Unofficial Portkey Archive

Thank you to my beta.

* * * * * * * * * *

"He doesn't deserve it."

"Just Snape's little pet."

"He's nowhere near as good as me!"

"I wonder if he can fly?"

Harry could hear the whispers as he entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, and while he did his best to look unperturbed by the rumors, the smallest part of him, the part he retreated to when no one was looking, was stung by the accusations. Sure, he didn't feel like he particularly deserved tenth place on the Master List, but he had been sure someone would give him a little credit.

Judging from the immediate response, everyone thought it was a hoax.

Plopping down next to Blaise, who was far too cheerful for his liking, and Tracey, Harry dug into his food, willing himself not to look up and make eye contact with yet another doubter. To his great surprise, his breakfast was already prepared for him, the eggs scrambled and the bacon extra crispy as he preferred.

"I got the elves to cook you something up in advance. I figured you would need it," Tracey explained.

"Thanks, Trace." Harry sighed gratefully, pleased that he wouldn't have to worry about something else.

"Are you okay?" Tracey asked gently.

"Of course he's okay!" Blaise said, throwing his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Tenth place! You hear that, everyone? TENTH!"

Harry shruggedoff Blaise's arm. "You're not helping," he grumbled.

"Blaise…" Tracey drew out the boy's name, a warning tone evident.

Blaise ignored her, pushing onwards, because in Blaise's mind, the only person that existed was Blaise.

"Why should Harry feel bad about it? Snape and the teachers obviously think he's better than almost all of the kids here. Do you not remember First Year?"

"Everyone remembers First Year," Tracey said with such ferocity that even Blaise quailed and changed the topic.

"Well, I'm not ashamed, and my five hundred Galleons aren't ashamed either. Come on, Tracey; stick up for your friend here."

"Tracey's doing just fine; it's you that needs to shut up," Harry said lightly.

Blaise just laughed, chatting to whoever would listen about the five hundred Galleons he won by placing his bet on Harry.

"Are you okay?" Tracey asked again, leaning in to talk a little more privately with Harry.

"I'm fine." Harry brushed her off, ignoring the disappointed look on her cute, heart-shaped face.

Harry looked up at the Master List again to see if last night and the following morning was all some strange dream, but it wasn't. His name was still emblazoned in gold against the black, seeming to stand out against all of the other names.

10. Harry Potter - Third Year

He could feel someone's eyes on him and turned slowly to find Snape's inquisitive gaze. What was he wondering? Did he want to know how Harry felt? Did he want to know how people were treating him? So many questions ran through Harry's mind, but he concentrated on his breakfast. Let Snape have his little games…for now.

* * * * * * * * * *

Taking the chance to assess the situation as soon as the clamor of his entrance had died down, Harry discreetly looked around to the different House tables. To his immediate left were the Ravenclaws, a buffer to the other two Houses, which were naturally inclined to distrust Slytherins. Ravenclaws, on the other hand, took a more neutral approach to divisive topics.

There were a few curious glances from the Ravenclaw table, but for the most part, they kept to themselves and concentrated on breakfast and the upcoming classes. No doubt they had already reasoned that placing Harry in tenth place was some sort of test by the teachers and the Headmaster. Whoever had come up with that rather sound theory would have already spread it around to all of the other Ravenclaws, subsequently disregarding Harry as just another experiment. Knowledge, or perceived knowledge, spread like wildfire amongst the Ravenclaws, and they clung to that notion.

The Hufflepuffs, naturally, were more skeptical of Harry's placement on the Master List. Though only the more radical Hufflepuffs would ever believe that it was some sort of conspiracy hatched by Harry himself, there were more than a few of them that thought Harry had somehow cheated to get himself to the top of the list. Valuing hard work and honesty above all else, they had to decide whether Harry was worthy of tenth on the Master List or that he had somehow cheated to get to the top. Fortunately, Harry didn't consort enough with Hufflepuffs to pick their brains on the matter.

Then there were the Gryffindors.

Somewhere along the line, it had been decided that Slytherins and Gryffindors just wouldn't get along. What surprised Harry was the vehemence that both Houses stuck to that long-ingrained pattern. Indeed, judging by the vicious and accusatory looks some of the Gryffindors, most notably the Weasleys, were sending his way, they didn't believe Harry deserved tenth on the Master List at all. Or twentieth. Or fiftieth. Or to be on the list at all.

