The Master of Death
Chapter 7: Duelling Club and Quidditch.
A/N: I'd like to thank my beta reader JadeKitty for going through this chapter and for all the work that has been done on improving my grammar and what not for my previous chapters.
Summary:
In the last chapter Harry convinced Augusta Longbottom to hand him the stone and then returned it to Nicolas Flamel. He then is given a portkey and goes to Rome, just outside the Colosseum. After solving two riddles and two questions with the help of Hedwig, Harry realises that he must go to Norway and Ireland.
Then he returns to Gringotts and speaks with Ripclaw about his projects. First he goes to see how three injured individuals who had believed irreparable been turned into modified killing machines. He then goes to the other project and finds a group of muggleborns training under the instruction of Goblins.
Afterwards Harry spends the rest of the holidays training and when he returns he collects Bear, one of the finished members of Project Cadmus and takes him to a pub in Knockturn Alley that was the only business establishment not under his control. After defeating the bodyguards and making the owner agree to his demands Harry meets and talks with the Greengrass and Davis family.
Then Harry meets with his friends in Diagon Alley and from there they go to Flourish and Blotts to meet Gilderoy Lockhart at the insistence of Hannah. After a brief argument outside they enter and Harry is almost instantly they meet with the Weasley's. Gilderoy and the Malfoy's also get involved and after dealing with them, Harry and co leave.
Next morning Harry is woken up by a House Elf and with the help of Balthazar get it to say why it has come. Due to Dobby's insistence that something bad is going to happen, Harry is unable to sleep and is very tired the following day.
"Normal speak"
'Normal thought'
"Spells,"
§Parseltongue§
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Power, all creatures strive for it. It is a universal instinct to defeat those who threaten your existence. To do that, they must become more powerful and in doing so, they would go to great lengths to get that power. If they fail, there life is forfeit.
In Slytherin House, power means everything. The strong prey on the weak and no matter what rules have been put in place to create a safe environment, the students of this great house follow one simple rule. Only the strong survive and the weak die. Those that are weak tie themselves to the strong. In doing so they make the stronger, stronger.
Naturally, the strong would feel threatened when their power base is threatened and naturally they search for those who threaten them. When they found them, they destroyed them so that they can never be a threat again.
Now was no different.
Each and every single member of Slytherin House were gathered in the common room to listen to the new Head Prefects for Slytherin House explain the inner workings to the First Years. This was a cover-up. In fact, they were all judging the First Years to see how each would benefit or threaten them later on in life.
Once the Prefects were finished and the First Years had retired upstairs to their new dormitories the atmosphere changed. It was like an echo, a voce constantly whispering in their ear of something going to happen. Something that could possibly ruin the future plans of their members.
Harry sat calmly on the second inner ring of the Slytherin common room. Beside him sat Blaise and Theodore, while on two armchairs next to the sofa he was sat on sat, Peter and Graham.
It was a common seating arrangement in Slytherin. The leader of a group sat in between his two top supporters, with the other supporters surrounding them. Daphne and Draco were in the same seating arrangement. But while Daphne's group was close to Harry's, Draco's was detached completely from them both. This showed the balance of power in their year. And it didn't look good for Draco.
Though, Harry had noticed the way Draco seemed to be calm and smug. As if his victory for Year leader was all but assured. It confused him greatly. Marcus Flint wasn't captain of the Quidditch team anymore, instead that position belonged to Adrian Pucey, a chaser and one of the only members on the team to disagree with Marcus Flint when he choose to support Harry.
Then it clicked in Harry's mind that Draco, well Draco's father was up to his old tricks. Paying the Quidditch captain to support his son in becoming leader.
'Now that won't do, that won't do at all.' Harry thought as his mind tried to think of a way in which he could use this to his advantage. He would have to do some research on Adrian, perhaps, Graham or Peter would be up to the task. It was about time he began to trust his supporters with tasks. Allow them to grow and become more useful to him in the long term. 'Yes, I'll have Peter find everything he can about Adrian, while Graham could study Draco. He's far too confident and it worries me. Blaise can be my liaison between my group and Daphne's, while Theodore will stay close. While I trust my skills in magic, I can't afford to be outnumbered should Draco do something rash.'
With his plan in mind, Harry slowly stood up catching the attention of the rest of Slytherin house. In total only around two thirds were still present, the rest having retired to their dormitories.
"So, it has been made aware to me that there is a tradition involving Third Year and above Slytherin's forcing themselves upon female students as to gain there hand in marriage." There was a few moments of silence as he allowed the statement to settle into the Slytherin's mind. "Now, I know this is tradition, but I know another tradition that has been around for far longer than this one."
"Oh really." Draco sneered. Harry turned to face the Malfoy heir and gave a condescending smirk. "And what would this tradition be?"
"Well, have you ever heard of a Ward?" There was a gasp of shock from many Slytherin's. Naming someone a Ward meant that if one person attacked the Ward, they were attacking the family who proclaimed that person their Ward. Many a war had been started due to this.
