Hello again. My issues have delayed this chapter a bit, even from the reduced schedule I outlined. My apologies. Thank you to my beta, KellhusTheKing, for kindly looking over this chapter. All remaining errors are, of course, my own.

Hank1967: Yeah, I thought that may be a bit too easy too. All I have to say in my defence is that I really didn't feel like writing a relationship arc at this stage! He had a few kisses, let's leave it at that!

Laern: We're never really told that there aren't any muggleborns in Slytherin. My assumption is that there might be one every couple of years, who are otherwise very good examples of Slytherin characteristics, and as such quickly learn that advertising their parentage is not a good idea!

Regarding Tracey, your point was so well made that I did something I very rarely do, which is go back and change the events after the chapter has been posted. It was a very small change, but handled that in a better way. I was really unsure about that too, and your review made me realize that it was better changed!

I'm glad you liked the interaction between Harry and Neville. You're definitely right that who we know is very important, and that was part of what I was getting at. Hermione really was quite annoying at the beginning. :)

"Unruly boys
Who will not grow up
Must be taken in hand
Unruly girls
Who will not settle down
They must be taken in hand

A crack on the head
Is what you get for not asking
And a crack on the head
Is what you get for asking"

The Smiths, Barbarism Begins at Home

Severus Snape arrived at the library just as Madam Pince was closing down for the evening. The stern librarian was, as usual, busy with removing some of the keenest students from her sanctum, although of course some just used the extensive library as a quiet place to sleep, or even engage in any other purpose that didn't make a noise, like reading non-school related material. He waited by Irma Pince's desk, watching the proceedings with a sneer. Most of the students in question were fifth year and above, as expected, even if there were some younger ones, notably, the bushy-haired know-it-all with whom he had to put up in his second year classes.

Once the room was cleared of all occupants, he could finally have the librarian's attention.

"Good evening, Irma. Busy day?" he asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Good evening, Severus," she replied. "It's never really busy until much later in the term, as you know," she added. "Just the most studious here now. Like your Potter, he's always here with Greengrass and Nott."

"Indeed?" Severus asked, grateful that he wouldn't even have to find a way to introduce the object of his enquiry. "Have they been in today, then?" he added.

"Oh yes. Potter checked out a few of the Defence Against the Dark Arts books. We'll run out of those soon," she said, pursing her lips, almost as if trying to suppress a smile.

"Indeed, more than a few of my Slytherins have asked for my advice on this matter," Severus replied, still smarting at being passed over for the post again, and in favour of that buffoon to boot. "I did not mean to cause a run on your books, although in this case I might suggest perhaps a reinforcement order from Flourish and Blotts might be advisable. Especially for the higher year materials. We would like our students to pass their OWLs and NEWTs, after all." Severus had little doubt that Irma Pince, like all other members of staff, had little regard for Lockhart. Even younger, female staff, who were normally his biggest fans, had lost any regard for the man they might have once had after they'd known him for more than a few hours.

"You might well be right Severus," she replied. "I'll owl them tomorrow, in fact. I'd hate for us to not be able to fulfill all our students' needs, after all." She replied with another thin smile. "But, what was it that brought you here, Severus?"

He'd been hoping she'd forget to ask that. Still, he hadn't made it so long in life without resourcefulness.

"Oh, I just realized I needed to consult a book I don't own a personal copy of. Potion Ingredients of the New World," he quickly came up with. "I rushed to get here before closing time."

"Oh, of course," she replied, before sticking out her wand to summon the book. Summoning books within the library was not possible for anyone but the librarian or the Headmaster. He wished Madam Pince (as he still thought of her from his student days) goodnight and retreated to his study, feeling a headache forming, as was so often the case when his thoughts veered towards the Potter boy.

