As much as I love the books, I regret to say that all of Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling. This includes all of the characters except for Ryua (who's mine) most of the places, and an awful lot of the spells. Oh, and if you see something that looks like one of your stories, I'm really, really sorry. I don't mean to plagiarize. I've just read a lot of really cool fanfics, and they melt into my brain, but I'll try not to use any of it. Tell me if I do, okay?
The Dueling Club
There was a noticed pinned up in the great hall later that month, and it was the subject of much excited talking among the students. Interested, Ryua strode up one day, sliding some first year to the side so she could get a good look. A dueling club! This should be fun. She sat back down by her brother, saying "Draco, did you know that Lockhart is starting up a dueling club?"
"Lockhart?" her brother looked up at her incredulously, "The man can't even hold his wand right for those stupid skits in DADA. How does he expect to teach us how to duel? Actually, I doubt he knows as many curses as we do, so what's the point?"
"He's not the only one teaching, Professor Snape is his 'assistant'. Personally, I think he just wants a legitimate excuse to hex him, but he could teach us something. And don't act so superior. Just because we know the curses doesn't mean we can cast them yet." Ryua said, trying (and failing) to be civil to Draco. She owed him for getting her onto the quidditch team, but that was starting to wear off now, as the Slytherin team had just flattened Hufflepuff, 430-0 in the last match. Plus, she had written his last three essays, and spent four hours teaching him an enlarging charm. Ryua figured she was just about done repaying him now. "It's worth a look, unless you particularly want to start on that transfiguration project yet," Ryua said, knowing it would convince Draco to go.
"Oh, fine. But, you know it's going to be full of two kinds of people; rabid fan girls, and people terrified they'll get petrified." Actually, that was the main reason the club had been set up. The entire school had been scared stiff since that annoying Creevy from Gryffindor showed up petrified. Draco was rather pleased by the whole thing, but Ryua wasn't so sure. It was natural for her to be excited about the Chamber, coming from a family such as her own, but some of it just seemed wrong. Killing defenseless students, or at least trying to, it just didn't ring true. They should be given some way to defend themselves, make it a challenge, a test, something other than a senseless hunt it was impossible to lose. That just took away the joy of the kill, the sense of accomplishment and pride in your skills.
That evening, the great hall had been cleared of all tables, leaving just a raised platform in the center, along which Lockhart was strutting, showing off for the giggly girls clustered around him. Luckily, Ryua didn't have to watch the disgusting display for long, because Professor Snape had just walked in, immediately requiring silence from the assembled crowd. After a long, boring, and pointless speech about himself, Lockhart announced they would be learning the Expelliarmus charm. Hey, maybe this won't be so bad after all, Ryua thought to herself. She and Draco picked up a lot of curses and hexes at home, and could probably beat any student in the school silly with them, but they were never really taught how to duel. A disarming charm was something Ryua didn't know, and was actually something she wouldn't mind learning.
Just then, she was snapped out of her thoughts by the two teachers pacing out to the end of the platform, and turning to face each other. Ryua almost winced (but she really felt he deserved it) as Lockhart fell unceremoniously onto his rear, wand flying in an easy arc to land in Professor Snape's hand. Lockhart tried to rise to his feet in a dignified manner (and failed), tried to brush it off as allowing the spell through (and failed again, it was painfully obvious he was just incompetent), and just decided to save as much face as he had left and divided them up into pairs (actually he failed at that too. Ryua ended up with both Crabbe and Goyle, which was probably a fairer fight anyways). "Ready," Lockhart called importantly from the dais. Ryua crouched down on the balls of her feet, wand drawn back like a striking snake behind her head, muscles tense, ready for Lockhart's go. "And, fire!" "Expelliarmus!" Ryua shouted, snapping her wand down at Crabbe. She pulled it back, catching his wand in her left and cast it again at Goyle. She easily fielded that wand too, and was back in her ready stance before either one had registered what had happened. "Well come on, up you get," Ryua said, tossing their wands back. "Your turn. Try to hit me." She crouched back down, a dangerous grin on her face. She was enjoying this almost as much as quidditch. The two boys just looked at each other and back to her again. "Oh, please," Ryua said exasperatedly, "Just like I did. Point your wand, and say expelliarmus. It's not that difficult, you should be able to do this. It's just like hitting someone to make them drop something, only you don't use your hand." "Ex pill arm us!" Crabbe's spell didn't even get off of his wand. "Expelleeeearmus!" Goyle, slightly more articulate, managed to create something that brushed against Ryua's wand arm, but barely wavered her grip. "Oh, for Slytherin's sake... Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Two wands flew in the air, both landing neatly in Ryua's outstretched palm. She was about to turn to one of the teachers for replacement partners but they were trying to call a halt anyways.
