Darkness prevailed in the sixth year dorm. Outside the rain had finally stopped, it no longer pounded the windows, but no one would have noticed. Behind the curtains of their four poster beds, Crabbe and Goyle snored, a sound that could truly wake the dead. But after five years, Draco was more than used to it, now he could sleep through it as though it weren't even there. He was lost in a deep, peaceful sleep when he felt the sudden cold as the blankets were pulled off him. He opened his eyes and looked for the culprit but he saw no one. He sat up and was about to say something into the darkness when a hand clamped over his mouth. A hand covered in cloth by the feel of it. Relaxing, he extended his senses until he could make out the faint shimmering shape of Etean standing over him. Etean released him and straightened up. Draco was suddenly blind as his cloak hit him in the face. He pulled it free and turned to see Etean head out of the door without a sound. As quickly as he could he dressed himself and pulled on his cloak. He paused to make himself invisible before he left the room and followed.
There was hardly any light in the common room when he reached it. The fire had died hours ago. Now there was only the light of the few candles that had yet to burn out to guide him. He was not surprised to see Pansy still snoring where they had left her in the chair, even given the uncomfortable position she was lying in, she was too drunk to wake. He looked around for Etean but saw no sign of him. He left the common room and stood in the corridor, trying to decide which way he had gone. He didn't have to think long as a movement caught his eye. He could just about make out the shadowy shape of Etean standing by a door at the end of the corridor. He turned and walked as quietly as he could over to him. Etean gestured for him to follow, opened the door and went in, heading deeper into the dungeons.
Once the door closed behind them, there was no light at all. Draco had to make way in the dark by following the shimmering form of Etean. He knew where they were; he had explored this passage before a couple of years ago but he was at a loss as to why they had come down here. As far as he knew, the only things down here were a load of old storage rooms and disused dungeons. On and on they went in silence until finally Etean stopped. He turned and lowered his hood, becoming visible again. He raised his hand and it started to glow, illuminating them faintly. Draco looked around him. They were in one of the dustier sections of the dungeons. Draco doubted if anyone had been here in a long time. He still was none the wiser as to what had brought them here. There was nothing here! Just a dark, grotty corridor.
"What are we doing down here?" he asked.
"Not much," was the response, "you are too tired to accomplish much tonight. But I thought it was a good idea for you to see the venue for the remainder of your training."
"Here?" Etean sighed.
"You still haven't learned to really look at things before you jump to conclusions have you?" he gestured to the wall, "Take a real look." Draco looked at the wall, it seemed ordinary enough.
"Looks normal to me."
"Really? Look closer." Draco concentrated harder, pushing his mind further into the Ether, and he saw it, a strange symbol glowing faintly on the stone.
"What is that?"
"Touch the mark." Draco reached out and touched it. Then leapt back as the wall split in half, an invisible join opened up, peeling back to reveal a door. Etean moved forward and pushed the door open. They went through. The room beyond lit up as they entered, it was identical to the training chambers from the academy. Draco was astounded, it was exactly the same in every detail. In fact if he didn't know it was impossible, he would have sworn…
"Are we…?"
"No, we are still in Hogwarts."
"But…?"
"I told you that the founders of Hogwarts were assisted by The Circle. For a great many years we maintained a permanent clandestine presence here that required a place to train in secret." He gestured to the room.
"But how did no one ever find this place?"
"Simple, it isn't always here." Draco looked puzzled, Etean laughed. "This place is like the corridor in the museum. Both here and not here at the same time. Only members of The Circle can find it and enter it."
"Oh…how many places like this are there?"
"If you understood how they work more correctly, you would know there is no answer to that question. These places either exist or they don't depending on whether we need them or not." Draco shook his head and sighed, it was too early in the morning for this.
"Yep, that makes about as much sense as you normally do Etean."
