Chapter [IX] First Duels and New Sparks
Two weeks had gone by since the Hallowe'en Feast, one of the few things Jamieson missed the most was cuddling with Leonidas, who returned to his top bunk once their one week wager had ended, and the amazing pumpkin cheesecake bar they had during Hallowe'en Feast.
"Yeah, Hallowe'en Feast's surprise treat has that effect on ya'," Jamieson squeaks as he hears an unfamiliar voice behind him, startled since he had drifted off while waiting for Frona and Leonidas in the Great Hall. "H-Hello," He managed to muster, standing up and shaking the tall, rather burly man's hand. "Ajax Sage Weasley-Granger at your service," The tall man introduced himself, a light bulb immediately going off in Jamieson's head.
"Wait... Are you Frona's brother?" He asked, realizing that, realizing the similarity between his and Frona's hair. With a small smile, "Yep. And you must be Jamieson," The man asked, both of them sitting down on the same row, starting to eat the breakfast that had began popping up. After quite a long conversation, Jamies0n learned that Frona had been writing home a lot about her experience in Hogwarts, telling her family about Jamieson and Leonidas. Jamieson was glad that she didn't tell them about his visions though... Or at least he hoped she didn't.
"Big Herb!" Both boys spun their heads westwards, seeing Frona and Leonidas finally arrive in the Great Hall, Jamieson watched as Frona threw the stacks of book she carried onto the huge stack that Leonidas was already struggling to carry.
'Big Herb...? Oh, right. Ajax's middle name is Sage, I wonder what he calls Frona...' Jamieson wondered as Leonidas waltzed beside him, dropping the books onto the table with a loud 'bang', which Jamieson swore he head a small crack coming from the table. "Good to see you, little flower," 'Flower huh,' Jamieson grinned at the adorable nicknames they gave each other, "You didn't tell me you were coming!" Frona grinned widely, sitting on the tall man's shoulders as the man took her around for a spun, the little smart prodigy giggling away excitedly, which was a wild sight for Leonidas and Jamieson, since it was their first time seeing her actually act like her age.
"What're you doing here?" Frona asked as Ajax slowly set her back down on the floor, both of them taking their seats opposite from Jamieson and Leonidas, who had been quiet the entire time, still bewildered from seeing Frona act so... childlike, not that they weren't children. "I happen to be the new Divination professor. I actually arrived last night, though I went straight to bed. You've no idea how far I've gone from the Ministry to here," Ajax groaned, remembering all the train stops he had to get off to switch trains. He would've flown on his broom if it weren't for his luggage.
"Wait, Divination? Don't you think that's a bit too different from your previous occupation?" Frona asked, lifting a brow as she, too, began to dive in to their breakfast. "Well, I wouldn't say that. I have been interviewing suspects and reading their minds for 6 years. I reckon reading minds and crystal balls, tea leaves and all that wouldn't be too different," shrugged the tall ginger man, "What was your previous job?" Leonidas asked, mouth full of food, earning a waist-jab from Jamieson. "At least swallow before you speak," Jamieson whispered, Leonidas flashing him a toothy grin, ignoring the boy's reprimand for the 100th time.
"I worked as an Auror for 6 years, a Magizoologist for 3 years before that, and now I'm hoping I can settle down for a long term here in Hogwarts," Ajax grinned, excited to finally start teaching. He knew he'd return to Hogwarts to teach at some point in his life... Plus, he had a mission to fulfill for a certain pair of people.
"Ooh! A Magizoologist and an Auror. Surely you have a lot of stories to tell," Leonidas grinned, Frona nodding along, "He brought a baby dragon home one time and left it, mom and dad were furious at first, but they loved the dragon anyways," Frona piped up, Jamieson still being confused as to what an Auror and a Magizoologist was.
"Ah, sorry Jamieson. An Auror is the equivalent of a policeman or policewoman, if you were to use muggle jobs as an example. We enforce the rules and hunt down Dark Wizards if there're any sightings. A Magizoologist on the other hand, is like an animal biologist, or a zoologist, if you will," Ajax explained, pausing and seeing Jamieson nod before continuing, "Though if you asked me, being an Auror is definitely more dangerous than a Magizoologist. Magical Creatures are predictable, and often tameable if you're brave enough, but Dark Wizards and wrongens in general? You can predict but you can't expect the best out of it," He finished, Leonidas and Jamieson both nodding in response.
"Wait... H-How did you know I was thinking about what Aurors and Magizoologists were?" Jamieson squeaks, wondering if he had been speaking his thoughts earlier.
"It just so happens that being an Auror meant you need to master Legilimens, which is the art of reading one's mind. That way we're able to tell if someone is telling the truth and hiding nothing without needing to rely on truth serums," Ajax continued explaining, Jamieson once again nodding as a response. Glancing over at Frona, the girl was smiling proudly at her brother. He could see another similarity between the two, 'They're both amazing,' He thought. Seeing how talented and diverse Ajax's skill set was as a wizard, Jamieson could easily tell Frona herself would grow into an equally as amazing witch.