"You can't be serious, there hasn't been a Ward in over a century!" A random Slytherin student exclaimed.
"Well, there are six now. I name, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Millicent Bulstrode and Hestia and Flora Carrow are now Wards of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter until they graduate Hogwarts. Any who try and do something to any of them without their position will be declared enemies of my family." His voice was strong and calm, letting everyone know he was deadly serious about his decision.
More than a few stared at Harry and his group along with those now proclaimed Wards with anger and annoyance. Many of which had planned to do exactly what was now forbidden to them. Now all of them were deadest on learning everything they could about Wards any loophole they could find in it. None of them willing to lose the prize of Greengrass fortune and the beauty that Daphne would become.
Smirking, Harry headed towards his dorm, knowing that what he wanted done was done. Behind him, Blaise and Theodore nodded their head in Daphne's direction before taking a look around the common room.
It was obvious Harry had once again proven himself to be a bold but incredibly strategic individual. In a single move Harry had destroyed many plans that had been formed around getting at those six individuals. Because of that many powerbases would suffer, making way for a power struggle. Something they had no doubt Harry would capitalise on.
Another smirk crossed their features before they began speaking with Peter and Graham before leaving for the dormitory they shared with Harry.
Draco meanwhile, glared hatefully at the place where Harry once sat, his teeth grinding against one another. Then his eyes locked onto Daphne's position. He could see the relief and the slight smile upon her face at Harry's act and it drove him mad with rage.
His father promised him that Daphne would be his bride to be, but only if he could get to her during the Slytherin tradition. Harry had ruined that and now he would have to get through Harry to get to her, something he was very wary of doing. While arrogant, he knew that Harry would destroy him in a straight up duel. Add that with Blaise, Theodore, Peter and Graham he would end up making a lot of enemies for his family. Something his father would be incredibly angry about.
'I will not lose to you again Potter, I'll get Adrian and the Quidditch team to deal with you soon enough.' Daphne would be his bride whether she liked it or not. His father had promised him that.
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Over with Daphne and her group consisting of – herself, Tracey, Flora, Hestia and Millicent were all in varying degrees of shock. Daphne was by far, the least shocked out of them all because Harry had told of his plan to do this. However, she was still in shock that he went through with it, thinking that it was false bravado on his part.
Entering her dormitory with Tracey and Millicent, the three girls sat on their respective beds. While Millicent had originally been a supporter of Draco, she had eft after Harry killed the Troll. Despite lacking in magical ability, Millicent was a very intimidating girl due to her surprisingly muscular stature and so, when she left Draco's group, Daphne recruited her before anyone else could.
"Is that smile I see on our resident Ice Queen's face?" Tracey asked teasingly. Unlike Daphne who kept her emotions hidden constantly, Tracey wore them proudly letting everyone know how she was feeling. But that was what everyone thought, only Daphne, Blaise and Theodore were the ones that new Tracey could fake her emotions. This made it very easy to trick everyone and this was why, Tracey was Daphne's secret weapon. While people were focused on her, they forgot completely about Tracey.
"Shut up." That was all Daphne said as she started getting ready for bed.
"Millicent, I do believe that dear Daphne here is smitten by the Boy-Who-Lived." Millicent smiled before putting on a mask of fake shock.
"I never thought I'd see the day." Glaring at the two, Daphne in a childish way collapsed on her bed with a huff.
"I hate both of you." While out of character for her, Daphne felt safe in her dormitory, safe enough to allow her mask to fade. "And I'm not smitten, I'm grateful for what he's done, nothing more. I know that the tradition has been on your mind just as much as it has been on mine. Now we don't have to worry about it as much because if they go through Harry we will know allowing us time to prepare." Tracey nodded her head, but her teasing smile was still on her face.
Sighing, Daphne closed her eyes waiting for sleep to come, knowing that Tracey would not let this go for a long while.
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The next morning things were once again tense, even the First Year Slytherin's could tell something had happened between the upper years. Things had changed completely. Over two thirds of the groups in Slytherin had broken apart, with members either branching off and forming their own group or joining existing ones. Only the Second, Third and Seventh Years had some form of stability, but even then things were shaky.
While unsurprised by the turn of events, Harry was shocked by the effectiveness. Already he could tell that the upper years would begin tearing each other apart in an attempt for power, allowing him to work underneath the radar and potentially recruit some upper years before they were swept up by anyone else.
Looking at Blaise and Theodore he saw that they two were surprised by what had happened. Though, they were quick to recover.
Entering the Great Hall, they found Peter and Graham had already got them a seat on the Slytherin table. Walking forwards they took their seat and began piling food on their plates, while more and more students entered the hall.
"So, when you gonna start teaching us what you learned other the holidays?" Blaise asked eagerly after a few moments of watching the Slytherin's interacting.
Swallowing his bit of toast Harry answered, "On the weekends, I'm going to get permission from Professor Flitwick to use one of the empty classrooms as a makeshift training room. But, you four are gonna have to get up early with me on a morning to do some physical exercises."
