Chapter 11- The Dueling Club Incident
It happened so quickly, Harry could barely see what was going on. He thought the flames started at his head and worked their way down to his feet, but it was so fast, it was impossible to tell. All that Harry knew for sure is that where Neville was a second ago, there was now only a pile of ash.
"Where did he go?" yelled Ron.
"Did he… die?" asked Hermione.
"Well, that would be the best thing to happen all day," mumbled Ron.
"Oh come on Ron!" said Hermione angrily. "Even if he was evil, he didn't deserve to die. There was still hope for him."
"Don't worry Hermione," said Harry. "I don't think he's dead."
"What makes you think that?" demanded Ron.
"Remember last year, when we spent the night in Hagrid's cabin after capturing Wormtail?" questioned Harry.
"Yeah," said Ron, "and then in the morning, he was gone."
"And all we could find of him was a pile of ash," said Harry. "I think the same thing that just happened to Neville is what happened to Wormtail."
"But what did just happen?" asked Ron.
"That's the question of the day," said Harry. "Any ideas Hermione?"
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "I'm not sure exactly what this spell was, but I've seen ones like it before. I remember reading about one where someone was frozen in an ice cube suddenly, and then it broke into a million pieces. Everyone thought he was dead, but it turned out that was just the way for his master to summon his minions. Maybe this fire version is just Voldemort's way of doing it."
"That's the best theory so far," said Harry. "But we have to find the Stone before we can do anything else."
"How are we going to find it, though?" asked Ron.
"Hermione, give me your Bracelet again," said Harry. She threw it over to him, and Harry caught it in his hand.
"Nice catch," she grinned. Harry slipped the Bracelet on. It, along with the Ring immediately glowed a bright yellow, and just a few feet in front of them, a small, green light appeared on the ground. It was very dim, compared to the Ring and Bracelet's glow, but there nonetheless.
The three of them walked over to the shining spot and immediately began digging with their hands, clawing at the dirt. Each time they dug further down to it, the glow became more bright and vibrant. It wasn't too long before the Stone was revealed, brighter than the sun. Harry slipped it into his pocket and decided it was time to go. After
Ron stepped into his trap again and Harry and Hermione had a good laugh, they headed back to the castle.
"Alright," said Harry, when they finally left the forest. "This time, I'm going to put an even more powerful trap on a different drawer and I'll make sure that-"
"Harry!" interjected Hermione. "I think we need to make the Stone more secure than that. Neville easily took it last time and I don't think we can risk another situation like that ever happening again."
"You're right," admitted Harry. "But where else can we put it?"
"It's not about putting it somewhere more secure, it's about giving it to someone who will make it more secure."
"But Dumbledore's not here, remember?" said Ron.
"Oh for god's sake Ron!" yelled Hermione. "How stupid can you be? Do you think Dumbledore is the only one who is qualified to protect a Stone? Remember in our first year, all the teachers made something to guard it? So all of them are able to watch it."
"Fine, but who do we give it to?" asked Harry.
"Yeah, I don't want to give it to Snape," said Ron.
"Well, we could give it to Professor McGonagall," suggested Hermione. "She is practically second in command at the school anyway."
"That sounds like a good idea," yawned Harry. "Let's give the Stone to her and go to bed. Having the weight of the world on your shoulders is very tiring."
The three of them walked back to the castle, still talking about what had just happened. Not before long, they reached Professor McGonagall's office, ready to tell her the news and give her the Stone.
"Professor?" asked Harry quietly when they walked into her office.
"Yes Mr. Potter?" she asked, furiously working on grading a paper. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed by now?"
"Well yes, but I, that is… we, have something for you."
She looked up from her work and raised an eyebrow.
"You have something for me?" she asked.
"Well… kind of," said Harry, moving his head from side to side. He didn't want her to think this was a present or anything.
"Kind of?" she asked, looking even more curious. "What is it?"
Harry decided to just be out with it and give it to her. He reached into his pocket, with his non-ring hand, grabbed the Stone, and presented it to her. As soon as her eyes met it, they grew twice their size and her jaw fell to her desk.
"That's a… a…." she gasped.
"It's a Sorcerer's Stone," said Harry, setting it down on the top of her desk. She didn't take her eyes off of it.
"Where did you… get this?" she asked quietly.