The four continued talking over breakfast, with the conversations mostly coming from Ajax as he shared his experiences throughout his years as an Auror and a Magizoologist, getting reprimanded now and then by Frona when he shared the more gruesome details. "You're gonna ruin breakfast if you keep up," Frona rolled her eyes, jabbing her brother in his waist as Leonidas pushed his plate forth slightly, seemingly losing his appetite, which was yet another wild sight for Jamieson.
The quartet soon turned into a trio, with Ajax leaving the trio to explore his new workplace while Frona, Jamieson and Leonidas being glad that the Potion test that they totally studied for the night before had been postponed to next week, seeing how Peeves had seemingly destroyed the test materials Professor Ancum had prepared. Instead, they oped to revise a few of the potions they've brewed, Wiggenweld to be exact. "How am I still not getting this right?" Jamieson groaned, acquiring help from Leonidas who easily fixed his error, turning his potion to the correct colour.
Their two classes whizzed by that day, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, except for the announcement of a quick assembly they were having in the Great Hall later that afternoon, the trio once again being the earliest bunch, with Ajax joining them exactly like he did in the morning, except this time, once the hall was filled, they were getting weird looks and barely-audible chatters from other students. 'They're probably curious about Ajax...' Jamieson thought, seeing how someone whose at least more than twice their age sat with them, talking and laughing as if they were close friends.
That and probably how attractive he was. Jamieson had noticed a few scars on Ajax's face and arms, probably due to his experiences throughout his years Auror and Magizoologist years.
"Good Afternoon students, I've assembled all of you for two quick announcements," Professor McDuffel began, scanning around the Great Hall to make sure the person-to-be-introduced was present. "As you all know, Professor Gregory has decided to retire a few days ago from his Divination teaching post here at Hogwarts due to personal reasons. I would like to introduce the new professor who will be replacing him for his post," Professor Ancum paused, looking over at the one person standing out from the crowd of students. "That's probably my cue," Ajax smiled, giving his sister a quick hug and a small smile to Jamieson and Leonidas, "Please welcome, Professor Sage," The headmaster continued, loud whispers and chatters quickly filling the hall.
"As you may know, Professor Sage himself has played a great role in single-handedly pulling the Malaysian Golden Monitor Lizards out of extinction a few years back, along with capturing one of the most dangerous Dark Wizard of our times. A few words, if you will, Professor Sage," Professor McDuffel continued, claps erupting as soon as he finished, Jamieson looking at him in awe. He didn't know Ajax had such amazing feats at such a young age, seeing how he didn't even bring it up during their hang out earlier.
"Thank you, Professor McDuffel. I chose to teach at Divination at Hogwarts simply because I wanted to expand my experiences, along with choosing a long-term job. I've always loved caring for magical creatures, the same way I loved working under the Ministry as an Auror, but both of those jobs were far too risky, in my opinion," Ajax continued, sharing his own reasons for choosing Divination and his return to Hogwarts. Claps once again filled the hall as he stepped down from the podium and made his way behind the long tables on a seat next to Professor Lupus, who shook his hand. "I was wondering who you were, considering you looked far too old to be on the students tables," The silver-haired professor smirked, earning himself a shy chuckle from Ajax. "I mean, I wasn't informed that we weren't allowed to," He shrugged, his gaze shifting back to the students.
"Now. As for the second announcement, the first Duelling Club meetings will begin tonight," Professor McDuffel began, immediately the entire hall was filled with an entire roar of claps, cheers and so forth, a big smile appearing on the professor's face upon seeing the older student's excitement and the confusion on the first years'.
"The Duelling Club is different from the three magical creature clubs, meaning you can be a part of it and be a member of one of thee magical creature clubs separately. Like Quidditch, each year, members of the Duelling Club will compete for a cup, only the main difference is while Quidditch is open to second years and above, the matches for the Duelling club may only be participated by 3rd years and above, though first years are welcome to join early if they wish to," He continued explaining the rules, regulations and the systems of the Duelling club.
"Are you two joining?" Leonidas grinned, rather excited for the club. "Definitely!" Jamieson answered, "Probably not, to be honest. I'm not too keen on duels," Frona frowned, unable to imagine herself duelling anyone else as she sees herself as the brain of the group. As the rest of the students left the hall, Jamieson and Leonidas approached Professor Lupus, who happened to be their Head of the House, with Frona trailing behind, keeping a distance.
"Here to apply for the Duelling Club?" The professor smirked, watching the two approach him with a third trailing behind them. "Yes, professor," Jamieson answered as the professor handed them each a form and a quill. "You're not entering?" Ajax asked once Frona joined them. "N-No. Can I come watch though, Aja- I mean, Professor Sage?" Frona answered, feeling rather awkward calling her big brother 'Professor Sage'.