"Yea sure, so what will you be teaching us first?"
"Meditation."
"So no awesomely powerful elemental attacks?" Peter asked dejectedly.
"Nah, the meditation will help you to connect with your magical core, which in turn mean you won't waste as much magic when using spells."
Every wizard/witch, no matter how powerful or in control of their magical core will always release excess magic that isn't part of the spell. However, the better their control over their magic is, the less excess magic there is meaning they can fight for longer without there been a huge drain on their magical core. A wizard/witch will also have to take into account the spell itself. The more powerful the spell, the more excess magic there is to create it.
Greater control can also mean that the spells are more powerful. If two wizards/witches of equal strength fired a Reductor Curse with the same amount of magic it would be a stalemate. However, if one was to overpower their spell it is expected that they would win the battle. But, if the other wizard/witch had greater control they could use less magic and potentially win or get another stalemate.
For a couple of minutes the five of them ate their breakfast will talking about what they did over the holidays. Stopping only when Professor Snape delivered them their timetable. Much like last year, Snape seemed to despise Harry but was willing to keep it professional between the two of them.
"Peter." His voice had dropped to a mere whisper now. "Can you find everything you can about Adrian? I think he might be working for Draco and with it, Malfoy has a chance of becoming leader."
"Yea, I can do that." Peter nodded his head in agreement.
"Graham watch the upper years and Draco. I want to know what's going on with them." Graham nodded his head, happy to know that Harry was trusting them more. "Blaise you're the friendliest with Daphne and her group so could you…"
"Make sure that she is still willing to support you?" Blaise finished questioningly.
"Yea, it would be a huge help."
"Don't worry about it. If Draco becomes leader he'll make it incredibly difficult for us lot to live in Slytherin House." Blaise explained his reasoning.
"I'm guessing you want to keep me close by so that they won't be able to outnumber me because unlike this rabble, I have some measure of skill." He sneered at the other three jokingly causing them to glare at him in mock anger. All of them knowing it was done in good fun with no real malice involved.
"So, with our assignments given to us by our great and exalted leader." Blaise said dramatically. "It's time for us to go to our first lesson, which so happens to be Transfiguration, followed by DADA with Lockhart." The five of them released a sigh at this, each of them agreeing that Lockhart was a bumbling fool with no real talent.
Smacking Blaise on the back of the head, Harry stood up and made for the door followed by the others. Luckily, Transfiguration was with the Hufflepuff's and not the Gryffindor's, otherwise they would have had to deal with Weasley the entire lesson.
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After saying goodbye to Neville, Susan and Hannah, the group of Slytherin Second Years made their way towards the DADA classroom where they would be taught by the exalted Gilderoy Lockhart. None of them looked particularly happy by this in fact, all had a permanent scowl upon their faces as they walked through the corridors.
When they arrived at the classroom, the door was still locked indicating that the lesson had not yet begun. Surrounding the door there were a few Gryffindor's, but there were more Slytherin's stood waiting patiently.
Daphne, Tracey and Millicent were three such Slytherin's that stood waiting. Seeing this, and noticing how Millicent had placed herself between the other two girls and Draco made it clear on what was happening. Looking towards the others, Harry could see that they had come to the same conclusion.
"Ah, Daphne how good to see you." Harry greeted with a smile on his face. Daphne stopped listening to Tracey and turned to face Harry. While confused for a moment, the subtle movement of his eyes in Draco's direction told her of his aims. She gave no outward reaction instead, she nodded her head towards him as a sign of acknowledgement. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Draco.
The Malfoy heir in question glared hatefully at Harry's back and indicated for Crabbe and Goyle to move forwards.
The two grunts stepped forwards threateningly, but before they could get any further Graham and Peter interfered. Despite not been as fat as the two, they were taller and had much more muscle definition. Behind them Harry and Blaise continued to converse with Daphne and Tracey while Theodore moved to stand behind Peter and Graham to offer assistance if need be.
Before anything could happen, the door opened revealing Gilderoy Lockhart with his charming smile in place. All the girls except, Daphne and Tracey swooned. Even Pansy Parkinson, who seems to be infatuated with Draco swooned over the teacher, something which further angered Draco.
"Welcome, I see your all in bright spirits and eager to learn all that I can teach you." Gilderoy finally said after everyone was seated in the classroom. He flashed the class a smile and gained a collective sigh from most girls as they stared dreamily at him. If that wasn't obvious enough, practically every girl was at the front, each leaning forwards to gain a better look at him.
Beside Harry, Blaise released a groan of annoyance as he leaned back on his chair. Harry and Theodore spared him an amused glance before turning to listen to Lockhart explain this year's curriculum.
"Now then, before we begin I would like to see how much of my books you have already read." He flicked his wand and with it, sheets of paper floated around the room before landing in front of each student. "You have till the end of the lesson to finish. Begin." With that, Gilderoy sat at his desk and picked up a mirror.