There was mayhem everywhere she looked. Some Hufflepuff was unconscious next to Weasley, Millicent had Granger in a headlock, and... "Rictoshempra!" Ryua had to bite down a giggle at that. Draco hated that charm, and Potter had just hit him with an excellent example.
"I said disarm only!" Lockhart's panicked voice came over the general babble. Once things quietned down, they called for a volunteer pair. Of course, Draco and Potter were picked by Professor Snape, as his favourite and his least favourite pitted against each other was something he would enjoy. Ryua noticed him whispering to Draco as Lockhart tried to show Potter a block. Potter looked more nervous than before, as Lockhart had just dropped his wand, and told him to do the same. "Now face your partner and bow, (neither one did) and walk ten paces. On my ready, then," Lockhart raised his hand impressively as he spoke, "and begin!"
He only just got out of the way. "Serpensortia!" Draco's voice rang out as a large cobra shot out of the end of his wand. Parsyl looked up from Ryua's cloak in the corner, but laid back down when she saw it was only a magical summoning. As Professor Snape strode forward to 'save' Potter from the snake, Lockhart, of course, decided to do it instead. Ryua winced as the snake was scorched by a badly aimed spell along its side, and was thrown into the crowd, unfortunately, on the wrong side of the platform. Ryua could have probably calmed it down in no time, but it instead landed in a group of Hufflepuffs. Suddenly a strange hissing voice came, so akin to the Chamber monster that Ryua half-jumped. But, no, this one was different, more commanding and calming than hungry and violent. She pushed herself halfway onto the platform, and saw it was Potter talking to the snake. Potter, a Parselmouth? How in Merlin's name could that be? As he kept talking, Ryua's ears probed his low voice for meaning, not quite deciphering words, and then suddenly "...ave him be!"
Ryua lost her grip on the platform and slipped to the ground as she suddenly heard faint, garbled words out of the hissing. No one was watching her fall, however, all eyes were on the intent form of the tousle-haired Gryffindor. Apparently, no one else seemed to think he was stopping the snake, as they all turned on him, convinced he had been egging it on to eat some Hufflepuff who looked like he had just wet his pants. Potter ran out, Weasley and Granger following, while the other students filed out the opposite door.
"Draco, did you hear that?" Ryua hissed to her brother as they walked down to the common room. "He was speaking Parseltoungue! He was actually telling that snake to back off!"
"Oh, that's what he said." Draco looked a little thoughtful still, and faintly jealous. "Hey, wait a minute. How do you know what he was saying?"
"I don't know, I was just really listening hard, same as when that monster's around. I could just barely make out some faint words towards the end of it."
"Huh, weird. Well, I still doubt he's the Heir of Slytherin. Although, that Creevy kid was annoying him, maybe he did petrify him."
"Not a chance. Did you see his face? He didn't even know he was speaking Parseltongue, he couldn't have unlocked the Chamber without speaking it." Ryua broke off thoughtfully. "You know, it's now a three-way tie for Heir, I bet. You are easily nasty enough to kill off mudbloods, I know enough to figure out how to get in, and Potter's a Parselmouth. The funny thing, it's not any of us, and none of us knows where to find the heir."
Author's Note: I had to return the Chamber of Secrets to the library, so I doubt this follows the book version very much. It was mostly from another point of view anyways, but sorry if I misspelled any spells or got the chronological order messed up, or something like that. It's not my fault :(