"You can still call me Ajax you know. And, yeah, of course you could come watch, though if you wanna participate in any future duels you'd have to apply," The red-haired professor rolled his eyes with a small laugh upon seeing Frona let out a small sigh of relief, knowing full well she'd feel off if she had to call him a Professor. "All forms filled out properly. First club meeting is tonight at 8pm at the Duelling Room, down in the Dungeons, just past the entrance to Slytherin's Common Room," The professor instructed, the trio nodding with a small smile.
"I've been wondering what that room was for," Jamieson shrugged, he had been curiously peeking down the halls every now and then after their potions class, wondering what the door, like hundreds many around Hogwarts, led to.
"Return of the Heir... The chamber will open again..." A near-nutter looking student wailed out, handing out parchments to wandering students, Jamieson taking one while being crept out by her looks. "The Chamber of Secrets..." Jamieson read, scanning over the hastily scribbled flyer parchment he had taken. "Don't bother, it could be another gimmick from the Slytherin seniors. My brothers and sisters have told me a lot about them," Frona rolled her eyes, glad that her entire family were Gryffindors.
"Two questions. How many siblings do you have?" Jamieson asked as they neared their common room, with Leonidas leading and speaking out the password. "I have 2 sisters and 4 brothers. I'm the youngest, with the 2nd youngest of my brother being 12 years older, Ajax is my 4th sibling. There hadn't been another Weasley-Granger here in Hogwarts for 12 years," Frona explained, which Jamieson nodded to, remembering how he heard from someone that there hadn't been another member from their family line in Hogwarts for a long time, he wondered how old the rest of her siblings were.
"Second, what exactly is the Chamber of Secrets?" He continued as the three of them sat down near the study area of the common room. "Well..." Frona trailed off, silently asking Leonidas to explain. "It's a room deep below Hogwarts, built by one of the four Founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin. It's supposed to only be opened by his heirs. The last time it was opened was by your great grandfather, Harry Potter-Diggory," He explained, Jamieson nodded along as he spoke.
"Apparently that's where he slayed the Basilisk," He paused, munching on one of the sandwiches he had snuck in from the Great Hall earlier.
"What's a basilisk?" Jamieson asked, remembering he'd read about it in one of the few books in the library out of curiosity, though he doesn't quite remember what it wrote.
"It's an illegal magical, a big, snake-like creature born by hatching a chicken egg under a toad. Its gaze can turn you to stone," Frona explained, a light bulb immediately going off in Jamieson's eyes.
"Wait... A big snake, basically?" The raven-haired boy asked, seeing his two friends nod. "W-What if... What if that's what I'd been hearing?" Jamieson piped up, remembering the 'Astronomy Night' incident, as he'd call it.
"That's... I mean, it's not impossible... But why would there be another basilisk here? They aren't known to lay eggs," Frona lifted a brow as she spoke. "I don't know," Jamieson sighed, his hope somewhat crushed upon hearing the basilisks not laying eggs.
"How's this. If you hear parseltongue, again, then we go down to the chamber," Leonidas grinned, ignoring the frown which appeared immediately on Frona. "Are you crazy? It's too dangerous! Plus, there's no books on Hogwarts which tells us how to get in there. The last time it was opened, it wasn't documented how, only that it actually happened," Frona groaned, now seeing Leonidas' big grin turn into a frown as well.
"I agree with Leo. If I hear snake talk again, we're going down there. There has to be a reason I can understand snakes! I-I can't be another Slytherin heir, the last time he had an heir, the person became Voldemort," Jamieson cried, having read into a few history books himself along with their History of Magic classes teach about Voldemort's reign, he couldn't imagine himself turning out into something like the mentioned dark wizard.
"Okay, okay. Fine. If you hear Parseltongue again, then we look into how we enter the chamber, alright? Until then, please don't go snooping around, and I don't want you two to go talk to that Slytherin loon we saw in the Halls earlier, you know it'd only end badly if you do," Frona warned the two, who nodded in sync, not wanting to challenge her, the trio decided to leave it at that, reviewing their Potions notes afterwards.
"Ugh... I still don't get where I keep doing it wrong? My Wiggenweld Potion always turns purple," Jamieson groans, reading the Wiggenweld Potion instructions way over 10 times, including all the tips along with dos and do nots, noting how his potion immediately turns purple instead of pink after turning on the heat. "I'm telling you, you keep adding too much flobberworm mucus," Frona reprimanded the boy who huffed in return, wanting to comment on how annoyingly tricky flobberworm mucus is to work with, he decided not to, knowing he'd get another word from her.
The rest of the evening went by rather slowly for the trio, they'd been cooped up in their room. They'd been revising the 5 potions they were taught for so long, even Frona had grown tired of it. "Okay, that's enough books for me," Frona huffed, shutting her book in exhaustion, startling and scaring her two male friends. "What?" She asked with a raised brow, looking at the two sitting across her who had whipped their wands out in mock-fear, "Who are you and what have you done to Frona?!" Leonidas cried, earning himself an annoyed eye-roll from the girl.
