Chapter 1
Harry got to the classroom for his first classes of the day. He felt his hands beginning to tremble, but he tried to regain control of them. It wasn’t the place nor the time to panic. The truth was that he had had a big crush on Professor Tom Riddle since his fourth year, when he discovered his homosexuality, but he couldn’t act on these impulses. Moreover, his parents hadn’t stopped all summer from telling him how evil Professor Riddle was and that he shouldn’t be teaching students the dark arts.
Lifting his head, he met Ron's gaze before sitting in his chair. There is no need to panic, he thought to himself. He just had to stay discreet.
With a loud bang, the door of the classroom was shut, and silence fell, quickly interrupted by Professor Riddle.
"I will introduce myself. I am Professor Tom Riddle, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the next two years. To begin this year, I want to judge your dueling level. Give me the names of the two best duelers of your year." Mr. Riddle sat there, waiting for the names to be called.
Harry lowered his head, wondering what he had done in his previous life to deserve this situation. He heard, "Harry is the best dueler!" and "No, it is Theodore!"
"Well, I think we have our two duelers," Mr. Riddle said, addressing the two boys with a cold smile. He then instructed everyone to stand up. Rearranging the classroom, he placed the two boys in front of each other.
Harry met his gaze long enough to see him detailing him from top to bottom. He then lowered his head to look at his shoes. Taking a big breath, he lifted his head to look straight into Nott's eyes. Nott wasn’t Riddle; he had nothing to fear from him. He took a good grip on his wand and gave a small smile to Nott, who narrowed his eyes in response.
"Scared, Potter?"
"You wish."
Professor Riddle went between them.
"I will now explain the rules, and I expect all of you to respect them." He looked towards the class and emphasized his gaze on Harry and Theodore.
"You bow to each other to show respect to your opponent, then take three steps in the opposite direction. Take your positions, and I will say when the duel begins. The duel finishes when one of you yelds or cannot continue to fight. Now, bow."
Harry bowed and turned his back. He counted his steps, then took his position. He was in his element. He wasn’t the brightest of his genereation but regarding Defense, he was the greatest. He didn’t hear the start signal that Nott cast his first spell. He shielded himself before he had to dodge another one.
He dodged many attacks like that, amusing himself with the cold facade that his opponent was wearing. When he grew bored of this game, he started to attack without letting any opportunities to exploit go by. Finally he had him on his knees and sent his wand flying backwards. ‘ Yeld’ said the young man.
" Make me, Potter. Unless you don’t have the courage. "
" I would enjoy seeing you fight without your hands. " he said, lifting his wand but was stopped in his motion by a strong grip on his wrist.
"That’s enough Mr Potter " Mr Riddle said, taking his wand away and looking at him with an impenetrable expression. " It is quite hard to fight without a wand, don’t you think ? You will have it back at the end of the class. "
The young man fell back from his concentration with difficulty to breath. He could still feel the grip of Professor Riddle on him. He caught his breath and walked away towards his friends to follow the rest of the class.