Yet there was one Gryffindor who was looking at him with Ravenclaw-like curiosity. Their eyes met again for the second time in two days, and this time, she was the one that held the gaze. Her head was cocked to the side and she was biting her lip like she was concentrating, trying to gauge him. Harry recognized that expression.

Studious. She's studying me.

A soft voice interrupted his thoughts. "Harry?"

Tearing his gaze away from Hermione Granger's brown eyes, he turned to find Tracey's blue ones. She followed his gaze, and spotted the Gryffindor table, though he doubted she saw who he was actually looking at.

"Don't mind them," she said with a frown on her pretty face. "They're just jealous that the best person they have in Third Year is Granger. Look at Weasley; he looks like smoke is about to come out of his ears."

Ron Weasley was quite red, glaring at Harry as he stabbed his kidney pie repeatedly. Harry could only smile at the ridiculous reaction, even going so far as to give the Weasley a small wave. Obviously, he didn't wave back.

Tracey guffawed at Weasley's sour expression. Harry, for his part, didn't think much of the second-youngest Weasley or most of the Gryffindors. He would have plenty of time to worry about them later. For now, he was content to receive his class schedule for the semester. Tracey guffawed when Harry waved. He turned away from the Gryffindor table, and they grinned at each other. Harry would have plenty of time to worry about them later. For the time being, he was content to receive his class schedule for the semester.

His first rotation for the week was Strategy class with Professor Wendell Trow, a shockingly pale but effective teacher. Strategy was generally used for its namesake: Trow discussed strategies and reviewed past duels. During a duel in Battle class, a converted set of Omnioculars recorded the duels. The information was transported to a set of twenty matching Omnioculars that surrounded the walls of Strategy class. There, students could watch not only their own duels but others as well, replaying them from different angles and slowing them down to examine technique, skills, and weaknesses.

Harry often visited Trow's class because any student could use the Stationary Omnioculars, even if there was a class in session. In his free periods and after classes, Harry spent much time poring over his own duels, trying to find ways to improve and critiquing himself as much as possible.

In his First Year, Harry had found that he was too static in his duels, often moving only a few feet in a small box as he engaged another student. It was only after looking over several duels that he realized what a disadvantage it was to stay so still. After all, it was much more difficult to hit a moving target than it was to hit something that only stayed in a certain area. There was also the added advantage of not expending energy on countless Protego shields. Dodging a spell meant conserving his own energy at the expense of his opponent's.

Of course, once others saw Harry starting to run around all over the place, they started copying his movements, mimicking his highly active approach. Thus, Harry had to come up with a different strategy, or more specifically, more specifically a set of spells that would counter such mobility. Such was the life of Hogwarts Battle School, Harry realized. It was a constant game of adjustments and fine-tuning as each student did as much as he or she could to outwit the others. There were many students who weren't nearly as studious as Harry, though none as poor as Neville Longbottom of Gryffindor.

Harry didn't bother asking Tracey or Blaise for their schedules, because everyone in his year had the same schedule. It was just a matter of which House you were paired up with for each class. Snape believed that unity within each year would help them not only improve each other, but give them them an additional incentive when competing against other Houses for the House matches. Then again, there were people like Malfoy who sought only to take the top of the list, taking out anyone above him. Seeing as Harry and Granger were the only ones who scored higher than him, Harry suspected that Draco would try at least one underhanded tactic over the course of the year.

I have to keep an eye out, he thought as he saw Draco laughing at something with his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Scanning down his schedule, Harry saw that he had Potions, a free period, and then Battle class at the end of the day. A jolt of excitement ran through him at the prospect of having Battle class on the first day of school. The schedules changed every two weeks so that different Houses were always matched in the classes, though it was mostly for the benefit of not being too comfortable facing a certain House all semester in Battle class.

Two loud beeps indicated that breakfast was over and classes were about to begin. According to Hogwarts: A History, the school did not have a bell system before the educational transformation, but Snape had insisted on it to keep a timely schedule. Rushing to gather his bag, Harry jogged to Strategy class with the rest of his year. As it happened, the Gryffindors were moving against the crowd to some other class for that period and they had to walk right at each other.

There was nothing said, at first, but then someone stepped on Harry's foot, then a shove on his shoulder, then another person bumped into him, then Ron Weasley decided to abandon all pretense of subtlety and got a good push right into Harry's chest.

"Watch where you're going, Potter!"

"Apologies. I didn't realize I covered the entire hallway," Harry replied blandly.

"With an ego as big as that, you might as well have."

