This was NOT easy to write. Working overtime, a pandemic, and an election, oh my! Glad I'm done with this chapter, though. I've got plans for the next one already.

Enjoy!

Chapter 17

Duel

December came faster than anyone in the group realized. Professor McGonagall came around collecting names of students who would be staying at Hogwarts over the holidays. Harry, Ron, and Hermione signed the list having heard that Malfoy was also staying which raised red flags for the group. Unfortunately for Rin and Yukio, they were heading home again for the holidays as well as their birthday.

Rin and Hermione were spending their free time making sure the Polyjuice Potion was ready. It was almost done, they just needed a bicorn horn and boomslang skin. The problem was that the only place they could find them was in Snape's storage room. Harry would rather face Slytherin's monster than risk getting caught robbing Snape's office.

"Could we, perhaps, substitute the ingredients?" asked Yukio.

Rin shook his head no. "This isn't like cooking, Yukio. One wrong ingredient in a potion could affect the whole thing," he explained. "Substituting potion ingredients could change how the Polyjuice Potion works. For all we know, it could poison them instead of changing them into Slytherins." Yukio blinked at his brother's explanation. He could count on one hand how many times Rin said something that intelligent.

"What we need is a diversion," Hermione said briskly. They were about to part ways with Yukio, who had Charms next with the Hufflepuffs.

Yukio was starting to see what Hermione was thinking. "If someone made a diversion, then one of you can sneak into Snape's office and take what you need," he realized.

The boys looked at each other nervously.

"I think I should do the stealing," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Harry, Ron, you two will be expelled if you get into any more trouble and I've got a clean record. All Rin has to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for about five minutes or so."

Rin faltered. "Me?! Why do I have to distract Snape? My record isn't exactly spotless either, you know!" he exclaimed.

"You didn't drive a flying car into the Whomping Willow," said Yukio. "All you have are fights and broken noses."

A tick mark appeared on Rin's head. "Why do you guys keep bringing that up?"

"Please Rin?" Hermione pleaded.

Everyone was giving Rin pleading looks. Now that he thought about it if Harry or Ron created a diversion, Snape would undoubtedly suspect them and they'd get into huge trouble. Add the fact their records were terrible this year, a simple prank would probably get them into heavy duty trouble. Rin had been in a few unimportant scuffles this year but that only cost Gryffindor a few points.

Rin sighed. "Fine. I'll do it," he said, "but I need an idea."

Ron noticed Fred and George coming out of History of Magic and went over to them. The four of them watched and waited for their redheaded friend to return. When he did, he had a Filibuster Firework in his hand.

"How's this for a diversion?" Ron slyly asked.

"Brilliant!" Harry praised.

"Perfect!" Rin added.

"Think you can conjure a flame to light this?" Hermione asked, causing Yukio to look at her in shock.

"I can try," Rin answered. "If not, I'll use the flames from the fire heating our potion."

~0~0~0~

The heist was a success. Rin managed to fire the firework into Goyle's cauldron while Snape wasn't looking (he didn't want to risk Snape getting a glimpse of his flames so he used the safe route of using the cauldron fire instead). It caused the perfect amount of mayhem to keep the Potions Master busy while Hermione slipped into his office to retrieve the ingredients. Snape vowed to expel the culprit when he found them. The four Gryffindors used their best puzzled expressions to seem as innocent as possible.

Hermione dumped the ingredients into the Polyjuice Potion and proudly announced that it would be ready in about two weeks.

A week later, the five friends were crossing the entrance hall when they noticed several students crowding around the notice board. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas noticed them and beckoned them over.

"What's going on?" asked Yukio.

"They're starting a Dueling Club!" Seamus announced excitedly. "First meeting's tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days…"

Ron read the sign. "What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" he asked skeptically.

Yukio shrugged. "Could be useful; give us a chance to learn how to protect ourselves," he suggested. "Shall we go?"

Rin nodded. "I'm up for it!" he said eagerly. "We could learn a new spell or something!"

Hermione giggled. "As long as you don't set anything on fire."

A tick mark appeared on his head. "Lay off!" Rin barked.

~0~0~0~

"I wonder who will be teaching us?" Hermione asked that evening. Several students had gathered in the Great Hall. All of them had brought their wands and looked very eager to begin.

"Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young," Ron informed. "Maybe it'll be him."

Yukio nodded. "It would make sense. I've heard him share many dueling stories."

