Characters introduced in this chapter: Real life friend: Tom - Michael Onam; Internet friend: ArjunKumar - Arjun Kumar
Dueling Club
Alice walked down into the common room. She had woken up a bit early for a Saturday, but she intended to grab one of the small tables in the common room to get some work done on her potions essay. As she entered the room though, loaded down with her bag, she found quite a large crowd of excited students already in the room, most of them still in their pajamas, looking as if they'd run down into the common room at the urging of a roommate without even brushing their hair first. Most of them were pushing their way toward the message board beside the door, trying to get a look at one of the notices on it. Alice felt as if the sound and energy of the room had pushed her into the wall for a moment, but she recovered, dumped her bag beside one of the small tables in the room, and inched toward the message board. Standing on the edge of the crowd, she heard enough to get the gist of what was going on, and she found herself running back up to her room to inform the other girls in her year.
Barging through the door, she found that Daphne and Ava were awake and at their vanities, but it looked like Bella and Keri were still sound asleep. At least, it looked like that at first. Bella's head came up from her pillow as the door opened, she saw Alice standing huffing in the doorway, and she rested on an elbow. "What is it this time Alice? Is it three fifth years?"
It could have been sarcastic teasing, but it wasn't. Somehow, Alice knew that Bella was simply curious. "No," said Alice. "It's much better!"
Ava looked over too, attracted by the excitement in Alice's voice. "Is something going on?"
A big smile covered Alice's face as she tried to hit down her enthusiasm before she spoke, remembering how she fumbled her words the day before. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then, the smile reclaiming her face, she just spat it out. "There's going to be a Dueling Club, run by Professor Potter!"
At first, there was dead silence in the room, but as Alice opened her eyes, the room erupted. Ava sprinted across the bedroom and nearly knocked Alice over in an excited hug. All of the banter among the other girls quickly woke Keri up, who asked what all the noise was about and then started adding her own voice to the happy laughter and exclamations.
"Where'd you find this out?" she asked.
"It's on the notice board down in the common room. The first meeting is tonight I think."
"Let's go take a look," said Ava, and then she took hold of Alice's hand and charged through the door. Alice heard the other girls following after them. When they erupted into the common room, it was even more crowded than before.
"Well there are the first years," Alice heard a voice say from the table where she had left her bag. Glancing over, Alice saw Elizabeth and Tania sitting there. It had been Tania who had spoken. The older girl's brown eyes were sparkling. "You guys know what all the excitement's about, right?"
"Sort of," said Keri, skipping up to the table. Her eyes darted over toward the notice board and all the children crowding in front of it before continuing. "A Dueling Club. That's about all we know. Is the first meeting tonight?"
"Yes," said Elizabeth. "First Saturday of October. That's today. Three o'clock in the Great Hall. Anyone who doesn't have detention can go."
"I pity whoever has detention then," said Daphne, sitting down at the table.
"That would be me" said a small voice from one of the chairs before the fireplace.
"Oh no," said Ava, rounding the chair to look at its occupant. "I'm so sorry Steven! Which class?"
"Transfiguration," he mumbled.
"Oh, is that why she held you after?" asked Bella.
Steven nodded. "I just thought it was so pointless, you know, turning matches into needles. I mean, when are we ever really going to use that? So, she gave me a detention. I didn't realize till this morning what she meant by 'and you'll be missing out on more than just a Saturday afternoon, so maybe that will teach you that you don't know everything and some things have meanings that you can't see yet.'"
"But you're the only one in our class who's learned the jelly-legs jinx yet," said Joseph, coming up to the group. "You would have been excellent at dueling, I'm sure!"
"Thanks," said Steven softly, looking at his hands.
"Chin up," said Elizabeth. "It's not the end of the world! Just don't get detention next time. They might hold meetings every Saturday. You could join us all then."
Steven just nodded and went back upstairs to his dorm. Joseph looked at the girls for a moment before hurrying after him.
The feeling, at least among these friends, had been soured. "It'd be great if we could break him out of detention," said Tania suddenly. "But I bet we'd all wind up with him," she laughed at herself.
