Chapter 15 - Dueling Pairs
(A/N -This is one place where I cannot get a certain scene from the COS movie out of my head as I write it. I normally work hard to keep any movie "contamination" out of this story, but I personally think Kenneth Branagh did a PERFECT interpretation of Gilderoy, at least when he appears on the Dueling Club stage. So, in your own mind, if you've seen the movie, think of his line here being spoken with the timing and inflections of that scene.)
Less than a week before the end of term, Harry was walking across the entrance hall. He noticed a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been posted. <Hey, there's Ron Weasley!> Harry noticed the obvious red hair on a much taller frame. <It's been ages since I've seen him except in passing. Wonder what he's been up to this year? Hey, there's Hermione, too! Now I've got to see what's going on, even though it seems like it's mostly Gryffs over there right now.>
One of the Gryffindors (<Seamus, right?> Harry vaguely remembered) was reading the note out loud for the benefit of the rest of the group. "They're starting a Dueling Club! First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy some time," he said. "You never know when you'll run into someone you may have to fight!" he said, eyes narrowing while he watched Harry come closer.
Ron Weasley, who had also noticed Harry's approach, said "Unfortunately, it looks like the Club is open to ALL houses…" He had been very vocal in the Great Hall for weeks after Harry's first match about how unfair the match was and the poor sportsmanship of the Slytherin team. <Funny,> Harry thought to himself with a smirk, <I was the one being chased all over the place by a rogue Bludger, and I was the one who got my arm shattered and re-grown, but you don't hear me complaining! Of course, that may have been because we won!> he chuckled inside.
Harry was happy to hear a familiar voice, although it wasn't too pleasant at the moment. "Now Ronald Weasley - HONESTLY! Of COURSE it is open to all of the houses. It's not like we have to bring our Quidditch rivalries into everything, now is it? Don't be so rude! Hi, Harry! Are you going to come to the class tonight? You could bring a few of your friends, you know!" Harry could have sworn she winked at him when he said this. Since they had been meeting together as part of the group taking Miss Puckle's extra charms lessons, they were becoming more comfortable around each other. A major "icebreaker" had occurred soon after that particular Quidditch match. Harry made a point in front of the whole class of thanking her and Miss Puckle for rushing to his aid after Lockhart had de-boned him, and also to Harmony for helping disable the Bludger before it was able to do more damage. Harry had seen Hermione blush for the first time since they had met, and he was struck by a random thought of how nice she looked.
"Sure, Granger, that sounds like fun!" he smiled slightly back at her. Yeah, I might be able to round up a few others to attend! Wonder what Dumbledore's doing this for? I haven't heard about a dueling club at Hogwarts before."
He then heard another, older, but also familiar voice behind him. "The Headmaster feels that it would be a good idea for the students to have a chance to reinforce the skills they are learning in their classes, and this is a fun way to do it." If he hadn't been looking right at Hermione then, he would have bet a Galleon that it was Hermione, or at least her older sister, that had said it. "Oh, hello, Miss Puckle!" he said as he turned to see who it was. "Will you be there, too? Who's teaching the class tonight?"
"You'll just have to come to the Great Hall at 8 tonight to find out! Of course, I'll be there - I wouldn't miss it for the world!" she said as she seemed to be smiling at a private joke again.
********
"Headmaster, sir, are you…sss…sure you want me to teach this class?" Gilderoy Lockhart's voice was quite shaky from the shock he had received when Dumbledore had knocked on his office door earlier that day.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Of course, Gilderoy. You are the Defense against the Dark Arts professor, are you not? I would think you'd be jumping at the chance to teach an after hours class in your area of expertise. Miss Puckle says it is very rewarding!"
At the sound of Miss Puckle's name, Gilderoy's face went pale. "She…she won't…be there, will she?" he said, with rising fear in his voice. Are you sss…sure that Filius wouldn't be a bbb…better choice, then? …Please?"
