"You're doing it again."
I looked up from my notebook. Draco stood beside my armchair, his bag slung over one shoulder.
"Doing what?"
"Thinking about yesterday's duel."
I glanced at the open page.
Callum Rowe. Fourth year. Ravenclaw.
Below it were several sketches showing our positions during the fight.
"Possibly."
"You've been staring at that since breakfast."
"Not the whole time."
Blaise turned a page in his book.
"He's right. You stopped during Transfiguration."
"Thank you, Blaise."
"You're welcome."
Draco set his bag beside the sofa.
"Anyway, you promised."
I closed the notebook.
"The exercise?"
"Yes. Mara still hasn't told me who I'm fighting, and I'd rather be prepared."
We had finished lessons for the day. There was plenty of time before dinner.
"Give me a few minutes."
Draco looked pleased. Blaise didn't move.
"Coming with us?" I asked.
"Do you need me?"
"No."
"Then I'll stay here."
"You could watch," Draco said.
Blaise raised his book.
"I already am."
We found an empty classroom on the third floor. Most of the desks stood against the walls. We moved two more and put the chairs aside, leaving the centre of the room clear.
Draco took off his outer robes.
"What are we doing?"
"First, we'll see whether you're still ready to cast after you dodge."
He drew his wand.
"We've worked on that already."
"Today, that's what we'll focus on. We'll start slowly. Just Expelliarmus."
"All right."
We took our places opposite each other.
He avoided the first spell easily, stepping aside, bringing his wand back towards me and answering. On the next attempt, I changed position before attacking. Draco turned after me and managed another counter.
He was quick. When I wasn't concentrating on winning, it was easier to notice how well he tracked my movements. He rarely lost sight of me, even when I changed direction suddenly.
The trouble started when he tried to make his whole body keep up with his wand.
Twice, he crossed his feet and had to adjust before attacking. On the third attempt, he nearly caught one shoe against his other heel.
"Wait."
He lowered his wand.
"What?"
"You're turning too quickly. Your wand keeps up, but then you have to sort your feet out."
He looked down.
"If I turned more slowly, I wouldn't aim in time."
"You don't have to make the whole turn at once."
I showed him a shorter step, followed by a shift of the other foot.
Draco copied it awkwardly.
"That's slower."
"At first."
He tried again.
"Still slower."
"Because you're putting your feet almost together. Leave some space."
He adjusted his stance. This time, when he raised his wand, he didn't have to rock forwards to recover his balance.
"Better."
"I feel as though I'm learning to walk again."
"Frederick spent several days pointing out that apparently I'd never learnt properly in the first place."
Draco laughed.
"I'd have liked to see that."
"I'd quite like to forget it."
We repeated the exercise. He didn't fix everything at once, but he began noticing when his feet got in the way of his casting. Once, he even stopped before countering and returned to his previous position.
After several good exchanges, I lowered my wand.
Draco kept his out.
"Let's try Protego now."
"You want to test your shield?"
"I managed to hold it last time. For a moment."
I moved back a few paces.
"Show me first."
"Protego!"
A pale surface flickered into existence before him. One edge blurred almost immediately, and the rest vanished a moment later.
Draco pressed his lips together and tried again.
The second shield lasted longer. Its surface rippled, but at least it didn't collapse at once.
"Now," he said. "A weak one."
I kept the power down.
"Expelliarmus."
The red flash struck the shield. It shuddered and broke apart, weakening the spell without stopping it. Draco's wand slipped from his hand and fell near his feet.
He picked it up, looking displeased.
"Brilliant."
"It absorbed some of the impact."
"Not enough."
I couldn't argue with that.
Draco turned his wand between his fingers.
"You'd have stopped that easily."
"Yes."
He looked at me.
"You could at least pretend to be modest for a moment."
"You know I would have."
"I know. That's what's annoying."
I smiled.
My first attempts hadn't been particularly successful either. I remembered shields that vanished too quickly or let a weakened spell through. Once I understood how to form them, though, I improved quickly.
I also didn't have to worry about whether I had enough magic left for another attempt. I could keep practising long after other people began to tire.