"I'm sorry, Weasley, I'm sure he couldn't see your ugly mug over that green-eyed monster jumping on your back," Blaise said with a smirk.

"Can't be jealous of a cheater," Ron hissed.

By that time, the Third Year Gryffindors and Slytherins had all stopped right outside of the Great Hall, facing each other in what would have been an amusing show of bravado had they been other Houses. Draco Malfoy leaned against a wall languidly with a practiced expression of boredom on his face.

"I'm with Weasley. I think Potter did cheat to get that high on the list."

Internally, Harry was impressed by how Draco could easily manipulate these kinds of situations. It was a two-pronged barb, one accusing Harry of foul play for being that high on the Master List, and the other catching Weasley in a bind because Malfoy had just agreed with him. In merely two sentences, he had managed to insult Harry and Weasley at the same time while maintaining the dignity of his House.

"Battle class is at the end of the day…with us. We'll see who's cheating then." It was Hermione Granger, stepping up to Ron's side with a blank expression on her face. Her tone betrayed nothing, only stating the facts of the situation with ruthless objectivity. For a moment, Harry wondered why she wasn't in Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor.

"I hope I draw you, Potter." Ron smiled in what must have been a supposedly intimidating manner; fortunately, Harry had seen the boy duel and thought very little of his skills.

"Funnily enough, I hope I draw you too."

With an about face, Harry walked through the rest of the crowd to find Professor Wendell Trow's classroom.

* * * * * * * * *

Trow coughed as he entered the room, wheezing slightly as he rubbed his hand through his thinning, hawkish white hair. While the professor was only supposed to be in his mid-thirties, his complexion aged him considerably. Despite his weak appearance, there was no doubt that Professor Trow was very knowledgeable when it came to tactics and strategy.

"Welcome, Slytherins…Ravenclaws. I trust you all had a good summer? I know I got a little sun myself, though I don't think you can see it that well…"

Laughter from the class brought a smile to Trow's pale face.

"Today, we will be focusing on large group movements. Though there are only ten of you in each House, you can easily extrapolate this situation. Generally, the side with numbers will always have the advantage, but if you are of equal numbers, what is the edge? Can anyone tell me?"

"Skill," said Tracey.

"Strategy, obviously," announced Terry Boot, as if it were truly the most obvious thing in the world.

"Unpredictability," Harry said.

Trow smiled at Harry's answer, coughing before asking, "Why do you say that, Mr. Potter? Those were all good answers, of course, but your answer intrigues me."

"If there are two armies with equal strength, then there would be an appropriate average of talent between them. If one is more skilled than the other, then that is an ingrained edge that one army can't be overcome with equal numbers. But if both armies were equally talented and equally numbered, then the advantage belongs to the army that does the unexpected."

"And do you know which House often does the unexpected?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer Slytherin but shut it when he realized that wasn't the best answer. Slytherins weren't generally known for being unpredictable. Quite the contrary: they were practiced, well rehearsed, and plotted everything to a point.

"Gryffindors," Harry said.

"Very good." Trow nodded. "Unexpectedness in battle is often associated with brave and sometimes foolhardy. There aren't any Gryffindors here, so I won't slander them for too long…hehe…but Mr. Potter does have a point. You have to keep your opponent off-guard, but you also have to keep yourself restrained. Be too unpredictable, though, Mr. Potter, and you'll find yourself with unexpected consequences."

Harry felt that he had just been rebuked, although Trow was genial in his tone. Indeed, a few of the other Slytherins were looking at him strangely for having such a Gryffindor idea, but Harry had said the first thing that came to his head. He resolved to be quieter for the rest of the class, taking in potentially useful information instead of spouting things that would question his commitment to Slytherin.

"I will show you a House match from a previous year, and you will tell me how Gryffindor errs."

Trow levitated a large screen to the front of the classroom and then started the reel that would play a House match. The robes of the two Houses showed that it was Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor. Trow joked that he would not slander Gryffindor too much despite them losing to Hufflepuff in the replay.

It wasn't as if there was no talent in Hufflepuff. There were plenty of standout academics, but as a whole, Hufflepuff did not tend to inspire the same fear as other houses.

The House match was between the Fifth Years. Harry took out his quill and a piece of parchment and jotted down some notes, but he kept his eyes glued to the screen as the match unfolded. It was set in what looked to be a boggy marsh, though Snape often changed the environments and situations during duels and House matches to keep students off-balance and challenge them with different scenarios. The Gryffindors were sprinting through the marsh, divided into two teams as they fired spells at anything that moved.