Rolling his eyes, Harry nudged Blaise and inclined his head towards Gilderoy. While confused, Blaise looked towards him and then the mirror that the Professor was looking in exploded. Shards of glass going everywhere, some sticking out of his face. There was a few moments of silence as every pair of eyes snapped towards their frozen Professor, then Gilderoy shot to his feet and gave an ear splitting scream.
Everyone watched as he began running around in a circle screaming, "Get it out!"
Blaise turned to face Harry and both shared a smirk. Something that Theodore saw from beside them. He turned towards Peter and Graham and got them to look towards the two.
Confidently Harry stood up brandishing his wand will he did so.
"Don't worry Professor, I can help you." With a flick of his wand, all the shards of glass came loose and with another screech of pain, Gilderoy ran from the room to go to the Medical Wing leaving a room filled with a range of thoughts on what just happened.
Then all the boys and some girls burst out laughing, some going as far as collapsing to the ground in a fit of laughter. Even those who thought Professor Lockhart was the best wizard in the world were trying their hardest not to laugh, but some gave in to temptation and joined the rest of the class.
Sitting back down as to steady himself, Harry felt that this was beginning to look like an incredibly fun year.
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It didn't take long for the group to once again fall into routine of school work, but it did take a while for them to get used to the extra work they did alongside it. Every morning the group including Neville and occasionally Susan and Hannah would go out for a jog and then do some exercises.
After that they would go to classes, but in between if they had a free period they would go to the library and study what they wanted. Then after lessons were done they would all go to the abandoned classroom where Harry would teach them what he had learned over the holiday. So far only a month had gone by, but teach had shown varying levels of progression.
Blaise and Theodore were already progressing the most having already been able to sense the vibrations and use the basics of wind and water magic. Though neither had progressed onto Ice magic nor were struggling with plant magic.
On the other hand, Neville was progressing slowly with elemental magic, though he was by far the strongest when it came to manipulating plant life and sensing vibrations. Even Harry admitted that if they were to use just those two abilities then it would be a close fight. It'd probably be a draw, if not a loss on his part.
Peter, Graham, Susan and Hannah were all making slow progress having been able to sense the vibrations and slightly manipulate nature. Though they had made no advancement in learning Water, Wind and Ice magic.
While this was one of the main parts of their school days, that didn't mean they hadn't been keeping an eye on the workings of Slytherin.
The upper years had already begun tearing into one another. The Third and Fourth years had already had a leader that had come out on top. The Fifth and Sixth years were nearing the final stages of election, while the Seventh years were only just beginning to get halfway through.
Out of the seventeen groups, only three remained.
One downside too this had been that there had been no opportunity for him to gain any followers in the upper years.
Adrian and Draco had also been making this past couple of weeks. Adrian had tried on a few occasions to 'deal' with him. Thankfully, Harry and Theo had been out in the open surrounded by quite a few students from the other three houses. This meant that if he was attacked, there would be a lot of students that could attest to it been Adrian who was last in his presence.
Draco on the other hand had been trying to muscle him in to giving up, but every time Crabbe and Goyle got too close to him they would be beaten.
It was night now, the five Slytherin's were currently walking down the corridor. They had just finished training in the classroom and now they were making their way back towards the common room. Neville, Hannah and Susan had made their way towards the Great Hall for something to eat.
§Kill! § Harry froze and looked around to face the wall. Peter had to grab hold of Graham's robes to stop him from walking into Harry's back, while Blaise and Theodore continued walking a few steps before turning around to stare at him.
"What is it?" Graham asked curiously.
§Kill! § This time it was coming from further down the corridor. Harry quickly shot forwards down the corridor leaving four very confused Slytherin's in his wake. They shared a glance before turning towards Harry who had recently come to a stop as he stared at the wall.
"What's got him so worried?" Peter inquired. Blaise shrugged his shoulders and he walked forwards followed by Graham. Seeing as he hadn't been given an answer, Peter turned to Theodore but saw that he too had also walked towards Harry. "And I've been ignored again." Sighing, Peter joined his friends beside Harry.
For a few moments Harry would run from wall to wall, his emerald eyes flickering all around.
"Right Harry, enough." Blaise finally said while gripping hold of his wrist, stopping him from moving any further forwards.
"Yea, I think I can safely say for all of us, that you're creeping us out." Graham added. Taking a deep breath, Harry turned and nodded his head as a sign that he had calmed down.
"What the hell is going on with you?" Theodore asked.
"I didn't realise it at first, but something in the walls is speaking Parseltongue." Harry told them.
"Parseltongue?" Graham continued unsurely.
§Kill! Feast! I must feed! § The vice spoke once more, this time it was much louder and the four heard the sound of a hiss.
"Okay, now I'm a believer." Blaise whispered as they looked at the walls. They then all heard the hiss moving further and further down until it disappeared around a corner. Instantly -the five of them rushed in that direction and found the sight that greeted them to be the thing they least expected.
