Chapter 2

The arrival at Hogwarts was as stressful as always. The prefects were busy finding al the first years and making sure they would end up with Hagrid, so they could embark on their boat ride across the Great Lake. Despite the stress and the growing pain in her back Hermione had to smile when she thought back to her own first day at the school. When they were finally on the carriages Hermione could relax a bit and take her pain-relief-potion.

The Great Hall was filled with excitement. Then professor McGonagall led the first years in, as always. Hermione had already mentally checked out. She was going through magical theorems and models in her mind so she would know which books to look when she would visit the library later in the evening. She would have taken her notebook, well her grimoire as she liked to call it, out and looked some things up, but that would not have gone over well with anyone, really. She was not brought out of her train of thought whenever a student was sorted and their new house was celebrating and even dutifully clapped when there was a new Ravenclaw, even though Hermione actually considered the house system to be quite stupid. It only seemed to foster conflict.

Hermione had to admit that she did fit in very well in Ravenclaw despite her own views on the houses. She was a diligent student after all. She would still have preferred to be in Gryffindor. Then she could position herself in a way that she would have a wall behind her. In Ravenclaw she had to choose between having Hufflepuff and Gryffindor or only Slytherin behind her. That was not really a choice now, was it? Would it be worth to be in Slytherin just in order to have nobody behind her? Hermione was not sure about that.

The Ravenclaw was annoyed when she realized that she had stopped thinking about useful subjects. She was about to get back to it when Dumbledore finally started the feast. Hermione loved the feast. Well, she loved eating delicious food and there was so much of it now. Tomorrow she would go on a run around the Great Lake before class. Well, probably not around the whole lake. But a nice, long run to start her day was always great. After all she had to stay in shape. Most wizards and witches did not deem physical exercise useful. To them it was a muggle thing. Who needed physical fitness when one had magic? To feel good. That alone was enough for Hermione to continue her regiment. But on top of that she had also noticed that it helped her dueling. Dueling was very physically demanding and so Hermione used every opportunity she had to improve her stamina, both through physical and magical exercise. It was almost as necessary as magical knowledge and understanding. At least for now. After all, she would not stay young and fit forever, but that was not a thought she wanted to entertain … ever really. Besides, by that time her magical experience would be great enough to best anyone. That was the plan, at least. Anyway, since she had spent almost half her childhood with her father's loving sister and her amazing family, all of them muggles, she had quite a different relationship to all things muggle than most pure and half-bloods, and she was glad about it.

During the feast she caught up with some of her housemates. She was not all that close with them, but as a prefect she tried to stay at least somewhat informed about their overall state of being. She had a nice, if decidedly very weird conversation with Luna Lovegood. But that could be said about almost all conversation with the young witch. When she had first been sorted into Ravenclaw Hermione had reacted the way most of her housemates had reacted: with annoyance. Such a quirky and dreamy girl surely had no place in the most studious of the houses. But Hermione learned fast that Luna was very intelligent and highly perceptive.

Unfortunately, their fellow Ravenclaw had yet to notice that. They thought that she did not belong. That was why Luna was constantly the target of their childish jokes. Even before Hermione had noticed that Luna truly was a Ravenclaw she had reacted very strongly about that. Back when she was in fourth grade and Luna was in her first Hermione had caught some students trying to hide some of Luna's belongings. She had made sure they would not try that again. After that Hermione had gotten to know the blonde better and learned that she was actually very pleasant company, despite their age difference.

Hermione had was pretty sure that her sudden interest in helping another student had helped her becoming prefect. But then again, she always had been Professor Flitwick's favorite student, so she probably would have gotten her badge even if she had never talked to another Ravenclaw. And she did talk to them. She did not actively seek them out, but when they asked for her help, she would provide it as long as what they asked was within reason.

Luna had just finished her story about a creature and Hermione was skeptical about its existence when the other students went quiet. Hermione lost interest in Dumbledore's words immediately and started going through all the defensive spells she knew. She had arrived at protecto diabolia, which she had not mastered yet by any means, but she was intend on doing so, despite it being a dark spell, when there was a commotion.

Bellatrix looked livid, Cho Chang was pale and behind her Hermione could hear the older Weasley twins yell about something. Hermione had not listed at all to what the headmaster had said, but if all of those very different individuals agreed about it, it had to be about…

"What do you mean, there will be no Quidditch?!"

Yeah, no surprise here. But why would there be no Quidditch? And, far more importantly, would the dueling competition still take place? It was safe to say that Dumbledore now had Hermione's undivided attention. He was explaining something about an event stating in October when the enchantments of the Great Hell went haywire. Hermione could feel the excess magic in the air, and she got goose skin all over. A lumbering person had entered the hall, walked up to Dumbledore and exchanged a few words with him. Was that …?

