Chapter Twenty-Five
Sirius never thought that he would say it…but his father's 'lessons' might have actually come in handy. As autumn turned to winter, the students decided to pass their time by forming a new club…a Duelling Club. Once a week, the Great Hall was transformed into an arena. Dozens of students came to see their pupils fight. Even the professors stopped by to watch.
Sirius excelled at it.
It was amazing to be able to duel without having to take the fall. He dodged spells and sent them barreling back. He let out strings of hexes that caught everyone off guard. His defensive charge was always crackling. He never pushed it into balls of energy. He simply felt more powerful when it emerged. Powerful was a bit of an understatement. Sirius was at the top of the Alpha group, which was ordinarily for upperclassmen. Sirius was taking on seventeen year olds. And he was winning!
One blustery morning, he caused the last member of the Alpha group to crumple to the ground.
"Sirius Black is the winner!"
The other Marauders leapt onto the floor. James grabbed Sirius' hand and lifted his arm into the air. Sirius triumphantly grinned as the crowd's cheers grew to deafening levels. Even the professors animatedly clapped.
"Does this mean that he's the overall champion?" Peter squealed.
"Not yet," Professor Perkins corrected, "Sirius will have to duel the winner in the Beta group to determine the overall champion!"
"I'll duel him right now!" Sirius haughtily cried.
His friends beamed as another cheer rippled through the crowd.
"Who dares to face me?" Sirius exclaimed.
Professor Perkins glanced at the roll of parchment and cried, "Regulus Black!"
Regulus emerged from the crowd, his face blank.
Sirius' blood turned to ice.
He lowered his wand and muttered, "No."
"No?" Professor Perkins repeated, "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not dueling him," Sirius said.
Professor Perkins blinked and cried, "You don't wish to duel him now?"
"I don't wish to duel him at all," Sirius declared, throwing his wand aside.
James picked it up and whispered, "Sirius, what are you doing?"
Murmurs swept through the crowd.
Professor Perkins adjusted his glasses and exclaimed, "Mister Black, if you choose to not fight…I am afraid that you will have to forfeit."
"Fine," Sirius snapped.
"F…fine?" Professor Perkins asked.
"I forfeit."
The Gryffindors groaned and angrily cried out.
"I forfeit as well," Regulus quietly spoke up.
By now, everyone was angrily murmuring.
"I…I don't understand," Professor Perkins spluttered, "The point of a dueling club is to fight one another."
"I'm not fighting him," Sirius growled.
"But…"
"I'm not fighting him!"
"But why—?"
"Blimey!" Sirius burst out, "Shut up, will you?"
"Mister Black!" Professor McGonagall cried, rising from her seat.
"Are you really that upset by the fact that student is refusing to fight another student?" Sirius angrily continued, ignoring Professor McGonagall, "The last time I checked, it was against the rules to be fighting students! And anyway, what…what kind of club is this!? Turning a bunch of kids against one another? It's barbaric. Children shouldn't be forced to fight one another."
He broke off, utterly frustrated.
Regulus softly agreed, "Children shouldn't be forced to fight one another."
Sirius stared at the professors, daring them to comment.
Not one of them did.
He snatched his wand from James' hand and stomped away.
He made it outside before Regulus caught up to him, calling his name.
"Are you okay?" Regulus murmured.
"Sure," Sirius sighed.
He continued walking. His brother fell into step next to him.
"At least Father hasn't made us duel in a while," Sirius finally said.
"Yeah," Regulus agreed, "Blimey, I think the last one was during your first Easter back."
"Yep," Sirius mumbled, "I didn't shoot a single spell. I didn't want to tarnish my wand."
The brothers stopped. They had reached the bank of the lake. With nowhere else to go, Sirius resignedly sat down. His brother followed suit.
The wind tousled their hair as Regulus whispered, "I always hated that lesson."
"It was a game," Sirius reminded him, his stomach churning with disgust.
"Whatever he called it," Regulus muttered, "It was horrible. I hated hexing you."
"Yeah, well…" Sirius replied, "I hated being hexed."
"But that's something that I never understood," Regulus whispered, "If you hated it so much…why didn't you hex me back?"
"I couldn't," Sirius remarked, "I just…couldn't."
He took a deep breath and bent his elbows so that his palms were facing each other. He pushed and the ball of golden energy appeared between his hands. Next to him, his brother also bent his elbows, though his palm were facing out. Two small balls of white energy appeared.
"Nice," Sirius complimented.
Regulus dropped the balls into the water, causing a series of ripples.
"What'd you do that for?" Sirius laughed.
"Easier than minimizing them," Regulus shrugged.
Sirius nodded. It was pretty hard to cause the ball to disappear. There was always a moment right before it vanished, where he felt the strongest surge of power. He wondered…
Sirius slowly brought his hands together and the ball faded away.
He felt the surge. But instead of mentally letting go, as Uncle Alphard had taught him, he abruptly extended his hands and pushed.
A wall of invisible energy crashed into the lake, causing a gigantic wave.
"Whoa!" Regulus and Sirius both exclaimed.
They glanced at each other, wide-eyed.
They suddenly heard the crack of a root beneath somebody's foot. They simultaneously glanced over their shoulders. James, Remus, and Peter were standing behind them.
Sirius and Regulus glanced at each other, the former asking, "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know that your father's a cold bastard," Remus quietly said.
"You didn't know that already?" Sirius snorted.
"He's not…" Regulus meekly spoke up, "He's just a bit…"
He broke off and James softly said, "We were also here to see Sirius cause a tsunami."
"Just out of curiosity," Peter asked, "How exactly can you two create balls of energy?"
"That's none of your business," Regulus snapped, "And if you three tell anyone about the dueling, I'll…"
"Don't try to act threatening, Reg," Sirius teased, "It's unbecoming of the meilleur fils."
His brother glared at him and he continued, "Besides, they won't tell anyone. Right?"
"Of course not," James quickly agreed.
"Why should I trust you?" Regulus asked.
"Because you trust me," Sirius declared, "And I trust them."
His brother reluctantly nodded.
"So," James cheerfully said, "About that tsunami…"