Written in blood on the wall was, 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened enemies of the heir…beware' and next to it was the limp form of Mrs Norris.
"Oh shit." Blaise, Graham and Peter said at the same time. Harry and Theodore meanwhile turned in the direction of footsteps. Then from around the corner more students arrived, then more and more. It seems that dinner had finished and all the students were making the way towards their respective common rooms.
"What the hell?" A random student shouted out loud.
"Coming through." The sound of Professor McGonagall ordered as she pushed the crowd apart so that she could see what was going on. When she got to the front she gasped in shock at what she saw on the wall. A few moments went by as McGonagall tried her best to figure out what was going on and in that time many of the other Professors had arrived.
"See that, all you mudbloods better be prepared." Draco sneered in the direction of Hermione Granger.
"Ten points from Slytherin Mr Malfoy." McGonagall said. He was unperturbed by this and simply continued to look smug and proud of himself. Like he knew this was going to happen. However, Harry had known him for an entire year and knew this was the face he put on when he was trying to hide his fear.
"It was you!" Filch growled out angrily while pointing and accusing finger at Harry and his friends. All the students turned and looked towards Harry in shock. "You killed Mrs Norris!"
"I don't like your accusations, Squib." Harry shot back.
Filch snarled angrily and went to step forwards, but Mr Dumbledore gave a light cough to clear his throat. While still brimming with anger, Filch stepped backwards and Harry stood their looking every inch of a smug Slytherin.
"Now Filch, Mrs Norris is in fact very much alive. She is in fact," he moved forwards and studied Mrs Norris closer, "petrified." He hummed and turned towards Mr Potter. "If you will come with me Mr Potter I need to have a quick word with you." Many students gasped and began gossiping between each other.
'Mother and Father said that Dumbledore was a sneaky bastard but this is just unbelievable.' Theodore thought in shock. 'He all but admitted to believing that Harry was the one who did this and no one will question him due to his knowledge of magic and his history. It's hard to believe he was a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin.'
Theodore shared a glance with the others and saw that they had come up to the same conclusion that he had.
Harry meanwhile was calm and cool, but internally he was seething. Dumbledore had trapped him, turned the entire student body from believing that he was the saviour and now a Dark Lord in the making that would petrify cats.
'Well played Dumbledore, well played.' Harry conceded this fact. He wasn't only angry with Dumbledore for what he had done, but at himself because he had completely forgotten about Dumbledore. Now the man had made the first move and put him on the back foot.
Sighing, Harry followed after Dumbledore as the students talked about what had happened.
Entering the office, Harry took a seat while completely ignoring Fawkes. Dumbledore took a seat also and stroked his Phoenix's feathers.
"Lemon Drop." He waved his hand over the ball of sweets with a twinkle in his eyes. Shaking his head, Harry watched Dumbledore place one in his mouth and take joy in the way it stimulated his taste buds.
"May I ask you a question, Professor?" Harry queried. Dumbledore smiled benevolently and nodded his head. "Why did you do what you did?"
"I don't know what you mean?" Dumbledore bemusedly asked. Harry had to stifle a growl of anger at the innocent act Dumbledore was trying to put on. His anger was at a boiling point due to his mistake in forgetting about the threat that sat before him.
"Please Professor, don't act innocent, you're not fooling anyone in this room." Leaning back into the chair, Harry rested his right cheek against his fist. "You intentionally made it seem like I was the one who petrified Mrs Norris." Dumbledore continued to smile, but this time his eyes were twinkling even brighter.
"I assure you Mr Potter that that, was not my intention at all." Once again Harry felt his anger reaching a breaking point. If things continued Harry knew he would lash out at Dumbledore.
"Then why did you ask me here?" He all but spat out.
"I wanted to know about what subjects you will be interested in taking next year."
"Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Now, if you don't mind I have better things to do with my time." Standing up Harry walked out of the Headmasters Office while Dumbledore sat stroking Fawkes calmly.
'Let the games begin Mr Potter.' His grandfatherly smile turned into the smile of a predator luring his prey into a trap. 'Hopefully you can survive because in this game you either win or you die. There is no constellation prize.'
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The next morning things were extremely tense. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor believed that Harry was the one who petrified Mrs Norris. Even some of the Slytherin's believed it was him, not that it bothered the Potter heir in the slightest.
However, Draco wasn't satisfied with most the school not liking Harry. He wanted the entire school to hate or at least dislike him. He wanted Harry to be humiliated and what better way to humiliate a World Champion Duellist than been defeated by a nobody. Ronald Weasley to be exact.
With the new Duelling club having been put in place under the tutelage of an unknown Professor. Draco knew this was his chance to convince the entirety of Slytherin house that he was the true future ruler of Slytherin house.
"Hello Weasley." Draco greeted. The youngest Weasley male looked up from where he sat in the Great Hall, his friends having gone off to finish their homework while he was going to leave it to the last second like he always did.
