Author's Note: I did not write Hagrid's vernacular. I tried several times and I couldn't get it right, so I give up. I plead artistic license!
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Chapter 14: The Sinosidelia Curse
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"I swear she summoned her broom at the game," snapped Snape, glaring down the table at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore didn't respond, he only leaned back in his chair.
McGonagall cast a glance from Snape to Dumbledore and then sighed. "I don't see how it can be possible, Severus," answered McGonagall, breathing in deeply. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Of course it makes sense, Minerva," spat Snape. "What normal girl can do magic without a wand? She summoned her broom before Harry could lose his grip… she never pulled out her wand."
"Every magical person can do magic without a wand to some extent," answered Flitwick, who was swaying on his huge pile of books. The staffroom was quiet for several minutes.
"No, I knew when I met her; she isn't a normal girl, and worse off, she's a Potter," said Snape, his eyes narrowing.
Dumbledore seemed to be brought back from his reverie by this statement. "That remains to be proven, Severus, but I agree, that would fulfill part of the prophecy," said Dumbledore quietly.
McGonagall laughed. "You don't mean to tell me that somehow, several hours after being born, Adrienne Potter died and then came back to life years later," said McGonagall smiling. "That one is just a little unlikely."
"She didn't have to die," said Sybill quietly. McGonagall sent her a very stern look stating quite clearly that if she didn't stay out of this she had better start running in the opposite direction. Sybill ignored this. "There were two Adriennes born that day," she said quietly.
Everyone looked at her amazed, except Dumbledore.
"And how do you know this?" asked Professor Lycé, but before Sybill could answer Professor Dumbledore had stood up.
"She is correct. There was an Adrienne Miles and an Adrienne Potter both born at that particular Muggle hospital that day. This has crossed my mind, the possibility that Adrienne Potter never died," he said, looking out a window.
They sat quietly, the same thought crossing everyone's mind except for McGonagall's, who knew what he was getting at right away. "If she is indeed Adrienne Potter, then she's a . . ."
"She's the first Perfect in a over three thousand years," replied Dumbledore.
At this, Snape looked up quickly.
"If she is a Potter, Voldemort will be after her too," said Flitwick, beginning to tremble. An eerie silence fell over the room.
Snape sat quietly, his eyes closed, trying to remember what Voldemort had told them yesterday. Snape had indeed, on Dumbledore's request, gone back to the Death Eaters, professing his unfailing devotion, claiming he too had just been biding his time. Voldemort had seemed quite skeptical, but after much ridiculous begging, he had been welcomed back into the fold.
"Voldemort doesn't want her dead," Snape whispered.
Dumbledore turned and looked at him curiously. "What exactly does he want, Severus?"
"He wants her to deliver Potter to him."
The staffroom went silent again, and finally Processor Wallace spoke. "She wouldn't do that," she replied while filing her long nails.
Snape didn't answer; he just hoped she was right. * * * * *
Adrienne was sprawled out on the Gryffindor common room floor, her head propped up on her arm, "Check."
Ron looked at the chessboard, contemplating his next move. "Checkmate," he finally said, moving a rook.
"Can't you just let me win once?" asked Adrienne, rolling over onto her back and looking up at the ceiling, "I'm getting tired of losing."
Ron smirked. "That's not my problem."
She sat up and turned to face him. "You told me you'd teach me," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"And that I did, but I didn't say I'd make you any good," replied Ron, picking up his chess set.
"You should be more nice to me," shot back Adrienne, standing up.
Ron smiled slightly. "And why would I want to do that?"
Adrienne shot him a coy smile. "There could be benefits, goodnight, Ron."
She turned and walked towards the spiral staircase that led to the girls' dormitories. After she had left, Ron walked over to Harry, who was shining his Firebolt.
"I think she likes me," sighed Ron, falling into an empty chair.
"Ever going to find your tongue and ask her out?" Harry asked, running the cloth over the handle for the final time.
Ron didn't respond, a dreamy expression engulfing his face. "How does Adrienne Weasley sound to you?" he finally asked, smiling broadly.
