(Word Count: 4,621)
"Mr. Potter… Why are you blue?" Madam Pompfrey questioned, then sighed. "Oh, nevermind. Come sit down, I'll see what I can do."
Harry entered the infirmary and sat down on the bed closest. He, as Madam Pompfrey pointed out, was all blue. He had blue skin, blue hair, blue clothes, and even blue teeth and tongue. He had woken up like this, but he had immediately known who did this. "It was the Weasley twins, Fred and George," he explained to the school nurse, even though she had dismissed her question. "They got me while I was asleep."
"Oh? How do you know it was them, then?" She asked.
Harry gave her a 'Really?' look. "Who else would it be? Besides, they told me before they were going to prank me a lot."
"Right, silly question," Madam Pompfrey shook her head wearily. "Those twins will be the death of me!"
As she was talking, she was waving her wand at him, running some diagnostic spells.
"Well, Mr. Potter, I'm afraid I have some bad news and some good news. The good news is, that this isn't permanent. The bad news is that this will last a few days."
"A few days!" Harry exclaimed.
"Not much I could do, I'm afraid. Now, off you go!"
This time it was Harry's turn to sigh wearily. The dueling club started today. He would have to go up in front of everyone all blue.
'Heh,' Harry couldn't help but acknowledge a prank well timed. Still, just because he could respect it, doesn't mean he wouldn't get his revenge.
He said farewell to Madam Pompfrey, and went about his day as if everything was normal. He couldn't exactly hide away in his room for several days. Not that he'd want to. Not only does he still need to go to class, and help with the dueling club opening today, but he would need to go to the bathroom eventually. At some point, he would need to leave the room. Trying to hide it away would only make the situation worse.
He made his way to the great hall for his usual breakfast time with Hermione. She was already there, eating a toasting muffin. A few of the other early morning students that were also there saw him and the sound of giggles and suppressed laughter spread throughout the hall. Hermione looked up at his approach and froze.
"Good morning, Hermione!" Harry said, sitting down beside her as if nothing was wrong.
"Good Lord, Harry! What happened to you?" Hermione asked in shock.
"Just Fred and George having a bit of… fun. I just came from Madam Pompfrey and she said it'll go away on its own in a few days."
"A few days!" She exclaimed.
"That's what I said!" Harry laughed. "Don't worry, though. I've got just the plan to get back at them."
Hermione scowled, "Those no good… imbeciles!" She rang her napkin in frustration. "I keep telling them that these pranks of theirs are horrible! We should tell Professor McGonagall about this."
"She'll hear about it soon enough. I'm sure the whole school will hear about me before the second hour is through," Harry said.
They continued their breakfast, and soon enough more and more students filtered into the hall for breakfast. It didn't take long for them to notice the anomalous blue student sitting at one of the tables. Each of them would notice him, take a moment to process what they were seeing, and then proceed to laugh and point him out to their friends that hadn't noticed him yet. A few students did their best to hold back their laughter, shooting him sympathetic looks that were ruined by their obvious amusement.
All of it just made Hermione angrier and angrier until, finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She slammed her newspaper down onto the table and grabbed him by the arm. "Come on, let's get out of here." She glared angrily at the surrounding students.
Harry let himself be dragged out of the great hall. "You know, there's no point in hiding away, right?"
"What, am I supposed to just sit there and listen to them mock you?" She snapped at him. She looked back at him with tears of frustration in her eyes. "How can you be so calm about this?"
"Let them mock. Their words won't hurt me. Besides, with things like this it's better to just laugh with everyone. There's no harm in laughing at yourself sometimes. You have to admit, it's kind of funny being blue, right?" Harry waggled his eyebrows with a cheeky smile on his face.
"No, it's not!" Hermione denied it, but looking at his face she suddenly got the urge to smile. She suppressed it, but Harry noticed it.
"Ha! That was a smile!" He said, pointing a finger at her twitching lips.
Her smile broke through, and she looked away. "Shut up, Harry," she said, brushing his hand away.
