Chapter 4
"You know, Weasley, if this were a real fight, you'd be dead by now." Draco drawled, as he pointed his wand at Ron's chest. The tall, lanky red-head was lying flat on his back, face contorted and red with anger at Malfoy beating him in a Wizarding Duel.
Draco stepped back from Ron and addressed the rest of the people in the room. "It's one thing to know which spells, hexes and curses to cast in a fight, it's quite another thing to have your wits about you enough to cast those spells, hexes and curses. Can anyone here tell me why Weasley lost?"
Behind him, he could hear Weasley growling. Draco ignored him and pointed to one of the Creevey brothers, he could never quite tell those two apart, who was raising his hand eagerly.
"It's because you have more knowledge of the Dark Arts," the boy piped in.
Draco snorted and shook his head, "You may have noticed, Creevey, that I did not use any dark spells or curses during my fight with Weasley. Anyone else care to take a guess?" Damned Gryffindors were soooo stupid.
"Um... because you have more experience in Wizarding Duels?" a shy Ravenclaw offered.
"Perhaps. But if winning in a fight was all about experience, then I guess that means we're all fucked against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, doesn't it." He replied, ignoring the gasps that that name always evoked. Seriously. These people. Voldemort and his Death Eaters sounds like a silly pop band.
"It's because of two things, actually, Malfoy. One, you have enough confidence to fill a room, and that confidence means you can keep a clear head in a fight. Two, you didn't let your emotions get in the way of having a clear head during the fight. I'm sorry, Ron, but when Malfoy called your mother fat, you should have seen it as his way of getting you angry enough to stop paying attention to the duel." Hermione spoke up from the back of the room.
"Exactly. And thank you, Granger," Malfoy nodded. "In a duel, what's important, unless you're unbelievably lucky, is control. You need to learn not to take things personally when someone hexes you whilst you're in the middle of a fight. An opponent will curse you, get over it. An opponent will say things to you that will hurt, anger or mortify you, get over it. An opponent will do anything he can to get you to lose control, get over it. Any questions?"
"It's not as easy as you make it sound, Malfoy." Harry spoke up. "Sometimes being emotional in a fight actually works, it has worked for me in the past."
"True in your case, Potter, but then again, you're one of those irritatingly lucky people." Draco responded. "For us, regular human beings, we need to learn how to curb our emotions and not let it get in the way of winning a fight. Besides, it looks so much cooler and more elegant, don't you think?"
Only Hermione snickered at that. What a classically Malfoy thing to say, she thought. The rest of the people gathered in the Great Hall for their weekly DA sessions were too stunned, too intimidated to have Draco Malfoy heading tonight's class.
When Dumbledore suggested that the handling of the DA lessons was to be rotated among some students and faculty members, the DA members welcomed the idea. When Draco volunteered to head a session, some people were a little bit concerned. It was Hermione who suggested that perhaps Draco's session should be designed towards maintaining confidence and control during a real fight. He accepted the session and planned for it. He had decided to start with a demonstration of an actual fight to which Ron, thinking that he would finally get the chance to hex his worst enemy in front of everyone, volunteered. It backfired the moment Draco started insulting Ron, starting with his "unbelievably silly red hair" and ending with his "sickeningly fat mother." Ron had lost it then and Draco had gotten control of the duel and defeated him.
Hermione, while feeling bad about Ron's defeat, couldn't help but admire Malfoy's tactics, and appreciate that what he was telling the DA members would prove valuable when they find themselves against real opponents.
"Right. Well, I've asked some of the Slytherins to assist me in tonight's session. I would like each of you to pair up with your favourite Slytherin and engage in a Wizard's Duel. The Slytherins have been instructed to insult their opponents to the best of their abilities, and trust me, those abilities are quite daunting. The rest of you will have to practise keeping your cool in the face of a snide, insulting and verbally cruel opponent who, by the way, will be hexing you in between insults. Remember, don't take anything personally." Draco instructed everyone, waving his wand to summon mattresses to the floor of the Great Hall to catch any falling student.
