Chapter 9 – Duelling Club

Harry slipped into his new routine for the year quite easily. Lessons went by as they always did, and after the introductory lessons in each of the new subjects, Harry felt like none of them would overly complicate his plans for the year. He had to work to fit homework into his schedule, but thankfully Daphne and Theodore both kept on top of homework and usually managed to persuade their friends to join them in the library to get it done. Over the first fortnight of term even Harry managed to keep up with his flying practise, although he did wonder when he would find time to get to grips with duelling.

In the end, that was decided for him, as one evening at dinner Dumbledore made some eagerly awaited announcements.

"Professor Flitwick would like all of this year's prospective duellists to know that duelling sessions will be held every Wednesday and Friday evening before dinner in the Great Hall," said Dumbledore at the end of dinner on the third Tuesday of term. "You are of course required to bring with you your wands, and you should wear a sport robe or other appropriate attire, and spectators will not be allowed entry to the Great Hall." Dumbledore paused for a few moments and then continued.

"Additionally, Madam Hooch wants all of this year's flyers to be aware that the first round of qualifying events will be held at this weekend. All students who have signed up during the sign up period should meet at ten o'clock in front of the Quidditch Pitch on Saturday morning. For those of you who progress on the Saturday, your presence will also be required on the Sunday. I am told that spectators will be allowed to watch the flying, but I shall reiterate that this is not the case for the duelling. That is all."

Dumbledore left the Head Table in a swirl of purple robes, and the waiting students burst into activity as they left the Hall, too.

"I wonder what spells we'll have to know for the duelling," said Blaise as the second year Slytherins walked back to the dungeons. "Flitwick must know all the usual circuit spells, but I can't imagine we'll be able to do most of them…"

"I looked up the rules used by the European Duelling Society's Junior Circuit last week," said Theodore, "and they use a modified and restricted version of the normal spell roster. So he'll have us go over those, I expect—it shouldn't be that hard since there's a category for people our age."

"Flitwick knows what he's doing," said Harry, "so I'm not too worried about that part. He's good at teaching spells so we'll probably pick them up easy enough. I'm more worried about the flying—I'm up against basically all of the Quidditch players and they've got loads more experience than I have."

"You've got a Firebolt, Harry," said Blaise dismissively. "The only way you'll lose is if you don't compete."

"Only in the frees," said Harry. "And for the standards the Ministry's sent up a bunch of Nimbus 2000s, so we're all on even footing there. It'd be embarrassing to win the frees because of my broom and then lose when it's fair…"

Blaise considered it and then nodded.

"That would be rough," he said. "You'll be fine, though, I'm sure."

"Yeah, well," Harry said. "We'll see at the weekend."

"I'm just looking forward to taking part," said Daphne. "I know I'm not going through to the proper duelling competition with the other schools but it's a good experience, isn't it?" She paused. "And we have to see if we like it, I suppose—Daddy always says what matters is if we try."

Tracey nodded along in agreement.

"I'm just happy we get to have a go at it," said Tracey. "I've never done anything like that before and it's a good opportunity even if we don't get through! Oh, but we'll definitely be coming to cheer you on in the flying, won't we?" Tracey added.

"Definitely," said Theodore.

"Of course we will!" said Daphne.

"Er, thanks, guys," mumbled Harry. He felt glad that his friends would be there, but of course he did worry a little that they'd be there to watch him lose. Still, the support was nice, and at least he wasn't competing against any of his actual friends from Slytherin in the competition. There was Draco, and several of the others from Adder group, but he didn't really count those.

"Lineage," said Millicent once they reached the Common Room entrance. Discussion of the Pariturium and the Aerobaticum – along with the Gauntlet itself – occupied everyone's evening right up until it was time to go to bed.

Harry even fell asleep while thinking about it, which led to some very unusual dreams involving broom-back duels.

The next day, Harry couldn't wait to get started with duelling practise, although he did have to sit through three lessons – two doubles and a single – beforehand. The last lesson of the day, a double with Flitwick, got a little bit derailed by questions involving the duelling session later on in the evening, but eventually the diminutive professor managed to get it back on track with a firm refusal to discuss things further. When it was finally time to attend the duelling session in the Great Hall, Harry and those of his friends and Housemates who had signed up for the duelling made their way into the Great Hall from the dungeons for the first session.