"I would like to introduce to you your new teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore said brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

The very modest applause that followed that announcement was drowned out by the muttering of the students. If Hermione was a clapper, she would have added to the applause quite a bit. Alastor Moody was an Auror legend. Mad? Maybe. Well, probably. But there were very few who knew as much about the Dark Arts as him. And how to defend against them, of course. Having him as a Professor would be educating to say the least.

"But where was I?" Dumbledore picked up again. "Right. During the coming month we will have the honor of hosting a legendary event, the Triwizard Tournament!"

Suddenly the atmosphere shifted again, and Moody's grim appearance had been forgotten. Even Hermione was caught off guard. Nobody could have predicted that. Dumbledore continued with his speech. Hermione listen, but in her head, she was already debating with herself. Would she participate? Winning, hell even just participating, would be a great honor. But this tournament also had an uncomfortable high death rate, at least as far as Hermione could remember. She had read about it once quite a while ago would have to think in over in peace. There were already proclamations of participation made, when Dumbledore mention that one had to be 17 years old in order to enter the, because of said death rate. A lot of people were outraged. Hermione was almost shocked that the ministry had finally made a decision she could consider reasonable. They did not have a great record when it came to minor safety. One look over to the Slytherin table and Hermione knew that Bellatrix had already made up her mind. Bellatrix was quite rash and loved running into danger. The question now was whether Hermione would follow her into it yet again.

After that announcement the students left the Great Hall. Hermione made sure all the new Ravenclaws made it to their house and explained how to get in. After that she went to her own room and took a quick shower. Then she took some secret passages into the library. It was time to do some reading.

/

Over the next few days Hermione spent quite a bit of time in the library researching the Triwizard Tournament. Dumbledore had told the truth. The competition had a very high death rate. That any sort of student competition had any death rate at al was already insane. But one this high? Sometimes Hermione did not understand the magical world. Not the magic itself, she had not yet found a magical subject she did not excel in. Don't mention the brooms. Or Divination. That was not a real subject. But Hermione sometimes just could not believe the people of the wizarding world. Their mindsets were just so very … special, let's go with that. Anyway, apparently the champions were chosen by the so-called Goblet of Fire. At least an inanimate object would be impartial. Hopefully.

Whatever, Hermione was looking forward to the end of the week. To be fair, most students were. But Hermione was excited about a special event. She had been looking forward to it all summer. The first meeting of the dueling club. The Professors Snape and Flitwick had been co-leading the club for at least 10 years. Both of them were accomplished duelists in their own right. Sometime the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher would join them, with mixed results. Sometimes they added something new and interesting to the table, like professor Lupin had even though Snape had not been thrilled about his participation. Sometimes they did not bother with it, like Quirrell, but that had been for the best as it turned out. And once it had been an absolute disaster. Fucking Lockhart. Hermione could still not believe that such an obvious fraud had gotten a teaching position at Hogwarts. Getting such a devoted following? Sad, yes, but people were stupid, so that was not unexpected. But surely Dumbledore was not that easily deceived? Well, either he was, or he wasn't, and Hermione was not sure what would be worse.

Hermione was on her way to the meeting. She had just put on some comfortable yet stylish clothes. Dark, flat and most importantly worn in and therefor comfortable shoes, black, formfitting trousers and one of her signature button-up-shirts. Today she had picked out a dark blue one. The school robes were not very appropriate for dueling. Not enough freedom of movement.

Hermione's back was burning quite nicely. It was the curse-scar she had gotten the night her parents had been killed. It was a constant source of pain for her. She had to take potions almost daily, or the pain would become unbearable sooner or later. Today she had not taken her dose yet. She had come to the realization that she dueled better without it. She was sharper, more in the moment and had more energy. She just had to take care not to take it too far, or she would slowly but surely lose control. That could never happen.

The Ravenclaw had also learned that not taking her potions was not helping her studies. She just could not sit still in that state. But that was alright. Afterall that was what the potions were for.

When Hermione entered the dueling room, she was greeted by a very happy Professor Flitwick. He was most of the time happy to see the star of his house and always willing to answer her questions even if they went far beyond the curriculum, which they usually were. Snape gave her a short nod, but by his standards that was practically a hug, especially since she was not a Slytherin. Hermione was quite happy to have won the respect of the potion master. He had a very impressive amount of knowledge both about his chosen subject but also different magical disciplines. Being able to ask for their expertise was an incredible boon.