Ron glared at him. "What'd you want Malfoy?" Waggling his finger from side to side, Draco sat down across from him. Thankfully there were very few people around to see this.
"Tut, tut. Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" Ron stood up threateningly, but two hands went to his shoulder forcing him back down into his seat. Looking up, he saw that Crabbe and Goyle were stood over him threateningly. "Now, the reason I came to you of all people is because we share a common hatred for a singular person."
"Who?" Draco sighed at the lack of brains that Ron had.
"Hadrian." Realisation lit up on his face. "Hadrian is joining the Duelling club are you?" Ron nodded his head. "Then it gives you the chance to beat Hadrian and humiliate him in front of everyone." The two shared a smirk at the thought of Harry been beaten.
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Three weeks later marked the start of the Quidditch cup. The first game starting with a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Harry was quite disappointed that he hadn't made the team thanks to Draco bribing his way onto the team. That didn't mean Harry was going to allow the opportunity of entering the Quidditch team slip from his grasp.
While offering enjoyment for both those who watched and played. It also offered a strong political position in the Houses, more so in Slytherin. If you did well then you would gain favour from the rest of the house, if you did badly you would lose favour.
There was just as much to gain as there was to lose.
So here he sat, listening to Draco bragging about his ability to fly and all the fake stories of his past adventures. It was quite amusing to listen to. Made even funnier by Blaise's sarcastic replies to Draco's stories.
When Draco stood up to leave for the Great Hall for something to eat followed by Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, Harry stood up and followed after them. Theodore, Blaise, Peter and Graham followed after him.
On their way they came across Neville who stood leaning against the wall. By his feet lay the four Slytherin's they had been following.
"Nice on Neville." Peter congratulated. Neville smiled and together the six of them gathered around the four unconscious Slytherin's. Harry nodded his head in his direction gaining ne in turn before he woke them up.
"W-what? Potter!" Draco snarled.
"Actually, you been unconscious is all my work." Neville spoke up. Draco glared with hate a hate filled gaze at all of them, but mainly Harry and Neville.
"Oh how the might have fallen." Graham said. "The Great Draco Malfoy defeated by a boy he once thought was a simple Squib." Peter laughed, while the others smirked in amusement.
"What do you want with us?" Pansy asked frightfully.
"We don't want anything to do with you three, just Draco here." Theodore informed them. "We want to make a deal."
"What deal?" Draco asked.
"Everyone knows that you bought yourself onto the team. If Slytherin lose this match then you have to resign from your position on the team and won't run for leader again." Draco opened his mouth to protest but Harry took other.
"However, if Slytherin win then I won't run for Slytherin leader and I'll even offer you an alliance between House Malfoy and House Potter." All of them could see Draco contemplating the pros and cons of this arrangement. If he did won he would stand to gain more than he would lose.
"Do we have a deal?" Blaise questioned and Draco nodded his head. "Then that concludes business. Have fun out there." With that the six turned and left, each planning to make sure that Draco lost no matter what.
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It was slightly chilly and a normal person would have been wrapped in a couple of layers to make sure that they were warm. However, thanks to a warming charm hey all sat comfortably warm in only a few layers.
The six of them had arrived early as to get their own eating. Peter, Graham, Blaise and Theodore were stood at the very front, with Harry, Neville, Susan and Hannah stood behind them. The group of eight all stood with baited breath as they watched the two Quidditch teams fly around the pitch trying desperately to score as many points.
Things had not been going very well for the Slytherin's, they were currently losing one hundred and fifty points to seventy. Not only that, but Draco had been doing terribly. The muggleborn student, Dean Thomas had been flying rings around the Malfoy heir.
"And Dean and Draco dive towards the ground!" Lee Jordan exclaimed excitedly as he commentated the game. "The two second years are neck and neck!" The dive amounted to nothing. It had been a fake, Harry had noticed the snitch been on the completely opposite side of the arena to where they were flying. Dean had obviously been hoping to get rid of Draco, only for the Malfoy to show some measure of skill and escape by the skin of his teeth.
Draco barrel rolled out of the way to avoid a bludger. The bludger instantly changed directions without the aid of a Beater. Draco had already made a getaway, but the bludger was not focused on him, but instead shot forwards towards the area in which Harry and his friends were sat.
Due to the surprise of this movement, Harry barely had time to react and so pushed Susan who was beside him to one side will jumping into Neville knocking them both out of the way.
Blaise, Theodore, Peter and Graham all ducked as the bludger slammed into the area in which Harry once stood. Those around them screeched in shock, and were silenced when they watched the bludger raise up into the air and shot towards Harry once more.
This time Harry was more prepared and rolled out of the way and the process repeated. However, after the third time harry raised his hand and pushed his magic outwards. The bludger was stuck in the air for a few moments. It looked to be struggling against some unseen force before it was launched backwards.
"Reducto!" Harry shouted and the Reductor curse shout out and reduced the bludger to ash when it shot towards him once more.
There was a cheer from the crowd followed by a shout from Lee Jordan.