"As long as it's not -" Harry started but ended with a groan.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rin exclaimed in disbelief.

Gilderoy Lockhart walked onto the stage, wearing deep plum robes, and accompanied by none other than Professor Snape, wearing his usual black robes.

Lockhart had his trademark smile on his face as he waved an arm to silence the crowd. "Gather round! Gather round! Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works."

"As soon as he writes something useful in them," Rin muttered to his brother who chuckled.

The two teachers walked onto the stage and demonstrated how to properly duel.

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered to his friends.

Yukio snorted. "'Good?' It would be a blessing." All four boys snickered. Hermione just sneered at them.

Lockhart and Snape faced each other and bowed. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative positions," Lockhart explained to the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Harry muttered, watching Snape bare his teeth. Harry leaned towards Yukio and Ron. "I think you're both onto something. It would be a blessing if they finished each other off." Both of them had to muffle their laughter.

"One… Two… Three!"

Both teachers waved their wands above their heads and pointed them at each other.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape cried out. A flash of red light shot out of Snape's wand and blasted Lockhart off the stage. Malfoy and the Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on her tiptoes trying to get a look at Lockhart.

"Do you think he's alright?" Hermione squealed through her fingers.

"Who cares?" the four boys responded.

Lockhart clumsily got back to his feet. "Well, there you have it!" he said, unsteadily getting back onto the stage. "That was the Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown…"

"Ex… expellarm… no…" Rin tried to recite.

"It's ex-pell-i-arm-us," Hermione gently explained. "Imagine there's an S in there. It almost sounds like the word 'spell' is in there."

"Exs… expelliarmus!" Rin tried again.

Hermione smiled. "There you are," she praised.

Yukio looked at Hermione. "That was impressive. How did you do that?" he asked.

The two teachers wandered around the room, splitting the students into pairs. Slytherin girl Izumo Kamiki was paired with poor Shiemi. Neville was paired with a Hufflepuff boy named Justin Finch-Fletchley. Snape then approached the five friends.

"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered. Yukio put his hand on Rin's shoulder to keep him from doing anything rash. Snape, misunderstanding the gesture between the twins, shook his head. "Don't even think about it, you two. Yukio Okumura, you can partner with Shima. Rin Okumura, you partner with Suguro."

Rin's jaw practically fell to the floor. "Suguro?! He'll kick my ass!" he exclaimed.

Snape gave the blue-haired boy a nasty little grin. "Consider this a learning experience then." He then moved on to the others. "And watch your tongue, Okumura. I will not warn you again." Snape then partnered Ron with Seamus, Hermione with Millicent Bulstrode whom Rin recognized as one of Shiemi's tormentors. Harry, unsurprisingly, was paired with Malfoy.

As Malfoy strutted over to Harry, Rin walked towards Suguro, dragging his feet. For a guy who always had a scowl on his face, Suguro looked pretty smug.

"You're not acting as confident as the last time I met you," said Suguro.

Rin scowled. "Maybe it's because I have to duel your sorry ass!" he responded.

Suguro smirked. "It'll be your ass that will be sorry."

"Face your partners!" Lockhart called out from the stage. "And bow!"

Rin and Suguro bowed like two adults would have in Japan.

"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart shouted. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents, and only disarm - we don't want any accidents! - one, two, three!"

"Expelli -" Rin started but Suguro beat him to it.

"Furnunculus!" he shouted. A gold light shot out of Suguro's wand, hitting Rin in the face. Rin stumbled but remained standing. He then felt pimples sprout all over his face. Suguro smirked.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted as the room erupted into a battlefield.

Rin scowled and pointed his wand at Suguro. "Diffindo!" he recited. Pink light, mixed with familiar blue sparks, shot out of his wand. It hit Suguro's waist, knocking him over. He got back up, but before he could strike back, his pants fell down to his ankles, revealing light blue briefs with yellow ducks on them.

Suguro's face turned as red as Ron's hair. Rin couldn't help but laugh through his giant pimples. "You look dumber than me! Ducks?!" he laughed. He had to remember to tell Fred and George the benefits of the Severing Charm.

Suguro gave Rin a look deadlier than anything he had seen. "You're dead, Okumura," he growled.

Shiemi, meanwhile, laid on the floor stiff as a board while Izumo lazily inspected her nails. It was clear she made quick work of Shiemi by using the Full Body-Bind Curse. Shima was covered in fur while Yukio had many more moles on his body, so much so that he looked like he had a severe case of chickenpox.