As far as Harry could tell, practically the entire school – with the exception of the first years, who hadn't been allowed – had signed up for the duelling competition. Such unlikely candidates as Pansy had come to the session, which Harry thought was an awful idea, but essentially everyone in the castle had decided to come and have a go, and Harry supposed Pansy couldn't have been the absolute worst of them. It was probably fair enough, as unlike the Aerobaticum, the Pariturium's only real barrier to entry was being able to hold and point a wand.

The Great Hall had been cleared of all five tables, and the raised platform on which the Head Table usually sat had been moved to the middle of the cavernous room to serve as a duelling stage. Professor Flitwick stood in the middle of it, along with a scowling Professor Snape. The students filled in the space around the stage, clustered in little groups.

"Alright, alright," shouted Flitwick after the doors to the Great Hall had closed, "settle down! Now, there are rather a lot of you here this evening, and we have quite a lot of things to discuss and all before dinner, so please, give me your undivided attention! Tonight, we will commence the Duelling Club and begin preparations for the Pariturium, the duelling tournament which forms one of the three parts of the Triwizard Tournament. Unfortunately, the roster we are allowed to put forward for the duelling tournament itself is quite a lot smaller than the number of students we have here tonight, and so we will be holding a qualifying tournament of our own to select the very best students for progression to the official tournament."

That announcement caused a ripple of murmurs to ring out across the Hall, as people realised that it would be a lot more difficult to secure a position in the contest than they'd thought. Harry wasn't overly worried – he had confidence in his abilities, scant and untested as they were. After all, if he was up against people like Pansy, it really was no contest.

"First things first – there will be two qualification categories in the contest proper," continued Flitwick, "which are the Novice category and the Junior category. To be clear, second and third year students comprise the Novice set, and fourth and fifth year students the Junior set; first year students are not allowed to compete, as you will all know. Any first years who managed to sneak in this evening should quietly leave after the end of my introduction, although I am quite sure there are none here. There will be, technically, two categories of competition in each set—second years will face second years in the Pariturium proper, and so on—but for our purposes we shall have Novices compete with all other Novices and Juniors compete with all other Juniors. The final number of students allowed in the Pariturium has not been decided, but I should think it is not more than ten—or ten pairs in the doubles event—competitors."

Flitwick paused for a moment and tapped his chin in thought.

"Ah! Tonight we shan't be doing any proper duelling, but instead we will go over the correct form and manner to initiate a duel and we might if there is time start work on some of the most basic spells used on the Junior Circuit. They should be easy enough for you all to pick up, if you have kept up to date with your studies thus far—even for you second years! Now, if you would, please separate into Novice and Junior categories right now—Novices at the far end of the Hall near the doors, and Juniors at the opposite end, please!"

Flitwick waited for the students in the Hall, mixed up and scattered throughout as they were, to sort themselves out into Novice and Junior sets. It took a while. Eventually, however, the aspirant duellists had arranged themselves into the two sets at opposite ends of the Hall, and Flitwick continued.

"Excellent, excellent," he said. "Now, for today's session I shall be focusing my attention on the Novices, and Professor Snape shall see to the Juniors. At our next session on Friday we shall swap over. Juniors, I shall now hand you over to Professor Snape—and remember, do be mindful that he has graciously donated his time and experience to us this evening—and Novices, please get ready to begin!"

Harry couldn't help but take a little look at what the Junior set was doing with Snape since it had to be more interesting that what the Novices would get, although once Flitwick started talking again, he managed to look away.

"Now then, and I know this is the most boring part of the whole endeavour," said Flitwick, "but we must comply with the rules and regulations or everything else shall be completely pointless for us to learn! So, we shall first get to grips with etiquette and form. A proper, league or tournament sanctioned duel will always begin with a bow, like so." Flitwick dropped into a bow which would have made a hippogriff pleased as a demonstration. "This is key—promising duellists have been disbarred from competitions for not following the proper form. So, everyone give it a little try right now, don't be shy."

Harry bowed, although he did feel a little bit silly bowing to nothing in the Great Hall. At least he had good company, as all the other Novices and the Juniors, although Snape hadn't been quite so nice about it, were doing the same thing.

"Good, good," said Flitwick. "Once the duel has been initiated with a bow, we must always wait to be counted in—the duel of course begins after the count of 'one'! If you have a particularly generous referee, starting early will not result in a forfeit—but one mustn't rely on this! A key theme in duelling at all levels is that of vigilance! One must always be aware of one's surroundings, and this is as key at the beginning of the duel as it is in its middle! At the Novitiate level the spell roster is rather restricted, and there are several preferred starter sets which are commonly used in competitions which have arisen as a natural result of the restricted roster. The specific list of spells which are allowed in the Triwizard Tournament's Pariturium has yet to be formally announced, but I am confident it should not deviate from that which is in use for the Novice European Circuit. In one moment I shall demonstrate the two most common sets."

