Chapter 26

Duelling with wands and words

Draco had felt his colleagues' attitude change the moment he stepped on the Hogwarts express. For starters Pansy Parkinson, the girl he couldn't get rid of all through second year, was now ignoring him completely. Crabbe's sneers he expected, after all, his father had been the one that had dug his father's social grave. But he hadn't expected Goyle siding with Crabbe over him. He was so angry at them that he chose to distance himself, finding an almost empty compartment at the back of the train where a shabby looking wizard was sleeping. A look around found out the man was named R.J. Lupin and that he was going to be their professor.

He would probably not last the year as the DADA professor. Draco chuckled to himself, but said nothing, there was no one to say anything to.

He was alone.

The feeling of loneliness would continue to stay with him for a long time.


Aries's answer came on Wednesday at breakfast with the post. Harry was sitting with Neville, Hermione and Ron almost ready to leave for McGonagall's class when Hedwig returned. But it wasn't what Hermione had hoped.

Dear Harry

I'm glad to hear you've started your third year on the right foot and that Arithmancy is going so well. Keep in mind to also have fun while you're there.

As for your questions about time turners. They are an invention of the last century which has only been refined in the past 20 years. As the name suggests they turn time and allow the wearer to travel to the past for up to a day though there were prototypes that managed years before. Those had undesired effects on the wizard doing the traveling, which is why the day limit was built in. Time travel is extremely dangerous however and strictly regulated by the ministry which studies it in the Department of Mysteries. A lot of things can go wrong while going back in time and allowing such a dangerous object even one that can go back just a few hours in a school full of children is too great a risk. Also, even time turners that go back one hour when used repeatedly can put a strain on an adult's body, let alone a child's.

While I have every confidence in Hermione and I know she is a very responsible teenager, I cannot in good conscience let her have and use a time turner just for her to take more classes than her schedule permits. Aside from the fact that she could develop serious heart problems, the school's time schedule is designed to increase the work load in a proper way for your age group, taking on three extra lessons would leave her with little to no time to enjoy herself.

Take care,

Aries

PS: Dobby wanted me to tell you he misses you. Heide says she will bring you a souvenir from Japan when she returns in one month. Pan is not up yet, he is becoming increasingly lazy with Dobby around.

'This is not fair!' Hermione exclaimed.

'Hermione, he has valid reason.' Said Harry his smile at the PS vanishing as he turned to his friend who had read the letter over his shoulder.

'I'm sure it's not that bad, otherwise why would McGonagall even consider it. This is favouritism.'

'What do you mean?' Harry asked frowning.

'Isn't it obvious, he wants you to excel.'

'Of course he does, what does that have to do with you, or with favouritism?' Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing.

'Oh come on Harry, he's been tutoring you all summer, you're top of the class, he'll tutor you on Saturdays to make sure you remain top of the class and he refuses other student's request to learn more than they are meant to.'

'He wants me to do well in school Hermione, but he's not sabotaging anyone. You're already taking three electives instead of two, just like me. The two other classes you could be taking are Muggle Studies and divination. You're Muggle Born, you could be teaching Muggle Studies. And divination is a load of crap, just look what it's doing to Ron.'

'Hey, just leave me out of this.' Ron said.

'I don't think it's too late to switch, Ron.' Neville said quietly but Ron just glared at him took a piece of toast and stood up.

'I'm going ahead to Transfiguration.' When he left Hermione turned to Harry.

'What if it's not a load of crap, what if Ron really is in danger?'

Harry looked at her not believing this was the rational Hermione.

'We've been in some sort of danger every year since we've started school. This could be a way for us to learn about it in advance.'

'My gran also said it's not a reliable subject.' Neville cut it. 'But there are real prophecies, and real seers out there.'

Hermione turned to Harry.

'See, what if I am a real seer.'

Harry's face gave away what he was thinking.

'I could be.' Hermione said frowning and crossing her arms.

'Hermione, you're a logical person.' Harry said as if that made it clear she couldn't be a seer even though he had no way of knowing it.

'So what, logical people can't be seers? Who told you that?'

'Er, no one, but from what McGonagall is saying, the class is a bit of a joke and Trelawney doesn't seem like a really logical teacher.'

