26
The Dueling Club
Emily woke the next morning to notice that there was a slight chill to the room. She sat up pulling her wand out from under her pillow to recast the temperature charm. She took notice that Draco wasn't in the room, so she assumed he was taking a shower. Her mind flashed to the night before, contemplating what she had heard. The door to the room opened and Draco walked in pushing her current train of thought from her mind.
"Good morning," Draco said noticing she was awake.
"Morning," Emily answered stretching her arms above her head.
"You got in late last night. I tried to stay up but I was exhausted."
"Its okay, I got carried away brewing with Fred and George, by the time I got to the infirmary I stumbled upon that house elf visiting my brother again..." As Emily got prepared for her day she explained to Draco what she had heard in the hospital wing last night. He was of the same mind that telling Severus had been the correct thing to do.
They made their way up to the Great Hall and were met with hushed whispers. Taking their places at the Slytherin table by Marcus, Emily was beginning to get curious as to why people kept looking at her. "Marcus what's going on?"
"And can you pass the bacon," Draco added already pouring himself a cup of tea.
"A student was attacked last night. It was one of the Gryff first years," he informed Emily as he passed the plate of bacon to Draco who nodded in thanks.
"Attacked?" she asked confused.
"Yeah like Filch's cat. Apparently he is petrified and up in the hospital wing."
Emily's mind went back to last night, the only person who had been in the hospital wing was her brother. She then thought about how Severus had been called to the Headmaster's office, that must have been when it happened. "How was a first year attacked so late at night?"
"It was that kid who is always trailing after you and your brother with his camera. People think he was sneaking out to go see him." Emily shook her head that kid had no boundaries.
As Emily ate she thought over this new information. The boy must have been found not long after she left the hospital wing and that didn't sit well with her. She had been in the halls when the boy had been attacked, it made her a bit nervous.
The school seemed to be on alert after that morning. First years could be seen traveling in large packs, making sure they were never alone. The atmosphere in the castle was one of nervousness and suspicion. Emily noticed that Ginny Weasley seemed to be very upset, more so than the others in her year. Fred and George kept trying to cheer her up with their various potion creations but they only appeared to make things worse. Emily had helped them create a potion that covered your body in bright colorful fur, but when they tried using it to make her laugh she had run away from them screaming. They had come back to the brewing room to hide from Percy after he had threatened to write their mother if they didn't leave Ginny alone.
Many students out of fear seemed to be purchasing amulets and random knickknacks that were meant to protect the owner from harm. Emily even watched as Longbottom bought an onion that had been painted green and was slightly rotting. She was surprised that he would be worried as he was a pureblood and according to the rumors the people who needed to be nervous were the muggleborns.
Severus came around the Slytherin table the second week of December seeing who would be staying for Christmas. Emily and Draco had signed up because Lucius and Narcissa had business out of town and they thought the teens would enjoy being at the castle more than joining them. The majority of people seemed to be leaving the castle, not in excitement to see their families but out of fear from the recent events. Emily and Draco were fine with the decision to stay but were a bit disappointed that they learned they wouldn't have the common room to themselves this year because Theo, Crabbe and Goyle would be staying as well.
Emily had also been informed by Myrtle that her brother and his friends were planning something and had begun brewing in her bathroom. When Myrtle had pointed out which stall it was Emily decided to snoop and checked the conditions of the cauldron. She couldn't tell by the smell or the appearance what they were brewing, all she could tell was that it was in its early stages but she knew that there was no temperature control in the stall. She decided to cast a few charms to make it safer for them to brew there.
On Thursday they had potions with the Gryffindors. Emily was getting annoyed because Theo kept trying to throw puffer-fish eyes into Harry and Weasley's cauldron.
"That is so dangerous, why must he keep throwing things," Emily said annoyed.
"Sev will give him a detention tonight you know that," Draco told her while stirring their Swelling Solution.
"Wait what is Harry doing…" Emily looked at her brother who had ducked behind his cauldron. She watched as he stood up looking around him before chucking something towards Goyle's cauldron. Emily grabbed Draco and quickly cast a shield around them. Seconds later Goyle's potion exploded. Theo's face began to swell as the potion dripped down his head. Emily turned her head and noticed Granger slipping into Severus's private supply cupboard.
