Chapter Seventeen: Dumbledore's Help
"Here, Mister Potter," Professor Halflife lead Harry to an abandoned classroom on the third floor. "The Headmaster decided to fulfill your request of preparing you more specifically for the Final Battle. You will meet your teacher at the classroom."
"I thought you would teach me," Harry said confused.
"No, Dumbledore found a better candidate to prepare you."
'Who can it be? A very skilled Auror maybe? Because Professor Halflife is a perfect duelist, in my opinion, she can face any beast on Earth without a flinch.'
"Here we are, Mister Potter." She opened a door covered with dust and spider webs. The door revealed a circular room, which was absolutely empty except for a desk and a stool behind it. But the room was very well lit up with many torches on the walls. "Wait here, I'll return with your teacher in a few minutes."
Harry stood in the middle of the room and looked around. The walls were completely clean: no weapons, no flags, no books even. Nothing that could make this room especially designed for dueling. But still there was something in it that made you feel yourself in danger.
The door creaked and professor Halflife came back in with a hooded figure. They came closer to Harry, but he still couldn't see the face under the hood.
"Mister Potter, meet your Dueling Teacher." The man took off the hood revealing…
"You!" exclaimed Harry bewildered.
"From now on call me Marko," Draco said calmly, but with a hint of sarcasm, he couldn't help it. "You can take a seat, Potter."
Harry was standing openmouthed and couldn't even move. Halflife took his hand and walked him to the desk, where his knees weakened and he flopped down on the stool.
"Now, Potter," Draco began, but saw that Harry was still in shock so he went towards him and slapped him. Of course such a motion, or I'd better say, the pain from such a motion made Harry snap out of his trance. He shook his head, and then touched his cheek that began to turn red. Halflife glared at Draco, but said nothing.
"Now, Potter, are you able to listen?" Harry nodded. "Ok. Welcome to your personal dueling class. Maybe it didn't get through your thick scull, but I'm gonna teach you. How ironical, don't you think?" No answer from Harry. "Do I need to slap you again to make you talk?"
"No, I can do it myself," Harry said, but his voice still cracked.
"Professor Halflife will conduct our lesson. Dumbledore asked her to inform him about your progress or any other problem which may occur. To my mind, he asked her to watch us, so we wouldn't kill each other, am I right, professor?" She slightly nodded. "Now when the official part is over, we can go on with the subject. Any questions so far?"
"Why should I call you Marko?" Harry asked, wanting to get everything straight. Of course, he was far from happy that his dueling teacher happened to be Malfoy of all people, he can bear that, but he wanted it to be all clear with no mystery around, he was sick of them already.
"Because I asked you to. I don't think it is that difficult. Things that await you ahead are much more complicated," Draco answered calmly, but still mysteriously. "Anything else on the subject?"
Harry thought for a while deciding how to put the question so Draco would answer it properly. "Why are you teaching me?" 'Lame, he'll sly out of it.'
"Good question, Potter. I think I can even answer it." Harry was taken aback by such a simple answer. Draco came nearer to Harry's desk. "I hope you've already understood that I ran from my destiny, it wasn't an easy task mind you. Your destiny is unshakable, it was even predicted. You can't just mount your broom and fly away from it. The point is that if you know what comes, you can't just go like a sheep to a slaughterhouse - you must be prepared. You are Harry Potter – the savior of the wizarding world. The whole world counts on you. You can be lucky, talented, loved by everyone, but when you face Voldemort face-to-face, wand-to-wand, only you will fight him, only your skills and knowledge will help you to kill him, to mix him with mud, where he really belongs. The answer to your question is the following and quite simple; only I can give you those skills and knowledge."
"Why are you so sure and full of yourself, hah?" asked Harry, smirking. He was a bit surprised by Draco's rant, especially of the part of Voldemort and mud in one sentence, but eager to know what Malfoy can give him that can't others.
"Thank you for allowing me to return to my lesson." Draco mockingly bowed. "Your first lesson will be theoretical, that's why just sit and listen. You will find the answer to your question in my…uum…let's call it a lecture. You know, professor," he said, turning to Halflife. "I like this teaching business. Now, Potter, I will tell you what is so special about our dueling lesson. Here you will learn, I really hope that you'll manage, an ancient dueling technique Dragon Gang, which was used in the Order of the Dragon."
"Order of the Dragon?" Harry asked, really interested now.
"Yes, Potter, Order of the Dragon," Draco said like explaining something to a small child. "May I continue now?" Silence and interest in Harry's eyes were the answer for him. "Could you, please, make one of your famous dummies for a little demonstration, professor?"
