Chapter 11
(Sakura POV)
The next morning, when Ron and Sakura visit Jasmine, she told them of her midnight visit from Dobby and that he confessed to blocking the gateway at platform 9 ¾ as well as spelling the bludger.
While Ron and Jasmine talked about the crazy but sincere elf, Sakura was wondering about the capabilities of the little creatures. Blocking the platform would take immense magical skill and power for a wizard or witch to accomplish. Yet Dobby had done so quickly enough for the Weasleys to go ahead but not Jasmine or Ron. They could also apparate in and out of Hogwarts, something supposedly impossible. And they cast everything without a wand.
Sakura makes a note to research further house elf capabilities and willingness to carry out orders. They might just be the perfect saboteurs and assassins.
Later that day, when the professors announced Colin Creevey's petrification, the rumors and panic that had started to die down returned in full force. Now an actual student had been petrified. A cruel prank and interesting tidbit of gossip became a threat. The fact that Creevey was a muggle-born seemed to verify Slytherin's monster's existence to some. Draco Malfoy was outspoken about 'mudblood filth' finally being cleansed throughout the school. Ron initially thought Malfoy must be the heir but Jasmine thoughtfully pointed out that if he was the heir he would be keeping a lower profile to get away with the petrifications. Sakura agreed with Jasmine's analysis. Plus, she thought Malfoy too immature and cowardly for a plot this complex and bold.
As November passed and December began the worries of the student body did not decrease. Instead of calming the students, the more time passed without an attack the more one seemed likely. A few of the more morbid joked that they wished the next attack would just come already, that the suspense was killing them.
Sakura took discrete precautions. She transfigured more senbon but also included shuriken, ninja wire, and kunai in her daily wear. She upped her training, she could now switch from sticking to sliding and vice versa so fast she had to be careful not to stop too fast and hurt herself. Casting the sticking or sliding spells also caused no delay in her wanded spellcasting. As a result, she could glide across the ground, stop on a knut to dodge or change direction, and rapid-fire spells the whole time.
There was an issue with making further progress, however. She didn't have a sparring partner. Sakura had discovered the Room of Requirements could make dummies that fired color light but they were extremely limited. Ideally, she'd have a teacher but she'd settle for an equal, a rival.
As if to taunt her, a Dueling club was announced for this weekend. Sakura didn't believe any of her peers would stand a chance against her. She'd bet on herself against any sixth-year just for her speed and combat experience alone. That was, of course, assuming she could go all out. She didn't want to draw that kind of attention though. Even if she didn't use any sliding or sticking techniques, her acrobatic style of casting and dodging would get eyes on her.
Still, Jasmine and Ron were attending, so Sakura tagged along. Now they stood in the crowd, Fred and George Weasley on her right. The closer one spoke up. "Excited to jinx some snakes, Gred?"
"You know it, Forge," the other twin replied before continuing, "What about you, Ronie-kins and friends? Got any slimy snakes you're going after?"
"Malfoy could always use a good jinxing," muttered Ron. Jasmine nodded at that.
Sakura piped in. "Say, who's running this club anyway? I forgot to look it up."
"Lockhart and Snape," Fred(?) replied with a grossed-out face.
"Ugh," groaned Jasmine.
"Tell me about it," commiserated George, "Professor Flitwick is a three-time world dueling champion but we get the fraud and ex-death eater."
Sakura raised her eyebrows at that bit of news. Oh, she'd known Snape was considered a spy for the light and Albus Dumbledore testified as such, she'd researched him after hearing other death eater remarks regarding him. No, what surprised her was Flitwick's dueling accomplishments. It gave her an idea.
"Gather round, gather round," Lockhart began strutting down the dueling platform. "Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent. In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has permitted me to start this little dueling club. In case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published work." At this, he threw off his outer robe and introduced Professor Snape as his assistant.
"Oh, Snape's not going to like being called his assistant," Jasmine whispered.
"-never fear, you'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him," Lockhart finished boasting as Sakura turned back to the stage.
The two men raised their wands in salute, bowed, and walked back to their end of the arena. Lockhart started the countdown. "One. Two. Three!"
