Chapter 23

Dueling Thoughts

Cody had to drag himself out of bed when his alarm went off. He didn't even set it for as early as normal but after the late-night even some extra didn't feel like enough.

The cold bit when he left the castle. Two weeks in California has really softened his tolerance for cold. He started off with a stronger-than-normal Warming Charm to get him started, by the time it would wear off he would no longer need one. He started off with a long slow jog, he had neglected his training regimen while on break so today would serve as a way to break his body back into the routine, and with no classes today he could take it as long and as slow as he wanted.

By the end of the run, his lungs were letting him know very clearly that his stamina had already waned. An Aguamenti Charm helped cure his cottonmouth but nothing could change how out of shape he felt.

He decided a swim was in order. There was no way there wasn't some sort of enchantment on the lake to prevent the water temperature from dropping beyond a certain point. But he still required a Warming Charm to manage, it wasn't nearly what he would've expected. Even with the Warming Charm, that first dive into the water was a shock to the system but it wasn't long before the swim was more refreshing than anything.

After a few laps of a slow freestyle, he settled into a lazy backstroke. He felt like he could do this for hours, floating and barely using any energy. He kept his ears in the water; it gave him another level of escapism that even the jog around the grounds didn't achieve. He could really get lost in his thoughts when he was in the water, only the clear blue sky to occupy his eyes, and no random noises from the forest to catch his attention.

He had completely lost track of time, which was kind of the plan today, but when he started seeing—out of his peripheral vision—people flying around on brooms overhead, he knew at least a portion of the castle had woken up and it was time for him to wrap up his training—if you could even call it that at this point—for the morning.

He dried off and got warmed up.

As he crossed the grounds, he saw a large group of flyers, the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Angelina was trying to keep them in form even if they wouldn't have any official competitions this year. Then there was another, smaller group, only four of them, it was Tracey and her boyfriend, and Krum, and Daphne.

His heart sank.

He knew he shouldn't have expected anything different but he couldn't suppress the hope. A large portion of his brain told him this didn't even reveal anything but he listened to the other part, the one that told him to push through and move on for the time being. No point in wallowing over uncertainties.

He quickened his pace across the grounds. He didn't really want to run into anyone coming out of the Beauxbatons carriage either. He was going to be in a little bit of an avoidance mode for the near future until he figured things out.

He entered the Great Hall to eat and could feel more sets of eyes than normal following him. They all looked away as he scanned the hall for someone to sit with. There weren't many of the foreign students present at the moment, so he didn't have to worry about sitting, or not sitting with Celine. He did see Susan, Hannah, and Michael sitting together so he went to join them.

'Hey, Cody,' Susan said as he approached.

'Hey, guys,' he replied as he sat.

'When did you get back?' Michael asked.

'Last night. You all have parties in your common rooms too?'

'Yeah, we all had to be in our own common rooms,' Michael replied, slightly annoyed.

'It's ok, Michael,' Hannah said consolingly. 'We've got all of today to make up for missing last night.'

Cody's eyebrows rose. 'What did I miss?' he asked playfully, looking between Hannah and Michael, their cheeks already started to shade pink.

Susan waited a moment to let the awkward silence drag before answering. 'Michael finally made the move. After the Ball.'

Though already embarrassed, Michael's eyes pleaded with him to not make the situation any more uncomfortable. Cody tried to find a balance.

'Hey, it looks like she wasn't opposed to the idea.'

Michael's shoulders visibly relaxed. 'No, she actually said, "Finally," after it happened.'

'Well, you were taking your time,' Hannah interjected.

'Just wanted to wait for a particularly special evening for it, that's all,' Michael replied.

'Sure,' was Hannah's disbelief response.

Cody smiled at the interplay. It was fun to see his friends like this.

'I guess a congratulations are in order then,' Cody added. The "I told you so," and "See, you should've listened to me sooner," lines would be saved for a private conversation, or left unsaid entirely. And he raised a glass in their honor, adding a head nod.

Michael shook his head at how much attention this was getting but Hannah played along with a smile.

He hasn't fully embarrassed Michael yet and in order to shift the attention, he asked Susan a question, 'What about you? Anything to report from the Yule Ball?'

All the eyes went to Susan. And her smiling face turned serious very quickly while her ears filled with color.

'Yeah, Suze. Tell him all about it,' Hannah teased.

Susan sent a small scowl at Hannah. 'Like you have any room to talk.'

Hannah gave an innocent shrug.

Then Susan turned to Cody. 'Nothing happened. There's nothing to tell.'

'Nothing?' Cody asked with a hint of skepticism.

'No, nothing. I swear. We are taking things slow.'

'There's nothing wrong with that. . . If that's really the case,' Cody said with an air of suspicion.

Susan cocked her head to the side in a questioning manner.

Cody continued, 'Perhaps Theo is just reading from the same playbook as Michael. . .'

'Hey!' Michael declared.

'Sorry, man. Hannah's been waiting for you to make your move for a while now.'

Hannah patted Michael's hand consolingly and whispered something in his that made him smile.

'The only question for Susan is whether she is ready. . .' Cody prompted.

Susan's head dropped as she didn't want to meet anyone's eyes. She appeared to be examining her hands intently before bringing her head up. 'I guess I wouldn't mind, and I don't think I would say "no." But I'm also not in some big hurry. I'm ok taking things slow.'

