Teaching History (is Old News)
15 - A Duel
"We should create a lesson plan for our first Dueling Club meeting," Tom dumps a roll of parchment on Potter's hammock, making Potter fall on the floor. After Potter's cryptic statements yesterday evening, Tom wants to limit the time spent with him this weekend. He'll return to convincing Potter to reveal his secrets on Monday.
"Oh my god, a little warning, please?!" Potter scowls up at him with lopsided glasses and tousled hair. Even the paper cranes seem agitated, as they circle around Potter's head in worry and some of them cheep at Tom in annoyance.
"The meeting is this Tuesday evening. We need to prepare."
"Why not wing it?"
Tom quickly throws a quill at him.
"Ouch! Okay, okay, I'll get to work. Just a moment," Potter scowls, as Hedwig flies over and picks the quill from his tangled curls. The paper cranes fly up to sit on the quill, as if to prevent Tom from taking it. "What do we need to discuss? Or write down?"
"Have you never made a lesson plan before?"
"Well… not really."
Tom stares, thinking of the countless hours he has put into planning and revising his own lessons so that they're perfect and suitable for each class's learning level. He had to create unique variations of lessons for different classes with different dynamics. If he didn't, the classroom would be chaos. And yet here is Potter, laziness embodied, saying he's never worked on lesson plans before. Tom wants to drop a building on him.
Potter shrugs. "I just pick three big ideas I want my classes to really know by the end of the year, and I let my lessons revolve around gradually understanding those big ideas. Sure, they learn specific skills like meditation or palm reading, but in the end I want them to get more out of Divination than just 'Hey I know how to flub my way through a fake horoscope.' So lessons are really fluid and spontaneous. Kind of like life, I guess. I just adjust them as I need to when I teach."
"But what about assessment? Creating specific activities to help them focus in class?"
"Well, assessments and activities can change depending on my class's mood, right? Sometimes they're feeling too overworked from other essays so I get them to meditate or play monopoly. Other times, when they're feeling more energetic, I try to throw in some of the deeper stuff. Like how would you convince a skeptic that your divination is legitimate while getting what you want."
He almost dumps his parchment on Potter this time but he stops, remembering how Potter smiled at him yesterday. For a moment, Tom considers the possibility that Potter is a fraud after all, using these very tricks on Tom. But Tom has spent the few months believing Potter to be Dumbledore's spy when Potter can be annoyingly… genuine. Potter may be unconventional as a teacher, but he gets the job done. Tom may not agree with Potter's methods but they have a certain… charm to them.
"Earth to Tom," Potter starts waving his hand in front of his face. How can a person be so pale? It's unhealthy, and are those bags under Potter's eyes again…?
"What is it," he steps back.
"Are you alright? Not feeling peakish, are you? Or maybe tiring in our prank war?" Potter grins. Then pauses. "This isn't a prank, is it?"
"No," Tom snaps to all four questions.
"Oh, then you must be feeling a bit intimidated by my teaching style. Don't worry about it! You're still a great teacher, you're much more organized than I am. Sometimes I can't remember what grades I'm supposed to give out, but you've got them categorized and filed and everything!" Potter nods vigorously. Normally he would look like an oversized turtle in his oversized sweaters, but dressed in that shirt and slacks, he actually seems intelligent.
And yet Tom can't help but remember all the times Potter chased after missing papers stolen from his familiar Hedwig, as a way to get more owl treats. It wouldn't be the first time Potter had to chase his familiar through the corridors to rescue a letter from his godfather or study notes.
His lips curl up. "Then I suppose I will take care of organizing club member names and sign-up sheets. You can…" Tom thinks back to the Divination lesson he observed long ago. His memories of Potter's magical abilities back when they were in school are as hazy as anything else Potter-related before Fifth Year. "How proficient are you at dueling currently?"
Potter's grin grows into a smirk. "Want a demonstration?"
"As in a practice duel?"
"Yup! We can use the room of requirement!"
A practice duel would be an excellent way to gauge Potter's skills and to coax Potter into revealing any other hidden talents he may have. "Very well, we can start now."
[Wait, wait!] Nagini slithers down the stairs, [I want to come too! I can be referee!]
Hedwig hoots in annoyance.
[Oh shut up, stupid pigeon. I can count much better than you can.]
That would be debatable. Nagini may be an intelligent magical breed of python but she still cannot master numbers larger than ten.
Hedwig scoffs, ruffling her feathers as if to shoo Nagini away.
[One day I will eat you and claim my rightful place by Green Eyes' side, and then you will never insult me again, you feathered fiend. I am sure that your flesh is delicious indeed!] Nagini opens her mouth in a frightening gaze.
"Nagini!" Harry skips over, hugging her tightly, ignoring how Hedwig and the cranes try to pull him away by the hair. "Did you want to come watch? You can keep score along with Hedwig, right?"
