigo Serpensortia Boa Constrictor!"
A purple spell shot out of Harry's wand and struck the viper. A moment later, a sixteen foot Boa Constrictor replaced George's viper. The entire crowed was now beyond terrified as the massive snake replaced the small viper. "Well, Weasley, you see we Slytherins like our Snakes a little bigger than you Gryffindors do," Harry said.
"Attack Potter!" George yelled, hoping he still controlled the now massive snake.
Harry just smirked as his Boa made no aggressive movement. "Attack Weasley," Harry commanded. A half a second later, the crowed gasped and screamed as Harry's Boa raced off to attack Weasley. Harry would learn later that it wasn't the snake going after George that made most of the people scream.
Weasley, for his part, was completely pale. He numbly sent a Stunning spell at the large snake, only to have it miss badly. A second later, the large Boa began to wrap itself around Weasley, who in his panic had completely forgotten about magic and was ferociously trying to hit the snake with his bare hands.
"Mr. Potter, you have won the duel! Stop your snake this instant!" McGonagall said as she and Dumbledore strode into the Great Hall.
"He still has his wand, ma'am, so technically the duel isn't over, but it will be shortly," Harry said maliciously.
"No! I surrender! Please call off the snake!" George screamed as the boa started to tighten its grip.
A moment later, McGonagall flicked her wand and vanished the large Boa.
Harry turned and walked off the platform. However, when he got to Draco, Blaise, Tonks, and Ginny, he found three of them shaking their heads while Ginny just looked scared. Before he could say anything, though, Draco and Blaise grabbed him and pushed their way out of the Great Hall.
"What?" Harry said exasperatedly as Draco pushed him into an empty classroom. Blaise, Tonks, and Ginny entered a second later.
"What he says," Blaise said shaking his head.
Tonks performed some Silencing and Locking charms on the door before saying, "Harry, why did you use Parseltongue?! That was stupid!"
"What? I didn't use Parseltongue…did I?" Harry asked weakly.
"Yeah, mate, looks like your secret's out," Blaise said.
"You mean, all of your knew," Ginny said in shock.
"Ginny, calm down. Blaise has known since first year, and Tonks and Draco before that," Harry said.
"B…but that's the mark of an evil wizard," Ginny said fearfully.
"Ginny, don't be stupid. Parseltongue is just a talent like everything else. A few Dark Wizards, especially You Know Who, gave it a bad name, though," Tonks said sharply.
"Oh," Ginny said, successfully chastised.
"This is just great. I didn't even realize I was using it," Harry said.
"You said something right before your snake attacked Weasley," Draco said.
"Oh, damn. I was directing it to attack Weasley. That was stupid of me," Harry said.
"Harry, this is really bad. I mean, enough people think you're behind all the petrifactions, already," Blaise said.
"Y-you're not, right?" Ginny asked hesitantly.
"What's that supposed to mean, Ginny? You think I'm behind all this now because I'm a bloody Parselmouth? Figures you'd be just like your brother. When Ron found out, he wanted to scream that I was a Dark Wizard, even after I saved his life," Harry barked.
Ginny's face flushed with embarrassment before it shifted to pure shock. "Wait, Ron knows? Why didn't he tell anyone? I mean, he hates you," Ginny said.
"I saved him, Longbottom, and Granger from a mountain troll during my first year. I made the mistake of talking to Salazar afterwards and he found out I could speak to snakes; along with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Blaise. To make sure I kept your brother's mouth shut, I called in a life debt," Harry said.
"You called in a life debt. That's really ancient magic. If Ron had said anything he would have been killed," Ginny said in shock.
"It was the only way to protect my secret, and now it looks like it's all for nothing," Harry said in annoyance.
"Well, it was your own fault. You should have just vanished the snake Weasley summoned and proceeded to curse him to hell. But no, you had to show how much better you were and transfigure the bloody thing into a Boa Constrictor," Tonks said angrily.
"Alright, I made a mistake!" Harry barked.
"Yeah, a big one," Draco said.
"Huge," Tonks agreed.
"And it will only get worse," Blaise said.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"Well, since Harry here is Mr. Popular with the press; what happens if someone leaks it to the Prophet that he's a Parselmouth? Combined with his appearance at the sites of two petrifactions, they could paint him as an up and coming Dark Wizard," Blaise said.
"Oh bloody Hell!" Harry cursed.
A/N Well this is probably going to be my last update until after the New Year. I will be posting a revised chapter 1 & 2 as soon as I get chapter 2 back from my beta. Also I'm not sure if any of you noticed it, but the story rating has moved from Teen to Mature. I did this because of content that I have planned for future chapters Happy Holidays everybody!