Hey guys! Sorry I unintentionally deleted the story, but now I'm back, also with a new chapter. I did like writing that chapter and I hope that you'll be liking it too. I love to imagine Crabbe shooting around with an amount of spells, but find out what's behind it^^.
Enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW!
"Miss Dumbledore will know face Mr Malfoy and Mr Crabbe.", Snape said and curled up his lips in a faint smile. Snape'd just assumed that the whole DADA class lacked in every single discipline of nonverbal spells. That's why he just said that there will be more practice, which meant face-to-face duels in front of the whole class.
Draco found that almost annoying, but even he himself could need practise for the near future.
"But two against one is unfair!", Parvati Patil protested.
"Do you think that the real life out there is fair? Or would you like to ask your enemies first if they would face you one by one that you can easily knock them out? I' sure they would be likely bargaining with you, Miss Patil, particularly in the face of death." Some Slytherins giggled, even Malfoy once listened to his teacher and smirked.
"Let us see what is hidden behind famous names. Let us see who really owns power.", Snape said and directly looked into Potters face, as Alanis stepped forward. Draco smirked. Although he disliked Snape, Draco appreciated him bullying Potter whenever he got the chance to.
That Dumbledore girl pressed her lips together, as if she still had to prevent her from murmuring the spells, but Draco knew better that she'd been more than successful with nonverbal spells. Not that he'd been interested in that girl's progress.
But somehow he liked the thought of facing her, as he felt as if he could put all his despair into her defeat, and would finally get away from the strange feelings that emerged every time when he saw her. Perhaps he could now get rid of his nightmares too.
Crabbe looked like he was about getting a really big Christmas cake, in spite Snape never being father Christmas. Crabbe loved to duel, although he was more than unskilled, but nevertheless dangerous, as for his enemies and companions as well. He often overestimated himself, and thought of him being capable of being able casting and controlling even real powerful spells of the dark ones. Draco had never even heard of them, but once Crabbe tried to demonstrate his power in front of Draco and the others and cast some real dangerous ones which he hardly was able to control. Blaise, Goyle and Draco had to calm him down and get rid of that fiendfyre he just had summoned, much worse than any other magical summoned fire. Although that had almost cost their lives and almost burnt down Malfoy Manor, Crabbe pretended to be his favourite dark curse and was never willingly to forget it.
But Draco had always known that Crabbe and Goyle were just pitifully cack-handed fools and there was nothing better than their loyalty for the dark inside them. And perhaps that was the only reason why he took them as companions, but he really found a much better fit in Zabini Blaise, who remained somehow strange to him, because he never liked to speak a lot. Blaise was tall, his high cheekbones made him exceptionally handsome, which he inherited from his notorious mother and was therefore slightly vain, but solitary and pertinacious. But actually all of that didn't bother Draco, he anyway actually wanted to be left alone with his business.
As soon as Snape let them start, Crabbe jumped forward and threw so many jinxes and spells at the Dumbledore girl that she seemed to disappear behind a curtain of bolts and lightning.
Crabbe just unremittingly kept on attacking her and every idiot could have seen the faint movements of his lips as he muttered every single spell. But Snape did not seem to care Crabbe breaking the rules. Draco himself had not even raised up his wand, but observed the girl and had to admire her extremely strong and constant shield charm that prevented him from using his legilimency skills he was taught by Bellatrix to enter her mind and finish this whole thing quickly.
Her face was extremely calm and she seemed to be in deep concentration and she slightly waved her wand in little circular movements to constantly keep up the charm. In fact, countering Crabbe's blasts of curses was almost impossible. And that was Draco's chance. Crabbe bought him the time he would need to find the weak point in her massive shield.
Draco smirked and lifted his wand. Rough violence was sometimes the best way to success.
"Protego Maxima."
Alanis repeated that spell as often as she could in her mind and with every curse of Crabbe that hit her shield, she shivered and felt herself weaken.
She knew she would have never been able to stand a chance against them both, although Crabbe was one of the most lousy wizards, normally an easy target, but shot curses around him as he seemed to don't care about harming anyone but anyone. But could that be all? Could a simple shield charm be the only thing she would be able to produce?
Malfoy had not even involved himself in that duel and she was already fighting to stand that tirade of Crabbe.
But wasn't it simple? She just had to act like her father would have done. Performing magic was just as simple as music. Magic was as complex as music and both had a lot in common, that was the secret of her father with his work. Performing a spell was quite similar to sing a melody. That's why rituals were some of the most powerful kinds of magic.