"I've been revising these potions so much, I could literally write down the steps word by word with closed eyes," She stated with a matter-of-fact voice, standing up and picking up her books, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd rather go take a walk around the castle," She huffed, leaving the two rather bewildered at Frona. Never in their wildest imaginations did either boys would see a world where the Frona Freesia Wesley-Granger, willingly choose to put down a book and do something else not related to studying and/or reading even in the slightest way.
"She's right y'know. I'm absolutely done with this. I'm confident I don't even have to look at what I'm writing, I'd be able to write down the instructions exactly the same on this book," Leonidas groaned, once again pointing out how much they'd study the same potions over and over again.
"Alright then. What do you reckon we do? There's at least 6 hours left before the club meeting," Jamieson shrugged, both of them shutting their books in sync. "How about a game of Quidditch?" Leonidas wiggled his brows, silently challenging the boy. "What, losing once isn't enough?" Jamieson smirked in response, earning himself a scowl, "Don't get so cocky, Potter-Diggory. I, Leonidas, will beat you this time," Leonidas proudly states, picking up his book and rushing up the stairs, to their dormitories, the brunet boy following behind closely.
"Aw, they're using the pitch," Leonidas frowns once they arrived at the stadium, seeing how there's a Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff match going on, both whimpering in disappointment, until Jamieson remembered there was a big empty area in-front of Grawp's hut.
"Wait, I think I know another place," Jamieson grins, taking off in another direction, "Hey!" Leonidas squeaks, chasing after his friend who'd gone into a full sprint all of a sudden. "Jamieson, wait up," Leonidas huffed as they had ran from the Quidditch pitch all the way to the end of the wooden bridge, literally from one end of the school to another.
"Huh... Who lives down there?" Leonidas wondered, realizing he'd never been to this part of the school. "Mr. Grawp does. He's the guy who picked us up when we first arrived at Hogwarts, remember?" Jamieson answers, reminiscing the first time they stepped foot on Hogsmeade station.
"Oh! You mean that half-giant," Leonidas pipes up as they began walking down the steps towards the hut surrounded by various vegetables. "Half what now?" Jamieson asked, thinking he'd misheard the blond boy.
"He's a half-giant. You didn't think regular wizards and humans grew to that size, do you?" Leonidas raised a brow, only to remember that giants didn't exist in the muggle world. "Huh... You're right," Jamieson breathed, only to realize there were only two people who seemed to stick out with their sizes, Grawp and Hargreeves. Now that he thought about it, he realized how similar their accents were as well.
"Mr. Grawp, it's me, Jamieson. Are you there?" Jamieson began knocking on the wooden door, hearing heavy steps scurry towards him, he stepped back as the door swung open, a tall, bearded and long-haired man looking down at the duo.
"Oh, it's you. Sumfin' happened?" Grawp asked, "Thought I told ya' to jus' call me Grawp," He raised a brow, which Jamieson grinned innocently to as a response. "Hullo," Leonidas shyly waved at the man, who raised his palm as a simple response.
"We were wondering if we could play here, since the Quidditch Pitch is being used," Jamieson once again grinned widely, Grawp tilting his head slightly with a few confused blinks, seeing how its a first for anyone to ask him such a thing. "Jus' don't go anywhere near me' veges. Anyfin' happened to it, you both will get detention," He answered, closing the door on the duo after seeing quick nods from them.
"Right... What exactly are we gonna use for hoops?" Leonidas asked as they walked to the somewhat flat empty space in-front of the hut. "We could... make them?" Jamieson grins, picking up a few twigs, bits and bobbles, Leonidas rolling his eyes before following along, both having their brooms chucked to the side.
Soon, a huge pile of sticks and stones of various sizes laid in-front of the two boys. "Watch," Jamieson grins, running towards the edge of a nearby forest and gathering quite a lot of vines, waltzing back towards Leonidas and proceeding to use the vines as ropes, tying together a bunch of sticks to form a semicircle. "Ooh... I see where you're going," Leonidas soon copied him, both of them successfully creating a study somewhat-of-a -circle from sticks and vines.
"How are we gonna make them stand high though?" Leonidas asked as they both stood up, scanning the still-tall pile of sticks, stones and now joined by vines. Jamieson stood silent for a few seconds, realizing they didn't have any spells which could levitate things other than the Levitation Charm, which he could use due to the fact that they needed to constantly focus and keep their wands pointing upwards for it to work.
Then it hit him,
"This is where muggle knowledge comes in handy," Jamieson grins, remembering a contraption he remembered reading before coming to Hogwarts. Sure, a lot of things might be different in the wizarding world compared to the muggle world, but they still shared the same Earth, and while there may be physics-rule bending spells, he knew gravity still worked all the same in the magical world.
