The Midnight Duel
If you asked me who my least favourite person is, it would be hard to pick, but the runner up was easily Draco Malfoy. I always hated him for how spoiled he was as he'd get all kinds of sweets and treats from his parents. And he'd always act all high and mighty, which would make it more satisfying to embarrass him.
The only time we'd dealt with him was in Potions but then we saw a notice pinned up in the Common Room which had all of us, especially me, groaning. It turns out that Flying Lessons will start on Thursday and both Gryffindors and Slytherins would learn together.
"Typical. Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy." Harry muttered darkly.
"Don't worry, Harry. Malfoy's all talk. He's more than likely awful on a broomstick." I tried to calm his nerves.
"Exactly. He always goes on about how good he is at Quidditch." Ron backed me up. After all, Draco always talks about flying any chance he had, even complaining about how first years never get in the House Quidditch Teams. He then told stories that seemed so unlikely as they'd end with him narrowly missing Muggles in what Harry said were Helicopters. But Seamus talked of how he'd zoom around the countryside on a broomstick.
And Ron told anyone who'd listen of how he almost hit a hand glider on Charlie's old broom. I told Harry how I narrowly missed getting hit in the head flying towards a metal hoop at the Burrow, resulting in me spinning.
With Neville, he never flew as his grandmother never let him near one. Then there's Hermione, who's a Muggle-born so she'd never flown on a broomstick and was really nervous. So much so that during breakfast, today on Thursday, she thought it was okay to give us all flying tips from Quidditch Through the Ages. It got so bad in fact that I told her that unless she wanted her books to be ripped up, that she should shut up. Thankfully, she got the message and everyone there thanked me.
The morning post had then arrived after shutting Hermione up. I saw an eagle owl land in front of Draco and he got packages of sweets, clearly from his mother. He then gloated about it. My thoughts were interrupted when mom's owl landed in front of me with a package around his ankle. I pulled it off of him and gave him a bit of sausage and he flew off. There was a note attached and I read it:
Hey Matt,
I sent you some homemade shortbread that you love. You can share it with Harry and Ron if you want.
Hear from you soon
Love Mom xoxo
I unwrapped the package quickly and it was indeed the homemade shortbread that I just love so much. Horace then flew off.
"Hey guys, want some?" I asked Harry and Ron, who saw what I got and they said 'yes' grabbing some pieces and enjoying it with me. What made mom's shortbread great is how it truly felt like it was melting in the mouth.
Then a barn owl brought Neville this small package, which had to be from his grandmother. He opened it to reveal a glass ball with white smoke inside it.
"It's a Remembrall! Gran knows I forget things. This tells if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red, oh…." Neville was explaining when it glowed scarlet red.
"...you've forgotten something." He finished with a fallen face. Then suddenly, Draco, who was passing by the Gryffindor table, snatched it out of Neville's hand. Me, Harry and Ron jumped to our feet, just looking to beat that stupid git up, but McGonagall showed up, clearly knowing trouble within seconds/
"What's going on?" She asked us all.
"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Neville told her. And Draco, now scowling, dropped the Remembrall on the table, muttering that he was just looking, though that isn't close to being true and he walked away with Crabbe and Goyle.
Then three thirty in the afternoon arrived, now was the time for our first Flying Lesson. All of us Gryffindors went out into the grounds under a clear blue sky and the breezy wind. We marched down sloping lawns to a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forest, with its trees swaying darkly.
It turns out the Slytherins were already there with twenty broomsticks lying on the ground in neat lines. Fred and George told me personally about how the school brooms were awful, that they'd vibrate if too high in the air or flew slightly to the left.
Once we got there, I saw our teacher, Madam Hooch, arriving. And once I got a good look at her. I would've been fooled if she was spawned from an actual eagle. Because she had short grey hair and eagle-like yellow eyes.
"Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." She barked at all of us. We all stood next to the left of the brooms.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'." She then instructed us.
"UP!" We all shouted with our hands over the brooms. The broom instantly shot up to my hand, as well as Harry. Same for a few others. Hermione's just rolled over on the ground and Neville's didn't move at all. The thing with brooms is that you need to show you aren't afraid, akin to horses for example.
Once everyone got their broomsticks, Hooch showed us how to mount them without sliding off the end, walking up and down the rows, correcting grips. To the delight of me, Harry and Ron, Hooch told Malfoot that he has been doing it wrong for years and used me as an example of how to do it right. He's now embarrassed for the first time.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle, three, two-" Hooch was explaining but Neville, who got jumpy, pushed off the ground before the whistle and started to get higher in the air.
