Erebus burst in to the hall out of breath, the stubby sycamore wand held tight in one hand. Across the stone floor of the hall stood Aladár Dankó. He was leaning against the wall in his long red coat, stroking his beard and clearly trying hard to look like he wasn't trying hard. On one end of the room there were stands for watching, half filled with students. Most of Tin were there along with some students from other divisions and even a handful of teachers. There was Professor Kjerring, the Duelling teacher. She was exchanging words with Professor Gewäsch, the stern Technik teacher who had taken Erebus to the school.
Kjerring stood up and croaked, "The duellists are here and the hour arrives!" Her voice was amplified across the hall. "When the clock chimes 12, then—"
DONG! A chime rang out across the hall. Gewäsch summoned forth a great shield to protect all on the stands. Erebus had hardly had chance to notice when a green hex swirled overhead. The duel had begun!
Aladár was striding towards Erebus, swishing his wand and calling out spells. Erebus was caught on the backfoot, dodging away. "Protego!" he called out, calling up a shield. A beam of crackling yellow bounced off, only for the shield to dissipate.
Erebus scowled at his wand and tried to retaliate. "Expelliarmus!" he cried, but it bounced off of Aladár's own shield. Erebus desperately tried to follow it up. "Mimmblew—argh!" He was half-way through casting when he had to jump out of the way of another of Aladár's hexes.
If only I can just have a moment to think straight.
Erebus pointed his wand at the floor. "Lapis Mensa!" he called out. He regretted that his charms weren't up to scratch, but he was still good at transfiguration. A huge stone flagstone raised itself up to form a solid table and Erebus crouched behind it.
"You're pathetic!" called out Aladár. "Come out and face me! I thought you Hogwarts students were supposed to be brave."
"That's Griffindors you're thinking of!" Erebus shouted back. Hufflepuffs weren't necessarily cowards but they did try not to be reckless.
Aladár's boots clicked across the flagstones towards him. Erebus flicked his arm over the top of the table and shot another disarming curse blind. Aladár started to laugh. "Is that all you have?" He was getting closer. Now just a few paces away.
"Nebulus..." Erebus whispered, pouring out a thick fog from the end of his tiny wand. The fog was much more thick than usual but it only poured out for a few moments before the wand got bored of the spell and spluttered out. It was enough though. He vaulted over the table out of the fog and landed right before Aladár. He thrust his wand towards the other boy and it began to be repulsed by Aladár's shield.
His mind cleared and he cast a spell he had perfected a few years ago. He had used it on himself often enough when he wanted to sit in the common room but avoid having to look like he was sitting on his own.
"Insella!" he shouted, the transfiguration passing through the shield which had, after all, been primed against curses, hexes and jinxes. Aladár stumbled back, and flailed his wand towards Erebus but as he did, his arm grew to twice the size and his robe turned into plush velvet. He fell on the ground with a loud clack as his two human legs disappeared and were replaced with four wooden ones.
"What have you—" Aladár began before his head turned into a large back cushion, his beard rolled up to become an antimacassar and his voice became completely muffled. There was much clapping and cheering from the gallery.
Erebus stood and examined his handiwork. Where once a young man has stood, now sat a rather plump armchair. He prodded the armchair cautiously, testing the stability of the spell. The little wand launched itself from his hand and disappeared down the back of the cushions, as if on its own accord. Panicking, Erebus shoved his hand behind the cushion, trying not to think too much about what part of Aladár's anatomy is might correspond to. He pulled out a slim vial of black, viscous liquid which he tucked in his pocket before digging further. At last he clasped the familiar wood of a wand. He pulled it out and was relieved to find it was his own original pine wand.
"Have I won? Are we still duelling?" Erebus asked the crowd.
Professor Kjerring, her voice still amplified, croaked back, "Aladár Dankó has remained transfigured long enough without resuming the duel. The win goes to Erebus Flint!"
The crowd cheered again and a swell of pride came over Erebus. He had done it! He had won his first challenge! He was on his way up! And, for the first time ever, he thought he might know what admiration felt like.
The teachers left along with most of the students, leaving a handful of Tin known to Erebus.
"Congratulations on your win," said Ditte, leaning over to inspect the armchair that was Aladár. "I think this is rather an improvement."
Cassiopeia was less impressed. "You didn't even try a proper curse. There's no rules against using Crucio here, you know."
Barely the height of the back of the chair, Zornitsa stepped out from behind it. "I thought it was quite clever. You played to your strengths and cast a spell he wouldn't have seen coming."
"What happened to the wand we just made?" Ditte asked.
"It was so fickle," said Erebus, "I'm happy to be done with it."
"They do say sycamore wands get bored easily, but this was something else," she said.
"Hmmmph?" asked the armchair.
"Oh!" cried Erebus, prodding the cushion with his wand and saying the incantation again. The chair folded forwards, the cushions withdrew, the antimacassar fell on the ground, and two human legs replaced the four wooden ones. In moments, Aladár was standing there in almost one piece. On the ground, where the antimacassar had fallen, was his long black beard. His chin was now smooth once again, and he looked much like a normal boy.
"That was a cheap trick!" Aladár was furious. "I've half a mind to challenge you back straight away. You only seem to know two charms and you can't even cast them right and yet you have the audacity to turn me into furniture!"
"Hey I won fair and chair," said Erebus, trying not to laugh.
Aladár scowled back at him. "And I don't know how you got another wand so fast, but it's mine now." He patted his side, and then, keeping his gaze fixed on Erebus, he walked sideways back out of the hall.
"I really don't want to go back and share a bedroom with that guy," said Erebus.
"He wouldn't try anything there," said Ditte.
"He can't you mean," said Cassiopeia. "Wizards and witches cannot fight, steal, or cast a spells on one another within their division rooms. It's to stop us all incapacitating each other for a cheap victory."
"If you say," said Erebus. He was unsure as he headed with them back to the Tin tower. Exhausted from his long day of lessons, wand making and duelling, not to mention all the running up and down flights of stairs, Erebus plodded up to his room. Aladár was already lying in bed, turned away from him.
Erebus dressed into his pyjamas and slipped into bed. He was lying in the dark, the scenes of the day playing through his mind when Aladár spoke to him with a voice that sounded on the verge of tears.
"It's alright for you," he said. "You get to go back at the end of the school year. Tell all your jolly friends how well you did against the evil Durmstrangers. But it's not a game for me. I have to live here. I have to try and get beyond Tin when it's all rigged against me. I can't go back down Copper. I won't. I'd sooner leave than suffer this endless nightmare."
As Aladár sobbed into his pillow, Erebus drifted guiltily into slumber.