"Gather round, gather round!" Professor Lockhart said starting the meeting. Professor Dumbledore had allowed him to start this duelling club and he looked very happy to have the opportunity to make himself look good. He was an okay teacher but he thought too highly of himself. A lot of the girls seemed to really like him but I didn't get it, he seemed old to me. Teaching alongside him was Professor Snape who looked happy too but probably for a different reason. They began the lesson with a demonstration; each bowed and raised their wands in front of them like swords.

"Expelliarmus!" Professor Snape cried and with a flash of scarlet Professor Lockhart was thrown against a wall. Some of the Slytherins cheered for our Professor and I clapped along with them. Professor Snape was obviously a talented wizard and I'm sure Professor Lockhart must have gone through worse; if his books were telling the truth that is. For some reason, he didn't seem like the kind to be able to do half the things he's said he's done. More like any of them actually I thought to myself as our instructors began separating people into groups of two for sparring. I was expecting to be paired up with Draco but apparently Professor Snape had other plans.

"I'd wish you luck but I'm sure neither of us needs it" Draco told me smirking before happily walking over to Harry. I smiled and waved at him as he closed the space between him and his opponent. To the side of them I saw Hermione had been paired with Millicent. I gave her a small smile and hoped she'd be okay; Millicent wasn't very smart but she made up for it by being tough. Kind of like Crabbe and Goyle…

"Ah, Miss Volkov," Professor Lockhart said with his dazzling smile. "Who shall you be paired up with… let's see..." He looked around the room at those who were still without partners then stopped when he spotted a Ravenclaw girl who looked about my size "How about-"

"Um, excuse me, Professor Lockhart. Would it be alright if I chose for myself?" I asked with a warm smile. He looked reluctant but I pushed the subject. "I just really wanted to be with a certain person from my house. I think we'd make a good team" I said giving him another innocent looking smile. Thankfully it had helped a little and distracted him from my ulterior motive.

"Very well, who did you have in mind?"

"Pansy Parkinson, sir," I said and she turned around to the sound of her name. I smiled warmly at her and she looked confused but suspicious.

"Well alright, Miss Parkinson would you join us for a second. Yes thank you. Why don't you come be partners with Miss Volkov?" Pansy was now standing in front of me wide eyed as I continued to try to look innocent. I'm sure she would have argued if Lockhart had given her the chance but he imagined her reluctance to be for another reason. "Come, come, no need to be shy. We're all friends here. Good, there, now if you'll excuse me I must begin the course" he said and ran off towards the platform. Pansy continued to look at me suspiciously and I simply smiled.

"Face your partners!" Professor Lockhart called from the platform. "And bow!"

Pansy only bowed slightly in front of me not trusting to take her eyes off of me. I curtsied in response and watched her frown deepen. No prefects to defend you now are there

"One… two… three-"

Too late, both Pansy and I had started at two. She sent a spell my way making me trip and fall hard. Not waiting to get up I launched my own spell from the ground.

"Ventus!" From the tip of my wand came a jet spiral of wind throwing Pansy against the wall behind her. She staggered back up as I made my way through the sea of students duelling and towards her.

"Expelliarmus!" she said pointing her wand towards me. I was knocked off my feet but it wasn't powerful enough to disarm me. Either way it was annoying. "Ready to give up?" she said looking down at me as I struggled to get up.

"I'm ready to stop taking it easy on you" I said and she looked confused and a bit frightened but was trying to not let it show. Before she could reply I got up and pointed my wand to the candles above our heads. "Oppugno!" On my command some of the candles began to float towards Pansy. She stood stunned for a second but jumped out of the way just in time and they slammed against the wall.

"I said disarm only!" I heard Professor Lockhart yell as the candles rose from where they had fallen and started towards Pansy again. But before they could reach her Professor Snape stopped everyone.

"Finite Incantatem!" he shouted and a haze of green smoke covered the seen. All magic seized and the candles I had jinxed flew back up to their rightful place. Both Pansy and I were breathing hard.

As our professors got everyone settled down they decided to change the lesson and instead demonstrate how to block an unfriendly spell. Noticing Professor Snape's look, Professor Lockhart chose to get student volunteers. Professor Snape volunteered Harry and Draco. I went to stand next to Daphne, who didn't look nearly as tired as I was, to watch. They went to the middle of the hall as we all backed away to watch. Professor Lockhart tried to show Harry how to block while Snape began whispered something in Draco's ear. He smiled. They began and I couldn't stop myself from screaming as I saw a snake fly out of the tip of his wand.

"What's wrong?" Daphne asked next to me sounding worried but I couldn't talk. I was terrified of snakes. Pictures and plushies were fine but as soon as I saw a real one I went cold and I couldn't control it.

"Leave him alone!" I heard Harry yell at the snake which stopped moving. But something was strange about his voice, it sounded… off. It wasn't until I saw the terrified faces of my classmates that I noticed what was wrong

"What do you think you're playing at!" shouted a Hufflepuff boy before storming out of the room. Everyone started muttering against the walls and Ron tugged on Harry's robes taking him out of the Great Hall. Everyone backed away as they left not wanting to touch him. This event only confirmed people's suspicions that Harry was the Slytherin heir. Harry was a parselmouth too.