Draco raised his wand.
"Show me again."
I took my place opposite him.
"Go on."
He needed no encouragement.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego."
His spell dispersed against the shield. I held it for another moment.
Draco studied its surface.
"It didn't even flicker."
I let it fade.
"Want another try?"
"Of course."
For the next fifteen minutes or so, he practised forming the shield. I didn't attack. Sometimes it appeared for only a moment; sometimes it lasted longer. After several attempts, however, it began disappearing almost immediately again.
Eventually, Draco lowered his arm and rubbed his wrist.
"That's enough for today."
I nodded and reached for my robes.
"I'm not giving up on it," he added.
"I didn't say you should."
"I'll just dodge in the duel."
"That's more reliable for you at the moment."
He put his wand away, though he spent another moment looking at the spot where the shield had been.
On Friday, I met Hermione in the library. She was waiting at a table near the windows with two open books and a sheet of parchment covered in notes.
As I sat down, she pushed one of the books towards me.
"Look at this."
The page showed an illustration of a silver goblet turning into a bird.
"Interesting."
"Not the picture. Underneath."
I read the passage she indicated. It discussed how an object's material affected the difficulty of transfiguring it.
"Here, the author considers the material more important than the shape," Hermione said. "But the book you gave me has an example where the shape causes the greatest difficulty."
I leaned over the second volume.
"This passage is about turning something into a living creature. That one's about two objects."
"That's what I thought. Then I found this."
She produced another sheet of notes.
I looked at the parchment.
"You've been busy."
"I wanted to understand it."
We spent the next half-hour comparing the descriptions. The longer we read, the less convinced I became that the authors were discussing quite the same thing. One left out the composition of the material; the other failed to explain what he meant by complexity of shape.
"Let's ask McGonagall," I suggested at last. "Before we decide both books are badly written."
Hermione immediately began arranging her notes.
"I'd like to show her all three passages."
"I thought you might."
"Will you be in the library tomorrow?"
"Perhaps later. I'm practising with Harry after lunch."
"He told me. Ron and I are coming."
"You want to try too?"
"Yes."
She closed the book but stayed in her seat.
"Harry was practising those steps yesterday. The ones you mentioned after Lockhart's meeting."
"That's good."
"He really wants to improve. I think losing bothered him more than he lets on."
That didn't surprise me. Losing in front of the school couldn't have been pleasant, especially with Snape standing nearby, commenting on every mistake.
At least Harry had asked to practise together himself.
"He'll get his chance tomorrow."
Hermione nodded, then glanced at the parchment sticking out of my bag.
"Have you finished your Potions essay?"
"Almost."
"It's due on Monday."
"I remember."
She gave me a look that reminded me of Frederick.
I was beginning to suspect they would get along.
On Saturday, we found another unused classroom. Harry brought the book I'd given him for Christmas and a few sheets of parchment listing exercises he'd marked.
Ron looked around.
"I was expecting more."
"Such as?"
"Targets. Dummies. Something to knock over."
"We'll do for now."
We moved the desks aside and put the chairs against the wall. Hermione checked that there was enough room between the furniture and the space where we would practise.
"Just Disarming Charms to start with," I said. "And we stop whenever anyone asks."
"All right," Harry replied.
He took his place opposite me.
We began with dodging. His first movement was quick, but he jumped too far and landed with his weight over one leg.
"Stay like that."
He looked at his feet.
"Again?"
"Not as bad as last time."
He adjusted his stance.
On the next attempt, he moved less. The spell missed him, and he raised his wand almost immediately. After a few repetitions, he added an Expelliarmus of his own.
I shielded.
"That's it."
He grinned.
Ron watched us, leaning against a desk.
"Looks fairly easy."
"Have a go."
He took Harry's place. He avoided the first spell, but as he moved back, his heel caught the leg of a chair at the edge of the room. He grabbed the desk before he fell.
Harry burst out laughing.
"I didn't see it," Ron muttered.
Hermione moved the chair farther away.
"Now you know where it is."
"Very helpful."
