The next day, the fat lady's portrait was taken down and the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody was very happy about this. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.

"How can someone keep track of this?" Zarif asks annoyed.

"Neville is writing all of them down," Ron points out.

Zarif sighs. "Must be a long list already," Zarif says as they head to Defense Against the Dark Arts class where, to Ron's surprise, Snape was there. "Oh, dear…we are in trouble here."

Both boys quickly took their seats before class began. The class soon began and a few minutes later Harry entered out of breath. "Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I…" Harry stopped when he saw who was there teaching the class.

"This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down," Snape instructed.

Harry stood there looking like he was going to say something when Zarif used a spell to pull him to a chair. 'Sorry Harry, but knowing you, you would make Snape very angry or give him an excuse to punish you,' he thinks as he pulls his wand back into his sleeve.

Snape nodded before he continued. "As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far…Mr. Trazax, what have you covered so far?" Snape asks ignoring Hermione's hand.

"Boggarts, red caps, kappas, and grindy-lows," Zarif answers and Snape paced back and forth a bit.

"Disappointing. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you, I would expect first years to be able to deal with red caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss…ah yes, we will start on werewolves," Snape says before using his wand to close all blinds and a projector activated and started showing images of said subject.

"But, sir," said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, "We're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks…"

"Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page three hundred and ninety-four." He glanced around again. "All of you! Now!"

Everyone started turning to the page, some more disgruntled than others.

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" Snape asked.

No one dared to say anything and only Hermione's hand was raised. Snape shook his head at this, obviously disappointed in this class and turned to the front again before speaking. "Mr. Trazax, explain it to them," he said before starting to write on the blackboard.

"Physically werewolves can be easily distinguished from regular wolves by their shorter snout, more human-like eyes, the tufted tail, and their mindless hunting of humans whilst in wolf form. At all other times, they appear as normal humans, although they will age prematurely, and will gain a pallor as the moon approaches and then wanes. The real difference between a wolf and a werewolf is in behavior. Genuine wolves are not very aggressive, and the vast number of folk tales representing them as mindless predators are now believed by wizarding authorities to refer to werewolves, not true wolves. A wolf is unlikely to attack a human except under exceptional circumstances. The werewolf, however, targets humans almost exclusively and poses very little danger to any other creature," Zarif informs the class, recalling every detail from his extra lessons with Snape.

"Correct on all accounts," Snape informs, turning back to the class.

Most wondered how Zarif knew so much about werewolves as Snape continued the lesson. When the lesson ended before any could leave, Snape spoke up again. "An announcement for you all. After recent events, Professor Dumbledore has agreed that dueling classes shall be resumed again," Snape informs the class.

Everyone started whispering excitedly at that before Zarif asked the question that everyone was thinking, "Professor, who will be teaching it?"

"Professor Flitwick will be teaching it," Snape informs.

'Ah, the champion duelist of the school is teaching,' Zarif thinks before they all started flooding out of the class very excited even with the assignment on werewolves they had to do.


The next morning brought a harsh storm as the school got ready for the first quidditch match with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Zarif, after wandering around, found Merula and her group and they started talking about various things. "Are you trying to stay hidden by the way?" Zarif asks smirking after a while as they watch the match.

"No," Merula calls, having to because the raging storm was drowning everyone out greatly.

Zarif bumps into her side and makes her smile and turn to him, a smile on his own face.

"Can you see much?" Merula asks.

"Not with this bloody fog," Zarif admits as he looks around the whole field for where they are currently.

"If not for that, we wouldn't know what was going on," Merula says pointing to the scoreboard near them.

"I can see why Draco wimped out," Zarif says.

Merula smirks heavily. "Or was too afraid he wouldn't be seen winning."

"Merula, who are you kidding? Draco never wins against Harry," Zarif says smirking back.

Merula chuckles and leans toward him. "I'm only saying what's on the idiot's mind."

The two continued to watch the game as much as they could make out in this storm when everything started to go cold and Merula hit Zarif's arm before pointing out Dementors on the pitch.

"Oh, that is very bad," Zarif says.

"Worse with everyone here seeing them…aren't they attracted to bad experiences?" Merula asks worried as she takes her wand out in an effort to keep herself safe.

"Don't bother. They are immune to most spells," Zarif says before a wave of silver sent the dementors flying.

"And…what was that?" Merula asks curiously as the screams from the crowd start to die down.

"Dumbledore," Zarif says pointing him out on the pitch.

Merula looks toward the stand and tries to spy the old wizard through the wind and rain. But then something flies past her view and they both look to see it was Harry who had fallen off his broom and didn't look to be conscious at all. But then started slowly lowered to the ground before stopping on the field.

"Oh no," Zarif says horrified as Dumbledore summoned a stretcher and places Harry on it before taking him to the castle.

Merula takes his hand wordlessly and runs off to go after them and find out what the heck just happened.