He still couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry when he thought about how he'd ended up in Slytherin. And such a quick sorting too, like the hat thought there was little to it. Why couldn't the boy have made things easy and get sorted into Gryffindor like his parents? That would have been infinitely more preferable. He wouldn't have a duty of care towards this little James Potter lookalike who mocked him by wearing Slytherin house robes. It was like Potter Sr. was pranking him from beyond the grave.

And yet, for all that, Severus didn't doubt that the man would have hated to see his son in Slytherin house. Unlike Lily, who had never held Severus' house against him, he thought bitterly as he crossed the threshold of his study, and poured himself a dram of stiff firewhisky.

As he took a seat, he reflected on the events from earlier in the day. He'd known as soon as Greengrass and Nott approached him without Potter that something was up. Those three were pretty well nigh inseparable. Once you granted the fact that Potter was in Slytherin, there was nothing particularly odd about his friendship with Greengrass. Her family had been very good at keeping their heads down during the War, and were a very old, respectable pureblood family. He'd only met Christian Greengrass a couple of times, as the man was at least a decade older than Severus. But he obviously approved of the friendship, as he'd had the Potter boy over for the holidays.

Potter's friendship with Theodore Nott, though, was much more interesting. Of course Severus knew from his time in the Dark Lord's service, that the man was a Death Eater, and had not been under the imperius curse as he'd claimed. Not that he knew much more about him. Not only was Constantine Nott far older than Severus, but he was also far too conceited over his status as one of the Sacred Twenty Eight to give the time of day to a half-blood like Severus, fellow Death Eater or not.

He had not met the man at all since the War. He knew the circumstances of his wife's death were slightly strange, though. Maybe that went some way to explaining young Theodore's attitude. From what Severus had gathered, there was little love lost between father and son. He was still the old man's only heir, and in fact the only remaining Nott to carry on the family name. Severus wished he knew more than this. Yet when he noticed the Nott boy walking along with Potter on the first day of the previous year, he knew either or both of them wasn't exactly what their families would have expected. With a sneer, he wondered what, if anything, Nott Sr. thought about how close his son was to his master's nemesis.

No matter. When the two showed up without Potter, Severus knew something was up. Potter had worked with Nott without any issue during class, so it wasn't as if they'd had a fallout. No, they'd wanted something from him, and had known that having Potter there would not predispose him to grant him their request. Swirling the firewhisky around in his glass, Severus wondered how he would have reacted had Potter been the one to approach him, or been there with the others. Well, been there visibly. A quick surface legilimency told Severus that Potter was there under that damned cloak that Dumbledore had seen fit to give him.

Now it was objectively true that Potter owned the cloak, but the headmaster could have just stuck it in the boy's Gringotts vault with all the rest of his parents' possessions. There was no need to give it to him at school, where he was bound to misuse it. Not that using it to spy on the conversation Severus had had with Potter's friends was exactly misuse, even if it was still very disrespectful.

Still, that surface legilimency had also confirmed that, far from being too lazy to be interested in studying defence himself, he had actually been behind the whole idea of going to Severus all along. Of course, anyone could recognize that Lockhart's teaching, if one could even call it that, was completely subpar. But to actually be willing to do something about it at their age, and recognize that his presence could hinder rather than help things, showed an awareness, resourcefulness, and self-effacing that he'd never seen James Potter display.

No, Severus didn't know what to make of Harry Potter, but he started believing that for better or for worse, the Sorting Hat actually knew what it was doing when it placed the brat in Severus' house. He downed the rest of his firewhisky and picked up the book he'd got of Irma Pince. Maybe there'd be some exotic ingredient he could refer to in his NEWT classes, and the evening wouldn't have been completely wasted.

When Harry returned to the common room after dinner that day, he was feeling a lot more confident about his ability to keep up with the Defence Against the Dark Arts material, with the exception of practical spell work dealing with dark creatures. He was just going to have to hope that whoever taught him next year would help them make up for that.