'That's good then. So, what do you all have planned for today?'

'Nothing, and it's glorious,' Hannah answered, taking Michael by the hand.

Susan leaned forward and lowered her voice to a whisper to avoid being overheard by anyone outside their group, 'I heard that Moody is going to start letting us duel in class and then we're going to have a tournament. I kinda want to practice some more.'

'Like you need the practice,' Hannah proclaimed.

'Well, the last thing I need is to think I'm invincible,' Susan replied.

'I'll practice with you. I've got no plans and we've missed a couple of weeks,' Cody said.

'Alright, let's meet in the usual room at one.'

'Sounds good.'

'Oh yeah, do you know what your schedule is going to be like this term?' Susan asked.

'My schedule won't change. I'll just be going to classes with third years where I used to be with the firsties.'

'Alright! Third-year Transfiguration is where things start getting good,' Michael declared.

'You mean you're going to start letting me do more spells?' Cody asked in a teasing tone.

'Hey, your performance reflects on me. I'm not going to let you go in underprepared.'

'Well, I must've done ok on my exams or McGonagall wouldn't be moving me on, so I can't complain about your methods so far.'

'That's right.'

'And you better up your dueling game then,' Susan interjected.

'You can personally dismantle anyone that gives you grief if there really is a tournament,' Cody replied.

'That's true,' Susan agreed.

'So now you're confident?' Hannah asked.

'I was always confident. But I'm not going to act like I don't need to continue to practice.'

'And I'm probably not doing much for improving your skills,' Cody posited.

Susan smiled comfortingly. 'I don't know. I've had to focus on the details of things in order to teach, so that has been helpful. And your style is unique. You're gonna surprise some people.'

'If you say so,' Cody said. He was pretty sure with his real wand he could do more than hold his own but with the fake one, it would be much more of a challenge. That was ok, he wanted the challenge, and winning this tournament didn't mean that much to him. Or so he told himself.

'I do,' Susan said confidently.

'Cody?' Hannah started, drawing his attention. 'Uh, you've been almost gone for two weeks. Why aren't you spending the day with Celine?'

'Oh, you haven't heard about it either?' Cody asked in reply.

'Heard about what?' Susan interjected.

He took in a deep breath. He knew he was going to be answering questions about this topic sooner than later. Nevertheless, it was a chore he was going to be tasked with doing. And, though he was pleased the news hadn't traveled around the school, it still wasn't a thing that made him feel great and it showed on his face.

He leaned forward and made brief eye contact with each of his friends. 'We broke up. . . at the Yule Ball. Well, to be honest, she broke up with me.'

'Even after the show you put on?' Michael asked incredulously.

'Actually, before,' Cody corrected.

'Aww, I'm sorry, Cody,' Susan said. 'She was nice and it seemed like you two were getting along just fine.'

'We were. That's what made it surprising to me. But we ended on good terms, I think.'

'That's good if you can still be friends.'

'Yeah, maybe I can still eat meals with her so people still think we are together. It doesn't seem like word has gotten out yet.'

'Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, Cody,' Hannah said.

'Why not?'

'Just trust me, if she broke up with you, she doesn't want everyone to think she's still attached. You don't have to go broadcasting it everywhere, just let things happen naturally.'

'Ok, fine,' he said with a relenting sigh.

'Don't worry, people will gossip for a few days, and then it will all die down. We've dealt with it before,' Susan said in reference to the stir they had caused earlier in the year.

'Yeah, it can't be much different than that now that you mention it,' Cody agreed.

He spotted Astoria getting up from her place at the Slytherin table and wanted to talk with her. He excused himself from the table and told Susan he would see her for their dueling practice. He then hastened over to the entrance to head off Astoria who was traveling with a small group of friends, one of whom was especially excited to see him, Sophie.

'Hi, Cody. The castle hadn't been the same without you,' she said happily.

'Oh, I'm sure it hasn't been that much different,' he replied.

'It's been about the same as always,' Astoria interjected. 'Go on ahead. I'll meet up with you in a bit,' she said to her friends who went on their way even though Astoria almost had to shoo Sophie along.

'So, have a good break?' Cody asked.

'Break?' Astoria replied as if the word was foreign to her.

'Yeah, you know, some time off. . .'

'Knowledge doesn't take time off.'

'So, I guess that means you're planning on studying today?'

'Did the sun rise in the East?'

'Uh, I think so.'

'It did. So yes, we are revising. Your time for slacking is over. I'm headed to the library right now. You are welcome to join us if you'd like.'

'Hmm, as much as I'd like to, I've got some other catch-up studying set up already,' he said rather proudly.

Astoria fought her laughter. 'Oh, I'm sure you have some catching up to do.'

'I do,' he said regally while tilting his nose in the air. 'I'm dueling with Susan.'

Astoria's ears perked up at that, 'Oh? Do you think. . . she would let me watch?'

'You want to watch me duel?'

'I don't want to watch you. I want to watch her. As long as she isn't just teaching you, of course.'

'No, I think today we are just practicing. And I don't think she would have a problem with you watching. She knows you help me with a lot of classes.'

Astoria was pleased to hear that and he told her where and when they would be meeting. Astoria left with a joke that still left plenty of time in between to do some revising although by the speed of her departure she had no real expectation of him joining her and her group.

