Chapter 4

Today was Halloween, and the students were all excited and it wasn't due to the usual holiday festivities. Today Professor Granger and Professor Snape were going to be duelling one another.

Fred and George were placing bets on who was going to win. The pool was split between 45-55 for the odds. Many people assumed that Snape was secretly better than Granger but all of them were hoping to see Snape thrown to his arse. Harry and Ron were one of these people.

Everyone had attended the feast. Harry could see Cho pass through the crowds of students to make her way to sit with the other Ravenclaws. Harry could feel a flutter in his chest when she looked at him. But looking at her only made him think of Cedric which was not what he wanted to think or talk about tonight. Tonight he was excited to see what would happen during this duel and the outcome of course.

Everyone quickly ate their dinner and was almost agitated in their seats as they waited for the final event to begin. Suddenly, Dumbledore clapped his hand and all of the tables got pushed to the side while the students were still seated for a clear area to be made. Everyone quieted immediately.

Dumbledore stood up and began to address the school, "As you are no doubt aware we will all be watching a demonstration duel. As you can see all of the staff members are present in case a problem arises. I recommend that no one moves from their seat during this demonstration though to ease your young minds there is a shield charm placed in between you and the duelling area." This demonstration is to be taken seriously and I hope that despite this being an educational experience you will all enjoy the show." Dumbledore sat down after his little speech, giving the cue for Professor Granger to take the lead.

Both she and Snape stood up and made their way to the center of the hall. Snape stalked towards the exit doors before turning around and facing professor Granger who stood closer to the staff table. Professor Snape forgoed his black cloak in preparation for the fight. While Professor Granger wore combat boots instead of her heels. She also decided to wear a long sleeve shirt instead of a blouse. Her wardrobe was grey in comparison to Snape's usual black.

"Alright," Professor Granger said. "We are going to begin with verbal spells and then quickly transition into nonverbal ones. As I warned all of the students in class, though I will repeat myself, this will be as realistic to a duel as you will be able to see. We will be injuring one another and causing each other pain. Don't be alarmed if there are broken bones, or blood is shown. As you can see Madam Pomphrey is here to heal us if things take a turn for the worse." Harry could practically feel as the hall filled up with excitement. "The duel will end when either one of us is unconscious, too injured to continue, or we are both too exhausted to continue. The duel could also end in a possible draw or if for whatever reason the Headmaster decides that we are both taking the duel too far and stops us himself." Snape never said anything during the preparation, simply waiting to begin.

"As per an agreement between myself, professor Snape and the Headmaster, we will be allowed to use dark magic against one another if we so choose. Though I warn you to know those spells will be nonverbal and if any student is caught researching and trying to replicate those spells they will be severely punished and will have to spend at least six months in detention. That is if they are not suspended first. You are all warned." A shiver ran down Harry's spine at this. Though her statement was serious and threatening it was the way she said this that was truly terrifying. She suddenly turned towards Harry and his friends. Her voice took on a lighter tone. "Ohh before I forgot. Hermione, you will not be affected in any way by this duel. So if he, for example, breaks one of my ribs you shouldn't all of a sudden experience chest pain. But by the off chance that you get a nosebleed or a suddenly strong headache please make contact with one of the professors and we will stop the duel immediately." From the way, the students were looking at her. It was almost silently spoken that even if she got a nosebleed she better not stop this once-in-a-lifetime duel. "Also don't take it personally if he, you know, seriously hurts me and throws me around like a rag doll." She ended with a smile though Harry didn't feel very reassured by her words clearly Hermione did since she exhaled quite loudly.

They stood on opposing sides facing one another with their wands drawn. They were about 10 ft apart. The students kept looking back and forth between the two. Wondering who was going to strike first. After the first few seconds, Professor Granger struck first. Though Snape was easily able to defend himself. For the first few minutes, they used verbal spells. Harry was able to distinguish a body-bound hex, trip jinx, and a slicing charm. But it was apparent that by saying the spells verbally they were giving away their attack and was slowing down the duel. It was a match between the two. A ball in a tennis court going from one side to another.

It was a silent agreement that this was going nowhere. They switched to nonverbal spells and things started to heat up. They were both vindictive fighters and were ruthless in their attacks. Back and forth they traded hexes, always able to dodge or block the incoming spells. Snape struck quickly and efficiently while Granger seemed to try to distract him for him to lose his concentration but neither seemed to gain the upper hand.