"Come back, boy!" Hooch shouted. He reached up to twenty feet and his face was white as a sheet in fear before slipping off and when he landed, a wince inducing thud and crack was heard when Neville landed. And his broom kept getting higher and it started to drift away to the Forbidden Forest.
I then looked back at Neville with Hooch bent over Neville, her face looking as white as his.
"Broken wrist. Come on, boy, it's alright, up you get." Hooch muttered to him before turning to the rest of us.
"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the Hospital Wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear." She then warned us all as she led Neville away, who had tears coming down his face and clutching his wrist.
Once they were out of an earshot, Malfoy and all of Slytherin burst out into laughter. Bloody gits.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Draco mocked. This made the Slytherins join in.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Parvati Patil snapped.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati." Pansy Parkinson said, a rather ugly Slytherin student.
"At least he's better than you, the queen of pugs, Parkinson." I put her in her place, which resulted in all of the Gryffindors laughing louder than the Slytherins and they themselves glared at me, though it had no effect at all.
"Look!" Draco darted forward, snatching up Neville's Remembrall, which glittered in the sun.
"Give that here, Malfoy." Harry told him quietly, everyone was quiet. And Draco made a nasty smile.
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect. How about… up a tree?" He pondered.
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but then Draco leapt onto his broomstick and took off. He did fly alright, but nowhere near as good as me, I know that for sure.
"Come and get it, Potter!" He challenged Harry, who grabbed his broom.
"No! Madam Hooch told us not to move. You'll get us all into trouble." Hermione tried to butt in, but I shoved her out of the way.
"Tell that to Draco, Hermione. Now shut up!" I warned her, and she did as told, clearly not pleased. Harry, of course, kicked off the ground and he soared, looking as though he's flown all his life. And he never got on a broomstick before! Draco even looked stunned at how good Harry was.
"Give it here, or I'll knock you off that broom!" Harry threatened him.
"Oh, yeah?" He sneered, but clearly looked worried. Harry then shot at Draco, though he got out of the way and Harry made a sharp turn.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy." Harry called out. He's right, too. Whenever Draco does anything, those two are always with him as the muscle.
"Catch it if you can, then!" Draco shouted before he threw the Remembrall to the ground. Harry made a steep dive and when he was a foot off the ground, he caught it just in time! He flew like a Quidditch Seeker and then he landed, but before anyone could say anything….
"HARRY POTTER!" McGonagall's voice screeched, running up to Harry.
"Never, in all my time at Hogwarts… how dare you… might have broken your neck-" McGonagall looked so shocked, with her glasses flashing furiously.
"It wasn't his fault, Professor-"
"Be quiet, Miss Patil-"
"But Malfoy-"
"That's enough, Mr Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." McGonagall ordered. I didn't say anything, too scared to deal with her wrath. Harry looked devastated and I glared at Draco, who looked so triumphant.
Shortly after they left for the castle, Hooch arrived. And when she got back, she noticed there was one broom on the ground.
"Who's is this?" She asked all of us.
"Harry Potter's, Professor. Professor McGonagall needed to have a word with him." I answered, knowing no one was comfortable enough to say anything. She nodded and we proceeded with the class.
By the end of it, Hooch praised me on the broom, thinking I was good enough to be on a Quidditch team, and would talk with an Oliver Wood about it. And even though that was great, I was still concerned about Harry.
"You're joking/Shut up." Me and Ron said at the same time in shock.
It turns out that not only is Harry not expelled as we feared, but he has also now become Seeker in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team! Harry told us so when we were having dinner. I had a chicken pie and Ron had a steak and kidney pie, which we both ignored.
"First years never make the team. You have to be the youngest House Player in-" I said in shock with Harry finishing.
"-a century. Wood told me." He said, shoving some pie into his mouth.
"I start training next week. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret." Harry then told us. Both Fred and George entered the Great Hall and came towards us, more than likely to talk to Harry since they're Beaters in the Quidditch team.
"Well done. Wood told us. We're on the team too, Beaters." George said in a low voice to make sure no one heard him.
"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year. We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us." Fred said. The twins then looked at me.
"And, cub, Wood asked us to tell you that you'll try out as Chaser next year as Alicia Spinnet decided to quit by the end of this school year." George informed me, making me nod eagerly, thanking them for letting me know. They then left to go find their best friend, Lee Jordan about some secret passageway. But as they left, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle showed up.
"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?" Draco questioned, sounding so smug that I just wanted to punch him.
"He's not expelled, actually." I told him, making him glare at me and his cheeks became pink.
"You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you." Harry added coolly. Since the High Table was full of teachers, the three Slytherins couldn't do anything other than scowl.