Jamieson began tying the circle to various long sticks, creating a sort of thick, sturdy long handles. Though they weren't nearly as high as the Quidditch pitch's hoops, they were still high enough for them to break something if they fell from such altitude. Once Jamieson was satisfied with the height of the hoops, he gently set it down on the ground, sprinting back to the edge of the forest. 'Wingardium Leviosa' Jamieson chanted, carrying over large boulders.
"Whoah, how'd you do that?" Leonidas gasped, watching his friend carry over multiple large boulders and other rocks of various sizes towards him. "I used the Levitating Charm," Jamieson shrugged, arranging the the boulders and rocks of various sizes into a pyramid of some sort, sticking the tall hoop in the center, both boys stood in silence as a heavy wind blew their way, with the hoop only budging slightly.
"It worked! I don't understand how, but it works," Leonidas grinned, following Jamieson near the forest once they had tied an equally-as-long handle for the other hoop, using the very last bit of sticks and vines. "Oof," Leonidas squeaks, trying to copy Jamieson in lifting multiple boulders, dropping his wand in the process.
"What happened?" Jamieson asked, dropping his boulders and sprinting towards the boy. "I-I don't know. I followed your instructions a-and... I got a few boulders up, but suddenly my wand felt heavy," Leonidas squeaks, picking up his wand. repeating it and only to get the same results.
"Let me try," Jamieson wonders, repeating his spell and finding nothing wrong with the boulders, though he wasn't able to pick it up with Leonidas' wand, he did just fine with his own. "I... I think it's my wand. Try using mine," Jamieson handed his blond friend his tri-coloured wand, who seemingly lifted the boulders with ease.
"You're right, huh..." Leonidas hummed, handing the boy his wand, both of them hurrying over to their home-made hoops, completely forgetting about Jamieson's wand strength. The only thing going through their young mind was to play.
"Right. What's the wager this time?" Leonidas grins mischievously once both hoops were set up properly, both of them meeting in the middle. "Same as before, I guess. Only this time... We make it into one month," Jamieson grins, a devilish glint twinkling in Leonidas' eyes, seeing it as a win-win while Jamieson saw it as a win-lose.
"Are you sure? You're willing to do all of my homework for one month?" Leonidas' grin stayed, seeing Jamieson chuckle, "Oh, I'm not gonna lose," the boy cockily said. "I know all your tricks this time around," He continued as they continued to their sides of the makeshift field, both kicking off and hovering near their hoops, with Leonidas transforming a rock into a leaf ball similar to the one they used before.
And so the match begins, with the boys outwitting each other with various tricks and spells, both displaying their newly expanded array of weapons compared to their first match, with Grawp occasionally looking out his window to watch the two boys have fun, he was glad to have company for once.
Just as the match had reached their climax, tied to a 9 to 9 point after 2 hours as it did before, the competitive fires in both boy's eyes were extinguished, "Hey, Gryffindors!" They both heard a stern voice, both heads whipping towards the steps, seeing two students make their way down.
"G-Graham," Leonidas stutters as both boys flew down, the leaf ball in his hand turns back into a rock with a small 'pop' as Graham and Samuel approached them, faking an angered look. "What do you two think you're doing down here?" Samuel began, trying his best to fake a stern voice.
"W-We uh..." Leonidas began, stuttering and looking down in embarrassment, "W-We were playing Quidditch," Jamieson stepped in, looking up at the tall prefect, mustering as much courage as he could. He'd been on Graham and Samuel's good side for quite a long time, he knew it was only time before he'd screw up and set them off.
"Quidditch?" Graham lifted a brow, crossing his arm and silently demanding further explanation. Nervously, the boy explained the rules of their mini-Quidditch, along with their wager and how they'd made their mini-field, both Samuel and Graham holding back from being impressed by the duo. "I uh... I-I'll take the blame for this. It was my idea," Jamieson whimpers, "What? No, i-it was mine," Leonidas fought back, scowling at Jamieson.
"You're both getting detention," Graham warns, both boys missing his smirk since they weren't looking directly at him. "If you lose, Jamieson," Graham grins, summoning his broom from within the castle, something Professor Erskin said was a feat achievable by someone who had familiarized and bonded, to an extent, with their broom over a long time.
"W-wait, what?" Both boys snapped their heads upwards, looking at the prefect, feeling as if they'd get a whiplash at how fast they both turned. "You heard him. I'm on your team Leo. If we win, you both have to do our homeworks," Samuel grins mischievously, his broom in his hand, both prefects soon kicked off, hovering over their hoops, glad they weren't scheduled to patrol that day,
"Uh..." Both boys dragged out, confused as they stared at each other. "Hurry up!" They both hear, prompting them to mount their brooms and join their own side. "How many points are we at?" Samuel asked, with Leonidas glancing over Jamieson with a smirk. "Zero. We're starting over," he answered, seemingly reading the boy's mind.