There were a lot of first years in the room. That was not very surprising, since the dulling was the second most observed pastime after Quidditch, and first years were not yet allowed to apply for the Quidditch teams of their houses. A lot of them lost interest relatively fast. Hermione could for the live of her not figure out why. Dueling was her passion. It was strategic, required both skill and knowledge and was very rewarding when one was willing to put in the time. That was most likely the problem. Most students were just not willing to do that, and it was not that much fun if one just kept losing. At least Hermione suspected that it was not. She would not know from firsthand experience.

Since there would be no Quidditch this year a lot of the students who had left in order to practice that sport had returned. Bellatrix and Potter were pretty much the only Students who were willing to do both and still capable of succeeding. The younger Weasley twins had been part of the dueling club since their first grade, but Hermione suspected that they would leave as soon as they had a position on the Quidditch team. Not that she could fault them for that. If they had more fun playing the ridiculous game, more power to them.

This year the older Weasley twins had returned. They had actually left when they joined the Quidditch team. Hermione wondered whether they had learned some new tricks despite of that. Most likely. They were always up to no good. Angelina Johnson was also back. She probably wanted to brush up on her dueling, since she was planning to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Cho was here, too. So was Malfoy, the Lestranges and their goons. Oh well, more completion, and throwing them around would be fun. This was promising to turn into a great year for dueling. Hermione could not be happier.

"Welcome, welcome!" Professor Flitwick squeaked exited. "So many new faces. So many old, well older, faces. And even some faces I have not seen in this room for some time. It is good to see you all! Let's get right to it! Firs years, come with me, I will teach you the rules, the forms and show you the basics. The rest: find a partner, ideally someone you haven't dueled before and start practicing! Professor Snape will supervise you. And remember: the goal is to disarm your opponent! Do not take it too far!"

Hermione imminently realized that there was not enough room for all of them to duel. So, she went to the side and was content with observing the first duels. Observing and learning about possible opponents was almost as fun as dueling itself. Besides, she would keep track of as many spells as possible. Professor Snape had advised her to do so, even while dueling she should try to remember the spells that were used in other duels. It helped with situational awareness and could save ones live in an actual magical battle.

While Flitwick lead the first years away the duels started. Hermione was a little bit surprised when Bellatrix joined her on the sidelines. The Queen of Slytherin loved dueling almost as much as Hermione and did not value observing and learning about opponents all that much as long as they were not Hermione. She firmly believed she could beat anyone of them anyway. She was properly right.

The Slytherin was wearing one of her usual dresses. With a corset. For dueling! She looked great, no question and so far, her choice of clothing had yet to impact her dueling capabilities, but still. Hermione was not against feminine clothing on principal, even though she had not worn the skirt of her school uniform in years. It was just … there was a place and a time for a dress and in her opinion, dueling was not one of them. But then again, it seemed to work for the other women, and it was none of her business anyway, so why continue thinking about it.

"Are you looking forward to the tournament?" Bellatrix asked after a few seconds.

"Maybe," Hermione replied. "If I decide to throw my name in the goblet, sure, then I will be looking forward to it. But if not, then it is just noise."

"What do you mean: if you throw your name in the goblet?" Bellatrix asked aghast. "Why would you not?"

"Because people die in the tournament?"

"You can die falling down a flight of stairs! It is a chance to win eternal glory!"

"Nothing is eternal, and Glory means little to the dead," Hermine replied dryly. "It won't fill your stomach either nor pay for a roof over your head."

"No, but the 1000 galleons in prizemoney will," Bellatrix was rolling her eyes now. "I know your family is well of, but I'm guessing you could still use that money."

Hermione gave a noncommittal shrug, but Bellatrix was right. That money would surely help no matter what she decided to do after Hogwarts. Her family was not poor by any means. She never had to worry about money before. Still, the prizemoney would certainly help her start her own live. But she was getting way ahead of herself.

The duels were now in full swing. The raven medallion Hermione was wearing beneath her button-up-shirt was humming noticeably. It was reacting to all the somewhat harmful magic in the air. If a spell was aimed at her it would grow hot and jump around on her chest. It had saved her from some Slytherin ambushes on multiple occasions.

"Besides," the black-haired beauty continued. "You can bet you would get a book deal if you won. And it would look amazing and that resume you keep going on, you could pick whichever job you want."

Hermione was still keeping track of all the spells being used, but it was getting harder to concentrate on it.

"I can already do that," she mumbled. Damn it, Bellatrix was making some good points. Time to change the subject.

"Why are you so invested in getting me to participate?" Hermione asked. "If I don't throw my name in there you will almost certainly be the one to represent Hogwarts. I don't think Diggory or Johnson have a chance against you."

Bellatrix was silent for a moment.