Hermione looked defeated.

'I just really wanted to take all the classes.'

'Why?'

Hermione sighed 'I'm Muggle born, Harry. I have no one who can recommend me for jobs and such. No important name to back me up. Only my mind and my knowledge. I have to work harder than you to make sure I get what job I want.'

'I'm sure Aries would recommend you. And you're top of the class.'

'Thanks, but I think this year, you are.'

'I just know a little more in Arithmancy. But you're still the best in Transfigurations and Charms, and I'll always be pants in Potions. And no one can beat Neville in Herbology.' Harry said making Neville blush.

'I guess.' Hermione smiled at him a little.

'Let's see how my test next week goes, and if I pass in 4th year Arithmancy I can lend you my books during summer. Maybe at the end of the beginning of next year you can take the test and go directly to fifth year.' That seemed to placate Hermione a bit and they hurried to class.


Duelling was probably the most anticipated class that week, but none wanted to get to it more than 3rd year Gryffindor which had the longest Wednesday of all finishing with Astronomy late in the night.

Harry was double excited about it since not only was it a new class, a real duelling class not that silly club Lockhart subjected them to last year, but it was also led by Tonks and Kingsley. The class was supposed to take place in the Charms Arena, aside from the Great Hall, the biggest room in Hogwarts. It was built like a stadium with the benches on 7 steps surrounding a big enough space for all third years to fit in comfortably and have room to spare.

To their surprise it wasn't just Tonks and Kingsley there but also Snape and the new teacher Lupin.

When everyone arrived, Kingsley detached himself from the other teachers.

'Good morning third years and welcome to your first Duelling lesson. My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt and aside from my colleague Miss Tonks, we will be joined today by your two teachers Mr. Snape and Mr. Lupin, who have been kind enough and agreed to keep an eye out so that we don't get any nasty accidents here.'

'I believe Madame Bones told you there will be no attendance for this course. What she didn't get around to explaining is the way this class will work. We have one hour and a half which will be divided into two sections. The first, about half an hour, will be a demonstration and an explanation of different aspects of duelling or new spells. We are talking here about competitive duelling, honour duels will be touched upon in later years.'

'The second part of this class is the practical part. For one hour you will take part in duels against each other in rotation. Each duel will last 10 minutes, you will each duel 5 to 6 times in a class, depending on the time needed for us to get through the demonstration at the beginning. Each duel you have will be monitored through wards set up in the floor. So, if you win a duel, you will get three points. If you're in a draw, you will get one point each and if you lose, you lose one point. What this magic also monitors are the spells you cast and your accuracy in hitting your opponent as well as your ability to deflect or stop an attack. This means that each spell you cast will receive points if cast correctly and if effective in either defence or offence. The points differ with the spell complexity and we will explain this as we show you new spells and techniques. Any questions so far?'

Everyone was too transfixed about the new method of grading that no one formulated any questions yet.

'Good, moving on. Once a month, at the end of each month we will have a special class where these grading and duelling rules will change. The how and what will be defined by your instructors that day and the possibilities are limitless. You will not have a final exam, but you will notice that at the end of the year there will be a Duelling class scheduled with your other exams. At that time you will receive your final points. There will be no pass or fail for this class, however, depending on your score you may be able to skip a year. Additionally to receiving your scores the top 8 students will have a chance to duel one of the eight more or less permanent instructors. No, you won't be able to choose who. It will be a surprise.'

That got people excited fast. But Kingsley knew how to make a room full of teenagers listen and soon enough he and Tonks were explaining the rules of professional duelling to them. At first it was more or less the formal part, the salute they had learnt from Lockhart's demonstration, the paces between opponents at the beginning and their first offence and defence spells. Harry already knew them, after all Kingsley had been drilling Protegos and Stupefys all summer. It was still fun to see the two Aurors duel though. Harry thought Kingsley would beat Tonks easily since she was at least ten years his junior. And he might have thought the older man held back, but he didn't think that was the case. And yet Tonks had held her own against a senior Auror. He didn't feel too bad now for losing to her over the summer.