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Snape, his wand steady and unmoving. A bright yellow flash zoomed across the arena and smacked Lockhart in the chest, sending him flying back and his wand into Snape's hand.
Sakura couldn't contain her laughter. What started as a chuckle morphed into full belly laughter that she tried desperately to stop. Unfortunately, her laughter seemed to set off Ron who set off Jasmine and soon they were wheezing together, completely ignoring the excuses given by the pompous fraud.
At least until Lockhart called out, "Weasley, Potter, how about you two for our volunteer pair?"
Snape cut in, "Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest of spells. You will be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox. How about one of my own students, Malfoy perhaps?" Snape gestured the blonde ponce onto the stage and Jasmine reluctantly climbed up as well.
They took their positions, saluted, gave the smallest of bows, and walked back to their start positions. Sakura saw Malfoy had said something to Jasmine during the bow but she couldn't hear what was said.
"On the count of three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent only!" Lockhart called out. "One. Two-"
"Flipendo!" Malfoy cast, sending Jasmine flying, flipping end over end. The Slytherins were laughing so Malfoy was unprepared when she stood and sent the same spell back at him, this time sending him flipping through the air to land harshly on the back of the stage.
"I said disarm only!" Lockhart uselessly shouted.
"Serpensortia!" Malfoy cast and a giant cobra came out of his wand. The whole room went quiet. Sakura readied a kunai.
"Don't move Potter, I'll get rid of it," Snape drawled.
"Allow me, Professor Snape," Lockhart cut in. "Vipera evanesca!"
Except, instead of vanishing the viper the spell instead tossed it into the air. A very angry cobra crashed down on the dueling platform in front of Justin Finch-Fletchley.
Suddenly a loud hissing could be heard from the other side of the stage, coming from Jasper. The snake, who had been rearing up to strike, turned to Jasmine instead and slowly lowered itself to the floor.
The first one to break the lull was Snape with a quick vipera evanesca, the snake vanished.
o0o
Somehow the whole school was convinced Jasmine was the heir of Slytherin. Ron explained to Jasmine and Sakura that the last person to speak parseltongue was Voldemort and the trait was considered dark, on top of being thought of as a legacy from Slytherin, who was 'obviously' dark as well.
Sakura doubted speaking to snakes by itself was evil. She'd seen real evil in foes like Orochimaru, Madara, and Hidan.
Jasmine was moping and in disbelief that so many people could be so fickle-minded. It reminded Sakura of the village's treatment of Naruto.
To try and cheer her up, Sakura pointed out that if they found the Chamber of Secrets and revealed it to the staff it could go a long way to clearing Jasmine's name. Plus, Sakura pointed out that the entrance was likely hidden by parseltongue and so unlike those who came before, Jasmine actually had a chance of finding it. So she taught Sakura and Ron to say "open", "close", and "reveal" in parseltongue.
Too bad there were snake motifs everywhere, on statues, in paintings, embedded into the wall, there was a never-ending amount. Plus, the trio had to be discrete. Randomly hissing all around the castle would bring unwanted attention.
Unfortunately, Jasmine had been searching on her own when she came across the petrified body of Justin Finch-Fletchley and the ghost of Nearly-Headless-Nick. She had been 'caught red-handed' next to the bodies. Fortunately, Jasmine told Sakura and Ron that the headmaster was completely on her side, and only warned her not to wander alone.
This incident only fueled rumors of her being the heir of Slytherin and a few students were calling for her expulsion as the holidays approached.
When the holiday break eventually did come, Sakura hugged Jasmine and Ron goodbye before boarding one of the carriages. Both of them were staying for the holidays, the older Weasleys visiting Charlie in Romania. Sakura was looking forward to a relaxing, muggle, holiday break.
o0o
Returning to Hogwarts after a relaxing break, Sakura couldn't wait to resume her magical practice and exercise in the Room of Requirement.
Sakura greeted her friends at the welcome back feast but noticed Jasmine seemed distant. Later that night, Sakura once again borrowed the cloak of invisibility to sneak into the restricted section of the library to read the next steps in occlumency. When she returned, she noticed the dorm room door slightly ajar but thought nothing of it. At least, until the next morning.