As everyone paired up, Draco noticed that Hermione had held herself back, opting to stand as referee and observer in the duels.
"Too scared to duel with a Slytherin, Granger?" He smirked at her.
She snorted. "I'm afraid I might make one of your precious Slytherins cry, Malfoy."
"True, but I doubt you can make me cry, Granger." He countered. "Shall we duel then?"
After I'm through with you, Malfoy, you'll be crying for your Mummy. "Why not."
They took their positions opposite each other, raised their wands and began to duel.
"Your hair's ugly, Granger" he said before casting a stunning spell at her.
She deflected his spell, and responded "Yours is obviously off a bottle, Malfoy." She ducked as he cast another hex.
"Do your big teeth require a special spoon for eating?" he called out.
"Did they have to make the doors here bigger to accommodate your huge head?" she replied, before attempting to hit him with a Bat Bogey Hex.
"Are your veins bigger than mine because of your muddy blood?" he deflect the hex and yelled "Densaugeo."
Hermione ducked from the familiar hex, and replied, "Does your Pure Blood mean your parents were siblings?"
They went on and around each other, insulting, casting and deflecting hexes, until one by one, the other people engaged in their own duels stopped to watch. This was a rare moment. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, while bitter enemies, had not really engaged all that much in fights against each other. Sure, there was that one time when Hermione slapped Draco, but that wasn't really a fight as Draco walked out of the scene instead of hexing her. Then there was that time when he enlarged her teeth in their 4th year, but that was an accident. The hex had been meant for Harry. Besides, how many students in Hogwarts history had ever had the chance to witness their Head Boy and Head Girl duel?
As they watched, they couldn't help but snicker at the insults the two were hurling at each other, which were almost as bad as the hexes and jinxes they were throwing in each other's way. When Draco asked Hermione to tell him the details of her three-ways with Harry and Ron, they had expected her to lose her cool, but she responded by saying that his three-ways with Crabbe and Goyle were much more interesting. They were shocked. Hermione Granger had always come off as a bit prudish, and to hear her deflect Draco's innuendos about her smutty sex life and then reply with the same crassness as he had shown, was something none of them had ever expected from their Head Girl.
In the end, Hermione yelled "Accio wand" to summon his wand to her waiting hand. He responded by using the same summoning charm, grabbing her wand as it flew towards him. As he prepared to hex her with her own wand, Hermione ducked and rolled towards him, ending up crouched in front of him. She swept her leg at his ankles, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor. She stood up gracefully, pointed his own wand at him and said, "You're good, Malfoy, but sometimes, having a wand and a talented mouth is just not enough."
He looked up at her and fought the urge to grin, not to mention that spurt of lust that burst from his veins at her double entendre and her low voice. He smirked at her instead, "For some women, Granger, it's more than enough."
"But not for me, Malfoy."
Draco stood up and turned to everyone who were watching their exchange with wide eyes. "I think that concludes our lesson for today. Here's a suggestion for all of you to hone your emotional control skills: list down every insulting thing that anyone can say about you and read that list everyday until you can laugh at all of them. That way, no one can say anything to you in a fight that would get you angry, hurt or embarassed enough to lose control. Good day and thank you."
"What the hell were you up to back there, Hermione?" Ginny asked her as soon as they reached the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Teaching Malfoy a lesson." Hermione replied.
"Are you sure? It looked a lot like flirting to me," Ginny looked at her tentatively.
Hermione laughed. "Ginny, didn't you hear me tell him to come out into the open and admit that he's crazy in love with Harry? I hardly think that was flirting."
"I don't know, Hermione. You two were insulting each other, sure, but you were both having too much fun at it. It bordered on flirtation." Ginny insisted.
Oh, I hope so, Ginny, I hope so, Hermione thought to herself. If the two of them were indeed flirting, if Malfoy had indeed engaged in a teasing banter with her, then she was one step closer to bringing him to his knees. Instead she replied, "Don't be daft, Ginny. Flirting with Malfoy is beneath me."