Zarif sat in the library with the sphere he received from Merula and several books open on Egyptian hieroglyphs trying to translate what it is saying and others on a universal translation spell. "Ok, let's try this. Linguam interpretari," Zarif says pointing his wand at his ear. He stares at the orb for a bit more before sighing as nothing happens and he couldn't hear anything from it. "Dang it."

Zarif groans as he hits the desk with his fist as this is the third hour of working. His finger then pushes in part of the orb and he hears a click. "Hello," Zarif says.

"Let us see," Zarif says as he proceeds through trial and error before a bigger click was heard and it started to turn when he moved it with his hand. His eyes then catch something. A snakehead, but it looked like it was incomplete. Zarif starts turning it before pausing. He hums as he tries to complete the image of the snake. The moment he does, the engravings glow green and the orb heats up a bit before displaying some words in english.

As Zarif started to read, he starts to figure out what it meant. This was telling him how to activate his power. The same one that allowed him to meet Merlin. But then came a date.

"I see…" he mutters to himself as he collects his things and was about to stuff the orb into his bag, but the orb seemed to disassemble itself in his hand and fall apart. A key falling onto the table with a note tied to it before the orb returned to normal as if nothing had happened. Zarif, a little hesitant, reached down and picked up the key which had his vault identification on it. Looking at the note Zarif read, 'Bring a professor with you when you get to the vault to use this.' Then, as if it sensed that he had read the note, it started to crumble into dust that disappeared as well. 'Was this by someone trying to guide me down a certain path or…is that from myself?' Zarif considered before hearing the dinner bell.

Zarif packs away most of things as he walked, making sure to bury the key in a hole in his bag which he quickly buries it with his books. The orb going back where it was in his bag and starts to aim for the great hall. Once walking in, he looks around and finds Hermione and Ron, but still no Harry. Though Zarif wasn't surprised after all that happened.

Zarif heads over and takes a seat between the two. Morale at the table was very low, having lost the opening quidditch match. Zarif didn't really mind as he started eating while reading a book on how to enchant items. After a bit, he broke the ice. "So Ron, will you be coming to the dueling club's first meeting tonight?"

"No mate. I and Hermione are going to see if Madam Pomfrey will let us see Harry again and try and cheer him up," Ron says.

Zarif hums as he kept eating. "Well, good luck. I'm sure whatever you have, he will like it."

"You going to be alright? I think Draco and his group are going to it as well," Hermione says.

Zarif smiles up to her. "I think it will be fine. It's Malfoy we are talking about here. Besides I got Merula and my friends from Slytherin as well."

"Cheers then," Ron says as they get up to leave and head out.

Zarif, himself finished eating, transformed into his eagle form. Which ended up surprising a few first years nearby before he took off towards Merula, getting every one of the students' attention. He then lands next to Morganna who was wearing a Slytherin themed dog jacket.

"Oh yeah. I haven't talked to you yet. How are you girl?" Zarif asks, leaning his head down to her as she chews on something.

Morganna whines before swallowing her strip of bacon. "Blimey! Zarif, is that you? My master's mate?" she spoke up in a much older tone of voice. Almost to that of a twenty-year-old woman.

Draco and his crew leaned over to stare at Zarif as they wondered where the eagle came from. "You are so loveable," Zarif says giving her a hug with his wings.

Morganna laughs and nuzzles him. "Oh, pull my tail and call me Rover. I can now really see you and my master together, even as us," she says, still giving nuzzles.

"Zarif, if you don't mind," Merula says, looking at the two.

Zarif chuckles before jumping off the table and changing back. "So, I'm about to head to the dueling club. And I never honestly talked to Morganna like that," he informs, giving the big dog a few loving pats on the head.

"Blimey, when did you learn that?" Daxar asks.

"Merula and I learned this over a month ago," Zarif informs.

Merula gives a smile to them. "Yeah. Really amazing to change into an animal. Though…I was a bit embarrassed at having to train with Morganna." Morganna gives a bark and then nuzzled her.

"So are you guys ready for the dueling club's first meeting?" Zarif asks.

"Ready here," Daxar says smiling. The rest of their group soon sounded off at that as well, looking excited.

Zarif smirks to Merula and she rolls her eyes amused. "Then better finish up everyone," she says, stuffing her mouth with the rest of her food.

"Come on Morgana. Let's race them," Zarif says before becoming an eagle again and perches on her back.

"Hey!" Merula yells as they run off before she gobbles down the rest of her food and changes into a dog, running off after them. Loud barking as they race to the club room.

"Our class just got a bit weirder," Avae says.

"Wasn't it already weird?" Eranior asks.


"And first," Zarif says, turning back to human as he and Morganna arrived.

Merula barks angrily, padding up to him before changing back to normal. "You two are cheaters."

"I got to admit. Morganna has gotten fast," Zarif says.