"It was in the package you gave me from Dudley," said Harry. "He got it from Perenelle Flamel. He didn't know what it was, so he sent it to me."
"Perenelle Flamel?" she said. "How did you get it from her."
"We were the only ones that showed up for her funeral. In her will, it said to give the Stone to whoever bothered to come. I guess we were the only ones that did."
There was a moment of silence.
"Why are you giving it to me?" asked Professor McGonagall, back in her normal tone of voice
"To protect it better than I did," sighed Harry. "It's already been stolen once, and I don't want it to be stolen again."
"Who took it?"
"Neville," spat Harry.
Professor McGonagall sighed.
"That poor boy," she said, shaking her head. Then, returning her gaze to Harry, "you did the right thing bringing it to me. I will protect it, you need not worry."
"Thank you professor," bowed Harry.
"No trouble," she said, turning her attention back to the Stone. "No trouble at all."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the room, feeling much better.
"Good," said Ron. "Now we don't have to worry about it anymore."
"And we won't be tempted to use it either," said Harry.
"Harry!" came a voice suddenly from ahead. "Where have you been?"
"Oh, hello Cho," said Harry, trying to sound happy, despite what happened.
"Where have you been all day?" she demanded, crossing her arms. "I've been in the Hospital Wing most of the day waiting for you! I didn't know where else to go!"
"I'm sorry Cho," apologized Harry, signaling to Ron and Hermione that they could leave. "I just had some… urgent business."
She crossed her arms.
"Well, I suppose I can forgive you," she smiled. "But from now on, tell me before you come out of unconsciousness."
"I will certainly try," grinned Harry back.
"Well, I want to see you more often than what we've been doing now," she
continued. "After all, this is our last year together." This comment hit Harry hard. He hadn't
realized it up until now, but since Cho was a year ahead of him, she would graduate next year and poor little Harry would be left all alone.
"How about after the dueling club meeting tomorrow?" suggested Harry.
"No," said Cho. "I have a meeting after that."
"Okay then, how about after… um, the Wizard Duel meeting?"
"Oh, you're into all that?" she asked, scrunching her face.
"Enh, it's okay," said Harry, trying to downplay his obsession and try to have he same opinion as her.
"But… sure, that'll work," she replied. "I'll see you then!"
"See you!" yelled Harry, walking away from her. Had she really been looking for him all day? Harry hoped Cho wasn't becoming a stalker… though that wouldn't be so bad, she was only stalking him after all.
Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, in which there were still a few people awake, mostly the Dueling Club members. Everyone was excited about the upcoming meeting since it would be their first duel this year. The rest of the people, Harry saw, were there practicing for the approaching Wizard Duel club engagement. It was certainly going to be a good week.
After working his way through the mass of people, Harry arrived at his dormitory. Seamus and Dean were downstairs, along with Ak. Ron, however, was busy looking under beds and in closets.
"What are you doing?" asked Harry.
"Looking for Neville," he said, closing the last closet.
"Any sign of him?" asked Harry sarcastically, putting his night clothes on.
"Not a thing," said Ron, shaking his head, taking Harry seriously.
"Good night Ron," said Harry, jumping into his bed. "You keep an eye out for Neville, alright?" Harry closed his eyes, not hearing Ron's answer, and thinking about where Neville was right now and what Voldemort was doing to him.
"So what are we going to do at this meeting?" asked Malfoy to Harry before the Dueling Club meeting the next day. The entire club was waiting outside of the Great Hall, anticipating the fight. To make up for many of the members that left, there were even more newcomers. All of Harry's Quidditch team had joined, along with Ak's friends and several of the new first years came as well, trying to learn spells that would help them in class.
"I actually don't know," said Harry, feeling a little guilty. He should have consulted with Professor Flitwick, the head of the club, about what to do for their first meeting. He was captain of the club after all. But, with everything that had been going on, Harry totally forgot about it, and was now just hoping Professor Flitwick had a good idea. "Probably it will be just like what our previous meetings have been like."
Just then, the doors opened by themselves and everyone filed excitedly into the room. The first thing Harry noticed was the fact that, for the first time ever, the entire room was completely empty. There were no tables, no chairs, no nothing. Just a massive, empty room.