"Yeah, probably," said Ava. She sat down in the chair Steven had just vacated. "But this might even be good for us. He really is good at those jinxes."
"Tell me about it," said Daphne, rubbing the back of her neck. "His full body bind didn't stick, but it sure knocked me off my feet for awhile. I really hate that jinx! It's not fun feeling like you're paralyzed."
"Yeah, I bet only someone like Merwyn the Malicious or Wendelin the Weird would enjoy the jinx at all," said Alice.
Silence met her statement. Everyone turned to stare at her. Finally Ava said, "I have a chocolate frog card with Wendelin the Weird on it. I think she was being burned at the stake in the picture. But … I never would have thought to mention her now."
Alice dipped her head down in embarrassment, letting her hair fall to cover her face. "I just like History of Magic," she mumbled.
After lunch that day, no one could get any work done. Everyone just seemed to be staring at the clock, waiting for three o'clock to arrive. As Alice sat in the common room surrounded by her friends, she was thinking her own thoughts. Her potions essay was still incomplete and she had other work to do that she had yet to begin, most of it due either Monday or Tuesday.
Alice's thoughts and worries were interrupted by a crescendo in the sound around her as people began rising and piling out of the portrait hole. It was 2:30. Alice stretched and found her right hand ensnared by Ava. She let Ava drag her over to the corner of the common room where Steven sat, looking glum. Joseph meandered after them.
The three of them stood before Steven for awhile before Joseph spoke up. "I hate awkward silences," he pronounced. "Steven, you know I'll tell you everything that happens, tonight when I see you."
"Yeah, I know," he said.
"Are you just going to sit here all alone while everyone else leaves?" asked Ava, sounding concerned.
Steven gave her an exasperated look. "There's no reason for me to show up early to detention. It makes sense for all of you to want to show up early to the Dueling Club though. Don't let me hold you up."
Ava frowned, but then she began to turn, dragging Alice along with her again.
"I'm sorry," spat out Alice.
Steven gave her a puzzled look. "It's not your fault."
"I know," said Alice, blushing. "But, I'm still sorry. I'm sorry for you."
"Well, thanks, I guess," said Steven.
The other three left, some of the last Hufflepuffs to exit the common room, on their way to the Great Hall.
Walking through the double doors of the Hall, they found that it was set up differently than they'd ever seen it before. The four house tables were no where to be seen, and what looked like the entire school was packed into the room, most of them congregating on thefar side of the room where the Gryffindor table usually stood. The Hufflepuffs moved forward to join the masses. It appeared that the students were pushing toward a golden platform or stage of some sort that had been erected near the wall. Professor Potter stood atop it, directing the students to not get too close to the stage. They tried to obey him by moving backwards, but there were too many students at the back of the crowd who continued to surge forward.
"No, no," Alice heard Professor Potter shout. "I don't want you too close to the stage! Please, the students in the back, move back a bit more. At three o'clock there will be a mock duel up on this stage and I don't need any students getting hurt or in the way."
Most of the students started to do as Professor Potter bid, but a few continued to do what they pleased. Alice noticed green collars on the uniforms of many of these students. All of a sudden, a new voice was yelling above the noise of the students.
"Get back from the stage, everyone!" Professor McGonagall marched forward, moving through the students to join Potter up on the stage. She glared down at the students and most of those who had arrived early enough to be standing right up beside the stage found themselves falling over the people behind them in their effort to get away. A new chaos was created as about a fifth of the students found themselves on the floor, but it quieted down as McGonagall yelled at them all once more, and, before long, the students were all in order. Nodding at the room, McGonagall jumped off the stage, quite nimbly for a woman of her age, and stormed back out of the room. She has to get to her office so that she can give Steven detention, thought Alice.
"May I have your attention?" said Professor Potter. He seemed unphased by the fact that he'd needed McGonagall's help to take control of the room. He checked his watch. "It's not three o'clock yet, but I'm sure everyone's here who had planned on coming. We can start early." Potter ruffled his hair with one hand so that it stood out even messier than before. That's when Alice noticed that he wasn't wearing his cloak. He seemed to have it on whenever outside the classroom, but not here. Well I guess this is a classroom of sorts too, Alice reasoned before concentrating again on what Professor Potter was saying.