Morganna barks happily up to them before placing her paws on his shoulders and leans against his back. The big dog's happy face panting over to Merula over his shoulder.

"She is also so loveable. Look at that face Merula and tell me you can stay mad," Zarif says smirking.

Merula fumes before sighing. "You two are the worst," she puffs, pointing at them while trying to hold a pout.

Morgana barks, trying to shove Zarif to Merula.

"Easy," Zarif warns as he tries to keep his balance before looking to Merula. "Taught her that?"

"Maybe," Merula informs.

Zarif just gives a smile at her before sighing. "I think both Autumn and Morganna are saying something."

"Can you two wait till after the club?" Merula asks.

A hoot and a bark answer that question as they walk or fly off to the side.

"I can't wait for Flitwick to start teaching us," Zarif says smirking.

"So how have Snape's private lessons taught you on this?" Merula asks.

"A bit, but Snape says the practical experience is the best way to improve," Zarif informs.

Merula rolls her eyes. "Well…yeah. That was obvious. Dueling is controlled in a watched over area. Real fights…everywhere…dodging around…even using deadly spells."

"He also says that through real experience, you discover your dueling style," Zarif says.

Merula smiles before clearing her throat slightly. "Can you…teach me shield spells…?" she starts shyly, looking away embarrassed with a tint on her cheek.

"Snape is more an offense instructor, but he did teach me a few of those. So, yes. After the club meeting, if you want. I don't believe we will be dueling tonight. Most likely Flitwick will go over official rules and stuff first," Zarif says.

Merula nods before taking a deep breath. "And…without a wand?" she asks, looking back to him.

"Even later," Zarif whispers back.

Merula gives a soft smile back at him before seeing the others arriving and becoming her usual self. "About time. We were about to start tea and biscuits," she mocks, giving a happy smirk to herself.

Soon, students from all the different houses started to pile in, but the biggest group that came together was Draco's. Then Flitwick arrived and they started to go over the official rules and sanctions before they started practicing and Flitwick did some one on one tutoring with the younger students. The club meeting nearly took a turn for the worse when a few of Merula's group and Draco's group nearly came to blows. If not for Flitwick, then it might have happened and Zarif frowned as he watched this. After the club ended, Zarif pulled Merula aside and, to her surprise, went after Draco and his group.

"Draco, a word," Zarif calls.

Draco stops and looks back, his gang already gathering around and expecting a fight. "Alone," Zarif adds as Draco saw it was him and Merula and that Flitwick had stopped to watch what was about to happen.

Draco frowns before turning to the others and waving them off. "I can handle myself. Go," he orders. The others giving him a slightly unconvinced expression before walking off. Malfoy then turns back to the two. "What do you want?"

"First, I want to apologize to you. What happened with our group in the first meeting should never have happened," Zarif apologizes, surprising both Draco and Merula from their expressions.

"Zarif…" Merula quietly says before looking to Malfoy and sighing. "I'm…sorry too," she spoke up, thinking that where Zarif is going would be the right way and maybe some weight off her mind.

"Well…apology accepted?" Draco says, sounding very unsure.

"Now the second thing is that this can't happen again. If the club continues, we are obviously going to enter the dueling leagues for our age group which means we will mostly be playing against the other lesser-known magical schools of Britain and Ireland. We can't be fighting each other and expect to win, can we?" Zarif asks the two.

Merula takes a deep breath and breathes out. "Yeah…you're right."

"Draco?" Zarif asks.

Draco groans and looks to the side for a second. "Fine. I'm sorry too…" he says, though a bit miffed at saying it.

"So do we agree we can't have anymore fighting amongst ourselves?" Zarif asks, getting a nod from both. "Then we need to not only get the Gryffindor and Slytherin members to agree with this but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff as well," Zarif says.

Malfoy scoffs. "That's just asking for nothing."

"Well, it's either that or we don't shoot for becoming champions of it and I don't know about you, but I am aiming for that," Zarif says, making both bite their lips as he played to their competitive sides.

"Fine," both Slytherins say together.

"What we need to do is just get those who are basically the leaders or prominent in their house that came and has a meeting between all of us and discuss this out. This way, everyone is on the same page and we can be less likely to fight," Zarif says, getting them both to nod. "Alright, I think that is all for tonight. Let's talk again at lunch before classes start back up. That way, we can catch those who we are looking for and arrange a meeting where we can talk it out. Sound fine?" Zarif asks.

"Good with me," Merula responds.

"Just make sure it isn't when quidditch practice is and it should be fine," Draco adds.

Zarif shrugs. "I'm fine with that. I look forward to you catching the snitch against Ravenclaw in the opening match," he remarks, starting to walk away.

"Did he just say he would be rooting for Slytherin in that match?" Draco asks slightly confused.

Merula slowly nods. "Yep. He did."

"Your friend is a bit weird," Draco points out as Morgana barks in agreement.

Autumn hoots as well to back her up.