Chapter 19

Gloves are off

Chamber of Secrets

Harry of course couldn't wait another second to let his friends know off his concerning encounter with the house elf, alongside the fate of one Colin Creevy, that particular piece of bad news causing Hermione's stomach to twitch around uncontrollably.

Who was also twitching around was Marley, though the girl's frantic movements were not caused by her uneasiness at the rising tensions, rather did it stem from headphones attached to her Walkman. While the three Gryffindors were exchanging their fears and worries inside an abandoned bathroom, their Slytherin friend was, in stark contrast, busting it down while working continuously on the Polyjuice potion. After having cut and squeezed some ingredients over a clean sink, she elegantly skipped back over to the cauldron, adding those same items with the smoothness of a disco dancer, mouthing the lyrics to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" while doing so.

"I always thought there was a veil surrounding Hogwarts that would make all electronic things useless.", Ron semi-complained with crossed arms, his ridge forming wrinkles as he smelled the disgusting odours of their current hideout.

"The veil was established sometime in the 19th century.", Hermione explained seated close to Marley, her eyes scanning the Polyjuice recipe to make sure they were on the right path, "Since technology is becoming more and more complex in the Muggle word, the veil is having a hard time keeping up."

"That's a good thing.", Harry surmised, "Otherwise Madonna and Marley's boombox wouldn't have saved us from Fluffy last year."

Still bopping her head and with her eyes focused on the swirling potion, the Slytherin girl briefly pointed at the boy with glasses, sharing that she could not only hear them, but that Harry's assessment was spot-on. This caused the boy to smile somewhat... excessively, Ron and Hermione exchanging confused expressions before the Gryffindor girl quickly switched topics.

"So, this... Dobby claimed that... history is repeating itself?", Hermione spoke with clear sorrow carried in her tone.

"Of course.", Ron answered, sounding rather active, "I'm sure some other Slytherin opened it before. Maybe Lucuis Malfoy when he was here."

Though Marley was too focused on her music and work to respond, a tiny scowl still did appear on her face, Harry catching onto it easily as his gaze was continuously focused on the girl.

"Maybe.", Hermione answered as she put the recipe book down, "We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice potion to know for sure."

"At least Malfoy Jr. is not causing any trouble anymore.", the Weasley boy added before a groan underlined his disdain for their chosen location.

"Maybe Marley had a positive influence on him.", Miss Granger suggested as both she and Ron slowly moved their gaze over to Marley, the girl finally pausing her music as she took off her headphones.

"Uh... maybe.", she spoke somewhat humbled, "Maybe he would've had a change of heart without me."

A strong scoff from the Weasley upset Miss Verpe once again.

"I seriously doubt it. That was your doing, Marles.", he cynically piled on top.

"I'm not comfortable taking all the glory for Draco's own decision making.", she responded somewhat critical, "Hermione, would you mind taking over stirring duty for a moment?"

"Of course.", her friend answered, honest in her help, yet still upset that most of her involvement in this potion plan was restricted to reading and shoving a ladle around in a circular motion.

"What do you make of it, Harry?", the girl asked in a slightly timid tone, putting away her Walkman as the Boy who lived promptly reacted as if caught in daydreaming.

"About what?"

"Draco.", the girl elaborated, "You're the one who got saved by him. Do you think we can trust him?"

"Trust him?", Ron cut in rudely, "I didn't say I trust him. I'm only saying he's not bothering us anymore."

"I hate to say it but he's right.", Hermione chirped, the Weasley student decently offended by her wording, "Just because Malfoy did one nice thing, doesn't mean he's suddenly a friend of ours."

"Certainly not when we're currently trying to trick his friend Pansy into telling us all of her secrets.", Ron joined the argument against Draco.

"Well, you're not doing anything at the moment, Ronald.", Marley shot back sharply, Harry sensing that it's time to step in, quite literally.

"Let's not argue with each other.", his voice halted their pointless bickering, "I'm sorry, Marley.", he continued as he turned to the girl wiping her hands in a towel, "As much as I appreciate Draco saving me, we can't trust him yet. Not when he's still hanging around with Pansy all the time."

