Ginny ducked under a desk as a spell soared over her head and shattered the vase behind her. She heard a shriek and knew that someone, somewhere had gotten hurt again, but she was forced to focus on the duel at hand when she heard a crackle caused by a Levitation Charm connecting with her desk and lifting it up in the air.

She saw Draco Malfoy's satisfied smirk, and cast a Bat Bogey Hex at him. The smirk was wiped off his face as the hex hit him, causing the desk to fall back down as bat-shaped boogers came out of his nose and started to attack him.

"Get them off me!" Malfoy screeched as he flapped about, accidentally bumping into Harry. A flyaway curse Crabbe was aiming her best friend hit Draco instead. His body flew through the air, colliding with a shelf as Harry discreetly pushed Crabbe into a wall with his Wandless Magic.

It was safe to say that absolute chaos was the only way to describe the scene in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom that day.

Spells were being cast by everyone, but they were far from precise in aim and execution. Rogue spells hit ceilings, floors, walls, cupboards, and one of them even managed to ricochet off of a half-formed Shield Charm, and onto the dragon's skeleton hanging from the ceiling.

They were supposed to be learning the Shield Charm, a charm that could defend them against most curses and hexes. It sounded quite nice, until she remembered that Shield Charms were only meant to be learnt by students in their OWL year.

Quirrell had made them pair up, stand against each other, and cast hexes at each other, while they tried to block said hexes using the Shield Charm.

But not a single person in the class came even close to performing a full Shield Charm, even a workable one, which was why this had turned into a complete free for all that Quirrell had tried, and failed miserably, to stop.

Parvati Patil screamed as a flying desk narrowly missed her, blasted into splinters only centimetres away. The crack echoed as the room fell into silence.

"What on earth is going on in this classroom!?" Professor McGonagall screeched, looking absolutely horrified at the state of the place. Ginny reckoned she was about to say something else, but a Dragon bone clattered to the floor, the rest of the skeleton following a moment later.

No one was hurt, thankfully, but the crash was quite loud and McGonagall looked like she would faint upon seeing the scattered pieces of the skeleton all over the floor.

"We're learning the Shield Charm early, Professor," Harry provided, sounding thrilled. Ginny had to hide her smile at his attempt to get Quirrell into trouble.

As she reckoned Harry was expecting, Professor McGonagall's face turned incredulous as Professor Quirrell offered a nervous smile.

"I- I c- c- can ex- explain," he stuttered, swallowing.

"I certainly hope so," Professor McGonagall said slowly, dangerously, narrowing her eyes. She hadn't been this pissed off since the day she'd sent her and Harry to the Forbidden Forest for detention.

Ginny thought she was about to witness the greatest telling off in history, but instead, McGonagall said, "Empty the classroom, please. I think this one lesson will prove to be enough for today."

Hiding her disappointment, Ginny gave Professor McGonagall a smile as she left with Harry. Despite the rule breaking, she was still on the Gryffindor team, which meant that Professor McGonagall was still very much counting on her to win the cup for them, and to maybe avoid getting into trouble while doing so.

"That was fun," Harry said as Draco stomped past them with a glare, his posse in tow. Harry waved at them cheerfullyand they scowled back. He sighed. "They're a lot more fun in the common room, I promise."

She snorted. "You play Exploding snap with them or something?"

Harry made a face. "Ew, no," he replied. "I just listen to them and try to count how many sentences it takes till Draco mentions his father and how long Crabbe and Goyle can go without grunting."

She laughed. "Let me guess, once every two sentences?"

"Three, actually, but same difference."

It wasn't long before they found themselves in the last class before lunch: Potions. Snape seemed to be particularly vindictive towards Harry today, hovering over his every move. Harry himself would gladly admit he wasn't innocent in that matter. He would rile Snape for no reason, just by asking basic things that most Wizard-raised children, had learnt from home.

Snape would answer, and not only would it serve to educate the Muggleborns, but it also helped Harry piss off Snape. He didn't take as many points from Gryffindor as he usually did either, and they managed to make it to the Great Hall for lunch only ten points poorer than they had been before.