"I'd take you on any time on my own. Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only, no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?" Draco challenged.
"Of course he has. I'm his second and Matt's his third, who's yours?" Ron backed Harry up. Draco then looked at his cronies.
"Crabbe and Goyle. Midnight, alright? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked." Draco reminded us before leaving. The three of us then looked at each other.
"What is a wizard's duel? And what do you mean you're my second and third?" Harry asked.
"Well, a second and third is there to take over if you die." Ron explained, which made Harry look a bit scared.
"But that's only in a proper duel, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy will do is send sparks at each other as neither of you know enough magic to do any real damage. Plus, he seemed to expect you to refuse." I stated, calming Harry's worries.
"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" Harry asked us.
"Throw it away and punch him on the nose." Ron suggested. Yeah, I'd say the same thing since a witch or wizard shouldn't just depend on their magic and wands all the time.
"Excuse me." We heard a certain nuisance behind us. We all looked up and saw Hermione looking at us.
"What?" I asked, sounding annoyed by her appearance. But she ignored me as her attention was on Harry.
"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying-"
"Bet you could." Ron muttered.
"-and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really selfish of you." She scolded Harry. What right does she have to tell us how to be?!
"And it's really none of your business." Harry told her.
"Goodbye." Ron said before he and Harry got up. I stayed behind and glared at Hermione.
"You're already pushing it Hermione. Don't do it again." I warned her before catching up with the others.
At the end of the day, when we were going to sleep, we stayed awake as we listened to Seamus and Dean talk and fell asleep. Neville hadn't gotten out of the Hospital Wing at this point. During the evening, Ron and I tried to give Harry as much advice as possible. Of course, the worry of being caught by Filch and his cat was in the back of my mind, but the idea of Draco's sneering face being wiped off made me eager.
"Half past eleven, we'd better go." Ron muttered quietly. We all put on our dressing gowns, picked up our wands and crept as quiet as possible out of the Dormitory, then the spiral staircase and through the Common Room. There were a few embers glowing in the fireplace. We had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke out from the closest chair to us. One that made me growl inwardly.
"I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."
We turned and saw a lamp flicker on with Hermione standing there with a pink dressing gown and a frown on her face.
"You! Go back to bed!" Ron told her, just as furious as me.
"I almost told your brother, Percy. He's a Prefect, he'd put a stop to this." Hermione snapped.
"Come on." Harry told Ron and I, annoyed by her interfering. We walked through the portrait hole, with Hermione following us out.
"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells." She hissed at us like some angry goose.
"Just go away, Granger." I warned her.
"Alright, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so-" She was going on but stopped as the Fat Lady had gone off to some other portrait, meaning that the four of us are locked out of Gryffindor Tower.
"Now what am I going to do?" She asked in a shrill voice.
"That's your problem. We've got to go, we're going to be late." Ron stated. We then made our way through the corridor, but we didn't even reach the end when Hermione decided to join us.
"I'm coming with you." She said.
"You are not." Ron snarled at her.
"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all four of us, I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you and you can back me up." She had the gall to tell us.
"Don't you even dare, you snitch. And Filch wouldn't care, he'd still punish you with us for being out late." I quietly hissed at her, making her eyes widen.
"Shut up, both of you! I heard something." Harry snapped at us. And indeed there was a sound. It sounded like snuffling.
"Mrs Norris?" Ron asked, trying to see through the darkness like the rest of us.
But upon seeing something curled up on the floor, it was too big to be Mrs Norris. It was actually Neville, asleep, but then he jerked awake as we got closer to him.
"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours. I couldn't remember the new password to get in bed." Neville instantly said to us, loudly.
"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig Snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere." Ron told him.
"How's your arm?" Harry asked him.
"Fine. Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute." Neville explained, showing his arm.
"Good… well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later-" Harry tried to tell him but Neville stopped him.
"Don't leave me! I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already." He begged, clearly scared. Ron then looked at his watch and glared in fury at Hermione and Neville.
"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learnt that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about and used it on you." Ron spat. Hermione opened her mouth but I glared so hard at her that she kept her mouth shut. Harry then beckoned us all to move forward.
We went through corridors that were lit with moonlight, making this castle look more creepy than it already is. And as we sped through the staircases and into the third floor where the trophy room is, I'm surprised we haven't encountered either Mrs Norris or Filch.
When we arrived, Draco and his cronies weren't here yet. We had edged up against the wall where we can look at the doors at either end of the room, which was lit from a crystal trophy that caught moonlight and glimmered it all over the room, showing all the cups, shields, plates and statues. Harry had pulled his wand out, which in the low light, looked like it was ripped from a tree (the handle at least). We stayed there for a few minutes and already, a certain thought crept into my mind.
