Eight o'clock. Room of Requirement.
Nearly a week had passed since term started, and this was the first time Cuthbert and Alex had actually shown up.
Not because they'd spent the whole week slacking and only just now decided to get serious. Well, Cuthbert absolutely had. Alex was the one who brought it up the night before. Said he wanted to start training under Regulus again.
He'd always been the sharper one.
Dumbledore's speech at the start-of-term feast. The new Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum. The looks the older students kept trading in the corridors when they thought nobody noticed.
And down in Slytherin House, that weird mood hanging over the common room. Some people were excited. Some were tense. Some were trying very hard to act like nothing had changed.
Alex felt all of it.
That low, creeping unease had gotten into the walls.
Not every kid noticed, obviously. The ones with their heads full of games, gossip, and who fancied who didn't care. As long as homework got done and their marks stayed decent, the rest of life was for messing around. That was enough for them.
Alex wasn't like that.
No matter how mild he acted, he was still a pure-blood. No matter how much he kept out of trouble, he was still a Slytherin.
Maybe it was anxiety. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe he just wanted to make sure he and his family could protect themselves if things got ugly. Whatever the reason, he'd decided it was time to build some actual strength.
Also, having someone like Regulus right there and not learning from him would be stupid. People would fight over that kind of chance.
Sometimes Alex even thought about how arbitrary it was. If somebody else had ended up in Regulus's dorm instead of him, Regulus probably would have pulled that person into the group too.
He'd just gotten lucky. Right place, right room.
But Regulus had told him before that luck counted as part of your strength.
Alex believed that now more than ever. So, one week into term, he finally said it out loud.
As for Cuthbert...
Cuthbert had enjoyed himself immensely over the holiday and rolled straight back into school life without missing a beat. During the day they roamed around together in a pack. At night, when Regulus and Hermes disappeared, Cuthbert developed a sudden and very convenient blindness.
There was plenty to do if all you wanted was fun.
Quidditch. Wizard's chess. Exploding Snap. Random corners of the castle they'd never checked out before.
They could pick a few friendly fights, well, "friendly", with the boys from the next dorm. Or they could collapse onto the sofas in the common room and stare into space until bedtime.
Honestly, life was pretty good.
Still, Cuthbert wasn't an idiot.
Regulus was the core of their little group. That had been obvious for ages. But up until now, the numbers had balanced things out: him and Alex on one side, Regulus and Hermes on the other. Two and two. If one half worked hard, the other half could keep loafing around and pretend it made sense.
That excuse died the second Alex decided to join in.
Cuthbert had no intention of being the one left behind.
And deep down, he knew this kind of opportunity wasn't something you got twice.
The Avery family had money, influence, connections, all of it. If Cuthbert wanted to learn some branch of magic, his family could probably arrange it. If they couldn't teach it themselves, they could hire excellent tutors and buy the right books.
But that still wasn't the same thing.
A hired tutor taught because he was paid.
Regulus taught because he considered them his own people.
Cuthbert understood that difference just fine. So he came.
Regulus took one look at them and understood exactly why they were here.
One was uneasy and wanted something solid to rely on.
The other didn't want to be the only one lagging behind, so he'd followed.
The reasons didn't matter much. The fact that they'd shown up did.
He never liked forcing people into this sort of thing. If somebody didn't actually want strength, dragging them through drills was pointless. Nothing real would come of it.
With Sirius, sure, he could be rough. Knock him flat once, let him feel the gap, and watch the competitive streak catch fire on its own.
With everyone else, he wouldn't push that hard. A nudge at most.
But these two had come on their own. One week into term. At this age, with all the distractions around them, they'd still chosen to train.
That counted for something.
Something warm stirred in Regulus's chest. Kids trying to do something useful deserved at least a little credit.
"Spar first," he said. "Let me see what kind of progress you made over the summer."
Cuthbert and Alex looked at each other, then raised their wands.
Regulus stepped aside and watched.
Strictly speaking, he didn't even need to. A sweep of his senses told him plenty already.
They'd improved, yes. But mostly in the way all kids improved as they got older. If they'd actually trained over the holiday, it barely showed.
Cuthbert made the first move.
"Expelliarmus!"
A red bolt shot toward Alex. Alex slipped to the side and answered in the same motion.
"Impedimenta!"
The jinx clipped Cuthbert and slowed him for a second, but only for a second. He shook it off and fired back with a Stunning Spell.