"Little ones!" Fred and George exclaimed, clapping their backs. They circled the table and took a seat across from them.

"Fred, George." Ginny nodded in greeting. She had been considerably less angry after their apology and any remaining traces of hostility had been snuffed out by their subsequent support in every training session.

She would still find a way to get those chocolates though.

"A little birdie told us about the colossal shitshow you call a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson," Fred began.

"We are here to offer you a solution," George continued.

"An alternative, if you will."

"A very useful alternative."

"One that's secret."

"Mysterious."

"Hidden."

"Classified."

"Get on with it, will you?" Ginny interrupted them, raising an eyebrow. "We're trying to eat."

"Ah, of course," George said, raising his hands. "Forgive us poor peasants."

"You see," Fred said, sighing tragically. "A few years ago, back when we were wee innocent lads, just a year older than you are right now -"

"You mean last year?" Harry interrupted them. Ginny laughed.

Fred ignored him and continued, "- we too, had an absolute dunderhead as our DADA teacher. You should have seen him, couldn't even hold his wand straight."

"Everyone was suffering," George continued gravely. "Grades were low, and we needed to pass. That was when we were saved by a certain good samaritan who gave us access to a certain secret group that helped us out."

"What group?" Harry asked, leaning forward.

"A Defence Against the Dark Arts club," George said, grinning as he leaned back in his chair. "One that might be against the Hogwarts rules."

"But you two definitely wouldn't care about rules, would you?" Fred asked with a matching grin. "Especially if they teach you how to duel."

She shared an excited look with Harry.

"I see that you're considering it," George said, gently nudging her foot with his. "Good."

A sudden thought struck her. What if this was all an elaborate prank? She didn't want to fall for one of Fred and George's schemes now, or ever. They wouldn't let her live it down for ages! She looked at Harry, who seemed to be having doubts of his own.

"How do we know you're not having us on?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Fred pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "Oh, I'm so proud of you for asking that, Harry," he said, nodding in approval.

"You've been training him well," George said to Ginny, who closed her eyes in frustration.

"Do I look like a bloody dog?" Harry asked. Fred and George smiled and opened their mouths, but Harry cut them off. "Actually, don't answer that."

"Tell us more about the duelling club," Ginny said before they could tease him anymore.

"Why don't you try seeing it for yourself?" George replied.

Fred drew out a small, white card and presented it to her, while George did the same for Harry. Upon them, there were inscriptions written in some kind of runes.

"Had this made specifically for both of you," Fred said.

"We were going to give this to you in a… fancier setting," George continued. "But now's as good a time as any, I suppose."

"What do these runes say?" Harry asked.

"Your name," Fred said with a grin. "Whenever there's a meeting, it'll rearrange its letters for a while, but if you miss it -"

"Or forget it," George added.

"- then you can tap your wand to it, and it'll show the time for the next meeting, whenever it is," Fred finished.

Harry drew out his wand and tapped it to the card, and Ginny watched as the letters broke down and rearranged themselves into the words: Today, 10 pm. The words reset when he took the wand away from the card.

"Cool, isn't it?" George asked. Harry and Ginny nodded. "Brilliant! If you like it, then Ron will too. Think you'll join?"

"Probably," she said, turning to Harry.

He seemed to be having a debate with himself before he shrugged. "Oh, what'll I lose anyway? I'll be there."

"Brilliant!" They said together. "See you there, Harry, Gin-Gin."

Her jaw dropped open in indignation. "What did you just call me?"

"Oh, and the location will be at the back of the card when you touch it with the wand," George said as Fred scurried away.

Ginny was about to press him further, but George quickly escaped, catching up with Fred. She stood up. "I'm going to kill them- no, Harry, let me go."

"Just sit down, will you?" He hissed. She turned to him, but saw Professor Snape looking at their table suspiciously. Harry tugged her sleeve and she sat.