"As you can see," Trow said over the muted sound of the match, "the Gryffindors have split up into two groups that are running a pincer movement along this river. What are they trying to do?"

"Catch the Hufflepuffs in a crossfire," Tracey said immediately. Harry nudged her knee, winking at her to tell her that he was impressed with her quick answer.

"Correct, Ms. Davis. I will be showing this from the Gryffindor perspective so you have an idea of what they were facing. Now, the Gryffindors have encountered what looks to be a group of Hufflepuffs behind this series of fallen logs. What do you think they should do?" Trow paused the playback, looking at the class expectantly for answers.

"Logically, they should complete the pincer movement and converge on the Hufflepuffs from both sides…but the Hufflepuffs should recognize this movement and try to rebuff them. Then it becomes a matter of how well their defenses hold." Anthony Goldstein walked through the process, revealing his Ravenclaw nature as he broke down the movement step by step.

"Correct again, Mr. Goldstein. So instead of completing the pincer movement, the Gryffindor team on the left side of the bank aggressively pushes forward to try and flank the Hufflepuffs behind their log defense. Thus is the nature of Gryffindor unpredictability. Can someone from each House critique that movement?"

"It is a movement with a high risk-reward ratio," Lisa Turpin of Ravenclaw answered. "The Gryffindors on the left bank break the shape of their attack and try to pincer from a side they perceive as weak, but if the Hufflepuffs catch on, then the Hufflepuffs just have to go back-to-back to face the Gryffindors. It all depends on whether the Hufflepuffs can see the flanking maneuver."

"I think it's idiotic," Draco replied arrogantly. "Why would you risk throwing away the match with something so pointless? If it were me, I would have just stuck with the pincer movement and slowly closed them in. They are Hufflepuffs, after all; it's not like they're going to break the defense."

That's your limitation, Draco. You can't see past the obvious. Trow is trying to teach us a lesson, but you always think you have the answer already. Harry kept that thought to himself, though, as he studied the situation, trying to read what Trow was trying to tell them. Unfortunately, Harry had to agree with Draco. The movement that had the highest chance of succeeding and lowest chance of failure would be to stay with the pincer movement and slowly whittle away the Hufflepuffs. What could Trow be trying to teach them?

"So, how many would stay with the pincer movement?" Trow asked.

Roughly three-quarters of the class raised their hands: almost all of the Slytherins and a majority of the Ravenclaws. Unlike Tracey or Blaise, Harry didn't raise his hand. Tracey caught this, and her hand wavered in uncertainty as it was raised, but she kept it up, not wanting to look foolish.

"What are you thinking, Harry?" she asked quietly.

"There has to be a better way. Unpredictability. What would be unpredictable here?" Harry muttered to her.

The Gryffindors could come together in one formation and attack them straight? That would be idiotic. The Hufflepuffs had a defensible location. Break into three groups, keeping two groups as smaller pincers and having a smaller group try and flank? Yes, that could work. Perhaps that was the answer.

"Any other answers?" Trow asked; Harry raised his hand; "Mr. Potter?"

"What about breaking into three groups? Two of them keep the pincer movement going while one or two Gryffindors try to flank and take the Hufflepuffs. The pincers would be weaker and unlikely to overwhelm the defending Hufflepuffs, but it would at least provide cover for the small group that's flanking."

Harry saw a few Ravenclaws nod at the assessment, agreeing with his logic. Some of the Slytherins, too, cocked their heads as they reexamined the screen, trying to visualize what Harry had said.

"That would be a good maneuver, but is not an unpredictable maneuver. Of course, a flanking tactic would be first in Hufflepuff's priorities as they defended their location. There is a chance that maneuver would work, but the Hufflepuffs would still be expecting it to some degree. Come on, class, what is unpredictable?"

But there was nothing unpredictable Gryffindor could do except immediately charge towards the Hufflepuffs in a kamikaze attack. If they did that, though, they would easily get mowed down from Hufflepuff's defensive location. Since one couldn't Apparate within Hogwarts, there was no chance of flanking without being seen, either.

"Anyone?"

A few of the Ravenclaws opened their mouths, but they were apparently coming to the same conclusion that Harry had reached. There was nothing truly unpredictable the Gryffindors could do at that point that could win the match for them. It would just be a test of skills as they tried to either outmaneuver or out-duel the Hufflepuffs.