"Hey, at least I'm predictably unpredictable," he smiled and walked over to one of the pillars. Behind them, the door closed silently. Draco shook his head again and turned to watch Etean. He started praying that this wouldn't be the start of another round of what he had gone through with the eye. Etean reached the pillar and touched the stone. To Draco's relief, instead of the eye, a large hourglass appeared attached to the wall. Etean turned it over, Draco felt the world shift. It felt the same as when he slowed a spell. He watched as the sand fell in the hourglass, it seemed to be moving slower.
"Yes, you felt it right, time has changed. There are a couple of things Draco that you should know about this room when it is in its current condition." He turned and walked across to the opposite side of the room. The circle of glyphs appeared on the floor. Etean took position by the wall and motioned for Draco to stand in the circle. He continued to speak as Draco crossed the room.
"First, that sand will take one hour to fall from the upper globe to the lower, it is the only thing that remains in the normal flow of time. While it is falling, time will pass faster for us. One hour in here will be the same as ten minutes out there. This will allow us to train for as long as we need to without our absence being detected by others." Draco reached the centre of the room and stood facing Etean. He nodded, showing he understood. Etean continued, "The second thing is…" he waved his hand and launched a ball of energy at Draco, Draco felt his instincts take over, he reached out and focused on the incoming energy ball and tried to slow it. Something was wrong, he had barely time to realise that it wasn't working when the spell flew past, inches away from his head. He turned to stare at Etean. "In here, while the hourglass is running, everything is harder. The Ethereal Magic is already under a great tension, you will have to learn finesse and skill to achieve the results you desire. But first you must learn to communicate."
"Communicate?"
'Yes, communicate.' Etean's voice sounded in his head. Draco was confused, why did it matter if he could communicate?
"Why do I need to learn to do that? How will that help me beat Voldemort?"
"You need to learn it. It is the first step in your training."
"I don't have time to follow all the steps and stages, you came here to help me beat Voldemort."
"And I intend to." Etean sighed, he lowered his head. "What would you have me teach you?"
"Teach me spells, teach me how to do some of those tricks you do."
"That's what I'm trying to do."
"No, I mean teach me how to fight the way you do." Etean shook his head, Draco pressed on, "Look, Etean, I don't know if all your fun earlier has affected your memory, but we…no I am in a very serious situation here and I don't have a lot of time to waste following The Circle's silly training scheme." Etean's face darkened again.
"Nothing about The Circle is ever silly. What I am trying to teach you is important."
"How? Tell me how learning to speak with my…my mind or whatever is important to my training."
"Fine I'll show you, but first draw your wand. Stand ready to defend yourself." Draco complied, he levelled his wand at Etean and braced himself. At first Etean just stood there, then he slowly reached into his cloak and drew out a wicked looking silver dagger. Draco swallowed hard at the sight of him casually fingering the blade. He didn't attack, he just grinned at Draco and started talking again. "Now, there are three reasons why communication is the first skill you should learn. One, it is relatively simple to learn, though it does require very fine manipulation of the Ether it is still a good place to start. Two, it will allow us to work together more easily and closely, we will be able to carry on sensitive conversations without fear of being overheard and third, that which most directly answers your question. Communication is the skill that opens the door to the first of the Three Pillars of Combat."
"And what are they?" Etean didn't answer, he just stared at Draco. Draco stared back, listening to the pounding of his heart in his ears. He adjusted his grip on his wand, it felt really awkward holding it in his left hand, his whole body felt out of position but what choice did he have? Still Etean didn't move. The noise in his ears was joined by a second, louder noise. It started as a hum, but it rapidly grew into a high pitched scream, higher and higher it went, louder and louder. The noise started to hurt, it grew to be too much for Draco to take. He screamed and grabbed his head in agony. He felt dizzy from the pain, he fell to one knee, praying he would pass out. In an instant the noise stopped, suddenly he was free of the pain. He opened his eyes, Etean was gone. He didn't get the chance to wonder why as he felt a sharp pain on the top of his head. Etean seized a handful of his hair and yanked his head up. He felt the point of the dagger press into his throat. Etean looked down into his eyes.