"You're helping me convince Hagrid to give me some eggs," Ginny said to him, scowling. "Rotten ones, hopefully."

"For what?"

"To toss at Fred and George, of course."

He snorted. "You're not actually going to do that, are you?"

She sighed. "No, probably not," she muttered. "But I might dip their broomsticks into a bucket of rotten eggs."

"I'll steal their brooms," he said, patting her hand.

Soon, the owls flooded into the Great Hall with the post. Today, however, everyone's attention was caught by a long, thin package being carried by six large screech owls. She was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was surprised when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of her, knocking Harry's bacon to the floor.

They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel. Ginny ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it was from Professor McGonagall, who, in the letter, warned her to not open the package at the table as it contained her brand-new broomstick.

She showed the note to Harry, whose jaw dropped open briefly before he managed to cover it up with a coughing fit. "You still have to keep this a secret, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

After lunch, they made a break for Gryffindor Tower so that they could open it in private. As Ginny ripped away the wrappings, she was shocked to see a Nimbus Two Thousand laying inside.

It was beautiful, and even Harry, who- by his own admission- knew next to nothing about brooms, admitted that it looked quite sleek and fast, with a high-end polish and the finest golden yellow bristles.

"I can't believe this," Ginny said, stroking the handle with careful fingers, afraid that it would break somehow.

But they had classes to go to soon, which was why she couldn't exactly spend too much time fawning over it.

Double Herbology, for once, was quite interesting. Professor Sprout told them about a weird plant named Devil's Snare that would try to strangle anyone who got too close to it. Apparently, the only way to get rid of it was the Sunlight Charm, Lumos Solem, which she was able to teach them rather quickly.

After the first half of the double lesson ended, they were given a bit of a break before they would move onto Chinese Chomping Cabbages. During this time, Ron stood from his usual place with Dean and Seamus, and came to her seat.

"Can we talk?" He asked, glancing around.

Ginny nodded, and they stood up. There was an empty corner where no one was, and they decided to head over there.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"Did Fred and George give you the invite?" Ron replied.

Ginny nodded. "Yeah, are you going?"

"Of course, I am," Ron whispered incredulously. "I've wanted to learn to duel since I watched Bill and Charlie do it."

Ginny snapped her gaze to him. "Bill and Charlie duelled?" She asked, her jaw dropping. It was strictly against Mum's rules at the house to duel, no matter the circumstances. "When?"

"I was six, I think," Ron said as he furrowed his brow. "Or maybe seven. I know it was before Uncle Bilius pulled the flowers out of his pants, though." She and Ron snickered at the memory.

"Mum was so livid, do you remember?" She asked.

"Especially after he gave the flowers to her," Ron replied, which sent them both into a fit of laughter.

Their break wasn't long enough for them to recall all the hilarious stories, but she and Ron decided to partner up to learn about the Chomping Cabbages. It was fun hanging out with him again, so much so that she even invited him to try her new Nimbus Two Thousand with Harry.

That evening, at fifteen minutes to ten, Ginny and Ron stood with harry as he tapped his wand to the back of his card. The ink from the other side seemed to bleed through, forming a symbol of two crossed wands, which broke down and formed the words: The Undercroft, ground floor of the Hogwarts Turris Magnus, accessible through a secret passageway.

《••••••••••••••••••••》

Harry, Ginny, and Ron made it to the ground floor of the Defence Tower (the Turris Magnus) just five minutes before the clock struck nine. The hallway they found themselves in, however, was completely empty save for a few decorations here and there. The most interesting was a clock with several faces that seemed to signify different things.

However, in its corner, nestled between the rim and the face of the clock, just next to the hour hand, it had the same crossed wand symbol as the one on the card.

"What now?" Ron asked while Harry checked to see if anyone was coming.

"Maybe wait until someone else comes along?" Ginny suggested.

That was what Harry was trying to do, but it seemed that they were either too early or too late. Fred and George had never mentioned what they were supposed to do once they got there, and neither of them had given it more thought until now.

