Year 1: The Bonds of Friendship
Chapter 4: December 2013
As the Christmas holidays neared, the first years began to get antsy. It was the end of their first semester, and they were eager for a break, and to see their families again soon. Unfortunately, the end of the semester seemed only to mean more and more work, being piled on right up until the end. Dominique had essays to write for Charms, Herbology, Transfiguration, and History of Magic. In Astronomy, Professor Brunwell was insisting that they finish their star charts before they left on holiday, which meant hours in the library researching the stars they were supposed to be mapping in order to recognize them. In Potions, they were preparing to brew the Wiggenweld Potion – only the second potion they would be brewing that year… and the first time hadn't gone too well for Dominique.
As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Leftbridge had come up with quite the plan for an end-of-semester evaluation. To give the first years their first taste of what it was like to engage in a one-to-one duel, he had organized a duelling tournament. Dominique thought it was a pretty lame idea; they were only going to be using one spell – flippendo, the knockback jinx. Professor Leftbridge thought it was ingenuous though, and so on the final day of classes before the holidays, Dominique found herself nervously filing into Professor Leftbridge's classroom with the rest of her classmates.
The room had been completely rearranged in preparation for the duels. The desks were gone, and chairs were laid out in a row alone the back wall. The center of the room was completely cleared out, clearly the duels would be taking place in front of everybody.
"Alright!" Professor Leftbridge exclaimed excitedly. "Who's ready to duel?"
Miles and the other Gryffindor boys reacted, along with many of the Slytherins and some of the Ravenclaws. Everyone else shrank back, nervous about what was sure to be a huge display of embarrassment.
"First team up; Zeke Aldin vs. Trent Mitchell," the Professor announced.
Zeke rose, exuding confidence, and crossed to one side of the room while his Ravenclaw opponent crossed to the other side to face him.
"Remember, only the knockback jinx is permitted. Your goal is to evade being hit by your opponent by dodging their attack while simultaneously trying to hit them. The duel ends when the first of you is hit," the Professor said, not just for the benefit of the current duelers, but also for the rest of them. "And… begin!"
Immediately, Zeke sent a knockback jinx in Trent's direction, but Trent ducked and the spell hit the wall behind him. While Trent was resuming his position though, Zeke sent another jinx sailing his way and it hit him in the leg, causing him to stumble.
"Zeke wins!" Professor Leftbridge announced gleefully, making a note on the parchment where he apparently was recording the results and keeping track of who was still in the tournament. Trent stared at the ground as he returned to his seat. "Next up; Carly Sutton vs. Hilary Gordon," he announced.
As the Slytherin and Ravenclaw rose to fight, Dominique slid further down in her seat. "That was totally humiliating for Trent," Dominique muttered to Brooke, who was sitting on her right. "It was over in like, two seconds. What if I'm that bad?"
"It'll be fine," Brooke muttered, though her tone betrayed her lack of confidence. "Anyway, I won't think any less of you, no matter how it goes."
"Same goes for you," Dominique agreed as the second duel began.
This one lasted longer than the first, but was still over pretty soon. Hilary won, reclaiming some of the pride Ravenclaw had lost upon Trent's loss. The Slytherins were not very impressed with Carly as she slunk back to her seat and Dominique could only hope her housemates weren't so mean when she inevitably lost.
The winner of this little tournament would be gifted with thirty points for their house, so there was a lot more riding on the duels than personal pride.
The third duel was between a Hufflepuff by the name of Joey Jenkins and a Slytherin named Dylan Becker. When Dylan won, the Hufflepuffs consoled Joey, assuring him that he did his best, while the Slytherins slapped Dylan on the back in congratulations.
Brooke's duel was next. She had been paired with Lorna Pye, from Ravenclaw. They faced off with each other, and as soon as Professor Leftbridge called for the duel to begin, Lorna was on the offensive. It was all Brooke could do to avoid being hit by spell after spell that was being sent her way. After ten minutes of ducking, dodging, and rolling, Brooke was sweating and Lorna had still barely moved.
"You got this Brooke!" Dominque cried from the audience. As she dodged yet another spell, Brooke glanced over and made eye contact with Dominique. Dominique gave her a thumbs up in encouragement, hoping that her friend would win, but knowing that either way, it would be fine.
Noticing Brooke's distraction, Lorna glanced over at the audience and Brooke took the opportunity. She quickly cast the flippendo and it hit her opponent squarely in the chest, sending her flying back into a bookcase.