"The first Pillar, if I control what you hear, I can hurt you." Etean released him, his head shot forward and he fell flat on his face.
Draco got up trying to clear his head and looked around, there was no sign of Etean anywhere. He took a moment to recover extended his senses again as he tried to locate him. Nothing, he could sense no trace of him. WHAM! He shut his eyes as the room filled with a blinding light. His senses retreated out of reflex as he was overwhelmed by the glare. It was several seconds before he could open his eyes again. He wished he hadn't!
The room was gone, he was on a ledge, a narrow strip of rock jutting out of a vertical cliff that stretched up as far as he could see. It was hot! He looked down over the edge onto a sea of fire below, the heat and smoke washed over him, he felt it singe his eyebrows. How had he gotten here? Where was here?
The questions evaporated as the rock started to shake beneath his feet, the sea of fire below him erupted. A massive column of flame shot into the air, rising to a point over a hundred feet above his head. Draco watched open mouthed as the pinnacle of the flames exploded. The flash blinded him, he shut his eyes and turned away when he heard an ear-splitting shriek fill the air. He opened his eyes and looked up once more to see a great bird, wreathed in flame, spread its wings and rise into the sky out of the explosion. It let out a second blood chilling scream, the sound nearly deafened him. Draco watched in horror as the bird swooped down, turning to fly right at him!
In panic he stumbled backwards, his wand flew from his hand but he was far too scared to notice. He was desperate to get away from the creature. But he couldn't go far, his back slammed into the stone wall behind him, he was out of ledge, there was nowhere left to run, he was trapped. The bird landed on the ledge, the stone shook again under the weight of the enormous creature. Its wings folded forward, pressing against the cliff face, caging him in fire. A wave of heat blasted into him and nearly knocked him out. It leaned forward, its face drew level with his, now only inches separated them. Draco stared terrified into its eyes as they changed, the flame died, suddenly Etean was standing in front of him again. Draco was pressed to the stone wall of the training room with Eteans dagger again to his throat.
"The second Pillar, if I control what you see, I can defeat you." Again he lowered the dagger and turned away. Draco relaxed, he reached up to check his neck for blood, there was none. Etean walked to the centre of the room and turned to face him again.
"And the third pillar," his eyes flashed with silver fire. Draco screamed as a wave of agony, worse than any he had felt before slammed into him. He fell to his knees, screaming for Etean to stop. And he did, the pain left as quickly as it had come. Draco looked up at Etean as without a word, he raised his hand and hurled the dagger straight at his head. Draco watched it flight in slow motion, he couldn't move, couldn't even twitch to get out of the way. He closed his eyes…but the dagger never hit. He looked up again to see it hovering less than an inch from his face. Etean was still standing there, his arm outstretched toward him. Somehow he was holding the dagger in mid air. He spoke again, "If I control what you feel, I can kill you." The knife dropped out of the air and landed with a clatter on the stone floor. Draco sank back and sat against the wall, tears flowing freely from his eyes. Etean walked over and knelt down in front of him.
"Your battle with Voldemort, when it comes, will not be about spells and wands and duels. Those things are important to master, but they will not save you in this. When the time comes Draco, you won't have any weapons or tricks to hide behind, all you will have, all you can rely on is this." He reached out and tapped Draco's forehead. "If you learn to use it properly, you will be able to control your environment, your instincts will be your weapons, they will be all the tricks you tricks you need. The Three Pillars form the basis for all the defence training that members of The Circle receive. It is through them that you will grow strong enough to conquer Voldemort." He laid a hand on Draco's shoulder. "But I don't expect you to master everything, it takes most people a lifetime to do that. There is much you will not be able to learn before your time comes Draco, so I will have to chose what to show you and what not to show you. What I do expect is that you trust me Draco. If I say you need to know something, then you must believe that you do even if the reason behind it escapes you. Can you do that?" Draco took a deep breath and wiped his face with his cloak. Eventually he nodded.
