Chapter 6
"Another year gone. And now, as I understand it, the House Cup needs awarding. And the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points. Third place, Hufflepuff with 352 points. In second place... Ravenclaw with 426 points. And in first place... With 472 points, Slytherin House." Everyone in Slytherin started yelling, clapping and hitting the table while the other Houses politely clapped. "Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin. However... Recent events must be taken into account."
"What?" Draco whispered. "He's not gonna reward Potter and Weasley for what they did, is he?"
"There's no way they can beat us even if he does. Gryffindor's 160 points behind us. I got 50 points for saving Potter's life. They can't give them more than that, Draco."
"And I have a few last-minute points to award. First, to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years, 50 points."
"What?" Draco said. "That's an outrage! 50 points for a game and you got 50 for saving a life! Favouritism!"
"They're still 110 points behind. He can't give Potter 110 points," I said.
"Second, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage... I award Gryffindor House 60 points."
"See?" I whispered to Draco. They're still 50 points behind us."
"And finally, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies..."
"What? No one else was involved." Draco and the others were clearly confused.
"But a great deal more to stand up to your friends... I award 10 points... To Neville Longbottom... This leaves the points at Hufflepuff in fourth place with 352 points, Ravenclaw in third place with 426 points, Gryffindor in second place with 432 points and Slytherin in first place with 472 points." Slytherin yelled again.
"We won the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup!" Marcus yelled at us.
"To think, if Potter and Weasley had one more person with them, that person could've got 50 points like Weasley and they would've won because of Dumbledore's favouritism," Draco grumbled.
"Lighten up, cus. They didn't have anyone else with them," I said.
...
I took Daphne and Draco with me to The Slytherin Soldiers' duelling tournament. "Why don't you sit down? I'm going to see when my first duel is." Daphne and Draco went to sit down while I went over to the board.
Apparently, Baxter Grey, Cherry Davis, Derek Lyson and Leanne Lyson didn't want to (or couldn't e.g. Detention) participate. My first duel is with another Firstie but, if I win, I'll have to duel a Learner. If I win that, I'll either duel another Firstie or a Master and if I win that, most likely, I'll end up duelling another Master. I walked over to Daphne and Draco and sat down next to them. "Tatiana Melworth and Irma Keltwyns are up first. They're both Firsties. Then, it's Jason Travers and Malcolm Bulstrode." Draco winced at that.
"So after beating another Firstie, one of them is up against a Master? Harsh," Draco said.
"Jasmine Selwyn and I are after Travers and Bulstrode and then it's Caius Boot and Athenodora Swan."
"That's not bad. If you win, you're up against a Learner. I feel sorry for the Firsties who go up against a Master after beating a fellow Firstie," Daphne said.
"After Boot and Swan's duel, it's Lysander Johnson and Cenred Dragomir. After them, it's Tyson Lestrange and Natalie Belfort. Two Firsties. Whoever wins out of them will be against a Master. Antoinette Avery is after that against Dexter Leason and the last duel of the first round is Johnson Carrow against Catherine Belfort. I'm not surprised they didn't put the Belfort twins against each other. Apparently, they can get really competitive with each other and every time they duel, one of them gets badly injured. That wouldn't be good when we're going home tomorrow." Melworth and Keltwyns duelled and Melworth won. Bulstrode won his duel against Travers.
"Cassiopeia Black and Jasmine Selwyn, please take your places on the platform," Rowle announced. Selwyn and I got on the platform opposite each other. When given the signal to bow to each other, we did. We got into our duelling positions and pointed our wands at each other. "As this is only the first round, spells to disarm your opponent only. The loser is the first to lose their wand. Three. Two. One."
"Expelliarmus!" I immediately hit her with a disarming spell and caught her wand. I saw Daphne giving me an impressed look as she passed Draco a Galleon.
"Cassiopeia Black is the winner!" Rowle announced as I walked over to Selwyn and gave her back her wand. We made our way off the platform and I sat down next to Daphne and Draco.
"What did you bet on?"
"Draco said one spell for you to win. I said you'd win but not in one spell," Daphne said. "That was very impressive."
"Thanks." Boot and Swan had their duel and Swan won.
"So your next duel is against Athenodora Swan? She may be a Learner but she's a third-year. The next round is to knock your opponent off the platform, right?"
"Yeah. I'll have to be careful not to get hit. I don't want them knowing I can cast a Protego before the last round if I can help it." Dragomir won against Johnson and Belfort won against Lestrange. Avery won against Leason and Belfort won against Carrow. Unexpectedly, Bulstrode won against Melworth. If I win against Swan, I have to duel Bulstrode.
"Cassiopeia Black and Athenodora Swan, please take your places on the platform," Rowle announced. Swan and I got on the platform opposite each other. When given the signal to bow to each other, we did. We got into our duelling positions and pointed our wands at each other. "As this is the second round, all non-lethal spells are permitted but the aim is to knock the other off of the platform. Once one of you is off the platform, even if part of that person, e.g. their arms, are still on the platform, that person loses. Three. Two. One."
"Stupefy!" Swan yelled. I dodged the spell and immediately cast back.