"As you all know, sometimes wizards quarrel. Whether it be a question of honor or pride or malice, wizards find reasons to duel each other. I was not taught how to duel when I was in school," Potter paused a second, a smile crossing his face as if at a joke that only he knew, "but I was still presented with situations in which I was forced to duel." Many students began to inch forward in anticipation. None of them were about to walk right up to the stage so soon after being reprimanded by Professor McGonagall, but they couldn't help themselves, as they sensed that they were going to hear about some of the duels of the famous Harry Potter, maybe even the episode which had finally ended the terror of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the story which the Ministry of Magic had kept a secret all of these years. "While I hope that none of you will be put into a situation, in the future, in which you must duel, and duel well, or die, I want all of you to be ready, none the less. So, I asked Dumbledore for permission, and he granted it, that I might start this Dueling Club.
"Now, before you all get the wrong idea about what a duel is, I've decided that the first meeting of the club will start with a mock duel between myself," Potter pointed toward the back of the crowd, "and Professor Flitwick." Excited murmuring met this pronouncement, and many heads turned to see Flitwick standing near the doors. He walked smartly forward, a broad smile on his tiny face. The crowd parted to let him through.
"He doesn't stand a chance!" Alice heard someone near her whisper.
Professor Potter's voice rose above the chattering of the students once more. "Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was younger, and he has kindly agreed to help me with this club." Potter shot down a hand to help Flitwick up onto the stage. The short man was blushing a deep red when he came into view of the students and he quickly straightened his robes before fishing out his wand.
"Now, in an official duel," continued Professor Potter, "you always start many paces apart and the duel begins with a bow. All duels within this club will begin this way." Professor Flitwick began pacing away from where Potter stood. Professor Potter registered the movement in his peripheral vision and quickly moved into position as well. The two men turned to face each other at the exact same moment. "After the bow," said Potter loudly, "we will raise our wands into the ready position. If there is a witness, which there always should be in an official duel, the witness should count to three. On three, both wizards may cast their first spell.
"Miss Kumar, you may count off for us." Both professors bowed deeply to each other, their heads up as they retained eye contact, and a tall, black haired girl with the red collar of a Gryffindor and a badge with an "HG" on it stepped forward confidently. Two wands rose to point at each other, across the stage, and the girl's strong voice sang out.
"One … two …" Alice took a deep breath, "three!"
Professor Flitwick began saying a spell which Alice had never heard in her life, but his spell was cut off by his own yell as he went soaring into the air to dangle upside down over the stage. Potter hadn't said a thing to put Flitwick into such an awkward position, though Alice had barely detected an upward jab of his wand.
Quickly, Flitwick aimed his wand upward at his feet and yelled "Finite Incantatem!" Before he had even begun to fall, he aimed his wand at the stage and performed a cushioning spell.
"Stupefy!" said Potter, walking forward as he cast his next spell. A red dart of light shot across the room, but it missed Flitwick as he bounced upon the temporary cushion he had created. In the next second, he had landed on his feet.
"Silencio," he cried at the same moment that Potter yelled "Impedimen-," thus cutting off the end of Professor Potter's spell. Still, Potter's spell appeared to work, and as Flitwick attempted to take a step forward, his movements were excruciatingly slow.
Potter waved his wand silently at the short man, emitting a red puff of smoke from the end of it, but nothing else appeared to happen. He tried again and ended up with the same puff of smoke. Flitwick was going through the motions of a new spell, but there would be no surprise attack coming from him since his wand movements were all so slow. Still, he finished the downward swish of his wand and called out "Locomotor Mortis." Potter waved his wand before his body, obviously trying again to cast a silent spell. This time it worked, and Flitwick's own spell rebounded to come back at him. He couldn't move fast enough to deflect it, and his legs snapped together, causing him to fall over.