"OUIET! Everyone stop what you are doing now!" Severus yelled. "If you have been splashed please come forward. Miss Potter and Mr. Malfoy if you could assist me in passing out the Deflating Draughts…"
Emily and Draco moved forward quickly helping to pass out the draughts to all the students who had been splashed which, was almost every Slytherin. Emily glared at her brother as she continued to help out. What had he been thinking?
Severus was trying to help Goyle when Emily saw Granger slip back into the room. What ingredients did they need that they had to steal them to get, couldn't they have just send out an owl order? She was conflicted, she wanted to tell Severus but she knew her brother would be angry if he found out she had been the one who told. Emily and Draco started to clean away the mess around the room careful not to touch any of it. Severus examined Goyle's cauldron and pulled out what looked to be the crumpled remains of a firework.
The room fell quiet at the look on Severus' face. "Whoever threw this will be expelled when I find out who you are!" Severus whispered. "You are dismissed."
As the class filed out Emily and Draco were moving to collect their things. Emily could tell Severus was radiating anger. He hated when people so carelessly made a dangerous class more so.
"Sev…" Emily said looking over the black haired man. "It was Harry."
"Are you sure?" he said looking up from what he was writing.
"Yes, but please find something else to punish him for. I don't care if it's pointless, I know he deserves it but he thinks no one saw and I don't want him blaming me." He seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head. Emily gave the man a hug before her and Draco headed off to their next class.
A day later Emily heard that her brother had received a week's worth of detention from Severus. Weasley had been complaining loudly in the hallways about the unfairness of it for days after it happened. Emily could only think her brother deserved more than a week, Theo had received five nights of detention and he had never actually gotten his puffer-fish eyes into Harry's cauldron.
It was a full week after the potions accident that a notice was posted, causing a whole new kind of commotion.
"What's going on?" Emily asked Marcus when she noticed the people crowded around the Slytherin notice board.
"There is a new Dueling Club starting tonight," Marcus told her. "Shame it took something like this to start one though."
"A dueling club would be fun," Draco said spinning his wand through his fingers. "We need the practice, it's been a bit since we've sparred."
"So I guess we are going then..."
At eight o'clock that night Emily and Draco joined most of the school in the Great Hall for the Dueling Club. All the House tables had been removed from the hall, instead there was a large golden stage. As usual the hall was lit by thousands of floating candles and the velvety sky above.
"So who do you think is running the club?" Emily asked Draco.
"I don't know, I'm surprised Sev didn't tell us about it."
Just then Lockhart walked onto the stage earning a groan from Emily. The man was wearing bright purple robes and was followed by a very sour looking Severus. Emily rolled her eyes wondering how Severus got roped into this as Lockhart made a big show of calling attention to himself.
"I have been granted permission by Professor Dumbledore to begin a dueling club. Since I have proved my excellence, on many an occasion, in the art of defense I am here to train you all to defend yourself against an opponent. I would like you all to acknowledge my assistant Professor Snape," Lockhart announced gesturing to Severus.
"Uncle Sev looks like he is going to kill him," Draco whispered to Emily.
Emily covered her smirk with her hand trying not to burst into laughter watching Lockhart wildly gesture while he spoke and Severus' death glare aimed at the man.
"I have been told that Professor Snape knows a small amount about dueling and has agreed to help me demonstrate for all of you. Now, you need not fear, I promise your Potions Master will be relatively unharmed during this demonstration!"
"I don't think its Sev people should be worried about getting harmed," Emily commented.
Draco smirked, "If I was Lockhart I would run now."
Emily agreed, a smart person when faced with that glare from Severus would run away as quickly as possible.
Severus and Lockhart took their places on the stage facing each other. Lockhart made an exaggerated bow while Severus barely inclined his head. They then raised their wands and crossed their chest before swiftly bringing their wand arm down to their side. They turned walking a few paces away from each other before turning to face one another again.
"As you see we have appropriately acknowledged our opponent and now on the count of three we will cast a spell in an attempt to disarm the other. We are not trying to kill each other," Lockhart announced.
"Pity," Emily heard someone say behind her, causing her to smirk.
