Chapter Nine: Dueling Club
Several days later, the students were all gathered into the Great Hall where Prof. Lockhart had organized a Dueling Club. The students stood on opposite sides of the long table that stretched out from one end of the hall to the other near the door. At each end of the table were small stairs with a few steps, and on the table was a blue tablecloth with moon and wand patterns on it. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tony, and Riley stood on one side together, waiting for the lesson to begin. Then Prof. Lockhart emerged from the left hand side to step onto the table. He was dressed in a white shirt that looked like a fencing uniform, and green pants, with a green cape-like cloak hanging on his left shoulder.
"Gather 'round! Gather 'round." he called. "Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?"
The students quieted down so he could continue.
"In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Prof. Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions." explained Prof. Lockhart. "For full details, see my published works."
"Just get on with it." Tony muttered through his teeth. "We don't have all day to listen to you bragging."
Hermione, without facing him, elbowed him sharply in the ribs. Tony gave a sharp grunt of pain, and nursed his injured rib cage, shooting his friend a one-eyed glare, grumbling under his breath. Harry, Ron, and Riley gave the Slytherin a sympathetic glance. Prof. Lockhart paused in his speech to take off his cloak, and throw it into the audience. He threw it towards the Chasers of Gryffindor, with Angelina Johnson being the winner of the prize, causing some of the students to groan in disgust.
"I need to throw up." Riley grunted, annoyed.
"You and me both." agreed Ron.
Nearby them, a taller boy turned to face Harry.
"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" he asked. "Awfully brave chap."
He paused to shake Harry's hand.
"Justin Finch-Fletchley. Hufflepuff." he greeted.
"Oh, nice to meet you." said Harry. "I'm-"
"I know who you are. We all do, even us Muggleborns."
Their attention was grabbed by Prof. Lockhart, who had just announced his assistant in the tutorial duel. To everyone's surprise, it was Prof. Snape. He walked onto the stage, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked as if he didn't want to be there right now, and many of the students couldn't blame him.
"He has sportingly agreed to help with a short demonstration." announced Prof. Lockhart. "Now I don't want any of you youngsters to worry, you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him. Never fear."
"But will we have our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when he's through with you?" Tony asked loudly.
Several students in the audience chuckled at his joke, while Prof. Lockhart's smile faded quickly. Hermione was the only one of the group of friends who was not amused one bit.
"Supporting our Head of House, I see?" he asked. "Alright, you've left me with no choice. I'll have to up my game a little."
As he and Prof. Snape walked towards each other, their wands out, Hermione nudged Tony painfully in the ribs again.
"Stop it!" she hissed.
"No!" Tony whispered back.
Prof. Lockhart and Prof. Snape stood a couple of feet away from each other, held up their wands in front of their faces, then lowered them again. They bowed slightly, and turned away to put some distance between the two. Upon turning around again, they stood with their wands at the ready. Prof. Lockhart counted to three slowly, then Prof. Snape made the first move.
"Expelliarmus!" he shouted.
A white blast of magic shot out from the tip of his wand, knocking Prof. Lockhart into the air, making him drop his own wand, and fell on his back a couple of feet away.
"Do you think he's alright?" asked Hermione.
"Who cares?" retorted Ron.
Tony looked disappointed.
"Aw, looks like that's a 'yes' to my question." he groaned.
Meanwhile, Prof. Lockhart had gotten back up to his feet once again, and started walking back towards the center.
"An excellent idea to show them that, Prof. Snape," he commented. "But if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you, it would have only been too easy."
"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells, professor." Prof. Snape reminded him.
For a moment there, Prof. Lockhart was at a loss for words. Prof. Snape merely smirked, knowing he had truly won this round. Unfortunately, Prof. Lockhart recovered quickly.
"An excellent suggestion, Prof. Snape." the former professor agreed. "Let's have a volunteer pair."
He looked around, then his eyes fell on Riley and Tony.
"Maybe these two young lads won't mind going first?" he offered. "Cross, Gabriel, come on up."
Tony and Riley looked at each other, and then shrugged. They climbed up onto the stage, and took out their wands. Tony stood where Prof. Snape was standing, and Riley took Prof. Lockhart's place.
"Wands at the ready." Prof. Lockhart called to the two students.