Potter pointed his wand at his own throat. He mouthed something a few times, but only the end of whatever he had been saying was heard by the crowd as the syllable "-us" was magnified much louder than a human voice could possibly speak. Many children screamed and pressed their hands to their ears to block out the sound. "Quietus," said Potter in the same loud voice. With his voice back, Potter began marching toward Professor Flitwick who was still lying on his back.
The Impediment Curse must have worn off, for Flitwick raised his wand arm quickly and, aiming at Professor Potter, said "Expelliarmus!" Potter's wand flew right out of his hand and Flitwick caught it in his free hand. In the next moment, Flitwick had pointed his own wand at his feet and said "Finite Incantatem!" He stood and jabbed his wand at Potter, who had surged forward after being disarmed, obviously hoping to somehow get his wand back. Potter's arms were suddenly pressed to his body and he came to a stop.
"Ok Professor," he said. "You win. Now, if you'll please untie me and give me back my wand, we may pair up the students."
The Great Hall exploded in an avalanche of sound as the students screamed their amazement at the turn of events. Harry Potter had lost! Professor Flitwick had won! "They must have planned it that way," Alice heard many people saying. "There's no way that Flitwick could beat the Harry Potter!" "It was a mock duel, so they must have practiced it this way; it has to have been a skit!"
Professor Potter's wand blazed forth with a terribly bright light, quieting down most of the students and gaining all of their attention. "Please sort yourselves by year," he said. "Sixth and seventh years on this side," he pointed toward the side of the Hall where the teachers sat, "all the way to first years on this side," he moved his hand to point at the back wall of the Hall. Alice began making her way toward that wall as the room became a mess of arms and legs, all the students trying to shove their way toward the rest of their year. At one point, another student brushed by her so forcefully as to cut her cheek with the tip of their wand, but there was too much chaos to ask for an apology, and she wasn't even sure who had cut her. As the room began to settle again though, Alice found herself standing between Daphne and Michael, both fellow Hufflepuff first years.
"What happened to your face?" asked Michael, pointing at her new cut.
"Someone cut me with their wand," said Alice, pulling a kerchief from her pocket and pressing it against the cut to clean up the blood. "I don't think they meant to," she said hurriedly as the look on Michael's face turned from concern to shock, and possibly anger.
Michael took a look at the crowded room before saying, "Yeah, you're probably right."
"I wish we could hear what they're saying," said Daphne.
"What who are saying?" asked Michael.
"Potter and Flitwick," she responded.
Sure enough, the two professors were holding a whispered conversation up on the stage, but they didn't speak long. The two of them hopped down from the stage and began walking toward opposite sides of the room. Alice was excited to see that Professor Potter was striding toward their end of the Hall.
"Alright," said Professor Potter, stopping alongside the third years. "Today we'll be pairing everyone up so that we can start practicing the disarming spell. That would be the last spell which Filius used against me: expelliarmus. The spell whisks your opponent's wand out of their hand, sending the wand soaring toward yourself. It's an easier spell than the summoning spell to execute, so don't worry if you've never tried it before. Professor Flitwick," Potter pointed toward the front of the Hall, "will be testing the N.E.W.T. students one at a time to make sure they can perform the spell. Don't pay attention to any other incantations that you may hear from that end of the Hall today. I promise you you'll get there eventually. First years and third years, please sit down behind me under the windows here. I'll pair up all the second and fourth years first. Fifth years, please stand to the side. Professor Flitwick or myself will test each of you to determine whether you should practice this spell more or move onto something else."
Alice moved off with the other first years and sat down to watch. Many of the students around her were expressing their disappointment at having to wait even longer, but Alice didn't mind. She was starting to wonder why she was even here; she could feel a knot forming in her stomach. I'm going to make a fool of myself, she thought. I'm going to say the spell, but nothing's going to happen.
Professor Potter moved quickly among the remaining students, spacing them out and pairing them up. It appeared that he had already decided which students to pair, since he seemed to look specifically for one other student whenever he reached someone, and he often called to a student on the other side of the Hall from himself when pairing them up.
"No one's being paired up with someone of the same house," said the girl at Alice's side. Alice turned to look and saw that the girl was Alyson, the only other person she'd ever seen take more than half a page of notes in History of Magic.