Mid-way throughout their rematch, Grawp had joined them, acting as the referee once his chores were done, loud chortles, oofs, laughs and so on booming through the field as he enjoyed watching the game, impressed by the tricks and fooleries both teams displayed. Somehow the game became far more intense with the addition of another member on both sides. With an even more extensive and wide array of spells and knowledge, both boys had to learn to read their senior's movements and mind to catch up.
"One last pointer fer' both sides, a 9 against 9, this is it! The very last point. Whoever scores will end the game and be victerious'!" Grawp announced, throwing the leaf ball towards team Jamieson. Team Leonidas scored the 9th point for their team, but due to the fact that a failed distraction had cost them their turn, they had to give their opponent the ball.
"Ready?" Graham grins, floating even higher once Jamieson nodded. With all of his strength, he threw the ball at full force towards their hoop, 'Incendio!' he chanted, setting it on fire. 'Glacius!' Samuel countered the flaming spell, freezing the ball solid, which dropped down onto the ground. 'Spongify!' both of them heard as Jamieson threw another ball onto the ground, watching it bounce off, though Leonidas managed to catch it, neither boy had expected a third ball flying between them, though Samuel also managed to catch said ball, a fourth one had seemingly flew right over their heads. 'Accio!' Graham yelled, the leaf ball seemingly flew through the hoop before hitting the ground behind them.
"Wha-" Leonidas whipped around, only to have the leaf ball fly right by his head, missing by only a few strands of hair, he let out a squeak in fear. Neither of the two had noticed Graham silently summoning a few more rocks, using the same spell Leonidas initially did to transfigure them into balls of leaves while they were dealing with the burning one.
"Victory fer' team Jamieson!" Grawp excitedly yells, his claps loud as all four students landed, shaking each other's hand, along with Grawp, "You should referee for Quidditch," Samuel suggested, earning himself a small snort from the half-giant.
"Rats, I was about to have an entire month of no homework," Leonidas mock-frowned widely, "Well, cuddling isn't so bad," Jamieson grins innocently, with Leonidas letting out a long sigh, "I guess," he dragged out.
Behind them, Graham was giving Samuel the puppiest eyes he could muster. "We're from different houses, fool," Samuel rolled his eyes, though the thought of them cuddling did feel nice.
"Oh, I'm sure we could work something out," Graham grins, Samuel recognizing the mischievous look on his face, "Nothing crazy, please," He rolled his eyes, seeing his partner nod excitedly.
"Yer' four wanna join me for tea? I don't usually have guests over but I prepared sumfin'," Grawp asked, the four couldn't say no to his innocent smile. Following him into his hut, they were immediately hit with the most inviting smell of flower tea they'd ever whiffed, along with meeting Grawp's grey dog, "This is Fondue. He's a lazy one, but if you try to do anything bad, he immediately transforms into a different dog," he introduced, with Fondue laying on his back as Jamieson scratches his belly, neither of them could imagine what he'd transform into is ticked off.
The rest of the afternoon whizzed by quickly, Grawp sharing his own experiences of not only attending Hogwarts and finishing his N.E. , but also his years of being a staff here. "Teh' muggles change quite a lot, and very fast' if I may say so meself, but Hogwarts, along with the whole wizard world don' change, Jamieson," He pointed out, with Jamieson nodding along as he remembered how Hogwarts hadn't changed at all, comparing it to all the old photos of the castle, "We don't need ter' change. Them muggles need to make up space for all their big machineries– I've seen em' durin' me travels, but we have all the machineries and whatnots here in our wands," He continued, raising his wand, reminding Jamieson how important and insanely useful it was.
Even though Jamieson himself hadn't had much experience in using magic for daily uses compared to the half-giant, his own experiences so far told him that magic was basically a one-solution-for-all thing for wizards.
"Thanks again for the treats, Mr. Grawp," Samuel bowed, being the last of the quartet to leave Grawp's hut, "Come back soon yeah?" Jamieson hears the giant chuckle as his hut's d0or was shut, the four of them making their way up the steps and back into the castle.
"Which way to the dungeon again?" Leonidas asked as they walked ahead of the prefects, seeing the sun slowly set, they decided to skip dinner altogether, opting to instead go straight to the duelling club once they'd change into comfier and not as sweat-drenched clothes.
"We're early," Jamieson huffed, sitting cross-legged on the cold, flat floor of the dungeons, pointing out how the door was still locked. "Well aren't you two early?" An unfamiliar voice called out, approaching them. Turning their heads, both of them spotted a fellow Gryffindor walking down the hall towards them, except the two didn't recognize the older-looking boy, spotting a rather messy black hair and a scar down his right eye, which Jamieson thought made him look, as the muggles would put it, bad ass.