"I doubt you could drag her away from this class with a convocation of raging hippogriffs", Dumbledore replied wryly. "And Filius has some important business to attend to at the Ministry this evening. Don't worry, Gilderoy. I expect both you and she will be on your best behaviors tonight, so I trust that things will go well. Besides, Severus will be there, too. In fact, why don't you invite him to be your dueling partner for your demonstrations? I am sure he will really enjoy that!"
The more Gilderoy thought about it, the more he began to like the idea. "Yes…Yes! I could wear my deep plum robes… they look so dashing, you know…I'll have to have the house elves work on my hair, and get my cape pressed…Of course, sir! I would be honored to teach the youngsters a few things! I must go invite Severus right away! I'm sure he might just learn a few things, himself - that sly dog!"
Dumbledore decided it was best to leave him to it. "Good, it's settled, then. I'll notify the rest of the staff so they are aware of what is happening in the Great Hall, and I'll post the notice on the board. 8 PM, then?"
*****
Harry found he didn't need to invite anyone from Slytherin, since most of the student body was already planning on attending that evening. He was dismayed, though, to see the Gruesome Threesome, along with their female counterparts of Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, and Daphne Greengrass, already there.
"Hey, there's Scarhead!" Draco yelled so everyone took notice of Harry's arrival "Maybe he wants to learn how to defend himself against a Bludger instead of having to have his Mudblood friends do it for him! By the way, how's the arm? Got all your bones back? Better not let Lockhart near you - he may try to take some other parts…rumor has it he may be in the market for some, as it were!"
Harry had no clue what Malfoy was talking about, although apparently his five cohorts did, based on the snickering that was going on among them. Instead, he started walking towards another part of the large crowd. "Harry, over here! Come over by us!" Hermione was beckoning to him from the other side of the stage, standing by Miss Puckle.
Harry thought this was a much better option than being near Draco, so he walked over. "Hello, Miss Puckle! Hello, Granger! Quite the crowd, eh?"
"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young - maybe it'll be him."
"As long as it's not -" Harry began, but he ended on a groan. Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Professor Snape, wearing his usual black.
"No, sorry, Professor Flitwick had business in London tonight," Harmony said. "Don't worry, I think you'll enjoy this demonstration of Gilderoy's true abilities," she said with a repressed giggle. "It will be quite the show, if I'm not mistaken."
Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called, in his most dramatic voice, "Gather round, gather… round! Can everybody… see me? Can you all…hear me? Excellent."
******
Miss Puckle stood in the background, watching the events of five years previous replaying in front of her. Of course, she was an observer instead of a participant, but she did see that things went almost exactly the same as the first time. <You stupid, incompetent git…Snape is much too good a duelist to not take advantage of you dropping your guard like that right before you start to attack. Well, if I ever have to face him again, I'll know to look out for that. Interesting…why didn't I notice before that Harry automatically moved towards me when Severus started pairing us up? If I hadn't seen it happen just now, I still wouldn't have believed it! Ow! That still hurts, even now! I remember that headlock from Bulstrode (Millicent? The first time I saw her, I would have sworn she was a bloke…). Oh yes, I still remember that - Harry using all of his strength to pull her off of me…he didn't have to do that, then OR now, did he? I mean, Lockhart and Snape were both right there! Hmm…maybe he already had…has a little bit of feeling for me…her…whatever! Uh, oh…here comes the famous Malfoy-Potter duel! Guess Snape wanted to give them a chance to work out their differences in a duel instead of by pranking each other all the time. Wonder if what has to happen will do so this time? Well, here goes…>
"Scared?" muttered Malfoy.
"You wish," said Harry out of the corner of his mouth. (Harmony hadn't heard that comment the first time around, but this time she had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing out loud. As a result, she missed Harry's rude remark to Gilderoy.)
"Three - two - one - go!" Lockhart shouted.