As he moved towards his usual seat with his friends, he looked around for Trevor. He was very enheartened to spot him sitting in the first year corner, slightly apart from most other first years, but deep in conversation with the brown haired girl who'd seemed just as terrified as he was on his first night. After thinking for a second, Harry told his friends to wait a second as he rose and made his way towards the firsties.

Trevor looked apprehensive when he saw an older student move towards him, before relaxing when he realized it was Harry, even if he still looked surprised that he was coming to speak to him publicly.

"Hi Trevor," Harry greeted. He wasn't exactly drawing attention to himself, but he wasn't trying not to be seen talking to the younger boy. "Who's your friend?"

"Uh, hi Harry," he replied. Harry could see a few of the other firsties give them their attention, and smiled to himself. If he was going to be a celebrity, he might as well use his status for good once in a while. Especially for someone who, due to being muggleborn, didn't really think of him as a celebrity yet.

"Uh, this is Helen Fawley," Trevor introduced. Harry turned to her and smiled. This girl, on the other hand, definitely knew who he was, and was slightly awe struck. Harry tried to put her at ease.

"I'm Harry Potter," he introduced himself, even if he knew there was little need for introductions. "Nice to meet you Helen."

"Nice to meet you too," she said after a couple seconds of silence, but she managed to retain her presence of mind fairly well. For everyone else the novelty of going to school with the Boy-Who-Lived had worn off, but the firsties were still somewhat awed by him. Harry also recognized the name Fawley out of the Pureblood Directory, meaning that at least at some point, this girl's family was one of the Sacred Twenty Eight. He didn't remember reading anything other than the bare name, though, so that didn't tell him much.

"How are you finding Slytherin House," Harry asked her, lowering his voice just in case her answer wasn't very complimentary. She looked embarrassed at this.

"Well, all my family has been in Hufflepuff, so it's been a bit of a shock," she replied, her voice low but steady. Harry nodded.

"All my family's been in Gryffindor," Harry said, even if he knew his case it was a bit different, as for better or for worse, they weren't alive to be disappointed about his house. "Keep an open mind. Slytherin will lead you to greatness," he said. "I'm glad you're doing well Trevor," he added, turning to the boy. "See you around. Nice meeting you Helen."

With that, Harry returned to his friends, leaving the rest of the firsties casting curious glances at the duo. Ted and Daphne also gave him an interested look when he returned.

"Are you looking to replace us with firsties?" Daphne asked with a grin as Harry took his seat beside them. Harry chuckled in reply, shaking his head.

"Nah, I'm just doing my good deed of the week," he replied. "I'll explain later." He wasn't going to reveal much of what Trevor had told him, as that was his business, but even what little he wanted to say would have to wait for privacy. So they spent the rest of the evening playing exploding snap and not worrying very much about Lockhart, or the firsties, or anything else that had been troubling them up to then.

Still, it was with excited relief that Harry finally headed to bed, slightly earlier than his usual time. When he did, he began devouring Essential Conjuration Basics, as he'd been raring to do since getting his hands on it. It wasn't very easy reading, and that added to the late hour gave him a headache as he tried to make progress, sometimes having to guess at what a certain term he hadn't encountered yet meant.

Yet after a couple of hours, things began to make sense. It was late, the dorm was dark, and everyone else looked and sounded like they were asleep, yet Harry still cast a couple of sound blocking and privacy charms before daring to attempt his first conjuration.

The book suggested a few simple items to try first. Apparently solid objects were easier to start with, as their solidity made them more distinguishable from the surrounding air than liquid. That was the opposite of what Harry expected, as the change from air to liquid seemed smaller. But thinking about it, he guessed that the intention was to facilitate the operation on the caster's mind.

He finally opted to try to conjure a glass bead. It was a simple material, which he was well familiar with, and the shape was not intricate or complicated. He wasn't going to care if the conjured bead was not perfectly spherical, after all. So he closed his eyes and tried to visualize the result as best as he could. Then he began to visualize the process for it to come into existence from thin air, moving his wand in the prescribed movements. He did this a few times, concentrating on the points the book described as key, before thinking he was ready to give it a try.