"One… Two… Three…"
Before Lockhart could even raise his wand Severus had cried "Expelliarmus", a bright flash of scarlet light erupted from his wand hitting Lockhart in the chest. Lockhart went flying off the stage slamming into the wall behind him, sliding down it he crumpled into a ball on the ground. Most of the guys around Emily cheered while the girls seemed to be worried about the man. Emily could care less if the man was alright and smirked at Severus who looked amused. Lockhart used the wall to help him get slowly to his feet. Once standing the man began primping himself. His hair seemed to be giving him the most trouble as it was standing on end. Severus may have put a little more power than was truly needed but it sure was amusing to Emily to see the man so out of sorts.
"Well that was our demonstration!" Lockhart said stumbling back to the golden platform. "What Professor Snape just showed you is called the Disarming Charm. I no longer have my wand… oh, Miss Brown thank you… it was a great idea on Professor Snape's part to show you that but it was very obvious as to what he was about to do. I could have easily stopped you if I had wanted but I thought that you all needed to see…"
"You have to give it to him, the man is persistent. He gets slammed into a wall yet he still stands up and pretends to be the better wizard," Blaise whispered gaining nods from the other Slytherins around them.
Lockhart took that moment to look at Severus and stopped talking once he noticed the murderous look on the Potion Master's face. "Anyway, let's move on! We are going to move among you and place you into pairs so you can practice."
Emily watched as Severus made his way towards Harry and his friends. Severus called Theo over to partner with her brother, it was obvious to Emily that this was just another punishment for their behavior in potions class. Weasley partnered with Finnigan and Granger was paired with Millicent Bulstrode. Draco and Emily stayed together and faced each other with matching smirks. They liked to duel each other under the instruction of Severus. Emily had learned that many of the Pureblood families taught their children basic dueling techniques from a young age. The Malfoys had made a point to start teaching Emily over the summer.
"I want you to face you partners and acknowledge them with a bow!" Lockhart called to the students.
Emily and Draco formally inclined their heads to each other before turning to take a few paces giving themselves more room. They fell into a fighting stance and waited for the count.
"On three I want you to disarm your opponent just as you saw Professor Snape perform a minute ago. Now you are to only disarm them nothing more! Wands ready… one… two –"
But Lockhart never got to three because at the call of two Theo's voice was heard yelling a spell through the hall. Emily turned to see Harry stumble a bit before steadying himself. Once he had fully recovered he pointed his wand at Theo and shouted 'Rictusempra'. The silvery light that left Harry's wand hit Theo and he doubled over grabbing his stomach, wheezing for air. Harry had hit him with a Tickling Charm. The Slytherin finally could no longer stand and fell to his knees. Theo who was gasping for breath was still somehow able to cast 'Tarantallegra' which hit Harry causing his legs to begin moving quickly out of his control.
Lockhart was trying to make his way through the crowd to the boys, yelling for them to stop. Severus scowled at the students and a path was promptly made so he could reach Harry and Theo. He raised his wand casting 'Finite Incantatem' on both boys. Harry's legs stopped moving and Theo stopped laughing which allowed him to stand back up.
Emily took in the scene surrounding her brother. Weasley had obviously tried to help but instead had hurt Finnigan with his broken wand. Granger who looked like she had tried to run to Harry's side was being held in a headlock by Millicent. Both girls' wands lay forgotten on the floor.
"Perhaps we should teach you to block spells," Lockhart said looking around the room. His eyes fell on Severus only to look away quickly. "I will pick a pair to come forward… Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Finch-Fletchley…"
"No, I do not believe that to be a good idea," Severus said calmly advancing back to the platform. "Longbottom has trouble casting the simplest of spells and Finch-Fletchley will be on his way to the hospital wing in a matter of seconds from the devastation. I suggest that we use Mr. Potter and Mr. Nott. They seem eager enough."
"Wonderful idea Professor!" Lockhart exclaimed motioning for the two boys to come to the center of the room. The students in the area backed up to give them enough space. Lockhart walked over to Harry while Severus walked up to Theo. Harry looked dismayed when Lockhart raised his wand waving it around a bit before dropping it. He blushed saying his wand was overexcited before backing away from Harry.
Severus smirked when Lockhart dropped his wand and bent forward to whisper into Theo's ear before retreating back towards the crowd as well.
"On the count of three," Lockhart said. "One… two… three!"
Theo was quick to call out "Serpensortia!" The room watched as a long black snake shot from the end of the Theo's wand. As soon as it hit the floor it raised its head ready to strike. People screamed and started backing away.
