Chapter 9:

The Dueling Club

The next morning the five teenagers awoke and met in the common room to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They stopped for a moment to look at the bulletin board, because of the large sign proclaiming the start of a dueling club. Ron looked excited, "Maybe it will be alright this time. I wonder who they got to run it?"

Harry grinned sheepishly, "Guilty."

Ron, Hermione, and Neville looked shocked, while Ginny just laughed. Harry shrugged, "That's one of things that Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about last night."

Even Ginny looked surprised at this, "One of the things?" she echoed.

Harrry nodded, "Yeah, I'm Quidditch Captain."

Ginny grabbed him in a hug, "That's great, Harry."

Hermione and Ron congratulated him as well. Ron appeared to be completely overwhelmed. Hermione slapped him on the arm. He spoke up quickly, "Sorry, mate, I zoned out there. Congratulations."

Harry grinned, "Thanks, guys." He turned to Hermione, "Do you think you could do me a favor?"

She nodded, "I guess."

Harry sighed in relief, "Good. I need to make a bulletin to announce Quidditch tryouts next Friday, and my handwriting is really bad, so I was hoping that you would do it?"

Hermione smiled, "Of course, silly." The five of them walked out the portrait hole towards the Great Hall chattering excitedly about the dueling club.

Once they had sat down at the Gryffindor table, Harry asked the million galleon question. "So, Ron, have you asked Hermione to be your girlfriend yet?"

Ron flushed, "No."

Harry shook his head, "Well, mate, you had better hurry up. Someone else might come along and snap her up. Hermione is in pretty high demand, you know."

Ron flushed even deeper, "You're one to talk, Harry. You don't have a girlfriend either."

Harry looked as if he were thinking for a minute, "You know you're right, Ron. I don't have a girlfriend." He turned to Ginny, "Do you want to help me rectify that problem?"

"What?" she replied.

"Ron just told me that I didn't have a girlfriend. I am saying that I would be honored if you wanted the job." grinned Harry cheekily.

"Job?" echoed Ginny.

Harry nodded emphatically, "Definitely a job. Putting up with me is a full time job. Unfortunately, it only pays with hugs and kisses. For some reason, I can't seem to get any volunteers."

Ginny laughed, "So you're asking me to be your girlfriend, Mr. Potter?"

Harry smiled, "Yes, Miss Weasley, I would be so happy if you were to consent to be my girlfriend that I would be tempted to say something nice about Snape and Malfoy in the same sentence."

Ron and Neville looked dumbfounded, while Hermione just smiled. Ginny sat in shock at this pronouncement. Harry leaned forward, "Well?"

Ginny smiled, "Of course. I love you, Harry Potter."

Harry took her hand in his, "And I love you, Virginia Weasley." Now, even Hermione looked dumbfounded. As far as Ginny was concerned, none of them existed. There was no one else in the world. She had just heard the most wonderful words in the world. She had been waiting her entire life for this moment. Harry Potter was in love with her. Not much was said for the rest of breakfast. It was quickly time to head to the morning classes. The four sixth years got up from the table to head for Double Charms, and Harry leaned over and pecked Ginny lightly on the cheek, "I'll see you at lunch."

Ginny smiled, "Yes, Mr. Potter, you will."

As Harry caught up to the other three on their way out of the Great Hall, Ron looked at Harry and shook his head in mock disgust, "The idea of you kissing my sister is going to take a lot of adjustment."

Harry grinned, "Well, I suggest that you get started with whatever adjusting you need to do, Ron, because Ginny couldn't get rid of me now if she beat me with a stick."

Hermione looked at Harry as if he had lost his mind, "What has happened to you, Harry? You've never been the type to be affectionate like this. It's weird."

Harry chuckled lightly, "I've never had such a good reason."

Hermione smiled, "You're really in love with her, aren't you?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, Hermione, I am. Now, let's get to class. I would like to have a few secrets left at the end of the day." After that they walked the rest of the way to Charms in silence.

The morning class passed quickly as they were having a practical lesson dealing with Conjuring. This was extremely difficult for everyone, even Harry and Hermione. They were attempting to conjure sewing needles. Only Harry, Hermione, and surprisingly Neville were able to accomplish this task.

Once class was over, the four students made their way back to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry smiled and sat down beside Ginny leaving Ron, Neville, and Hermione to sit across from them. They discussed their morning classes. Then, Harry consulted his timetable, "Ha." he exclaimed.