"A lesson to be learned for this class: Do not take anything at face value when facing your enemy. I said that Gryffindors were unpredictable and all of you took that notion and stuck with it during the analysis. Still, Gryffindors are not the only ones that can be unpredictable. You laughed in the beginning when you saw that the Gryffindors were defeated by the Hufflepuffs, but you have fallen into the same trap."

He flicked his wand at the projector, and the match continued. The Gryffindors on the left side of the marsh aggressively advanced to flank them the defending Hufflepuffs. As they moved, however, the Gryffindors on the right side of the marsh were suddenly stunned and disarmed as a secondary force of Hufflepuffs took them by surprise from behind. The Gryffindors were so busy rushing the Hufflepuff target that they didn't notice the misdirection.

Once the smaller contingent of Hufflepuffs had taken out half of the Gryffindors, the others holding down the fort easily matched the Gryffindor flanking maneuver, and, outnumbered, the Gryffindors easily lost.

"What is unpredictable is doing something that everyone doesn't expect. You all expected the Gryffindors to have the rash movement when it was the Hufflepuffs who actually devised this trap." Trow's geniality suddenly dropped. He was sterner, his gray eyes passing over the class. "Do not think that just because Hufflepuffs are known for being hardworking and steadfast, they also do not have an ounce of strategy in them. One roll of analysis of a Hufflepuff House Match of your choosing from all of you, due next week."

* * * * * * * * *

Potions was a simple redoing of a potion from the end of their last year. Harry did it in a breeze, ignoring the blubbering mass that was Slughorn. Harry didn't know why Snape kept Professor Horace Slughorn there, except for the purpose of the headmaster's own amusement. The Potions professor was terrified of Snape, and it showed in every moment of the class as he rushed around, trying to make sure everyone's potion was perfect.

Harry thought back to the House match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Something Trow had said caught his attention. Don't take anything at face value. Ironically enough, they were in Potions with the Hufflepuffs. He looked around and tried imagine Ernie MacMillan or Justin Finch-Fletchly performing such a maneuver, but he just couldn't do it. How deep-seated were his perceived notions of the Hufflepuffs when he couldn't even imagine them carrying out such a tactic if he hadn't ever really known them?

But he couldn't very well ask them right there in Potions to gauge how they would approach such a situation. He knew their dueling capabilities well enough and he didn't doubt that he could beat either of them. Ernie had a bad habit of going on the defensive too much, allowing himself to be pushed into a corner. Justin simply didn't have good aim, going wildly off target if he was under any pressure. But together? He didn't know.

They finished Potions, and Harry lounged with Tracey and Blaise during their free period. Blaise was going on about buying things with all of his Galleons, and Tracey was admonishing him for being so reckless with his proposed spending. Still, Harry kept thinking about the match, replaying it in his head to see if he, too, would have fallen for the Hufflepuff trap. Scarily enough, Harry thought he would have.

"Harry, stop thinking about it," Tracey commanded. "All you're doing is constantly going over that match. Can you just stop for a moment to talk to us?"

"Sorry." Harry grinned sheepishly, knowing it would satisfy her for the time being. "But-think about it. Wouldn't we all have fallen for the trap?"

"Harry," Blaise complained, "you have to stop obsessing over duels and matches for just two seconds. You're killing me here. Come on, come up with ideas for spending all these Galleons with me."

"What do you want, Blaise? A Firebolt?"

"A Firebolt would be nice." Blaise stared off into the distance with dramatic wistfulness. "Too bad they don't let us play Quidditch anymore."

"Come on." Harry tried to bring them on topic once more. "Wouldn't we all have fallen for it?"

"This is why you're first in our year and tenth overall. You're demented!" Blaise exclaimed.

Harry ignored Blaise's protests. He knew that if his friend would just apply himself more, he would be much higher than nineteenth on the Years list and potentially even higher on the Master List, but all Blaise ever cared about was having fun and buying as many things as he could. He turned to Tracey, who he knew he could trust to at least have some semblance of competitive conversation.

"Trace? What do you think?"

She sighed, reluctant to be dragged into talking about the match. "I would have fallen for it, yes."

"Doesn't that mean we should reassess our perceived notions of Hufflepuffs? What if we face them in a House match and underestimate them in the same way?"

"Harry, be serious." Blaise decided to join in on that point. "These are Hufflepuffs. Hufflepuffs. Can you imagine Ernie Macmillan, pimples and all, rushing into the marsh to set up early and then flanking us?"