The second attempt went better. On the third, Ron dodged and raised his wand in one movement.
His counter missed me by a considerable distance.
"Natural talent," he announced before I could speak.
"You just lost to a chair," Harry reminded him.
"That was before the talent showed itself."
Even Hermione laughed.
After that, we practised in pairs. I didn't spend the whole time standing back and correcting everyone. Hermione and I exchanged slow attacks while Harry and Ron worked on their dodges, then we changed partners.
Hermione was accurate. Her movements were economical, but when I changed direction at the last moment, she sometimes broke off a spell and aimed again. Ron had the opposite problem: he was eager to answer immediately, even when his wand wasn't pointing where it needed to be.
One of his spells struck high above the blackboard.
Harry glanced at the wall.
"Good thing I'm not that tall."
"You weren't supposed to move."
"We're practising dodging, Ron."
We took a short break.
Harry sat on a desk, turning his wand between his fingers.
"How long did it take you to learn all this?"
"I'm still learning."
"You know what I mean."
I leaned against the wall.
"I practise a lot. Over Christmas too. Lately, I've mostly been working on not needing a shield to save me every time I get my footing wrong."
"You didn't make many mistakes against me."
"Not every mistake costs you your wand straight away."
He thought about that.
"So I might have missed something?"
"So might I. That's why it helps to have someone watching."
Hermione glanced towards the mark above the blackboard.
"I'd prefer it if a teacher watched sometimes."
"We could ask Flitwick for some exercises," Harry said.
"Or McGonagall," she added.
Ron groaned.
"We'll end up with an essay."
We went back to practising. Towards the end, Harry avoided two spells in succession and answered before I could cast a third.
I stopped his Expelliarmus with a shield, but he'd chosen his moment well.
He saw it in my expression at once.
"Better?"
"Much."
"Next week?"
"We'll sort it out after Monday."
As we gathered our things, Harry opened the book again. He showed Ron a passage that hadn't made much sense to him before we started.
Now they both knew what the author meant.
On Monday, Draco finally learnt his opponent's name.
He returned to the common room looking as though he had settled a matter of great importance.
"Miles Fenwick. Third-year Hufflepuff. We're fighting on Wednesday."
I tried to remember his duels. I'd seen him at meetings, but I couldn't recall a complete fight.
"Do you know how he duels?" Draco asked.
"Not really."
Blaise looked up.
"So we'll have a surprise."
Draco didn't share his enthusiasm.
"Mara said he's fought several times."
"He sounds like a reasonable opponent for your first duel," I said.
Draco sat beside me.
"Practice tomorrow?"
"Yes."
On Tuesday, we returned to the empty classroom. Draco wanted to go through the spells he intended to use: Expelliarmus, Impedimenta and Depulso.
I didn't stop him after every mistake. I wanted to see how he handled longer exchanges. Several times, he adjusted his stance without prompting. Once, he would have hit me if I'd tried to dodge instead of shielding.
When I lowered my wand, he protested immediately.
"A few more."
"You're fighting tomorrow. Do you want to turn up with a sore arm?"
He glanced at the clock.
"All right. But one more Protego."
He tried it without an attack from me. The pale shield held for a moment, then vanished.
Draco put his wand away.
"How long did it take you to learn that?"
"My first shields fell apart too."
"That's not what I asked."
I wasn't going to comfort him with an invented story about months of failure.
"I started improving quickly."
He snorted.
"Of course you did."
We gathered our things. At the door, he paused.
"Did you keep thinking about it too?"
"About what?"
"Before your first fight."
"Yes."
He adjusted the strap of his bag.
"I'm not nervous. I just want to do well."
"I know."
He looked back at the empty room.
"And win."
"I'd worked that out too."
On Wednesday, I was almost as impatient for the meeting as Draco.
I knew what he could do in practice. Now he would be facing someone who didn't know his habits, wouldn't stop to let him correct his footing, and would try to exploit every mistake.
Several students were already waiting by the entrance when we arrived. Inside, Fred and George were setting out their sweets. Blaise headed straight for the betting book.