Flitwick turned away from the Novice students and conjured a target dummy.

"Watch carefully!" he directed the students. He moved through a set of three spells whose motions and even incantations seemed to flow together nicely, the ends of one spelling forming the beginnings of the next. Flitwick paused. "Now for the second set."

Flitwick moved through the second set of spells – three entirely different spells with a completely different cadence – and as far as Harry could tell, the set worked in much the same way as the first: the spells had been chosen so that their wand movements and their incantations complemented one another such that the transition from one spell to the next was smooth and easy.

"Sets like these I have just demonstrated form the basis of Circuit duelling at all levels," said Flitwick after he had finished. "Now, it is important to understand that the utility of spell sets such as these is rather limited outside of formal duelling scenarios, and one should not rely entirely on them even at the Novice level. At the higher levels—beginning in the Juniors—spell sets are much easier to put together, as they do not rely on vocal incantations. However, learning how to execute—and recognise—the most common of these at all levels can mean the difference between a loss and a win in many instances."

Harry saw one of the third year Gryffindors stick up a hand.

"Yes?" asked Flitwick.

"Is that how you won the European Championship, Professor?" she asked.

"Ah, well. I certainly used several spell sets in my Championship duel—including a rather fine example of Hutnik's Sequence even if I do say so myself—but I wouldn't like to say their use is how I won the Championship," said Flitwick. "Instead—and I say this as modestly as it is possible to say—I was simply the better duellist in that match. I had to rely on all the key skills required by duellists to win, such as the aforementioned vigilance, my natural quick wit, and a quite good sense of situational awareness. A rigid and unwavering reliance on spell sets—no matter how well executed—usually works to the detriment of a duellist, especially at the higher levels of competition. At the Novice level it is a tactic that can work, but in the longer term, it does not do to rely on this. Indeed, it is much better to be situationally adaptive and fluid in one's strategy, even at the Novice level of competition."

Harry nodded along at the explanation. All of that made perfect sense to him, although whether Harry himself would be able to put Flitwick's words into practice he couldn't say. Flitwick had given him a lot to think about, however, and Harry scribbled down a note to himself to go scour the library's archives for transcripts of the Flitwick's Championship duels. At the very least, Harry felt like it should be a good a read.

"Now, the first spell I want to introduce to you all isn't flashy or exciting, but it is a very useful little charm indeed!" said Flitwick. "The Disarming Charm—which is very appropriately named, of course—can be used to disarm one's opponent during a duel. It does not simply function against someone holding a wand, but instead will work to make its target drop whatever he or she is holding! So, a useful little charm indeed! Watch as I disarm this poor target dummy!"

Flitwick pointed his wand at the dummy and said the incantation to the charm, loudly and slowly enough for everyone to hear it.

"Expelliarmus!"

The target dummy, which had been holding a stick in one of its hands, dropped it as soon as the spell connected with it.

Harry frowned. If there was a charm that could do that, why then did anyone bother using anything else? He put his hand up to ask.

"Yes, Mr Potter?"

"Erm, I was just wondering, Professor—if there's a spell that can make your opponent drop their wand, why does anyone ever use anything else? Is it just easy to block, or is there some reason…"

"Ah, yes, well," said Flitwick. "In a sport duelling context, there are points awarded for style and form and innovation, of course, which means that one must always be looking to use a wide variety of spells and in an interesting manner—simple use of the Disarming Charm does not win many points! But outside of that context the Disarming Charm is not fool proof. It can be resisted, depending on several factors, and it can be blocked with a powerful enough Shield Charm or a physical barrier. Indeed, if anyone wishes to find an excellent example of a real wizards' duel in which the full array of tactics and techniques was used, look no further than the oft mythologised but still quite true duel between such legendary personages as Merlin and Morgana! There are several academic—but first-hand and quite accurate—accounts of that duel in the library, should any of you be interested in further study. Does that answer your question, Mr Potter?"

Harry nodded.