"Ok, so how do I…communicate?" Etean smiled, he stood and held out a hand to help Draco up. Draco reached up with his right hand. Only then did he realise that he had neglected to wear the glove. Etean paused, then reached down and caught him by the forearm to pull him to his feet.
"Later, you've had enough for now. We'll start the lessons tonight." He looked down at Draco's hand. "You know, you're right, that is going to attract way too much attention. Even with the glove, the fact that you can't use it yet is going to cause difficulties. Lead to questions."
"I don't see an option do you? There's no way to hide the fact that I can't use my hand is there?" Etean seemed pensive for a moment. It was a tricky problem alright. Then he smiled, Draco didn't get the joke. "What?"
"When is our first Defence class?"
"Today, after lunch why?"
"Because if you can't hide something," he shrugged, "you don't."
"Riddles again?"
"I know," he looked at the hourglass, it was half empty. He waved at it and it emptied in an instant, the world shifted back to normal. "Come on, I'll explain on the way." He turned and left, Draco followed him back to the Slytherin dorm.
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The Slytherin table was surprisingly quiet that morning. The senior end of it anyway. There were a lot of sore heads after the previous night's festivities. Only Etean and Draco seemed to be fully awake. Pansy did not look happy!
"My neck is stiff."
"That's what you get when you sleep in an armchair," Millicent Bulstrode answered her, she seemed to be amused by Pansy's condition, "Maybe you should get Etean to rub it better?" Pansy turned to look at Etean, he seemed fully engrossed in whatever he and Draco were talking about.
"Hmm, maybe." her tone sounded mischievous. "Etean?" He turned to look at her.
"Yes Pansy," his tone was the same oily drone he had used last night. Draco scowled and took a huge mouthful of porridge.
"Are you any good with your hands?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Well…seeing as we were…interrupted last night, I was thinking that maybe we could…find somewhere quiet for you to give me a massage." Her eyes darted to Draco, looking to gauge his reaction, he just continued to chew his porridge, apparently ignoring her. Undeterred, she carried on, "I promise I'll return the favour, if you know what I mean?" Etean considered her offer for a moment, then shook his head.
"Yes Pansy, I know exactly what you mean and," he paused to take a mouthful of scrambled eggs, "as I said last night," he swallowed, "It is an interesting idea. But there's just one problem, based on past experience." he stood up, finished off his pumpkin juice and started to gather up his bag. Pansy, looked confused.
"What?"
"Well, you see, if we did do as you suggested, I give you a nice message, you'd enjoy it, you'd be…relaxed then yes?"
"Oh yes," she smiled at him.
"Yes, well," he paused, raising his voice so everyone in the vicinity could hear, "how do I know you won't pass out again before we get to my turn?" The whole table burst into a fit of sniggers, Pansy flushed red and glared at Etean. Draco laughed and spat a mouthful of porridge all over the table. Etean just grinned headed out of the Great Hall. Draco grabbed his bag and left the table and the fuming Pansy to run out after him. He was still giggling as he caught up.
"That was great, she actually though she could have you."
"No, she thought she could use me to get to you."
"What?"
"She's in love with you Draco. At least whatever passes for love in her twisted little world."
"How would you know?" then he remembered, "Do you read the mind of everyone you meet Etean?"
"Eventually, but I didn't have to read her mind to know that."
"So how did you know?"
"I saw it in her eyes, the way she looked at you. She was trying to use me to get a rise out of you, to get a reaction."
"You saw all that?"
"Yes," he paused at the door to the Transfiguration classroom, "and then I read her mind." He smiled and walked inside.