The others jumped in surprise, "What is it?" they chorused.

Harry grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that we finally get to go to DADA after lunch. I haven't spoken to Tonks since I've been here. I was a little excited. I need to talk about the dueling club with her. Professor Dumbledore told me that she was going to observe, and help me keep order."

Ron looked up from his food again, "Are you going to be like a teacher when you're doing the dueling club?"

Harry nodded, "I have to. If I want to make sure that people are going to pay attention, I have to act as if I am in charge. That means I have to conduct myself properly in the club. Once class is over, however, I get to go back to being a student."

Ginny smiled and laid her hand on Harry's arm, "Don't worry about it. You're going to be fine."

Harry winked at her, "I know, but I still want to talk to Tonks beforehand. I have to plan what we're going to do at the first meeting. I want to start it off with a bang."

The five of them ate quickly and then practically ran to the dormitory to get their books for the afternoon lesson. Harry kissed Ginny goodbye at the portrait and headed for the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor. They walked into the classroom to discover that they were the first to arrive, but that Tonks was already sitting at her desk. She looked up and saw Harry. She jumped up and ran across the room, and swept Harry into a hug that Mrs. Weasley would have envied. "Harry Potter, if I weren't so glad that you were actually alive, I would kill you. If you ever jump in front of an Avada Kedavra curse like that again, you had better hope it hits you, because if you live I'm going to strangle you."

Hermione looked at Harry accusingly, "You didn't tell us that you were almost hit by Avada Kedavra."

Harry shrugged unconcernedly, "Imagine how I forgot to mention that. Or why I forgot to mention that." he looked pointedly at Hermione until she turned away with a tear trickling down her face.

"I just don't want to see you hurt." she said as her voice shook. Neville and Ron nodded in agreement.

"I know, Hermione, but I wasn't in any danger of getting killed. As far as getting hurt is concerned, I'm not going to experience anything new after having Voldemort hit me with the Cruciatus Curse twice, while I was in that graveyard the night Cedric died."

The others winced as Harry said Voldemort's name, but Tonks spoke up, "Harry, just because you've experienced a lot of pain before doesn't mean that you have to throw yourself in harm's way."

Harry nodded, "Yes, Tonks, you're right. However, if I hadn't thrown myself in harm's way, as you put it, you would be dead right now. I think that the risk was justified. As you can see, I'm still here. Its not as if the Avada Kedavra spell could have killed me anyway."

Ron looked bewildered, "What are you talking about? It's the Killing Curse. Of course it would have killed you."

Harry pulled his hair up to reveal his scar, "It did a real good job last time didn't it. Its supposed to be impossible to block or survive Avada Kedavra. I've done both, and that was up against the most powerful Dark Lord of the era. I'm not worried about any spell that his pathetic Death Eaters hurl at me. I will handle what is necessary for me to handle. It would do the rest of you a lot of good to stop worrying about things that you can't change. It doesn't accomplish anything."

"But, Harry…"

Harry interrupted Hermione, "Don't but Harry, me, Hermione. It doesn't do any good to worry about things that you can't change. I'm still here, and that's all that matters. If something happens to me later, it will happen. There's nothing that can be done about it right now."

The others nodded to show that they understood, and they were going to drop the subject, but the expressions on their faces clearly showed that they were less than happy about the idea.

Harry turned to Tonks, "If you are free after class, I would really like to talk to you about the dueling club."

Tonks nodded, "That will be fine, Harry. Dumbledore told me about it a few weeks ago. I expected him to drop the idea on you at the last minute so that you couldn't say no. So, I came up with a few ideas for us."

Harry grinned, "Good, I expect I'm going to need all the help I can get." They broke off their conversation as the other students filed into class. Harry and the other took their seats at the front of the class.

Tonks stood in front of her desk and addressed the class, "I am Professor Tonks. Since I am the sixth Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that you have had, I intend to begin the term by reviewing a selection of things that you should have already been exposed to. Some of the things we will do, you have already done. Others were skipped due to inadequate teachers. We're going to begin with the Shield Charm. I assume you have all had some experience with this charm. It will stop most minor jinxes and hexes. Once I am sure that everyone has firm control of this shield, then we will begin studying more advanced levels of hex deflection and reflection. Everyone, pair off."