"Yes, sir." Having to think about his style and his form, and whether or not he'd been innovative – whatever that meant in the context of a formal sport duel – during the duel as well as having to learn and execute the spells seemed like quite a large task to Harry. He supposed that was why wizards considered duelling to be an elite sport, but even so, it felt like rather a lot of things for a Novice to be getting on with.

"Alas we don't have quite enough time this evening to begin our practise with the Disarming Charm, as there are still several other bits and pieces I would like to introduce to you all before our next session on Friday," said Flitwick, "so for now, it is sufficient that we all understand the utility of the Disarming Charm—and its limitations, of course! Now, the next thing…"

Harry listened closely to Flitwick's explanations over the rest of the session.

"Now, for our last little bit I want you all to try out some basic jinxes on one another. Nothing serious and nothing that will last, but something small to give you all a taste of what it means to be in a duel! So to start with I want you to separate into pairs and practise a Tickling Charm on one another. Quickly now, we've not got much time left!" Flitwick tapped the duelling stage with his wand and it expanded to fill much of the remaining space in the Hall. "When you've chosen your partner climb up onto the stage and we'll get started right away!"

Harry shuffled along the scant space remaining in the Hall and chose Theodore as his partner. Harry – along with everyone else – climbed up onto the stage.

"Do you want to go first?" Harry offered Theodore as they took a little space on the stage to themselves. Harry didn't mind going last, and it was just Tickling Charms, anyway.

"Okay," Theodore said. "How do you want to do it? Shall I say or shall I just... you know... cast the spell?"

Harry shrugged.

"Go on, just do it. I'm ready whenever."

Harry gripped his wand and braced for Theodore's Tickling Charm.

"Rictusempra!"

The spell struck Harry right around the ribs and rippled up and down his torso. Theodore hadn't cast a particularly forceful charm; it was a light tickling feeling over Harry's ribs and up through the rest of his body. Not quite enough to make him laugh, even – although he did wriggle a bit.

"Oh, I fluffed it," complained Theodore. "And it's an easy one, too... Well, never mind." He cast a lazy General Counterspell over Harry and the tickling stopped.

"It did tickle a bit," Harry said. "My turn—get ready."

Harry stepped forward and cast the Tickling Charm with a sharp jab of his wand.

Immediately Theodore started to writhe, and after a few moments under the spell let out a raucous laugh the like of which Harry had never heard from Theodore before.

"S-st-stop!" Theodore managed eventually. "P-please, I don't—"

"Finite Incantatem," said Harry quickly.

Harry let Theodore catch his breath before they started over.

This kind of public display isn't really his thing anyway, Harry thought.

"Do you want to go again?" Harry asked after a few moments.

"Not really," Theodore said sourly. "But I will."

They spent a few more minutes sending Tickling Charms at one another, and after his first fumble Theodore did improve. A bit, anyway.

"Well, I think now is a good time to stop," Flitwick declared after a while. "That was wonderful work, everyone! Now, that wasn't a real duel, but hopefully it was a good introduction to what it feels like to stand in front of an opponent. At our next session on Friday we'll go into it a bit more, but for now, I just want you all to have a good hard think on what you've seen here about whether duelling is something you'd like to continue with. But that was brilliant work and you should all be happy!"

After Flitwick had sent everyone away and the second year Slytherins were headed back to the Common Room to get ready for dinner, Harry felt energised rather than tired after a long day of lessons and then right into the duelling session.

"That was brilliant!" Harry declared.

"Could have done with some more actual duelling," said Blaise, "but yeah, it was good. Flitwick knows how to sell duelling, that's for certain."

"It seems like there's a lot to keep up with in a duel," said Daphne. "I don't know if I'll be able to manage, honestly… I'm much better after I've had time to think about things."

"It's only the first session, though," said Tracey, "so keep at it! I think we're all a bit overwhelmed right now, but after a few weeks I bet all of us will be much better at it!"

"I think so too," said Harry. "And at least we've got time to practise before the other schools get here!"

Daphne went pale – or rather, paler – at the mention of the other schools.

"Oh, don't, Harry!" she said. "Can you imagine just making a complete arse of yourself in front of the Beauxbatons lot? I'd have to move to Australia! I'd be so embarrassed I might even die!"

"Don't be so dramatic," said Blaise. "I'm sure you could get away with Egypt instead."

The rest of the week passed Harry by without incident, not even in Defence with the new Professor's clumsy Metamorphmagus assistant or in Divination with Trelawney, and with Friday evening came the second of the scheduled duelling sessions – and the session Harry had been looking forward to the most.

