The title for chapter sixteen is from…Mamma Mia. Congrats to Easterly Winds, X-Kate-X, CardboardCreative, GoldenWlf, RECblue8, Vicster200, Yank2324, Firstlady1408, and LeiaSedai and EragonEldest.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I don't own Harry Potter. End of story.
I seriously had problems with this chapter, so yesterday, I "productively wasted time" in my religion class and just plowed through it. Hope it turned out okay. I liked writing the Harry/Elphaba banter, though.
Chapter 17: Be Prepared
It was damp and cool. Water dripped slowly from the ceilings and ran down the grey stone walls. The sound of the water echoed in the freezing room. The only movement in the room was that of a slight turn of the head accompanied with a soft hissing sound.
The snake wound its way almost compassionately around the man's chair, finally coming to a rest by his shoulder. The man continued to hiss to the snake, who responded to his questions. Then, the man stood up, crossed the room to the door which was almost hidden within the grey walls, and opened it. "Come in, my loyal Death Eaters," Voldemort ordered.
He reseated himself upon his chair, watching amusedly as the Inner Circle Death Eaters humbly prostrated themselves at the Dark Lord's feet. Malfoy was right, Voldemort reflected. The Order member did make a loyal Death Eater. Dumbledore will never know what hit him…Stopping this train of thought was difficult, seeing that for Voldemort, thinking about Dumbledore's demise was like a young child imagining a sweet shop filled with treats of every kind. However, there would be plenty of time for gloating later. Right now, he needed information of a different sort.
"It has been a little over a week since we last convened," Voldemort began slowly. "And thus, it has been exactly nine days since I gave you the assignment of watching Thropp. Nine days should have been more than sufficient, my precious spy. Tell me, what have you found out about our target?"
"My Lord, I thought you said that I would have a month-" the spy began.
"Nine days should have been more than sufficient," Voldemort repeated dangerously.
"Well, my Lord," the spy began, "I have not been able to follow Thropp around much. After the battle at the Ministry, she has stayed in her rooms most of the time, and I do not know her password, so I was not able to enter. When I was able to observe her, however, I could not find anything out of the ordinary about her-"
Before the Death Eater could finish his report, an angry Voldemort had cast a Cruciatus Curse on the spy in the Order. "I don't care about extraordinary things!" Voldemort seethed. "I want general information about her. Everyday things, if you will. Your incompetence never ceases to amaze me. Perhaps I should ask another of my more proficient Death Eaters to complete the job."
"Wait, my Lord," the spy gasped. "I was not able to finish. As I was saying, I continued to watch Thropp, after she recovered from her injuries at the battle."
"And what were those injuries?" the Dark Lord questioned, wondering how strong the green woman really was.
"Thropp suffered from a slight concussion after the battle, due to being thrown into the wall. She was unconscious for three days, I believe, but other than that, there were no immediate problems other than those that one would receive after a typical battle," the Death Eater dutifully reported.
"Interesting," Voldemort muttered, more to himself than to his followers around him. "So…are you implying that after dueling and stalling McNair, who happens to be one of the best duelers in England, Thropp suffered nothing more than a slight head injury?"
"Yes, my Lord. Perhaps we could use this against her. From what I've observed in the five years that I've known her, she is reckless in battle-"
"Quiet!" Voldemort snapped. "I have observed that myself. While she is reckless, she is also a good dueler. We would not be able to accomplish anything. No…we need some kind of…prize. Something to hold over her head. But what? What is something that Thropp values above everything- something that she would willingly give her life for?"
The Death Eaters were all silent for a moment, trying to dredge up memories of the mysterious green woman that they kept meeting on the battlefields. Then, the spy spoke up again. "What about…Glinda Upland?"
"Is this the woman you spoke of earlier?" Voldemort demanded. "The one from Oz who came here to help Dumbledore?"
"Yes, the very same," the spy agreed. "She and Thropp seem to have a very close relationship."
"Define 'close,'" Voldemort narrowed his eyes. Perhaps this could be used this his advantage.
"Upland seems to care extraordinarily for Thropp, and vice versa. While Thropp was unconscious in the Hospital Wing, Upland didn't leave her side for three days straight," the Death Eater said.
"And you think she could be used to capture Thropp?" Voldemort clarified.
"There is merely one problem with this little plan of yours," Malfoy's condescending voice irked the spy.
"And what would that be, Malfoy?" the spy spat, angry at the interruption.
"Why, the fact that none of us, except for you, has ever seen Upland." Malfoy sneered at the Order member. Pathetic, he thought. "How do you suppose we capture her? From what I've previously heard of her, she never sets foot outside the Hogwarts Grounds. Are you perhaps suggesting that we storm Hogwarts and take her? We might as well kill Thropp, Potter, and Dumbledore while we're at it, then."
"Correct, Malfoy, as usual," Voldemort's lips curled up into thin, cold smile. "So…what do you propose we do?"