A firm look and sound reason were more than enough to convince Marley to accept the verdict, even if the girl hated nothing more than being piled on by multiple people. It of course also helped that the closing argument was delivered by someone whom the girl thought was very attractive.

"You're right.", she surrendered, a treacherous neck scratch telling anyone paying attention what her sudden shift was all about. Unfortunately for her, someone in the room was paying attention.

"So, you're done arguing?", Ron complained with a strangely provocative smirk, "Harry says the same thing as I just did and you're suddenly on board?"

"Well...", she began with a nervous expression, "...he is more convincing than you."

"That one's true.", Hermione couldn't help but to add with an impish smile.

"Fantastic...", the Weasley boy gave up as well as his friends were amused, Marley additionally relieved.

"Why don't you keep stirring the potion, Hermione? And you know what, while we're at it – why are we doing it in some girl's lavatory in broad daylight? Won't we get caught here?"

"No.", Hermione and Marley spoke at the same time, the Slytherin continuing as her confidence returned, "No one ever comes here, Ronald."

"Why?", he shot back, continuing to be the group's sceptic, for reasons unknown.

"Moaning Myrtle.", Hermione answered this time, another pointed finger from Marley being a gesture of support for her argument.

"Who?"

Just as he obnoxiously chipped further, a floating spectre shaped like a Ravenclaw student slowly crept up to an unsuspecting Weasley.

"Moaning Myrtle...", Marley repeated, almost as if to try and warn him. Unsuccessfully, I might add.

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?"

"I'M MOANING MYRTLE!", the ghost finally exploded next to him in the shrillest of voices, the boy having been thoroughly scared to death by the manoeuvre, almost tripping over his own feet as he stepped away from the scene.

"I wouldn't expect you to know who I am.", Myrtle went on while creepily floating closer and closer, "Who would ever tell you about ugly, miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle?"

Right after her rant subsided, the dead girl screamed in a horrid fashion right in Ron's face, before making a sharp U-turn to one of the empty stalls, disappearing with a splash into a toilet a bit removed from them all.

It took the quartet a few moments to recover, with Hermione digesting her own shock as she kept stirring, Ron's chest visibly rising and falling with his hand placed on it, and Harry simply adjusting his glasses as he shook his head, always excited by new, strange magic taking place within the walls of Hogwarts.

"Bloody hell...", Ron finally let out in an exhausted huff.

"I met her last year.", Marley explained with jolly, the only member of the friend group not particularly upset by the ghost girl, "No one told me about Myrtle, so when I went to take a wee here, she scared me half to death!"

She rounded up her story with a chuckle, frightening Ron while filling Harry with delight. A mere second after, the excited Slytherin turned to the boy with glasses, her own binoculars worn over a set of eyes sparkling with excitement.

"We could use this place for our Defence Against the Dark Arts Club!", she suggested, Harry reacting happy at first, though ultimately answering with a grimace as he recalled their very recent supernatural encounter.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Marley.", he tried letting her down easy, Miss Verpe swallowing her disappointment quietly, "Moaning Myrtle probably won't appreciate us making even more of a mess here."

The girl nodded quietly, hiding her blush from the boy successfully, though, unbeknownst to her, failing to do so from Ron.

There's no easy way to start off a Monday morning, doing so with an event hosted by Gilderoy Lockhart might be the most exhausting bit of news one could receive. Yet as it became a rumour that this would turn out to be a sort of self-defence exercise, Harry and Marley were absolutely giddy with excitement.

"Gather round! Gather round!", the pompous parasite demanded attention, walking among a gaudy, purple stage decorated with the phases of the moon, "Can everybody hear me? Can everybody see me?", he didn't bother waiting for anyone's answer, "Excellent."

Lockhart then cleared his throat before continuing, the quartet placed at the relative middle of the stage, a flock of Hufflepuff students right next to them.

"In light of dark events having taken place in recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has awarded me with the task of arming the future generation of Hogwarts with the skills to defend themselves. Because of this, I have formed this little Dueling Club of sorts."