After taking a deep breath, Harry finally opened his eyes, and did exactly as he'd practised, but this time uttering the incantation. He almost felt something. He always had a better feel for what he could only describe as the flow of his magic when doing Transfiguration than anything else, and that seemed to carry over to conjuration. He took a deep breath and went over exactly what he'd done, trying to find any place where he felt like he wanted to deviate from the standard movements.

A second failed try with a slight change made him feel like he was closer. He could almost feel the air rippling at the end of his wand, begging to be turned into glass. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was feeling very tired, but was determined to get this working that night. He went through every single step in his mind again, trying to sense where his magic wanted him to go. He didn't know if that actually made any sense, but it was what it felt like to him.

In another try, he still adhered to the wand movements, but let his hand loosen and worried much less about precision, focusing instead on visualizing the results, which was what worked best for him in normal transfiguration. He wasn't sure if it'd work, but was rewarded with a small glass bead popping out of the end of his wand and falling down onto his duvet.

He collapsed onto the bed, a wide smile splitting his face open. The reading and practising had given him a headache, but he suddenly felt much less sleepy. He felt exhilarated, like he'd just won a marathon. Well, at least he assumed that's what winning a marathon would feel like. Regardless of that, he felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Not only had he succeeded, but it had felt natural, just like regular transfiguration did. He had to try again to convince himself that he hadn't imagined it, but after the second success, he just lay there with a big, dumb grin on his face. He didn't know how long he was like that before sleep overtook him.

Harry had been watching the notice board in the Slytherin common room like a hawk, eagerly waiting for any news of the duelling club's establishment. His enthusiasm was finally rewarded on Friday, when the announcement appeared at last. Professor Flitwick had agreed to be the club's faculty sponsor, and the first meeting would be held on Saturday evening, at eight o'clock, in the Great Hall.

This announcement was met with great enthusiasm, not only from Harry and his friends, but from many other Slytherins. That was what Harry had been hoping for if a club was going to be established.

So it was with excitement that Harry, Ted, and Daphne made their way to the Great Hall. Even despite the somewhat less than ideal timing on a Saturday afternoon, a significant number of students had turned up. What's more, there was a good deal of younger years, which Harry had also been hoping for. While he was sure he'd learn a lot from older years, he would like to practise with someone he could actually hope to beat.

Unfortunately, in addition to Professor Flitwick, who Harry had been expecting to see, and who was indeed waiting for them at the end of the Great Hall, where the staff table normally was, Lockhart was there too. He was standing around looking very full of himself, as usual, his chest puffed up and sauntering around like he was the reason people were there.

The tables were gone from the Great Hall, which made it look much more massive. As eight o'clock drew near, Harry glanced around to find pretty much all Gryffindors in his year were in attendance, even Longbottom and Granger. He'd definitely not expected that. Susan Bones was there too, which Harry didn't find that surprising considering her aunt's position. He wondered if Madam Bones had taught Susan any spells that'd be useful in duelling. He gave her a nod as he looked for any of his other acquaintances from different houses. He saw Cedric Diggory with two Hufflepuffs who looked about his age, but not Anthony Goldstein nor Morag MacDougal. He did see Alex Campbell, though, looking very determined while wearing his prefect badge.

Closer to home, he noticed Trevor McRae and Helen Fawley together in quiet conversation. Harry was happy to see them finding their feet and making virtue out of adversity. He was interrupted from his observations when Professor Flitwick raised his wand and made it emit a loud bang, instantly quieting everyone. The tiny man was about to speak when Lockhart cut him off.

"Thank you Filius," he said with a beaming countenance, even if Flitwick looked very unhappy about being interrupted. "Welcome to the Duelling Club, everyone! Can you all see and hear me?"