It was getting intense between the two and the seriousness of the duel almost looked like they were attempting to seriously harm the other. Professor Granger hit him with a reductor curse that penetrated his shield charm. It hit him directly in the chest but that just seemed to make him angrier. His eyes flared in darkness and he attacked with a vengeance. But Granger was able to dodge a nasty curse that he sent in return. The two were sweating. And just when you thought one of them was gaining the upper hand the other would retaliate in kind.

Throughout students gasped, awed, and oohed as they engaged one another. Various colours flashed between the two. Blues, greens, yellows and purples were visible. They moved so quickly that it was difficult to see the movement their wands were doing. But it was clear that their spells did aim true. Several times Granger had to dive out of the way or Snape stumbled back due to a powerful spell. Snape sent out a whip-like light which seemed to cut professor Granger but even with specks of blood starting to form on her shirt she didn't stop or stand down. In fact, she seemed to become more aggressive. Harry couldn't tell if they were using dark magic or if most of the spells they were using were simply ones he never knew about.

Snape disarmed Granger but even as he stood only a few feet from her and held her at wand point the fire in her eyes did not die. Everyone waited with bated breath. It was clear by no one calling out stop or mercy that this wasn't over with. Granger suddenly kicked her leg out and up. She knocked his wand out of his hand with her foot. She was quick and concise that Snape was unable to defend himself against that attack.

Even without a wand she still fought back and now both she and Snape were unarmed. But that clearly didn't matter to either of them. They kept fighting just this time without magic. They started to fight using muggle combat skills. But this was different from any muggle fight Harry had ever seen.

Despite throwing punches each other's way. They never laid a fist on one another. They were too quick in blocking the other. Their legs moved in a dance with one another as though it was choreographed. The way they sidestepped, swept, kicked and thrust against one another. They hit each other several times. Enough to knock their opponent back. But not enough to subdue them. It was clear both had much experience when it came to muggle combat and it looks as though they were professionally trained.

Most students could say that they wanted to punch Snape in his oversized beak for years. Harry daydreamed about it during his class but no one ever had the stones to take a swing. Though she never made contact it was obvious that if she did hit him it was going to hurt.

Suddenly Snape was able to hook his foot around her leg and she fell to the ground but not before bringing him down with her. Both suddenly used wandless magic and their wands were in their hands but it didn't matter since the duel was over. Harry could hear some people gasp out in shock over how the duel ended or their current position but Harry was too busy trying to think and remember how they ended up here. Snape was on top of Granger. Though he kept his weight hovering above her. He had her pinned to the ground and had his wand pointed at his throat. But despite being on the bottom Granger had her wand pointed at Snape's chest.

It was essentially a draw. There was no way to go forward and the both of them realized it. Moving to lean back on his knees. Professor Granger offered her a hand in surrender and Snape proceeded to help the both of them stand. The two were out of breath and exhausted from the duel. The pair were both bleeding from their injuries, luckily they appeared to be minor. Granger had strands of hair falling out of its restraints. Her lip was busted and bleeding. She winced and grabbed her shoulder which was dangly loosely at her side. Snape on the other hand had a look of indifference on his face though he limped when he moved. He also seemed to be taking deep breaths. Everyone was shocked and impressed. They knew Snape was good but they had no idea how good he was. Then there was Professor Granger; it was clear from her wisdom and lectures that she was experienced with fighting, but hearing about and seeing it was a whole other story.

Dumbledore withdrew the wards around the students and conjured up a bench for both of the professors. It wasn't noticeable on his face but the other professors were clearly impressed by the outcome of the duel.

Professor Granger was clutching her stomach as she addressed the student body. "Alright. As you can see we are both tired and injured. Madam Pomphrey would be so kind while you are healing us to also list off our injuries and their severity for the students."

Madam Pomphrey busied herself right away. Running diagnostic spells over the pair of them before turning towards Professor Granger. "You have a busted lip, you're lucky you didn't get a broken jaw. Your shoulder is dislocated and the socket was practically shattered." She started mending her arm right away but it was clear from her description that it wasn't an easy fix and that she would probably have to wear a sling for a couple of days. Unfortunately, magic wasn't an end all be all. It could accelerate healing to the point where the wound looks like it never existed. But it had its limitations just like all things. "Your liver is ruptured and requires serious medical attention." She gave a side-eye to the other injured professor. Clearly disapproving of the spells they were allowed to use for the mock duel. You were hit with a dark curse. Right now it is manifesting as a concussion and a hairline fracture on your skull but if you went to sleep you wouldn't be waking up. You would be in a coma from bleeding in the brain if the magic didn't kill you." The professor winced and flinched every now and then as the matron examined her. It only took a few minutes before she directed her attention to Snape. But Harry thought that it would take much longer to heal the injuries. He was guessing that madam Pomphrey was just stabilizing the wounds until they were alone.