"Continue watching Thropp," Malfoy said smoothly. "Perhaps we will be able to find something else we can use to capture her. Although it might take longer, it would certainly be less risky that what he," Malfoy nodded at the spy, "has recommended."
Voldemort nodded approvingly. "Malfoy, consider yourself in charge of finding more information about Thropp," he ordered. "Perhaps you could teach our spy a lesson on exactly how to spy." He then dismissed all of the Death Eaters, bar one.
Once the door was closed, he turned to the lone, quivering man in his presence. "Pettigrew, use your rat animagus to spy at Hogwarts. Bring back any information, whether it seems pointless or not. Now go. And remember, no one is to know about this." Giving a short nod, the Death Eater transformed into the rat shape he was known for and disappeared. Finally, all was silent in the hideout once again.
There was an unusual sense of excitement in the Great Hall as students gathered the dueling platform that had been set up in lieu of the House tables. Dumbledore had made an announcement during dinner the previous night about a new 'Dueling Club' that was to be taught by the famous Auror, Harry Potter. Needless to say, most of the students were immediately taken and decided immediately to go to the Club.
Harry, however, had not been so amused. As per Dumbledore and Elphaba's mysterious request, he had stayed at Hogwarts until dinner was over, only to find out that he was now in charge of a dueling club that he knew absolutely nothing about. He had looked over to the green witch, only to find her giving him a smug smile. Well, fine. If she wanted to play that game…
Finally, at exactly seven o'clock, the students quieted down, and Harry walked onto the platform, keeping an eye out for Elphaba. He'd seen her come in earlier and hoped that she hadn't left. "Hello," Harry began. "As you might have heard, I am complete rubbish at giving eloquent speeches, so I'm going to keep it simple…welcome to the Dueling Club."
It was at this point that he noticed Elphaba leaning against the wall, and so, Harry put his wonderful plan of revenge into action. "Since there are so many students, I obviously will not be able to teach you all together at one time. Thus, I would like to introduce- or re-introduce, seeing that some of you may already have her as a teacher- my assistant, Professor Fae Thropp, who has graciously volunteered her time to help me with my lessons and demonstrations." The students all looked around for the Dueling Professor, who, at this present moment, did not wish to be found.
"Elphie," Glinda whispered to Elphaba, "I thought you said you weren't teaching this club."
"I thought so too," Elphaba replied darkly, glaring at the Boy-Who-Lived. "Apparently, Harry had a different idea." She rolled her eyes, and while imagining all the ways she could murder Harry, made her way up to the platform and stood next to said Auror.
"Ah, there you are, Fae," Harry said cheerfully. He then quickly whispered, "Don't you remember your little promise?"
"What promise?" Elphaba snapped back.
"I said that I would duel you for a demonstration," Harry reminded her. "Well, I'm making good on that promise today. Are you ready, oh great esteemed professor?"
"Yes, but I didn't think- fine," Elphaba sighed. "And alright. I'll duel you now. Good luck."
"I think you'll need the luck, Fae," Harry smirked. "I'm not an Auror for nothing, you know. I'm trained in dueling." He turned to the students and raised his voice. "For my first demonstration, you are going to see a proper duel between Professor Thropp and I. Keep in mind that our intentions are not to kill." Harry grinned. "Only to maim." As Elphaba gave Harry a stern look, Harry relented. "Alright. Fine. Sorry. Fae and I are merely going to try and disarm the other. That should be the only goal in this room at all times. Is that understood?"
Harry and Elphaba faced each other in the center of the platform and gave a slight bow to the other. "You know," Elphaba muttered to Harry, "I've never bowed to a Death Eater before dueling them."
Harry shrugged. "It's tradition," he replied. With a quick nod to Elphaba, he walked backwards a few steps, not taking his eyes off the green witch.
Elphaba didn't wait. "Expelliarmous!"
Harry merely flicked the curse away, as if it were an annoying fly. "Cheating, now, are we?" he asked. "
"I do what I can," Elphaba answered modestly. She ducked to the side as Harry quickly sent two curses in her direction.
"Stupefy!" She feigned a shot to Harry's right, but then quickly moved her wand so that the spell shot to the left instead.
"You think I'd fall for that trick?" Harry taunted, grinning. "I told you, didn't I? You're going to need all the luck that you can get. Petrificus Totalus!"
Harry and Elphaba continued on in this way for about ten more minutes. Seeing that their skills were evenly matched, neither of them could find an opening in the other's defenses. However, Harry was right. He was an Auror, which meant that he was trained to have a lot more endurance than the normal witch or wizard.
Thus, he did not send a lot of offensive spells towards Elphaba; rather, he let her try and disarm him and tire herself out. Elphaba realized this a little too late. Harry finally sent two or three spells in quick succession at Elphaba. Elphaba was able to dodge the first two, but unluckily for her, the last spell, a Tripping Jinx, was dead-on. She was unable to regain her footing and went down hard onto the platform. Harry took advantage of her loss of concentration and disarmed her.
"Good duel," Harry said, walking over and helping Elphaba up amid the cheering of the students.