"Fred and George better not be pranking us," Ron muttered venomously, the tips of his ears going red.

"I don't think they are," Ginny replied.

Harry turned to the grandfather clock and inspected the symbol. He drew the card out of his pocket and checked the symbol again, but this time, a slot opened up in the clock, wide enough for the card to fit through.

"Gin, Ron," he called. "Check this out."

Their eyes went wide when they saw the slot that had formed in the clock. "That's big enough for the card to fit," Ron said, drawing out his own.

"Go ahead," Harry said, pocketing his. He would have put it in himself, but if the clock ate it up, then Harry would rather have his own.

It struck Harry how different his worries had gotten since arriving at Hogwarts. Before, he used to be worried about Dudley and his thugs catching up to him, but now… now he was worried about card eating clocks and secret magic fight clubs.

He supposed neither problem was 'better' than the other, but he was having more fun nowadays than he was with the Dursleys, which was why he would choose to face the magical problems any day of the week.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Ron put his card in, and a click sounded from the clock as all of its hands started spinning with a whir and eventually settled at a twelve o'clock position.

The card was tossed back out at Ron, who caught it as the clock opened like it was a door. There was a stairway leading down into a dark corridor that was illuminated when torches hanging on brackets burst into flame.

"I guess we go down?" Ron provided.

"Really?" Ginny said, impressed. "Wow, you would make a damn good Auror, wouldn't you?"

Ron's face flushed with embarrassment as he turned to Ginny. Harry ran a hand through his hair and decided to head down before their tiff turned into a full-blown row. He didn't fancy getting caught by Filch again.

"Hey, wait." As he had hoped, Ron and Ginny put their fight aside and followed him, but still stuck their tongues out at each other. The door closed behind them a few steps down.

"Oh, come on," Harry groaned.

"I told you it was a prank," Ron said to Ginny, drawing out his wand.

"I thought it was real!" Ginny argued back, following Ron's lead.

Uncomfortable with the brewing conflict, Harry urged them to stay silent, waiting for something to pop up out of nowhere, but nothing happened. The only sounds that could be heard were the flickering of the torch's flames.

"Should we keep climbing down then?" Ginny asked in a whisper.

Harry nodded, and this time, they climbed down much slower than before. Despite this, an iron bar gate appeared in front of them soon, and opened upwards by itself when they got close to it.

They couldn't quite see the other side of the doorway yet, and Ron had caught his arm to stop him. Harry shrugged him off quickly, perhaps a bit harsher than he meant to be.

"Do we go in?" Ron asked.

"We've come so far, haven't we?" Harry replied as Ginny nodded. "What's the worst they'd do?"

"They gave Ron a crippling fear of spiders once," Ginny said.

"I was four!" Ron folded his arms.

"And you're still afraid of spiders, aren't you?"

"Yeah, well, you're still afraid of cockroaches!"

"Because they're gross!"

"So are spiders!"

If this was a normal day at the Burrow when Harry wasn't around, his respect for Arthur and Molly Weasley had grown by an infinite amount. Perhaps two more Christmas gifts were in order…

"Fine, then," Ginny was saying, "if you're so brave, go through!"

"I'll go first," Harry interrupted them.

"No!" They both snapped.

He sighed, and decided that he didn't want to be dragged into whatever tiff they were having, which was why he stepped aside as Ron walked to the doorway and went through.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Harry asked, waiting till they heard something from the other side.

"I don't," she chuckled.

"So, you fight with him for the sake of fighting with him?" He asked slowly.

"Yep."

"Siblings are weird."

She laughed. "Don't worry," she said. "You'll get the hang of it."

"I'm not sure if I want to," he joked, and she laughed again.

"Come on." She waved him over. "Let's check on him." Harry agreed, and the two of them walked forward through the doorway.

Upon entering, they saw several people duelling in pairs. Harry's mouth fell open at the sight. There were people inside translucent cylindrical shields who were performing crazy acrobatic feats to dodge spells, people trying to break a shield with hexes, people trying to cast spells as fast as they could, and many others.