Riley and Tony held up their wands as the professors did, and smiled at each other.
"Give me your best shot, Superboy." grinned Tony.
"After you, Crazy Train." responded Riley.
The two lowered their wands again, bowed to each other, then walked back down towards their professors, stopping halfway to face each other.
"One,...two,..." Prof. Lockhart counted, as the students held their breath. "...three."
Tony smirked as he made the opening move.
"Aguamenti!" he cried.
A jet of water shot out from the tip of his wand toward Riley. Riley decided to dodge, and ducked down onto the table, the water missing him. However, Prof. Lockhart was not so lucky. The water hit him head on, and knocked him off of the table on his back. The students broke out into laughter again, and Riley gave a snort of laughter himself. Tony merely cringed, not intended to hit one of his professors, even if he was a hog in more ways than one. He slowly turned to face his Head of House, giving a weak smile and chuckle of embarrassment. Surprisingly, Prof. Snape merely smirked in pride at his student. Beside the two students, Harry and Ron grinned up at their friend, while Hermione glared at Tony, disapprovingly. Riley waited for Prof. Lockhart to get back up on his feet before making his move.
"Carpe Retractum!" he shouted.
He thrusted his wand towards Tony, and jerked it forward. Tony felt a jerking motion at his feet, and suddenly lost his footing and fell forward onto his face with a grunt. He pushed himself up on all fours, shook off the pain, and slowly rose back up to his feet.
"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be." muttered Tony. "Fine."
He made to raise his wand towards his friend, but Prof. Lockhart rushed forward to intervene.
"No, no, no, you two." he interrupted. "You're done for the day. You were supposed to disarm your opponents. Not knock them over and over again. Let's have another volunteer pair."
Several members of the audience groaned while Riley and Tony stepped back down towards their friends in the crowd. As Riley and Tony pocketed their wands again, Prof. Lockhart looked towards where they were standing. His eyes fell upon Harry and Ron, and he smiled.
"Uh, Potter. Weasley. How about you?" he asked.
Harry and Ron went to get up onto the stage, but then Prof. Snape spoke out.
"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells." he reminded his colleague. "We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox."
Ron stayed back by his friends, while Harry took the stage.
"Might I suggest someone from my own House?" asked Prof. Snape. "Malfoy, perhaps?"
He turned and gestured to said student to get up there. Smirking with glee, Draco hopped up onto the stage, and walked towards Harry, who was walking forward to the center of the ring. The two stood at the center, and were ordered to have their wands at the ready.
"Scared, Potter?" asked Draco.
"You wish." Harry answered, calmly.
The two of them lowered their wands again, and without bowing to each other, they separated as the pairs before them had.
"On the count of three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent." Prof. Lockhart ordered the two students. "Only to disarm. We don't want any accidents here."
He glanced at Tony and Riley as he said the last part. The pair of friends looked at opposite sides away from each other, whistling innocently, while their DADA professor looked back at the students on stage.
"One,...two,..." he spoke, counting again.
Draco didn't wait for him to finish.
"Everte Statum!" he shouted, thrusting out his wand.
Harry was knocked off his feet by a blast of white light, and went flying into the air. After a few aerial somersaults, he landed on the end of the table by Prof. Lockhart. Several people laughed at the preemptive strike, while the rest looked on in concern.
"Shake it off, Harry." muttered Tony. "You've got this."
Harry rose back onto his feet, and pointed his wand at Draco.
"Rictusempra!" he called.
Now it was Draco's turn to get hit by a jet of white light. He flew into the air, doing a sideways barrel roll, and landed in a sitting position, facing his Head of House. Now it was his turn to get laughed at. Prof. Snape reached down and yanked him up to his feet once again, and pushed him forward. The two students faced each other once again, waiting to make the next move.
"I said to disarm only!" Prof. Lockhart reminded them.
"Serpensortia!" Draco yelled, ignoring him.
The tip of his wand lit up with a bright light, and it ejected a snake from it. The snake slithered towards Harry, hissing angrily. Harry lowered his wand and stepped back, cautiously.
"Riley, got any tips for me?" he asked, looking beside him.
"Just back away from it and leave it alone." answered Riley. "You don't want to go near snakes when they're angry like that."
"Is that all?!" asked Ron. "Is that all the advice you have?!"