"It's gone!" Jasmine's shout woke Sakura.
"What's gone?" Sakura groggily asked.
"The diary I found that writes back. I wanted to introduce you to Tom last night but figured it could wait since you wanted to go to the library," Jasmine moodily answered.
"Where'd you get it in the first place?" Sakura questioned while rubbing her eyes. On days she snuck out under the cloak she typically skipped her morning exercise.
"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, I was walking past the bathroom when I saw it was flooding. When I went in I saw the book lying on the floor. Myrtle said someone tried to flush it down her toilet before taking off."
Something about the name Myrtle jumped out in Sakura's brain, but she was too tired to figure out what it was.
"Well, we know it has to be a Gryffindor girl who took it so that narrows it down." Sakura pointed out, before asking, "What's it look like?"
"Yeah, and it's a small black book with T.M.R. initialized on the front cover."
"Well, we can only keep an eye out for it," Sakura replied with a shrug. "Maybe the original owner got it back."
"Yeah, maybe," Jasmine muttered.
o0o
The first week back passed quickly and agonizingly slowly. Fred and George gave her an idea during the dueling club and this weekend she planned to act on it.
Thus, that Saturday afternoon she nearly skipped up to the Charms classroom.
Knocking on the door, it swung open on its own and a voice called out to her. "Ah, if it isn't the Brightest Witch of her Age, come come, how may I help you today?"
"Good afternoon, Professor Flitwick," Sakura began, "I was actually hoping to speak to you in confidence, privately."
At this, he looked up from where he was grading papers and peered at her. "Of course, if you have a private matter I can accommodate," he said before flicking his wand a few times. The door shut, the pictures stilled, and a wave of privacy charms washed over them.
"Thank you, Professor. Now, I would like your oath that nothing I divulge leaves this office. I can swear that it involves no harm or danger to myself or any other. It is simply a personal secret."
The diminutive Professor suddenly gained an air of grave seriousness as he stared at her for a long moment before finally raising his wand. "I swear to not reveal any of Miss Granger's secrets that she shares with me in this room so long as her secrets pose no danger to herself, other students, or Hogwarts staff, so mote it be."
With his words, the tip of his wand lit up, signifying the oath binding him. Sakura's shoulders relaxed a smidge and she let out a smile. "Thank you, Professor. I suppose it would be easiest to show you now."
As she spoke, Sakura began walking up the classroom wall. Once she made it up to the ceiling she flipped down to land on her feet in front of the Professor's desk.
"Amazing! Did you charm your shoes to stick based on intent? That's a N.E.W.T. level enchantment!" Flitwick excitedly asked.
Not expecting that response, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. "Actually I'm wandlessly applying and undoing sticking charms on my feet for every step."
"What!" Flitwick squeaked.
To prove her point, Sakura wandlessly levitated Flitwick's quill to her and caught it in midair. "Guess I have a knack for wandless casting. That's why I'm only a little bit ahead of my peers, I spend a significant amount of time practicing wandless magic. Although I can now cast the first three year's curriculum wandlessly, some of the harder spells take me upwards of a minute. There are only a few spells I can cast quickly and easily," Sakura explained.
Flitwick was looking gobsmacked at her still, so she pressed onwards. "I actually came here because I was hoping you could teach me to fight. I know dueling is different from real combat, but you were a dueling champion, one of the best. I need someone to practice against at the very least."
That finally seemed to shock him out of his stupor. "And why do you need to know how to fight?"
Sakura looked at him a little bewildered. "Well, I'm a muggle-born, friend to Jasmine Potter, and I've already encountered Voldemort twice last year."
"What!" Flitwick squeaked again.
Sakura sighed, of course, Dumbles failed to inform the rest of the staff about the events of last semester. "Voldemort was possessing Quirrell last year. I first encountered him feeding off unicorns during my detention in the Forbidden Forest, I didn't know it was him at the time though. Then at the end of the year Jasmine and I ran into him again when we were trying to protect the Philosopher's Stone," Sakura explained.