"Congratulations Brooke!" Professor Leftbridge said while Brooke stood there completely still, shocked that she'd won. "You can take your seat."
Brooke returned to the row of chairs and sat back down with Dominique.
"You did it!" Dominique exclaimed.
"Yeah," Brooke agreed. "I can't believe I won!"
"You're way better than that Lorna girl any day," Dominique assured her.
The next pair was called; a Hufflepuff against a Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaw won almost immediately.
"That's the second Hufflepuff that's lost," Miles muttered to Dominique. He was sitting on her other side. "I hope I get paired with a Hufflepuff."
"Don't say that!" Dominique admonished. "Just because two lost doesn't mean they're all going to. Don't go stereotyping them."
"Why not?" Miles asked. "We've watched them practice in class, none of them are all that great at the spell."
"Stop talking like that," Dominique insisted. "You sound like a Slytherin."
"Hey!" Miles cried. "Now who's stereotyping, huh?"
Dominique crossed her arms, refusing to continue talking to Miles when he was annoying her like this.
Miles ended up getting his wish. For his first match, he was paired with Samuel Fletwock, one of the Hufflepuff boys. The duel was over practically before it started. Samuel couldn't get the spell to work when he tried to cast it, and while he was busy staring at his wand instead of his opponent, Miles hit him with the spell straight in the stomach.
As the duels went on, Dominique waited for her name to be called, becoming more and more impatient as time went on. Holly faced off against a girl from Slytherin and beat her. Timothy lost to a Ravenclaw and then Joy lost to a Slytherin. Brittany beat the Hufflepuff she was paired with and Tom beat the Slytherin he'd duelled. Finally, a Hufflepuff did win when Grant lost to Carter Hanson. Later, Zoey Harper became the second Hufflepuff winner, beating Karen Bonell from Ravenclaw.
Dominique was wondering if she was ever going to be called, when finally, Professor Leftbridge announced that hers would be the final match of the preliminaries. She would be duelling Michelle Markson, a Hufflepuff. Despite her reaction when Miles had said it, Dominique was glad to be paired with this girl. The Hufflepuffs weren't doing too well so far. Hopefully Dominique would be able to win at least this first duel.
On Professor Leftbridge's signal, the duel began. After having watched so many unfold already, Dominique knew she would have the advantage if she attacked first, so she did, casting the spell almost as soon as the duel began. Michelle had to duck low, and ended up finding herself losing her balance and falling on the floor. Taking the opportunity, Dominique send a second spell her way and hit her mark.
"Congratulations to our final preliminary victor, Dominique!" Professor Leftbridge announced as Dominique and Michelle took their seats.
"Good job!" Brooke smiled when Dominique returned to her seat.
"Not very sporting, was it though?" Miles asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dominique challenged.
"You jinxed her while she was on the floor, completely defenceless," Miles said. "You could have at least let her regain her footing."
"Oh right," Dominique muttered. "Because in a real duel, you let your opponent recover before jinxing them." She rolled her eyes. "I won that duel fair and square and you know it."
The second round of the tournament begun then. Brittany was called first and was paired with Catherine Flint, from Slytherin. After seeing Catherine's previous duel against Daniella Lewson, Dominique knew Brittany didn't stand a chance.
She was right. Brittany went down within five minutes and Catherine arrogantly strode back to her seat, her nose in the air, as if fighting Brittany had been beneath her.
"Don't worry Brittany," Dominique assured the girl as she passed in front of her seat. "You fought really well out there."
"Thanks," Brittany shrugged, apparently not convinced.
The next fight was between Leanna Mitchell, from Ravenclaw, and Summer Snow, from Slytherin. It was one of the more exciting duels they'd had yet, with both girls giving and receiving from each other equally. It wasn't clear to Dominique who was going to win until Leanna just barely failed to dodge one of Summer's attacks and went down.
"That was exciting," Miles commented, crossing his arms and leaning back, as though he were enjoying the show as a common spectator and not also a participant.
"Yeah," Dominique muttered. "Good luck if you get paired with her later on."
"I could take her," Miles scoffed.
Dominique shared a glance with Brooke and the two giggled. Miles liked to act all tough – as if a girl couldn't possibly beat him. Dominique secretly hoped he did get paired with Summer and lose, because then she could make fun of him all the way home on the train the next day.