"I doubt your familiar will be much use in refereeing our match," Tom cuts in, wanting to avoid another cooing session between Potter and their familiars. The owl and Nagini can be insufferable under Potter's attention.
"Nonsense! Hedwig's a smart girl, aren't you?"
The owl puffs up her chest and agrees with a loud hoot.
"Then it's settled. We should get going before the Weasley twins decide to boobytrap our door with rose petals and cupids."
"Fine…." Tom stops. "Did you say rose petals?!"
:
The twins do, in fact, try to spell the door to start singing an annoying tune of Can You Feel The Love Tonight which Tom ends as soon as he steps out of his office. He makes sure to burn the roses and banish the cupids to a crisp and assigns the twins detention. Why the twins would pick such an ugly theme escapes Tom, but he'll interrogate them next week on Friday…
(Unfortunately, Tom does not account for the conspiratorial grins the twins give each other behind his back, no, the prank has barely begun…)
"Can you stop humming that infernal song?" Tom grits his teeth, when he and Potter arrive at the Room of Requirement.
"But it's a masterpiece!" Potter nods with Hedwig nestled on his head. "You should really listen to some Disney, Tom, I think a lot of the villain solos would suit you. Those Poor Unfortunate Souls," he croons.
"Enough," he detests music. Could never understand it though Potter seems to have a knack for it, his voice isn't atrocious. Potter did join Flitwick's small choir back in Sixth Year. "We're here to duel, remember?"
"Got it, scoreboard please?" Potter asks the ceiling. Instantly, the room of requirement creates a low enough chalkboard that an owl and a snake can write on. With a grin, Potter places some chalk in Hedwig's claws and another piece in Nagini's mouth. "Don't eat it, okay?"
[Don't worry, my Green Eyes, this writing stick tastes disgusting anyways.]
Hedwig huffs.
[I just know, alright?! I did not accidentally eat an entire box of these dusty things last month!]
That incident is the only reason Tom has banned chalk from their office. Nagini glares at him, as if daring him to admit that.
"So glad you two are working together to help us," Potter pets both their heads, making both familiars glare at the other. "Alright! Time to show you my skills!"
Potter walks to the other side of the dueling arena, wand ready.
[Begin!] Nagini hisses, at the same time that Hedwig makes a stern hoot. Potter takes the owl's hoot as a sign to start as he bows. Tom follows with his own bow and then they move.
Potter whips across the room like a hawk swooping in for its prey, the transformation so startling that Tom has no time to think. Potter aims for the offensive, firing consecutive disarming charms at Tom from different angles. Tom barely has time to form a shield around himself when Potter vaults overhead, as if he's been a trained acrobat all his life, and manages to hit a red spark on Tom's back as soon as he lands.
[One point for Green Eyes!] Nagini nearly swallows the chalk, as she scrapes the first point on the board. Hedwig hoots in approval.
Tom lashes out with a silent leg-locking curse, following with more bombardment hexes when Potter dodges each one as nimbly as ever.
"You're fast," Tom mutters, casting a few cutting hexes to see if Potter can dodge them while distracted by conversation.
Unfazed, though a little winded, Potter shrugs as he spins and ducks past each hex. "I'm out of practice."
Tom jumps away from a shower of explosive bird-shaped tongues of fire, smirking when he sees how similar they are to the paper cranes. He throws up a great wave of agumenti which he transfigures into a light acid but Potter creates a whirlwind, blowing it back in Tom's direction.
He vanishes the acid, deciding to transfigure a few stone giants to keep Potter busy. Then he rushes past the stone giants and begins shooting showers of red sparks, determined to hit Potter at least once.
Potter ducks and slides past the stone giants by dashing in between their legs and blasting them back at Tom. But this time, Tom decides to defend with a rather offensive wall of fire, driving the wall forwards towards Potter's back.
"Nope," Potter flips backwards, transfiguring the floor into damp sand and raising the sand up to smother the flames. "Not looking to be scorched today. Get enough of that when I bake."
"Use a healing charm. The ones for burns are quite simple," Tom throws a whip of lightning towards him.
Potter responds by changing the sand into a wall of rubber. "Not so great at healing spells. Can't be as flawless as you, Riddle."
"And yet your spells so far have been highly creative," Tom cuts through the rubber.
"I did pay some attention to DADA and Transfigurations," Potter uses a few more stunners.
"Yet your OWLs and NEWTs were average, if I remember correctly…" Cutting hex. Bombarda. Shield charm.
"I've always performed best in practice rather than theory." Dodge, duck, roll.
"You always were rather flexible," Tom throws another shower of red sparks before Potter can recover from dodging.
Hedwig gives an angry flap.
[One point for my master! I bet they'll tie.]
Hedwig bats her wings aggressively.
[What do you mean my master can't aim for shit, you stupid bird-brain?!]
"Oi, pay attention, Riddle!" Potter hits Tom with an agumenti charm instead of a red spark.
Making a note to ban dessert from Nagini for a week, Tom responds with the most powerful (non-dark) spells he can think of.