As everyone hemmed and hawed at this, the man went on.

"I'm here to help you all learn how to defend yourselves, as I've done countless times," he said with his smarmy smile. "And of course, Professor Flitwick is here to assist me," he added. Harry frowned, while Flitwick shot the man a murderous look. Harry wouldn't hesitate to place a bet on the outcome of a duel between the two of them.

"We'll start with a little demonstration of proper duelling technique. Don't worry, though, your Charms professor will still be with us when I'm through with him," he said, laughing at his own joke. Harry actually smiled at this, but he was laughing at Lockhart. He couldn't believe the man was actually putting himself in a position to get shown up like this. He had no doubt that Flitwick was going to wipe the floor with the git.

The two professors, if Lockhart could be called that, turned to each other and bowed formally. Lockhart's bow was very flamboyant, whereas Flitwick's was almost a pro forma. Harry had never seen the normally cheerful man so irritated.

"This is the normal position for starting, holding our wands out like this," Lockhart began. "Well cast our spells on the count of three. Of course, we'll be gentle with each other," he added with a flourish. Not that Harry believed that in the slightest, given Flitwick's demeanour.

"One, two, three," Lockhart intoned. On the count of three, Flitwick cried "Stupefy!" and a now familiar jet of red light left the end of his wand and connected with Lockhart's body, making him fall stunned on the floor. Quite a few people cheered at this, and Harry might have even been one of them.

"Well, that was a much quicker duel than usual," Flitwick remarked, suddenly in much higher spirits. He made no move to revive Lockhart. Instead, he turned to the assembled students. "I've used what's known as the Stunning Spell. Those of you who have passed your OWLs will hopefully know this, as it's part of the fifth year curriculum in Defence. As the name indicates, it stuns the person on whom it is successfully cast, and results in an automatic loss in a formal duel. It is a very useful spell, and part of the essential repertoire of any successful duelist, though I wouldn't expect the youngest among you to be able to cast it successfully yet."

"What I would expect you to be able to do," he continued, "is to cast the Disarming Charm. Its incantation is Expelliarmus," he intoned, as he demonstrated the required wand movement. "Mr. Potter, would you care to demonstrate," he said, turning to Harry. Harry blushed slightly at the sudden exposure. Still, in a way he was heartened by the Professor's show of trust.

"Of course, sir," Harry replied, stepping forward as heads turned to look at him. He glanced at Lockhart's still slumping, sleeping form, and grinned. He hoped Flitwick wouldn't revive him for the duration of the meeting.

"Fantastic," Flitwick beamed. "Now I'll serve as the test subject, and not make any attempt to defend myself. Although in normal circumstances, the Shield Charm would be the standard defence against this spell," he added, before raising his wand. "Now, Mr. Potter, please disarm me," he said with a smile. Harry nodded. He knew this was Flitwick's idea of a reward for making the suggestion to get the club rolling. While he didn't like being in the spotlight, he appreciated the man's intention-and especially the professor's willingness to have him cast a spell on him.

"Expelliarmus," Harry cried, knowing Flitwick could have easily blocked the spell if he'd so wished. But, of course, the whole point was to allow himself to be hit, and so the Professor stood idle while Harry's spell hit him, causing his wand to go flying out of his hand, as the Professor was hurled slightly backwards.

"Very good, Mr. Potter," the Professor praised, before saying "Accio wand," making his wand fly off the floor into his hand. Harry's eyes widened at that casual display of extremely impressive magic. "Did everyone catch his actions? Please demonstrate the movements again," Flitwick said, and Harry nodded, making the fairly simple wand movements again. "Excellent. Did everyone get that?"

As no one admitted to not getting it, Flitwick began to instruct them to pair up and try the two spells that had been demonstrated, according to their age. Of course, while he knew that Harry could cast the Shield Charm, he'd never owned up to being able to cast the Stunning Spell.