"He's late, maybe he's chickened out." Ron whispered.
"Or maybe he never planned on coming and planned to get us caught." I whispered and then a noise coming from the room next to us made all of us, except for me, jump. Harry had raised his wand when we heard the one voice we didn't want to hear.
"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." Filch said to his cat. I was right. Draco must've told him about us and planned to have us caught, and therefore expelled. Harry then waved madly at us to follow him out, so we scurried as silent as possible to the door away from the voice of Filch. Neville had just barely turned the corner when FIlch entered the Trophy Room.
"They're in here somewhere, probably hiding." He muttered. I gotta say, hearing his voice at night and not seeing him is making me have chills go up my spine.
"This way!" Harry mouthed to us and we crept through a long gallery full of various suits of armour. But then we heard Filch getting closer, which made Neville let out a frightened squeak and he ran, tripping and grabbing Ron by the waist, resulting in them crashing into a suit of armour. It was so loud that it was like an explosion.
"RUN!" I yelled and we all sprinted down the gallery, not even bothering to look back. We turned around a doorpost, running down another corridor and then down another, not really knowing where we're going, too concerned with not getting caught.
At some point, we ripped through some kind of tapestry and we ended up in some secret passageway and we ran along it until we came out near the Charms classroom, which was miles from the Trophy Room.
"I think we've lost him." Harry panted as he leaned against the wall, wiping his forehead. Neville was bent over, wheezing. I panted as well through my nose.
"I… told… you. I… told… you." Hermione gasped, clutching onto her chest, more than likely because of a stitch.
"Just shut up…." I groaned.
"We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower, quickly as possible." Ron informed us.
"I suspected that would happen. Draco was never going to meet you. He tipped Filch that someone would be in the Trophy Room." I said, knowing full well that Hermione thought the same thing but Harry would want to admit it from her.
"Good point. Let's go." Harry then said.
However, we only got up to a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and Peeves popped out of a classroom, seeing us and let out a squeal of delight.
"Shut up, Peeves, please, you'll get us thrown out." Hermione begged, which made the annoying poltergeist cackle.
"Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty." He taunted us.
"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." Hermione begged once again.
"Should tell Filch, I should. It's for your own good, you know." Peeves said in a saintly voice though his eyes glittered in a wicked manner.
"Get out of the way." Ron snapped. I tried to grab him to stop him, but I was too late as he swiped at Peeves, which had to be the worst thing to do right now.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR! Peeves bellowed. We of course ran for our lives, ducking under Peeves and reached the end of the corridor, slamming right into the door as it was locked.
"This is it! We're done for! This is the end!" Ron moaned as footsteps came closer. There was one spell I know and can do as I practiced when I had spare time.
"Move over." I told everyone, grabbing my wand and tapped against the lock.
"Alohomora." I whispered and the lock clicked with the door swinging open. We all then piled through, shutting it quickly and pressed our ears against it to listen.
However, I heard a faint behind us and so I turned around and froze in horror upon realising that not only were we in the forbidden corridor but that there was also a large three headed dog. It filled the space between the ceiling and the floor. Each of the heads, eyes, noses and mouths were twitching. I then noticed its feet and it seemed to be standing on some kind of trapdoor, as though it was guarding something.
Eventually, the others realised this as they turned to see and the dog growled. We all then flew backwards as, most likely Harry, the door opened and then Harry slammed the door shut, locking it.
After that we all ran as fast as we could, not seeing Filch, who must've left already after talking with Peeves. But I didn't care now as I just wanted to get as far away as I could from that thing.
We didn't stop running until we reached the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.
"Where on earth have you all been?" She asked us all.
"Never mind that, Pig Snout, Pig Snout." Harry panted, making the portrait swing forward and we all scrambled our way through into the Common Room, collapsing into armchairs. We just sat there, catching our breaths.
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school? If any dog needs exercise, that one does." Ron said after a long while. Hermione looked like she was in a temper.
"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" She snapped at all of us.
"The floor? I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads." Harry stated.
"No guys, that dog was standing on some trapdoor. It's guarding something." I panted. They all looked at me, clearly surprised that I answered. Hermione then stood up, glaring at us.
"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed, or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." She told all of us before storming off to bed. I was just speechless, HOW COULD GETTING EXPELLED BE WORSE THAN GETTING KILLED?!
"No, we don't mind. You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?" Ron said.
"Let's just go to bed." I said, not wanting to think too much about that dog.
I think I should mention that Matt would have parts of his arc in the series that are like reflections of Harry.