They would attempt to actually duel. Well, they would be practising the Disarming Charm and several other minor jinxes on each other after performing a formal duelling bow, which was close enough in Harry's opinion to count. Certainly it was a lot closer than practising Tickling Charms on each other.

"Snape was rough with the Juniors last time," said Theodore as they walked into the Great Hall for the second duelling session. "I wonder if he'll be a bit more gentle with us…"

Harry shrugged.

"Probably not—I mean, it's Snape," he said. "But it shouldn't matter too much since we're not really duelling…"

The Great Hall was almost as full as it had been on the Wednesday session, although some students had evidently chosen not to continue with the Duelling Club after the introductory session. The crowd was just a little bit thinner as far as Harry could see – although perhaps the Hall itself had grown bigger for the evening, as it was wont to do. Harry assumed in any case that some students would quit after that evening's session, once they realised what duelling actually entailed – he definitely didn't fancy Pansy's chances at staying much longer, at any rate.

The House tables, and the dais on which the Head Table sat, had all been removed and replaced with the long duelling stage once again, although this time it was wider and longer than it had been before, even after Flitwick had enlarged it. A dozen or so target dummies had been placed along it at even intervals, with Snape stood menacingly between them at one end of the platform.

"Novices, by me," directed Snape to the waiting Novices. Students from the other Houses lingered as if waiting for the second and third year Slytherins to fill the space right next to the platform instead, which they did. Harry didn't mind being closer to Snape, not really. While the man wasn't ever pleasant, Slytherins usually had an easier time with him than any of the other Houses, at least in public, and it meant he had a better view of the stage, anyway.

"What the Junior category does with Professor Flitwick is none of your concern this evening," he barked once the students had arranged themselves to his liking. "I want—need—your complete and undivided attention for what we are about to do, so you are to look at me, Weasley and Finnegan, and not at the other end of the Hall!"

After having properly chastised the Gryffindor second years for their inattention, Snape launched into a summation of several of the things Flitwick had talked about during the previous session, focusing mainly on the Disarming Charm. None of it was new information for Harry, so he stood still and tried to look as if he was listening intently.

When Snape had finished, he pointed at a few third years and called them up to the stage.

"We shall need some volunteers to demonstrate the Disarming Charm," Snape said. "Belby and… McClaggen, and … Chang and Bell."

None of the chosen students made any movements until Snape called them again.

"Well? We don't have all evening!" he snapped.

The four students made their way to the duelling stage and stood awkwardly in front of all the other Novices.

"You four are all at the point in your studies where you should be easily able to cast the Disarming Charm," said Snape once they were all in place. "Even without prior experience. First, disarm the dummies. Then if you are successful we shall see how you fare with a living target. McClaggen, you may go first."

McClaggen, one of the larger Gryffindors in the year above, and one Harry had never really had any cause to interact with, took out his wand and lumbered towards one of the target dummies.

"Expelliarmus," said McClaggen, his wand pointed right at the target dummy. Nothing happened, which caused a rippling murmur of laughter to go throughout the other Novices. McClaggen didn't seem to notice, as he instead tried the spell again, and this time the target dummy dropped its stick.

Better late than never, Harry thought.

"Belby, you may go next."

Snape had the other 'volunteers' try out the Disarming Charm on the dummies, and once all of them had managed it, he had them try it out on each other. After several attempts – each – at disarming one another, the four students eventually managed to make each other drop their wands.

"Good," said Snape once they had finished. "Now for the next set." He called up another lot of students to practise on the dummies, a mixture of second and third years this time, and had them repeat the exact same exercise as the first four. Several of the students managed to hold onto their wands despite being hit with the spell, which Harry found interesting.

Flitwick had said at the previous session the Disarming Charm didn't always work, but Harry hadn't expected to see an example of that so soon in the year. By the time it got around to Harry, he felt glad that he'd got the chance to watch others do it first. That, and the fact that he'd spent a few hours reading up on the Disarming Charm after lessons, made Harry feel reasonably confident that he could manage it.

"Potter and Thomas next," called Snape once the previous group had performed to his satisfaction. "And then Greengrass and Granger, with… hm. Boot and Macmillan, and Bones and Turpin."

Harry made his way to the stage right away, not wanting to earn the ire of the grouchy and intolerant Potions professor in front of basically the whole school. It seemed like the others had the same idea, as they were all soon stood on the stage in front of dummies of their own.

