Eliana34: My French is a bit rusty but I think I got what you're trying to say (If I misunderstood, please point it out). You have to remember though, that Hermione was never the best at everything - only the student with the best overall grades. Several people were better than her in Defense (Harry included), Neville was her equal in Herbology, she never did well in Flying Class and she dropped Divination entirely in third year. As for moving on to another school, Hermione didn't do it out of loyalty to her friends and Valeria isn't doing it out of personal pride and stubborness. That doesn't make either of them any less smart. For the second-year mystery, the issue is that readers already know some of the answers. Nothing to be done about it.
DaughterofTerpsichore: Just read on and enjoy!
StevenG: Questions answered below, mostly. As for the name Valeria and Valerie are often interchangeable. (or so the site I do my naming research in tells me). Valeria likes the former best, though.
How910: More action follows. As for Accio and wands, it's doable. It's also easy to stop; Accio being omnidirectional, it has little penetrating power against shields as Harry could block such efforts from Death Eaters easily. There are enchantments to make something unsummonable but unless you're a Wandmaker or a Charms Master, adding permanent magic effects to your own wand isn't a good idea... and not many people would trust someone else to enchant their own wand - not to mention they'd have to give up their wand for as long as the work took to finish.
Urazz: There are many ways to cheat in a duel. Given enough reason to, some people may attempt to prevent cheating though.
...
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the rules are simple." Lockhart was saying. "Our resident Dueling Master," he pointed with a flourish towards Professor Flitwick "has enchanted this stage so that no spell can get in or out, ensuring both the safety of all spectators and that no cheating will take place. The duelists' Head of House," he made a grand gesture towards Professor Snape "will confirm that the duelists' wands are their own and that they are matched, thus ensuring nobody else has taken their place through any sort of disguise. Not that such honorable people as the scion of a noble family or the brightest student in her year would consider cheating of course!" Lockhart laughed then. "Just making sure everything is by the rules, is all." There was loads of snickering and chuckles from the Lions and Badgers, though the Snakes were not amused at Lockhart's not so subtle barb.
"Now, the duelists will start at either end of the hundred-foot stage and at Professor Flitwick calling 'Ready', they will both draw wands. To ensure there will be no premature casting due to all the excitement or nerves, we won't be having the standard walk and count or anything. Both duelists will remain at their starting positions and will be free to start casting when Professor Flitwick says 'Now'." More whispers from the crowd, and a few angry mutters from Malfoy's entourage. Whoever had written the rules Lockhart was announcing seemed to have done their best to prevent... misunderstandings of any kind. Now, who could have possibly sent a draft of such rules to Lockhart via owl and convinced the fraud to ask other Professors to implement them? Valeria chuckled as Lockhart spoke on. "Intentional maiming or lethal force - that is, casting any spell whose lasting results cannot be reversed or fully treated - will be grounds for disqualification and possible expulsion. The duel ends when one combatant is unable to continue, has been forced off the stage, or forfeits the duel by jumping off the stage." Lockhart smiled at everyone and everything, like usual.
"And that is all, ladies and gentlemen. We wouldn't want to confuse our duelists with too many rules now, would we?" He laughed and bowed to his audience, then stepped back and let the diminutive Charms Master and former Dueling Champion take charge. Valeria's letter as Lockhart's 'best friend' had asked specifically for him on grounds of past experience, but the real reason was that the choice would annoy most purebloods immensely. Having someone with goblin blood preside over what they saw as a pureblood affair? Perfect.
Valeria wondered which of Malfoy's preparations she'd foiled. That dueller's uniform looked like it had a thin layer of dragonhide sewn into it and, like her, Malfoy was wearing the dragonhide gloves that were part of their potions kit, with matching boots. Idiot. It would afford him some protection, yes, but full-thickness dragonhide armor was illegal for anyone but law enforcement and the standard dueler's uniform could only stop low-power spells. At the same time dragonhide was stiff and would limit his mobility, one of the biggest advantages normal duelists had over her preferred style.
The two of them stepped onto the platform. She felt her standard shield fading as she crossed its enchanted borders but there was no interference with the Color-Change enchantment on her expensive dress; apparently, they were either allowed enchanted items or there was no way to exclude them as they did with active spells. Excellent. Flitwick stared pensively at both of them and then spoke a single word; the fight was on.
"Stupefy! Depulso!"
"Serpentsortia!"
She tried for the quick and easy victory, racing Malfoy's first incantation with her own Stunner and winning, only for him to dodge minutely without losing his own spell. Gracefully stepping aside from the Banishing Charm she threw next, he conjured a ten-foot constrictor. He must like snakes very much for that to be his go-to spell in every duel, even though casting a summoning spell must be taxing; they learned those in late fifth to sixth year, after all.