"Stupefy!" Swan wasn't fast enough to dodge and the spell hit her. She was thrown off the platform and hit the floor. Luckily, the entire floor had been hit with Cushioning Charms before the second round began.
"Cassiopeia Black is the winner!" Rowle announced as I walked off of the platform and sat down again between Daphne and Draco.
"You're up against Bulstrode next who's a fourth-year. He's Millie's older brother. If Dragomir wins against Natalie Belfort and Avery wins against Catherine Belfort, then you'll have to duel a Master and a Learner (if Cenred Dragomir wins) or two Masters (if Antoinette Avery wins)," Daphne said.
"I know." Unexpectedly, Dragomir and Avery won against the Belfort twins.
"Cassiopeia Black and Malcolm Bulstrode, please take your places on the platform," Rowle announced. Bulstrode and I got on the platform opposite each other. When given the signal to bow to each other, we did. We got into our duelling positions and pointed our wands at each other. "As this is the third round, all non-lethal spells are permitted but the aim is to get the other to submit. As a reminder, you can use any spells, as long as they are not lethal, regardless of legality. What happens in The Slytherin Soldiers stays in The Slytherin Soldiers. The loser is the first to submit. Three. Two. One."
"Stupefy!" My spell hit Bulstrode's shield. Shit. I'm going to end up using a shield unless... Is he good at wandless magic? If I can get his wand away from him I could win without a shield spell. "Accio Malcolm Bulstrode's wand." His wand flew into my hand.
"That's a fifth-year spell! How do you know that!?" Bulstrode yelled.
"I'm very determined. I wouldn't join a duelling club with those older than me without being prepared." I pointed my wand at him.
"I yield!" He yelled.
"Cassiopeia Black is the winner!" Rowle announced as I walked over to Bulstrode and gave him his wand back.
"Well done, Firstie," he grinned at me.
"Thanks." I walked over to Daphne and Draco and sat down.
"Well done," Daphne said.
"Yeah, well done, cus!" Draco said and I chuckled.
"Thanks." Dragomir and Avery duelled for a few minutes but Avery won. We were given a few minutes before the last duel.
"Shit, you've got to go against a sixth-year!? Sorry, cus."
"I'm going to win."
"Yeah, but it won't be easy for you." Draco smirked and I chuckled.
"Thanks for the confidence, cus."
"Cassiopeia Black and Antoinette Avery, please take your places on the platform," Rowle announced. Avery and I got on the platform opposite each other. When given the signal to bow to each other, we did. We got into our duelling positions and pointed our wands at each other. "As this is the last round, all non-lethal spells are permitted but the aim is to knock the other unconscious. As a reminder, you can use any spells, as long as they are not lethal, regardless of legality. What happens in The Slytherin Soldiers stays in The Slytherin Soldiers. The loser is the first to lose consciousness. Three. Two. One." A spell was immediately thrown at me wordlessly. Fuck. I dodged the spell.
"Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Impedimenta!" Avery blocked all my spells with a wordless Protego. I shot off a silent Leg-Locker Curse and it hit Avery. She had a look of surprise but quickly shot off a few silent spells at me and shot the countercurse at herself. I protected myself with a wordless Protego and everyone started whispering to each other. Avery looked even more surprised but kept shooting spells at me whilst I kept up my Protego. I shot off a Non-Verbal Stupefy with the hand my wand wasn't in whilst keeping up my Protego. Avery looked stunned as she scrambled to get up a Protego but my spell hit her and she fell unconscious.
"Cassiopeia Black is the winner!" Rowle announced as he walked over to Avery to revive her.
...
"Is that the Weasleys' owl?" I asked Draco as an owl crashed into a bowl of crisps near the Weasleys.
"Think so, cus," Draco said.
"Look, everyone. Weasley's got himself a Howler," Seamus Finnigan said and everyone laughed at Ron.
"This should be good," Marcus said.
"Go on, Ron. I ignored one from my Gran once. It was horrible," Longbottom said. Weasley opened the Howler and Mrs Weasley's voice started yelling.
"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK... AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE... WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" The Howler turned to the Weasley girl. "Oh, and, Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." The Howler turned back to Ron before ripping itself up. I laughed at the look on Weasel's face.
...
"Lockhart's a fucking joke," I said to Draco as we ran out of the DADA classroom. "Fucking letting out Cornish Pixies. He can't even get them back in their cage!"
"You should've seen him in Flourish and Blotts. It was a joke. He grabbed Potter and took photos with him. It was ridiculous."
"He's ridiculous." Draco, Crabbe and Goyle nodded in agreement.
...
Draco, EJ, Rebecca, Marcus, Gemma, Blaise Zabini and I were in our Quidditch uniform on our way to the pitch when the Gryffindor Quidditch team blocks our way. They're in their uniform too. Marcus and Oliver Wood argue a little before Marcus reveals Blaise as our new Seeker and Draco goads Weasel with the Nimbus 2001s that Lucius bought the team. Weasel fawns over them and Draco insults the Weasleys. Weasel tries to curse Draco but his broken wand causes him to start puking slugs.
...