Harry and Neville paired, while Ron and Hermione squared off against each other. They took turns practicing the Shield Charm, while the other one hurled hexes such as Jelly Legs and the Tickling Charm at the shield. There were many hexes that had to be reversed through the course of the class. Before any of them knew it, however, the class was over and the bell was ringing.

Tonks stepped up to the front of the class, "Excellent work, all of you. I want twelve inches of parchment on the various hexes that can be deflected with the basic Shield Charm by Friday morning."

The class groaned slightly at the homework, but began packing their things up to leave. Harry walked up to Tonks with the others following closely behind. He turned to look at them, "You guys go on ahead, I want to talk to Tonks alone."

Ron complained, "We want to hear what you are going to do in the Dueling Club."

Harry shook his head, "If you knew about it ahead of time, then it wouldn't be a surprise. You'll just have to wait until Thursday. Now, go on, shoo." Harry motioned for them to leave. "Oh, by the way, if you see Ginny in the common room, tell her that I will be up in just a little while."

The other three grinned, "Of course, we'll tell her." smirked Ron. "We'll also tell her that the reason you're late is because you were talking to another girl."

Tonks grinned, "Oh, so I'm just another girl now."

Harry waved his hand, "Be my guest. You're welcome to tell her whatever you want to. I wouldn't want to be the one on the bad end of her temper when she finds out you lied to her."

Ron paled, "Yeah, you're right. I'll tell her that you're talking with a professor."

Harry smiled knowingly, "Good choice. I'll see you later." Then, he turned to Tonks, "I guess we need to discuss how we want this to go."

She sat down, "I guess that we do."

Harry started off, "I want the first meeting to be exciting, so what I was thinking was that we could have a few exhibition duels. We'd obviously have to put a limit on the spells that could be used."

Tonks nodded, "Who did you have in mind for the exhibitions?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. It all depends on who shows up. I was thinking that we definitely need to have Ron and Hermione face each other. I figured that I could ask for a volunteer to face me. After that I figured on pairing off a few of the DA members. I'm sure most of them will be there."

"I guess that would work. Any ideas on the course of the class?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually. I want to go over a lot of attack hexes and have them practice them. I'll have them use the hexes on me. I would rather not have to send a lot of my students to the hospital wing. I figure Madam Pomfrey's so used to having me in there that she wouldn't complain too much."

Tonks laughed, "At least you're candid about it."

Harry ginned, "I suppose. Well, I guess that covers what we needed to go over. I better get up to Gryffindor Tower."

Tonks smiled, "Yes, I'm sure you don't want to keep Ginny waiting."

Harry blushed, "I'm sure that I don't. Not to mention that I have a lot of homework from my Defense teacher that I need to get done."

"Go on. Have some fun." smirked Tonks.

Harry grinned, "I intend to." Harry left the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with a smile on his face and a spring in his step as he headed for Gryffindor Tower.

A couple of hours later, after everyone's homework was done except for Ginny's, Neville and Ron were playing a game of Wizard's chess while Hermione sat in her chair reading a book and occasionally glancing at the two boys. Harry was sitting next to Ginny helping her with her Charms homework. Hermione made a comment, and Ron snapped something back. Before long the two were involved in a full scale argument.

Harry leaned in and whispered to Ginny, "Do you want to take a little break, and go for a walk? The afternoon classes are all over by now. We could go visit Hagrid."

Ginny smiled and giggled very quietly, "It will also get us away from those two."

Harry grinned, "Okay, you caught me. Let's sneak out."

Ginny nodded, and the two of them quietly got up from their corner and tiptoed over to the portrait hole. It was several minutes before Ron, Hermione, or Neville noticed that the two were missing.

Harry and Ginny laughed all the way down to the Entrance Hall. They walked outside holding hands and made their way down to Hagrid's hut. They knocked on the door, and Hagrid answered his door while Fang barked away. Harry and Ginny both scratched Fang behind the ears and greeted Hagrid. "Hi, Hagrid."

"Come in. Come in." boomed Hagrid. "How about some tea?"

They both nodded as they removed their cloaks, and they both sat down into one of Hagrid's enormous chairs. Harry casually and almost instinctively slipped his arm around Ginny's waist. Hagrid smiled into his beard and raised his eyebrows at this sight, but wisely chose not to comment on it.

"Where's Ron and Hermione?" he asked casually.

Harry snorted, "In the middle of one of their arguments. I doubt they have even noticed that the two of us have even left the common room."

Hagrid laughed, "Well, those two are always on about something."