"Just because my mother is a veterinarian, Ron, does not mean I'm a complete genius on all animals in existence!"
Prof. Snape moved forward to get rid of the snake, and pushed Draco away from him.
"Don't worry, Potter." he announced. "I'll get rid of it for you."
"Allow me, Prof. Snape!" Prof. Lockhart insisted.
He pointed his wand at the snake, and cast the incantation before anyone could stop him.
"Alarte Ascendare!" the DADA teacher called.
The snake suddenly flew into the air, still hissing, and landed on the ground again. Having had enough, Tony glared at Prof. Lockhart.
"Stop helping!" he shouted. "Stop helping!"
Meanwhile, the snake turned it's head and caught sight of Justin, who was standing beside Ron, Riley, Tony, and Hermione.
"Okay, everyone, get back!" shouted Riley. "Give it some distance!"
The students around him did as he said, but Justin stood there, frozen in shock. Harry stepped forward, and opened his mouth. When he spoke, it sounded like he was hissing like a snake would. The other students around him stared at him with mixed reactions, but Riley and Tony merely glanced at him, confused.
"What's he doing?" asked Riley.
"Maybe he's a snake whisperer." replied Tony.
"Tony,-"
"I didn't mean that as a joke. I'm seriously hoping he is."
Harry had spoken to the snake for a third time before Prof. Snape took care of the situation.
"Vipera Evanesca." he spoke.
The potions master fired a jet of light at the snake, hitting it in the middle. The middle started disintegrating, and moved toward either end of the snake, destroying it. To Harry, Riley, and Tony's surprise, the students still stared at him. Justin himself looked alarmed and troubled.
"What are you playing at?!" he demanded.
Harry stared at him, confused, then looked at either of his professors, who were staring at him like the students were. The Dueling Club was cancelled for the rest of the day, and Harry was dragged back to Gryffindor Tower by Ron and Hermione, while the rest of the students departed. Only Riley and Tony remained behind.
"What the hell was that about?" asked Tony.
"Was it the snake or Lockhart's spell?" Riley wondered aloud.
"It's called 'Parseltongue'." Prof. Snape answered.
He walked towards the two students, who looked back at him even more confused than ever.
"'Parseltongue'?" repeated Tony. "What is that?"
"Snake language." Prof. Snape explained, calmly. "How Potter picked up that ability, I do not know. It is a very rare ability, people usually having this power are descendants of Salazar Slytherin himself."
"The founder of the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Riley.
Tony ran a hand through his hair, feeling stressed. Harry had a similar gift that the founder of Slytherin House had, but he was not the Heir of Slytherin. He and the others knew that. Being capable of talking to snakes couldn't have been a factor in Petrifying Colin and Mrs. Norris,...could it? Then Tony remembered a few weeks ago, when Harry said he had been hearing voices.
"Prof. Snape, when someone who speaks Parseltongues talk to snakes, what language are they hearing from them?" he asked. "Is it like their native language?"
"I suppose." replied Prof. Snape. "Why do you ask?"
Riley caught Tony glancing at him. He knew what they had to do. The two boys looked back at the professor, and took a deep breath.
"They're going to kill me for telling you this, but this might be important." sighed Tony. "When we were looking for Harry that other night, when Mrs. Norris was attacked, Harry said he had been hearing voices. We found him putting his ear to the wall, but we heard nothing. That's how we ended up finding Mrs. Norris."
Prof. Snape stared at the two for a moment, then started to walk down the hall at a fast pace. Tony looked at his best friend, uneasily.
"You think I did the right thing?" he asked.
Riley just shrugged.
"That depends." he replied. "What were you thinking?"
"I think the monster in that Chamber of Secrets is a snake after all." announced Tony.
"We should tell Harry."
"No. We need to find a way to prove his innocence without risking anyone's lives. We'll follow Hermione's plan for now. In the meantime, keep a close eye on Harry. I'll keep mine on Malfoy."
"Right."
Disclaimer: I own just the Cross family, and the Gabriels. I don't own the Harry Potter series (books, movies, you get it), or any of the DC comics, books, the Walkman player, any artists or songs that appear in this story. If I did, I'd be richer than Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, the Malfoys, you get it. 'kay? Cool. Catch you later.