"You know, Weasley, if this were a real fight, you'd be dead by now." Draco drawled, as he pointed his wand at Ron's chest. The tall, lanky red-head was lying flat on his back, face contorted and red with anger at Malfoy beating him in a Wizarding Duel.
Draco stepped back from Ron and addressed the rest of the people in the room. "It's one thing to know which spells, hexes and curses to cast in a fight, it's quite another thing to have your wits about you enough to cast those spells, hexes and curses. Can anyone here tell me why Weasley lost?"
Behind him, he could hear Weasley growling. Draco ignored him and pointed to one of the Creevey brothers, he could never quite tell those two apart, who was raising his hand eagerly.
"It's because you have more knowledge of the Dark Arts," the boy piped in.
Draco snorted and shook his head, "You may have noticed, Creevey, that I did not use any dark spells or curses during my fight with Weasley. Anyone else care to take a guess?" Damned Gryffindors were soooo stupid.
"Um... because you have more experience in Wizarding Duels?" a shy Ravenclaw offered.
"Perhaps. But if winning in a fight was all about experience, then I guess that means we're all fucked against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, doesn't it." He replied, ignoring the gasps that that name always evoked. Seriously. These people. Voldemort and his Death Eaters sounds like a silly pop band.
"It's because of two things, actually, Malfoy. One, you have enough confidence to fill a room, and that confidence means you can keep a clear head in a fight. Two, you didn't let your emotions get in the way of having a clear head during the fight. I'm sorry, Ron, but when Malfoy called your mother fat, you should have seen it as his way of getting you angry enough to stop paying attention to the duel." Hermione spoke up from the back of the room.
"Exactly. And thank you, Granger," Malfoy nodded. "In a duel, what's important, unless you're unbelievably lucky, is control. You need to learn not to take things personally when someone hexes you whilst you're in the middle of a fight. An opponent will curse you, get over it. An opponent will say things to you that will hurt, anger or mortify you, get over it. An opponent will do anything he can to get you to lose control, get over it. Any questions?"
"It's not as easy as you make it sound, Malfoy." Harry spoke up. "Sometimes being emotional in a fight actually works, it has worked for me in the past."
"True in your case, Potter, but then again, you're one of those irritatingly lucky people." Draco responded. "For us, regular human beings, we need to learn how to curb our emotions and not let it get in the way of winning a fight. Besides, it looks so much cooler and more elegant, don't you think?"
Only Hermione snickered at that. What a classically Malfoy thing to say, she thought. The rest of the people gathered in the Great Hall for their weekly DA sessions were too stunned, too intimidated to have Draco Malfoy heading tonight's class.
When Dumbledore suggested that the handling of the DA lessons was to be rotated among some students and faculty members, the DA members welcomed the idea. When Draco volunteered to head a session, some people were a little bit concerned. It was Hermione who suggested that perhaps Draco's session should be designed towards maintaining confidence and control during a real fight. He accepted the session and planned for it. He had decided to start with a demonstration of an actual fight to which Ron, thinking that he would finally get the chance to hex his worst enemy in front of everyone, volunteered. It backfired the moment Draco started insulting Ron, starting with his "unbelievably silly red hair" and ending with his "sickeningly fat mother." Ron had lost it then and Draco had gotten control of the duel and defeated him.
Hermione, while feeling bad about Ron's defeat, couldn't help but admire Malfoy's tactics, and appreciate that what he was telling the DA members would prove valuable when they find themselves against real opponents.
"Right. Well, I've asked some of the Slytherins to assist me in tonight's session. I would like each of you to pair up with your favourite Slytherin and engage in a Wizard's Duel. The Slytherins have been instructed to insult their opponents to the best of their abilities, and trust me, those abilities are quite daunting. The rest of you will have to practise keeping your cool in the face of a snide, insulting and verbally cruel opponent who, by the way, will be hexing you in between insults. Remember, don't take anything personally." Draco instructed everyone, waving his wand to summon mattresses to the floor of the Great Hall to catch any falling student.