The duel went on.
Spells cracked through the room one after another. They had better footwork than last term. They were moving sideways now instead of just backpedaling, and they at least knew enough to look for cover when they could.
Now and then one of them slipped in a curse. Now and then one landed something that looked flashy.
From Regulus's perspective, though, it was all painfully slow.
Every spell seemed to crawl through the air. The paths were so obvious he could have traced them with his finger. They were lacking everywhere that mattered: speed, force, accuracy.
He even caught himself thinking that a Muggle kid their age, or a Squib with a few days of proper fighting practice, could probably rush them down and knock them flat before either of them handled it.
"Stop," Regulus said.
They lowered their wands, both a little out of breath.
Cuthbert was grinning. He looked over at Alex. "Not bad. You've gotten better."
Alex smiled back, cheeks a bit red. "You too."
Both of them clearly thought they'd done well.
Hermes, off to the side, watched in silence. His mouth twitched. He looked like he badly wanted to shake his head.
These two had done basically nothing useful over the summer.
At this level... forget it. No point saying it out loud.
Regulus ignored the mutual praise, walked over to the door, and pulled it open. "Come with me."
The others followed him through.
On the other side, the Room of Requirement had changed again.
It was a broad training ground now, with stone walls enclosing the space and pale light coming from somewhere above. Bright enough to see everything. Not bright enough to sting.
Roughly a dozen wooden dummies stood across the field. They were human-sized, each with a fake wand clutched in hand, perfectly still for the moment.
"Training area," Regulus said. "The dummies can move, and they cast spells. Fixed strength. Won't seriously hurt you, but you'll definitely feel it if they hit."
Then he looked at Cuthbert and Alex.
"Go in. Last ten minutes without getting hit."
Cuthbert stared at the dummies. "Ten minutes?"
Regulus glanced at him. "Too easy? Make it twenty."
Cuthbert shut his mouth immediately.
"Don't try to eat the hits," Regulus went on. "They use Disarming Charms and Impediment Jinxes. If you get tagged, your wand's gone, or you freeze where you stand. If you really can't dodge, you can block with Protego, but Shield Charms burn through your magic fast. If all you do is defend, you'll be empty in no time."
"Use the terrain. Use the spaces between the dummies. Watch the gaps between their casts."
"Go."
Cuthbert and Alex exchanged one last look, took a breath, and stepped out onto the field.
The dummies turned toward them at once.
Regulus watched for a few seconds. Good. That would occupy them.
Then he turned to Hermes. "Your turn."
Hermes looked at him, but didn't move.
Regulus lifted a brow. "What?"
Hermes hesitated.
He had improved a lot over the summer. A lot. Training, actual combat, real danger, all of it had pushed him hard. If last term's version of himself stood in front of him now, he'd crush him in a few moves.
But even taking that into account, sparring Regulus still didn't seem especially meaningful.
The gap was too big.
Their duel last term had already forced Hermes to his limit while Regulus barely seemed to exert himself. Hermes had gotten stronger since then, sure, but Regulus had clearly improved too.
Hermes had seen what happened in Potions just one week into the term.
That wasn't normal progress.
That was something else entirely.
So what exactly would fighting Regulus prove?
Regulus saw the hesitation and said flatly, "Just attack."
That answered that.
Hermes nodded. "Alright."
He drew his wand, stepped back, and settled into stance. Another thought flashed through his head as he did.
Maybe this duel wouldn't show him how deep Regulus really was.
But at least it could show Regulus how far he'd come.
He opened with dark magic.
"Bone and Blood Stripping!"
A dark crimson beam tore out of his wand and shot straight at Regulus's chest.
Hermes had practiced that spell all summer. Compared to last term, the difference was huge. More power. Faster casting. Cleaner release.
Regulus didn't move.
The curse hit him and vanished on contact. A faint layer of silver light rippled over his body, and the crimson beam broke apart like it had slammed into an invisible wall.
Hermes didn't pause.
His next spell came immediately.
"Shadow Bind Devour!"
Black tendrils burst from the ground and lashed toward Regulus's legs. Regulus simply lifted one foot and brought it down again. The tendrils shattered under his heel like brittle glass.
Hermes shifted sideways as he cast again.
"Tearing Shadow!"
A blade of black light slashed across the space between them.
"Corrosive Touch!"
Dark green mist spilled outward.
"Blood-Boiling Curse!"
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