Chapter 8: No holding back

My limps felt numb, as I heard the words leave his mouth. I had a terrible suspicion what his actual intention was. Unfortunately were his next words even closer to what I had dreaded.

"I think I have an even better idea, Professor. What about a duell, between me and a student? Many children want to become an Auror or Hit Wizard these days. We could arrange a duell like one of the practices during the Auror training. I can play the dark wizard and they try to defeat me"

Professor Merrythought seemed uncertain. "But that will be far too advanced for them, I'm afraid. After all, they are only fifth years."

"Ah, I'm sure my dauhter will assist me gladly in this little demonstration."

The old witch nodded. " That would change the situation, of course." She seemed to think that he wouldn't be tough on his own child.

I could feel the cold sweat running down my back and all eyes were focused on me. Without another choice, I arranged my features into a neutral expression and gave my father a curt nod. Hoping that my voice wouldn't betray me, I said: "I should get changed then."

"Yes, you are quiet right. Let's do this outside, in front of the east Wing."

Leaving the excited chatter behind me, I went to my room. There, in the heavy wooden chest it was. My old Durmstrang Uniform, I couldn't throw it away. It still fitted well and I felt better with the black, tough fabric on my skin. I put on the boots and went to look for the jacket. It was neatly folded in the heavy chest, with the Durmstrang emblem over the heart. I usually wore a thin white top beneath it, since the jacket was supposed to fit tightly. Looking into the mirror, I buttoned it up and made a ponytail. Trying to brace myself, I gazed at the mirror and took in the familiar picture.

I had to fight a duell, it wasn't the first time, nor the last. I couldn't use any dark curses, naturally. This would get difficult, panic was risig in my chest. Inhaling deeply, I tried to drain myself from any emotions.

Everybody was waiting outside for her to arrive. When she finally came, most people gaped openly. She was wearing what seemed like her old uniform. Practical, one could see that the focus was on duelling, the tight fit and the boots were useful in a variety of scenarios. What surprised me was her expression though. She looked more than determined, one could say even grim, merciless. It suits her, I thought.

Her father had a little smile on his lips, when he saw her like this. They didn't speak, just stood several metres apart. Evidently, this was not the first duell between them. After a few seconds which felt like an eternity, her father said only one sentence.

"Don't hold back."

Dolohov next to me swallowed and Belvina Black tried to calm the other girls down."He is her father, he won't be too hard on her." While Druella Rosier made a bet with her brother how long the fight would last.

The Hufflepuffs were even worse, they shot each other nervous looks and wrung their hands, caught between excitement and worry. I could understand why they reacted like that, it felt like electricity was in the air.

Professor Merrythought announced: "The duell will last until someone is disarmed or gives up." She was smiling to herself, clearly thinking what an informative lesson this was.

"On the count of three," she shouted.

"One...two...Three!"

The moment she had said three, the old Crane threw a dark curse towards his daughter who easily ward it off.

She directly afterwards shot a curse herself, non-verbally. A bright red light left her wand and her father dodged it. They were now settling into a pace, attacking with new curses all the time and protecting themselves. He sent an especially dark one her way, which she reflected and it hit the wall of the castle, blackening the old stone.

A turqoise light almost caught her, but she stepped quickly to one side and it missed her by an inch.The fight was now getting even more intense. With one quick wand motion of him ,came drops of water from the lake shooting Medea's way. I realised that they were now frozen and looked extremely sharp. She made a lazy movement with her wand and the ice turned liquid again, falling down like rain. So fast I could barely see it, she sent a blasting curse in his direction with such force that for a moment no one could see him through the sand that was swirled up. He had cast a shield that surrounded him like a bubble and saved him from the impact of her attack. They walked back and forth, each making a few steps forward before being forced to recede. Both were getting even faster with the time, ducking in one second and throwing some nasty curse in the next. I couldn't deny that I was impressed by her. She was not holding back, it seemed. Sweat was evident on both their foreheads and the heavy breathing could be heard slightly over the noise of the attacks.

After a few minutes, a curse hit her that left a deep cut on one arm, because he had sent it slightly to the side that was not as well covered by her shield. The cut ignoring, Medea was now angrily attacking, forcing him into defense. She made quiet a progress, gaining the upper hand slowly. Even though he sent some surprisingly dark magic her way, she had strong shields and fast attacks, casting them cold and calculated. Other students streamed out to watch the spectacle and some Professors as well. Finally he sent a curse that could not be stopped by any of her shield charms. The crowd went completely silent as black smoke hit her straight in the chest. She was walking a few steps back, but regained her composure almost immediately. It didn't seem to have an effect on her yet, but this second was enough for her father to cast another, far more dangerous curse.

"Crucio!"

Her screams filled the air, as she was sinking onto the ground. Girls cried out and everybody looked shocked, watching as she clawed her hands into the grass, winding and squirming. A stunned silence was the only reaction he received. I couldn't believe it, he cast an unforgivable, in front of everybody. Professor Merrythought drew her wand but he spoke to her while still causing his daughter excruciating pain.

"This is part of the training, you know that Professor." The witch froze and could only watch with a startled expression. Professor Slughorn did so as well, while standing on the other side of the circle surounding fatherand daughter.

Medea opened her eyes slightly and tried with heavily shaking hands to grab her wand, which lay a few inches out of reach. Still screaming like a dying animal, her father started to shout at her.