"Really?" asked Alice. She skimmed the students who were already paired up.
"Yeah," said Alyson. Sure enough, she was right. Alice could see Tania standing opposite a Ravenclaw. Sean was also going to duel with a Ravenclaw, and way over near the door, Alice could barely see Elizabeth standing with a Slytherin.
"Expelliarmus!" came a voice from the front of the Hall. The students sitting along the wall turned to look. The sixth and seventh years had been organized into two lines by Professor Flitwick, and the short professor was walking along the line, testing each student in turn to see if they could disarm the student standing opposite them.
"We're ready," said Professor Potter. All of the second and fourth years were standing in pairs, spaced out fairly evenly throughout the room. "I told each of you whether you are a one or two. Ones should go first, on my count." He stood back from the students. "Get ready! Alright, ones!"
"Expelliarmus!" yelled about forty voices.
"If you now have your opponent's wand," shouted Potter, "then hand it back. Continue practicing until I tell you to stop. Only ones may practice the spell!" Potter walked among the students for a while before moving over to the fifth years. He organized them into lines similar to those of the sixth and seventh years and tested a few of them before yelling at the second and fourth years to switch over for the twos to get some practice. By the time he had tested all of the fifth years, the ones and twos had hadquite a fewchances to disarm their opponents. Fifteen of the fifth years were sent over to Flitwick to study more advanced spells and the rest were paired up to get more practice with the disarming spell.
"That's enough for the second and fourth years," Potter announced. "Please sit down along the back wall and leave space for the first and third years." The students around Alice sprang up with a cheer and began running out into the center of the Hall. Alice wasn't nearly so energetic about it, but she didn't let herself get left behind. Professor Potter took no time to start pairing up the first years.
Potter took hold of two Gryffindor boys. "Onam, Newcomb!" he called. Michael and Blaine ran up beside him. "Newcomb, you'll duel Kumar here." Blaine complied, and Michael stood before the other boy. Next, Potter lined up two Gryffindor girls, one with golden blond hair and the other auburn. "With Bones, I'll have Grey," the tall Hufflepuff girl walked forward to stand before the girl with auburn hair. "And with Thornton," continued Potter, "Stouffer." He looked around. "Where's Stouffer?"
"Sir," said Ava, tugging on Potter's robe to get his attention. "He had detention."
"Oh," said Potter. "Then Orwell instead." The pretty muggle-born Ravenclaw walked forward to stand in front of Miss Thornton.
Alice could barely keep up with the orderings until she heard her own name called. "Bint and Dwaitwist," he called. She pushed her way though the crowd to the professor. Dominic Dwaitwist beat her there, a blue-eyed Ravenclaw who she didn't know very well. At first, Alice thought she was going to duel him, but Potter positioned her in front of another boy. Two Slytherin boys, last name of Falcon, would be Alice and Dominic's partners. As Professor Potter moved off, Alice held out her hand to her partner.
"My name's Alice Bint," she said. The boy looked at her hand as if it was a turd, but his brother had better manners.
"I'm John," said the boy, introducing himself to Dominic. "And this is Jake," he said to Alice, pointing at his brother. He ran his hand through his blond hair. "We're twins," he said, quite unnecessarily, Alice thought. After that, the foursome stood in silence until Professor Potter told them they could start. "We're ones," said John quickly, motioning toward himself and his brother.
Alice braced herself as Jake pointed his wand at her. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled. Nothing happened. An annoyed look crossed his face and he yelled the spell again. Alice's wand hadn't even rattled in her own hand. Jake, apparently, was as good at spell casting as she was herself. After a few tries, John had already disarmed Dominic, and he was handing the boy back his wand as Potter yelled for everyone to switch.
Alice took a deep breath, pointed her wand at Jake, and yelled the disarming spell. A grin crossed his face as absolutely nothing happened. All of her efforts, and all of his, for the rest of the practice, yielded no effect. Professor Potter had truly paired them well. They were all standing opposite someone of their own ability. In Alice's case, her opponent performed just as horribly as she did. As she left the Hall a little later, she was happy that she wasn't the only person who stank at Defense Against the Dark Arts.