"Come in! Come in!" called Professor Flitwick. He was hovering around the room, about ten feet off the ground, sitting cross-legged. Of course, the most obvious and noticeable thing about him was his enormous smile that seemed to give off its own rainbow of color and trail behind him as he went about. He floated around everyone as they walked in, shut the doors when they all were inside, and then began speaking again.
"This meeting shall be a little different than our past ones," he announced with his magnified voice. "Up to now, we have been working on only one on one to three on three fights. While the knowledge of how to fair well during these situations if necessary, it is not all that you need to know. What would you do if you were engaged in a war or another type of large battle? You would not seek out and destroy every person individually… no. You need to learn how to take advantage of your surroundings, how to attack on the larger scale, and how to make use of guerrilla tactics."
He took his wand out, and held it into the air, looking like he was getting ready to bring it down and cast a large spell.
"I need all of you to spread out as much as you can, at least ten feet between each of you. Trust me, you will need it." He waited for a minute while everyone moved around, spinning their arms to make sure they were far away enough from each other. When Professor Flitwick was happy with everyone's locations, he continued talking.
"When I bring my wand down, your battle location will form. I will wait a minute for it to completely develop and then I will countdown for you to begin. The last person
standing is the winner, and don't worry: I will announce when there is only one left. It may be hard to tell…." Harry saw that everyone was looking nervous, but he was thinking this was going to be one of the best meeting ever.
Professor Flitwick brought his wand down in one magnificent motion. Hundreds of green swirls erupted from the tip and flew all over the room, growing as they went. Then, when each swirl hit a surface, a gigantic tree grew right out. So many of these trees were discharged from the walls and floor, Harry wasn't sure whether he was still in the Great Hall, or a rainforest. The trees were huge, at least five feet thick, and they went all the way up to the ceiling. Bushes grew all around them, some with thorns, others just leaves and Harry could've sworn he heard a bird call somewhere…. They were going to fight here?
"On your marks!" boomed Professor Flitwick's voice, even though Harry couldn't see him anymore. "Get set! Go!"
Harry waited for something to happen… but heard nothing. There were no sounds of spells being used or people yelling; just a few crunches of leaves every now and then, showing that there were people moving, but not easily seen. Harry crept forward, not knowing if he was going to bump into someone, bump into a tree, or continue going straight. He was just beginning to notice that it was incredibly dark in here.
Suddenly, right in front of him, Harry heard a human voice. He ran over towards the side of a bush and ducked behind a tree. He put his head out to the side, to see if he could see what was going on. Though it was still very dark, he could make out two figures, fighting.
"Take this!" yelled one of them. Harry thought it sounded like Mike. "Kitte Imasu!"
Harry heard something sharp and fast fly through the air quickly and hit its target. It sounded like a bow shooting an extremely aerodynamic and sharp arrow.
"Arg!" yelled Mike's victim. It sounded like one of the new Gryffindor first years: Chad. Harry heard him fall to the ground.
"Never underestimate the power of Japanese… and their spells," snickered Mike, spinning his wand around and blowing off the tip, just like an outlaw would do with his gun. This was Harry's chance. One of them was gone, and Mike was distracted. He grabbed his wand, spun around, and met him face to face.
"Stupefy!" yelled Harry, just as Mike saw him. He tried to move out of the way, but it was too late. The spell hit him right in the chest and he fell down, right next to Chad. Just to mock him blindly a little bit, Harry spun his wand around and blew on the end, before putting it back in his pocket.
"Two down, twenty more to go," he said to himself.
Harry crept forward, keeping a look out for anyone he knew to be wary of. As he went along, he found several people on the ground, knocked out just like Mike and Chad had been. Harry was thankful that Ak, Tci, and Aylar were among those on the ground. They were the best duelers there besides himself. But then, he thought to himself, who beat them? Harry tried to suppress that thought and continued on, stepping over Akshay's face that had a pair of broken glasses on it.
"Help!" came a voice from up ahead. Harry knew who it was: Hermione. Immediately, he forgot all about the duel, and ran forwards, not stopping to hide behind any trees. If Hermione was calling for help, it had to be serious.
"Help!" she called again. This time, Harry could see the situation. Chris was on her back, with his arms around her neck, trying to bring her down while Joe was busy attempting to remove her Bracelet from her arm.
Harry didn't take any time to think about what was going on.