Potter's grin is elated and excited all at once, the kind of excitement that transforms Potter into a whole other person. Someone present, instead of adrift in a gaze lost far away. Tom finds himself reaching for it, sending spark after spark…
:
The scoreboard reads 3 to 3, and still, Tom and Potter are easily matched. They both collapse against the floor at the same time, ignoring the startled hisses and hoots of their familiars.
"…If you… tag me with a spark… at this very moment… Potter… I will kill you," Tom huffs between breaths, trying to recall the last time he felt this tired from a duel.
"…As if… I would… cheat like that… I respect… you too much… to be satisfied… with a cheap win…" Potter half-laughs, half-gasps.
Tom wishes Potter would stop being so brutally honest.
"…A tie then," he changes the topic.
Potter's laugh is answer enough.
[Are you both dead? Can we stop keeping score? I feel ready to eat this pigeon.]
Hedwig attempts to claw Nagini's eyes out.
[Do you want to die, bird?!]
"…Should we stop them?" Potter mumbles, looking content to lay on the floor forever.
"…No… Let the best familiar win…" Tom could care less about their petty arguments.
"But they're both awesome!"
Tom rolls his eyes, turning his head to look at Potter's flushed face. "Your love for animals will never make sense to me."
"Says the person who buys Nagini's favourite snacks every week," Potter's eyes brighten at the thought.
"If I didn't, she would nag me until death. You're lucky you don't understand her, you wouldn't find her nearly as charming then."
Potter's smile, if possible, widens. "Everyone has their charms. Even you."
Tom swallows away the hot feeling in his chest. "Why don't you use wandless spells more often?" Why do you play the idiot.
The silence (save for Nagini and Hedwig's scuffle) feels as suffocating as drowning in the ocean. Tom almost stands up, ready to walk away from impatience, when Potter speaks.
"…I actually came to Hogwarts to apply for the DADA position, you know."
Tom's breath catches in his throat. "Then why did you—"
"Recommend you instead? Well…" Potter's smile feels brittle, "…I wouldn't be good at it. Not like you."
Pause.
"You must be joking. Your skills are comparable to that of an auror's, you can perform wandless spells, your intuition and creativity are beyond the average wizard's!" And you can keep up with me.
"Oh," Potter's cheeks turn pink. "Thank you. But… just because I'm good at DADA, doesn't mean I can teach it. The more advanced stuff in Sixth and Seventh Year is pretty, like you said, intuitive to me… but I don't know how to explain it and make it simpler to understand for other sixteen year olds and seventeen year olds. It just comes to me naturally. I'm not always good at words, not for spellcasting theory. Not for the real stuff. But Divination? Emotions? I'm better at that."
Tom stares at Potter, at the gap between them. They're lying so close together that their fingers could touch, and yet Tom has never felt the staggering distance from Potter before. He's heard other classmates confess their own failings but never cared for them. And yet, with Potter, Tom can't help but feel indignant, angry, and—
"So that's why you applied for Divination professor? You weren't asked to by Dumbledore? You gave up and settled?"
"Well I wanted to spend time with you, Mr. Berk!" Potter turns away. "Excuse me for thinking we could be friends again or something. You make it bloody hard to deal with you."
This sensation, like having a dozen cheering charms shoved into his throat, along with the urge to vomit, keeps intruding inside Tom.
"…Friends?"
"Yeah! You know? Like we used to be, back before Fifth Year."
That never happened. Potter had been annoying, always following Tom around and bombarding him with that irritating familiar. They've never been friends.
"I don't remember anything like that."
Potters face falls. "Oh. Sorry… maybe… Maybe I'm remembering it wrong… I thought I had it right this time…" His gaze becomes distant again.
Making a note to get one of his followers to steal Potter's medical records, Tom snaps, "I'll show you how I teach them. The Sixth and Seventh Years. Sit in on my classes. It should fit into your timetable, or we'll ask Dumbledore for a timeturner request form."
Potter's eyes return to him. "Wait… what?"
"I won't say it twice. And this doesn't make us friends. I will uncover your secrets eventually. I just don't like seeing wasted potential."
If Potter blinks any faster, he'll lose an eye. "…Then what does that make us?"
"Amicable roommates."
His fingers brush against Potter's, as he sits up.
"…Alright then," Potter stares up at him, not quite grinning and not quite frowning either. "I'm sure you'll do your best."
Tom glares down at him. "What does that mean."
"Well, I'm always amicable to you. So good luck. I'm starting to think you're just naturally bitter, with an occasional sweetness. Like dark chocolate."
"You—"
The insult dies just as Nagini and Hedwig crash down between them, in a chalk cloud of bloody scales and feathers.
"Oh my god, Hedwig stop pecking at Nagini's eyes and Nagini stop strangling her!" Potter dives in.
Tom lets himself smile then.
EDITED CHAPTER - Nov 15, 2019