The Duel
Students were running to the Great Hall. Normally, there were no students present at the boring demonstrations for the ministers. But they all wanted to see a duel, thinking it would become spectaculair. It was between Gryffindor and Slytherin after all. And those who remembered the duel between Potter and Malfoy a few years ago, knew for sure that it would be worth seeing.
The crowd was pushing when Hermione arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall. She thought it would be wise to step aside untill everyone was inside. Then she noticed Malfoy who stood lazely against the wall, observing some students wo where making a bet of who would knock who down.
She went to him and said: "I've tested my wand, it works fantastic, thanks."
Pansy pushed her aside when she ran to Malfoy and he sneered: "Why would I care whether your stupid wand works, you filthy little mudblood? As long as you're ready to be cursed to the hospital wing by me, I don't care!"
Hermione was shocked, did he just yell at her?!? Was this morning just a dream?
When she was sure Hermione was looking, Pansy gave Malfoy a quick kiss on his cheek and went into the Great Hall.
Then Malfoy and Hermione were allone in the hallway, except for some security wizards who had the job to guard the whole school, while the ministers were at Hogwarts. They could hear through the closed doors of the Great Hall that Dumbledore began his speech: "Ladies and gentlemen, it's an honour to have you all here today..."
Hermione glanced at Malfoy. He completely ignored her and stared at the closed doors. If he was nervous, he could hide it very well, Hermione thought.
She listened back to Dumbledore and heard: "...So, here's the first demonstrator of today: Draco Malfoy!" The doors opened and Malfoy went inside under a lot of screaming and clapping. The doors closed again and she heard Dumbledore go on: "And the second demonstrator of today is: Hermione Granger!"
When Hermione went inside she almost wanted to run away: the crowd screamed and clapped and it made a terrible noise. She looked around and saw that Gryffindor and Slytherin were separated for a good reason. They were shouting at each other and at the demonstrators. In the middle of the Great Hall was a large stage with stairs on both ends. Some teachers were seated next to it, in case something went wrong.
Hermione went to the nearest end and saw Malfoy on the other side. They both went up the stairs and walked towards each other. Hermione almost felt frightened when she saw Malfoy glaring coldly at her. But when they faced each other Malfoy suddenly winked at her and smiled: "Scared, Granger?"
Hermione remembered that phrase and retorted with a small smile: "You wish!"
They bowed slowly, raised their wands like swords,turned around and took ten steps to the end of the stage. At this moment the crowd was roaring.
Hermione and Malfoy turned again to face each other and took their combative position. The crowd went silent and waited.
The silence was broken by Dumbledore who said: They will first show how to block some spells."
Malfoy yelled: "Locomoto Mortis!". Blue sparks came out of his wand.
"Scutum Crassus!" Hermione shouted and a yellow shield blocked Malfoy's spell.
Immediately after the shield was gone, she shouted: "Fernunculus!".
"Munimentum Sponte Sua!" Malfoy yelled and a fire ball stopped Hermione's silver ray of light.
They both stopped and Dumbledore said: Now, they will demonstrate the effect of two identical spells."
Both the students yelled: "Impedimenta!" and a ray of green light came out of both their wands. When the rays collided, they became one bundle of red light and shot straight up in the air. When the huge ray almost touched the magic ceiling it exploded in a thousand golden sparks and the crowd clapped in excitement.
Dumbledore clapped too and then said: Beautiful, isn't it? Now, the students will use some random spells and start a real duel. Three! Two! One!"
"Serpensortia!" Malfoy yelled, and a black Cobra came out of his wands. The snake came crawling towards Hermione.
Inside she was hoping that Harry would shut up this time and she shouted: "Discordia Petrificus Totalus!". Instead of one silver jet of light, two came out of Hermione's wand. One hit the snake and one Malfoy.
He fell like a statue on the ground and Hermione slowly walked to him. The rules said that a duel was ended when the winner removed the spell. The crowd went wild, Gryffindor was cheering together with a lot of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuf students. Slytherin was furious and roared insultments at Hermione.
What nobody saw, was that somebody pointed his wand at Malfoy and put him under an Imperio Curse.
Malfoy's head became light and a voice said: "Kill the mudblood."
"What?" Draco thought.