"Stop! Stop!" Lockhart cried.

Snape took over and put a stop to the madness. "Finite Incantatem!" he shouted.

A haze of green smoke filled the room. The effects of everyone's spells were immediately reversed. Rin's face cleared up, Yukio was back to having three moles on his face, Shima was no longer covered in fur, and Shiemi was able to move again. Suguro quickly pulled his pants up before anyone noticed.

"Dear, dear…" Lockhart muttered as he looked at the aftermath of the multiple duels. "I think I better teach you all how to block unfriendly spells." He looked over the students. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you…"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape said. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending Finch-Fletchley to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox."

"Very well. How about Okumura and Suguro?"

"Okumura's spells cause just as much devastation, if not more," Snape replied. "His tendency to set things on fire would undoubtedly send Suguro to the Hospital Wing with third degree burns at best." Neville and Rin's faces turned bright pink at those statements. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" he suggested with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" Lockhart said, gesturing Harry and Malfoy to the center of the room as the crowd backed away to give them space. Rin took this opportunity to shuffle back to his fellow Gryffindors before Suguro unleashed his revenge on him.

"Think Harry will kick Malfoy's ass?" Rin asked his friends.

"Absolutely!" Ron exclaimed.

"If all else fails, he can use his fists," said Seamus.

Neville frowned. "That's not very sportsmanlike," he stated.

Rin rolled his eyes. "Malfoy's a Slytherin. Everything he does is unsportsmanlike."

"Three… two… one… Go!" Lockhart shouted.

Malfoy quickly raised his wand and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"

A long, black snake shot out of the tip of the wand, startling Harry as well as everyone in the room. It slithered about, ready to strike anyone who was close enough to it. Lockhart tried to get rid of it but it only made the magically conjured reptile angrier. It hissed furiously and viciously and it slithered towards Justin.

What happened next was rather both startling and amazing for Rin. Harry approached the snake and started hissing and spitting at it as if he were communicating with it. Miraculously, the snake then lowered its body to the ground and went docile.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Justin shouted at Harry. The Hufflepuff boy then stormed out of the room.

"What the heck just happened?" Rin asked.

"I never would have guessed," Dean muttered.

"I can't believe my ears," Seamus breathed.

"The hell are you guys talking about?" Rin asked irritably.

Yukio grabbed the back of Rin's shirt collar and dragged him out of the room, Ron dragging Harry behind him. Hermione led them into an empty classroom where Ron pushed Harry into a desk chair.

"You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked.

Harry blinked. "I'm a what?"

"A Parselmouth!" Ron repeated. "You can talk to snakes!"

"I know," Harry said like it was nothing. "I mean, I've accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo. So what? I bet loads of people can do it."

"That's so cool!" Rin exclaimed in awe.

"It's not 'cool!'" Ron exclaimed. "This is bad."

Harry frowned in confusion. "How is it bad? If I hadn't told that snake to leave Justin alone -"

"That's what you told it?" asked Yukio.

"You heard me!"

"We heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. "Snake language."

"I didn't know snakes had their own language," said Rin.

Yukio gripped his chin. "I can see why Justin freaked out. In his eyes, you were probably egging the snake on. Plus, it sounded kind of creepy."

"I spoke another language?!" Harry gaped. "I didn't know - I didn't realize - how can I speak another language without knowing it?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other like someone had died.

Yukio released an irritated sigh. "Could you two fill us in on what's going on?"

"Yeah, why is telling the snake not to hurt Justin a bad thing?" Rin added.

"Being able to talk to snakes is what Salazar Slytherin was famous for," Hermoine finally spoke. "That's why the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent."

"What?!" Harry and the Okumura twins cried.

"Exactly," said Ron. "Now the whole school will think you're his great-great-grandson or something."

"But I'm not!" Harry exclaimed in a panicked tone.

"He can't be," said Yukio.

Hermione shook her head. "You'll find that hard to prove. He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."

"Then why is Harry in Gryffindor and not in Slytherin?" Rin asked in anger.

No one saw Harry shuffle uncomfortably in his seat.

I'm actually proud of this one. I'm already replaying a scene for the next chapter in my head over and over. Now I just need to think of what else should be added to said chapter.

Hope everyone's safe and healthy, especially in the US. This election is crazy to put it mildly.

Keep reviewing. I need something to keep myself sane.