At the mention of what precisely this was, Harry and Marley shared excited looks, the Slytherin girl using up much of her energy to ignore the fact that she'd really like to peck him on the cheek again.

"It is crucial that, should you ever need to, everyone here can adequately defend him or herself, much like I have done on countless occasions. For more details, see my published works."

With the charming smirk of a womanizer he removed his impractical cape, tossing it into the crowd, where it was devoured feverishly by a group of obsessed superfans.

"That Lockhart's something.", a very posh voice sounded next to Harry, the taller Hufflepuff boy his age having begun chatting him up for some reason, "Awfully brave chap, isn't he?"

"Uh...", Harry stuttered as a polite answer formed, "I suppose."

"Oh, pardon my bad manners...", the boy, continued, offering his hand for a firm shake, "Justin Finch-Fletchney, Hufflepuff."

Just as the two boys awkwardly shook hands, Justin's brow shot up in harsh suspicion once he spotted the girl standing next to Harry.

"Who are you?", he questioned her like a bark, Lockhart still occupied with signing some autographs on the other side of the stage.

"Marley Verpe, Slytherin.", came back with venomous spite, the girl's hand forcefully grabbing his to shake it.

"She's a friend.", Harry came to her defence, Justin backing down ever so slightly, massaging his palm after having received quite a firm handshake.

"Forgive my aversion.", he apologized, "Most of us Muggle-born have grown a bit... cautious around Slytherins."

Marley's proud features melted into a shameful grimace, the weight of that statement carried heavy on her shoulders. Before that horrid interaction could continue, Lockhart finally went on with his "lecture."

"Let me introduce my assistant for today – Professor Snape!"

As the stone-cold teacher sauntered onto the stage, Marley's discomfort immediately morphed into sympathy.

"Oh, he's probably mad about being called an assistant...", Marley surmised in a mumble.

"He has sportingly agreed to provide his help in a short demonstration. Now...", as Lockhart held his monologue, Snape couldn't be bothered to hide his eye-rolling, "...I don't want a single one of you to worry, you shall have your Potions Master in one piece once I'm through with him. Never fear..."

The Slytherin girl watching found her own, personal bit of amusement as Snape's reaction to the threat became open mockery via his eyebrows. Upon scolding his colleague, both men finally took out their wands, walking up rather close to each other wherein the two would raise their weapons almost like at Olympic fencing. Immediately after, Snape and Lockhart paced quite a distance away from one another, Harry, Marley, and Hermione correctly deciphering the Potions Master's correct stance while the blonde spectacle stood there like a dunce. As tensions were almost physically detectable, Lockhart began counting down.

"One, two, three..."

"Expelliarmus!"

From the tip of Snape's short, black wand a beam of red blasted violently into the famous author, causing him to drop his own tool before being catapulted across the stage, slamming against the wood on the very edge. This caused a few outcries from the audience, though mostly just excited gasps.

"Oh, bother!", Justin cried out in fear, "I surely hope he's alright."

"I'm sure a brave chap like him can take a hit.", Marley mocked the Hufflepuff while her eyes were glued onto the groaning professor. Despite his rather polite exterior, it did cause Mr. Finch-Fletchney to openly frown at the girl.

"That was bloody brilliant. Didn't know Snape had it in him", Ron also added.

It took the bloke a few more seconds, but eventually Lockhart was able to get back up, his wand having been flung God-knows where.

"An excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape. But, if you don't mind me saying, it was rather obvious to predict what you were about to do there. It would've been far too easy to stop you, had that been my intention."

"It would of course be more prudent...", Snape began in his voice akin to a snake's hiss, "...to first teach students to block unfriendly spells."

"An excellent suggestion, Professor Snape! How about a volunteer pair?", came shot back from the thespian counterpart.

"Why does he call him 'Professor Snape'?", Marley mumbled to herself, though it was audible by way too many people, and one wrong person.

"Miss Bird!", Lockhart addressed the Slytherin girl, causing her to both grimace and flinch slightly, "How about you and Mr. Weasley?"