Ron was near the back of the room, standing with Fred and George, all three of whom waved them over. "You're late," Fred said as they reached. "All of you."

"Yeah, we got sidetracked," Ginny said, shaking her head.

The room they were in had dark brown walls with bookshelves embedded in some parts of the walls, and cream-coloured floors with a dark ceiling. There was also an empty raised platform on the opposite side of the room.

"Ah, I see all our new members have made it," said a seventh-year boy from Slytherin, a smirk on his face. "Try to be on time next time, why don't you?"

"Who are you?" Ginny asked while Harry tried to recall if he'd seen the boy in the common room.

"Name's Richard," he said. Harry, Ginny and Ron snickered. Richard rolled his eyes. "No one gets to call me Dick."

"Sure thing…" Fred said, grinning. He opened his mouth again, but Richard was faster and cast a quick Silencing Charm on Fred before Harry even saw him pull out his wand.

"I like him," Ginny whispered, and Harry smiled as Ron nodded his agreement.

"You two can go," Richard said, "I'll take the firsties from here."

Fred and George bid them good luck as they left. Richard turned to them. "I'm gonna be showing you the basics of Duelling today," he said. "By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have you all trained up in 'em. This is, of course, if you can handle the training."

"We can," Harry said, and Richard smiled at him.

"That's the spirit, kid," he said. "I won't waste your time with a tour, this place is just an open room anyway. Line up on top of that platform."

He pointed to the raised platform on the opposite side of the room. Once there, Harry was expecting a lecture. Instead, Richard began telling them what the ideal duelling pose was while learning.

"You can always choose the one you're most comfortable with later," he said. "Almost everyone does."

While he helped with positioning, Harry asked more about the club, and Richard obliged.

Supposedly, the group had been in existence for a few centuries, passed down from one 'leader' to another. Most people finished the duelling lessons within five years, in enough time for their OWLs, and after that time, one- or more than one- person would usually stay behind, assume the role of 'leader' and teach the younger years till the leader's graduation. After that, the title of 'leader' was passed on to the next person, and so on and so forth.

"This term," Richard said, stepping in front of them, "we're going to be learning how to dodge a spell headed your way. Remember, the best defence to any spell is to dodge it entirely. No contact, no effect, no risk of injury or death."

"Second lesson," he continued. "A Shield Charm is your best friend when duelling. Spells are fast. Dodging sounds easy, but it takes stamina, and it'll tire you out if you keep on doing it. Use a Shield Charm for most hexes, and dodge the ones the shield won't hold. Any questions?"

They shook their heads in response.

"Good." He nodded. "Sometime in the next few years, you'll have a duelling club. The first thing they'll teach you there is to bow to your opponent. That's complete bullshit. Never do that unless you're in a formal duel."

Harry nodded again. Bowing to your opponent seemed like the best way to get hexed in the back.

"We're going to train dodging first," Richard said. "Potter, Weasley, pair up."

"Erm…" Ginny and Ron trailed off, staring at each other before they drew up their fists in unison, silently challenging each other to a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Harry had seen a Giant Squid, dragons, goblins, and had his memory wiped, but he was sure that this had to be the weirdest thing about the Magical world, something that surprised him immensely.

Ron ended up winning the game, so he got the choice and chose to spar with Harry while Ginny had to partner up with Richard. She did not look happy about it.

Harry and Ron chose to go first, and they were made to stand at the ends of the platform. Harry would cast first while Ron would try to dodge his spells.

"Ready?" Richard called.

Harry steadied his wand arm, taking in slow, deliberate breaths. Ron looked like he would run at any second, perhaps to the left, but was that really what he would do? Or was it exactly what he wanted Harry to think?

"BEGIN!"

《••••••••••••••••••••》

A/N: Soooo, that's another one down. Not much happening in this chapter, plot wise, but it does serve to answer where Harry and Ginny get their fighting prowess from in the future. Hopefully y'all enjoyed it anyway, and if you did, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for reading!