"Accio Wand! Protego!"
"Protego! Accio Wand!"
Her attempt at something he couldn't dodge fell flat when he defended successfully then mirrored her move, forcing her to cast a Shield Charm as well. He'd either learned some things since the last time they'd clashed a mere week ago, or being cornered like this had pushed him into greater effort; cornered animals were known to fight fiercely, after all.
"Glacis!"
"Stupefy!"
Coating part of his end of the platform with ice did not seem to adversely affect his balance at all. Could all pureblood children from ancient families move like that? The only other duelist she'd seen jump around a fight so well had been Daphne. With a dancer's grace, he set his feet carefully but surely and returned fire with a Stunner strong enough to rattle her shield. Despite his longer incantation, she could only take advantage by forgoing to stabilze her own defense and thus losing it. She chose not to risk it.
After that, the fight sped up as both combatants had stopped trying for a quick victory and opted to push their opponent to his or her limit in an attempt to force mistakes out of them. Given the duel's intensity, neither could afford to fall into such...
...
Draco Malfoy had the perfect plan - and it was working!
Admittedly, his father's expensive help and detailed instructions into using it had been instrumental to pulling it off, but the rest was all him. He had paid attention in his lessons and learned the Stunning spell Lockhart taught them; it was the perfect spell to hit an enemy from behind with to then have them totally at your mercy. He had asked Professor Snape to teach him how to summon snakes over the Summer so he could terrify the silly Gryffindors - not that he'd shared his reasoning, of course. It may not have worked against bloody Potter and his unfair gift but it would work against the bitch. And it was he who'd noticed how the bitch was pants at weaving and dodging like a good duelist should. No matter how good she was in magic she had to do both offense and defense magically, whereas he could rely on all those hours of Quidditch practice dodging bludgers to do the same to her spells - all the while focusing on his perfect plan.
It was coming together nicely, now. Their rapid exchange of fire where his Seeker's hand-eye coordination versus her mudblood's abysmal athletic skill had sent each and every spell on target had left no time for complex spells or adapting strategies. Even if she saw what he was doing with his every sixth or seventh spell, the mudblood would be unable to stop it. And she wouldn't - he knew that now. Only her stupid arrogance and mindless determination had landed her in the noble House of Slytherin - and someone as determined and arrogant as she would not accept her imminent deteat until too late.
All he had to do was to keep up casting like this. It was more and faster than he'd ever had before but obviously within his ability, just like his Father had insisted. Backed with enough self-confidence and knowing perfectly what he had to do, he would pull off every casting correctly, he was certain. He just had to keep this up until the right time, both for the plan to work and for the evidence to fade beyond discovery. It shouldn't take long now - Father's measurements and instructions had been exact. It would have been even better had he arrived at the last second but the threat of disqualification had been real. Watches, mechanical or magical both, weren't always perfectly synchronized in as magically charged an environment as Hogwarts. But that wasn't a problem.
For the plan was perfect, and he was about to win.
...
"Diffindo! Stupefy! Silencio! Incendio! Serpentsortia!"
"Protego! Stupefy! Protego! Stupefy! Protego! Depulso! Protego!"
Malfoy's unexpectedly rapid casting and surprisingly good reflexes were becoming annoying. Over the past couple of minutes they'd exchanged fire at a frenetic pace. Since Malfoy had managed to dodge every single one of her attacks so far she'd had to divide her efforts into offense and defense. Even with one of her Shield Charms almost always resisting a single strike, she couldn't be sure it would completely block a second so soon and had to recast; the spells Draco was using could potentially end the duel, just like hers would. Tiring her out was probably Malfoy's goal here; he was only casting about half the spells she was, except when he cast a Snake Summoning Spell every so often.
That part of his tactic was what troubled her. Why not more direct attacks that would press her further? He wouldn't manage to win ultimately, not with all the practice she'd put in with her friends having considerably improved her endurance, but the fight would be close. Closer than she'd been expecting, really; Draco was fighting like Daphne on her best day, maybe even a shade better. What the hell did he want with all the snakes, anyway? Everybody knew he was in Slytherin already and a bit of grandstanding would improve his image when he lost. Maybe he was aiming to trip or trap her? He'd conjured well over a dozen of the things already; had she been one of the duelers that moved around, she'd have accidentally rolled her shield over one of them already, unintentionally taking it inside with her and making it a serious problem. If that had been Malfoy's aim, the tactic had fallen flat; she was confident she could hold a shield up against him well enough to stop his spells so why move?
"Finite!"