Harry and Ginny nodded together and then laughed. Ginny spoke up, "I don't get it myself. Its obvious to everyone that they like each other, but Ron won't ask her out. It's actually quite pathetic."

Harry snickered, "Ron's just being stubborn. He wants to ask her out. He knows she'll say yes. He just won't do it because of all the teasing that he's afraid that he will have to deal with from his brothers."

Hagrid cleared his throat, "Well, Arry, what about the teasing you and Ginny are going to take from her brothers?"

Harry snorted, "I don't have anything to worry about."

Ginny looked at him, "Why not?"

"All of your brothers are afraid of you. They won't dare tease me in front of you. Besides, if they do tease me its only because they're jealous of the fact that I have the most beautiful girl in all of Hogwart's as my girlfriend." proclaimed Harry.

Ginny blushed as Hagrid's eyes widened, "Ye've changed a bit o'er the summer, Arry."

Harry grinned, "Yes, Hagrid. Yes, I have. I can't think of a better reason to have changed, though." He gazed unblinkingly at Ginny who blushed and looked down into her lap.

Hagrid laughed, "Well, I'm appy for you. Its bout time, too."

Harry turned and flushed slightly himself, "Hagrid." he exclaimed. "I know I took awhile to notice her, but it wasn't completely my fault."

Ginny looked up, "Then, whose was it?"

Harry looked at her, "Part of it was yours."

Ginny looked horrified, "How could any of it be my fault? You've known that I've had a crush on you, forever."

Harry grinned, "That's exactly why part of it was your fault."

Ginny now looked confused, "I don't get that."

Hagrid was looking from one to the other in amazement as he grinned happily to himself. Harry was grinning in triumph as he continued, "Well, you see, if you had been able to stay in the same room with me for more than five minutes before last year, I might have noticed how wonderful you were a long time ago."

Ginny blushed again and looked down. Hagrid's laughter burst out and interrupted them. "Ye two remind me so much of ye're parents, Arry."

Ginny looked at Hagrid in amazement, "Did Harry's parents really act like us?"

Hagrid shook his head, "Naw, they were more like Ermione and Ron. They fought all the time. They always tried to be one up on the other, though. Not to mention, you look a lot like Lily did at ye're age."

Harry leaned forward, "Ginny looks like my mum?"

Hagrid nodded, "Pretty close. The eyes are difrent. Other'n that, its really close."

Ginny leaned her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry leaned back into the overlarge chair and drew Ginny closer to him. He turned to Hagrid, "So, Hagrid, how have you been? How are your classes going?"

Hagrid grinned happily and began to talk about the different creatures that they were studying in his classes. The three of them talked for about an hour before they left to make their way to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry and Ginny bade Hagrid goodbye and went to sit at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione looked at the two of them as they sat down. Hermione asked, "Where have the two of you been?"

"Hagrid's." Ginny answered easily. They all tucked into their meal and soon enough dinner was over and they were making their way back towards Gryffindor tower. Harry leaned over to Ginny, "I'm going to go practice. I daresay you'll get more of your homework done without me hanging around."

Ginny smiled, "Alright, but you had better be back before bed. I want a goodnight kiss."

Harry raised his eyebrows and then swept into a bow, "I am your humble servant. Don't worry, I'll be back in an hour or so." Then, he slipped out of the crowd of Gryffindors and disappeared down a side corridor.

After they were back into the common room, Ginny sat down at the table in the corner where she had left her books earlier. Hermione sat down across from Ginny. Ginny looked up expectantly, "Well."

Hermione continued to look straight at Ginny, "Spill. What is going on with you and Harry? Yesterday, you were complaining to me about him not noticing you. Then, this morning he asks you to be his girlfriend, and the next thing that we know the two of you are telling each other that you love each other. Things changed rather quickly."

Ginny grinned, "Well, I couldn't sleep last night, and I came downstairs to the common room. Harry was down here. We talked for awhile."

Hermione smiled, "Did you kiss?"

Ginny blushed, but continued to smile, "Yes. It was rather nice."

Hermione asked, "Was that your first kiss?"

Ginny shook her head, "No, I kissed Michael. It wasn't anything like this, though. When I kissed Michael, it was okay. When I kissed Harry, it was like magic. I can't explain it any better than that."

Hermione continued to smile at Ginny, "Good for you. Now if I could just get your prat of a brother to be as romantic as Harry has been the last two days."

