Hello everybody! I absolutely loved writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!
(Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.)
Chapter 21:
Ten Duel Commandments
"'They're starting a Dueling Club!' said Seamus. 'First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days…'
'What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?' said Ron, but he, too, read the sign with interest.
'Could be useful,' he said to Harry and Hermione as they went into dinner. 'Shall we go?'"
"I don't care that Harry and Ron will be there, we have to go to this Dueling Club," Stella said during the time travelers' next bathroom meeting. "This is an iconic scene - plus, there are so many duels in Hamilton, so I can make a ton of references."
"You saw the show once, and the cast album hasn't come out yet," Jonah pointed out. "Did you memorize it or something?"
Stella pulled out a camera - the same one that she had given Madison in first year. "Bootlegs, baby."
Molly's eyes widened. "Stella - that's illegal!"
"I know," she said. "You wanna watch?"
"Of course!" Molly said as she and the others gathered around the camera.
That night, the group went to the Dueling Club. Molly had solidified Madison so she could leave the bathroom, however temporarily. Moaning Myrtle had complained that she hadn't been solidified too, but Madison told her that Stella would take pictures and video and show her. Apparently they had become friends over summer break; when you're the only ones in the castle together, and the only other people in the castle are a poltergeist and some extremely partisan ghosts, you either drive each other stir-crazy or you become friends, Molly thought.
Lockhart was standing on the Ravenclaw table, brandishing his wand like an épée. "Gather round, everybody! Make sure you can see me!"
Stella rolled her eyes. "Why did I say we should come to this? I forgot how much Lockhart pi-"
"Stella…" Ava said.
"Makes me mad," Stella amended. "He doesn't even use Sonorus. He doesn't need to, because he's that boisterous."
"I know," Zoë said. "Just be patient."
Lockhart was still talking, bringing Snape up to the impromptu stage. Snape was sulking, as though he would rather be forced to give out endless points to Harry during Potions class than to be a part of this demonstration.
"On the count of three, we will cast our first spells," Lockhart said. "Neither of us -"
"You're wrong," Stella heckled.
Lockhart turned. "As I was saying -"
"You don't count to three, you count to ten," Stella said.
"Someone's talking, but I can't hear -"
"SONORUS!" Stella shouted into her wand. "You're wrong, Lockhart. You don't count to three in a wizard duel. You count to ten. And there are plenty of other steps that you need to do first."
"Oh, really?" Lockhart said. "Will you demonstrate?"
"Gladly," Stella said. She nodded, and the other seven cast the spell themselves. Stella gave a gesture with her hands, and the group began to sing, rap, beatbox, or whatever they had to do.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine -"
"It's the Ten Duel Commandments," Stella sang.
"Number one: the challenge, demand satisfaction," Mackenzie said. "If they apologize, no need for further action."
"Number two: if they don't grab a friend, that's your second - your lieutenant when there's reckoning to be reckoned," Ava rapped.
"Number three: have your seconds meet face to face, negotiate a peace - or negotiate a time and place," said Molly. "This is commonplace, especially between recruits -"
"Most disputes die and no one shoots," the group sang together. Molly couldn't help but marvel at how good they sounded - she had never thought that her friends had such good voices.
"Number four: if they don't reach a peace, that's alright," sang Jonah. "Time to get your wands and a doctor on sight. You pay them in advance, you treat them with civility; you have them turn around so they can have deniability."
"Five: duel before the sun is in the sky," sang Stella. "Pick a place to die where it's high and dry."
"Number six: leave a note for your next of kin, tell them where you've been," said Zoë. "Pray that hell or heaven lets you in."
"Seven: confess your sins, ready for the moment of adrenaline when you finally face your opponent," Beatrix rapped.
"Number eight: your last chance to negotiate - send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight," Madison sang.
"Any questions so far?" Stella said.
Lockhart's face was priceless - thank God Beatrix's owl, Eclipse, is holding the camera, Molly thought. "We're good," he said.
"One, two, three!" Stella called to the other time travelers.
"Number nine!" they all sang.
"Look them in the eye, aim no higher, summon all the courage you require," Stella rapped. "Then COUNT!"
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, number ten paces, FIRE!" the time travelers sang. After a pause that indicated that they had finished, a nervous applause filled the room as they said "Quietus" in unison. Molly couldn't help but notice the abstainers - Lockhart and Snape (obviously), Harry and Ron (Molly couldn't guess why), and a few Slytherins. She also noticed Fred and George hooting and hollering louder than anyone else.
"Well, let's follow your rules," Lockhart said sheepishly once the applause died down. "Severus Snape, I challenge you to a duel."
"And I accept," Snape said, in his usual slow and sinister manner.