Truth be told, Harry could not. "I don't know. I think there's something to be said for at least thinking about it, though."

Draco approached, flanked by his two cronies. "What's wrong, Potter? Scared of a bunch of Hufflepuffs?"

"Malfoy, why are you here? It's a free period. There's a whole Common Room, and there's also this novel idea of the rest of the castle," Blaise said.

"While I would love to listen to more of Potter's paranoid ramblings about Hufflepuffs, that's not why I'm here." Draco smiled in that cold manner he'd probably perfected by the time he was five. "I was wondering if I could ask Tracey to help me with some Charms. I didn't quite finish my summer work." Draco gave her a big smile, making sure to puff out his chest as he did.

There were warning signs here; Harry could see them. Deciding to intervene on her behalf, Harry said, "You mean the charm to unlock doors? I know you had trouble with it, Draco, but it's called Alohomora. Do you want it in syllables? A-lo-ho-mo-ra. Kind of…kind of like it sounds!"

"Potter, leave the humor to Zabini. You're not as good at it as he is."

Blaise raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. "I do believe that's a compliment."

"Charms," Draco said firmly, the slightest bit of irritation finally showing. "Will you help me with it, Tracey?"

"I doubt you need my help, Draco." Tracey looked at him suspiciously. Harry hoped that she knew how slimy Draco really was.

"Well, it would only make sense to get Charms help from someone as charming as you." Draco smiled at her again.

Oh. He's flirting with her.

"Draco, get out of here. I'd rather not spend the rest of my free period with you," Harry said in a tired voice.

Draco smirked at him, and for the second time in as many days, Harry was met with that I-know-something-you-don't-know face. Harry hoped that he would somehow draw Draco in Battle class today.

"Well, I still need some help, and Charms is on Wednesday. Hope to see you before then, Trace," Draco drawled as he left.

"Trace?!" Harry asked incredulously as soon as he was out of earshot. "Since when does he call you Trace?"

"I don't know." Tracey fidgeted as she watched Draco disappear through the Common Room door. "He's acting weird."

"Weird or in love?" Blaise teased.

Tracey blanched at the prospect, her blue eyes bulging. "No, thank you."

Good.

The rest of the free period was Malfoy-free, thankfully, and so the rest of the Third Year Slytherins came down from their dormitories as the two beeps signaling class was about to start rang through the halls. Battle class was always held in the unique Room of Requirement. The room would reshape to fit the user's needs, so Snape used it as an easy way to construct different scenarios. Students could use it after classes - for training purposes only, and it had to be monitored and approved by a teacher. There were rumors that Snape constantly kept a House-Elf inside to make sure no one used it for anything but practice and classes.

They entered the portrait, the excitement palpable in the air: their first Battle class of the year was about to begin. Inside the Room of Requirement, they were greeted with a large pit filled with jagged rocks. The size of the arena held no clues as to whether Snape wanted a House match or solo duels.

Snape's monotonous yet threatening voice ordered them to sit.

Chairs popped out of the air and the class hastened to seat, obeying the Headmaster's directions. He strode to the front of the group, his hands clasped behind his back and his robe billowing behind him. Snape looked down his hooked nose and surveyed them with a look of only slight disdain. It was better than the look of disappointment that he usually had.

"This year will be your toughest year by far. You will learn spells that are not so easy as a swish and a flick. I will challenge you with scenarios that extend beyond just one-on-ones and pitting Houses against each other. You will have to think, you will have to act with speed and confidence, and you will have to have no fear. Is that understood?"

A chorus of "Yes, sir" was the only answer they could give.

"Before we start formal lessons, I would like to take today to see if your skills have rusted over the summer. Names will be drawn randomly so that you have no preparation as to whom you will fight. Stand!"

The chairs disappeared, and the few students who didn't stand quickly enough toppled over.

"Longbottom, up. It requires your feet, in case you've forgotten," Snape drawled.

Several Slytherins snickered at this, and even Harry had to shake his head at the poor boy's failures. He was still having trouble standing up when Hermione Granger took him by his arm and heaved him to his feet, hissing something at him as she did so.

"So glad you could join us, Longbottom." Snape's icy tone showed his displeasure at being delayed.

"I'm sorry, sir," Longbottom muttered meekly.

Snape snapped his fingers and a piece of parchment appeared in his hand. "Name!"

With an air of inevitability, Snape called the first name.

"Potter."