"Apoyiosi!" he yelled, aiming right at Joe. There was an explosion right below his feet and he was thrown up into the trees. Now, it was Chris' turn. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry brought Chris up high, right to the tops of the trees and then brought him down, much faster, so he slammed right into the ground, face first and unconscious.
"Are you alright?" asked Harry, running over to Hermione.
"Yeah," she gasped.
"What was that all about?"
"I don't know," she said, catching her breath. "First, Joe jumped out of nowhere and grabbed my Bracelet. I shook him off, but when Chris came down right on my back, it got to be too much."
"What did they want with your bracelet?" asked Harry. "You don't think they're… Death Eaters?"
"Ekthkweeze meh!" yelled Joe from the branch of a tree. His robe had gotten caught in a branch on his way up, and now he was hanging from it. "Can you help meh down please?"
"What did you want with the Bracelet?" demanded Harry.
"What bracelet?" asked Joe, waving his arms frantically.
"Don't play stupid with me!" yelled Hermione. "You just attacked me!"
"What? No meh didn't!" yelled Joe. "All meh know is first meh was fighting Chris, and then meh was up here in this tree."
"You mean you don't know what the Bracelet is?" asked Harry.
"I don't even know what bracelet you're talking about!" yelled Joe, spinning around and waving even more. There was a snapping sound heard in the branch he was hooked on and it suddenly fell all the way down to the ground with a loud crash.
"Were you under some sort of spell or something?" asked Harry, helping him up.
"Meh guess so," said Joe, brushing himself off. "But, now that you mention it, meh do remember a little. Blurs mostly… meh remember not feeling mehself. Yeah, meh was attacking Hermione! But, meh don't remember wanting to do it, it was like there was someone else, telling meh what to do."
"So, like someone was controlling you?" asked Harry again.
"Yeah, meh guess so," said Joe, shrugging his shoulders.
"Someone must have put the Imperius Curse on him," whispered Hermione.
"That means someone here wants to Bracelet," responded Harry. "But who here even knows what it is, much less want it?"
Just then, there was a sudden flash of red light, and Joe collapsed to the ground. Harry ran over to the nearest tree and hid behind it. He saw Hermione do the same. Someone was attacking them.
"Come out come out wherever you are," came an all to familiar voice. Neville slowly crept out from the dark trees and Harry thought he saw some snakes slither by as he came out. He was twirling his wand in his hand, as if he had just accomplished something great. "I know you're here Harry, so come out and face me." He was walking
closer and closer to Harry. But, he was going to wait for just the right moment to appear and-
"Oh no you don't!" yelled Hermione, jumping out from behind her tree. She quickly pointed her wand at Neville, just as he was turning around. "Stupefy!"
"Fucillius!" yelled Neville, at just the same instant. The two spells met in midair, but Neville's immediately overpowered Hermione's, causing her to fall over backwards from the impact of an imaginary speeding bullet.
"Take this!" yelled Harry, taking full advantage of the fact that Neville was distracted from watching her fall. "Itamuda!" A spinning, black beam ejected itself from Harry's wand. It went right for Neville, and hit him… then passed right through him.
"What?" yelled Harry, seeing Neville turn to face him. Was he a ghost? What was going on? Just then, Neville began flickering and going all staticy, as if he were a projection, and then all out disappeared.
"Accio wand!" came a voice from behind Harry. He turned around just in time to see Neville summoning his wand right out of Harry's hand. He quickly shoved the wand into his pocket, and grinned at Harry.
"Now whatcha going to do?" he asked, sticking his tongue our between clenched teeth. Harry was worried… he was powerless. He had to transform and hope that would take Neville by surprise again… but would that work? Would Neville fall for the same trick twice?
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Malfoy fell from the trees and pounced right on top of Neville, wiping the grin right off of his face. He subdued him on the ground, holding his arms down with his hands, and putting his knees on Neville's legs.
"Thanks a million Malfoy," gasped Harry, relieved.
"No problem," said Malfoy, sounding like he was straining to keep Neville pinned down. "What are friends for? But, could you hurry up and take this guy out? He's stronger than he looks… and he looks pretty strong."
Harry ran over to Neville's pocket, and took out his wand. He pointed it at Neville's face, and looked at the terror in his eyes. What spell should he use on him?