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The sixth years were standing in bunches in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, waiting for the class to start. Their teacher, whoever it was going to be, was late, the class was supposed to have started five minutes ago. Everyone was talking, speculating about what the new arrangement was going to be like, different teachers all the time, learning to duel. Some, Slytherins mostly seemed nervous, the Gryffindors were happier. Harry Potter looked extremely confident, he was wandering around sharing tips with anyone who would listen (except the Slytherins of course). Draco had told Etean about the whole Dumbledore Army group that Harry and the others had set up last year, how a lot of them had learned a lot of combat skills from Potter. He was a gifted duellist by all accounts. 'We'll see.'
He had to admit, Harry was not what he had expected him to be. Based on what he had read about him, and what he had pulled from Draco's mind, he had expected anything from an egotistical, self centred asshole to Merlin incarnate. Instead he was just a normal teenager. Normal in most respects anyway. In some ways he was different but they were all due to the horrid things that he had gone through in his life, anyone who went through times like those would be a little unusual. The only truly unique thing about him was his abatile, it twitched in a strange way from time to time, like someone was pulling at him from far away. From what Etean knew about him and his history with Voldemort, it wasn't hard to guess who was doing the pulling. Strange, Etean had expected the link between them to be stronger, more tangible. After all, even the wizards had learned about it. But Etean couldn't see it at all, only its affect on his abatile registered on his senses. Still he knew that the link was there, if he watched Potter close enough, he might be able to find a way to trigger it, to use it to his advantage.
Filing that away onto his 'to do' list, he turned his attention to more immediate matters. He looked around at the other students, trying to find someone to talk to, to pass the time. He didn't know most of them, he didn't really want to talk to any of the Slytherins, they made his skin itch whenever they opened their mouths, and Pansy was ignoring him. Not that he cared in the slightest but with Draco preoccupied, at least he could have spoken to her. She was amusing, if only from a purely psychological point of view. He had never in his whole life come across anyone, anyone that wasn't insane, with a more delusional mind. She could actually convince herself that any given situation was whatever she wanted it to be. It was fascinating to watch her mind rewrite events as they happened. Maybe she was insane? He shrugged, he didn't really care.
He turned his attention to Draco, he was still staring at his hand, visibly rapt with joy at the sight of his fingers moving freely again. Maybe this was a mistake. How would he react to losing it again? Etean had explained to him that the glamour wouldn't hold, it was too complicated a spell to maintain, that even as it was, if anyone were to touch it they would know it was a spell. He shrugged, this was the only way to cover Draco's injury without revealing at least a version of the truth. The term stuck in his mind, 'version of the truth'. What version were they using now? He had lost track, this plan was becoming far more complicated in reality than it had seemed when the Council had debated it. Still it was too late now. He looked up as the door opened.
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The door of the classroom opened, everyone fell silent. Hermione bit her lip! For some reason she was nervous. Professor Flitwick entered the room, smiling and waving to all as he passed through. He walked up to the teacher's desk and, once he had engaged a few students to pile up some large books for him to stand on, turned to face the class.
"Good afternoon class," he piped in his usual perky manner, Hermione smiled, his voice always cheered her up, "and eh, welcome to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts class, that is to say, your first Duelling Class of the year. Now as you all know, I am somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to duelling, having won several high profile duelling contests in my day." The class all nodded. It was true, she had seen several of his trophies in the school trophy cabinet. Flitwick continued.
"Now, as you know, owing to our already busy schedules, the staff members have decided to em, divide the responsibility for this most important class between ourselves. We will each be taking it in turns to teach you the skills you need to become top class duellists. My em, speciality was always defence and em, avoidance! If your opponent can't hit you, he can't beat you eh?" he chuckled, seemingly amused by the comment. Again there were the nods, accompanied by a few giggles at the tone in his voice. It was getting more and more high pitched as he went on.
"So then, em before we get down to learning any new skills, I must first assess the skills you already have. I shall call each of you up in turn and cast a spell at you. Nothing dangerous so don't worry, you will be in no danger. Your job will be to block or avoid my charms as best you can. Does everyone understand? Excellent so, if you will all line up against the walls we can begin."