With nothing else to do, he went back to his common room. It was sparsely populated at the moment and he spied Hermione reading by herself so he plopped down in one of the nearby sofas.

She looked over the top of her book at him for a moment then went back to reading.

He couldn't tell what she was reading, it had a homemade book cover that hid the book's identity, but its size was not indicative of a textbook.

'How's it going, Hermione?' Cody asked.

'It's good,' she replied from behind her book.

He smiled to himself, she wanted to be left alone, that was a shame. 'What are you reading?'

'A book.' Her eyes still remained hidden.

'Doesn't look like a textbook.'

'It's not.'

'So, reading for enjoyment. Good for you, Hermione.'

Finally, she dropped the book and glared at him. 'Do you really want to talk about my book? Or are you just being a bother?'

'Is it a novel worth talking about?'

'I never said it was a novel,' she retorted.

He thought back to the one time he picked up one of the novels his mom had left lying around the apartment. 'It's probably one of those steamy romance novels.'

Her face flushed and the book shot back up in front of her face.

Cody's shoulders bounced up and down but he refrained from laughing out loud as best he could, he didn't want to draw attention.

'You know,' he started, 'Your book seems to be upside down.'

She huffed and twisted her book right side up, but did not lower it.

'I could ask my mom for some recommendations next time I see her if you'd like,' he suggested teasingly.

Hermione lowered her book, the color of her face had returned to normal and her glare was burning holes through his head. 'Are you done?' she asked in annoyance, but there was just a hint of a smile, not on her lips but in her eyes, just enough for him to know she wasn't completely irritated. But if he were to continue. . .

'Yeah, I'll be done. And I won't tell anyone either. You enjoy your book.'

She nodded at him and went back to reading. First, she had to turn some pages to get back to her spot.

He chuckled to himself a little more when he saw that.

He sat back and relaxed into the sofa.

His peace was short-lived as he heard the Quidditch team enter. And outside of the commotion, he didn't think anything of it.

Katie sat on the sofa next to him, she wasn't terribly close but considering how much of the sofa was available, it was closer than necessary. Her hair was disheveled and she sank into the sofa with a large sigh.

'Tired?' Cody asked.

'Ugh, Angelina doesn't seem to know what a day off means,' Katie grumbled.

'She's a good captain, then. And look, now you have the rest of the day to relax.'

'Can't you just let me have my moment to vent without all your optimism?'

'Sorry, I'm just overflowing with positivity.'

He thought he heard a muffled laugh from Hermione, but her head remained hidden behind her book.

'Right. Positively crazy,' Katie stated.

'Crazy?'

'Yeah, I saw you swimming in the lake today. Calling you crazy is me being nice.'

'You were watching me swim?'

'Well, you could barely call that swimming. I thought you were a dead person floating in the water until I finally saw your arms move. But I couldn't tell it was you while you were floating, so I might've kept an eye out for when you got out of the water so I could see who it was. Can't blame me for being curious.'

'Sure, curious,' he teased.

Katie's cheeks flushed ever so slightly. 'I was! Who goes swimming in the dead of winter? That water has to be freezing!'

'You'd think, but it's really not that bad. Nothing a good Warming Charm can't handle. My guess is there is some sort of enchantment on the lake.'

'Hermione, is the Black Lake enchanted?' Katie asked.

'Mhmm,' Hermione answered.

'How'd—' Cody started.

'Hogwarts: A History,' Katie cut across. 'Every piece of written information on Hogwarts is stored up there in that little noggin,' Katie said softly while pointing towards Hermione.

'I heard that,' Hermione deadpanned from behind her book.

Katie gave a playful grimace that made Cody chuckle.

'Well, there you go. . . enchanted. Not as cold as you would think, like I said,' Cody said.

'Still, I think you're a bit crazy. That couldn't have been your first time,' Katie suggested.

'No, I like to go for a swim fairly often.'

'But how come I've never seen you before? We practice all the time.'

'I'm usually an early riser. Today, I didn't get up as early as I normally do.'

'And Angelina didn't let us lie in as long as I had hoped,' Katie said with an eye roll. 'On that note, I should go clean up.'

'Yeah, you—'

'Don't finish that!' Katie said sternly as she rose but she accompanied her statement with a teasing smile as she left and went up to the girls' dormitories.

He hung around the common room until he felt ready to leave. He was still going to be early to meet Susan but he wasn't engaged in anything else worthwhile at the moment.

He shouldn't have been surprised to find Astoria already waiting outside the intended room.

'You're early,' he said.

'This is on time for me,' Astoria corrected. 'And I didn't want to interrupt after you'd already started.'

'I should've known you'd be here early.'

'Yes, you should have.'

They entered the room to wait for Susan. It was the same as he remembered leaving it. Desks and chairs pushed to the periphery of the room, leaving almost the entirety of the room open for practice.

'So,' Cody started, 'You seemed to be enjoying yourself at the Yule Ball. . .'

Astoria tightened her lips. He knew that as one of the ways she would hide her emotions.

'Yeah, you definitely enjoyed yourself,' he stated confidently.

'So what if I did?'

'It's ok to admit that you had fun. You are allowed to let loose every once in a while.'

'You're not going to relent until I say it, are you?'

He shook his head while sporting a big grin.