"Put her under an Avada Kadavra Curse." the voice hissed.
"Why?" Draco thought again.
"Yell Avada Kadavra!" the voice roared.
Hermione removed the spell and Malfoy started to move again. She turned to the High Table and bowed. She heard Malfoy bringing himself to his feet behind her, but what she hadn't expected, was that he yelled: "Avada...!"
Before he could finish his curse, Dumbledore roared: "Finite Incantatem!!!"
Unconscious, Malfoy fell back on the ground and teachers climbed up the stage. They picked him up and got him out of the Great hall before Gryffindor students could reach him. The doors closed behind them and Dumbledore roared: "Silence!"
When the crowd calmed down, the headmaster said: "To the ministries: I apologize for this disorder. To everyone in this castle: Mr. Malfoy didn't want to put an Unforgivable Curse on Miss Granger."
The crowd started to mumble, but Dumbledore went on: "You have witnessed a person who's under an Imperio Curse. I've recognized the symptoms and so did other people among us. I hereby declare that Mr. Malfoy has my complete confidence and that I won't allow anyone to punish him for his deed."
The headmaster overlooked the Great Hall and said: " This event will not be a reason to cancel tonight's Quidditch Match between Gryffindor and Slytherin and I ask both teams to play a clean game. That was all, all students may go. I invite the ministers for a general meeting and a drink."
Hermione jumped off the stage and headed for the exit.
"Hermione, are you alright?!" a voice shouted. It was Ginny.
"Yes, I'm fine." she said,still trembling a little when Ginny reached her.
"We were all shocked when Malfoy pointed his wand at your back!" Ginny said with her eyes wide open, "Do you believe that he was under an Imperio Curse?".
Hermione paused for a second, then said: "Yes, absolutely."
She scanned the Great Hall and then asked: "Where are Harry and Ron?"
"Oh, don't think they don't care about you. They're very worried, but they think you're still angry at them." Ginny said, not knowing what was going on.
"Silly boys!" Hermione said, "Come on, Ginny, let's go back to the common room. Those boys need a lecture.
Ginny nodded, still confused, and they left the Great Hall.
Students were running to the Great Hall. Normally, there were no students present at the boring demonstrations for the ministers. But they all wanted to see a duel, thinking it would become spectaculair. It was between Gryffindor and Slytherin after all. And those who remembered the duel between Potter and Malfoy a few years ago, knew for sure that it would be worth seeing.
The crowd was pushing when Hermione arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall. She thought it would be wise to step aside untill everyone was inside. Then she noticed Malfoy who stood lazely against the wall, observing some students wo where making a bet of who would knock who down.
She went to him and said: "I've tested my wand, it works fantastic, thanks."
Pansy pushed her aside when she ran to Malfoy and he sneered: "Why would I care whether your stupid wand works, you filthy little mudblood? As long as you're ready to be cursed to the hospital wing by me, I don't care!"
Hermione was shocked, did he just yell at her?!? Was this morning just a dream?
When she was sure Hermione was looking, Pansy gave Malfoy a quick kiss on his cheek and went into the Great Hall.
Then Malfoy and Hermione were allone in the hallway, except for some security wizards who had the job to guard the whole school, while the ministers were at Hogwarts. They could hear through the closed doors of the Great Hall that Dumbledore began his speech: "Ladies and gentlemen, it's an honour to have you all here today..."
Hermione glanced at Malfoy. He completely ignored her and stared at the closed doors. If he was nervous, he could hide it very well, Hermione thought.
She listened back to Dumbledore and heard: "...So, here's the first demonstrator of today: Draco Malfoy!" The doors opened and Malfoy went inside under a lot of screaming and clapping. The doors closed again and she heard Dumbledore go on: "And the second demonstrator of today is: Hermione Granger!"
When Hermione went inside she almost wanted to run away: the crowd screamed and clapped and it made a terrible noise. She looked around and saw that Gryffindor and Slytherin were separated for a good reason. They were shouting at each other and at the demonstrators. In the middle of the Great Hall was a large stage with stairs on both ends. Some teachers were seated next to it, in case something went wrong.