Harry walked towards the front of the class, right on the edge of the ridge that led towards the pit. He turned around to face his classmates, feeling the rush of wind that the natural valley of the pit produced. Locking eyes with Ron Weasley, Harry smiled at him. Weasley, for his part, didn't look nearly as confident now that Harry's name had been drawn.

"Name!"

Another parchment appeared in Snape's hand(',') and from his seat behind the Headmaster, Harry could easily see the name.

"Granger."

A quiet hush fell over the Gryffindors and Slytherins. They had never actually faced each other out of pure luck during their first two years, even though they had finished as the top two students in both years. To her credit, Granger didn't look intimidated or afraid by any margin as she approached the ledge. There was a strange stillness to her, a confidence that Harry couldn't quite place.

"The rest of the class, against the wall. Potter, Granger, start on opposing ledges and begin on my mark."

Everyone else backed up towards a wall that had a stone barrier coming about chest high. They could all line up and watch the duel from their raised position, and had no fears about stray spells, as Snape's protection charms would block them from coming their way.

"I'll go to the other side," Harry offered.

Hermione shrugged. "If you want."

Harry had chosen the other side for more than chivalrous reasons. There was a larger rock that jutted out at a height taller than him; he could easily fall back to it if he had to. Given the natural cover, Harry was already devising a plan that he could use against Granger. From what he had seen before, she didn't subscribe to his mobile approach, so he could use the natural cover to block her spells and take potshots at her. Of course, there was more to it than that, but it seemed that the environment suited him more than it suited her.

Standing on the ledge, Harry looked up to see Hermione on the other side, about fifty meters away in total distance. To his right, up on the higher platform, the rest of his classmates looked on. Snape stood away from them, closer to Granger than he was to Harry.

"Let's go, Harry!" Tracey suddenly shouted, inviting others to proclaim their encouragement.

"Get him, Hermione! Show that Slytherin punk!"

"You got this, Potter!"

"I'm putting all five hundred Galleons on you, Harry!"

Blaise's statement brought a couple chuckles from the Slytherins and a grin to Harry's face. Hermione smiled, but it wasn't at Blaise's comment. It seemed directed towards Harry. He gave her a slight nod, an acknowledgement of their duel but she just kept on smiling. What does she know?

Harry had once read a Muggle study about how, from an early age, girls were taught differently than boys. Teachers didn't even consciously do this, but they adjusted for each sex. With girls, they constantly drilled them about being proper and gave them encouragements and praise. In contrast, boys were told to behave and that if they weren't good at something, it was because they didn't try hard enough. People seemed to think that from an early age, girls were generally smarter than boys.

The study proposed that if a group of boys and girls were given a difficult problem, one higher than their grade level, girls would give up on it faster than the boys, even though they were smarter. Girls, believing their talent was innate, gave up when they realized they couldn't do it. Boys, taught that they could only improve by trying harder, kept working on the complex problem. Harry had already seen this sort of behavior in Hogwarts' students. Girls, when confronted with a spell they couldn't quite master, moved to another spell. Boys, on the other hand, kept smashing their head against a wall until they perfected a spell.

Harry didn't know why this thought was occurring in his head seconds before Snape would shoot the red sparks indicating they should begin, but he thought that his brain was subconsciously trying to tell him something. It was only later he would realize that it was trying to tell him that Hermione Granger learned differently from most girls.

"Begin," Snape ordered as he shot red sparks from his wand.

Harry jumped down from the ledge, his knees groaning as he landed on solid rock. Neither of them had fired a spell as they situated and Harry took to the opportunity to look around himself from the general safety of the jutting rock he had spotted earlier. All around him, the rocks were clumepd up so he couldn't move freely. Jumping and sprinting and leaping across small chasms would have to be involved, and again, Harry thought that would be to his advantage. He had no doubt that he was more athletic than Granger.

But the rocks still weren't high enough to completely conceal him. At least, not all of them were. This rock that jutted out could, but the others varied in shapes and sizes. Deciding it was time to confront Granger, Harry peeked out and spotted Granger kneeling and performing some sort of spell.

"Expelliarmus!"

The shot flew over her head as she simply ducked to avoid it, almost ignoring the spell altogether. She kept on enchanting some sort of spell on the ground and for a moment, Harry wondered if she was making a weapon. Whatever the spell was, he couldn't allow her to continue. Leaping onto a rock to gain some leverage, Harry cast another Disarming Charm.

This time, she moved, pausing her spellwork to confront him.

"Immobulus!" she cast, moving to her left and ducking behind another rock.

