Chapter Four
The Dueling Game
After lunch, the five Cougarfang girls said goodbye to Michael and Adam and headed to their least favorite class, Charms. Professor Lashae Thorn stained such a simple class with a horrible reputation of imiatation. When she ordered the students to practice the charms she taught, she hovered over each student, her long, curly black hair dangling so close, students were afraid of charming her hair into flying or turning into a pumpkin. Rumors were spread around that her hair had a impermiable shield around it. At every student, except those in Serpentine, she would give a menacing snear with her cold black eyes.
Professor Thorn hated Carly because of a secret twenty five year grudge she had against Carly's parents, Charles and Margaret Terella. Carly never knew them because they died one week after her birth while she was still in the hospital at the hands of a cruel, rumored Death Eater-like wizard, called "The Guiltless", just hours before Voldemort mysteriously dissapeared at the Potter house. Ever since, Carly had been living with her godparents, Chad and Suzy Peters, and their daughter, Ava Peters, whom was a second year in Cougarfang. They treated Carly like their own. They even led her to believe they were her parents, though they had absolutely no blond hair in their family. Carly only found out about her parents the day her letter came, saying she had been accepted to Majorika Academy for Wizards and Witches. For days, Carly locked herself into her room, crying non-stop until she was ready to see anybody's face. Chad and Suzy explained everything about her parents and how they were two of the best aurors in England, then took Carly to Diagon Alley for her first wand, her first set of robes, even her first broom. She started Majorika very sad and depressed, and left her first year with six best friends, and five enemies.
All the students walked in on time, mostly because detentions get worse every time you are tardy, not to mention the points taken away. Serpentines were allowed to be tardy, because they were Professor Thorn's house, so Sierra, Yayo, and Michelle came in five minutes late every day with only a warning. They took plenty of time on the other side of the school talking to Malfichio and Cale in front of their next class, then walked leisurely to Charms.
Bulstrode Tumbler always arrived at least five minutes before everybody else. Bulstrode, a short, chubby brown hair boy in Cougarfang with a round, pudgy face, had learned his first year about being tardy to Professor Thorn's class. He was very slow and had trouble being punctual. A few dozen detentions taught him that the extra cake or cup of pudding wasn't worth being late to Professor Thorn's class.
Bulstrode sat next to Carly and her friends in the back right hand corner,away from Sierra. "Hello!" he would say every day, "How are you today?" All the girls answered with the usual "Fine." They never talked while Professor Thorn was teaching, it was instant detention. They could only hear Sierra in the front, chuckling about how she was going to beat Jade tonight in the dueling hall.
"Class," said the monotonous teacher, "today we will be learning the Shield Charm. This Charm will give you the ability to protect yourself from dangerous spells and curses, minus the unforgivable curses for they are far too advanced and powerful, not to mention unblockable. You, at your beginner state of this charm, will only be able to block anything for a few seconds. Once you become older and more advanced, you will be able to block anything for an entire day. Now, the Charm is, "Protectus Takarus" everybody repeat it with me." They repeated the charm over and over. "Now, watch me." She raised her wand with her bony hand "PROTECTUS TAKARUS!" A bright, purply blue spark came from the tip of her wand and it spread throughout her body and dissapeared, leaving a purply tint. "When the purple dissapears, the charm is gone. Now, umm...Pomatress, give me your best." Sierra stood up and flipped her hair in a cocky way.
"Ummm...EXPELLIARMUS!" A blue light shot out of Sierra's wand. It hit Professor Thorn, then bouced back and hit Sierra, she flew bach and her wand flew out of her hand.
"Nice try, Sierra." Thorn glared at the rest of the class, "Now, I want you to try it on yourselves. Remember, it only lasts a few seconds your first time." The class stood up. Random shouts of protectus takarus were heard. Bulstrode was having difficulty.
"Ummm...Professor," he said raising his hand.
"What is it, Tumbler?" hissed Thorn.
"It doesn't work." Thorn's lip curled.
"Do it for me." Her lips pressed together.