Ginny giggled, "He'll come around. Harry said that the only reason that Ron hasn't asked you out is because he's afraid of all the teasing he will take from our brothers."

Hermione shook her head, "I said it this summer, and I'll say it again. Harry is getting extremely perceptive."

Ginny snorted, "No, he's not. He's always been this perceptive. He understands people, Hermione. He's just never been able to express it. Now, that he can it seems amazing, but really he's been this way all the time."

"How do you know?" asked Hermione.

Ginny shrugged, "I don't know how I know. When it comes to Harry, I just do."

While this conversation was going on, Harry had made his way to an empty room. He conjured two swords from thin air. "Wow, that was easier than I thought it would be. He turned to one of the statues in the room and pointed his wand at it, "Animata statue."

The statue staggered almost drunkenly over to Harry. He handed it one of the swords. He took the other himself and then Harry began to duel the statue. He continued doing this for about forty-five minutes until he could maintain the concentration necessary to control the statue no longer. He took the sword from the statue and then it walked back to its niche in the wall. It ceased to move. Harry looked at the two swords, and then waved his wand at them and whispered, "Evanesca." The two swords disappeared. Harry smiled to himself. Then, he walked from the classroom.

When he got back into the common room, he found Ron sitting by himself in front of the fire. "Where's Hermione and Ginny?" he asked.

Ron looked up, "They're out on prefects rounds. What happened to you?"

Harry looked down at himself, "Oh, I was practicing. I guess I overdid it a bit. I'm going to run up and take a shower. Tell Ginny where I am if she gets back before I come back down."

Ron nodded as Harry ran up the stairs. A few minutes later Hermione and Ginny came back into the common room. Ginny looked around, "Where's Harry? He told me he would be back by now."

Ron sat up on the couch as Hermione sat down beside him, "He's upstairs. He said he would be back down in a few minutes."

Ginny smiled, "Okay." and sat at the other end of the couch. Several other people began coming back in as curfew approached. Some of them made their way up to the dormitories. Others sat down for games, or started with homework. Ginny leaned back into the couch, and closed her eyes while Ron and Hermione talked softly.

Suddenly she felt hands cover her eyes, "Guess who?"

She smiled, "Michael, I'm so glad you came."

Harry pulled his hands away from her face, "Hey, that's not funny."

"Yes, it was." she countered.

Harry sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap, "Okay, maybe it was."

Hermione looked over at the two of them and cleared her throat, "Harry."

"Yes, Hermione."

"I made out the announcement for the Quidditch tryouts. All I have to do is put the date on it." said Hermione.

Harry grinned, "Thanks, Hermione. I booked the pitch for next Friday afternoon."

Hermione nodded and pulled out a piece of parchment. She added the date of the tryout and then put it up on the bulletin board.

Harry squeezed Ginny slightly, "Are you still planning on going out for Chaser?" She nodded. Harry continued, "Excellent. Hey, Ron."

Ron turned around, "What?"

"I'm thinking about fielding a full reserve team this year. Katie's leaving after this year. Next year will be it for me and you. We need to think about the future of the team. Ginny, I'd like to keep you on as reserve seeker."

Ginny interrupted, "I thought you wanted me to go out for Chaser."

Harry continued, "I do. However, you're the best alternate for me that we've seen. Since I'm the most likely player to get injured. We need an excellent back-up. That way if I'm hurt, you can switch over to seeker, and one of the reserve chasers can take over for you."

Ginny smiled, "The way you talk, Mr. Potter, it sounds as if you've already decided that I'm going to be on the team."

Harry shook his head, "There isn't going to be any favoritism shown at the tryout. The best players will play. However, I've seen you play, Ginny. I'm not worried. Quidditch is in your blood, just like its in mine." Harry yawned. "Anyway, its been a long day, and I really think that I should be getting ready for bed." He got up and allowed Ginny to slide from his lap into a standing position. The two of them walked over to the base of the stairs leading up to the dormitories. Harry drew Ginny up to him and the two kissed. Then, they parted and walked up to their rooms.

Ron covered his face with his hands, "Ugh!! I could have done without that mental image. My best mate snogging my little sister."

Hermione slapped him playfully on the arm, "I think its sweet."

Ron shook his head, "You would. Girls!"

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" asked Hermione indignantly.

"Nothing. I'm just confused." muttered Ron.

Hermione smiled, "Well, then, let's see if I can enlighten you." Then, she grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss.