Hermione went to the nearest end and saw Malfoy on the other side. They both went up the stairs and walked towards each other. Hermione almost felt frightened when she saw Malfoy glaring coldly at her. But when they faced each other Malfoy suddenly winked at her and smiled: "Scared, Granger?"
Hermione remembered that phrase and retorted with a small smile: "You wish!"
They bowed slowly, raised their wands like swords,turned around and took ten steps to the end of the stage. At this moment the crowd was roaring.
Hermione and Malfoy turned again to face each other and took their combative position. The crowd went silent and waited.
The silence was broken by Dumbledore who said: They will first show how to block some spells."
Malfoy yelled: "Locomoto Mortis!". Blue sparks came out of his wand.
"Scutum Crassus!" Hermione shouted and a yellow shield blocked Malfoy's spell.
Immediately after the shield was gone, she shouted: "Fernunculus!".
"Munimentum Sponte Sua!" Malfoy yelled and a fire ball stopped Hermione's silver ray of light.
They both stopped and Dumbledore said: Now, they will demonstrate the effect of two identical spells."
Both the students yelled: "Impedimenta!" and a ray of green light came out of both their wands. When the rays collided, they became one bundle of red light and shot straight up in the air. When the huge ray almost touched the magic ceiling it exploded in a thousand golden sparks and the crowd clapped in excitement.
Dumbledore clapped too and then said: Beautiful, isn't it? Now, the students will use some random spells and start a real duel. Three! Two! One!"
"Serpensortia!" Malfoy yelled, and a black Cobra came out of his wands. The snake came crawling towards Hermione.
Inside she was hoping that Harry would shut up this time and she shouted: "Discordia Petrificus Totalus!". Instead of one silver jet of light, two came out of Hermione's wand. One hit the snake and one Malfoy.
He fell like a statue on the ground and Hermione slowly walked to him. The rules said that a duel was ended when the winner removed the spell. The crowd went wild, Gryffindor was cheering together with a lot of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuf students. Slytherin was furious and roared insultments at Hermione.
What nobody saw, was that somebody pointed his wand at Malfoy and put him under an Imperio Curse.
Malfoy's head became light and a voice said: "Kill the mudblood."
"What?" Draco thought.
"Put her under an Avada Kadavra Curse." the voice hissed.
"Why?" Draco thought again.
"Yell Avada Kadavra!" the voice roared.
Hermione removed the spell and Malfoy started to move again. She turned to the High Table and bowed. She heard Malfoy bringing himself to his feet behind her, but what she hadn't expected, was that he yelled: "Avada...!"
Before he could finish his curse, Dumbledore roared: "Finite Incantatem!!!"
Unconscious, Malfoy fell back on the ground and teachers climbed up the stage. They picked him up and got him out of the Great hall before Gryffindor students could reach him. The doors closed behind them and Dumbledore roared: "Silence!"
When the crowd calmed down, the headmaster said: "To the ministries: I apologize for this disorder. To everyone in this castle: Mr. Malfoy didn't want to put an Unforgivable Curse on Miss Granger."
The crowd started to mumble, but Dumbledore went on: "You have witnessed a person who's under an Imperio Curse. I've recognized the symptoms and so did other people among us. I hereby declare that Mr. Malfoy has my complete confidence and that I won't allow anyone to punish him for his deed."
The headmaster overlooked the Great Hall and said: " This event will not be a reason to cancel tonight's Quidditch Match between Gryffindor and Slytherin and I ask both teams to play a clean game. That was all, all students may go. I invite the ministers for a general meeting and a drink."
Hermione jumped off the stage and headed for the exit.
"Hermione, are you alright?!" a voice shouted. It was Ginny.
"Yes, I'm fine." she said,still trembling a little when Ginny reached her.
"We were all shocked when Malfoy pointed his wand at your back!" Ginny said with her eyes wide open, "Do you believe that he was under an Imperio Curse?".
Hermione paused for a second, then said: "Yes, absolutely."
She scanned the Great Hall and then asked: "Where are Harry and Ron?"
"Oh, don't think they don't care about you. They're very worried, but they think you're still angry at them." Ginny said, not knowing what was going on.
"Silly boys!" Hermione said, "Come on, Ginny, let's go back to the common room. Those boys need a lecture.
Ginny nodded, still confused, and they left the Great Hall.