"Y-Yeah, a bit," Leonidas nervously chuckled, standing up, Jamieson following behind quickly. "Caleb Griffins, 5th year," The man extended his hand, which both of the boys shook, Jamieson making a mental note of how firm his handshake was and how it oozed confidence. "I-I'm Jamieson, this is Leonidas," The boy nervously introduced them both, hearing a chuckle from the taller boy, "Oh, I know. You two and your girl friend have been earning a lot of points for us. Minus the ones you lost during your flying classes," Caleb pointed out, Jamieson feeling a slight jab on his waist, the black-haired boy holding back an embarrassed squeak, remembering how he'd lost them over 200 points.
As the three chattered away, more and more students began crowding the hall, with Professor Ancum soon making his way down the path the students had formed, with Ajax following right behind him, Jamieson and Leonidas did their best to hold in an excited squeal upon learning that Ajax was a Gryffindor-housed teacher.
With a quick whip of his wand, the professor seamlessly unlocked the door, which simply disappeared instead of being pushed like a regular door. Leonidas and Jamieson looked around in awe, noticing how there were burn marks, dents and other forms of damages all around the room, serving as reminders of how intense duels could get at times.
"Hullo," Frona squeaks, startling the two as she had seemingly popped out of thin air for them, when the reality was that they had been too busy admiring the room. Before the two could comment, Professor Ancum cleared his throats, "Welcome, Gryffindors, to the Duelling Club. Now, I'm sure 2nd years and above are familiar with the rules of the club, but I shall repeat them for our new members of the year," Professor Ancum continued, making a gesture towards the only 2 first years there, 3 including Frona even though she technically didn't sign up.
"First, you are allowed to discuss of the club outside. Second, this room is the only room where you're allowed to duel one another. Any duels outside, you'll immediately be facing expulsion. Third, you are allowed to use this room whenever and for however long as long as you have come to an agreement to whoever else is using the room upon entering, which means, first come first serve. Fourth, every single official duel must be supervised by a school staff, they can be professors, groundkeepers, even elves if you will. That covers all of the rules, I shall allow Professor Sage to explain the Duelling Cup system," The silver-haired professor stepped back, a rather excited Ajax stepping forth to where he stood.
"Now, most of you may know that the Duelling Club itself isn't very old. While Hogwarts has been standing for well over 1000s of years, the club itself is as new as the mythical creatures club, its foundation year dating back to somewhere in the 1990s. The system itself is simple, you are allowed to have an official duelling match at any time of the day, week and year, as long as you've done the proper paperwork. One of two ways to earn points for your house," Ajax paused, gesturing towards a blackboard to the side, with a board so black, it almost seemed like the void for Jamieson, with only the crests of the four houses seemingly floating on the top-part of the pitch-black board being visible.
"...is through official matches conducted by the players themselves and the monthly mini tournament. Winning an official match gives your house 1 point. Every month, there will be a mini-tournament with many stages, depending on however many are participating, leading up to the final. Whichever house representative wins the finals for that month earns their house 3 points, 2 for the runner up and 1 for third and fourth place. If you were to propose an official match, or would like to be the house representative needs to submit their names to the Duelling Club captain, and as a tradition, each year's house captain changes based on who won the last cup the year before, and since I was informed that Mr. Griffins was last years', may I please have our new captain for this year to come up?" Ajax continued again, pausing and waiting for their new captain to emerge.
Ajax scanned the older student, rather impressed by his looks, noting how he had the looks of someone who'd duelled to hell and back. "Right, so this is Mr. Griffins, the one who brought the most points and on our cup last year as I was informed, so he is your captain. Simple enough, any questions?" Ajax paused, only to be met with silence.
"Very well. To end our brief meeting for the night, let me and Professor Sage demonstrate a bit of duelling, as an encouragement and display of proper duelling sportsmanship," Professor Ancum stepped forth, watching the students run towards the nearest walls before they began.
Professor Ancum and Ajax met in the center of the room, raising their wands, shaking hands with a little bow before both, with same step counts, stepped away from each other. Within the blink of an eye, Ajax spun around, wordlessly sending a fireball down the room, which Professor Ancum deflected, the spell flying towards the trio in one corner of the room.
"Brace yourselves!" Leonidas squeaked, with Frona hiding behind between the two, though the fire never actually hit them. 'Protego' They heard a familiar voice chant. Opening their eyes, they saw Caleb had stood in-front of the trio, holding his wand out and creative a protective barrier in-front of them.
"Are you three okay?" Caleb asked, glancing behind him, though his focus was trying to watch the two professors duel it out. The last time Professor Ancum duelled anyone it became insanely intense. Before the trio could continue, the match revved up to full intensity almost immediately.
Professor Ancum had conjured a thick string of rope which had bounded Ajax, prompting him to drop onto the ground, before summoning a snake forth, only for Ajax to switch place with a nearby dust bunny with a switching spell, surprising everyone in the room. 'How did he even see that?' 'Screw that! It takes a lot of focus to switch with yourself with another object, let alone something that tiny!' A few students began murmuring as the match went on, Professor Ancum was now shielding himself from barrages of attacks from Ajax, ranging from fireballs to various transfigurations from specks of dusts all around into various objects and animals for offensive purposes.