The class bustled noisily and divided in two. They stood along either wall, waiting for their turn. When they were ready, Flitwick consulted the list.
"Now I will call you in no particular order. Now lets see, who first. Ah I know, Harry Potter." He called.
"Good luck," Hermione whispered to Harry, he ignored her. Maybe he didn't even hear her. The look on his face was hard, he was focusing all his efforts on this. She watched as he stepped out and stood ready, facing Flitwick. The professor raised his wand and shouted,
"Rictusempra!" The tickling curse flashed red in the air as it flew at Harry.
"Deformatia!" Harry shouted. The spell bent in the air and flashed over his shoulder, detonating on the wall behind him. A confident smile spread across his lips.
"Excellent Mr. Potter. Well done, though I never use that particular defence myself…"
"Why not?" Hermione jumped as Harry cut Flitwick off, his tone was belligerent, confrontational, "It's a perfectly useful defensive spell." Flitwick looked totally taken aback.
"Of course it is, but it is unpredictable at best. The deformation charm will disrupt the course of a spell but it is impossible to determine in what way. You could…"
"I could inadvertently send it at someone or something that you don't want it to hit," Harry sounded impatient as he interrupted again, "but I don't think anyone will get very far by playing it safe." He raised his voice and looked around him, "We all have to take risks." Flitwick for once looked really annoyed.
"Mr. Potter, you are not here to teach this class, you are here to learn. And I do not appreciate being interrupted. See that you don't do it again, now back to the wall." Harry turned, scowling and walked back to the edge of the room.
"Harry!" Hermione scolded him quietly, "you shouldn't talk back to Professor Flitwick like that." Harry just looked at her and clicked his tongue. He shrugged and turned away from her. She was about to admonish him again when she heard Flitwick calling her name. It was her turn! She turned and stepped forward. Suddenly she was very nervous. Everyone was looking at her and that just made it worse. She stood ready, Flitwick took aim,
"Tarantallegra!" Hermione tried to respond, she knew what she had to do, her body just wouldn't move. BAM! The spell hit her and her legs started kicking and waving madly in all directions. The whole room exploded with laughter as she fell over, her legs still flailing around madly. The laughter seemed to grow louder with each passing second until Flitwick removed the spell. Harry and Ron stepped forward and picked her up. They had to practically carry her, twitching all the way back to the wall. "Bad Luck! You will have to work on your reflexes Ms. Granger." Flitwick's tone was not meant to be cutting, but Hermione felt herself blush. She hated failing in front of a teacher. She had to fight to stop herself from crying.
The laughter subsided as the class continued. Students were called up one by one and tested. Some blocked and were congratulated, some failed and received laughter. To Hermione, none of it seemed as loud as when she had failed, Professor Flitwick didn't come down so hard on them. Her legs still twitched. She wanted to get out. How much longer was there until this class was over?
Her eyes scanned the room. She was trying to gauge how many students were left to be tested. They came to rest on Malfoy, he was definitely not himself lately. She had noticed that the change in him that she had seen in London appeared to be sticking. He was clearly trying to hide it but he looked almost nervous standing there talking to Etean. What had changed him? Her gaze moved to Etean. There it was again, the strange sensation she had felt when she first met him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about him seemed wrong. She had tried to convince herself that she was just being silly, after all she didn't know him! She had never even heard of him before yesterday on the train, though she seemed to be in the minority on that regard. Everyone it appeared, knew about Robert, the Lord Etean. According to the stupid gossip magazines Ginny had shown her, he was the closest thing to royalty that the wizarding world had. Still, something about him bugged her, something she had seen in his eyes as he introduced himself. She shrugged as she continued to watch him, maybe it was nothing. There didn't seem to be anything odd about him, he was cocky, self confident, maybe a little arrogant, the perfect Slytherin. He certainly seemed to be fitting in with them quickly enough. Already, he and Malfoy were almost inseparable.