"I suppose it's only fair that you get to face a fellow second year. Let's see…" After his eyes roamed the assembled students, Flitwick finally came to a decision. "Miss Granger," he said, causing Harry to groan inwardly. He didn't really hold Granger in any sort of contempt, like Malfoy did, but he didn't particularly like her either.

Ted had paired up with Daphne, so Harry supposed it was just as well. Granger would probably be a challenge, anyway. For all that he found her annoying, he never doubted her competence. He needed to face challenges if he was to get better.

After bowing to each other, they stood waiting for Flitwick's count of three. Once he did, Granger cried out "Expelliarmus," sticking to the approved curriculum as ever. Harry retorted with "Protego," deflecting it harmlessly away before casting the Disarming Charm. He saw Granger's eyes widen at his successful shielding, but she managed to dodge his Disarming Charm. While he'd not expected her to be so agile, he was not left without recourse. He cast a spell he'd seen Daphne use before, yelling "Levicorpus," and successfully managing to get her. She was lifted up into the air, dropping her wand in the process and thus securing Harry's victory. As good as she was, Harry didn't think she'd be able to cast Flitwick's wandless accio.

So Harry picked up her wand and held it up, after cancelling the spell and casting a featherweight charm on her for gallantry's sake. He didn't want her to fall face first into the floor, after all. He quickly handed her back her wand and bowed again. Granger seemed a bit out of sorts, like she couldn't believe she'd been beaten by a fellow second year, but to her credit, took it well enough. She took her wand back from Harry's hand and returned his bow. Flitwick appeared almost out of nowhere.

"Ah, Miss Granger," he began. "Mr. Potter is very quick on his feet, but that was an effective casting of the disarming charm," he commented, before moving on to the next pair of duelling students.

"You can cast the Shield Charm?" Granger asked. "I thought that was a fifth year spell!" Harry shrugged.

"I guess it is, but it's not that hard. I'm sure you could do it with a little bit of practice," he admitted. "I could, after all." He said with a wry smile. He didn't have any illusions about how skilled Granger was. Being annoying did not mean being a bad witch or wizard.

He cast a glance around to see how everyone else was doing. Flitwick was doing a good job managing the students, but it was still something of a controlled chaos. Most duels seemed to have run their course, especially among the younger years. Just as he turned towards them, Ted finally managed to hit Daphne with a strong tickling charm, which gave him the opportunity to disarm her as she was laughing herself silly.

Moving his gaze towards the older students, he found Alex Campbell, who was still engaged in a duel with an older Gryffindor whom Harry did not recognize. They had drawn a fair amount of onlookers, even if the duellists weren't making things easy on them, as they were casting all spells nonverbally. Seeing it in action, Harry began to really understand the importance of silent casting. If one did not have to say the incantation out loud, the opponent had much less time to work out how to react. He still remembered his failed attempt at casting Lumos silently the previous year, though. Then again, he had learned a fair bit since then. Maybe it was time for another attempt.

That was for later, though. For now, he just tried to work out what was happening in the duel. As it turned out, he didn't have to wait long, as Alex, his brow covered in sweat, had a sudden inspiration and, instead of throwing curses and hexes, used transfiguration to affect the floor where his opponent stood. Harry couldn't tell exactly what Alex had done, but it caused the Gryffindor to lose his footing momentarily, causing his spell to go off course (and hit a third year Hufflepuff, who yowled in pain), and giving Alex the opportunity to hit him with what Harry recognized to be the Stunning Spell. The duel was finally over, with the Gryffindor toppling over, unconscious.

There were a couple of seconds of silence before a few people let out cheers. Even Harry kind of felt like he wanted to clap. That had been a seriously impressive display on the part of both. Flitwick clearly agreed as he brought the unconscious Gryffindor back to the land of the living.