The lesson turned more tense when they began their duelling tourney. Harry partnered up with Ron first, while Hermione went up against Neville. Unfortunately for both Ron and Neville that ended in defeat. Ron had held up for about five minutes mostly by dodging, but Neville was disarmed quickly and not by a very fast Expelliarmus from Hermione.

The next rotation Harry ended up duelling Antony who had won against Terry just two pairs down from him. Even though the Ravenclaw knew the spells he was trying well enough, unlike Harry, Antony rationalized his spell casting, reacting to Harry's spells rather than initiating attacks. It had worked on Terry whose mind worked more or less in the same Ravenclaw fashion, but against Harry's instinct and speed, he didn't last all 10 minutes.

'Damn it Potter. You had to ruin my winning streak.' Antony joked as Harry handed him back his wand and shook hands.

'One is a winning streak Goldstein?'

'If you have to get all technical about it.'

Harry chuckled before switching partners again, this time ending with Ernie McMillan. The Hufflepuff didn't need more than one Expelliarmus to be finished, somehow reminding Harry of Lockhart.

Next Harry ended up face to face with Goyle who probably thought he could murder Harry through his glare. But the slightly dim Slytherin, while huge enough to give Harry pause in a fist fight, was less threatening than Ernie at duelling distance. Harry managed to stun the brute with the first spell earning him his fourth consecutive victory.

Lupin who had been close by had smiled at Harry encouragingly before waking Goyle up. The Slytherin got up flush faced and stalked away without shaking Harry's hand, as duelling protocol dictated. Harry couldn't say he minded, he didn't fancy having his fingers crushed.

His next two opponents were Seamus Finnegan and Hannah Abbott. Seamus blew himself up just as Harry sent the stunner his way, which oddly enough acted as a shield that ricocheted the stunner towards another pair, hitting Goyle in the back and stunning him, relieving a scared looking Ravenclaw girl called Amy of having to duel with the Slytherin. Seamus was too stunned to realize that his duel with Harry wasn't over so Harry disarmed him quickly.

Hannah had good enough instincts and managed to pull up a shield in time to block Harry's first stunner but her shield was too wobbly and it collapsed at the third jinx Harry sent her way, the dancing legs jinx, before he disarmed her.

'If you wanted to ask me to dance you could have done that without cursing me.' Hannah said as he stopped the spell on her legs and handed her the wand back.

'But this way it's more fun.'

'Wait till Abigale hears about this. Both you and Tony have no manners, stunning and jinxing a girl.' She said in a mock hurt voice.

'Is she giving you a hard time for winning against her?' asked Tony as he and Susan finished their duel and since the class was almost over waited for the last two pairs to finish. 'Don't believe a word she's saying, they are anything but damsels in distress. AU!'

'Serves you right.' Susan said after pinching the Ravenclaw. 'Next time I won't go so easy on you.' Daphne Greengrass won against Millicent Bulstrode in the next second and Malfoy finally got some revenge on his former friend Crabbe by winning.

'Good job all of you. Just in case you were wondering about your scores, they will be visible for all of you here on this piece of parchment. This will remain stuck to the wall near the teacher's desk. If anyone wants to practice spells during the week, the Arena will be open for all each day after lunch. Next week your instructors will be Auror Gawain Robards and Auror Galatea Savage. Class dismissed.' With that Kingsley finished the first of many fun lessons.

Harry was top of the class alongside another six students who had managed to win all 6 matches: Theodor Nott, Susan Bones, Daphne Greengrass, Hermione Granger, Silvia Clearwater from Ravenclaw and Draco Malfoy.

'That was brilliant.' Harry said to his friends as they got out of class.

'Should have known you would be top of the class Harry.' Smiled Neville 'I'm at the bottom with -6 points.'

'Cheer up Neville, you can only get better from here.' Said Terry 'I'm not that far up myself.'

'I've never disarmed someone until now. And by the looks of it, I never will.' Neville continued to say.

'All you have to do is practice.' Said Hermione 'They said the Arena is free to practice every afternoon.'

'Yeah, why don't we meet up after classes and practice?' Said Terry

'I could do with some practice.' Neville said smiling.

'You're quiet.' Harry said falling back to where Ron was trailing them.