This would all be more easier if Alanis would be able to cast the spelly out loud, and she really tried hard to keep her mouth shut.
Suddenly she felt as if something was reaching out for her, feeling her and she looked up to Malfoy who just held his wand pointed at her. She knew he was trying to figure out the extent of her shield charm and she almost could feel the touch of his own spell. But then she wasn't any longer able to hold back her anger to fight back, reduced her shield to a smaller one and countered Crabbe's jinxes.
"Everte statum!", she threw her thought at him as if it was a sharp arrow.
Crabbe tottered back and she was grateful for her charm succeeding, but then she felt that her remaining shield broke at one elegant but fierce flick of Malfoys wand. She felt her legs bubble and limbs weaken as she recognized how much effort and strength this shield had afforded.
As soon as she faced Malfoy, ignoring Crabbe rolling on the floor, trying to free himself from his cloak and getting up to his feet again, she threw a Locomotor charm at him. But Malfoy easily warded it off and countered with such a strong disarming charm that she was repelled and bumped on the floor, her wand pushed away from her somewhere under the tables and out of sight. She panted heavily as she finally got to her feet.
"Enough.", Snape said and barely hid his amusement in his voice. Malfoy had really done a good job, Alanis had to admit that, but for her the whole thing wasn't over. She stretched out her arm and used a nonverbal summoning charm and her wand flew immediately into her palm. Some students gasped. This charm was still one of the most tricky ones, for which Alanis normally should have received twenty house points, but Snape ignored her.
"You both did very well", he said to Crabbe and Malfoy, who had a self-satisfied grin on his face, "Take fifteen house points each!"
Alanis could hear Harry behind her breathing heavily, as Snape slowly turned around to Alanis.
"You're pointing a wand at a teacher, Miss Dumbledore.", Snape said cruelly and Alanis quickly put her wand down, but made no effort to back away. Although she had lost, she had fought quite well and she pretended to gain some house points as well, especially for that summoning charm. Deep inside her she knew that being stubborn was useless, but she wouldn't be a Gryffindor if she would not pretend for her right.
"Everyone in here could see your lack of a casting a real good and persistent shield charm, Miss Dumbledore. To improve your skills, I think a forty centimetre essay about protective spells will serve for your improvement."
Alanis gawped at him disappointedly. Some Slytherins giggled and other Gryffindors silently showed their anger, but Snape wasn't already finished: "And this would be for everyone in here who won't be able to proceed a shield charm to ward off the disarming spell I will cast on him. Queue now."
Some students protested, risked writing that essay anyway, but Alanis was lucky that this task included the Slytherins too and some of them failed with nonverbal spells as much as the others did. But Alanis wasn't satisfied entirely and so have been her friends.
But who else but Snape wouldn't have appreciated Alanis efforts, as well as she did cast a very agreeable shield charm?
At the end of the lesson about half of the class was bound to write that bloody essay, Ron vocally troubled over it, as they entered the great hall for lunch
"Snape was always that unfair, Alanis, we should finally get over with it.", Hermione said, cleaning her plate hastily, to be ready of heading off to the library.
"But Alanis was brilliant! She did quite well facing Malfoy and Crabbe!", Harry protested and gorged some mouthful of treacle tart, while Alanis just pecked at her pudding. Alanis sighed heavily.
"But honestly Harry, I wasn't able to stand a chance against Malfoy's disarming charm. Additionally he casted a brilliant one to break my shield, just at the right moment with the right strength."
Harry clenched his teeth.
"That's what I just wanted to say. Malfoy was always skilled at the Dark Arts, but how did he improve that much? Did he have some special death eater training? I suppose he really had to attach importance to his duelling skills."
Hermione and Ron rolled her eyes , but Alanis glanced at the Slytherin table where Malfoy set, a blond Slytherin girl beneath him who stroke his hear and seemed to be the luckiest girl in the world, although the mind-absent Draco took no notice of her.
"Honestly Harry, will you ever stop suspecting Draco being a death eater?"
"I don't suspect him to be, I know that he is!"
"If you don't stop talking that rubbish I will wake you every morning with the Levicorpus charm!", Hermione said angrily and Harry and Ron grinned from one ear to the other.
"You would use a Half-Blood-Prince charm to keep Harry quiet?", Ron asked teasingly and Alanis laughed. Hermione wasn't also able to prevent her from smiling back.
"Or it would just fit making you both breakfast that book."