"POTECKUS TATARLUS!" An orange light shot up to a book on the highest shelf. It grew legs and began to dance, just like the other books he had hit. The Serpentines in the class began to snicker wildly.
"QUIET!" Thorn's pale face turned red, she pointed her wand at the books, "OLIMPEROUS!" The dancing books stopped and sat down to their original spaces. "Now, Mr. Tumbler, the charm is 'protectus takarus' repeat it for me." Her cold eyes shot into his as he repeated the charm the right way. "Good, ten points from Cougarfang." She turned to her desk. Carly gaped at the news. Sierra was chuckling at the news of ten more points taken from Cougarfang.
After about a half hour of practicing, Thorn silenced the group. "Now, I will pair you up for a little dueling game. We are only practicing two charms, 'protectus takarus' and 'expelliarmus'. Anybody doing any other sort of spell will have the worst detention of their lives. I will pair you and you will each demostrate your skills. One of you is going to do the sheild charm, and the other will try and stop them before with 'expelliarmus'. Now...Pomatress and Terella, you first, then Coaltrain and Lumino, and Dulan and Bell, step up." Each of the three members of each of the two houses lined up in order on the platform in the center of the room. Sierra and Carly walked to the middle to salute each other with their wands. Sierra rolled her eyes and made a cocky snear to Carly. "Turn, girls. Now, Sierra, you will be blocking and Terella, you will be doing trying to disarm her. Now, on the count of three...one...two...thr-"
"REVERBA CORNTINCA!" Sierra bellowed as she hit Carly with a charm that threw her into the air and slammed her to the ground.
"I SAID TO USE THE SHIELDING CHARM ONLY! TEN POINTS FROM SERPENTINE!" Carly rose up, ready for her spell, "TERELLA, DON'T YOU DARE! I WILL EXPELL YOU IN A HEART BEAT IF YOU USE ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT I SAID!"
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Carly shouted. Sierra had no time to put the shield spell on her, and she was forced back against the wall her wand inches away from her.
"Now, Terella, you will sheild, and Sierra will try to disarm. Now...one...two..."
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Sierra's spell did the same to Carly.
"Well, it looks like we need some work...next!"
"PARADONUS CAPRACONE!" Carly shouted. A bright white light shot to Sierra, threw her back, and cripled her to the ground on concious.
"TERELLA!" Thorn screamed, racing to Sierra's side. "COALTRAIN, DULAN, GO FETCH NURSE CANDEN!" Yayo rolled her eyes and walked out the door with Michelle. "Sierra! Sierra can you hear me, say some thing!" Thorn shot menacing looks at Carly.
"Ohhhh...It hurts!" muttered Sierra, becoming half concious. Nurse Roberta Canden, a thin, tall, older witch with almost all grey hair ran in behind Yayo and Michelle pushing a wheelchair.
"What happened to her, Professor!" She said quickly.
"She was hit with a Paradonus charm, hard enough to get knocked out."
"OK, she''ll have to spend three days in the wing on a strick diet so she doesn't get sick. That Paradonus charm is a nasty one for practice, professor! What were you thinking, it's only for auror school!"
"I wasn't teaching it! Miss Terella here decided to get revenge after I specifically said not to."
"Oh, well," the nurse looked nervous "I'll just take Miss Pomatress here...carry on." Thorn helped the nurse get Sierra, who was terribly limp, into the wheel chair. "I'll be of-"
"Wait!" Thorn stopped her, "I need somebody to watch my students, please, while I take Miss Terella to see Professor Beningo. Roberta, would you?"
"OK, but please hurry back, I need to get this one to bed!" she motioned towards Sierra.
"Good...Miss Terella, come." Thorn said sternly. Carly hung her head low as she followed, terribly upset. Professor Thorn said nothing, she was just breathing heavily. They came to a door with a large statue of a goblin. "Birchwood!" The statue split open to a small windowless room with nothing in it. "Wolfsbang!" The floor began to rise quickly, as did the ceiling like they were on a fast elevator. They stopped and two glass doors slid open to a vast room, Headmaster Jerico Beningo's office. Thorn nudged the shaking Carly forward into the office where an old small, dark skined wizard sat, waiting.