"Demonstrate the charm, Potter," directed Snape. "Be quick about it."

Harry didn't need to be told twice. He pointed his wand directly at the target dummy and cast the spell. The dummy dropped its stick to the stage.

If I couldn't manage it on a bloody inanimate dummy I'd have no chance against a real wizard, Harry thought. Still, he couldn't help but smile at his success.

Snape didn't bother to note Harry's success. Instead, he called on Thomas to try the spell, too. The other boy managed it on his second try, and then he too was switched out in favour of the next student. Harry didn't quite understand why Snape was having them do it one-by-one and in front of everyone else, since it seemed like it increased the pressure and made it much more embarrassing to get it wrong.

Although that's probably the point, Harry realised after further thought.

Once the others in his group had successfully demonstrated the spell. the only one having any trouble at all, really, being Lisa Turpin, Snape had them face off against one another.

Harry got matched against Thomas as the first of the demonstrations. The goal was to be the first to disarm the other, at least for the first go, which Harry thought was doable.

"After the count of one, begin," said Snape. "Three… two… one!"

As fast as he could Harry whipped his wand around and cast the Disarming Charm at Thomas – although Thomas attempted the same. Twin jets of scarlet light shot from the ends of the two boys' wands and passed each other mid-air. Fortunately, Harry was much faster than the other boy, and Thomas dropped his wand to the ground and swore. His spell went wide and missed Harry completely.

"Good," said Snape. "Next, Potter, you will allow Thomas to attempt to disarm you."

Harry nodded grudgingly. It felt wrong to just stand there and let someone else deprive him of his wand on purpose. But that was the whole exercise, so he waited for Thomas to pick up his wand and try out the spell. Harry didn't intend to give his wand up easily, though, since if he could manage to keep hold of it after being hit with the spell, that seemed like it would be fair enough.

Harry watched as Thomas levelled his wand at him and cast the Disarming Charm. Harry felt it hit, felt a twitch in his hand like he was about to drop his wand, almost like he wanted to... and yet he didn't. He refused, and his wand stayed put, clenched in his fist. Harry grinned.

"You may attempt the Charm on someone else, Thomas," said Snape. "Potter, switch with Boot."

Harry moved away and allowed Thomas and Boot to go through the demonstration again. Once they were done, Snape quickly cycled through everyone else waiting to give the Disarming Charm a go. For the final bit of the session Snape himself demonstrated how to link the Disarming Charm with several other minor jinxes which should allow the disarmament of someone who'd resisted the Charm first off. To Harry's disappointment, the session ended before the students could try out any of it. Still, as he walked back to the dungeons with his Slytherin friends, he felt like the session had gone really well.

"That was great," said Harry. "Still not enough real duelling but I suppose that will come later…"

"Great for you, maybe," said Blaise. "I can do the spell easily," he complained, "but my wand just won't stay in my hand when I get hit with it… How can I get on the competition if I can't keep my bloody wand in my hand?"

"I thought boys were meant to be really good at keeping their wands in hand," said Millicent with a snigger.

"Oh, ha ha," said Blaise. "I'm serious, though—it's all well and good being able to fire off spells, which I'm good at by the way, but you have to have your wand to cast."

"Maybe you just need more practise," said Theodore. "I couldn't resist the spell, either, mind. Most people couldn't—you were there, you saw. In a real duel you can move about a bit, anyway, so it's not just standing around getting hit with spells."

"I don't know if I'll keep coming," said Daphne. "It's a bit boring, standing about watching people do spells and then when I finally got a chance to join in, I just dropped my wand."

"Oh, keep at it until we get started properly," advised Tracey. "I think it'll be loads more fun then! And then if you do give up, you can say you gave it your all."

"Mm, maybe," said Daphne. "I'll see how I feel next week. At least it's the weekend now and we can just relax!"

"Maybe you lot can relax," said Harry, "but Hooch said it's the first round of flying qualifiers this weekend, so I'll be up in the air for most if it."

"Ooh, I nearly forgot about that!" said Tracey. "We'll be there to watch you, won't we, everyone?"

Theodore nodded at the suggestion, while Blaise made a non-committal grunt.

"I'll come, too," said Millicent. "How about it, Daph?"

"Well, I do have a new summer robe I've been dying to wear out, so maybe…" said Daphne.

"Nice one, guys," said Harry with a big grin. He felt better knowing that there would be people watching him at the weekend – and it added just that little bit of extra incentive to do well, too.