Chapter 67: The Duelling Club
"Right then, everyone."
I looked carefully around the room at all those present.
"I am pleased to welcome you to the first session of the Duelling Club for second and third years. I have decided to combine both year groups for this opening meeting, but going forward, each year will have its own separate session, with a joint gathering like this one taking place once a month."
"I hope I'm not intruding?"
Lockhart strolled into the classroom.
"I heard there was to be a Duelling Club meeting and thought my assistance might prove useful."
I looked at the man.
"Mr. Lockhart, you were not invited here. Would you kindly leave the classroom, please?"
"Oh, don't be absurd, Assistant. The help of a hero of my stature will be enormously beneficial to you!"
He struck a heroic pose, and a sigh of admiration rippled through several of the girls.
"Might I ask whether you have any practical experience in dueling?"
Lockhart blinked.
"Nothing of the kind is mentioned anywhere in your books... and if you have no such experience..."
"Experience I may lack, but I am a powerful and experienced wizard, and I offer you my assistance as an opponent. I think it would be tremendously educational for the students to watch a duel between a mature, powerful wizard and a wizard of your age."
Oh, what a delicate little hint.
A flick of my wand, and a piece of parchment beside me folded itself into a paper airplane.
"Professor Flitwick, would you be so kind as to come? I could use your assistance."
"Surely you're not afraid to face me on the dueling platform?"
"Not in the least."
I shook my head.
"If that is what you want, then we shall."
The little airplane, enchanted in the same vein as a Sonorus, though with a slightly different charm, flew out through the doorway carrying its message.
"I simply thought we ought to have someone of sufficient standing to referee the duel."
"Oh, splendid!"
Lockhart produced his wand with a flourish and made several thrusting jabs at the air, drawing another round of appreciative sighs from the girls. Those who knew me, or who already had some cause to respect my abilities, watched the performance with mild bewilderment. And my friends, for their part, were looking at Lockhart with something closer to pity.
While we wait for the professor, allow me to continue. Students from other years are welcome to observe Duelling Club sessions. In fact, the first-years are invited here today specifically for that reason. I would even say it's recommended to attend sessions for older year groups. It lets you see what others can do, and understand who is worth looking up to and who is not.
I paused and helped myself to a sip of water from a bottle on the windowsill.
Now, a few words about dueling itself. The basic rules are consistent across all official competitions and championships. No lethal curses. A duel is fought until one party is unable to continue, loses their wand, or sustains moderate injuries.
I had stopped paying any attention to Lockhart whatsoever, and he simply stood opposite me, blinking.
Beyond that, specific rules can vary. Official tournaments are generally organized by age group, and the younger the duelist, the more latitude they are given in terms of movement on the platform. Conversely, the most senior age groups may face strict restrictions or even a complete prohibition on movement. So if you intend to compete, read the rules carefully. Though in some cases it is enough to listen closely to the official, who is required to announce the rules by which the duel will be conducted before calling for it to begin.
I looked over the children, who had their eyes trained on me. As well they should. They were here to learn, after all. Though a couple of girls appeared to be paying attention to something else entirely.
"Turpin, Bulstrode. I see my explanation isn't holding your interest. Perhaps you know the material already? Would either of you care to continue the lesson?"
The girls were startled and looked at me with alarm.
"No? You put considerable effort into joining this club last year. I imagine the reason you're not paying attention is that your families hired private tutors who covered everything I'm currently saying. Am I right?"
"I'm sorry."
Turpin said it quietly, but in the silence that had settled over the classroom it was perfectly audible.
"Now, now, Draco, there's no need to come down so hard on the girls… It's perfectly natural for them to be a little distracted by me here!"
"I assure you, Mr Lockhart, that is not an acceptable excuse. Everyone else has been listening. These two young ladies alone decided my explanations were not worth their time."
I looked at Bulstrode. She stood with her head down. She clearly had no intention of apologizing.
"Let this serve as a warning: if I observe anyone at these sessions engaged in something other than the business of the club, they will forfeit their right to attend. Is that understood?"
"Draco, there's really no need..."
"Mr Lockhart, you are not the head of this club. That role belongs to Professor Flitwick and myself. The second and third years, moreover, fall under my authority alone. It is I who decide who may or may not attend these sessions."
At that moment, Flitwick walked in.
"Draco, what is it?"
"Nothing serious. I simply need your help. Mr Lockhart has kindly volunteered to demonstrate to the students what a proper duel looks like, and I thought having a referee of your caliber would be more than appropriate."
"Is that so?"
Flitwick's eyes lit up, and a slight, rather predatory smile appeared on his face.
"A most interesting idea. The platform is already set up, so I suggest you take your positions."
I stepped to my side of the platform calmly. Lockhart took his.
"The first thing you do upon stepping onto the platform is bow. There are around a dozen recognized forms of the dueling bow, and it is, in general, a relatively free element of the opening ceremony. The following is considered the standard form..."
I placed one hand behind my back, held my wand in my bent arm so that it pointed upward and passed directly in front of my nose, inclined my head, and then brought it sharply back up while sweeping the wand down at a diagonal.
"This is the most basic and widely used bow in dueling competitions. You may also encounter a simple head nod, or something considerably more elaborate."
I returned to my position opposite a somewhat bewildered Lockhart, who appeared not to have expected me to begin teaching right then and there. My wand hand came up to touch my temple. I took a broad step forward, sweeping the wand out in a wide arc as though doffing a hat. At the completion of the movement, the wand pointed directly at my opponent, my head bent in a bow. Then I stepped back, and the wand returned in the same elaborate arc to my temple before my gaze came back up to meet my opponent's eyes. Finally, the wand rose in a sharp upward salute.