"Bona nox!" yelled Harry so loud that some birds flew away in the trees above him. Black, lightning-like beams shot out of the tip of his wand, electrifying Neville's forehead, making it shake all over and pulsate, but only for a second. Then, the effect of the spell finally came.
"I'm blind!" yelled Neville. "Blind!"
Malfoy grabbed the wand out of Neville's flailing hand and got up off of him, wiping some sweat from his head.
"How long were you up there waiting?" Harry asked Malfoy.
"I've been there since the beginning of the match," he said, watching Neville run around aimlessly and crash into some trees. "I've been sniping out people all over, taking them out quite easily. It was just by luck that you happened to need me right here."
"Well thanks," said Harry, looking over at Neville, and not seeing any of the boy he was as a first year anywhere on or in him. Harry ran over to him, and grabbed his neck, pinning him up against a tree.
"Was it you who tried to take Hermione's bracelet?" demanded Harry.
"Wha- no!" gasped Neville, gripping his neck, and looking all over in vain for a way out. He was at Harry's mercy.
"Of course it was you!" yelled Harry, tightening his grip. "Who else here is slimy enough to try and pull a trick like that?"
"I don't know who is was," choked Neville. "But it wasn't me!"
"What's going on here?" asked Malfoy, walking over.
"He tried to steal Hermione's Bracelet," said Harry through gritted teeth. "Or, at least control someone else so they would do it."
"What would he want it for?" asked Malfoy. "I mean, sure, it looks nice, but is it worth stealing?" Harry looked at him… he didn't know that the Bracelet was actually one of the Ingredients in the Immortality Potion. Should he tell him?
"I don't know," Harry finally lied. "And were not going to find out now! STUPEFY!" Harry aimed the beam right at Neville's chest, and saw it instantly knock him out. He let go of his neck and let his unconscious body drop to the grass-covered floor.
"When did Neville get here anyway?" Harry asked Malfoy. "I didn't see him come in at the beginning of the match."
"I did," said Malfoy. "From my spot in the trees. He came in a little after it began. It gave him a bit of an advantage, really, since he came in after everyone else had been fighting for a while. I saw him take out everyone in his path… Tci, Ak, and Aylar especially…. He certainly has become a better fighter, that's for sure."
"Yes, well, do the ends justify the means?" asked Harry. "Sure, Neville's a better warrior, but at the cost of him being a Death Eater." Harry thought this would be a good time to see just how much Malfoy knew. "Speaking of which, I haven't heard about much Dark Activity going on lately… any idea what that's about?"
"Yeah," sighed Malfoy. "You-Know-Who hasn't said too much about it, but he's planning something big… I mean, really big."
Harry swallowed hard. Should he have headed Dobby more?
"Well," sighed Malfoy, breaking the awkward silence between the two of them. "Yet again, it has come down to us."
"Too bad we had to go and become friends," said Harry, backing away a little.
"Yeah, too bad that I'm going to have to beat you," grinned Malfoy.
"Oh yeah, what makes you so sure of that?"
Malfoy raised an eyebrow.
"My new Polymagus form," he snickered. "Prepare to be obliterated."
Harry backed up against a tree and took out his wand, ready to deal with whatever it was Malfoy was going to become. Malfoy closed his eyes and threw his arms and legs out as far as they could go, spreading his fingers apart from each other and Harry assumed he was doing the same to his toes as well. Then, when he was as stretched out as far as Harry thought he could be without splitting apart, Malfoy just… fell over, right onto his back.
"Are you okay?" laughed Harry.
"This is just the beginning," said Malfoy in Harry's head through Animagus telepathy. He began moving his fingers and feet in the most particular manner, so that his entire body was spinning around on the ground. Slowly at first, then faster and faster, until his animal powers began to kick in and he was almost a blur. Malfoy was spinning so fast, he was starting to dig himself into the ground, like some sort of human drill. Then, when he was about five feet under, the animal form appeared.
It looked like a massive worm more than anything. It was thick enough to fill the entire hole, but very short, only coming about four feet out of the hole. It was a dark yellow all over, and looked extremely slimy. It had only a single eye, with a small spike protruding underneath it. Suddenly, many much smaller versions of the beast popped up all around it, forming some sort of grotesque outline of the monster. All of the creatures then started spinning, very slowly, but fast enough to make the ground shake.