'It's nothing.'

'It's something. Did Hermione give you a hard time duelling?'

'She won, didn't she. You're both top of the class.'

'Yeah, well, we didn't duel against each other, I think that would change things pretty fast. And I had an easy time of it.'

'You duelled with me.' Ron said frowning.

'Not you.' Harry said quickly. 'I got Ernie and he's like a miniature Lockhart when it comes to duelling, also Goyle who's more troll than human.' Seeing as that didn't bring the laugh he had expected, Harry added 'If you want I can come with you after class and we can practice some more.'

'Aren't you going with Boot and Neville?'

'They can practice together.'

Ron's face lit up and he consented. 'I've heard Robards is Deputy Auror. Wonder what he'll show us next time.'

'Yeah, but Tonks and Kingsley were pretty cool too.'

'She is good, even though she's still a trainee. Nothing at all as her clumsy self from this summer.'

'Yeah, tell me about it. She defeated me in a duel during summer holidays.'

'You duelled her?'

'When she came by one day and Aries had to leave with Narcissa. I showed her around and she wanted to test the training room.'

'Must be nice to train during summer. How did Aries manage that?'

'Oh, it was a combination of things. Apparently if a parent or guardian fills out a form requesting to train the child at home and gives out a vow of keeping magic strictly on magical property you get permission to practice magic. Most pure blood families do that, otherwise kids can't learn their family's magic.'

'Mum and dad would never do that for me.'

'Why not?'

'Because I'm not the oldest. Family magic is usually passed on to the oldest son or daughter. And besides, mum doesn't like the idea of Fred and George being able to practice magic while at home. They get into too much mischief as it is.'

'Can't argue with her.' Harry sighed.


Draco finally showed Crabbe that he was still better than him, and would always be better than a stupid Crabbe. The week suddenly was feeling a bit better after three days of silent treatment from his house mates. But that feeling sunk low when he saw the notice board on Saturday morning. The Slytherin Quiddich team was looking for a new Seeker.


Harry's first Saturday morning lessons came with Dobby waking him up, his big watery eyes beaming down on him since the elf was on top of Harry's bed.

'Dobby?' Harry rubbed his eyes trying to figure out if it was real what he was seeing.

'Young Master Harry. Dobby has missed you, sir.' The elf said bowing low.

'Did you come with Aries?'

'Yes, sir. Master Blacky is here.'

'What time is it?' he must have overslept.

'It is 8 o'clock sir.'

'8? But lessons only start at 9.'

'Yes sir. Master Blacky just wanted to know if you wanted to have breakfast with him in his study.'

'He has a study at Hogwarts?'

'The governor's lounge has a study for the head governor.'

'Oh. Ok, yeah. Sure. Just let me get dressed and I'll come with you.'

'Dobby will wait sir.'

A quarter of an hour later Harry got to where Aries was. The man was drinking tea and reading the Daily Prophet as they came in but immediately put the newspaper down and got up to greet Harry.

They ate as they talked so that Harry got a glimpse of what was happening at the Ministry and how the talks were going for the revival of the Stonehenge Council while he told Aries how his new teachers were.

'How did you get Binns to step down?'

'It seems no one asked the ghost if he wanted to retire or not until this summer. When the governors proposed he be kept for the occasional lesson. The Ghost seemed rather relieved he didn't have to constantly teach anymore. I take it you like your new History teacher?'

'He's brilliant.'

'Glad to hear it. No problems with the other teachers either.'

'Nothing. Snape is still nasty but he's nasty to everyone and he's ignoring me.'

'Let me know if he's attitude becomes a problem. That's one thing that's still bothering me.'

'It's an improvement not having lessons with Slytherin anymore.'

'That's because all heads of houses will teach their house alone from now on.'

'Why?'

'Your head of house has to be given more time with you, to get to know you better and be able to help if there are any problems. We discussed it and it was decided that their time with you as a house should be reserved only for you. They are supposed to be more than teachers, something like councillors.'

'I guess it makes sense. Did you come up with all these changes?'

'No, it was a discussion between the staff and the governors. Though I did speak up when needed.'