Harry looked up from his Firebolt, an expression of pure amusement on his face. "I think you're skipping some essential steps there, Ron."
* * * * *
"Now the first dueling tournament is this Saturday, tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall, fingering her wand nervously, "and it will be a tough one. We're going against Slytherin, and Professor Snape teaches dueling a lot more aggressively. I've seen them practice; they focus on very complicated curses, some of which I don't even know how to block. So we want to go for a quick win, no fancy tricks, just disarm or stun before they can get you. Any questions?"
No one moved.
"So, today we are going to have our last practice before the tournament. Before we begin, may I see Potter and Miles outside please," said McGonagall walking towards the door. Adrienne shot a questioning glance at Harry and stood up.
Harry shut the classroom door behind him and turned to face Professor McGonagall, who seemed not to be her usual sure self.
"Is something the matter, Professor?" asked Adrienne.
Professor McGonagall cast a glance down the dark hall, her eyebrows raising as she saw Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape standing, barely visible, at the end.
"No, nothing's the matter. I just wanted to tell you that I want Potter to compete first, and you, Miss Miles, to compete last," replied McGonagall.
* * * * *
"Are you sure, Headmaster?" asked Snape, slowly pulling out his wand, "This isn't quite legal."
"Right when I perform the concealing charm," replied Dumbledore, raising his wand.
"And if it doesn't work, she'll be a sitting duck during the tournament," said Snape, hesitantly.
Dumbledore smiled. "So, worried about Slytherin having an unfair advantage tomorrow?" asked Dumbledore.
Snape raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Dumbledore. "No, it would be to our advantage if she can't compete, but I also want Slytherin to win fairly."
"I would not be doing this is I thought it would inhibit Gryffindor's chances," replied Dumbledore, "On three Severus. One, two, three. . . Conceal Incantatum."
"Containium," whispered Snape.
* * * * *
"And Welcome to the first ever Hogwarts Dueling Tournament," Neville Longbottom's nervous voice echoed throughout the crowded Great Hall.
All the tables had been removed, except for the High Table. Muggle style bleachers adorned the sides of the hall, and the students were all sitting, chatting excitedly. An air of electric suspense filled the room.
"Today we have the Gryffindor Primary Team verses the Slytherin Primary Team."
At the High Table sat Professors Dumbledore, Lycé, Wallace, and Vector, who were serving as the judges. In the center of the room was a large dueling ring, and on opposite sides, a little ways back, were eight chairs. Adrienne sat quietly in hers, casting glances at Draco, who sat across from her.
"I'm nervous," muttered Hermione, who looked rather green, "I can't do this, I can't."
Adrienne turned in her seat and put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "You can, Hermione, don't worry about it," whispered Adrienne.
"That's easy for you to say, and by the way, what happened last night? Why didn't you come back to practice?" asked Hermione, wringing her hands nervously.
"Professor McGonagall thought I looked pale. She made me go up to the common room and go to bed. She said she didn't want me getting sick," muttered Adrienne, "But it doesn't matter, I never practice right before a tournament anyway; never, Professor Hartel used to take my wand twenty-four hours prior to a tournament so I could focus. She always said your mental state is more important anyway."
Hermione turned even greener. "My mind isn't any help to me when I'm dueling; I know all kinds of curses but I can't always think of them in time," she muttered.
"That's because you're thinking too hard. Try not thinking, just do the first thing that comes to mind; your instincts are usually more appropriate than your rational thought," replied Adrienne.
"The Captains of the Gryffindor team are Harry Potter and Adrienne Miles," resounded Neville. Cheers rang out through the hall.
"And the Slytherin Captains are Draco Malfoy and Roland Montegue." Only the Slytherins cheered.
Professor McGonagall walked down the line, wishing all her students good-luck.
She stopped next to Adrienne and bent down to whisper in her ear. "Whatever happens, Adrienne, don't stop, finish your duel." McGonagall continued down the line and Adrienne's eyes followed her, confused.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked herself.
"And dueling first are Potter and Malfoy!"
Harry stood up, straightening his maroon team robes.
"Curse him into a million pieces, Harry," whispered Ron.
"I believe in you, Harry," whispered Hermione.
"Don't try and prove anything, Potter, just win," whispered Adrienne.
"That's helpful," shot back Harry; he grinned though and saluted himself into the ring.
"Duelers, face your opponents," said Professor Dumbledore, who was now standing behind the High Table.
"Last time we dueled I won, Potter," smirked Malfoy, barely moving his lips.
"Well, now you've gotten it out of your system," shot back Harry.
"Duelers, bow."
Harry and Draco barely moved and then quickly raised their wands to a fighting position.
"On my mark ... three ... two ... one ... mark."
"Stupefy!" shouted Draco as the hall filled with a bright white light. Harry blocked it and shot back the impediment curse.
"Anoptico!" shot Draco.
Adrienne sat at the edge of her seat, watching Harry and Draco duel. She noticed that as time progressed, Draco was seeming to lose his edge and Harry was gaining more and more confidence, finally yelling, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Draco opened his eyes in horror, realizing that he didn't know a block for it. This split second break in Draco's concentration was all Harry needed:
"Expelliarmus!" and Draco's wand shot towards Harry, who raised it in the air and flipped his own wand to let Draco fall back to the ground.
"And Potter wins. That makes the score 1-0, Gryffindor!"
Harry took Draco's hand, for an extremely short split second, and then saluted himself out of the dueling ring.
"Excellent, Mr. Potter, wonderful use of distraction," said McGonagall, smiling slightly.
"Next up is Samantha Henderson and Pansy Parkinson."
Harry wished the very nervous sixth year good luck and took her seat.
"Happy, Miles, I won," whispered Harry to Adrienne, who was sitting next to him.
Adrienne didn't respond, her face was set, her eyes unblinking, unmoving, fixed on some unknown item in her mind. Harry turned his attention back to the duelers, wondering how Adrienne could block out the entire world like that and wondering what was going through her mind.
"Expelliarmus!" yelled Samantha, flicking her wand with a flourish. Pansy blocked it expertly and with a look of extreme concentration yelled, "Anoptico!"
A blinding yellow light shot from her wand straight at Samantha. She was too slow, the curse hit her, and suddenly Harry felt very relieved he had been able to block that one. Samantha blinked and raised a hand in front of her. She couldn't see.
Adrienne snapped back to life in a second. "You don't need to see, Samantha, you don't need to; focus Sam!" she yelled, earning herself a sharp look from McGonagall. However, Samantha couldn't pull back her concentration, and Pansy easily disarmed her.
"And after two rotations it's tied," said Neville, his voice not shaking as much now, "This will be an interesting match folks. If anyone can break this tie it's Gryffindor's Hermione Granger, who is up next against Lila Bakers."
Hermione stood up, shaking slightly. Adrienne grabbed her before she could make it to the ring. "Hermi, don't rationalize, just let it happen - k?"
Hermione nodded and saluted herself in.
"She doesn't look too well," muttered Harry.
"She'll be fine," answered Adrienne, not quite believing herself.
But Neville had been right; Hermione did win, using a quick succession of curses, finally overwhelming poor Lila Bakers. Lee Jordan was next and unfortunately was disarmed straight off, to the gale of Slytherin laughter. Ron didn't have much luck either. He and Natasya Neidenh dueled for fifteen minutes before Neidenh finally got him. Harry had never heard of Natasya's final curse before.
"Containium!" she shouted. Ron missed the block and waited for something to happen, but nothing noticeable did. He raised his wand and shouted, "Impedimentia!" but nothing happened. Ron tried again, and again no spell issued from his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" yelled Natasya.
"And using the Containment curse, Natasya Neidenh blocked Weasley's wand from issuing spells, making the score 3-2, Slytherin. We are now entering the second to last rotation: Slytherin's Sel Volstechy against Gryffindor's youngest competitor, fourth year Rodney Nells."
Rodney saluted himself into the ring and stared wide-eyed at the six foot, seven inch Volstechy. Rodney swayed, feeling faint, bowed, and raised his wand.
"Three ... two ... one ... mark," said Dumbledore.
Volstechy cast a curse that Harry hadn't heard of, but knew it must be bad because Professor McGonagall winced as he screamed it.
Rodney amazingly blocked it and yelled the first thing that came to mind, "Beautify!"
The hall fell completely silent as Volstechy underwent a hideous transformation. His ratty hair began to grow, his facial features softened, and as he stood fixed to the spot, his mind racing over the charm Rodney had cast; Rodney disarmed him.
"And again the score is tied, and doesn't Volstechy make a lovely woman?"
The hall rang with laughter. Rodney had used a Beautifying Charm, commonly used by women to do hair, make-up, and other essential aspects of making oneself presentable. Volstechy gave a roar of fury and raced out of the ring to Professor Snape, who quickly reversed the charm, glowering at the embarrassment caused to his House.
The laughter quickly died down and the room silenced itself. In a second the atmosphere had changed dramatically. Before Adrienne's name had been called, she stood up and pulled out her wand. McGonagall cast a nervous glance at her and then to Snape. Snape met her eyes and then shut his. He wasn't sure what was going to happen. Sure, if the spell had worked and Adrienne couldn't finish the duel, Slytherin would win, but he did want to win fairly. And then, if she could finish the duel, Voldemort would be right, and somehow the teachers would have to figure out how to deal with the threat that Adrienne would pose.
"Adrienne Miles and Roland Montegue, please enter the ring."
Adrienne saluted herself into the ring and walked to the center, her head held high, her face set. Montegue faced her and glared. Adrienne didn't respond; she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself that she was going to win.
"Face your opponent ... bow ... on my mark: three ... two ... one ... mark."
"Filiaforte!" yelled Montegue. A purple light issued from his wand. Adrienne blocked it easily, shooting back the Furniculous curse.
Montegue jumped out of the way, raised his wand and shouted, "Sinosidelia!"
"There's no block for that," whispered Hermione quickly. A red light issued from Montegue's wand. Dumbledore watched intently, seeing Adrienne's eyes narrow and her wand arm fly out. Dumbledore noticed that she was only holding the wand with the tip of her thumb and pointer finger, and her other three fingers were spread open, as if she was holding up the palm of her hand. A jet of black light issued from what looked like her wand, meeting Montegue's curse in midair. Dumbledore adjusted his glasses, and leaned forward in his chair. Neither spell was moving, they were both hovering in mid air, and then something amazing happened. The black light began to move, a circular pattern that spread to encompass the stationary curse that Montegue had sent. Adrienne stood very still, her wand still raised, and in an instant the black light disappeared, along with Montegue's curse.
"Stupefy!" shouted Adrienne, and a burst of light shot towards Montegue, who crumpled to the ground.
"And Gryffindor wins the tournament. Did you see that? What kind of spell did she use?" shouted Neville Longbottom.
Dumbledore stood up suddenly and walked around the table to meet Adrienne as she clumsily exited the ring. Snape and McGonagall followed.
"Congratulations, Miss Miles," said McGonagall, forcing a smile onto her pale face.
"You all right, Miss Miles?" asked Snape quietly.
Adrienne looked at him, struggling to make her eyes focus. "I'm just a little light-headed, that's all," she replied, raising a hand to her head.
"Could I see your wand for a moment, Adrienne?" asked Dumbledore, reaching for her wand. Adrienne raised an eyebrow but handed him her wand and turned to go sit down.
"I didn't cast the curse wrong, Headmaster," replied Snape, his eyes following Adrienne back to her seat.
Dumbledore raised the wand. "Avis," he muttered. The wand didn't do anything.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Nothing happened. Dumbledore looked up, "The curse worked, the wand's powers are blocked."
McGonagall shook her head disbelieving. "But that means she just ... she did that ... she didn't use it at all," she stuttered, remembering Adrienne's duel.
Dumbledore nodded. "That spell she used, to block the Sinosidelia curse," Dumbledore began but Snape interrupted him.
"But there's no block for that curse."
Dumbledore turned to look at Adrienne, who had her head on Hermione's shoulder and looked very pale. "Precisely."