"We've got some time before class. Why don't we go to the library? We can find a quiet corner to relax in," Harry suggested.
"I thought you didn't want to hide away?" She asked.
"Yeah, but this isn't about that. It's about spending some quiet time with my best friend," Harry said, grabbing her hand.
She blushed, awkwardly stammering "Oh, um, okay."
Before they could leave, however, Fred and George made their appearance. Both were smiling from ear to ear proudly. "What happened to you, mate!" Fred called to Harry.
"Yeah, why are you so blue?" George asked, putting on his best bewildered face. "You've gone and turned into a blueberry!"
"Real hilarious, guys. You got me pretty good, I'll admit," Harry gave them a deadpanned look. "But don't think I won't get you two back for this."
"Us? We didn't do anything!" George said defensively.
"Yeah! We're innocent! You have to believe us, Harry!" Fredd said innocently.
"Well, I don't," Harry said flatly, before giving them a smile and changing topics, "so, are you guys coming to the dueling club this evening? Flitwick's teaching so you know it's going to be good."
They shared a look. "Yeah, we wouldn't miss something like this. Why?" Fred asked suspiciously.
"Oh, no reason," Harry said innocently, "It's just that I'll be needing some dummies—Ahem, I mean, some volunteers—to help me demonstrate some spells for the club." Harry patted them both on the shoulder. "Thank you for volunteering."
They paled, sharing a panicked look.
"Wait a second, Harry!"
"Who said anything about volunteering?"
"Harry, wait a moment!"
"Harrikins, don't be like this, alright?
Harry ignored them and pulled Hermione along towards the library.
Seeing them leave, the twins looked at each other. "Should we skip the dueling club?"
As Harry and Hermjone walked, Hermuine had her free hand covering her mouth trying to cover up her laughing, but not quite succeeding.
"Did you see the look on their faces?" She giggled. "They were absolutely terrified! I bet they think you'll murder them or something!"
"Well, I'll put them through their paces if they show up tonight. But they'll live," Harry chuckled.
Hermione looked at him, eyes twinkling in amusement, before her smile gradually faded until she had a sad look.
"What is it?" Harry asked, concerned.
"You really don't care about this… prank? You know they're doing this to get back at you for… you know," she asked softly. There was something vulnerable in her tone.
"I know. And no, it doesn't. Why do you ask?" Harry said.
"It's just…. I don't like bullies. You know that I… that I didn't have any friends before you, right? I used to be bullied a lot in primary. I even had to change schools once. It was terrible," Hermione said bitterly. "And now, with what happened last year with Lavender and Parvati, and this year poor Colin's being bullied, and now you've been turned blue, and not to mention the Slytherin students! It's just… starting to feel like primary again."
Harry hugged her. "Unfortunately, people will be people no matter where you go. There will always be good and bad people, magic or no magic. But hey, at least now you have friends to share your troubles with, right? You've got me and Neville, and you're making friends with Kellah, Eloise, and Sally. Right? Your other roommates?"
Hermione nodded hesitantly, "I mean, can I call them friends? We talk sometimes, but we haven't really hung out…"
"If you enjoy being around them, then yeah, I'd call them friends. And Parvati and Lavender have apologized, right? Things are on the mend there."
Hermione scrunched her nose. "I guess."
"So things are already loads better than before," Harry rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Yeah… Hey wait a minute, why are you the one comforting me! You're the one that's been turned blue!" Hermione exclaimed, pushing him away. She slapped her cheeks gently to snap herself out of it. "Come on, let's go! I've got some chocolate in my bag, we can snack on some while reading. Just as long as we're sneaky about it, Madam Pince won't know."
Harry laughed as she pulled him along.
~~ ITW,H ~~
The rest of the day passed by quickly. He hadn't cared to before but, seeing how it affected Hermione, he had since applied a notice-me-not charm on himself to not be a laughing stock all day. He had to cast it a fair bit stronger than normal since an entirely blue person tended to draw attention. As a result, there were no more incidents.
That evening after classes, was the first meeting for the dueling club. Unfortunately, this was not something that he could pass by with his Notice-me-Not charm on, so he removed it once more.