"Now we need our seconds," Lockhart said, and then he started to laugh. "That's funny, isn't it? The rule about the seconds is the second rule, that's funny…"
"Idiot," Stella muttered under her breath.
"I choose Harry Potter as my second," Lockhart said. "C'mon up, Harry!"
Harry turned the color of his best friend's hair as he stepped up onto the table. He obviously shared Snape's sentiments about being onstage.
"And I choose Draco Malfoy," Snape said.
"Of course you do," Mackenzie said.
"I like him," Molly said defensively.
"That's because he likes - do you know of any distant relatives named Lily?"
"Um...no," Molly said.
"Don't spoil her," Jonah said. "I don't want to deal with another Lavender Brown incident."
"At this point, who cares?" Mackenzie said. "Snape was in love with Harry's mom, whose last name was Evans. Don't you think there's a reason Snape turns beet-red whenever he calls attendance?"
"What?" Molly said, her eyes widening almost as much as Madison's. "He was in love with -"
"You heard me," Mackenzie said. "Now don't let Harry hear you."
Stella was still walking Lockhart through the steps. Molly asked her what step he was on. "Six," she said. "He's such a dummy."
"I know," Molly said. "I still can't believe Hermione likes him. We had a whole conversation on the train about how cool he was."
"Oh, God," she said. "Hold on, Lockhart's saying something. No, you don't have to write a Howler. Just confess your sins already."
"I don't recognize how perfect I am nearly as much as I should," Lockhart said. "Snape?"
"No," Snape said.
"Okay, Snape is abstaining from the confessing. Seconds? Negotiating time," Lockhart said.
Reluctantly, Harry and Draco moved to the center of the stage. They said something to each other, then Harry turned back to Lockhart. "Duel's still on," he said.
"Alright, so let's clear the way," Lockhart said. "Let's do this. Stella, will you do the honors?"
She nodded. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, number ten paces, FIRE!"
"Expelliarmus!" Snape called out, a red jet of light bursting from his wand. It struck Lockhart's wand, knocking it out of his hand and to the ground.
"Well done, Snape," Lockhart said. "That was a Disarming Charm, very effective. As you can see, my wand is - oh, thank you, Miss Brown - well, now it's back in my hand, but it was knocked out of my hand a few seconds ago. The only downside to such a charm is that it was rather easy to know exactly what Professor Snape was going to do."
Snape looked like he really, really wanted to pull an Aaron Burr and pull out a pistol.
"Well, enough demonstrating! Let's pair you up and get you dueling!" Lockhart said, being wise for the first time in his life and stopping his criticism of Snape's technique.
"Okay, we can go now," Stella said. "We made the reference, we don't have to stay any longer. Madison, you got that video for Moaning Myrtle, right?"
"I'm still filming," Madison said, gesturing to Eclipse, who was still holding the camera.
"You can turn that off now," Stella said, smiling. "And make sure Snape doesn't find the camera. It might've picked up Mackenzie's bombshell."
"Alright," Madison said. She looked into the camera. "This is Madison Clark, signing off."
She turned the video off.
"Wait, Snape and Lily were in love?" Moaning Myrtle said as she stared into the screen on Madison's camera.
"Apparently," Molly said. "I didn't know until a few hours ago."
"And you can't tell a soul," Zoë said.
"Otherwise we'd have to hand you over to Slytherin's monster," Beatrix said.
Myrtle gasped. "You wouldn't."
Jonah nodded. "We would."
"Okay, then," Myrtle said. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."
"Well, this was a great night," Mackenzie said.
"I didn't know you could sing," Molly said.
"I've had practice, listening to you night and day," Mackenzie said, trying not to laugh. "What song are you practicing for tonight?"
"I love that song from Hamilton - you know, the one where Philip dies and Eliza forgives Hamilton for cheating on her with Maria?" Molly said. "'It's Quiet Uptown,' I think it's called?"
"Yeah, I know that one," Mackenzie said.
"I already know it by heart," Molly said.
"Oh, God," Mackenzie said.
Madison had Molly sneak the diary back to Ginny with a note that read, "Try it once or twice more. I'm sure it's fine." Madison felt extremely guilty for forcing Ginny under the diary's spell once more, but even if Tom hadn't been blackmailing her, the plot needed to advance in order for the future to stay the same.
A few weeks later, during the kind of winter so cold that Madison had to wear her rainbow-patterned unicorn socks with pegasus wings coming out of the sides, Ginny visited the bathroom again. This time, Madison kept her eyes open; she knew that, because of her value to Tom's plan, he wouldn't let her get Petrified. Due to this, Madison was now fully able to realize how amazingly horrid it looked when Ginny was freeing the Basilisk. As soon as Ginny spoke, the drinking fountain exploded, pieces of marble flying everywhere. One piece soared directly through Madison's head; if she had been alive, it would've killed her.
