Chapter 48: The Dueling Club
Nearly a month had passed since the conversation with Dumbledore, and Flitwick and I had been busy not only with my studies and teaching the students, but also with preparing for the opening of the Dueling Club, which, with Dumbledore's support, we had decided to revive at Hogwarts.
"Now then, dear students, allow me to invite onto this platform someone who needs no introduction: Professor of Charms and Spells, Filius Flitwick!"
The students gathered in the Great Hall, which had undergone some modifications from its usual appearance at mealtimes, and burst into applause.
"Thank you, thank you..."
There was a predatory smile on Flitwick's lips.
"...I am sincerely grateful for such a warm welcome, and I ask you to be equally warm in your reception of my colleague, who is better known to the first three years: Draco Black, my assistant!"
A fresh wave of applause followed, though it died down fairly quickly.
"Now then, we have gathered you all here today to make an announcement. It seemed to me that delivering it in person, aloud, to all of you together, was far more appropriate than pinning a brief notice to the board. Because, let us be honest, most of us do not go anywhere near those boards until we notice a crowd beginning to gather around them..."
A ripple of embarrassed laughter ran through the Great Hall at those words.
"Professor, if you please..."
"Thank you, Draco. And yes, I decided to support Draco's idea, because, with the Headmaster's approval, I have been able to realize a long-held dream of mine, namely to take a decisive step toward reviving the Dueling Club!"
Silence. But it was the kind of silence that made it clear that every person in the hall was in a state of shock. They had been expecting many things. A demonstration duel. Someone from the student body being called up for a scheduled match. Any number of things. But not those words.
"This isn't a joke, is it?"
The question came from a Hufflepuff in one of the upper years.
"No, Mr. Summers, it is not a joke. I have genuinely managed to persuade the Headmaster that reviving the Dueling Club would be an excellent idea. However, as you will appreciate, conducting club sessions for everyone simultaneously would be somewhat impractical, and so the years will be divided into three groups: first through third years, fourth and fifth years, and sixth and seventh years."
"What will we be taught?"
A Gryffindor second-year shouted from the crowd.
To begin with, we will go over the rules and the Dueling Code, and later you will begin learning spells, shields, and counter-jinxes. More precisely, you will learn to apply spells from the school curriculum in duels. At least, that is what the first three years will be doing. As you may know, if you have paid any attention to my students' results, it is possible to win using only four spells. Ultimately, the essential thing is the degree of mastery with which you wield them.
"But raw power matters too!"
"Without a doubt, Miss Parkinson, raw power matters. But believe me, in tournaments it is far from the most decisive factor. I will admit, however, that weaker participants must be considerably more inventive than those with greater magical strength."
"Will we be able to compete in championships?"
The shout came from somewhere in the crowd. I recognized the voice. It was the Six, hungry for attention as ever.
"You will, naturally. I will not be recommending you for the World Championship, but you will be able to obtain a recommendation from me or any other Hogwarts professor for the British Dueling Tournament, and by finishing in the top ten there, you may attempt to qualify for an international tournament on your own merit."
We spent another twenty minutes or so answering questions, though most of the explaining fell to Flitwick, after which he called for quiet.
"Silence!"
The students hushed.
"Now then, this year we will be conducting a selection process for those wishing to join the Dueling Club, which means that you will not yet be able to begin training, unless you wish to prepare yourselves physically through various exercises. However, in honor of the opening of enrollment, I propose that any willing student come up against my apprentice!"
Flitwick gestured in my direction.
"He will be forbidden from using any spells other than the Shield Charm, Expelliarmus, the Full Body-Bind Curse, and Lumos. You, on the other hand, may use any spell known to you, with the exception of the Unforgivable Curses."
I smirked slightly, understanding that Flitwick had decided to have a bit of fun at my expense.
"I want to go!"
Marcus Flint stepped forward. The Slytherin Quidditch captain stepped onto the platform and looked at me with a faint smirk. For my part, I chose not to take him lightly.
"Bow!"
I performed the required gesture, then readied myself. Flint bowed far more carelessly, as though he were doing me a great favor by facing me at all.
"Three! Two! One! Begin!"
"Expelliarmus!"
The spell left my wand before he had time to react, and Flint's wand sailed through the air and landed in my hand.
"Draco..."
"Mentor, I was simply annoyed by Mr. Flint's careless disregard for formalities."
I shrugged and handed the wand to Flitwick, who carried it back to Flint, now radiating furious glares.
"Draco, please allow Mr. Flint to demonstrate his abilities."
"As you wish, Professor."
I gave Flitwick a short nod, quietly enjoying the sound of mocking laughter directed at Flint. If Flint thought Flitwick was on his side, he was very much mistaken.
"Three... two... one... start!"
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
Flint practically bellowed the spell, trying to pour as much magic into it as possible. I simply raised a Protego at a slight angle, which deflected his spell without the slightest difficulty. It flew up toward the ceiling. But Flint didn't stop there and started hurling a wide variety of spells at me, all of which I blocked with my shield.
Well...
I can say he wasn't half bad, though he fell short of my opponent in the semi-finals. I deflected his spells leisurely while he grew more and more heated with every passing moment. By now he was moving into conditionally permitted spells and darker ones, though barely permitted...
"Draco, finish it."
I gave a short nod and immediately went on the offensive, simply knocking his wand away with three Expelliarmus spells in succession. The first shattered the shield he had managed to raise. He dodged the second. The third landed squarely on him and stripped him of his wand.
"Winner: Draco Black. Mr. Flint, you gave a respectable showing, bearing in mind that you have evidently never studied dueling as such. And there's no need to be quite so angry..."