Severus made a move forward, "I will get rid of it, no one move."
"I will do it!" Lockhart called moving forward not wanting to be shown up. He waved his wand towards the snake but instead of vanishing the creature, it flew into the air and came crashing back down with a loud smack. The snake was angered poising itself to strike Finch-Fletchley. Emily quickly moved towards the snake without thinking.
"It's okay little one. Come to me," she said bending down and holding out her arm.
The snake looked to her and hissed, "Ssspeaker…"
"Yesss come to me," Emily kept her arm outstretched.
The snake looked back to the scared boy before slithering towards Emily and wrapping itself around her arm. Emily stood petting the snake with care. She looked around to see fear in the eyes of those around her. She turned to her brother who looked just as confused at the reaction of those around them as she was.
Emily felt Draco's hand on her back. "Come on we need to get out of here," he whispered guiding her to the doors of the Great Hall. Emily could feel Marcus right behind them. Draco directed her swiftly through the castle to the common room. Emily didn't understand why she felt a protective aura coming from Draco and Marcus.
"Guys what's going on?" Emily said still petting the snake who was hissing in contentment.
"You're a Parselmouth," Draco answered looking back towards the entrance briefly.
"Yes…"
"Little snake, you two should go to your room the students will start to come back and I am unsure of what their reactions will be," Marcus said urging them towards the dorms. When Emily and Draco reached Draco's room they both climbed on the bed as Emily let the snake coil itself on the blanket in front of her.
"Dray, what is the big deal with me speaking to snakes?"
"I don't care, but the school is not going to be so kind…"
"That is because…"
"Because it is looked on as a Dark quality, one indicative of a Dark witch or wizard."
The witch sighed as she kept stroking the head of the snake, "Lovely."
Emily rested her head on Draco's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.
"I'm going to name her Isis, after the Egyptian Goddess of magic," Emily told Draco after a few minutes of silence. "There is a legend that states that Isis conjured a snake to bite the God Ra to gain his secrets. It seems fitting to name her Isis when she was conjured to fight and brought to me by magic."
"Do you like the name Isisss little one?"
"Yesss sspeaker…" the snake hissed.
"Then that will be your name… I will take care of you from now on…"
"Thank you misstresss…"
"She likes it," Emily smiled.
"I see. So, when did you find out you could speak to snakes? Can your brother do it too?" Draco reached out tentatively and ran a few fingers along the snake, when he didn't seem bothered by his touch he continued to stroke the animal with his friend.
"Yeah, Harry and I both can speak to them. We found out when we went to the zoo on Dudley's eleventh birthday. I kind of set it free in a fit of anger at Dudley."
Draco started to laugh and shook his head before resting it on Emily's. "Only you Em, only you."
The next day they woke to snow blanketing the grounds around Hogwarts and Professor Sprout having canceled all Herbology classes. She was busy putting socks and scarves on the Mandrakes and she didn't want the students there as it was a tricky endeavor, the Mandrakes needed to be handled with the upmost care so Creevey and Mrs. Norris could be revived.
Emily took the free time to be in the library. While she was searching for a book Emily noticed a bunch of Hufflepuff second years at a table close by. They didn't appear to actually be studying anything instead they were leaning close together and talking.
"I told Justin it would just be better to stay in the dorms when not in class. He is obviously going to be her next victim. I mean he knew this could happen… he did mention that he is a muggleborn to Harry and why wouldn't he tell his sister," said a stout boy.
"You really think Slytherin's heir is Emily Potter, Ernie?" a blond girl asked leaning further over her open book.
"Hannah she's in Slytherin and she's a Parselmouth. Name one person in history who could speak to snakes that wasn't considered Dark. Salazar Slytherin was called Serpent-tongue and we all know how he turned out."
Emily could hear them drop their voice before the boy named Ernie spoke again, "The wall said 'Enemies of the Heir, Beware'. You can explain away Filch everyone hates him but Creevey has been annoying the Potters all year. I heard he was on his way to the hospital wing to try and get a picture of Harry but Emily must have stopped him before he could get there."
"Sure she's in Slytherin but she doesn't seem Dark," Hannah said. "She did pick up the snake before it hurt anyone. Plus, her and Harry made You-Know-Who vanish. How could someone who does that be bad?"