"Mr. Weasley has been exchanging rental wands for the past few weeks like a fine dame does hats at the boutique.", Snape protested harshly, the comment cutting in even deeper, as Ron was forced to replace his odd, swirly tool for another one after almost setting Scabbers ablaze, "Might I suggest someone more capable?"

As soon as the Potion Master's dark orbs focused on the crowd, young Miss Verpe already knew what was about to happen.

"Potter, perhaps?"

Some deep howls of surprise were emitted from the audience, Harry and Marley exchanging a look that carried both fear and joyful anticipation, the two ends of the emotional spectrum spiralling and mixing into each other, the boy finally letting out a nervous exhale as he adjusted his glasses.

"Um... if you... want to.", he began in an awkward fashion, "I don't want to hurt you."

Despite her rose-coloured glasses and the butterflies in her stomach, the overwhelming feeling of competitive praxis ultimately saw triumph within Marley's heart.

"Who says I won't hurt you?", she gave back in a snappy tone, Ron and Hermione looking overtly excited as the rest of the crowd broke into reactions of surprise. Harry of course smiled at her challenge, the girl giving back the gesture as both kids climbed onto the stage.

"Suppose we found a good match there.", Lockhart commented before patting Harry's shoulder, "Good luck, Potter."

He took the man's good wishes with a nod, though found himself genuinely on edge as he stared down his opponent, the boy's heart racing like a mad hare. Harry had felt like this before in Marley's presence, though the sensation had never been this strong.

"Um... Professor Lockhart?", the Slytherin timidly asked with her wand out already.

"Yes, Miss Chart?"

"That doesn't even...", she quickly swallowed her pride with a sigh, "Whatever. Are we supposed to practice the disarming spell only or are we allowed to perform other... spells as well?"

The rather brave question caused some commotion in the crowd, a curious expression from Snape, a happy one from Harry, and an exaggerated one from their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Well...", Lockhart began as he scratched his head with his wand, which by now he had gotten back, "...I suppose if the two of you already possess a repertoire, I don't see why you shouldn't practice it. That's the point of this exercise, is it not, Professor Snape?"

"Yes.", Snape deadpanned.

Excited by the newly introduced rule, Harry and Marley gave each other relieved nods, their gesture also indirectly communicating that they won't try to hurt one another too much... at least Harry assumed so.

"Alright. Wands at the ready!", Lockhart announced, both he and the Head of Slytherin standing on the very edge of each side of the stage. As Harry and Marley stood opposite each other, faces close and wands raised like sabres, both were overcome with an avalanche of positive feelings.

"Scared?", the Slytherin teased him in an almost flirty tone.

"You wish.", he smiled back at her, the crowd getting hyped by their exchange as Ron once again held back his thoughts in that moment.

Just like their professors performed earlier, the two youngsters lowered their hands again, pacing away from each other four of five steps before assuming combat positions, Marley's a lot more stiff and professional-looking, while Harry came off as more calm and loose.

"On the count of three, you can show us what you've learned, but no dangerous spells. We don't want any accidents here", Lockhart explained, sounding unusually responsible, "One... two-"

"Ventus!", Marley barked, apparently unable to wait any longer. From the magic words a swirly blast of wind shot at the Gryffindor, smacking Harry straight in the chest as he was launched a bit backwards, landing with a dull thud as the audience gasped.

"Oh my God.", Marley exclaimed in pure shock, "I-I didn't know it was this strong."

"Impressive.", the brooding tone of Snape came from behind the girl, calming her somewhat as he encouraged her skills. Harry eventually managed to get back on two feet again, grinning idiotically despite having been embarrassed in front of his entire cohort.

"I... think it's your turn now.", Marley began to stutter, her stance now broken, "I-if you want you, you can-"

"Rictusempra!", he howled as a purple beam of light flew from the tip of his wand, causing a direct hit into Marley's abdomen, the girl also flying back a short distance and landing on hard, wooden ground. Though, because of the nature of the incantation, the Slytherin uncontrollably giggled for a few seconds, a sound Harry adored as much as he always did. Ignoring the critical glare from Snape, Marley was immediately back into motion again.