"Are you giving up?" She shook her head vehemently, crawling to her wand. He walked in her direction to take it away, but she was quicker. She made an effort to form words with her mouth and with a shaking movement of her wand she succeeded. Her arm fell to the ground again, when I saw a movemnt behind her father. My eyes widened in disbelief, as a big snake slithered towards the old Crane, who had not noticed it, yet. Rapidly attacking, it bit into his shoulder and curled itself around him, crushing the air out of his lungs. He fell to the ground, still strangled by the enormous serpent. His daughter stopped screaming, the curse had ended. The first attempt of standing up didn't go well, her arms couldn't support her weight. Drawing a deep breath, she managed the second attempt. I noticed Blood dripping from her nose and mouth. Blinking a few times, she held her hand over her eyes. Was she going to cry? When she took it away, I saw that she bled from the eyes as well. It was a horrid sight. She walked over to where her father lay, almost losing consciousness. Hissing sounds left her mouth:"Leave him!"

I breathed in sharply, still staring at her. She had been speaking Parseltongue. The snake willingly obliged and he tried to stand up, coughing all the while. She bent over holding a hand in front of her mouth, a flood of blood seeping through her fingers. Falling to her knees, she looked up at the sky before she fell to one side making choked noises. Finally the teachers that were present rushed towards her. Slughorn and Merrythought both used their wands directly casting healing spells. Her father, who was still trying to get up said to them:" It was a curse that causes internal bleeding. A simple spell against internal injuries will stop it. It's only lethal after 30 minutes." He seemed not in the least worried. Slughorn on the other hand shouted: "Tom, Tom? Help me to bring her to the Hospital Wing." I finally awoke from my paralysis and made my way through the shocked crowd. Together we cast a levitating charm and rushed into the castle. Behind us now, her father breathing heavy and still coughing. We laid her down on one bed and noticed that she had fainted. The nurse now bustling around his student, Professor Slughorn turned to her father, who looked gravely down at her.

"How could you do something like this? I am shocked that you are capable to do this to your only child. Is there any humanity left in you?"

The younger men faced him and could not surpress his anger.

" I'm doing this because she is my only child. Have you not seen her ? Have you ever seen a sixteen year old fighting like this? I would never bring her life in serious danger! After all that has happened, this is the only way to protect her."

"You tortured her!"

"And even then she wouldn't give up. You know why I had to do this, Slughorn. I won't lose her, too."

The Professor was white as a sheet and suddenly grew quiet, only nodding curtly. I fixed my gaze on the figure in the bed, she had given me so much to think about. Her father sat down next to her and held her hand firmly, while blood was seeping from his shoulder.

"Tom, we…..we should go." He laid a hand on my shoulder and we left the Hospital Wing. Without saying a word, he guided me towards his rooms. When we were inside, he took two glasses from a little table next to the sofa and filled them with firewhisky. He handed me one and interpreting my brooding expression wrongly, started to talk.

"I know, this must have been awful for you to witness. For everybody in fact. She is such an enchanting girl. And you must be wondering what her father meant."

He gestured me to sit in an armchair by the fire, while he got seated opposite me on the sofa.

"Between you and me, Sir, I think she might be a troublemaker." I said carefully, he only smiled.

"That may be, but she is a charming troublemaker then. Her mother died, you know, before she attended Durmstrang. Her mother was lovely. Also one of mine, I have a picture of her right here." On the little table from which he took the glasses was a framed photograph of a group of students.

"She is the dark haired one with the soft smile, Eufemia was her name." He sighed heavily.

"Murdered. One makes enemies as an Auror and she had to pay for it. They were a lovely couple, he was infamous for his skills in duelling and she was a talented healer. They were very happy when they finally got children. I visited them, back then." Something didn't seem right and it took me a moment to realise what it was.

"Children?" Slughorn looked up from the floor and his expression grew even sadder.

"Yes, they had twins. A boy and a girl, his name was Atlas. He was murdered, too. That is the reason Cadmus did what you had to witness today. He already lost his wife and son. His parents are long dead and there are no other relatives. Medea is the last of the line and the only family he has left. So he tries to protect her as well as possible and make her stronger. I don't like to admit it, he is not completely wrong. She was remarkable today."

That made sense, of course. She spoke Parsel, though. Could we be related ? After all, the ability is supposed to be passed on within the family. Not very likely, though. Since she didn't have any relatives left and I was certainly not the lost son. I drank the firewhisky and so did Slughorn, we then sat in silence for a while.

Both of us were deep in thought.

The Professor turned to me and said: "I know it's not easy for you, I had the impression that you and Miss Crane got on very well. You should go and eat something, though. It's dinner time and you can still visit her tomorrow." He seemed to think that I was deeply affected by the recent events, which was not wrong, strictly speaking. She was remarkable, I had to agree with him on that. She could speak to snakes and was able to cast a spell while being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse. I had clearly underestimated her. She still knew about the knights of Walpurgis, not in detail, but enough. I couldn't convince her to join me and nor risk an open fight. Deciding to gather more information about her, I stood up.

"Yes, you are quite right. Thank you, Sir. I…..I should tell the others that she'll be fine, they must be worrying." I faked the emotion in my voice and put on a mask of suffering. So convincing that Slughorn gave me a pityful look and patted me on the back.

After I had left the old potions master, I made my way towards the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. A second after I sat down, frightened faces everywhere, I motioned to Dolohov to lean closer.

"Write to your cousin at Durmstrang, I want to know everything," I whispered.