'Ok, yes. I had fun. I forgot about school for a few hours and had a blast. Are you happy now?'

'Yes. Very,' he replied with a satisfied smile. 'But don't you feel better too?'

'Yeah, I do, in a funny way.'

'That's called being human.'

'Ha!' Astoria retorted with an eye roll.

'And Mathias? Did he have a good time?'

'Everything indicated that he did.'

'Did he kiss you?'

'Cody!' She proclaimed while stomping a foot.

'What? It's a legitimate question.'

'No. He didn't kiss me,' she stated.

'You're not saying something,' he said suspiciously. He'd been around her enough to detect when something was up, even if he didn't usually call her on it.

'I kissed him,' she said as her face flushed. She was unable to hide that response.

'Astoria! I never would've pegged you—'

'It was on the cheek,' she declared firmly. 'Don't get all in a huff.'

'Don't get in a huff? Miss. . . school first, second, and third in her life makes the first move on a boy she claims to have no interest in, and I'm supposed to not get in a huff?' he asked accusingly.

'Yeah, well, I wanted him to know I had a good time and appreciated the way he treated me. It was painfully obvious he wasn't going to do anything.'

'Can you blame the kid? You are intimidating.'

'I am not!'

'Ok, I'm not going to argue the point with you. I'm just glad you had fun and even happier you let Mathias know.'

'You don't think he's gonna start acting different now, do you?' she asked with some concern.

'He might. . .' Cody answered with a shrug.

The door opened and they both looked as Susan entered.

'Hey, Cody. Hey, Astoria. Getting in some extra practice?' Susan asked happily.

'No,' Cody answered. 'Astoria wanted to watch us duel.'

'Oh, don't flatter yourself! I know we are going to be dueling this term. I want to observe you, Susan,' Astoria stated matter of factly.

Susan smiled at the implied compliment. 'Well, if Cody is ok with you watching, it's fine with me,' she said while sending a little smirk his way. 'But don't ignore Cody. He has a unique style that you might be able to get some ideas from. Sometimes unexpected is just as good as well-executed.'

'I'll be sure to watch him,' Astoria said with a mischievous smile. 'And, "unique?". . . you are kind.'

Cody stuck his tongue at Astoria before pondering the implications this situation might create. Great, Susan wasn't going to take it easy on him. Not that he would expect her to, but this was not going to be a regular teaching session. And now, with Astoria watching, Susan's pride wouldn't let her give anything but her best.

Astoria seemed to pick up on this, and if the anticipation on her face was any indication, she was going to relish in watching him get whipped as payback for his teasing her about the Yule Ball.

'Well, no time but the present,' Cody said.

Susan went to one side of the room and drew a circle then went to the other side of the room and drew another of the same size. Cody went and occupied the empty circle. Astoria placed herself off to the side in as safe a spot as she could find.

Susan's friendly smile turned to a slight smirk. 'You win when you knock the other person or their wand out of the circle. The duel starts when you cast the first spell.'

Well, now he wouldn't even be able to claim she surprised him somehow.

He paced back and forth a few times, twirling his wand in his hand, trying to gain some element of surprise.

Finally, he let the opening spell loose. Susan disposed of it quickly and in no time, she had him on the defensive, sending a barrage of spells his way and parlaying his returns with ease.

She mainly used spells he was familiar with but the few new ones she used really taxed him. He refrained from going into his shield shell, it would only delay the inevitable and it wouldn't help either Susan or himself in their pursuit to improve their skills.

His energy seemed to drain faster than normal, even without the heavy expenditure from overusing his shield. Susan landed a stunner and he froze. She disarmed him of his wand and the duel was over. Not surprisingly, he hadn't been much of an obstacle. And he didn't even get the feeling that she had gone all out as he'd thought she would.

Susan walked closer, revived him, and returned his wand; her regular friendly smile in place, with no noticeable gloating or arrogance, then looked to Astoria, 'Any questions or observations?'

'Wow. That was fast,' Astoria deadpanned.

Cody glowered at her with a fake smile.

'Yeah, too fast,' Susan said, more pensive than satisfied. 'I get why you didn't use your shield a whole lot. But even then, that was a lot quicker than I would've guessed.'

'Yeah, I don't know what it was. I just ran out of energy faster than normal.' He has a pretty good idea about the why. His similar experience earlier in the day with his regular exercise was fresh on his mind, and he was convinced, even more now, that there was some sort of correlation.

'Tell me about this shield,' Astoria interjected.

'He has a really good Shield Charm. Like, it takes a lot out of me to get through it. It wears him down faster than me so I can just outlast him and win, but even my Auntie thought it was strong given how new he is to magic.'

'I'd be interested to see this shield,' Astoria said. She'd seen it before, though perhaps not at its full potential. So maybe she just wanted to see it maxed out.

'It's just a shield, Astoria,' Cody claimed.

'It's not,' Susan said. 'Come on, just show her.'

Susan didn't wait for an answer and began walking back to her side of the room. Cody prepared himself.

'You want to cast the first spell to get this started again?' Susan called out. At first, he thought she was teasing him but upon further inspection, she was just being nice.

He considered sending something her way but ended up just producing his shield. And it was probably a good thing too, because Susan threw a flurry of spells at him almost immediately.