Flitwick pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered, "Oh, Albus."
Pretending to not have heard the half-goblin, Sakura continued. "I've been training physically and developing techniques to use my wandless abilities in combat. The Room of Requirement has been helping me by creating obstacle courses and dummies that can shoot coloured light. There's just only so much I can do on my own."
Flitwick sighed. "You shouldn't be worrying about fighting for your life at your age, but I can't deny the need. To have faced him twice and have survived, you must have been very lucky."
"I was lucky. In the Forbidden Forest, none of my spells phased him. If it wasn't for the centaur firing a magical arrow at him I don't know what I would have done. The second time I only arrived in time to see him leave Quirrell's body after Jasmine accidentally turned the professor into ash. Still, he saw me both times and he knows I'm a friend of Jasmine's, that's reason enough to send death eaters after me or my family once he returns."
Flitwick stood up. "Alright, I've heard enough. I'll help you. Good thing you found the Room of Requirement, we'll need a private place to practice."
Sakura grinned and fist-pumped the air. "Thank you so much, Professor. When do we start?"
He grinned a vicious grin. "No time like the present."
They made their way to the RoR in silent company. Sakura demonstrated how one needs to walk back and forth thrice to open the room. They walked into a large, empty hall with dummies lining the perimeter.
"Ah, yes, I've seen these types of training dummies before in my youth. Great for beginning dodge practice, not much utility afterward," Flitwick said while inspecting the nearest wooden dummy.
"How do you want to go about this, do we-" Sakura began asking, halfway turning away from the professor, before a flash of light coming her way forced her to dodge and roll.
"'Constant vigilance!' As coined by the best auror alive, the biggest difference between a duel and a fight is how one begins," Flitwick called out while shooting another three hexes.
Already, Sakura was forced to use a shield charm as she sprung to her feet. It lasted two spells and shattered. Sakura never stopped moving, however, and while her wand hand shielded, her off-hand threw two senbon at the professor's wand arm.
He dodged. She wandlessly cast the summoning charm on both senbon as soon as they passed him, followed by a jinx to coat the ground in ice. Somehow, Flitwick sensed the senbon flying at his back but the compromised footing stalled him long enough for one to graze him. Not enough contact for the numbing poison on the needle to affect him.
First blood seemed to be a sign to kick up his efforts a notch. Flitwick cast a spell on himself and launched himself further away from her, a dozen meters back, as she charged him. Simultaneously, he cast bombarda on the icy patch of ground between them, sending ice chunks flying. These were then transfigured into birds that dive-bombed Sakura.
Getting a few bruises and cuts from the ice didn't phase Sakura, so she kept moving forward while wandlessly grabbing a few kunai from her pouch and slamming them into any birds coming her way. She began dodging and weaving more attacks by either sliding or sticking along the ground, either unexpectedly continuing in one direction or stopping suddenly. It made her erratic. It made her unpredictable.
She used a floating kunai to block a spell and it got flung away with such force it nearly stabbed her. She needed to figure out what spells could be safely blocked with kunai.
All the while, she shot off spell after spell at Flitwick. She mainly stuck to underpowered cutting or piercing spells. Quantity over quality was her plan. Her opponent was rarely shielding, he mostly dodged or deflected spells using the tip of his wand. She could already see several of her problems.
She needed area-of-effect spells, spells that pierced shields, and offensive transfiguration spells for distractions. Movement was also an issue. She was bloody fast, but charging and dodging at the same time slowed her down and Flitwick had lept backward an impossible distance. He couldn't even apparate within Hogwarts and he was still difficult to catch.
Finally, she caught up to him. Dodging spells at such close range was nearly impossible. She really wished she could deflect spells like Flitwick.
She was aiming to kick out his legs when suddenly she found herself wrapped in ice chains and suspended upside down.
"Marvelous, Miss Granger!" Flitwick exclaimed. "I don't think I've seen such a blend of muggle weapons with magic before. Combined with your acrobatics and wandless magic, yes I can see why you sought me out. I do think some of the sixth years could give you trouble, but not for long. Yes, we have much work to do!"
Sakura returned his grin with one of her own.