Diospyros

Faced with an unidentified threat that once again attacked the castle in the petrified form of Colin Creevey and a bludger that threw Adrien into the infirmary, the headmaster saw fit to allow the students to gather in a Dueling Club. Harry couldn't help but say, sometimes to himself and sometimes to Morag, that this was a discreet outing for cowards¹.

Harry had seen the errant Bludger attacking Adrien; it wasn't pretty. More than a few times, it came within an inch of taking his twin's head off on impact, and destroyed several parts of the stands as Adrien zigzagged across the field trying to lose him. The attacks only stopped when Hagrid exploded the Bludger, but not before knocking Adrien and Higgs, Slytherin's reserve Seeker, off their brooms and throwing them onto the field. It might have been less bad if Lockhart hadn't tried to be a freestyle mediwizard.

When the night of the Dueling Club meeting arrived, around 8 p.m., Harry, Morag and Blaise left the dungeons and went upstairs to the Great Hall, where almost the entire school was gathered. The long dining tables had disappeared and a golden stage had appeared against one wall, illuminated by thousands of candles floating overhead. Almost all the students had their wands in their hands, anxious expressions.

Harry's pretension drained from him as soon as he saw that Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in his dark plum robes, accompanied by none other than Snape, in his usual black outfit.

Lockhart waved an arm for silence and said loudly:

— Come closer, come closer! Does everyone see me? Is everyone listening to me? Great!

“Prof. Dumbledore gave me permission to start a small Dueling Club, to train you, in case one day you need to defend yourself, as I myself have had to do on countless occasions, if you want to know the details, read the books I published.

“Let me introduce you to my assistant, Prof. Snape,” Lockhart said, smiling broadly. “He tells me that he knows something about duels and sportingly agreed to help me give a brief demonstration before we start. Now, I don’t want any of you to worry, you will still have your Potions teacher even after I defeat him, you don’t need to be afraid!”

— Wouldn't it be nice if the two of them finished each other off? – Harry heard Ronald's attempt to whisper from afar. I didn't know what to think about it.

Snape's upper lip twitched. Harry wondered why Lockhart continued to smile.

The professors turned to each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart greeted with lots of nods, while Snape bowed his head in irritation. Then, both of them raised their wands as if they were wielding swords.

— As you see, we are holding our wands in the normally adopted fighting position — Lockhart said to the silently students. – When we count three, we will cast the first spells. Neither of us is intending to kill, of course.

— Controversial statement – ​​Blaise commented, observing his head of house's frown.

— One... two... three...

The two raised their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape exclaimed:

— Expelliarmus! – They saw a blinding red flash and Lockhart was thrown into the air: he flew to the back of the stage, collided with the wall, slipped and ended up sprawled on the floor.

Draco and the other Slytherins cheered, and Harry looked away politely. Hermione, further to the side, danced on her fingertips to get a better look.

— Do you think he's okay? – She squeaked, covering her mouth with her hand.

— Who cares? – Adrien and Ronald responded together.

Lockhart got up dizzily. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair stood on end.

— Very well! – He said, staggering back to the stage. – This was a Disarming Charm, as you saw, I lost my wand, oh, thank you very much, Ms. Brown... yes, that was an excellent demonstration, Prof. Snape, but if you don't mind me saying, it was very obvious what you were going to do. If I had wanted to stop him it would have been very easy, but I thought it more instructive to let them see...

Snape had a murderous expression on his face. Lockhart possibly noticed because he added:

— Enough demonstrations! I will join you now and separate you into pairs. Prof. Snape, if you want to help me...

The two walked among the students, forming pairs. Lockhart paired Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Snape got to Adrien and Ronald first.

— I think it's time to separate the dream team — he scoffed. – Weasley, you fight Finnigan. Potter...

Adrien automatically turned to Hermione.

— I don't think so – said Snape, smiling strangely. – Mr. Malfoy, come here. Let's see what you do with the famous Potter. And you, miss, can be paired with Ms. Bulstrode.

Draco approached arrogantly, smiling. Mila didn't exactly seem excited about being paired with Hermione, but she approached her anyway. When Harry turned his attention back to himself, Lockhart was already beside him.

— Ah, Mr. Potter – the professor greeted him. Harry greeted him back. – Well, pair up with Mr. Boot over there, yes? Mr. MacDougal, can you pair up with Mr. Zabini... yes...

Terence Boot was a Ravenclaw boy in the same year as Harry. If he remembered correctly, he was friends with Antony Goldstein and Lisa Turpin, two other Ravenclaw students that Harry had some contact with. Turpin walked a strange line between acquaintance and childhood friend, living so close to Potter Manor in Devon. Goldstein was a Muggle-born, but his knowledge was broader than Hermione's, so his associations with library studies were not uncommon.

— Boot – Harry greeted the boy, who murmured “Good evening”. – Dueling? Or practice spells?

— I think dueling is better — He quickly understood his proposal. Good.

— Let's go up — Harry called him with a nod. – The stage will be full soon if they don't do duels in turn...

And indeed it did. If the students weren't smart, it was very possible that they would get caught by spells coming from other students facing each other. Harry carefully ensured that he was facing the Neville and Finch-Fletchley confrontation, and quelled his embarrassment with resignation to the danger that is Neville.