Cracks began to appear in the ground around the creature, which spread out further and further. Then, the smaller versions of the monster began moving around the large one, as if they were trying to create some sort of whirlpool, which was not too far from the truth. The beasts were moving so fast that the monster had turned into some sort of living black hole, sucking in the land around it. Entire trees, bushes, the floor and mounds of dirt were sucked into the moving pool of monsters and then devoured by them, just as quickly, by a series of horrible pokings from the protruding needles beneath their eyes.
"What kind of animal is that?" yelled Harry, holding onto a tree that was beginning to be sucked into the monster.
"It's a Surmanger!" yelled Malfoy back, telepathically. "It's a rare desert beast that creates black hole-like ground all around it, sucking in everything. The smaller ones eat the things it sucks in, and the larger on softens the ground, so it is easier to bring in and devour. It's like some sort of horribly well oiled machine!"
"You've got that right!" said Harry, jumping off of the tree that he was previously hanging onto. It was sucked right into the belly of the monster, and eaten almost instantly. It was amazing, to see the smaller creatures peck at their victims so fast that it looked as though it was being disintegrated rather than eaten.
The Surmanger had now eaten most of the magical forest, and Harry could see some of the Great Hall's tiled floor appearing beneath the grass that was being sucked up, though not for very long since it was brought in just as quickly. Professor Flitwick had now revealed himself. He was flying around the room, moving unconscious kids high into the air so that they wouldn't be sucked in and eaten. Harry decided to follow that line of thinking, and transformed his back into wings. He took to the air, away from the ground that was being quickly devoured.
"Stupefy!" yelled Harry, aiming right for the monster. The red beam shot right at it, but then, right before it was about to hit, the beast ate the ray of light as if it were a bush. "That thing can eat light!" "Matter, energy, it all tastes the same," telepathized Malfoy the monster. Now, all of the forest had been consumed, and he was working on the actual Great Hall, sucking in the floor, ceiling and walls. Harry had to really struggle to stay in the air and not be eaten. He had to distract Malfoy somehow, to try and buy some time to think of something.
"Hey Malfoy!" yelled Harry in his mind. "How come you're only one animal now? I thought you Polymagi could combine your animal's DNA to create a super powerful monster."
"We can," said Malfoy back, not appearing to have slowed down in his rate of consummation. "But this creature is powerful enough on its own; it doesn't need any other parts to make it better. Just by itself, it is invincible."
Suddenly, one wall broke out of its connection with the others and flew over towards to monster, revealing the outside world, and some of the Hogwarts grounds. Flitwick had to do some quick moving to have the floating students dodge the flying wall. A second later, that entire wall was eaten, and the next three were on their way out. Harry didn't see how he was going to win this one.
Harry did a few air tricks, just to try and put off the inevitable a little bit longer. All the walls of the room were gone, along with the floor. Malfoy was now working on eating the magically free-floating ceiling, which would be gone within seconds. Once that was finally devoured, Harry found himself outside on the grounds. Malfoy had eaten the entire Great Hall, and he showed no sign of slowing.
"Alright Harry," snickered Malfoy. "I think I've done enough damage. It's time to end this duel!" Abruptly, the moving smaller versions of the monster stopped in their tracks. Each of them appeared to be standing upright, like a soldier, with their spikes in the air. Then, they started furiously shaking the tips of their heads from side to side, and their spikes… fell off!
"What are you doing?" asked Harry.
"Underneath those spikes are powerful vacuum-like holes," explained Malfoy. "It's time to suck you up Harry!" Indeed, where the spikes used to be, there was now a small black hole on each of the smaller monsters. They all began moving in their circular pattern again, only this time, it was not the earth being sucked in, it was the air.
Harry instantly felt the new force pulling on him, and it was incredible. It was as if he were being lassoed from all directions, and each one was being pulled by a sumo wrestler. He could feel the air being sucked in all around him, along with a few clouds above him. It was becoming hard to breathe. It didn't take Harry very long to succumb to the beast.
Harry couldn't take it anymore. Even in just the few seconds he had been struggling against Malfoy's new version of his monster, he felt as though he had run several marathons. He just… couldn't fly any more, and he stopped flapping his wings. Instantly, he began being sucked into the beast, faster and faster, until he was just about to be devoured….