As everyone paired up, Draco noticed that Hermione had held herself back, opting to stand as referee and observer in the duels.
"Too scared to duel with a Slytherin, Granger?" He smirked at her.
She snorted. "I'm afraid I might make one of your precious Slytherins cry, Malfoy."
"True, but I doubt you can make me cry, Granger." He countered. "Shall we duel then?"
After I'm through with you, Malfoy, you'll be crying for your Mummy. "Why not."
They took their positions opposite each other, raised their wands and began to duel.
"Your hair's ugly, Granger" he said before casting a stunning spell at her.
She deflected his spell, and responded "Yours is obviously off a bottle, Malfoy." She ducked as he cast another hex.
"Do your big teeth require a special spoon for eating?" he called out.
"Did they have to make the doors here bigger to accommodate your huge head?" she replied, before attempting to hit him with a Bat Bogey Hex.
"Are your veins bigger than mine because of your muddy blood?" he deflect the hex and yelled "Densaugeo."
Hermione ducked from the familiar hex, and replied, "Does your Pure Blood mean your parents were siblings?"
They went on and around each other, insulting, casting and deflecting hexes, until one by one, the other people engaged in their own duels stopped to watch. This was a rare moment. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy, while bitter enemies, had not really engaged all that much in fights against each other. Sure, there was that one time when Hermione slapped Draco, but that wasn't really a fight as Draco walked out of the scene instead of hexing her. Then there was that time when he enlarged her teeth in their 4th year, but that was an accident. The hex had been meant for Harry. Besides, how many students in Hogwarts history had ever had the chance to witness their Head Boy and Head Girl duel?
As they watched, they couldn't help but snicker at the insults the two were hurling at each other, which were almost as bad as the hexes and jinxes they were throwing in each other's way. When Draco asked Hermione to tell him the details of her three-ways with Harry and Ron, they had expected her to lose her cool, but she responded by saying that his three-ways with Crabbe and Goyle were much more interesting. They were shocked. Hermione Granger had always come off as a bit prudish, and to hear her deflect Draco's innuendos about her smutty sex life and then reply with the same crassness as he had shown, was something none of them had ever expected from their Head Girl.
In the end, Hermione yelled "Accio wand" to summon his wand to her waiting hand. He responded by using the same summoning charm, grabbing her wand as it flew towards him. As he prepared to hex her with her own wand, Hermione ducked and rolled towards him, ending up crouched in front of him. She swept her leg at his ankles, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor. She stood up gracefully, pointed his own wand at him and said, "You're good, Malfoy, but sometimes, having a wand and a talented mouth is just not enough."
He looked up at her and fought the urge to grin, not to mention that spurt of lust that burst from his veins at her double entendre and her low voice. He smirked at her instead, "For some women, Granger, it's more than enough."
"But not for me, Malfoy."
Draco stood up and turned to everyone who were watching their exchange with wide eyes. "I think that concludes our lesson for today. Here's a suggestion for all of you to hone your emotional control skills: list down every insulting thing that anyone can say about you and read that list everyday until you can laugh at all of them. That way, no one can say anything to you in a fight that would get you angry, hurt or embarassed enough to lose control. Good day and thank you."
"What the hell were you up to back there, Hermione?" Ginny asked her as soon as they reached the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Teaching Malfoy a lesson." Hermione replied.
"Are you sure? It looked a lot like flirting to me," Ginny looked at her tentatively.
Hermione laughed. "Ginny, didn't you hear me tell him to come out into the open and admit that he's crazy in love with Harry? I hardly think that was flirting."
"I don't know, Hermione. You two were insulting each other, sure, but you were both having too much fun at it. It bordered on flirtation." Ginny insisted.
Oh, I hope so, Ginny, I hope so, Hermione thought to herself. If the two of them were indeed flirting, if Malfoy had indeed engaged in a teasing banter with her, then she was one step closer to bringing him to his knees. Instead she replied, "Don't be daft, Ginny. Flirting with Malfoy is beneath me."