A sudden silence filled the room as Etean was called forward. He and Malfoy were engrossed in their conversation and it seemed neither had even heard his name being called. Theo Nott had to lean over and give him a nudge before he looked up. Flitwick called his name again. Etean turned and said something to Malfoy before he stepped forward. Whatever he said caused Draco's expression to change to one of curiosity. He had a strange look in his eyes as he watched Etean.
Etean turned smartly and faced Flitwick. He reached into his robes and took out his wand. He looked at it for a moment, before lowering it to his side. Flitwick hesitated but Etean nodded to show he was ready. Flitwick took aim and shouted,
"Cacophanus!" the curse shot at Etean. Hermione barely saw him move, she did hear him shout,
"Arresto Incantatum!" as he raised his wand. There was a bright flash as Flitwick's spell hit Etean's wand and stuck. It just continued to fizzle and spark along the length of the wand for several seconds. He looked up at Flitwick and smiled before pointing his wand at the floor, "Finite!" The spell shot off his wand and detonated on the ground. The room fell silent, everyone just stood there staring at him. He smiled again and strolled back to the wall. Flitwick jumped up and down, clapping so hard that he nearly dropped his wand.
"Well done, well done Mr. Etean. I have never seen a student that could perform the arresting spell so expertly." Etean just nodded at him and leaned back against the wall, resuming his conversation with Malfoy. Flitwick took several seconds to recover before he continued with the class, calling Malfoy forward. Hermione noticed that he started to look even more nervous as he stepped out. He turned to face Flitwick, raising his wand. She thought she saw him tremble slightly as he did. Her eyes moved back to Etean, unlike everyone else in the room, he was not looking at Malfoy. Instead he was staring intently at Flitwick. His face was set, as if he were deep in concentration. He had folded his arms across his chest but she could see that the fingers of his right hand were extended, pointing at the Professor. Flitwick seemed to pause, confused by something. It was a moment before he recovered himself, he levelled his wand and shouted in a much deeper voice than he normally used.
"Immobulus Mortem!" Hermione had ever heard that spell before. A blast of white light shot from Flitwick's wand and hit Malfoy. He fell to the floor screaming in agony, cradling his arm. The whole class exploded into chaos. Pansy Parkinson shrieked as she and half the Slytherins ran over to Malfoy, gathering round him to see if he was alright. The rest stood where they were, gasping in surprise. Hermione looked at Flitwick, he just stood there, apparently as stunned as the rest of them were at what had just happened. It was almost thirty seconds before he recovered enough to shout them all back under control and then order Malfoy taken to the hospital wing. Crabbe picked Malfoy up, he was still screaming and howling in pain as he was carried out of the classroom. Flitwick only paused to dismiss the class before heading out after him.
"What the hell just happened?" she asked, turning to face Harry and Ron. Harry shrugged.
"Guess Flitwick went a bit overboard." She looked to Ron, he was grinning from ear to ear.
"What makes you so happy?"
"What? Didn't you see it Hermione? That spell nearly tore his arm off!" He sounded delighted at the thought of Malfoy sustaining serious injury. Hermione knew why he was acting like that but still, she didn't like it.
"Ron! This is not funny. Malfoy could be really hurt." Ron smiled even more when he heard that.
"I know, it's great!"
"RON!" she barked at him.
"Hermione, he deserved it!" She scowled but he ignored her, turning to Harry, he said,
"You wanna go play Quidditch or something? It seems we're done for the day," Harry nodded and they moved to leave. Hermione was going to stop them and scold them about how they shouldn't treat this incident as if it were comedy but she stopped herself. 'What's the point? They don't care. Maybe they would if it had been Neville or Pavarti, but not Malfoy. Come to think of it, why did she care so much?' Her thoughts derailed as she turned round. Etean was still standing by the opposite wall. As she looked at him he stood up and moved to leave. Had he been looking at her? What was he doing to Flitwick? Did he cause him hurt Malfoy? Why? She couldn't shake the nasty feeling about him as she returned to the Gryffindor Common Room.