— Face your partners! – sent Lockhart, back to the stage. – And bow!

Harry and Boot bowed, straightening their backs soon after. The Ravenclaw couldn't seem to stand up straight.

— Get your wands ready! – Lockhart shouted. – When I count three, cast your spells to disarm your opponents, just to disarm them, we don't want accidents, one... two... three...

Boot tried to lift his wand, but he barely had time to lift his arm past his stomach before his wand flew out of his hand. He blinked, dumbfounded, staring apoplectically at Harry as his wand flew into the boy's hand.

— You tried — Harry consoled, but was unable to hold back a smile.

Boot snorted sullenly, and Harry almost thought it was cute, if his thoughts hadn't been interrupted to deflect a stray spell from Neville heading their way.

— S-Sorry! – the boy screeched at Harry and Boot, this oversight being an opportunity for Finch-Fletchley to throw him away with his wand.

— Rictusempra!

Harry heard a scream, but when he turned to look, he only saw Draco dropped to his knees and sucking in gulps of air.

— I said just disarm! – Lockhart shouted in fright above the heads of the combatants, when Draco fell to his knees; Adrien, his opponent, had apparently hit him with the Tickling Spell, and he could barely move from laughing so hard. Adrien stepped back, making room for Draco to stand up, but that was a mistake; Taking a breath, Draco pointed his wand at Adrien's knees, and choked out: "Tarantallegra!", and in the next second the boy's legs began to shake out of control in a kind of rapid march.

—Stop! Stop! – Lockhart shouted, but Snape took control.

— Finite Incantatem! – he shouted; Adrien's feet stopped dancing. Draco stopped laughing and they were able to lift their heads.

The place was a mess, you could tell: green smoke was filling a good portion of stage right, apparently coming from the tip of an errant wand. On one side, Neville and Finch-Fletchley lay tired on the floor. On the other, Crabbe was unconscious and Goldstein's nose was bleeding. Ronald was holding a paper-white Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand might have done; but Hermione and Bulstrode still fought; Mila had headlocked Hermione, who was whimpering in pain; Both of their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry waved his hand gently, pushing the girls away.

— Ow, ow, ow, ow! – exclaimed Lockhart, passing between the duelists, to see the result of the fights. – Get up, Macmillan... Be careful, Miss Fawcett... Squeeze hard, it will stop bleeding in a second, Goldstein...

“I think it's best to teach you how to block hostile spells,” Lockhart said, stopping in the middle of the room. He looked at Snape, whose black eyes were shining, and quickly looked away from him. "Let's get a volunteer pair, Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you..."

— A bad idea, Prof. Lockhart – said Snape, slithering towards him like a huge malevolent bat. – Longbottom causes devastation with even the simplest spell. We'll have to send what's left of Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing in a matchbox. – Neville's round, rosy face became even rosier. – How about Malfoy and Potter? – suggested Snape with a crooked smile.

— Great idea! – said Lockhart, motioning for Adrien and Draco to go to the middle of the room, while the other students moved aside to give them space.

— Now, Adrien – the jerk said loudly. – When Draco points his wand at you, you do this.

He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated flourish, and dropped it. Snape smiled as Lockhart caught her quickly, saying:

— Oops, my wand is a little too excited...

Snape approached Draco, bent down and whispered something in his ear. The boy laughed too. Harry heard, despite keeping an eye on Morag so he wouldn't fall, Adrien asked:

— Professor, could you show me again how to block?

Harry would never set foot in this Dueling Club again.

— Do exactly as I did, Adrien! – Lockhart said good-humoredly.

— What, drop the wand?

But Lockhart was no longer listening.

— Three... two... one... now! – he shouted.

Draco raised his wand quickly and shouted:

— Serpensortia!

The tip of his wand exploded. Harry watched, perplexed, as a long black snake materialized, fell heavily to the ground between his brother and Malfoy, and reared up, ready to strike. The students shouted, quickly retreating, opening up space.

— Don't move, Potter — said Snape calmly, seeming amused to see Adrien frozen in fear. – I'll put an end to it...

— Allow me! – Lockhart shouted. And he brandished his wand at the snake, whereupon a great thud was heard; The snake, instead of disappearing, flew three meters into the air and fell to the ground again with a crash. Enraged, hissing furiously, it slid straight at Justin Finch-Fletchley and rose again, fangs bared, poised for the boat.

Before Snape, Lockhart or Harry could do anything, Adrien shouted "Leave him alone!" to the snake, which suddenly fell to the ground, docile, its eyes turned towards the boy with an innocent expression on its oval face. It took a while before Harry could connect the actions of the snake and his brother, and connect them to himself.

— What do you think you're kidding? – Finch-Fletchley shouted, too close to Harry's ears for his liking, turned his back on the stage and left the room in a rage.

Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake disappeared with a small puff of black smoke. There was an expression that could be mistaken for calculation, but Harry recognized an insanely awkward flicker of something very similar to concern. He didn't know what to make of it, but when he turned to face Adrien, he was already leaving the Great Hall with Ronald grabbing his robes.