"Stupefy!"
Malfoy ended her current Shield Charm with a nondamaging counter so she took the opportunity to strike back. She could easily race and beat his next casting with her next Shield Charm after all. What she had not accounted for, however, was for the mass of snakes to surge towards her.
"Protego! Protego! Protego! Protego! Protego! Protego! Protego!"
"Finite! Finite! Finite! Finite! Finite! Finite! Finite!"
Oh bloody hell! As she struggled to keep a Shield Charm up while Malfoy was doing his best to bring them down, she cursed herself for not seeing the trap for what it was earlier. She had really not expected the spoiled, pampered, pureblood dandy to come up with something like this, let alone manage to pull it off under the pressure of combat. He'd obviously learned the Snake Summoning Spell well enough to have some rudimentary control over the snakes he summoned. Something minimal, maybe only enough to tell them to attack, but it would do. Now all he had to do was force her to drop her defenses just long enough for a snake to pass through, or even simply strike...
...
Ha! The bitch was cornered! The basic counterspell was the only magic he'd had to practice for this duel, the only part of his plan truly relying on a spell he didn't already know well. But with only one spell to master, a week had been enough. Especially after his Father has seen his plan, approved it, and had owled a couple of older students that were longtime allies of the family and instructed them to force him to practice it until he fell over from exhaustion. And then to force-feed him Pepper-up and Invigoration potions, get him up and have him practice again.
He didn't need to beat her defense long enough for him to send a spell through himself. Even with the help he'd been given, she was a freakishly strong witch for a mudblood. Father had strongly cautioned him not to try anything beyond his abilities and he wouldn't. But now all he needed was one slip. A tiny delay in her next shield for a snake to bite her. It would be an insignificant wound, easily healed. But the moment's distraction it would provide would either allow the remaining snakes to swarm her or give him an opening to blast her himself.
No, he'd let the snakes handle it. He wanted to see her squirming, trying to get rid of all of them in her stupid mudblood determination while they squeezed her in their coils and bit repeatedly. Maybe she'd even scream before the duel was declared over. And then she'd have to spend time in the infirmary, wallowing in her shame while he consolidated his position within the House and prepared a nice little welcome for the poor deluded bitch who'd thought she could make it in the House of Snakes.
Both he and she were sweaty now, his best efforts and his Father's help pushing his casting to its fastest crescendo. It would not be long now; his victory was at hand. And he would thoroughly enjoy it.
...
This wasn't working. Malfoy had the shortest and easiest incantation, if only by a narrow margin, and could afford a split-second's mistake or delay. With the snakes practically pressing against her Shield Charm, she could not. Eventually she'd falter; Draco's strangely perfect duel so far aside, nobody their age was experienced enough to not make a single mistake under pressure. What could she do? How could she possibly get rid of nearly two dozen targets with a single spell with Malfoy ready to counter her attempts if he could? She didn't know any spells that...
Yes she did! The Banishing Charm could repulse many targets at once just as the Summoning Charm could bring many of them to the caster at the same time. All she needed to do was to time this well - perfectly even. And to put in a great deal more power than she usually did. Could she pull it off fast enough and strongly enough under less than optimal conditions? If she failed and the snakes were still close enough when her latest Shield Charm failed... She didn't know if she could manage it but had no other options.
DEPULSO!
A wave of force got out of her and left her panting as she fed her frustration at this duel, anger at Malfoy, and general stubborness into her magic. A loud booming sound like a thunderclap reverberated through the Great Hall, sending all students screaming and scrambling for cover. Not because of the powerful Banishing Charm, no. She could never have hoped to break Professor Flitwick's enchanted barriers around the dueling stage and her spell was confined within. Unfortunately the barrier let objects and living beings through just fine - it had to for the contestants to be able to enter, exit, or be hurled out. That was how all the snakes Malfoy had conjured were scattered all over the Great Hall, with their maker hurled off the stage as well. Valeria had just won the duel but not many people seemed to care as the crowd devolved into chaos. The Professors tried to restore order but a hundred and eighty teenagers and twenty snakes had other ideas.
Salvation was provided from a totally unexpected source; Harry Potter jumped onto the dueling platform and hissed loudly. The sound was eerily unnatural, alien and magical in the same time. It had to be; being a Parselmouth was an obviously supernatural skill, if only for the ability to converse with snakes that should have not been intelligent enough to articulate words and, from what she'd read on the subject, even command depictions of snakes without a brain at all - or ears to hear you.
All the snakes slithered back onto the platform and surrounded the Boy-Who-Lived, giving him their undivided attention. At his display, as it had happened once before, dead silence fell on the Great Hall.