His shield held under her barrage and he occasionally dropped it to shoot something her way or clear debris that was accumulating nearby. But ultimately, it was mainly his shield against whatever Susan wanted to throw at him.

Again, it wasn't very long before she overpowered him and won the duel.

'You're definitely not sharp today. Those two weeks off sure made you rusty,' Susan said as she walked back over towards him.

'Yeah, I guess,' he agreed. Though he knew what was different. Two weeks of no exercise had really made an impact.

Astoria walked over to them. 'Well, one thing I noticed. Your shield isn't the same color as a normal one.'

'Really?' he asked.

'Yeah, it's similar but definitely distinct. What incantation are you using? I know you aren't saying anything. I don't hear much from either of you, as a matter of fact.' He'd had parts of this discussion with Astoria before, so he figured she was trying to get Susan's opinion as much as anything. But he would play along.

'I–I don't really have one,' he said as he tried to think about what he thought when he produced his shield.

'Is that why you think it's different?' Susan asked.

'Yes, I suspect as much. I could tell most of your spells based on your wand movements or the color of the spell. But some of Cody's spells were different shades. Though that didn't seem to bother you,' Astoria said to Susan.

'Yeah, I've learned to recognize the different colors from him but it might be something that throws someone else off.'

'Yeah. Cody, are you even thinking the incantations of your spells?' Astoria asked.

'Sometimes I do, but other times I just think of what I want it to do,' he responded.

'Ok, but how does that work? When we were learning spells if we didn't say the words exactly correct the spell didn't work,' Susan said.

'I only have a theory, but it stems from the idea that magic doesn't have a language. We use our language because that's how we communicate but people in other parts of the world use different languages and words to perform what we would call the same spells. Sometimes the color is the same as our spell and sometimes it varies a little. I'm guessing that's because they are imagining the spell doing something slightly different than we do.'

'So, the incantation isn't as important as we were taught?' Susan asked.

'It is if you are verbalizing your spell. But if you are doing non-verbal magic I don't think it matters as much. I mean, do you remember doing accidental magic?'

Cody could barely hide his smirk at hearing Astoria use the same logic he had once had to explain to her.

'Yeah, vaguely.'

'Obviously, that was non-verbal, right?' Astoria suggested.

'Yeah, and with no specific spell either,' Susan added.

'Exactly, we just wanted something so bad, or our emotions got so overwhelming, magic happened. As we get older and figure out how to control it we need some way to focus our mind and our magic, and that's where specific wand motions and incantations help.'

'And what about wand movements?' Susan said with some exasperation. 'I've tried getting him to be more precise but, I'll be honest, they're still atrocious most of the time.'

'Believe me, I know. I've given up trying to correct his wand movements.' Both girls laughed at that.

'Hey!' Cody said with a fake scowl. 'You two aren't funny.'

'I would disagree,' Astoria said. 'But you should take it as a compliment that you can still perform the spells that way.'

'You have a funny way of paying a compliment then,' he retorted playfully. 'Hey, how about you two duel?'

Astoria hummed in uncertainty while pursing her lips.

Susan tilted her head as she pondered his suggestion. Her eyes found Astoria's and she shrugged as if saying, "why not?"

'Ok, if Susan's ok with it, I'll do it,' Astoria stated.

Susan nodded her agreement and strode to her side of the room without a word.

Cody smiled at Astoria who forced a smile in return before taking her place on her side of the room.

'Alright, I'll do the same for you as I did for Cody,' Susan announced. 'The duel begins when you cast the first spell.'

Astoria nodded and bit her lower lip as she thought about her plan.

She waved her wand in different patterns but no spell appeared. He figured this was her way of gaining an element of surprise. Her lips started moving, and yet, no spell emerged. She was drawing this out. Perhaps, attempting to frustrate Susan.

Susan appeared unfazed. Her eyes were focused on Astoria's wand, following each movement, her own wand at the ready to retaliate at any moment.

He heard it before he saw it, a hissing sound came from Astoria's wand and a plume of black smoke emerged and began to fill the space between the two combatants. More colors shot through the smoke. Astoria hadn't just started with the one spell, she had sent a couple others right behind and one of the spells almost clipped Susan after she dodged and blocked the first.

It was probably Astoria's best chance and she had made the most of it. But Susan quickly dispersed the smoke while parlaying a few more spells Astoria cast under her cover.

Astoria did well to hold her ground and was quick to counter whatever Susan threw at her. They went back and forth at first, then the tide slowly began to tilt in Susan's favor. More and more Astoria was on the defensive and Susan's spells were seeming to grow more powerful.

By the end, Astoria was just managing to escape Susan's advances, until she wasn't, and the duel was over. She had survived much longer than Cody, and calling it survival was an insult, she had performed admirably and Susan let her know it after walking over to return Astoria's wand in a polite manner.

'You are really good. That initial spell sequence with the smoke was really good. I'm gonna put that into my arsenal,' Susan said with admiration.

'Thanks, I knew I had to disguise my spells to have any chance,' Astoria replied.

'Well, it was a good strategy. And you know your counters very well also. You were using the best counter-spell almost every time. I would just work on whispering your spells if you can't do them non-verbally yet. I could hear you sometimes and that made it a lot easier. Saying them louder doesn't actually give them any more power,' Susan explained.

'I know that,' Astoria said, more in self-admonishment than defensiveness. 'It's just hard to remember that when the spells start flying.'