"Draco Malfoy is the winner!" announced Professor Flitwick, quickly moving Harry out of danger. He used his wand to move him high up in the sky, along with the rest of the kids, out of the monster's reach. "Please, Mr. Malfoy, you may transform back now!"
"Yes professor," Harry heard Malfoy say. The Surmanger began spinning all over, so fast that it was starting to shrink. Once it was about the size of a person, it slowed down and Malfoy was revealed, back in his normal form, his arms and legs spread out on the ground.
"Superb transformation," commented professor Flitwick. "But, next time, would you please not destroy the entire room?"
"I shall certainly try professor," smiled Malfoy, though he looked as though he were in pain. His hands we on his stomach, and he was looking a little pale. Harry wondered if all or even some of what he ate was retained in his human stomach.
"Good job Malfoy," said Harry, offering him his hand just as a cool end-of-summer breeze blew by. He took it and they shook. "You are a worthy opponent, that's for sure."
"I don't believe I've ever seen a better show of sportsmanship in my entire life than what I just saw now," came a voice. Harry looked over and saw Dumbledore walking over to them.
"Professor!" exclaimed Harry. "What are you doing here?"
"I never miss a Dueling Club meeting," he said. "I just came down to watch the last part of the match. It seems as though I was the only person who thought to do that."
"Everyone else was too afraid of getting eaten to come down," grinned Harry.
"When did you get back from the Ministry?" asked Malfoy, looking a little better.
"As a matter of fact, I just got here. This duel is the first part of Hogwarts I have seen all day. Though, I see this part has been destroyed." He surveyed the area quickly, with a frown on his face. "We're going to have to rebuild this entire room… and quickly too!"
"Professor," whispered Harry. "There's something I have to tell you."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait, Harry. There is much to do."
"I'm not sure if this can, professor."
"Well then," sighed Dumbledore, "tell me quick. There is much to be rebuilt, and many children to be revived."
"During the match," began Harry, making sure that Malfoy was out of hearing range. He was over helping Professor Flitwick enervate the unconscious kids. "During the match, I think someone used the Imperius Curse on some of the second years."
To this, Dumbledore rose an eyebrow.
"What makes you think that?" he asked curiously.
"Well, at one point during the duel, Chris and Joe attacked Hermione. They were trying to steal her bracelet. But, when I asked them about it afterwards, they said they didn't really remember doing it but did have a sensation of not being in control of themselves. Either they were very convincing, or it really happened. I think the latter is true in this situation."
"What would they want her Bracelet for?" asked Dumbledore slowly. Harry didn't know what to say. Should he tell him that he knew about the Immortal Potion, and all about the Sorcerer's Stone and the Ring of the Ancients that he had?
"I have no idea," lied Harry, playing it safe. He didn't' know what information he was supposed to know and what he shouldn't know. He'd just play dumb and safe for a while….
"Well, it is very easy to find out whether an illegal spell was used or not. All we need to do is take a trip down to the Ministry, and go to our suspect's files. In there are all the spells they've ever used. If someone has the Imperius Curse recorded inside, they are the culprit."
"Well, I don't think you'll have to search for very long," said Harry. "Neville did it. I'm sure of it."
"What makes you so sure?" questioned Dumbledore, crossing his arms.
"Well, for one, he is a Death Eater. He attacked me before, and he is Voldemort's personal slave. I think that's about all the evidence anyone would need. Why are you letting him stay at Hogwarts anyway? He's a Death Eater! You should toss him away!"
"Yes, I know that that would be the most logical course of action," sighed Dumbledore. "But, Neville, deep down, is a good kid. I'm sure that if we give him enough time and support, we can win him back."
"If you think so, professor," said Harry, not sharing his belief at this time.
"Harry!" yelled Hermione, running over to him. "I just got up! You didn't win!"
"I'll leave you two now," smiled Dumbledore, patting him on the shoulder, and walking off to Professor Flitwick who still looked in a state of perfect happiness over the excitement of the match.
"Yeah, Draco beat me this time," sighed Harry.
"Draco?" asked Hermione, scrunching her face a little. "That's the first time you've ever called him that."
"Yeah, well, first time for everything," grinned Harry, walking off, for the first time in his life, actually feeling happy that he had lost.