"Thanks. You too," Elphaba replied, gingerly standing on her right ankle, which had had most of her weight thrown on it when she had fallen. "Could I have my wand back?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Harry muttered, handing Elphaba the eleven inch stick. He turned to look at the students. "Well, that is what a normal duel looks like. Although, don't get any ideas. There is to be no dueling like that in here. At least, not for the first few lessons. Believe me, that will only end up in disaster."
"Lockhart?" Elphaba whispered, raising an eyebrow.
Harry nodded slightly. "Long story," he mouthed. "Later."
"Fine," Elphaba said. She took charge of the dueling club. "Okay, there are several options that one can take when faced with a Death Eater," she began, pacing slightly. "Mr. Dawes," she randomly pointed to a second-year Ravenclaw. "What would you do if you suddenly found yourself facing a group of Death Eaters?"
"Um…run?" Dawes guessed. He found himself at the receiving end of laughter and teasing from a greater part of the students.
"Quiet!" Harry interrupted the laughter. "Mr. Dawes is absolutely right. You run."
"Isn't that the coward's way out?" a Gryffindor asked, scoffing.
"That's the smart way out," Elphaba corrected. "Mr. Dawes is a second-year student, and as such, he has no possible way of defeating the Death Eaters in a duel. Therefore, the correct thing to do would be to run. It is better to be smart and alive than brave, but dead."
Harry coughed and muttered something suspiciously like, "You should start taking your own advice." Elphaba ignored him.
"But isn't that what you're going to teach us?" the Gryffindor continued. "How to duel and win against Death Eaters?"
This time, it was Harry that spoke up. "No. While going through Auror training, the emphasis was not on fighting and winning in battles. It was on surviving. And that is what Professor Thropp and I are going to attempt to teach you. How to survive. Not how to win duels. Perhaps dueling will be involved, as that will definitely give you a surer chance of survival, but the key word here is to survive an encounter with the Death Eaters. And I must say that Mr. Dawes is definitely off to a good start."
"Now, Mr. Dawes," Elphaba interrupted. "You say that you would run, right?" When the Ravenclaw nodded, Elphaba asked, "How would you run?"
"What do you mean, professor?" Dawes questioned. "I'd run fast."
Harry couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped him. Elphaba shot a glare at him. "You're not helping," she snapped.
"Fine." Harry sighed before turning serious again. "No Mr. Dawes. I think Professor Thropp means something along the lines of: 'In what pattern would you run?' Would you run in a straight line?"
"No, sir," Dawes said nervously. "I'd try to be unpredictable so that the Death Eaters wouldn't know where to shoot their spells."
"Exactly," Harry agreed. "It would be best to run in a zig-zag pattern. It would be harder for the Death Eaters to hit you will a spell if you ran in an unpredictable pattern than if you ran in a straight line."
"Alright." Elphaba took over. "Seeing as you know now exactly what we're going to be teaching in here, you now have a few days before the next meeting to decide if you want to come. Do not come unless you are willing to actually learn how to survive against Death Eaters. Not duel. The next meeting is in three days. Thank you."
With that, she turned and slipped off the dueling platform as the students began to talk and leave to their Common Rooms. Harry followed her.
"It looks like you have this whole teaching thing down," Harry teased. "I don't think you need me to come next time, right?"
"No way," Elphaba answered. "I'm just 'volunteering', remember? You're the one that actually has to teach this club. Perhaps we should change the name to the 'Survival Club' instead of the 'Dueling Club.'"
"You're lucky I'm so good at improving, though," Harry reminded her and walking with her back to her rooms. "After all, I only found out tonight that I'm running this club.
"You're good at improving?" Elphaba glared. "I would think that I'm good at improving. After all, I'm the one that ran most of tonight's club. Not to mention the fact that you volunteered me without my knowing."
"So you acknowledge that you ran the club? Meaning that you don't need me?" Harry said.
"Harry James Potter, I said nothing of the sort…"
"My Lord," Pettigrew bowed, "I have come back with a report."
"Continue," Voldemort said impatiently.
"I entered Hogwarts and witnessed a 'Dueling Club' that was taught by Potter and Thropp. They dueled, and I believe that if Thropp hadn't been so impulsive in the beginning, she could have beaten Potter, or at least come close to it."
"So…what are you saying?" Voldemort snapped.
"I think that Thropp needs to be captured or destroyed before she gets another chance to attack us," Pettigrew said hesitantly.
"Thank you, Pettigrew. That is what I wished to know. You shall be rewarded," Voldemort said softly. "Go call our spy in. If he can not perform a simple spy mission, perhaps he will be more useful in a simple murder mission."
Once Pettigrew had left, Voldemort chuckled softly. "Soon, Thropp," he said to no one in particular. "Your days are numbered."
Coming up: Poison and worry
And I have a History SAT II test coming up next Saturday (May 5), so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to update between now and then. Sorry that it happened at such a cliffhanger-ish point. Wish me good luck. :P
-Wolfie