Draco watched him go.
"Aren't you even going to wish me luck first?"
"Good luck."
"Thank you."
"Now I'll find out what it's worth."
Draco shook his head, but he was smiling.
Mara waited beside the marked duelling area.
"Malfoy. You're second. Fenwick's here already."
Draco nodded and went to put down his robes. He drew his wand, examined it and checked his grip.
I said nothing.
The first duel ended quickly. Before the applause had died away, Mara called Draco and his opponent forwards.
Miles Fenwick was a little taller, stocky, with light brown hair. He stood at ease, his wand by his side.
They exchanged a brief handshake and wished each other luck.
I stood beside Blaise.
"How much did you bet?"
"Two Sickles."
"On Draco?"
He looked at me.
"Could I answer these questions after the fight?"
Mara reminded them of the rules and stepped away.
Draco leaned slightly forwards. I knew that stance. He intended to attack immediately.
"Begin!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Miles dodged, and the spell struck the wall.
"Impedimenta!"
Draco stepped aside and answered so quickly that Fenwick had to throw himself out of the way.
I smiled.
A good start.
For the next few exchanges, Draco kept up the pressure. He wasn't casting blindly; he changed direction, tried to attack as Miles came out of a dodge, and once nearly caught him before he could bring his wand back around.
The Hufflepuff retreated, allowing him to approach.
Draco followed.
"Depulso!"
Fenwick managed a shield. He answered with a Disarming Charm, forcing Draco to give ground to his right.
Then he attacked again from the same direction.
Draco dodged and countered, but ended up farther from the centre.
Miles stopped giving ground. He moved with him, cutting off an easy return, and whenever Draco tried to attack, he forced him into another dodge.
"Not that way," I muttered.
Blaise glanced at the floor.
Draco still had room behind him, but less and less to his right. The chalk line was close.
He tried a quick Impediment Jinx. Fenwick avoided it and turned to put himself between Draco and the middle of the duelling area again.
Draco's jaw tightened.
I knew that expression. He was getting frustrated.
On the next exchange, he answered a little too early. Miles dodged, and his counter forced Draco back almost to the line.
Blaise stopped smiling.
"That's not good."
Draco had noticed the boundary too. He glanced sideways, looking for space.
Miles raised his wand and began the movement he'd used earlier for a Disarming Charm.
Draco dodged before the flash appeared.
But no flash came.
Fenwick broke off the feint and aimed at the spot where Draco was planting his foot.
"Depulso!"
Draco had no time to dodge again.
"Protego!"
A shield flared before him. It was clearer than it had been at our last practice.
For a moment, I thought it might hold.
The impact tore through it. The shield vanished, and the weakened Depulso drove Draco backwards. He staggered and dropped to one knee.
"Expelliarmus!"
His wand flew from his hand.
"Stop!" Mara called.
Miles lowered his arm.
Draco stared at the floor in front of him for a moment, then stood.
"Miles Fenwick wins!"
Applause broke out. Several Hufflepuffs called to their friend.
Fenwick approached first.
"All right?"
Draco nodded.
"Yes."
"Good fight."
For a moment, I thought Draco wouldn't answer. Then he held out his hand.
"Good fight."
Miles shook it.
"You nearly had me with that second counter."
"Nearly."
Fenwick didn't try to console him further. He returned to his friends, while Draco retrieved his wand and came back to us.
"All right?" I asked.
"Yes."
He sat heavily on the bench.
I didn't start analysing the fight. He was staring at his wand as though he might find the reason for his defeat written on it.
Blaise sat on his other side.
We were silent for a while.
"How much did you lose?" Draco asked at last.
"Two Sickles."
"Only that?"
"Would you like me to suffer more?"
Draco snorted.
"You could have bet on Fenwick."
"Then I'd be sitting here looking pleased. I thought that would be rude."
The corner of Draco's mouth twitched, though he quickly turned towards the next duel.
He said little during the following fight. Gradually, though, he stopped turning his wand over and began watching the duellists.
By the final bout of the evening, we were both leaning forwards.
