Ari's eyes flew open, Severus swore he saw a flash of gold in them for a split second before they turned black again as she broke his curse. In another split second, just as the snake was about to strike, she flicked her wand at it, "Incendio!" she said and the snake caught fire just as it made a move to strike.
Severus smirked; he was deeply impressed by this as much as he was, angered; his determination to win this had set in and now he wasn't going to stop at anything. "Playing the hard way are we?" he sneered. 'Locomotor Mortis!' he said in his head, concentrating on the spell as he struck his wand towards her.
Ari mimicked a yawn, almost lazily flicked her wand and deflected the spell. "You bore me, you know?" she smirked and flicked her wand, muttering the incantation, "Levicorpus!"
Before Severus could even guess what incantation she'd just used, he found himself looking up at the sky, as he hung by his ankles in mid-air; he felt like a bat; a sexy one at that; his thought left though as he flicked his wand out, as a memory, that this was the exact spell James used on him in his youth; his heart sunk further as he remembered the words James had spoke to him, all those years ago; he couldn't control himself; he needed to destroy the enemy; without hesitation he raised his wand from upside down, "Avada..." he said just audibly.
As a jet of green light shot from the tip of Severus' wand, Ari flicked her wand to let him down, everything seemed to be in slow-motion for Severus as he watched her flick her wand at the green jet of light, "Expelliarmus!" she yelled as soon as he had said his incantation, connecting their wands.
Severus felt the strength of Ari's incantation as it his own, he concentrated hard on his own spell, strengthening it to try push the beam towards Ari. He gripped his wand as tight as possible; hatred burning in his eyes as he gazed at her; his expression focused but dark. He planned to finish, not Ari but her wand; the heartbreak he felt when she cast Levicorpus on him gave him a hunger to completely destroy her wand. He pushed everything out of his mind and concentrated harder on the beam; he wand vibrated as the beam of green light inched forwards, towards Ari.
Ari's excitement had risen; the start of the duel, she found boring but now things had heated up and slowly were growing in intensity. Her focus was set on nothing else but forcing the beam towards Severus; she didn't think of anything else. Her determination to finish Severus grew, her 'other side' wanted to finish him; kill him if it could. She had been completely possessed.
Severus' dead eyes flickered in the light, he felt an edge of not excitement, rather boldness and power; he knew he had what it took to finish her; if only he knew that she was possessed and he wasn't really duelling Ari at all; his heart pounded as the beam slowly inched towards his, the red light seemed to eat his green one. He gripped his wand tighter, his wand quivering violently as he managed to push it back down to hers.
Ari concentrated with all her might; everything she had went into her focus and strength to keep her wand steady; even with her extraordinary strength from her other side; she struggled to keep it still, she focused as hard as she could and pushed the beam back towards the middle.
Severus's heart now raced, yet he didn't flinch as the beam inched to the middle; his arm was slowly beginning to ache as he used all his physical strength to grip his wand tighter than he had last; he knew he couldn't grip it any tighter than he already was; his knuckles were white, his palms felt as though they were about to bleed as his nails dug into them, his arm quivered as the wand vibrated; he tensed his arm allowing more strength to keep it still and stared, unblinkingly as he focused the beam in attempt to move it from the middle; the beam didn't budge until he set his entire mind and will power and pushed it an inch towards her.
Ari was a strong dueller, as Severus saw; the jet of red and green light were back at equal lengths; a sparkly ball of light in the middle; the connection of the two wands sparked slightly as the two attempted to force it towards one another. With all the mental and physical strength being put into his spell, Severus focused as hard as he could; his wand frantically quivered as it tried to inch towards Ari but Ari was powerful enough to stop the beam from nearing her. He turned his wand slightly and hoped the beam, now more powerful would move towards her.
Severus smirked as Ari held the wand with both her hands; he knew something had happened, both her arms quivered with the wand, as though she were holding down a rouge animal; her concentration remained unbroken. Severus raised his own wand slightly, not breaking the connection; he focused with all his might to move the beam, his arm ached as he gripped it tight, in order to control the trembling of his wand. He gave the beam one powerful push with, his wand almost flew from his grip as the beam wouldn't move forward; Ari had too much focus and concentration on it for it to move. Severus now had to grip the wand with both his hands, using every ounce of strength he had to keep it in control. Severus saw Ari's black eyes shine as the ball of light in the middle strengthened; the stronger it became, the more it sparked.
Severus had no intention whatsoever of giving up in this duel; he wasn't about to break the connection, no matter how much that ball of light sparked, no matter how much his wand vibrated as though it were trying to escape from his grip; he would win the duel if it was the last thing he did; he was determined to finish Ari. With both hands and every muscle in his perfectly honed arms at an equal strength; his physical and mental strength was perfectly balanced; to boost the strength of his spell, he slightly flicked his wand, his eyes narrowed as the beam sparked some more but failed to move. The red light of Ari's spell flickered in his eyes; bringing more power, anger and darkness into Severus' narrowed eyes.
Severus drew in a deep breath as he saw Ari wasn't about to give up; he could see her straining, as much determination and power as there was in him; he gave another push of the beam, stronger than the first time, he swore he was going to lose his wand as it trembled violently in his hands, his wand now moving his arms uncontrollably. He watched as the ball of light in the middle sparked, viciously igniting the ground as a few hit the ground. Small fires had started and Severus was beginning to look slightly worried, as he noticed a wicked smirk form across Ari's face; he still wasn't about to give up any time soon. Using every last ounce of strength he had, he flicked his wand once more.
The ball of light in the middle sparked violently and seemed to explode. Both, Severus and Ari were forcefully thrown at least fifty feet backwards. Severus closed his eyes, his arms over his head as he hit the ground back-first. A slight warm sensation on the right side of his face made him look to the right; there he saw he had landed next to a small fire caused by the impact of the two spells. He quickly rolled away from it and looked at Ari, who simply rolled to her feet after being thrown back; she now stood smirking at him- unfazed by the fire around her; without a word she turned and walked away. It was then Severus knew why the connection not just broke, but exploded.
"Not so fast, Dumbledore!" he panted, somewhat weakly; disbelief settling in his chest.
He couldn't figure out how it was that she was just able to get up like that; he thought back to how her eyes changed colour and her extraordinary strength. 'I need a word with her...' he thought.
Ari stopped but didn't turn to look at him, he hand clutched tightly around her wand.
"Don't. Think about it..." Severus looked at her, mildly impressed with how one could have given a duel like this; he knew then that he may not have been dealing with Ari... but someone... something a lot more dangerous. "Equal power... amusing..." Severus said to himself.
"Glad I could amuse you... Severus." she said with a dark wicked edge to her voice. She smirked to herself.
Severus gave her one last glare as she walked away; his words unheard. He knew something was wrong now that she had addressed him by his first name; though he couldn't prove it. Dumbledore would be furious if he accused his daughter of being possessed; if she was, how would he stop her? There was nothing he could do; it was out of his hands; they were of equal power.