"Very well done Mr. Campbell. That was a very creative use of Transfiguration. Even though I'm naturally partial to my own Discipline, using Transfiguration in duelling contexts has tremendous potential, though it is very hard to master." The diminutive professor gave Alex a look of pride which was, doubtless because the Scottish muggleborn was a Prefect of Flitwick's own Ravenclaw House.

"And well done to you too Mr. Pargiter," Flitwick added as he turned to the Gryffindor. "This duel could have easily gone either way."

Pargiter took his wand back from Flitwick and bowed to Alex with a smile, before going up to him and shaking his hand as well.

"Well, that was pretty bloody impressive," Daphne said, startling Harry slightly as she and Ted came up beside him while he'd been distracted. Harry nodded.

"It really was. I definitely want to get into duelling now!" Harry exclaimed with a determined expression. Daphne gave him a calculating gaze, just as Flitwick spoke behind them.

"Well, Mr. Potter, if the level of attendance we're seeing tonight continues over the next few weeks, we may just be able to grant your wish, and even hold our own internal duelling competition," he said, as Harry jumped slightly away, startled after not having noticed the Professor approach them.

"Now, you seemed to be having no trouble casting the Disarming Spell," Flitwick continued. "Nor either of you, Mr. Nott, Miss Greengrass. Would you be so kind as to volunteer to teach the spell to anyone who hasn't quite mastered yet? The quicker everyone has learned that spell, the sooner we can move on to bigger things."

Harry pondered this for a second. He wondered if this was some sort of test on Flitwick's part. Since it had been his idea to start the club, would he be willing to shoulder some of the work of getting it going? Well, even if it wasn't a test, Harry's decision would be the same.

"Of course, sir," he replied. He knew from tutoring Tracey in Transfiguration that one of the best ways of getting better at something was to teach it, after all.

"Excellent," Flitwick beamed, before pairing him with a couple of first years he didn't know, but who introduced themselves as Samantha Edwards, from Hufflepuff, and James Owen, from Gryffindor.

"Can you show me how you've been trying to cast the spell?" he asked, and watched carefully as they both attempted, and failed, to cast it on each other. Afterwards, he nodded, turning to James first, as his problem was much more obvious.

"You need to be more deliberate with your wand movements," he told him. The boy was listening avidly, his own initial reluctance to learning from a Slytherin having melted almost completely when he realized this Slytherin was Harry Potter. "Don't half-arse it. Keep your wrist firm throughout the whole spell," he told him, before turning to Samantha.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure about what you're doing wrong. But just at the end, when you finish the incantation, did you flick your wand up?" She shook her head.

"No, I know that's not the right movement," she replied.

"Did you feel like you wanted to, though?" Harry asked. "Would that have felt right?" The Hufflepuff nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it felt like that's what I should be doing, you know," she replied.

"Well, try doing that this time," Harry instructed, before letting them position themselves for casting the spell on each other again.

"Expelliarmus," James cast first, with a much more well defined set of wand movements. The default movements clearly worked for him, because this time he succeeded in disarming Samantha, even if he could probably still use some practice, as the effect wasn't very strong. At least that meant they didn't have that far to go to recover her wand.

"Well done. Keep practising, but you're doing a much better job," he told him as he returned from gallantly fetching Samantha's wand. James looked very happy at receiving praise from the Boy-Who-Lived, and that he had finally managed to cast the spell in general.

"Your turn," Harry told Samantha.

She nodded and did as Harry had suggested to her, modifying the wand movements slightly. This was rewarded by a successful disarmament, with James' wand flying quite far away. Harry was about to go retrieve it himself, when Professor Flitwick appeared beside him again. He really was able to move very quietly!

"Accio James Owen's wand," Flitwick cast, making the wand come flying into his hand, before handing it over to the Gryffindor boy. "Well done you two, keep practising," Flitwick told them, before turning to Harry, a broad smile on his face.

"That was very well done, Mr. Potter. I see that, like many talented students before you, you've also discovered that wand movements and pronunciation guides in books are at best rough guides."