Halflife was sitting in an armchair she brought with her in a shrunken form and watched closely after Draco. She couldn't help but admit that Draco had everything under control, not only Harry but also himself, and may become a decent teacher after more practice. On the swing of her wand a dummy appeared beside Draco. "Thank you, professor." He turned back to Harry. "The specific feature of this technique can be found in its second name: wandless combat. Pay attention, Potter, because now I am going to demonstrate the perspectives of your training."
Draco took the position ten feet from the dummy and prepared for a 'duel'. He was wandless, but his hands were outstretched with index and middle fingers pointing straight at the dummy. Then, surprisingly even for professor Halflife, he closed his eyes. For a few seconds nothing happened, but then suddenly the air was cut by two strikes of lightening which came from Draco's fingers. They shot passed Harry's eyes and hit the dummy right in the chest. After that, Draco made some swift motions with his hands and the dummy's arms fell on the floor. Then after turning his hands around, between his palms appeared a fireball, which grew and grew until he sort of pushed it with his right hand in to the dummy's head, which caught on fire in a second.
"Enough," Draco said softly and lowered his hands. He was trembling slightly; both Harry and Halflife noticed it.
"Are you ok, Marko?" asked professor Halflife.
"Yes, yes, everything is fine, just a bit out of practice, that's it," Draco answered, supporting himself with a wall and trying not to show his weak state. After several deep breaths he composed himself and returned to the middle of the circle, facing Harry. "Any questions after these recent events? Excuse me; do you have another chair with you, professor?"
"No problem, Marko." A flip of her wand and a chair appeared beside him. Draco practically fell onto it: he looked very tired. He sat motionlessly, looking at the ceiling for more then five minutes.
"Why are you in…" began Harry.
"In such condition?" Draco finished.
"Well, yes," Harry really felt like a student now, sitting behind the desk and knowing that you can't do something, but keen to know how to do it. Maybe he even began to have some teacher's respect for Draco.
Draco stood up with a jerk, it was seen that he was still dizzy but it meant nothing to him. He stood straight in front of Harry, ready to have another duel.
"You better make notes, we are still in a lesson," Draco said smirking.
'Playing a game, are we? Then I play along.' He took out a parchment, inkbottle and a quill – a perfect student. Draco smirked again. He knew Harry too well. His obedience was a covered mockery and a good one too.
"Ok, let's continue with the lecture. Writing, Potter?"
"Yes, of course," Harry mocked.
"Any wizard becomes a wizard if he contains magic in him. We use wands to concentrate magic and use it for our wishes and needs. Dragon Fang is the first of the combat technique, which was invented in the Order of the Dragon at the time when Salazar Slytherin was the Head of the Order. You can see that it's pretty old," Draco began to pace back and forth because just standing on one spot was tiring, uninteresting and simply irritating.
"Dragon Fang is a wandless combat, this point has its own advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage is the use of both hands. In a wizarding duel you can use only your wand-hand. The main disadvantage is that you need to concentrate your magic by yourself, and as you've seen, it takes a lot of energy." He took a deep breath and continued. "To master the Dragon Fang technique isn't that hard because you don't need to learn any spells or wand movements. But the hardest thing is to learn to concentrate your powers, to make your wishes come true by yourself, to control and direct your magic.
During the duel you must imagine your weapons: fireballs, lightening, fire streams, waterfalls, whatever you think will beat your opponent, but don't use real weapons like swords, arrows or anything of the kind. The reason for this is that such weapons harm the body, but you fight against the magic aura of the opponent. His powers against yours. You must remember that everyone has his weak spot, but you can't have it. About this later."
Draco stopped and only now looked at Harry who was writing like mad. Draco came closer to check his writing, maybe it was another mockery, but how surprised he was when he saw his words on the parchment. "Useful information, Potter?"
"Well, actually, it is," Harry answered finishing the sentence. "I don't think that you asked me to take notes and then babble some crap, would you?" Harry said firmly, but laughing sparks danced in his eyes.
"Right, Potter." Draco smirked. "On this we better finish. Till next time then, Potter."
"That will be…" began Harry, standing up.
"Oh, yes. How much do we have, professor?"
"Beginning of May is the red line," answered Halflife, preparing to leave and report to Dumbledore that Harry was in good hands.
"Not much, but what I've waited for, five years?" Draco said under his breath. "Tomorrow, Potter, at three p.m. Here. The worst happened. I will see your face every day. After all this is finished, you'll surely take me to Saint Mungo's. Now off you go, Potter. I can't bear to see your four eyes any longer."
"You are still who you are, even with another name," Harry said with slight disappointment.
"And you still don't know who I am," Draco answered simply, but Harry knew that there was much more behind his words.