"Sonusectum!", she cried out, surprising the Potions Master behind her with the rather rare spell. What it caused was an inhumanely loud buzz zo be emitted by her magic tool, most students covering their auricles as they dearly missed Professor Sprout's earmuffs. The insectoid sound also produced visible, green waves, though they were not nearly strong or stable enough to push Harry back any significant distance, the boy opting for his final piece of action.

"Expelliarmus!", he commanded quite simply, a red cloud of magic quickly disarming Marley like a whip, the girl dropping her wand against her will, not having been flung across the stage this time.

"Bravo! Excellent! Potter is our winner!", Lockhart declared on the spot. Clapping his own hands, it of course caused the room to erupt into applause as well, someone in the crowd handing Marley back her wand as Harry rushed over to her.

"That was... brilliant, Marley. It really was.", he complemented her.

"You weren't so bad either there.", was what the girl said, what she thought was "Who cares about the cheek? I just want to kiss him on the bloody lips."

From this spectacle a sort of contest was born, students from all four houses volunteering twice at a time, stepping on stage with all the excitement in the world and with thunderous applause accompanying them. Each pair drew their wands with varying confidence, which was most often an early indicator of whom would be the victor. Some encounters saw only one side fire off the disarming spell, either causing the opponent to fly wildly across the stage or simply have their wand smacked away. Other brawls, the more interesting ones, produced bright and often nasty charms which gave mean arm twisters, screwed legs together, inflicted dizziness, or caused a sting-like pain in areas of the body in which you wouldn't like to have them.

In one instance Neville was struck with a nasty snot charm, which had the boy produce bogeys uncontrollably, before Pansy Parkinson struck with an overtly mean stunning spell, which didn't quite knock him out, though caused a bit of pain still. To make up for it, both Hermione and Ron later defeated Pansy in two separate duels.

Malfoy and Seamus Finnigan saw eye-to-eye at one point, and while the Gryffindor boy managed to distract his opponent adequately with some wand induced-bangs, Draco saw himself the easy winner of that particular duel.

Harry proved quite the duellist as well, as it turned out. Most likely a whole bunch of frustration from his inability to properly fight off Quirrell last year, allowing the Boy who lived to become the Boy who won almost all matches, mostly against same-year-students who Marley barely knew. A Ravenclaw girl named Cho Chang, Dean Thomas and Lavender Brown, both Gryffindors, and Tracey Davis, one of the nicer Slytherins Miss Verpe wasn't really friends with. Harry even managed to beat Crabbe and Goyle, which wasn't particularly difficult, though still made all of his friends very happy.

And that's how this particular afternoon exercise went. A whole bloody world of fun for everyone involved, well, minus Neville perhaps. While in the end not quite everyone participated, the majority still did, and for every student caving under stage fright, there were a few examples who volunteered far more than necessary, Harry, Marley, and Malfoy perhaps the most eager to prove themselves. Well... and then there was a fourth.

Clad in inconspicuous yellow, a clever boy by the name of Justin Finch-Fletchney quickly became the duellist tournament's underdog. While the posh kid certainly did not look the part of a fearsome combatant, he ended up winning every single matchup, including against Malfoy, Ron, and even Harry, ending Mr. Potter's impressive winning streak. Right after having disarmed her crush, Justin made sure to give the most gloating of looks down an angered Marley, making the girl fear that all roads led to one inescapable outcome.

The girl herself became the other fan favourite, outshining every single one of her opponents with what were oftentimes rather uncommon spells, clearly leaving an impression on Snape most of all. All the Slytherin now needed to enter the finale was to defeat her best friend Hermione, which turned out to be a close call, though in the end actually sticking to the disarming spell allowed Marley to enter the stage for today's final showdown.

"I'm sure emotions are high after such a long and brutal day.", Lockhart began in the middle, Justin and Marley standing opposite on both sides, two children aggressively glaring at each other.

"To make things a bit more exciting, the winner of this... unofficial contest, will receive my newest novel signed by me. It should only take another year or so to come out. How does that sound?"