Harry nodded slowly. He hadn't exactly discovered it by himself, but the Professor didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, it's really made learning new spells much easier. Sometimes I felt like I was banging my head against a wall." Flitwick nodded.

"That's why learning with a more experienced witch or wizard can be so much more effective than learning from books," he explained. "You've done very well in teaching those two, Mr. Potter. I think it warrants ten points to Slytherin," he said, beaming. Harry couldn't help but smile at the unexpected gift.

"Thank you, sir!" he replied.

"I really hope everyone will at least be able to cast this spell after tonight. Do not underestimate the Disarming Charm because it is simple to cast, Mr. Potter. I've used it many times in my duelling career to considerable success. It really should be learned by every single witch and wizard."

Harry nodded again. He could certainly see Flitwick's point. With a nod, the man moved on, finding other students to instruct. Harry looked around to see OWL level students were practising the Stunning Spell instead, and allowed himself a small grin at the knowledge that he could already cast that. Meanwhile, the NEWT level students were focused on silent casting. Harry could recognize some of the spells by their colours and effects.

He noticed his friends seemed to have successfully handled any teaching commission Flitwick had given them, and were now duelling each other again. Harry went forth to rejoin them.

"Rematch?" he asked.

"We've done a few already," Ted replied. His brow was covered in sweat and he sounded out of breath, but he looked like he was having fun.

"We're pretty evenly matched," Daphne added. "We keep winning in turns."

"How did you do with the firsties?" he asked.

"They were alright. I even managed to get a Slytherin, but Daphne was saddled with two Gryffindors," Ted told him. Daphne rolled her eyes.

"They wouldn't really listen to me, so I just began to cast the spell on them until they learned it," she said with a grin. "They'll probably be telling all their mates how the evil Slytherin cursed them now."

Harry shook his head, just as Flitwick sounded a loud bang off his wand again.

"I think we'll conclude the first meeting of the Reconstituted Duelling Club here," he said. "Thank you all for coming. I hope to see all of you again next week."

Some students began filing out almost at once, but others remained behind, talking to their friends or duelling partners. It was nice to see students interacting with members of other houses to a much greater extent than usual. Flitwick approached Harry again before they could leave.

"Ah, that was really invigorating," he said with his usual smile. "I had really forgotten how much I enjoyed these. I'm starting to think I should be the one thanking you for coming to me with this suggestion."

"I'm sure it's mutually beneficial, sir," Harry replied, returning Flitwick's smile. "Thanks again for arranging this. I'll be here next week. Oh, I think with all the excitement you must have forgotten to wake up Professor Lockhart," he added with a grin. "Completely natural, of course."

Flitwick chuckled at this.

"Oh, dear me, so I have. What an oversight," he replied.

"See you later, Professor," Harry made to join his friends on the way out, as Flitwick headed towards Lockhart's still prone form.

"What did you guys think?" Harry asked, as they made their way towards the dungeons.

"That was pretty damn good," Daphne replied. Harry turned to Ted, who nodded.

"Yeah, it was good fun. Especially Granger's face when you beat her," he said with a grin. As they proceeded further towards the lower levels of the castle, the corridors got more and more deserted. It was late, and Harry and his friends had lingered behind a bit, so most of the other Slytherins who had attended the meeting were gone by the time they set out.

It was slightly eerie. Because it was Saturday night, they were not breaking curfew, but it still felt like they shouldn't be out. Their steps echoed abroad through the empty corridors. Harry felt himself suddenly wary. He had a fine instinct for detecting when trouble was about to go down, and he found himself in a state of heightened awareness, reaching for his wand, even before he heard the rustle of robes and the shouted incantations.

"Petrificus Totalus," and "Langlock," which hit Daphne and Harry, respectively, before any of them could do anything.

As usual, I would really appreciate any reviews. In particular, I'd love to know what worked for you, and what didn't.