'Yeah, it's one of those things you have to train yourself to do without thinking about it.'

'I guess I only have a short time to work on it. Are you doing all your spells non verbally? I can't hear anything and barely see your lips moving,' Astoria inquired.

'Not many. But I will clench my jaw shut so even if my lips move, not even a deaf person would be able to know what I'm saying.'

'That's brilliant. That would help me to not speak as loud either,' Astoria added excitedly.

'Exactly, and I wouldn't expect anyone else in your class to be proficient at it either. Just do like you did today and you'll do great. Which is more than I can say for Cody,' Susan said teasingly.

'Lower your expectations,' Cody replied dismissively. 'That's fine with me.'

'I don't think our expectations can get any lower,' Astoria taunted with a grin.

Cody couldn't come up with a reply so he just scrunched his nose and shook his head at her.

Astoria's grin only grew.

'Well, I'm gonna go do some more revising. Thanks for the tips, Susan. Good luck, Cody. You're gonna need it.'

'Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up,' he said as both girls couldn't hold in their laughter at his expense.

Astoria left with a wave.

He and Susan each found a desk to sit at.

'You know we were joking, right?' Susan said.

'Yeah, but I know you probably aren't wrong, either. I just don't know as many spells as everyone else,' he admitted. There was no point in trying to deceive himself.

'That's true, but just don't go in thinking you are going to lose, or there's no point in even trying.'

'I know that, just have to convince myself to believe it.'

'Are you distracted by something?' Susan asked with some concern in her voice.

'Distracted? No, not really.'

'No? Don't have a certain girl on your mind?' she asked trailing off.

He looked at her curiously. He hadn't been all that distracted mentally during the duel. But, yeah, there was a certain girl that had been on his mind throughout the day. But Susan wouldn't be privy to that. . .

She must've interpreted his look as a question. 'Celine. . . I mean, I get it. I'd be distracted too. But I didn't want to mention it in front of Astoria.'

'Yeah, thanks.' He felt relief that she hadn't brought that up now that she mentioned it. He hadn't even been considering it. That was just kicking a rock down the road though.

'Do you want to talk about it? Are you really doing ok?' She asked sincerely.

'I am. Thanks, though.' He tried to sound convincing.

Susan pursed her lips skeptically at his response.

'Ok, but if you need to talk to anyone, just let me know, ok?'

'Alright.'

'And, in case you were wondering, I have seen her a couple of times this last week. Obviously, I didn't know anything then, but looking back, she didn't seem like her usual joyful self. So I don't think she is celebrating breaking up with you.'

'I guess that's good. And that kinda matches what she told me. She never said she didn't like me anymore. . . just that we weren't going to work out. . . so it'd be best to cut it off now. . . basically.' Recalling the conversation brought back some of those sad feelings, and as much as he tried, he probably couldn't keep his tone as matter-of-fact as he was trying.

'That sucks. I get it but it still sucks.'

'Yeah, it did—does. But it's getting easier.'

'And it'll get better with time too. Have you seen her yet?' Susan inquired.

'No, and I have no idea what I'm gonna say to her. I still want to be friends and she said she was cool with that but I have no idea if our ideas match when it comes to that.'

Susan laughed a little. 'Sorry, you sounded a little like Hannah before she and Michael started going out. But I don't know what to tell you because I'm not her and I don't know what she is feeling.'

'Well, you're no help.'

'Ok, so let's say breaking up with you was hard for her, as you've indicated. In that case, I don't think she would want you to get too close too soon after because that might rekindle the feelings she is trying to get over. So, I'd tell you to just say, "Hi," when you see her and be polite but not try to start any conversations. When she is ready to just be friends she will initiate the conversation. That's when you'll know.'

'That's not what I was imagining.'

'You thought it would be easy?'

'I don't know what I thought.'

'Well, I'm just telling you what I think I would feel. And maybe you need the space just as much as her.'

'Yeah, maybe.' He kind of doubted that, but her comments had been helpful so he wouldn't argue the point. 'Thanks, it helps. I guess I did need to talk about it,' Cody admitted with a small chuckle.

'No problem. You want to do some more dueling? We can stop to go over strategies and stuff too,' Susan suggested.

'Sure, I obviously need the practice,' Cody said sarcastically. That made Susan laugh.

They went back and forth for the next while, pausing regularly for Susan to explain tactics and strategies he could employ in the tournament.

'Vanish! Don't banish!' Susan proclaimed for the umpteenth time. 'I told you, there is going to be a perimeter that won't allow anything out of the dueling oval. If you just banish things away from you they can still be used against you later.'

'But how many kids are actually going to be able to conjure things?'

'Just about everyone can conjure something at this point. I'm pretty sure everyone knows the Aguamenti Charm, that's a conjuration.'

'The Aguamenti Charm,' he repeated pensively. 'I hadn't thought about that.'

'And most everyone knows more than just the spells we've been taught in school, so there will be plenty of surprises.'

'Have you been holding back some surprises?'

'I'm not going to show you everything,' Susan replied with a smile. 'Like you, I know you were thinking about something with water just now.'

'Yeah, but I'm not gonna tell you now,' he teased.

'That's ok. Get creative. Use everything you know. Remember all you have to do is push them, or their wand, out of the circle.'

'Yeah, I guess I have to change my mentality.'