"Both of these, and many others, are perfectly acceptable. However, I would encourage you to use the first. It is the most universal, and the more elaborate variants are sometimes read as a mild form of mockery."
"Excellent. Bow!"
Flitwick gave the command and activated the barrier above the platform. I performed the first bow, though I let it come across as somewhat careless, just enough to suggest I wasn't taking Lockhart very seriously. My opponent chose something of his own invention, elaborate and showy. And I will admit, absurd as the whole situation was, it did look rather graceful.
"One final point before we begin. Lockhart is permitted to move up to five meters from his starting position. Lethal and Unforgivable curses are prohibited. The duel ends when one party sustains moderate injury, is rendered unable to continue, or loses their wand. Positions!"
The peacock opened his mouth to protest Flitwick's terms, then clearly thought better of it as my mentor began the countdown.
"Three... two... one... Begin!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Lockhart threw a grand sweep of his wand and bellowed the spell aloud. I caught it on the tip of my wand with perfect ease, fed an equal measure of my own magic into it, and sent it back with a casual flick. I didn't accelerate it, though I could have. Lockhart dropped flat on the platform, and the spell went sailing over him.
"Really, now..."
I rocked slowly on my heels.
"...there's no need to be so reckless. After all, we're here to show the first through third years how a duel should actually be conducted."
Lockhart picked himself up and straightened his robes. That part came out rather less elegantly.
"You're good. I didn't expect a second-year to have skills like that! Right then, I shall take this more seriously! Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous!"
I caught the first spell on my wand tip and tossed it upward, then deflected the next two sideways with equal nonchalance, and returned a Disarming Charm of my own, one I had heard at the tournament.
Lockhart lurched back, and in his eyes I read shock. Actual fear.
"Really, with this kind of assistance..."
I shook my head.
"...a practice dummy would be more instructive."
Snickers were beginning to spread through the room. Lockhart heard them, clearly. His expression shifted, and the contempt he had always felt for me surfaced plainly.
"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!"
He began hurling Disarming Charms at me in a barrage. The speed of both his casting and the spells themselves was abysmal, however. I caught the first on my wand, fed just a touch of extra force into it, and drove it into the second, which exploded and clipped the third, sending it veering sideways. At the fourth I threw a counter-jinx that dissolved it in mid-flight. For the fifth I released a brief pulse of magical energy that slowed it just enough for the sixth to catch up with it, and the two collided and canceled each other out.
"Really, now... with that kind of approach, we'll never teach anyone anything."
I shook my head.
"You... Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Obliviate!"
I gave an involuntary snort of surprise. Obliviate couldn't be blocked with ordinary Shield Charms, and there was no commonly known counter-jinx for it. No publicly available one, at any rate. Though I had known who I would be dealing with this year and had conducted a thorough raid of the Black library in preparation, where I had found one rather interesting spell, I used it, but first dissolved the three Expelliarmus charms with counter-jinxes, and then...
"Aisdek."
A spell from ice magic, largely useless for most purposes, but perfectly suited to dispersing certain kinds of magic. The Obliviate struck a small conjured shard of ice and vanished instantly.
"Interesting."
I tilted my head.
"Well. At least you know something outside the standard curriculum."
"You..."
Lockhart had apparently forgotten entirely that this was a duel being observed by students.
"I think it's time to finish this."
A lazy flick of the wand, and the Disarming Charm left my wand and struck Lockhart squarely, throwing him back into the barrier, which he hit spine-first before sliding to the floor. His wand made a graceful arc through the air and settled in my hand.
"And there we are."
I shook my head.
"Though I should point out that in a real duel, you will not encounter an opponent whose spells are this slow or this careless. And as for announcing every spell aloud... well, some duelists do vocalize, but just as often spells are cast wordlessly and without visible wand movement, which means you can only identify them by reading the signs. Something to keep in mind."
The children were quiet, staring at me with shock and disbelief.
"One more note: if you use Obliviate in a tournament, you will be banned from competition for life. You will also likely face charges of illegal use of mental magic. Assuming you survive, of course. Had anyone thrown that at me at last year's tournament, I would have rolled aside and sent a dozen very powerful Cutting Curses after them."
"Draco, there is no need to be so graphic."
Flitwick shook his head.
"I'm not trying to be graphic. I'm simply explaining what I would have done if I hadn't happened to learn that particular counter-jinx over the summer, largely on a whim. And even now, if the spell hadn't come to mind in time, I would have done exactly the same thing."
"Well... I suppose that is, in fact, the correct approach. One really ought to be taught better than to try something like that. Yes, Miss Liefscomb?"
"Are you going to revive Professor Lockhart?"
"Why would I?"
I looked at her with mild surprise.
"Mr. Lockhart has just demonstrated to all of us that his bravado was nothing more than bluster. He is extraordinarily poor at dueling. And the moment he regains consciousness, he will without question begin strutting about telling everyone he simply let me win..."
I flicked my wand and cast a Petrificus Totalus on Lockhart, though to everyone watching it simply looked as if I had lifted his body and moved it to a quiet corner of the room.
"...so we will simply continue the session, and I will revive him afterward."
"Good. Do you need anything further from me?"
"No, Master."
I shook my head.
"And thank you."
"Not at all. It was a pleasure to watch. If anything of the kind is in the offing in the future, do invite me. Don't be shy."
"I will."
I nodded to Flitwick.
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 276
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 191
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 277
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 119
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic