…just as it had never prevented Lott and Switch from being a formidable team - with much underlying affection for each other…
The staff table slowly filled as the students filed in for lunch. Professor Adrastus Switch glanced at the empty seat to the right of the Headmistress that had been claimed by his old comrade Gesius Lott and wondered what was keeping the Slytherin. The Headmistress herself was looking a bit worried- however much she tried to hide it, she was obviously star-struck to have the handsome professor pay her attention. That was Gesius' way - sap at the judgement of his rivals by getting a bit...closer...than anybody else.
Adrastus smirked a bit- admittedly, a quarter century ago in his own timeframe he had been briefly smitten quite heavily with the professor as well, spurring him to make the friendship of the new teacher of the Dark Arts elective and head of Slytherin. The one-sided infatuation had faded with time, but the friendship had persisted. The Lott family, wizarding nobility, was unaligned with any family, and Adrastus had stood as second for Gesius in many duels despite his plebeian roots. He had never had to step in once- Lott's skill on the challenge-floor was legendary. Perhaps Lord Marius Marvolo of the First House could best him, but as the Lotts and Marvolos were on friendly terms, they had never crossed wands. And now, they would never get the chance.
The first of the fifth-years straggled in, a few crying, a few more looking completely curse-shocked. The measured pace of Gesius Lott echoed behind Switch, and soon the man himself slid into his chair, looking satisfied. An aura of power seemed to crackle around him, the afterflash of strong magic. Adrastus tasted the air briefly- dark magic.
Eyes narrowed, he turned to Lott. "Perhaps you might explain what you've done to my Gryffindors?" Lott smiled lazily, as beside him that Minerva woman was startled out of the dreamy stare she had directed at Gesius. Switch snorted quietly at her discomfiture, then blinked himself as Lott started into an almost musical recitation of high-level curses. Most of those present recognized the first few, drawing back, but the odd Snape man turned whiter and whiter as the list progressed past the comprehension of the others. The McGonagall woman - Switch still had a hard time thinking of her as Headmistress- compressed her lips tighter and tighter as Lott showed no sign of stopping, calmly nattering away while buttering a large piece of bread. Adrastus would not be dissuaded though.
"You hexed my Gryffindors." It was not a question.
"Oh, the other houses too." Lott smiled down the table, then taking a bite out of the bread, chewing deliberately. The other teachers seemed too shocked to speak.
"Mr. Lott!" That Woman seemed outraged. "We do not practice the Dark Arts on the student body!"
Lott finished his bread, ignoring her for a good moment. The others eyed him like they would a rabid dog. Finally, he looked up, still smiling slightly, if a touch nastily. "They failed to do my essay, claiming ignorance. I enlightened them. Besides, if they had been taught properly in the first place they should have been able to locally block most all of what I cast..."
Adrastus drew in a breath- while he was still a bit irritated at Gesius, he was well aware that those trying to skimp on work in Lott's classes were taking their lives into their own hands. "Be that as it may, Gesius, it's still a horrid thing to do on the first day..."
"Separating the wheat from the chaff, Adrastus- though it appears they're most all chaff. Honestly, this school has gone quite soft...must be the witches." Both men chuckled grimly at that, ignoring the poisonous stare from the headmistress. Lott polished off the remainder of his meal while Minerva ostentiously ignored him and had a hushed conversation with Snape, on her other side. The other professors were murmuring in discontent- especially the short one that Adrastus had pegged as the most dangerous. Filius Flitwick may have needed a stepping-stool to reach his chair, but Switch felt that underestimating him would be a bad idea. The same went for the voluminous and flighty-seeming Herbology witch.
All conversation halted as Lott stood silently, making his way down to stand in the open space below the High Table. He nodded to Marvolo at the head of the Slytherins, and the slim boy rose, in turn nodding to his pretty cousin at the Hufflepuff table. Adrastus made his own way down, familiar by now with the ritual of the duel - though, fortunately for Marvolo, this was simply a show.
He watched detachedly, stepping up and bowing when it was his turn to do so, listening as Lott demanded silence (and seemed irritated to have to demand it), noting it would be either voluntary or enforced. Then the duel began.
Magic arced from both wands, Lott going into one of his standard routines that the boy was hard-pressed to defend against. All were blocked in the first volley though- not that there were volleys as such in a true duel. The murmuring of curse and countercurse was omnipresent, the magical exchange awe-inspiring in its swiftness and complexity. Lott stepped up the pace some, and Marvolo began to slip, slightly- curses cracked his hastily constructed barriers. Insects began to gnaw their way out from his skin, which started to boil as another curse hit. Both were quickly healed, but less and less of Marvolo's energy was going to spatter off Lott's expertly constructed shields. Still, his performance was excellent- he had lasted longer than some grown wizards. In a duel to the death, Adrastus noted the moment when the killing blow would have been struck by now- not this newfangled killing curse, but the old way, through the combination of many spells meant to maim, confuse, smother, stab, and the ten thousand other ways magic could harm a body. Instead, Lott toyed with Marvolo, launching into a truly artistic display that was intended more to impress than to actually harm. Marvolo was beaten, a fact set in stone when his wand arced from his hand and into Lott's, whose head was turned as he listened to something no one else could hear, staring towards the entryway...
Indeed, bare seconds later the door to the Great Hall slammed open, as a team of eight Aurors entered, wands out. They were followed by Cornelius Fudge with an elite dementor guard, Arthur Weasley keeping his distance from same, Lucius Malfoy with the shadow of a smirk on his face, and Mad-Eye Moody on his wooden leg. The Aurors and Moody advanced, the latter firing a stunning spell. Most of the students sensibly took shelter under the tables as the spells started flying.
It was a very one-way fight. Switch offered Marvolo some Restorative Draught as Lott almost lazily batted away the disabling spells, shifting position ever-so-slightly into an offensive stance. A curt gesture with his wand slammed two Aurors against the wall-flicking it backwards disarmed two more. The Valery girl stood by Switch after a brief moment of hesitation, gleefully Stunning the Auror who tried to pull her out of the way. Marvolo, holding his head, joined in-an arc of force took the wand of a very surprised Auror. Switch himself pursed his lips before immobilizing the last one with some difficulty - Mad-Eye Moody. Lott tossed the wands he had taken to Marvolo before purposefully striding down the aisle, stopping a good 20 feet from the others. The Weasley man had run to see to the safety of his children, while the Malfoy boy was nowhere in sight. The elder Malfoy, however, eyed Lott with a combination of terror and respect.
"What is the meaning of this?" There was no jest in Lott's voice now, nothing tempering the icy power of his voice. Fudge shrunk back, while Moody swiftly shook free of his imprisonment and glared back. "There was a report of dark activity on the premises. Where's Dumbledore? What have you done to him?"
Gesius was uncowed, circling slowly around Moody. His wand was still in his hand. "Done to Dumbledore? Nothing." A short laugh. "He took his own life..."