Harry arrived early to the Charms classroom to help Flitwick set everything up. Or rather, he had intended to help set up. The moment he opened the door to the classroom, he found that Flitwick had apparently already transformed the room entirely by himself.
The most obvious change was the classroom was now the size of the great hall. Considering how many people they expected to show up, this would likely be needed. The desks had all been vanished away and replaced with padded practice areas marked by chalk lines on the floor, marking out an area the same size as a standardized dueling table. Along the walls were racks holding practice dummies, protective pads, and stacks of cushions. The center of the room held an actual dueling table.
Flitwick himself was standing on the central table charming lanterns into place overhead.
"Ah! Mister Potter!" Flitwick called cheerfully the moment he spotted him. Then he paused, blinking several times. "Good gracious, you really are blue!"
Harry sighed. "Unfortunately."
Flitwick suddenly burst into laughter, nearly dropping one of the lanterns. "Oh, Merlin. I'm sorry, Harry, but this is simply spectacular."
"I'm glad one of us enjoys this.
"Oh, I absolutely do," Flitwick chuckled as he hopped back down to the ground, floating slowly downward so he didn't hurt his old body. "Though I imagine Mister and Mister Weasley may soon regret their choice in who they pranked."
Harry smiled innocently. "Whatever do you mean, Professor?"
Flitwick snorted knowingly. "Mmhm. Well, before the students arrive, let's go over tonight's plan."
Harry nodded and followed him toward the dueling strip.
"For the first meeting, I don't want anyone throwing proper dueling spells around yet," Flitwick explained. "Too many overexcited students and not enough wiggenweld potions prepared in advance."
"Fair enough, we don't want to give Madam Pompfrey too much trouble, after all."
"Yes, well, I don't think we can avoid doing that. Hogwarts students are many things, Harry, but restrained is rarely one of them."
Harry smiled wryly. It didn't help that a wizard's sense of danger and self-preservation seemed to be broken.
"We'll be focusing on fundamentals for the foreseeable future. Footwork, stance, posture, wand positioning, casting discipline, and movement under pressure. Most students think dueling is simply throwing spells faster than the other person, but proper foundations are everything."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense. Most people are just starting out today, so going over the fundamentals is a must. Even the higher year students need it."
"Exactly!" Flitwick said excitedly, pointing at him with approval. "After the basic drills, we'll do demonstrations. That is where you come in."
"And where Fred and George come in," Harry added. "Given that they've turned me blue, I believe they've volunteered to be our testing dummies today."
Flitwick's smile widened into something far more wicked than Harry was used to seeing on the diminutive professor's face. "Hohoho, yes, our volunteers."
Harry laughed. "You're alright with me putting them through the wringer?"
Flitwick chuckled. "Of course. They've pulled quite a few pranks these past few years. One might say they've had this coming. Just so long as you stick to the basics, they're all yours."
Before Harry could respond, the classroom doors suddenly burst open.
"Fear not, for your reinforcement has arrived!" Lockhart declared dramatically and swept into the room wearing his lilac dueling robes. He stopped the moment he saw Harry standing there.
"…Harry," he said slowly, "why are you blue?"
"A prank."
"Ah," Lockhart nodded sagely. "Youthful pranks! I remember my own days as a student here. Now that I think of it, we had our own group of mischief makers back then. The Raconteurs! I helped them plot many of their pranks, if I might add. I was quite the prankster back then." Lockhart sighed fondly. "Many fun moments we had."
Harry looked at him in distaste, though Lockhart was too taken in by his own lie that he hadn't noticed. "Ah, yes, the Raconteurs. Of course," Harry said sarcastically, "You helped my dad, my godfather, and my uncle? I hadn't realized. Perhaps I should send Sirius and Remus a letter telling them their old friend is here? The one that helped them plot their pranks."
Lockart's face dropped. He gulped nervously. "Ah. They're your family? Yes, of course! You look just like your father! Haha, no need to send a letter. That was old history, you know? Best to let it lie in the past! You shouldn't take after us, you know? Pranking people is all fun and games, but if you're not careful, it could really hurt the victims." He shook his finger disapprovingly.