They were fifth-years. A Ravenclaw girl stopped three attacks, then answered with a gust of wind that forced her opponent almost to the far end of the marked area. He used the distance to cast a spell I didn't recognise.
A flash struck the floor beside her shoe.
She jumped aside, shielded and changed direction at once.
"She could have gone left," Draco said. "There was more room."
"But she'd have moved straight in front of his wand."
He studied the boy's position.
"Right."
A little later, he noticed the Ravenclaw trying to force the same movement again. This time, her opponent didn't fall for it.
We watched the rest in silence.
By the time Mara announced the end of the meeting, I had several questions I wanted to write down.
Draco was talking to a younger Slytherin who had approached him after the fight. Blaise had disappeared towards the twins.
I was waiting by the bench when Mara stopped beside me.
"Your friend started well."
"He's been practising a lot."
"It shows. He needs more experience."
She glanced at her list.
"I've got so many requests for next week that I might need a second evening."
"That many?"
"I won't let all of them fight straight away. But even without them, we're running out of time."
Several students by the door were arguing quietly about the last duel. Mara broke off to remind them to leave in small groups.
Only when they moved on did she turn back to me.
"More people means more of that too."
"Will you limit the audience?"
"I'm trying. Then someone brings a friend and assures me they can be trusted."
She folded the list.
"I'll see what I can do. I'll let you know when I find you an opponent."
"Thanks."
I watched her approach another group by the door. Personally, I wouldn't mind two meetings a week.
Especially if it meant less waiting between fights.
In the common room, Pansy sat by the fire with Theodore and two other students.
She looked up as we entered.
"Where have you been?"
"We had something to do," Draco replied.
She studied him.
"Has something happened?"
"No. I'm tired."
He didn't stop by the armchairs. He headed for the dormitory, and we followed.
Only once the door was closed did he put down his bag and sit on his bed.
I took out my notebook.
Draco noticed at once.
"Are you writing about my duel?"
"Among other things."
"Are you going to write down every mistake?"
"I didn't remember all of them."
A pillow hit my shoulder.
Blaise took off his shoes.
"Wonderful. Another duel, and I haven't set the odds."
I put the pillow aside and sat down.
Draco stared at his wand for a while.
"I thought it would hold."
"Protego?"
He nodded.
"It looked good for a moment."
"It was better than in practice."
"But still too weak."
"Yes."
He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees.
"I shouldn't have used it."
"You didn't have much room left by then. You tried to stop the spell. The problem started earlier."
He raised his head.
I pointed to my sketch of the duelling area.
"Here, you still had somewhere to go. But every time, you wanted to answer first. Fenwick noticed which way you dodged and started cutting you off."
Draco moved closer to look at the page.
"I should have gone back to the centre."
"Even if it meant passing up an attack."
For a moment, he traced one of the arrows with his finger.
"It felt as though I only needed one more chance to hit him."
"You nearly did at the start."
"Then I didn't."
I said nothing. He had worked out the important part himself.
He sat back on his bed.
"I'm not giving up on Protego."
"You don't have to. You just can't count on it stopping every attack yet."
He studied me.
"Do you think I'll ever cast a shield like yours?"
I considered that.
It was the same spell. I wasn't using some secret version Draco could never learn. But it came to me with an ease I couldn't pass on simply by explaining it, and I had enough magic to reinforce the shield without much effort.
"I don't know," I replied. "You can make it much better than it was today. How good—you'll have to find out."
Draco grimaced.
"I was hoping for a simple yes."
"Would you rather I guessed?"
He thought for a moment.
"No."
He picked up his wand and put it in the drawer.
"But I want a rematch."
I smiled.
"You'll have to speak to Mara first."
"I will."
Blaise lay down and pulled up his blanket.
"If I hear her name again at breakfast tomorrow, I'm going to start charging you to listen."
Draco glanced at his other pillow.
"I wouldn't," Blaise said without opening his eyes.
The pillow flew.
This time, it hit him in the back. He slowly turned his head, then picked it up from the bed.
I closed my notebook and put down my quill.
I preferred to have both hands free.