"AND DEAN THOMAS HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" The Gryffindor's and members from the other houses, except Slytherin cheered loudly at the result. Meanwhile the Slytherin's were all disappointed except for Harry and his group. All of which knew that this day had its mix of ups and downs. Mostly ups.
Daphne looked indifferently in the direction of Harry. She would admit to been slightly concerned for him when the bludger had nearly killed or at least severely injured him. She hated those feelings as they were a weakness, thankfully they only sprouted from the fact that she owed him a great deal and not due to any misguided feelings. Definitely not, she had no crush on Hadrian James Potter. Absolutely not, crushes were childish and she was anything but; childish.
She could clearly see the confusion over what had happened, but she could also see the accomplishment. Daphne herself was confused on why he felt accomplishment over Slytherin's defeat, but she knew that whatever the reason would greatly benefit him and by extension; her.
"Looks like you might have some competition for Potter's heart." Tracey piped in. Daphne glared at her with slightly flushed cheeks. Ever since Harry's announcement in the common room, Tracey had been teasing her relentlessly. Even Flora and Hestia had begun to join in, thankfully Millicent had not joined in, but she had been enjoying the sight of the Ice Queen been uncomfortable.
Despite this, she turned towards Harry to see him helping a blushing Susan to her feet. He smiled and said something to her that made her blush deepen and case a shy smile to appear on her face.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance before talking to Tracey and the others.
Meanwhile, Harry turned to the boys and nodded his head with a smirk on his face. Things were going exactly as planned.
-X- Line Break -X-
Students gathered around in the Great Hall, each whispering excitedly with one another as they speculated on who would teach them the art of duelling. While his friends conversed behind him, Harry studied the Great Hall and the students inside.
The tables had disappeared and now there was a singular long platform in the centre of the room. It was styled exactly like an actual duelling platform meaning that they were taking this seriously.
The students themselves seemed to be a mix of nervous and excited. Nervous due to not knowing what to expect from their teacher, but also because they were nervous about their ability. It was obvious however, that they were excited because duelling was an exciting event to watch. Many shared glances with him Daphne and Sue Li, but none said anything.
Harry found it incredibly amusing and then turned to Blaise when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
"We've been speculating on who will be our teacher, but we can't seem to come up with a decision." Harry raised his brow in questioning. "Who do you think will be teaching?"
"Professor Flitwick would be the most suitable Professor for this positon due to his past history as a duellist." Harry explained his reasoning.
"I told you!" Peter exclaimed with Theodore nodded his head in agreement.
"I just hope it's not Snape." Neville said. Despite his confidence, Neville was still slightly scared of the greasy haired Potions Professor.
"Or Lockhart." Susan piped in much to the agreement of the others, even Hannah was nodding her head. Despite still believing he was a great wizard, she had begun to become disheartened by the man's obvious inability to teach magic. Her excuses for the man were beginning to become repetitive, even she was realising that the man's stories may not be completely factual.
"Welcome everyone." Speak of the devil and he shall appear, for the voice belonged to none other than Gilderoy Lockhart himself. He strutted towards them with confidence been exuded with every step he took. Beside him walked Professor Snape who seemed displeased by being near the fool. Another difference besides their enthusiasm was the fact that Snape exuded power and arrogance, while Lockhart exuded only arrogance. A difference clearly seen by those with the eye for the small details.
"Shit." Theodore's simple word summed up the thoughts of their entire group.
"I will be your new Duelling Professor, and you can rest assure that you are in safe hands." Blaise, Peter, Graham, Neville and Susan groaned when they heard this. "With my assistant, Professor Snape we will turn you all into great duellists." Harry tuned him out for a few moments before listening him to describe what he had planned for the day.
Mostly it was just duelling etiquette and there would be a few duels to learn the skill level of each of the students.
"Now then." It seems Gilderoy wasn't finished just yet. "Me and my assistant shall demonstrate a duel for you and show you exactly what we expect from you with proper training which I, of course shall prepare for you." He flashed a dazzling smile that caused many girls to swoon at how 'handsome' he was.
The two Professors went to the centre of the duelling platform with their wands brandished and at the ready.
"Now both duellists must always bow." They did so, Professor Snape's bow shouldn't really count as a bow, more like inkling his head. Even then he barely did that. "And on the count of three." They took three long strides marked by him saying, "One. Two. Three. Expelliarmus!" On the fourth and final step they spun round, while Gilderoy fired a disarming charm shot forwards from Gilderoy's wand.
One thing Harry and his friends noticed was how sloppy the spell work was. To a normal child of their age it would seem quite fast, but to them – people who had trained with the likes of Harry- it was quite slow.
As a testament to how slow it was, Snape had time to sneer and lazily cast a simple shielding charm which absorbed the spell. Snape then retaliated with a non-verbal disarming charm that struck Gilderoy's hastily raised shield. Even then the charm shattered the shield and struck Gilderoy in the chest launching him right to the edge of the duelling platform.