'Exactly.'

He took a look at his watch and realized the time had almost gotten away from them. 'Well, I better get going. I'm still studying with Astoria tonight. I can't be late,' he said with a slight grimace.

'Yeah, you better get moving then,' Susan agreed.

'Alright, see ya later,' he said.

He hurried to the door and continued his pace down the corridors to the room where Astoria was waiting for him.

'Cutting it close today,' Astoria quipped as he entered.

'Thought I might try to avoid you?'

'I wouldn't have blamed you. I probably would've hidden under a rock after your performance.'

'For your information, I just got done doing more practicing and I think I'm much better suited for tournament dueling than actual combat.'

'Hey, I'm not gonna rain on your parade if that's what you're telling yourself.' Astoria was in a snarky mood.

'Ha ha, you're so funny. Are you done now?' he asked.

'Maybe. . .'

'K, now teach me that smoke Charm you did.'mm,' Cody demanded.

'Ok,' she said with a satisfied smile. 'But I reserve the right to bring up your dueling at any time you get cheeky.'

'Whatever, just start teaching.'

They went over the smoke spell which he picked up rather quickly, and Cody had a few other very specific requests. Astoria didn't have all the working knowledge for most of them but she invited him to join her in the library sometime when they could look them up together; she wasn't going to do the work for him.

'Are all these things you plan on using in the duels?' Astoria asked with intrigue.

'I don't know that I have any concrete plans but Susan told me to get creative so I'm just thinking of anything that might be unexpectedly useful.'

'Well, I can see how those might be unexpected.'

'Guess we'll see.'

'Susan sure knows what she's doing,' she commented.

'Yeah, well, I don't have much to compare against, but I would agree.'

'And she seems like a good friend.'

'What makes you say that?'

'All that saying you were off stuff. I mean, she didn't have to cover for you, I'm not gonna say anything to anyone that you can't duel.'

'I. . .'

'Don't tell me she wasn't covering. . . that she wasn't just trying to make today seem unusual.'

'She wasn't,' he stated.

'So. . . what? Two weeks of no magic made you worse at using it?'

'No, I did plenty of magic.' He paused, knowing Astoria would balk at his next statement. 'But I didn't do much physical exercise. . . I definitely felt that this morning and consequently in the duel.'

'You still think your physical fitness has some effect on your magic?' she replied disbelievingly.

'I think it does when I'm not using my real wand,' he suggested.

'Hmm, that is different. Maybe, just maybe you're onto something. . .'

'You think I'm right?'

'I'm only willing to concede that you might not be wrong. . . yet,' she said carefully.

'Yet? And still, I feel that you have some way of thinking you might prove me wrong.'

'You would be correct.'

'Are you going to track my progress as I get back into my exercising routine?'

'Your progress? Merlin, no! I wouldn't trust you to be a proper test subject. You are far too volatile.'

'You aren't suggesting that you are going to begin exercising, are you?'

'As much as it pains me to admit it, I am. But, that I can justify it for educational purposes does make it more palatable.'

'Alright! When do we start?' he asked excitedly.

'Well, right away. But if you are referring to the actual exercising, you are going to be sorely disappointed.'

'But you just said. . .'

'I said I would begin my project. First, I need to decide what I'm going to use to evaluate my progress. I think the Lumos Charm will do, but I'll need to devise a way to quantify the light's strength.'

'Why don't you just do the light then see if it gets brighter after you start some training? It's not that hard.'

'No, we need to establish a baseline and track a rate of growth without exercise. I'm guessing two months should be enough time.'

'Two months?' he cried.

'Could be three if the results don't end up consistent. Then we can start adding in the physical exercise and see if the rate of growth increases. Then we can know if your training program actually helps you with your magic.'

'You're not gonna be done by summer break,' Cody said in exasperation.

'Maybe not, but I want to get this right. And even then, it's just one data point. It'd be best if we could have multiple people involved.'

'I could tell some others. . .' he suggested.

'No, the secret is too valuable right now. And who would you tell? Daphne and Tracey?'

'Sure, among others.'

'They'd never follow the program with enough detail to be valid data points. It'd be pointless to try and use them as part of any study. . .' she started haughtily.

'You're probably right. Unless you somehow made them think it was all their idea.'

'I'm not ready to put that much effort into that right now. We'll see how my personal experiment goes first.'

'Should we go to the library and get started then? After dinner of course, I'm starving.'

Astoria's eyes widened in surprise. 'Did you really just suggest we go to the library?'

'Hey, I just want to see how your experiment turns out,' he answered, trying to be as cool as he could.

'You just want to see me exercise,' Astoria countered with a smirk.

'Can't get anything past you.'

'I think you're building that up way too much in your head. You're going to be severely disappointed.'

'I guess we'll see. . .'

'Just don't be mad at me when it's not as exciting as you're anticipating.'

After a quick meal, they walked to the library which was nearly empty, especially compared to a regular Monday. They walked through the shelves with Astoria picking out books that might have something to help them in their search for the right spells, for both of their projects.

Cody had a large pile of books trailing him. He remembered the first time he'd helped Astoria; he carried a stack of books in his arms so high he couldn't prevent them from tipping over. Astoria had let him fail but, after thoroughly laughing at him, had reminded him that he could levitate as many books as he wanted. Now, on the few occasions he accompanied her to the library, he would always "carry" their books and she never objected, even though she was fully capable herself.