Professor Ancum silently commended the younger teacher, realizing now what his 'Eagle Eye Sage' title meant, something he'd hear a few times when visiting the ministry years prior. The professor then conjured a shield which repelled a fireball spell back at Ajax, who dodged it in the nick of time, the other students watching it fly down the hall, thankful it hadn't hit anyone.
The young trio made a mental note to make sure nobody was duelling the next time they would go down the hall, in fear of having a rogue spell flying towards them.
Professor Ancum now had Ajax cornered, who had to keep a barrier spell up as he protected himself from the violent spells spewing out from the silver-fox's wand. Ajax waited for the small window of opportunity to turn the tides, which he seemed to produce once he deliberately shattered his barrier, catching the older professor of guard. Within a split second, 'Glacius!' Ajax chanted, the very first verbal spell they had cast that night. 'Flipendo!' he continued, knocking the professor off of his feet, tumbling onto the now-frozen floor beneath him.
"Ready to surrender now, Professor Ancum?" Ajax grinned mischievously as he neared the professor, who laid motionlessly on the floor, pointing his wand at said professor as he kicked the other wand far away from him. "C'mon old man, giving up already?" Ajax smirks, prodding the motionless professor with his wand, somewhat worried about his lack of response.
"Deception, Sage," He hears a low growl from the older professor, "Huh?" Ajax squeaks, ready to leap backwards to protect himself, being a few seconds too late. In the blink of an eye, his own wand was snatched out of his hands, Professor Ancum immediately leaping off of his feet. Before anyone else could process what had happened, they went from Professor Ancum lying on a frozen floor with Ajax prodding him to surrender, to Professor Sage being pinned onto the wall, both of their wands were now in Professor Ancum's hands, one pointing towards the younger professor's neck, the other tying up his hands with rope which he had summon from Ajax's own wand.
"Ready to surrender now, Sage?" Professor Ancum had growled, hot breath down the young professor's neck, his voice low and threatening. With a nervous gulp, the younger professor nodded slowly, his hands released as claps echoed down the hall. "The match only ends, students, if one wizard ends up surrendering or duelling to the point where they are unable to continue," Professor Ancum explained, ending their mock duel, the students soon dismissed after a few more words, with Professor Sage still silently facing the wall once the student had all left, face still red.
"Professor Sage, are you alright?" Professor Ancum asked, waiting for the last student to leave, he neared the younger professor. "F-Fine. You can go ahead and leave, I-I'll lock up afterwards," Ajax squeaked, unaware that Professor Ancum was now kneeling behind him.
"I... Forgive me if I've stepped out of the line there, I might've lost–" The older professor began, "N-No! It's nothing. I uh... I just wanted to reminisce in this room for a bit," Ajax interrupted, refusing to stand up. "Oh..." Professor Ancum hummed, "You're not the only Legilimens in Hogwarts, Sage," He smirked, purposefully lowering his voice, replicating the earlier scene, only less violent. "I hadn't realized I had such an effect on you," He growled into the younger professor's now-red ears.
"Professor Ancum, please leave," The younger professor squeaked, still refusing to turn around. "Sage, look at me," The silver-fox sighed, with a flick of his wand, he had switched his position with Ajax, forcing him off of the wall and turning towards him. "Look, there's no point denying it. I saw you and simply put, I felt something. Alright? Now, I barely know you the same way you do me, so before we proceed with anything, how about you and I take it slow?" Professor Ancum began, Ajax blinking his eyes a few times trying to process what the older professor had said to him.
"Wait... y-you like me?" He managed to squeak out, glad that there weren't any other students left hanging around. "Well, attracted. I find you rather striking. And your duelling skills back there? I'd say quite a turn on, if the students weren't there, definitely would've gone a completely different path," The professor winked with his answer, prompting Ajax to turn full red, ear to ear.
Still feeling rather embarrassed to stand up, Ajax looked down, trying to fight his blush. "How about we... try. See how far it goes?" Professor Ancum smiled warmly, gently holding Ajax's, both calloused and rough from years of experiencing hard work and wand-handling. "F-Fine," Ajax finally breathed out, wanting the silver-haired professor to simply leave as soon as possible.
With a small chuckle, Professor Ancum grabbed the back of Ajax's head, gently pulling it forth as he planted a soft kiss on his forehead. "Good night then, Sage," He breathed out, leaving the room for Ajax to lock up afterwards.
The poor, confused, recently-appointed young professor sat there, trying to control his breath. Sure, he's had a ton of experience during his years as an Auror and Magizoologist, he's seen and done things he wished he hadn't, but this was new. He hadn't been the one to fall for anyone so quickly.
After a few more minutes of sitting in silence and processing everything that had just happened, Ajax finally stood up, extinguished all the torches within the duelling room, locked the door and left.
Meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor dorms, two were already sleeping soundly, ignoring loud snores from their other roommates as they shared a bed.