Needless to say, Ginny was unharmed by any of the rubble. Once the dust settled down, a large, blue-green snake could be seen. Its eyes were like headlights; even though it wasn't looking at Madison, she could see beams of light emanating from its head.
"All aboard the Basilisk train," Madison whispered to herself. "Toot toot."
The Basilisk turned toward Madison, and she closed her eyes just in the nick of time. Ginny whispered in its ear, and it spoke to her.
"I see you have become acquainted with my master," it said in Parseltongue.
"Unfortunately," Madison responded. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get a student from your house to come out of their common room," the Basilisk said. "Ginny can be, like, a creepy child that says something foreboding and confuses the other student. That's where I come in."
"Okay," Madison said. "Would you like fries with your order, as well?"
"What are fries?" the Basilisk said.
"They're crispy strips of goodness - oh, never mind," Madison said. "Just - let's get down to business."
The Basilisk turned away as Madison muttered "To defeat the Huns" in plain English, so the Basilisk couldn't understand her.
"What was that?" the Basilisk yelled.
"Nothing," Madison said.
The Basilisk sighed, which sounded like a generic snake hiss. "Come along."
After Ginny had solidified her and she had put on her socks, Madison burst into the Hufflepuff common room. Thankfully, Justin Finch-Fletchley was sitting on a chair near the fireplace, writing a Potions essay, with a light snowfall gleaming outside.
"Justin - you gotta come into the hallway!" she said.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Why are you solid?"
"No time for questions," she said. "The monster's out there. The one that Petrified Opa and Mrs. Norris - and Colin - it's outside."
"I'm on it," Justin said. He drew his wand, and together, he and Madison burst out of the door to the common room.
When they arrived outside, Madison dove to the side so she could be out of the way. Justin was standing in the doorway when Nearly-Headless Nick arrived.
"I heard a commotion from the kitchens," he said. "What's the cause of all this racket?"
"Madison came in and told me that Slytherin's monster was out here - but I don't see it anywhere," Justin said.
"Me neither," Nick said. "I reckon you should get back into the common room - where you're safe."
"That sounds like a -"
They stopped, and Madison could tell that they had seen Ginny.
"When Mudbloods have lost all the blood in their souls, only then will the Dark Lord finally be whole…" she said.
"What the -" Justin started - his words drowned out by a hissing sound. The two victims hit the ground with the sound of stone hitting stone. Madison cringed when she heard it ringing through the hallway.
"You happy, Tom?" she called out in Parseltongue.
After a pause (probably to get a message from Ginny), the Basilisk replied, "Very. See you soon."
And it slithered down the hallway, Ginny's footsteps following it, leaving Madison alone in the hallway, the two Petrification victims on the ground just a few incriminating feet away. She looked at them with a hard-to-decipher face - perhaps feelings of pity, perhaps feelings of anger. She looked down at her feet, wrapped up in her unicorn socks - disproportionately peppy considering what had just happened.
And then Madison had an idea.
She took the socks off and dropped them on the ground as she ran as fast as she could, to a place where nobody, not even Ginny, could find her.
The seventh floor.
Thanks for reading! Here are this chapter's behind-the-magic fun facts.
1) Obviously, a big portion of this chapter was a reference to the song "Ten Duel Commandments" from Hamilton. I would assume that in this version of the timeline, Draco shoots at Harry at 7.
2) Lockhart and Snape's sin-confessing is one of my favorite things I've ever written. Like, ever.
3) Ginny's entranced line to Justin and Nick is on the opposite side of the "favorite" spectrum. Like, I love it, but it fits in a different category of writing than the sin-confessing.
4) The plot point with Madison, the socks, and the seventh floor (which...just think about what very important room might be required for Madison on the seventh floor) was Madison's inspiration's idea, as was the "All aboard the Basilisk train" line.
5) I actually did cover "It's Quiet Uptown" from Hamilton right after I listened to the album for the first time! The cover can be viewed on my website, which is in my bio.
6) I could go on a whole rant about how awesome Broadway bootlegs are, but all I will say is this: No, Stella's inspiration did not record a Hamilton bootleg. Yes, she loves Hamilton bootlegs.
7) Madison's original reasoning for wanting her character to die was so that she could be really good friends with Moaning Myrtle. While the character eventually developed into more than that, I definitely wanted to hint at the origins of Madison's role throughout the narrative.
8) I just love the image of Fred and George hearing this insane song in the middle of a dueling club, and just absolutely adoring it. Fred and George always seem like they would have the best reactions to anything that happens in the school.
Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!