"And Professor Snape here has three broken ribs and a damaged knee. His broken lungs are rubbing against his lung and if he moved the wrong way he couldn't puncture his lung and die. Then from dark magic, he has intensive internal bleeding. In the next hour without treatment, his organs would be caving in on themselves. It didn't escape Harry's notice that she said dark magic. He knew that professor Granger said everything was fair game but he assumed that only Snape would use that kind of magic, not her. But that just shows that everything and anything can happen in a fight. It wasn't a comforting thought and it wasn't supposed to. This was the reality of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Dark Arts was in the name of the course and yet most professors skimmed over that area. The dark arts seemed like a forbidden area of magic that would send anyone a one-way ticket to Azkaban. But from the lessons, Harry was learning that there are different levels of magic and some areas of the dark arts are more taboo than anything else. Apparently, when an individual gains their mastery in potions they have to use one of the unforgivables in order to retrieve potion ingredients from animals. And that some of the ingredients they use in healing potions are considered of the darker variety. This explains why Snape has a background knowledge of the dark arts. Though Harry assumed he was more knowledgeable on the subject than most potion professors.

"That is not including the bruising, fatigue and the blood loss both of them experienced. Though most of the cuts didn't hit any vital areas they are still infected with residual magic. If not cleansed properly they could both experience toxic shock syndrome and have long-lasting nerve damage." Madam Pomphrey turned her attention back to the professors after addressing the students. She stood with her hands on her hips as she lectured the pair of them. "If without medical treatment the both of you would be dead in the next couple of hours. Though all injuries are treatable and won't have any lasting damage besides the pair of you are going to feel very sore tomorrow. I suggest we don't have another demonstration anytime soon.

Professor Granger; once given the all-clear by the healer, stood up and addressed the school. "Why did he win?" This came as a surprise to Harry and many of the students. Most of them would have considered it a tie. But Snape was the one standing and professor Granger was on the ground. Or maybe based on their injuries Snape hit her with worse spells. But Harry couldn't tell. Both of them walked away and neither was hit unconscious. But who was he to say who won or not? He couldn't exactly disagree with the professor who fought in the duel.

"Remember back to my lessons," she gave as a hint.

Everyone was stumped. They knew what she was asking but since there was no clear winner in their minds how could they relate what happened to the curriculum. "I mean we were both quite fast. Both of us were able to dodge the others' spells and cast them quickly. "We were both strong-willed to win despite the fight not ending in death or serious maiming. And for who is smarter. I will not get into a debate on that subject, I will only say that we are both quite well matched." That had to be the most diplomatic answer Harry had ever heard. By outright refusing to say one was smarter than the other she didn't insult or undermine one of them. But by saying they were on an even playing scale, she did not insult one of them since the duel was almost a tie. "What was his advantage?"

"Magical power?" Someone asked.

"Maybe I mean we both injured each other fairly evenly. So it is hard to tell based on the duel to determine who is more magically powerful."

"Physical strength," a Hufflepuff asked. Referring to when the two used hand-to-hand combat.

"Yes in a way, him being physically stronger did help him pin me down in the end but that wasn't his advantage. Anyone else?"

Harry honestly had no clue what the answer could be. But Hermione seemed to when she suggested, "Experience."

"Yes, experience. I have been in my fair share of duels. But he has over a decade of experience on me. Been in dozens if not a hundred more duels than me. And clearly, he has won all of them."

"How do you know that? You're from an alternate dimension." Malfoy asked.

"He wouldn't still be alive if he lost." Snape didn't address Professor Granger nor did he say anything to the healer. Though Graner did give her thanks for his assistance and praised his spells and footwork. It was hard to tell if his silence was due to his fatigue and injuries or if it was because he was upset that he didn't easily beat her. He walked out of the hall once he was finished being fussed over by Madam Pomphrey. But as he left there was a wave of respect that trailed after him. Though most of the students didn't like him, they couldn't help but admire the man and what he just did. Harry included was impressed.

Please Like and Review. I'm still trying to figure out the pairings for the students duels. Any suggestions would be great.