They found a large desk and started methodically going through the books. Cody surprised Astoria with how many helpful pieces of information he found. She wrote down all the notes so they would be able to practice the spells later. They were able to find something for each of the ideas Cody had. He was excited to try them out and was starting to anticipate the dueling tournament a bit more than before.

'So, we got all my things done. Did you find anything for your light detector, or whatever you're calling it?' Cody asked.

'Yeah, I found a fair amount. I'd like to know more about light—what it is, and how I can measure it. Did you ever learn about light in your muggle science classes?'

'Uh, yeah, but I don't remember much. I think it travels in waves and colors are just a reflection. . . or something.'

'Well, you're no help—shocker. And I don't care about colors at all. Do you think you could get a book about light on one of those weekends when you leave?'

'Yeah, I probably could,' he replied. Surely, he could find something at a library.

'Ok, when do you go next?'

'Next weekend.'

'Oh! That's sooner than I expected but that's ok. I should have a good concept of the Charm by then.'

'You seem awful patient about this,' Cody observed.

'You can't rush accuracy.'

'Are you going to be practicing in the meantime?'

'I don't think so,' Astoria said hesitantly.

'Won't that give you an unfair advantage when you start up again? Like shouldn't you be able to get your light back up to its current state faster?'

'That is a possibility. But tell me, if two weeks got you out of shape. . . are you going to be able to get back into shape faster now?'

'Hmm. . . I don't really know. But there is a saying that goes, "it's easier to stay in shape than get in shape." So maybe that's what that means.'

'So yes, I realize that could affect how my magic responds initially, which is why I plan on two to three months to hopefully get some sort of reliable rate,' Astoria stated, unphased.

'As long as you've considered all your options,' he said with a smile.

'I'm trying. Now we better clean up, it's almost curfew.'

They placed the books on the return shelf. Astoria barely broke stride but Cody stayed behind, he always loved watching the books vanish before his eyes as they returned to their proper location.

'Cody! Let's go,' Astoria said in as loud of a whisper as she dared use.

He waited until the last of the books was gone and hurried after her. 'Don't worry, we've still got time. And getting busted for being out after curfew isn't the worst thing in the world.'

'I'm not taking any chances,' she said as she quickened her pace.

They passed the turn Cody should've made to head to Gryffindor Tower but he kept on right next to Astoria.

Astoria barely shot him a sideways glance but didn't slow down. 'Isn't that your turn?'

'Yeah, but I'm not letting you walk down to the dungeons by yourself right now.'

'Oh please, nothing is going to happen,' she said dismissively.

'And I'm gonna make sure of that,' he countered.

'Fine, but I'm not taking any responsibility if you get in trouble on your way back.'

'I wouldn't expect anything less.'

They made it to the entrance of the Slytherin common room without incident.

'Don't get caught,' Astoria said before she disappeared.

Cody started making his way back up the corridor. He pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself, there was no point in taking any chances now. Filch and his dirty cat could be lurking around any corner. He walked slowly to minimize any sound as that was the only way he suspected he could be caught.

He was just about to go up a flight of stairs when he heard the creak of the main doors. He slid up against a wall and watched and listened as two girls slipped inside the castle.

'Dee, will you shut up?'

'Will you relax, Tee?'

'Yeah, when we're back in our common room. I don't want another detention,' Tracey hissed.

The girls only took a few steps before they both froze.

Cody listened, and sure enough, the sound of approaching footsteps was growing louder.

Daphne and Tracey had scurried behind one of the suits of armour for some cover, it wouldn't hold up under thorough inspection though.

'Did you hear it, Mrs Norris?' Filch asked his cat as he emerged from a corridor.

The cat purred.

'Yes, you heard it too. Go find them,' Filch added as he released his feline companion.

The cat prowled around the walls, she was going to discover TouchDown sooner than later.

He thought about anything he could do. Attacking Filch probably wasn't the best idea. Distracting wasn't out of the question though.

He snuck around the corner and quietly snuck down a nearby corridor. He didn't go too far down but just far enough that he would still get a good echo. He cupped his hands around his mouth and lowered his voice into his best Snape impression, 'Filch! Filch! Get down here! I don't have the energy to deal with these twins again. . . Filch!'

Cody stepped into a nook of the corridor so Filch could speed by without any unseen obstacles.

'Snape has the twins, Mrs Norris. We've got them.' The glee in Filch's voice was unmistakable.

He waited a beat after they passed and then Cody walked back up the corridor.

Daphne and Tracey were already disappearing down towards the dungeons.

'Well, that was lucky.' He heard Tracey exclaim. That brought a smile to his face.

As he quietly ascended the stairs he tried to not think about where they had just come from or what they might've been doing. His imagination would not be kind to his feelings if he let it run wild. So he focused more on all the things he'd discussed with Susan and Astoria, and started creating different plans for how he could use those spells and tactics in a duel.

Despite all his efforts he couldn't stop Daphne's visage from popping into his head, but that also reminded him of something else. . . the Animagus deal they'd made. He spent his last minutes before bed copying down the instructions while removing any identifying pieces of information.

He could pass this parchment to her sometime and it wouldn't give any hint as to where he got the information. A different sort of excitement filled him.