Brooke was called to duel soon, and was once again paired with a Ravenclaw. She was paired with Hilary Gordon this time, the girl who had fought in one of the earliest duels and been the first Ravenclaw victor. Hilary was much stronger of a fighter than Lorna had been. Brooke dodged her attacks for a while, but the attacks were coming much faster than Lorna's had and Brooke tired quicker this time. In the end, she was hit and embarrassedly hurried back to her seat next to Dominque.
"That was awful!" Brooke cried under her breath as Holly rose to fight Zoey Harper, the only Hufflepuff left (Carter Hanson had been beaten by Tom in the duel right before Brooke's).
"No it wasn't," Dominique reassured her. "You fought really well, she was just stronger. That's okay. We both knew we weren't going to make it to the finals anyway. Better you lost to Hilary than some arrogant Slytherin who'd have made fun of you."
"I guess," Brooke shrugged, unconvinced.
"Don't worry about it," Dominique said. "Nobody thinks any less of you for losing. It's just how it goes sometimes."
Brooke smiled a half smile. "I guess you're right," she agreed.
The present duel finished and Holly, the proud victor, returned to the Gryffindor section of the seats with a huge smile on her face.
Miles was called next and matched with William Stimpson from Ravenclaw. He didn't pose much of a threat and Miles beat him easily. Dominique knew the only reason he won the preliminaries was that his opponent, a boy from Hufflepuff, hadn't had a clue what he was doing and didn't even dodge the jinx William had sent at him at all.
Dominique's turn was next. She passed Miles as he returned to the seats and he squeezed her shoulder. "You got this," he assured her.
Dominique was paired with Quinn Adams, from Slytherin, and Dominique balked at Quinn's expression.
"I'm going to crush you," Quinn muttered to her as Professor Leftbridge signalled for the duel to begin.
Fearfully, Dominique spun to her left, dodging the first spell Quinn sent her way. She barely had time to recover before Quinn was shooting another jet of blue light her way and she spun to the right this time to avoid it. She danced like that for a minute or two before she remembered she was supposed to be fighting back. She extended her wand to cast the spell, but while she was distracted with thoughts of turning to the offensive, she forgot to maintain her defense and she was hit right in the middle of her chest.
The force of the spell sent her flying backward into the wall and she hit her head hard, sending shooting pain through her skull. She slid to the floor, clutching at her head as Professor Leftbridge declared Quinn the winner. Picking herself up, Dominique stumbled back to her seat as Brooke and Miles looked on in concern.
"Are you alright?" Miles asked. "You're holding your head, did you hurt it?"
"I'm fine," Dominique muttered, heat rushing to her face. This was so embarrassing. Nobody else had hit their head and fallen to the ground.
"Are you sure?" Brooke pressed. "You hit that wall pretty hard."
"Seriously guys, I just have a tiny headache. It's nothing," Dominique assured them.
Brooke and Miles exchanged a look and Dominique rolled her eyes.
"Don't make faces at each other," Dominique insisted. "I'm really fine."
"Alright," Brooke backed off, turning back to watch the duel that was taking place between Zeke and Dylan Becker.
"If it starts to hurt, you'll tell us, right?" Miles asked, checking.
"Sure," Dominique said, knowing it would placate her friend. "I'll tell you if it gets any worse."
"Alright," Miles said, narrowing his eyes but turning back to the duel.
Zeke lost, ending the second round of duels. As the third round began, things began to get even more intense. The weaker duellers had all been eliminated by now, and the ensuing duels were taking longer and were much more exciting.
Tom was called for the first of the third round of duels. He was paired with Noah Radford from Ravenclaw. It was at least twelve minutes before Tom got in the final blow, winning the duel. Hilary Gordon duelled Dylan Becker next, and when the Slytherin boy won, Brooke was glad her defeater had now received what Brooke considered to be her just desserts.
Miles was called next and matched with Sean Weston, from Slytherin. They fought for about four minutes until Sean accidentally dropped his wand, giving Miles the opening he needed to deal the winning blow. Shockingly to Dominique, when Holly went up against Catherine Flint, she managed to win, securing herself a spot in the semi-finals. She hadn't realized how strong Holly was in Defence, and when she saw the look on Holly's face when she returned to her seat, she wondered if Holly had known either.
The final duel of the third round was between Quinn Adams and Summer Snow, both from Slytherin. The girls protested that it wasn't fair they had to fight each other because they were from the same house and it would force a Slytherin to be eliminated from the competition. Professor Leftbridge apologized, but explained that he had run out of options and that they had to duel each other.