'But I was the one that was pranked?' Harry thought, rolling his eyes.
Obviously, Lockhart wasn't involved in helping any of the marauder's pranks. Quite the opposite. He had been one of the many that fell victim to their pranks. Lockhart had a show-boaty attitude even back as a student, which made him an obvious target for pranks.
Eager to change the topic, Lockhart turned toward the classroom with an approving nod. "Excellent set up, Filius! Though I must say, a true dueling environment benefits from a certain theatricality."
Flitwick smiled pleasantly. "We're teaching children how not to hex themselves unconscious, Gilderoy, not hosting a stage performance."
"Ah, but dueling is a performance!" Lockhart declared grandly. "It's all about presence, flair, presentation! Just look at how our Harry handled his tournament. That cloak trick was a good start Harry, but you've got a lot to learn."
"Survival and actually winning is generally preferred," Flitwick replied smoothly.
Harry chuckled under his breath.
Lockhart either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. "Well, regardless, I thought perhaps I could assist tonight. The students would no doubt benefit tremendously from my expertise."
"No. I've got everything in hand, thank you," Flitwick said flatly.
Lockhart blinked. "Ah."
"However, you may observe if you'd like," Flitwick conceded. Harry sighed internally. 'That may as well have been an invitation to help.'
"Of course," Lockhart recovered smoothly. "Naturally! Merely offering my assistance."
Harry caught Flitwick muttering under his breath, "Merlin help me."
A few moments later, the students started filtering in. There were students from all four houses, from every year showing up. From the size of the growing crowd, it looked like the entire school was showing up. The prospect of an actual dueling club was something that appealed to everyone. Though Harry imagined that most of the people here only came out of curiosity because of all of the news articles about him. He imagined that after the first few weeks, this crowd would be reduced down to less than a quarter of what it was now.
As they filed in, Harry and Flitwick were standing on the central dueling table, so they all saw him as they came in.
"Blimey, Potter really is blue!"
"I thought they were exaggerating!"
"How come I didn't see this sooner?"
"Who got him?"
"Who else? It was the Weasley twins, of course!"
Harry ignored all of the comments going through the growing crowd. He treated it as if he was back in the tournament. Nothing in the crowd mattered. Let them talk and gossip if they want.
Off near the doorway, he noticed Colin Creevey nearly drop his camera as he fumbled to hurriedly take a picture of him. Harry gave the camera a smirk and a wink. A flash of powder burst with a loud pop and a puff of smoke as Colin snapped a picture from across the room. Now when Colin eventually developed that picture, there should be a winking Harry looking calm and confident despite being blue.
Harry could already imagine that photo spreading around Gryffindor Tower by tomorrow morning. Hopefully, with Colin being the provider of the pictures, it would make the bullies think twice about picking on him. The poor kid. If Harry ever found out who it was that was bullying him, he would have a stern talking to them. And enlist Fred and George in dishing out some well-earned pranks.
Soon enough the classroom was packed around the center table with students from every year. It was a good thing Flitwick had expanded the room, or the students would have been crowded in from wall to wall. Excited chatter filled the room until Flitwick cast a Sonorus on himself.
"Welcome everyone!" Flitwick called brightly, his magically amplified voice cutting cleanly through the chatter. "To the very first meeting of the Hogwarts Dueling Club! Dear me, there are a lot of you, aren't there?"
The classroom erupted into applause and cheers.
Beside Harry, Lockhart—who had been busy talking to some of the students—swept dramatically onto the platform as well, his lilac robes fluttering behind him.
"And what a privilege it is," Lockhart declared loudly, "for these young minds to learn from true masters of the dueling arts!"
Harry frowned at him in distaste.
"Now then," Flitwick continued before Lockhart could keep talking, "before anyone starts attempting blasting curses or accidentally removing eyebrows, we shall be covering only the fundamentals for the foreseeable future."
Several older students groaned.