'Nice.' Harry said finishing eating. 'So what are you going to teach me today?'

'I thought that with your Arithmancy test coming up next week we could revise for about an hour before turning to where we left off with Gobbledygook and French. Next week we will focus more on rituals. But I still want you to practice languages with Vögli.'

'I have been practicing. One hour in the morning: Mondays and Wednesdays is for French and Tuesdays and Thursdays for Goblin.'

'Very good. Now, Arithmancy, where are you having troubles?'

Harry took out the third year book he had been revising from and started asking questions. After an hour he was feeling if not certain at least confident that he could pass the test on Monday.

They were walking towards the castle entrance at the end of their two hour lesson when Harry mentioned Hermione.

'About the time turner. I asked Hermione why she wanted to take so many classes, and she said she needed to compensate being Muggle-Born. That it will be harder for her to get a job because she doesn't have wizards for parents. Is it true?'

'It is in a way true. There are some people who still care about blood status when hiring. But those are people who are narrow-minded and no one should want to work with or for them. Most employers however look at qualifications rather than your family tree.'

'It's still not fair.'

'No, it is not.'

'Can't you help her?'

'In what way?'

'I don't know, maybe have her join us for lessons on wizard society or maybe sponsor her.'

Aries stopped walking and eyed Harry frowning 'What is this all about, Harry?'

'She was pretty upset about the time turner thing. I thought maybe we could help her.'

'I understand you want to help your friend, but the lessons we have together have begun to touch on family magic and secrets. It would be unwise to allow Hermione in at this stage. Also, sponsoring her for me is not an option.'

'Why not?'

'Because I am a single wizard and she is an underage witch. It would be seen as improper.'

'Oh. Er, yeah. I can see that now.'

'Don't worry about this too much. Hermione has time to learn about the magical world, and with the new changes to the school she will have more opportunities than Muggle-Borns before her.'

'I guess.'

'Good, now, shouldn't you be at Quiddich practice already?'

Harry looked at the watch in the entrance hall and yipped. Aries was right and Oliver would kill him for being late.

'See you next week.' Aries said as the teen waved sprinting towards the changing rooms.

Aries turned to leave when his eyes met the honey coloured ones of Remus Lupin as the man was coming out of the Great Hall. He would have continued on his way, but the other man called him.

'Mr. Black.'

'Mr. Lupin.' Aries said his voice neither friendly nor hostile.

'I don't know what game you are playing but keep Harry out of it.'

'I'm not in the habit of playing games, Mr Lupin, least of all with my ward.'

'Lily and James wouldn't have wanted this. Your nephew betrayed them to their deaths, they would not have accepted a Black taking care of their son.'

'They appointed a Black as their son's guardian. And magic accepted me as such.'

'They were seduced into thinking that Sirius Black was different from his family, but they were wrong. All Blacks are the same and I will not let you corrupt Harry.'

'Your concern would have been touching had you shown it when the child needed it the most. I don't recall seeing you in Harry's life before now.'

'There were circumstances-'

'Yes, circumstances, like the ones keeping you from holding a job for too long, or taking on the teaching post 100% away from Binns. It baffles me how a simple three nights a month problem can keep such a concerned friend as yourself away from the boy for years.' Lupin grew white.

'You know nothing of my…problem.'

'And you know nothing of Harry. The baby you abandoned is nothing like the young man you've just met this week. Stick to your role as a teacher, Mr Lupin. It is more than you deserve.' Lupin looked like he had been slapped with a few hexes during duelling house after that exchange, but Aries simply continued his way to leave the school grounds, not a glimpse back. Nothing showed that the Black Lord had been phased by the confrontation, nothing but the tightly closed fist hidden by his cloak.


A/N: I know it was a long wait and thank you for the reviews. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. No time turner for Hermione will probably get Aries less likes from the Muggle Born, but honestly even if I did make up the possible health issues, the probability of something going wrong in the school is too high to give someone a device to potentially change time. In case you were wondering, it hasn't snowed yet and I am losing hope for snow this year. But skiing up up in the mountains is still possible, so yay! What do you think Remus will do after this tiny conversation with Mr. Black? Until next time, have a nice weekend, whatever is left of it.