As the duel progressed, Dominique wondered if there was animosity between Quinn and Summer, because the ferocity with which they duelled was more than she'd seen with any of the other pairs. In the end, Quinn won, to Dominique's dismay (she'd hoped her defeater would be defeated in the same way Brooke's had) and the girls returned to their seats sullenly.
As the semi-finals began, Professor Leftbridge announced that someone would have to fight twice, because there were five duellers left. Quinn immediately volunteered to fight the extra duel. Professor Leftbridge made the appropriate note on his parchment and announced that in that case, the first duel would be between Quinn and Holly.
Holly and Quinn met in the center of the room, both staring each other down, each confident they were going to win. Holly barely lasted two minutes before she was thrown back and she flushed with embarrassment as she returned to her seat.
"You did better than any of the rest of us," Brooke assured her. "That was really impressive, I mean think about it; you made it to the semi-finals!"
Professor Leftbridge gave Quinn a break then and announced the next duel between Tom and Dylan Becker.
"That means you're going to be up against Quinn!" Dominique hissed to Miles when she realized he was the last contestant in the semi-finals. "Miles you have to beat her. I couldn't bear it if she won."
"Consider her defeated," Miles agreed as Tom successfully hit Dylan in the shoulder, causing him to spin in a little circle.
Miles and Quinn rose even before their names were called. They faced off and on Professor Leftbridge's signal, the duel began. Dominique was on the edge of her seat as they each gave back as good as they were receiving. Quinn began to advance on Miles little by little and Dominique was afraid to watch, assuming that she was going to take him down as she had taken down Joanna Miller from Hufflepuff, and then Dominique, and then Holly after her.
"Dominique look!" Brooke exclaimed, forcing Dominique to look back. Miles had recovered and was advancing on Quinn now. He was casting spells faster than she was, and she was just barely missing his attacks. Finally, Miles hit her on the stomach and she flew back, landing on the floor.
"Wooo!" Dominique cried, ignoring the looks she received from some of her classmates for the exclamation. "Congratulations!" she cried.
"Well that was certainly exciting, wasn't it?" Professor Leftbridge asked. "Well then, I suppose that means it's time for the finals!"
Tom rose, and strode out to replace Quinn as Miles' opponent.
"Is there any point in them duelling?" Grant asked from the seats. "It's a Gryffindor victory either way."
"Of course they're going to duel!" Zeke answered in place of their Professor. "You would have us stop right before the finals?"
Brooke and Dominique leaned forward as Miles and Tom clasped hands and Miles muttered something to Tom, too low for anyone else to hear. Tom nodded and they smiled at each other before stepping back and holding their wands out.
"Who're you rooting for?" Brooke asked Dominique as the duel began.
"Miles of course," Dominique replied, as though it was obvious. "He's my best friend, apart from you. Why, who're you rooting for?"
"I don't know," Brooke replied, distressed. "They're both good guys."
"They are," Dominique agreed.
The duel continued longer than any of the others. Miles and Tom were evenly matched and it showed. Checking the time, Dominique realized class had ended two minutes earlier, but nobody dared move from their seats as the two boys continued to duel. Sixth years gathered outside the door, some peering in to watch the end of the show.
Finally, just as Dominique was wondering if the duel would ever end, Miles stumbled and Tom's jinx hit him right in the side. The Gryffindors cheered and ran out to congratulate Tom as Professor Leftbridge declared him the winner and awarded him the thirty points for Gryffindor.
"It was a good fight," Dominique said, going over to Miles instead of Tom with the rest. "It was really close."
Miles nodded. "Tom is a really good dueller," he said, walking over to join the group that was congratulating Tom.
"Alright everyone, you'd better get to your next class before Professor Tonks gets mad at me for keeping you too long," Professor Leftbridge called out.
Dominique hurried to gather her things and follow the others out. The transfiguration class was at least five minutes away and they had less time than that to get there without being late.
Brooke caught up with her in the hall and gestured behind. "Look," she said, pointing.
Dominique turned back to find Miles and Tom walking together, laughing amicably.
"I think that duel might have just forged a new friendship," Brooke said.
Dominique nodded and watched as Miles passed them and walked to transfiguration with Tom. She felt a sudden pang at the knowledge that Miles was suddenly so friendly with Tom. She realized she was jealous. While all the first year Gryffindors were friends, for the most part, she had been Miles' closest friend since the train. She didn't like the idea that she might be being replaced.
"Come on," she said, steering Brooke toward the transfiguration classroom. "We don't want to be late."