"Yes, yes, I know," Flitwick chuckled. "But to become a powerful duelist, one must first learn how to duel. Proper dueling is not merely throwing spells faster than your opponent. It's about footwork, balance, positioning, awareness, and wand discipline! These are the true foundation of every duel."
As Flitwick spoke, Harry stepped to the starting position on his side. As he passed Lockhart, he whispered. "You may want to step off the platform, Professor."
Lockhart looked between the two, who were about to demonstrate a duel. "Ah, yes. I'll just…" He stumbled over his words awkwardly and quickly got down, giving the nearby students a wide smile. "I'll just let them demonstrate for you," he said, trying to sound as if he wasn't in the way.
"Watch carefully," Flitwick instructed. "Even the smallest change in posture and footwork matters."
The tiny professor smoothly shifted into a basic dueling stance and Harry mirrored him automatically.
"You want to stand sideways towards your opponent to present the smallest possible target. Feet wide apart, knees kept slightly bent, so you're ready to spring in any direction. Wand side slightly back, like so, and your free hand kept behind you. Again, this is to present as small a target as you can to your opponent! Never stand completely square unless you wish to become a very easy target!"
Together they demonstrated several transitions while Flitwick lectured. How to advance and apply forward pressure. How to retreat backwards without tripping over yourself. How to side step without crossing one's feet. All of the basics of how to traverse around the dueling table.
Through it all, Harry intentionally kept his movements textbook perfect. Normally his style had become far more aggressive and personalized from his experience with Sirius and Arcturus, but for teaching purposes he stayed strictly within proper fundamentals.
"What you are seeing," Flitwick continued cheerfully, "is not meant to be flashy, dramatic poses, yet these fundamentals decide duels long before stronger spells even enter the equation."
Lockhart nodded sagely from nearby. "Very true! Very true! You students listen to your Charms Professor! Of course, when you've mastered the basics—like I have—you can then add on your own personal flourishes. Makes you harder to read."
"Now then!" Flitwick clapped his hands together. "Demonstrations! Let's have one or two of you come up and put this into practice!" His eyes twinkled mischievously, sharing a look with Harry. "I believe Mister Potter has kindly secured us two volunteers."
Fred and George, who had been attempting to quietly blend into the back row, froze immediately.
"No way!"
"Absolutely not."
Harry smiled brightly, flashing his blue teeth. "Professor, I found them."
The room burst into laughter as Harry dragged the protesting twins toward the platform.
"This is retaliation!"
"He's abusing authority!"
"Retaliation against what? I thought you said you were innocent!" Harry said. "Come on, I'll leave you in one piece. I promise."
Flitwick snorted. "Now then," he said cheerfully once Fred, who was going first, was positioned opposite Harry, "Mister Potter will now demonstrate stance control, pressure, and recovery using only basic spellwork and movement."
Fred raised his wand with reluctance, dramatically sighing. "I'd like it noted for the record that we're victims."
"Duly noted," Flitwick replied. "Fred, adjust your stance like we showed you. That's better! Now, begin!"
Fred immediately fired a sparks charm.
Harry sidestepped smoothly, letting the harmless burst of sparks fly past his shoulder while advancing diagonally forward at the same time.
"Observe carefully!" Flitwick called to the class. "With such simple footwork, Mister Potter was able to evade Mister Weasley's spell and advance at the same time! This is why the basics are so important!"
Harry fired a sparks charm low toward Fred's right side, and Fred shifted to avoid it exactly in the direction Harry wanted him to. Harry had quickly followed up with an "Aculeo!" and the stinging hex hit him in the chest.
"Ow!" Fred yelped and nearly dropped his wand. "Blimey, Harry! I thought we were only doing sparks!"
"Levicorpus."
Fred yelped again as he was suddenly jerked upside down into the air by his ankle.
The classroom exploded into laughter as Fred dangled helplessly several feet above the platform while his robes hung down around his head.
George folded over cackling. "Merlin, you look like a bat! Hey Fred, it's a good thing you're wearing pants underneath today!"