"It would not be the same," Bellatrix finally admitted. "If I'm chosen and I know that you did not even try … it would not be right. I want to be the champion of Hogwarts because I am the best not because my strongest competition did not even take part in the selection."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully and nodded. She could understand that logic. Dueling club would not be nearly as interesting as it was if Bellatrix would stop participating. People like them needed someone to measure themselves against and it had to be a real competition otherwise it would be boring.

"I'll seriously consider it," Hermione finally assured her rival. The first round of duels was over, and some were already moving to the sidelines. "Let's go."

Bellatrix grinned and they took their starting positions.

Bellatrix tried to end the duel before it even began by beginning with a strong, almost brutal, and quick offence. The duels she did win against Hermione usually went like this. She had to hurry to overwhelm the Ravenclaw before she settled into a rhythm. It had become almost impossible to defeat her in a lengthy engagement and they both knew it, eventhood the Slytherin was very athletic herself and almost certainly physically stronger. Which is why Bellatrix had been working almost exclusively on her offence. It also fit her personality very well.

Unfortunately, because of their previous encounters Hermione was aware of Bellatrix's battleplan. She had trained hard in order to overcome such a destructive offence, since going on the offensive herself, trying to out-speed the Slytherin and hoping for the best was a coinflip. Sometimes it worked sometimes it did not and that was not acceptable for the Ravenclaw. Hermione was able to deflect the barrage of spells, jinxes and hexes, her movements a short and precise, but not panicked or forced. She moved like a conductor, bringing order to the unleashed chaos. Nevertheless, Bellatrix came close to succeeding. She had learned some new aggressive spells and had mastered some of the old ones over the summer. But close was not good enough.

Hermione was a firm believer in the fact that a strong offence was the best defense. One could have the best defense in the world, if one was unable to defeat the opponent there still remained a chance that a spell made it through. Not that Hermione's defense was weak, not by any means. She deflected, dispelled, blocked or simply dogged anything Bellatrix would throw at her. But sometimes that was not enough and trying to further bolster her defense did not sit right with the Ravenclaw. So, she went back to her aforementioned belief, devised a strategy more in line with it and trained until she could actually pull it off. Now she did not have to try and outlast the onslaught, she went on the offensive herself while Bellatrix was still in full swing.

Bellatrix had not been expecting a counterattack. She honestly had not anticipated that Hermione would be able to retaliate so soon. After all, usually Hermione tried to outlast her since she would still win more often than not. That assumption was wrong. A simple stinging jinx flew right through Bellatrix's barrage and hit her wand arm. Her offensive was interrupted for just a second, but that was enough time for Hermione to hit her square in the chest with a powerful flipendo. She was knocked back a few meters, landed on her back and her wand fell out of her hand.

Bellatrix looked up at the ceiling and took a second to comprehend what just happened. She also needed to catch her breath. Hermione's spell had knocked all the air out of her lungs. She was extremely thankful that the teachers had softened the floor right about now. Then the Ravenclaw appeared in her field of view, shot her a mischievous smile, her unique eyes sparkling and offered Bellatrix her hand. The Slytherin gladly took it. When she was on her feet Hermione handed her her wand back.

Bellatrix had been altering between silent and spoken casting. She had tried to confuse Hermione and could have been silent the entire time. That was the tactic Hermine had been using and it had worked very well. Bellatrix had not noticed the stinging jinx until she was already hit.

Bellatrix realized then that quite a few people were looking at them. Most of them seem very impressed. It had been a good showing from both of them, despite the sudden ending.

"Yes," drawled Snape and walked over to them. "Very impressive" He did not sound all that impressed. "Now get back to it!"

"Not bad, Miss Granger," Snape's sounded almost pleased. "Good to know my time was not entirely wasted."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione simply replied, but they could hear the smirk in her voice. Bellatrix was perplexed. She was missing something, and she hated it.

"As for you, Miss Black," Snape continued, ignoring Hermione and the tone in her voice completely. "Same as always. You are too focused on your own spells and performance. Against an adequately skilled opponent your lack of awareness will cost you, as you just saw. Again. Pay attention the wand movements against silent casters. They tell you early enough whether an attack is coming, or a defense is attempted."

"Yes, Professor," Bellatrix mumbled. "Thank you for your advice."

Snape nodded, walked back and continued observing the other students. They were far less impressive, if his expression was anything to go by.

"Damn you," Bellatrix hissed. "Did you spend your entire summer practicing?"

"Do you still want me to throw my name in the goblet?" Hermione shot back. Bellatrix was silent for a moment.

"Yes," she finally answered. But she did not sound that happy about it anymore.

Hermione hummed skeptically. "If you say so. Rematch?"

"Absolutely! You won't be able to do that twice!"

"We'll see."