"They were only babies and any normal person would have died. You would have to be very powerful in Dark Arts to be able to survive something like that. Maybe You-Know-Who was trying to get rid of the competition."
"So you think Harry is Dark too?"
"I don't know, they are siblings but perhaps she's threatening him. I mean you've all heard the stories how they survived and were marked but why can we only see Harry's scar?"
Emily had enough. She stepped out from where she was in the stacks clearing her throat as she glared daggers at the Hufflepuffs in front of her. They all froze and Ernie turned white. Fear was clearly written across their faces.
"Hello," Emily said calmly. "Why do you all look so terrified?"
All the Hufflepuffs turned to Ernie, looking at him to answer for them. "We aren't scared," he said though his voice was trembling.
"I see," Emily said turning to leave.
"You can trace my blood for nine generations of purity!" Ernie blurted out quickly.
Emily turned back around raising an eyebrow at the boy, "And I care for your blood status because?"
"I hear you hate the muggles you grew up with and that you live with the Malfoys now. The Malfoys care about status."
"I would love to watch you try and survive a day living with the Dursleys and walk away with feelings other than hate for them. As for the Malfoys they are a strong and honorable family."
"Everyone knows the Malfoys are as Dark as they come!"
Emily shook her head and laughed at the boy, "I'm sorry you are so blinded by prejudice, I thought Hufflepuffs were better than this."
With that Emily turned to leave. When she was close to the door she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to find the Hufflepuff fifth year that she thought was rather cute.
"I'm sorry, I overheard what they were saying and you are right, Hufflepuffs should be better than that."
"Thanks," Emily said not really knowing how to respond.
"I'm Cedric Diggory," he held out his hand to her with a smile.
"Emily Potter," she said shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you as well. Where are you headed?" he asked as they walked out of the library.
"I actually need to go pick up my books for my next class," she said pointing down the corridor she needed to take.
"I'm heading the other way but um… maybe we can hang out sometime."
"Yeah sure," Emily responded mentally hitting herself for her lame answer. Cedric waved to her smiling as he took off down the corridor.
Emily turned around and almost ran directly into Hagrid, who was moving quite quickly towards her.
"All righ' there Em?" Hagrid asked beaming at her. Emily took in Hagrid's appearance he was wearing his heavy fur jacket and had a dead rooster in one of his hands.
"Hi Hagrid, what are you doing with the rooster?" she said pointing to the bird.
"It's the second one I've found dead this term," he told her. "Something is killin' 'em so I am going ter get the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm on the coop."
"Oh, that's too bad," she said glancing down the hallway. "I'm sorry Hagrid but I really need to run and grab my books for my next class."
"Okay, hurry along and have a good day!"
"Thanks Hagrid, you too," Emily said heading back off down the corridor. Deciding she needed to hurry she took a passageway she knew of and ran down it. When she exited she turned a corner and tripped. She moved to stand to see what she tripped over and froze. Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the ground unmoving and Sir Nicolas was floating unresponsive next to him. Emily noticed that Nicolas was black and smoky instead of white and partially transparent. Both of their faces held expressions of shock.
Emily decided she needed to get Severus but before she could move Peeves came flying out of a door to her right. He flew over and patted her head. "What is dear Emmy doing?" he asked before his eyes caught sight of Finch-Fletchley and Nicolas. "ATTACK! NO GHOSTIE OR GHOULIE IS SAFE! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN THERE'S BEEN AN ATTACK!"
It took seconds for the corridor to become filled with students and teachers after Peeves' exclamation. It was a bit of chaos until Professor McGonagall came setting off a bang with her wand. She quickly sent everyone back to their classes and forced Peeves who was singing a song about Emily killing off students to leave.
Professor Flitwick conjured a stretcher to carry Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing while Professor McGonagall instructed Emily to follow her, which she did silently. Emily was led to a stone gargoyle where Professor McGonagall proclaimed, "lemon drop" before the gargoyle jumped aside and the wall moved creating an archway. Through the archway was a spiral staircase that was spinning slowly upwards. Emily and Professor McGonagall stepped onto the stairs slowly making their way up as the archway closed behind them. At the top they stopped in front of a large wooden door with a Griffin knocker. For the first time Emily was outside of Dumbledore's office.