While he didn't like Snape overly much, he had to admire the man's skill. His power was great, more so than even his and with much greater control. Harry had no doubt that if he fought the Professor, he wouldn't last even a minute unless he played with him. Otherwise it would be a steamroll victory for Professor Snape.
Gilderoy laughed happily and stood to his feet. Despite been embarrassed at his humiliating and quick defeat at the hands of his 'assistant,' he put on a fake front of happiness for his fans.
"Excellent, absolutely excellent." He gave a cheery laugh used by all those that were trying to hide their embarrassment. "Now then, why don't we have two volunteers? How about, Mr Potter and Mr Longbottom?" The two boys shared a glance and shrugged their shoulders. With that the two of them walked towards the platform only to be stopped by Professor Snape.
"I wouldn't do that, Longbottom is more likely to damage himself more than anyone else. Perhaps, Weasley would prove a better challenge." Gilderoy seemed to contemplate this for a few moments before nodding his head in agreement.
"Very well then. Mr Potter, Mr Weasley please come up to the platform." The two young wizards in question did so with many people buzzing and whispering with excitement. While still wary of Harry and what he supposedly did to Mrs Norris, they could not deny the excitement of seeing a world champion in action.
Draco couldn't keep the grin off his face. Now was the time to get back at Potter for taking away not only his position as leader of Slytherin house, but also his position on the Quidditch team. Both were things he had taken pride. One was already his and the other was just outside of his grasp. Now they were ripped away from him.
After having convinced Snape to make sure that Weasley would go up against Harry, now he could finish the first part of his revenge. Humiliate Harry in front of the school. After all he was a half blood and despite been a blood traitor, Weasley was still a Pureblood and should easily defeat him.
"Now stand back to back." Harry and Ron did as they were told before taking three steps forward. On the fourth Weasley spun round and fired out three very simple spells.
"Rictusempra! Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus!" Harry unlike Ron, rolled forwards avoiding the tickling charm, before spinning round into a crouch positon and parrying the next two spells to the ground. Both splattered harmlessly against the ground.
Ron gasped in shock before growling in anger when Harry rose to his feet slowly and twirled his wand in his hand. Smirking, Harry gripped his wand before firing a weak knockback jinx, followed by disarming charm.
The first spell struck the pale misty shield raised by Ron. Despite been weak, the power behind it nearly shattered the shield and forced Ron backwards. Then the disarming charm copied the similar action of Snape and Gilderoy's duel. It shattered the shield and sent Ron flying backwards.
For a few moments no one moved as they watched Ron lay there before they saw him shakily get to his feet. His wand shakily pointed at him.
Raising his eyebrow in amusement, Harry relaxed his body and gave an easy going smile. One that made more than a few girls blush.
"Serpensortia!" A snake shot from his wand and suddenly, he felt an unseen sensation in his mind. A desire to speak to it. Not even in Balthazar's presence did he feel such a need to speak. Harry shook his head to try and get rid of the voice whispering in his ear, but it was slowly chipping away at his resolve.
The snake paid no heed to Harry and instead slithered towards a group of Slytherin's. More specifically the Hufflepuff at the front that goes by the name of Justin Finch-Fletchley.
The others watched Harry shake his head, his mind obviously absent. They instantly knew something was happening, but they didn't know what. They looked towards Ron, the snake, Justin, Snape, Gilderoy and even Draco, but all looked confused.
They watched as the snake raised into the air in preparation to strike, but a hissing noise stopped him. Everyone in the room followed the snake with their eyes as it turned around to face Harry.
§I said stop. § Harry commanded much to shock and fright of the students. Before the conversation could continue, Snape destroyed the snake and gave Harry a look of both surprise and a little bit of fear. It was then the voice disappeared and Harry realised what he had done.
'Something or someone did this.' Harry clenched his fists tightly and he had to restrain his magic to stop it from lashing out in accordance to his anger. Walking off the platform, the entirety of the Second Years gave him a wide birth.
His friends watched him leave before all followed after him leaving the gossiping students behind.
-X- Line Break -X-
Dumbledore sighed and removed his wand from a whole in the wall. He had been surprised by the amount of magic he had been used to put into the spell just to make Harry reveal his Parseltongue ability to the world. It showed just how great a willpower Harry had.
The spell he used was a very powerful version of the Confundus in the way it confuses the enemy into believing they have come up with an idea, when it has instead been given to them by the caster. It had a second property as well. It tore away at the users will and altered the way they viewed certain people. However, the Potter heir had thrown off the spell before he could implement the second phase of it.
While disappointing, it was not disastrous and he had plenty of plans in case for such an outcome.
All of his plans had different outcomes, but all had different routes that took them to the final destination, which was his Utopic world. However, all the plans had some common aspects and one such aspect was the world knowing Harry's abilities and like he knew they would, they would question Harry's future.
The course he took next depended entirely on the results that would follow.
A/N: It's a shorter chapter than usual, but everything that needs to be done has been done, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. If you did please leave a review.