Flitwick shook his head as he took Flint's wand from me and returned it to the Slytherin's hand.
"...Draco is a genuinely accomplished duelist, and in Britain, much as it pains me to admit it, this art is currently in decline. I can count the duelists worthy of the name on the fingers of two hands, and those presently capable of competing on the international stage on the fingers of one hand. The rest are either too old or have suffered injuries incompatible with active dueling."
"I... understand. But it does not make it any easier to accept that I lost to a first-year."
"Come now, your level of knowledge is genuinely excellent, and your reflexes are also up to standard. I will say, however, that Quidditch has left its mark on you, and if you wish to retrain specifically for dueling, you would be well advised to put that game out of your mind for the next couple of years..."
"Professor, did I have even the slightest chance?"
"No..."
The professor shook his head. His answer came in a tone that made it clear to everyone present that he had not paused for even a moment to consider whether Flint had had a chance or not.
At Hogwarts...
"I'll thrash him!"
The Six's voice rang out across the entire hall. The Professor gave a weary sigh and made no attempt to disabuse him of his delusions of competence. He simply invited him up onto the dueling platform.
"Now I'll show everyone what a worthless piece of..."
He didn't get to finish, however. One of the twins had pushed their way to the front row of spectators and hit him with a Silencing Charm.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm!"
"Mr. Weasley, I would strongly advise you not to insult your opponent. You do understand that a duel can end with varying degrees of injury?"
"Mmph!"
It appeared that this was his way of expressing his view on the matter: that he intended to bury me, and the injuries I sustained were of no particular concern to him.
"Well..."
With a wave of his wand, the Professor lifted the Silencing Charm from Weasley.
"Right, I'll..."
"Mr. Weasley, did you step onto this platform to work with your wand, or with your tongue? If it is the latter, you had no business coming up here."
Flitwick's words did manage to shut the Six up, and he adopted an ungainly stance. I, by contrast, stood at ease and studied my opponent with a measured look.
"Bow..."
I gave the Six a short but perfectly civil bow. He merely smirked mockingly in return, apparently not noticing how Flitwick's brow furrowed at his disrespect towards his opponent.
"...three, two, one..."
Eat Slugs!
The spell left the Six's wand before Flitwick had given the signal, but I chose not to react in any special way. I simply waited for my moment, then bent backward theatrically so the spell sailed over me, and straightened up again. That would never have worked in a championship, but the Six was far too full of himself to bother with a follow-up spell, and the Professor had already put a barrier between us.
"Mr. Weasley, you receive a penalty point for attacking before the signal. And yes, I will not be admitting you to my Dueling Club. I have no intention of teaching those who have no regard for the noble art of dueling. Draco, I understand, of course, that self-confidence is a fine thing, but you should simply have put up a Protego."
"You hadn't said 'start' yet..."
I shrugged.
"If you'd counted faster and said 'start,' I would have done exactly that. But by international standards, which you yourself drilled into me, even blocking with a Shield Charm would have earned me the same penalty. So I chose the best possible course of action under the circumstances. Though in a tournament, I wouldn't have shown off like that; I simply would have stepped aside, which wouldn't have been prohibited in that situation."
"Hmm..."
Flitwick nodded.
"Very well. Three, two, one, 'begin'..."
The instant the final syllable left his lips, Flitwick's barrier vanished. But Weasley jumped the gun again, casting a Disarming Charm before Flitwick had even finished speaking. It struck the barrier.
"Stop!"
A new barrier appeared between us.
"What is it NOW?!"
"That, Mr. Weasley..."
I noticed McGonagall had appeared near the twins, fixing Weasley with a severe expression.
"...is that the barrier, or rather its disappearance, was your signal to begin. You once again began casting before that moment, violating every written and unwritten rule of tournament dueling and the Dueling Code. Leave the platform. You have lost."
"I'll..."
"Mr. Weasley..."
The voice of the Six's Head of House rang out across the platform.
"...leave the platform. And I want you to know that I am ashamed of you. Deeply, deeply ashamed."
The Six glanced at his Head of House, then at Flitwick, and then, head bowed and shoulders hunched, left the platform.
"Anyone else who wishes to try?"
"Me!"
Nymphadora raised her hand.
"Oh..."
Flitwick's grin widened with delight.
"...Miss Tonks, you are one of the very few people who have recently had any chance of giving my student genuine trouble in a duel. Had you applied yourself earlier, you might have been able to compete in this year's tournament... You wouldn't have won, of course, but you would have made your mark..."
Flitwick shook his head, conveying disapproval at how late she'd finally pulled herself together, though his grin made it equally clear he was glad she'd done so at all.
"Big brother does know how to knock some sense into a person..."
She stepped onto the platform and took up the stance used by Aurors and combat-trained witches and wizards, complete with the correct wand grip. At least she hadn't been wasting her time with the tutors my mother and I had arranged for her.
"Now then, bow..."
Nympha and I bowed to one another.
"...three, two, one... begin!"
"Expelliarmus, Petrificus Totalus, Expelliarmus, Petrificus Totalus, Protego!"
"Ossio Dispersimus!"
Nympha's bone-shattering curse hit my Protego squarely, while she deftly dodged my spells, making full use of her Metamorphmagus flexibility.
"Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus, Expelliarmus, Lumos, Expelliarmus, Petrificus Totalus."
I fired off spells in rapid succession, not yet switching to nonverbal magic, while Nympha struggled, twisting like a snake to let my spells fly past her.
"Protego!"
She finally used her shield to catch her breath, and I smiled slightly. It seemed that this time I'd be able to give the students a proper duel to watch. Proper for them, at any rate. Nymphadora's eyes told me she wasn't particularly pleased I was holding back.
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