Despite his admiration for the wizard, Justin didn't seem much excited, all the while Marley scoffed provocatively.

"You can have my copy when I win.", the Slytherin girl promised with venom in her voice.

"I'd rather take it for myself, thank you.", Finch-Fletchney gave with as much bite as a twelve-year-old could muster, "But I suppose it's normal for a Slytherin like you to assume you've won already."

Mean grimaces continued, Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched eagerly from below alongside everyone else.

"I see.", Lockhart made himself known rather timidly, "I'll be off then."

The two bickering rivals waited for the useless tutor to disappear before both drew their respective wands, sharply moving them up and down before making their paces back and getting ready. Obviously, with this much tension in the air, it almost felt like a thunderbolt could discharge from anywhere.

"Come on, Justin!"

"Go! Get her!"

Were some of the things the boy's fans shouted.

"Come on, Marles!", Ron howled for his deeply focused friend.

"You can do it!", Hermione added in a screech. Draco wasn't really the shouty type and Harry seemed simply too nervous to add anything.

Marley on the left, Justin on the right. For a few seconds some yells from the audience were all there was to this encounter. However, all things must pass.

"Expelliarmus!", Justin finally hurled at the girl, Marley ducking under the red cloud of light, ready to retaliate. However, sharp like a gun slinger, the Hufflepuff continued with his offensive.

"Locomotor Mortis!", he roared next, Marley having no other option but to go for a counter, quite an unusual one at that.

"Incendio!"

A bright, orange flame violently crashed into Justin's transparent spell, a loud bang and a smoky explosion causing any nearby members of the crowd to step aside with fearful cries attached.

"That's enough!", a responsible Snape declared as he stepped closer to Marley, the girl letting down her guard as she turned towards him.

"But we're not finished! We don't know-"

"Eat slugs!"

A nasty, green charm plunged into Marley's abdomen for the second time, making her fall over in a brutally simple fashion, some parts of the audience croaking in excitement.

"Not again...", Ron winced, sounding almost guilty.

And there, as soon as that first, disgusting snail escaped Marley's mouth again, plunging onto her pants, something inside the girl snapped. That hated, new rival of hers, so keen on hurting the Slytherin girl, had perhaps deserved an adequate form of punishment.

"I said to drop. Your. Wands.", Snape sharply scolded Justin, the Hufflepuff boy flinching visibly as he let go of his magic tool-

"Serpensortia!"

By Marley's command, a cobra was born from thin air, landing right in front of the boy, who seemed frozen in terror just as much as Ron was the other night at the sight of much smaller spiders. As he dropped to his butt and started crawling backwards, Marley felt her wand snapped from her hand, Snape having disarmed her before muttering some inaudible counter-course that crawled up and down her intestines. Within seconds the nausea disappeared, and no more snails came dropping from her jaw.

"Allow me, Professor. I'll deal with this.", Lockhart announced out of nowhere, stepping closer to Justin as he aimed at the live cobra. Still occupied with visually punishing Miss Verpe, Snape remained too far away to protest.

"Alarte ascendare!", the blonde thespian spoke, a real spell mind you, though it ended up doing little more than flinging the reptile upwards. It quickly came back crashing down again, landing even closer to a quivering, crawling Justin, hissing at the boy, therefore showing its massive fangs-

The snake seemed to halt at what sounded much like a hiss also. It took everyone way too long to realize where this noise came from, Marley perhaps the longest, her jaw dropping as a singular boy seemed to... converse with the serpent.

"Sya-hasi-heth.", Harry... spoke? It was an unbelievable action to spot, as the deadly cobra and the human child were no much less than arguing for Justin's safety.

"Vipera. Evanesca."

From Snape's short, black wand a tiny spark flew towards the snake, causing it to burst into fire at a controlled level, as if a fuse made from flesh quietly burning away into both directions until there was nothing left of the animal. Nor the danger. Though the unease persisted.

"What are you playing at?!", Justin Finch-Fletchney cried out after a few seconds had passed.