"Why are you laughing? You're next!" Fred shouted, trying to push up his robes from out of his face.
Flitwick, despite laughing himself, pointed excitedly toward the suspended twin. "Excellent example! Mister Potter forced movement first and led Mister Weasley straight into his next spell! Remember, even when dodging you must always keep your eyes on your opponent so you know what they are doing next!"
Fred swung slightly in the air. "Oi! Get me down already!"
Harry lowered Fred back onto the platform before turning toward George, who immediately looked much less confident.
"Surely one demonstration is good enough, right?" George asked.
"Nonsense, I wouldn't want to deny you a valuable learning opportunity," Harry said with a grin.
When they started the next match, George fired two quick sparks in succession. However, they were both aimed at where Harry was currently standing. All Harry had to do was dodge the first one. Rather than countering immediately, he kept steadily advancing while forcing George backward across the platform.
"Remember, you must anticipate where your opponent will move, so you don't waste a spell!" Flitwick explained to the room as Harry and George dueled.
Harry kept shooting stinging hexes, forcing George to always stay on his backfoot, sidestepping left and right, retreating in a zigzag. George finally attempted another sparks charm while retreating too quickly. His feet crossed awkwardly, and he stumbled. Harry's stinging hex hit George squarely in the chest and sent him sprawling on his back. "Oof!"
"Wonderful!" Flitwick applauded enthusiastically. "Remember what I taught you! You should never cross your feet while retreating! You'll only trip over yourself!"
George remained sprawled across the table."I've been defeated by my own footwork!" He wailed dramatically.
"Hey, George! At least I didn't trip over my own feet!" Fred taunted from the side, his own defeat already forgotten.
"Shut up, you git!" George sat up quickly.
"Alright everyone," Flitwick announced once the twins finally recovered, "Time to practice among yourselves! Everyone find a partner and find a marked off area. Those will serve as the dueling tables."
The classroom immediately exploded into motion.
Students paired off across the practice spaces while Flitwick moved throughout the room correcting where needed with his usual cheerful enthusiasm.
"No crossing your feet!"
"Excellent adjustment, Miss Bones!"
"Mister Finnigan, if you lean any farther forward you'll fall over before the spell reaches your opponent!"
Harry wandered between groups helping where needed.
Hermione and Susan were practicing together nearby. Hermione's movements were perfect, since she had been practicing with Harry since last year she had already known all of this. Susan seemed like she already knew everything as well. She had likely been learning this with her aunt, Madam Bones.
"Neville," Harry called while passing another pair, "bend your knees a little more and widen your stance."
Neville immediately adjusted. "Like this?"
"That's it, mate. You've got it."
Luna, meanwhile, had somehow transformed the entire exercise into what looked more like a strange interpretive dance rather than dueling practice. Ginny was watching her, both amused and exasperated.
"Luna, can't you take this seriously? How am I supposed to practice if you're dancing?" Ginny asked.
"But don't you think the dance fits? I couldn't help myself," Luna twirled, before seeing Ginny's face. She stopped with a sigh. "Oh, alright."
Daphne was in the back corner paired with Tracey. They both had practice with dancing, which helped in quickly mastering the basic footwork. However, they seemed to struggle with quickly adapting sudden changes that required that they abandon their next move. They also tended to move, then cast, then move, instead of integrating their casting as they moved.
Harry went over and pointed out the flaws, walking them through how to do it correctly.
Aside from Harry and Flitwick, Lockhart also wandered through the room offering his own increasingly terrible advice.
"You must cast with confidence!"
"No no, broader stance! Broader!"
"More intense wand movements! Lunge into it! Let your opponents really feel your passion as you advance!"
Despite the restriction on using only the colored sparks spells, one of the poor students was sent flying and nearly threw himself into a wall. Luckily, Harry was nearby when it happened and quickly intervened before he broke a limb.
By the time the club finally ended, the classroom was loud, sweaty, and filled with energized students comparing how they did and setting dreams of entering the next dueling tournament.
And despite himself, Harry found he'd genuinely enjoyed it.