Draco raised his hand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"
<Now, I KNOW he didn't learn that one in any Charms class here at Hogwarts!> Harmony thought, as she watched the familiar scene unfold again. <It looks like Daddy's been teaching Junior a few Death Eater favorites when he's home between terms! But, why that spell… unless… he WANTED Harry to speak Parseltongue in front of the whole school. Poor Justin…he's scared out of his wits! Ah, there goes Severus, saving the day. Wait a minute…B…but that means…NO! I'm going to have to let Albus know about this…Oh…poor Harry! EVERYONE is moving away from him now, Snape, Ron, everyone. Come on, Hermione, pluck up a little of that Gryffindor courage and help him get out of there!>
Hermione, though, had a momentary look of utter revulsion on her face. But then, as if she were in a trance, she looked first at Miss Puckle, and then at Harry's frightened expression, and right then she made up her mind. She grabbed his robes in the general confusion and murmuring, and whispered in his ear "Come on! Move - come on- follow me!"
Anyone watching Miss Puckle at that moment would have seen a tear form at the corner of her eye as she muttered, "That's my girl…!" as she headed across the Entrance Hall on her way to the Headmaster's office. She was even more pleased when she noticed Hermione pulling Harry towards a small chamber next to the Great Hall (the same one that McGonagall used to hold the first year students each year until the sorting occurred), where she knew he would be getting a quick lesson in what it means to be a Parselmouth.
*****
"Just as you suspected, sir…the Dueling Club episode I told you about was important." Harmony said as she sat down in her favorite chair in the Headmaster's office. "For some reason, I suspect that Lucius taught Draco that Serpensortia spell so Harry would instinctively use his Parselmouth abilities in front of the whole school. But, why would he want to do that? I mean, what does it gain him?"
"Think for a minute, Miss Puckle…what did Lucius gain in your timeline when the Basilisk was unleashed? Don't you think that some of his aspirations are still the same now? He has always wanted to have more control over this school, even after he bribed his way onto the board of governors. Maybe that was the "reward" he was offered originally that motivated him to plant the diary with young Miss Weasley in the first place!"
"But, sir, you've neutralized the diary, so the Basilisk shouldn't be awakened this time around, should it?" Harmony asked…but then, the light came on. "Oh, …I see… that means that Harry is now the ONLY one around who can open the Chamber and free Salazar's pet, and with that little display in front of the whole school, there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin!"
"Very good, Hermione! Sorry, but right then you reminded me so much of your younger self as you are figuring out an answer to a problem, I couldn't resist using your real name." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily. "Yes, you are right. And, since we now have a good idea of why this all happened, let's see if we can make this work to our advantage. You see, I would really prefer that Harry actually accomplish at least part of Lucius's little plot to remove me from my position here. I'd rather not have a Basilisk, sleeping or not, anywhere around Hogwarts. Aragog and all of his family don't like it, either; and I'm afraid I'm rather fond of fresh chicken soup on these cold winter nights. Let's see if we can keep Harry from completing the rest of Lucius's plan. Maybe it's time to 'recruit' Miss Granger to help in this matter."
"I was just thinking the same thing, Albus. I was so proud of myself when I made up my mind just now to do the 'decent' thing for Harry. As soon as she made up her mind to help him, I recognized my 'Protect Harry' face show up right away. Although, I don't remember it being quite so…so…determined! Guess it all depends on which side of the face you are on!" Harmony laughed.
"So, how will you go about this, my dear?" Dumbledore prodded. "I still don't think it is a good idea for you to reveal your identity to her yet. As confident as I am in her intelligence and mental stability, I'd prefer you wait until she's older before you drop THAT little bombshell on her."
"Oh, no sir! That will have to come out over time, and I'd prefer her to figure it out for herself, somehow, when the time comes. No, I was just going to suggest that Hermione could invite Harry to another meeting in your office, where you and I can have a follow-up on that discussion we had with him about the Basilisk."
(A/N -By the way, in this chapter I originally used the term "Pride" to refer to a group of Hippogriffs, and my reviewer bluemoon thought that "herd" may be more appropriate. Well, I consulted a reference (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/got_questions_groups_list.html) and I found another option for Hippogriffs -So Dumbledore now refers to a "convocation" of Hippogriffs - this is also used for eagles, and I thought it might work.)