Ron pulled back a moment later, "Uhh, Hermione."

"Yes, Ron."

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Its about time you asked. Yes, Ron."

"So does this mean that I have a date to the ball?" slipped in Ron slyly.

Hermione nodded, "As long as you don't do anything too stupid between now and then." The two of them got up and went upstairs to bed.

The next two days seemed to pass by in a flash. Before Harry knew it, he was standing outside the room that would host the Dueling Club on Thursday afternoon. He walked in and looked around. No one had arrived yet, but they would all be here shortly. Dumbledore had agreed to come down and introduce the club, before Harry would take over. He smiled in anticipation, while at the same time his stomach was churning with nervousness.

"Excited?" asked Dumbledore as he walked into the room with Tonks.

"Somewhat, Professor." answered Harry.

"Nervous?" asked Tonks.

Harry merely glared at her in answer. Then, the first of the students made their way into the room. They were quickly followed by others. Soon the room was filled and it was time to begin. Dumbledore climbed onto the slightly raised dueling platform. "Welcome to the newly reinstated Dueling Club."

Someone asked, "Are you going to be teaching us, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled, "No, I will not. My duties as Headmaster leave me little time for such pursuits. However, I have entrusted the teaching of this club to someone that I believe will do an excellent job. Again, I welcome you all to the dueling club, and I give you your teacher, Mr. Harry Potter."

Harry stepped up onto the platform beside Dumbledore. Everyone but the Slytherins had burst into applause at the announcement that Harry would be teaching them. The DA members clapped the loudest of all. Harry smiled and raised his hands for quiet. "Thank you all for coming. Since this is our first meeting, I decided that we are going to have a small demonstration. I would like a volunteer to come and duel with me."

Immediately, a voice was heard from the midst of Slytherin's that were off to one side. "I'll do it."

Harry turned to see who it was and grimaced as Draco Malfoy walked forwards, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy, I expected you to volunteer. After Mr. Malfoy and I have completed our duel, I would like for a few others to pair off and duel in front of the class. This will give, especially the younger students, an idea of what is possible." He turned to Malfoy. "You will restrict yourself to non-lethal hexes and jinxes, Mr. Malfoy. Basically anything that we learned in out first couple of years at Hogwart's. Before you even think about it, this does not include 'Serpensortia'. If you cast that spell, be prepared for the snake to attack you."

Malfoy nodded in acceptance.

Harry walked up to him and pulled out his wand, "Now we bow." The two nodded curtly at one another. Then, they turned and walked five paces from each other. Malfoy spun and fired off a curse, "Tarantallegra." Harry dropped and rolled under it. As he came to his feet, Malfoy threw another curse at him, "Rictusempra." Harry brought his wand up, "Protego." He allowed the jinx to bounce off the shield charm, and then dove to Malfoy's left and pointed his wand to Malfoy's right and said, "Accio Crabbe." Crabbe was pulled up from the ground to fly towards Harry. He slammed full into Draco as Harry was on the other side of him. Draco quickly pushed Crabbe off of him, and rolled to his feet. As he was doing this, however, Harry fired off three stunners in rapid succession. "Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Malfoy had little choice but to dive forward to dodge them. As he struggled back to his feet, Harry hit him with a Disarming Charm full on, "Expelliarmus." Draco was thrown backward as his wand flew into the air to be collected by Harry.

"Excellent. Mr. Malfoy, here is your wand. You may return to the class."

Draco marched over and took his wand from Harry. He straightened his robes as he walked back down to his place among the Slytherins.

Harry looked over the crowd of students. "That is a small taste of what we will be doing in this class. I have no intention of teaching you how to defend yourself in this class. I'm going to teach you how to attack someone. During the course of this class, you will all duel with people that are close to your own skill level. Occasionally, I will pair you with someone better. That way you will improve. You will be restricted to using hexes, charms, and jinxes similar to the ones Mr. Malfoy and myself were just using. I have no desire for any of you to end up in the hospital wing. However, we will be learning more powerful hexes and jinxes in this class. Some of you will have the opportunity to test out these more powerful spells on me."

One of the Slytherins raised their hand, "What about the Unforgivables?"

Harry nodded, "Some of you have been exposed to the Unforgivables. Some of you haven't. If I can get permission from Professor Dumbledore, we might possibly experiment with the Imperious Curse. There should be little danger with that one as long as I'm the only person that you are using it on."

Draco spoke up, "Why is that?"

Harry looked Malfoy directly in the eyes, "Because, Mr. Malfoy, there is not a wizard or witch alive that can hold me under the Imperious Curse for more than a few seconds."

A Ravenclaw third year raised her hand, "What about You-Know-Who?"

Harry nodded, "Excellent question, Miss Quirke. Voldemort was successful at keeping me under the Imperious Curse for about ten seconds." Most of the students in the room flinched or shuddered at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but Harry paid no attention to the fact. He continued, "Now, I believe that it is time to set up another exhibition duel."

"Wait." interrupted Draco Malfoy.

Harry turned to him, "Yes, Mr. Malfoy."

"What about the other two Unforgivables?" asked Malfoy.

Harry shook his head, "We will not be working with the other two Unforgivables."

"Why not?" persisted Malfoy.

The look on Harry's face turned hard, "Because, Mr. Malfoy, I have experienced both of those curses first hand. The next person that ever casts the Cruciatus Curse on me, I will kill. No questions asked. As for the other Unforgivable, I doubt there is a person in this room that does not know the story of what happened to the last wizard stupid enough to cast Avada Kedavra at me." Harry' gaze swept the rest of the class to make certain that everyone understood that he meant what he said. "Now, can anyone tell me why it would be useless to study the other two Unforgivables?"

No one raised their hand, not even Hermione. "The reasoning is actually quite simple. Those two curses cannot truly be blocked or deflected with magic. Solid objects will stop them. So, can anyone tell me what the best block is?"

Ginny raised her hand, "Move."

Harry nodded, "Excellent, Miss Weasley. Reflexes and dodging is another thing that we will be working a great deal on in this class." Harry paused to look at his watch, "I'm afraid that our time is almost up. We will not have time for another exhibition match. The next Dueling Club meeting will be on Monday. We will have meetings every Monday and Thursday barring the unforeseen. If there is a problem, you will all be notified of it as soon as is feasible. If there aren't any more questions, I'll see you all on Monday."

Everyone began to file out. Ginny ran up and grabbed Harry in a hug and planted a kiss on his cheek, "Harry, you were great."

Ron and Hermione came up. Ron looked impressed, "That was excellent, mate."

Hermione smiled, "I'm proud of you, Harry."

Dumbledore and Tonks walked over and Dumbledore smiled down at Harry with his eyes twinkling, "Most impressive, Mr. Potter. I daresay you will make an excellent instructor one day."

Harry smiled, "After Voldemort's dead, I might have to come back here, and take Tonk's job."

Tonks waved her hand, "You can have it anytime you want it. I'm not much cut out to be a teacher. I only took the job because they can't seem to get anybody else to do it."

All of them laughed, and the Gryffindors turned and walked out.

The next morning, Harry walked downstairs to the common room to see Ron standing at the bulletin board. Harry walked over to him, and asked, "What's up, mate?"

Ron glanced over at him, "They've posted the notice for the first Hogsmeade weekend."

Harry grinned, "Good." He looked at the notice to see that the first weekend was the week after their Quidditch tryouts. While the two boys looked at the bulletin board, the girls made their way down from the dormitory. Harry turned around, and smiled, "Good morning, beautiful."

Hermione smiled, "Why thank you, Harry."

Harry looked at her, "I wasn't talking to you." He jerked his thumb over at Ron, "He's the one that's supposed to tell you that you're beautiful. The best compliment I'm allowed to give you is that you look nice."

Hermione pouted while Ginny laughed. Then, Hermione turned to look at Ron, "Well."

Ron looked uncomfortable, "Um, well.."

Harry laughed, "Just spit it out."

"You look great, Hermione." Ron blurted out quickly.

Harry snickered as he reached out and took Ginny's hand, "See, that wasn't so hard."

Nevilled joined them and the group of Gryffindors went to breakfast. After they finished eating, the four sixth years headed for Double Defense Against the Dark Arts, while Ginny went off to join her classmates.

Once Ginny was out of sight, Harry turned to Hermione, "You've got to help me."

"With what?" asked Hermione.

"We've got the Hogsmeade weekend coming up, and I want to get Ginny some new dress robes." said Harry.

Hermione grinned, "What do you need my help for?"

Harry jerked his head at Ron, "Well, if she's anything like loverboy over here, then trying to buy her something is going to be a headache. I'm just afraid she's going to think that I want her to buy new ones, because I don't want to be seen with her in her old ones."

Hermione looked piercingly at Harry, "Is that why?"

Harry returned her look stonily, "You know better than to even ask me that."

Hermione smiled again, "I just had to check. I'll help you drag her into Gladrag's. Once I get her to start trying them on, you can just buy the ones she likes best. Then, you can give them to her whenever you want."

Harry grinned widely, "I knew there was a reason that we keep telling people that you're the smartest witch alive."

Hermione blushed at the compliment. The quartet had reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They went in and took their seats. The Defense class was relatively similar to the previous one. They continued their work on the Shield Charm.

Then, after lunch Harry and Hermione headed to Potions. They arrived in the dungeon and checked on their Polyjuice potion. While they were unpacking, Snape swept in. The conversation in the room seemed to be centered on the dueling club the night before. Snape frowned as he heard what the students were discussing.

"Well, Mr. Potter, it seems that you have succeeded at making yourself the center of attention once again. " Snape sneered.

Harry yawned widely and obviously at the veiled insult. The other students snickered.

This seemed to infuriate Snape, "It seems that you are still as arrogant as your father.."

Snape stopped short as Harry vaulted the desk at which he was sitting and snapped a kick into Snape's face. Before Snape even began to realize what had occurred, Harry had taken Snape's wand away from him, and touched it to the tip of his throat. Harry touched his own wand to the bridge of Snape's nose. "I warned you the last time, Snape. I would suggest that you not finish that sentence if you would like to live to see daylight."

Snape swelled with fury, but then seemed to realize the predicament that he had gotten himself into. He looked up into Harry's eyes, and suddenly it hit him. He was not dealing with James Potter. He was dealing with a wizard that was perfectly capable of destroying him, and would have no remorse about doing it. He pulled himself under control, "One hundred points from Gryffindor. Now, you will return my wand. We are going to see the Headmaster. I will see you expelled for this, Potter."

Harry smiled as he handed back Snape's wand, "Perhaps. If you keep pushing me, I will see you dead for this, Snape." Harry hissed in so low a voice that only Snape could hear him.

Snape paled slightly at the implication behind Harry's words. He stood up and swept from the room with Harry following in his wake. The class merely stood still and stared in shock at what they had just witnessed.

The two made their way through the corridors to the gargoyle that guarded the stairs to Dumbledore's office. "Acid Pops." Snape said, and the gargoyle sprang to the side. The two continued their way up the stairs into the office. The headmaster sat behind his desk and sighed heavily as the two walked into the room. Snape appeared to be livid, but Dumbledore had been around long enough to recognize the fear that lay behind Severus' eyes. "Albus, this has gone far enough. The boy attacked me in Potions class."

Dumbledore appeared to age dramatically in that moment, "Harry, why?"

Harry shrugged, "You witnessed what happened at headquarters. I warned him. He insulted my father again. Quite frankly, you should be glad that I didn't kill him. That's what I wanted to do."

Dumbledore's eyes flashed as he turned back to Severus, "You deliberately provoked him."

Snape quailed under the furious stare that he was receiving from Dumbledore, but he nodded.

Dumbledore continued, "I told you that if you did so, that the consequences would be yours to bear. You knew better, Severus. You knew what he would do, and you pushed him anyway. Deal with it. I presume you will find it difficult to control your students after this. I suggest you tend to your other students. I will deal with Harry."

Snape nodded grudgingly, and then spun and left the room pausing only long enough to throw Harry a menacing glance, to which Harry merely rolled his eyes.

Once Snape had left, Dumbledore looked at Harry, "Harry, you can't attack professors."

"I know that, sir. I warned him, though. He can talk about me being an attention seeking prat or anything else that he wants. However, I've had enough of him insulting my father. I will not stand for it. I don't care if you throw me out of school, or if I get sent to Azkaban. The next time, I will kill him, and I don't intend to blink an eye about it."

Dumbledore asked wearily, "Harry, do really believe that you are capable of cold-blooded murder?"

Harry's expression turned hard, "I've spent the last several years of my life being hunted by Voldemort. I've experienced his thoughts. I've seen him torture and kill various people. So, what do you think?"

A/N: Cochise112: The third form is coming, but I'm afraid that it will be somewhat disappointing. It's kind of small.

Dragonstorm316: I obviously wasn't that drastic about it.

Potter Reader: I already have that conversation planned. Watch for it in a few chapters.

Jouve25: Glad you liked it. Thanks for the review.