Harry jumped down, the blue spell whizzing over his head as he reset. Looking up, he saw that she was still crouched down, waving her wand over and over again. Annoyed, he shot another Disarming Charm at her, breaking her concentration and forcing her to produce a shield. They traded spellfire once more before Hermione ducked behind another rock.

She's hiding. She doesn't want to confront me out in the open, so she's trying to bait me closer to her.

Harry knew he had the better aim and just needed good leverage to get a clean shot at her. Grabbing hold of a square stone, Harry heaved it towards her left, causing her to jump at the unexpected clash.

"Stupefy!" Harry used the Stunning spell for authority, and Hermione responded with another shield. Harry leapt diagonally, inching closer and closer to her.

"Expelliarmus." His aim was off that time, and he knew she would strike back.

Instead of a Stunner or even an Expelliarmus, though, Hermione fired an odd spell: a Jelly-Legs Jinx that he couldn't quite block. Her use of a First-Year spell annoyed him as he wobbled off the rock and cast Finite on his legs to make it stop. Above him, he could hear some of the Gryffindors laughing.

Harry looked up again, but couldn't find Granger. Deciding that he needed to disrupt her fully to stop her from whatever spell she kept trying to cast, Harry aimed at the rock face.

"Bombarda!"

The wall exploded, and he watched the rocks crumble downwards with grim satisfaction. She would have to come out of hiding. Indeed, she sprinted out into the open and shot an unknown red spell that he had to dodge. By the time he took another shot at her, she was already kneeling behind yet another rock formation.

This is frustrating.

Keep your patience, Potter.

He knew that she was just trying to goad him into coming closer. Harry could try drawing her out, but she seemed content to let him be the aggressor.

"Bombarda!"

It caused Hermione to run again, but as before, she cast a spell at him as she broke cover, distracting him just enough so she could escape to yet another defilade. It was then that he realized she was using his strategy. He had hardly moved after the Jelly-Legs Jinx and instead it was she that was using cover to dodge while he wasted valuable magical energy casting powerful Bombarda hexes. Resolving to limit the number of spells he cast, Harry started approaching her at an angle, leaping from boulder to boulder.

Predictably, she didn't come out for a little while, but she eventually got curious and peeked her head out, firing a spell as he jumped from one rock to another. He dodged it easily and rolled so that he was lying on his stomach behind another boulder. They were only about ten meters from each other, and that was as close Harry was going to get. The duel had to be decided there.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

She blocked the Disarming Charm easily and sprinted towards another granite block, but Harry could see that she had made her grave mistake. The way they were positioned allowed Harry a clear shot if she tried to sprint to her left or right towards another form of cover. The granite block she was hiding behind was isolated on both sides.

"Expelliarmus! Bombarda!"

He shot the two spells in swift succession, knowing he had her pinned. A crash of rocks fell from the rock face and he heard a high-pitched yelp. Harry came out from behind his cover, his wand up, approaching her slowly. She would have to come out, and he already had the bead on her.

If she casts a spell, produce a shield and hex her on the rebound. If she tries to run, take one good shot. If she tries to come out into the open and duel, overwhelm her.

Harry broke down the several scenarios as he took one step after another, slowly closing in on the isolated boulder. Hermione could go nowhere this time and her only choice would be to face him head on and Harry was confident he had the advantage at that point. But then, she did something…unexpected.

She jumped out, her arms exposed, and didn't fire a spell. Granger simply revealed herself and then ducked behind the rock again. Harry shot a Disarming spell, missing as she retreated behind the rock again and then he sprinted towards her in a wide semicircle, firing spell after spell as he closed on her quickly.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! EXPELLIARMUS!"

The last spell finally struck her. He saw it hit her cleanly and knock her further back behind the boulder and out of his sight. Still, he approached the boulder slowly, his wand extended in front of him. Harry came around the boulder to find…

...nothing.

"Hello, Harry," a feminine voice whispered in his ear. He felt the point of her wand against his back.

"STUPEFY!"

* * * * * * * * *

A/N: There was a bit of confusion over a poorly worded segment in the last chapter. To refresh your memories, there are three lists. The overall Master List. The Years List, which lists the rank of everyone in that year regardless of the house. And then the House list, which lists the House in rank according to each year. I had it worded poorly that there was only a Third-Year Slytherin list, when there is not. There is just the Years list instead that lists all of the Third Years.

Anyways, what'd you think of the chapter? Initial thoughts on the characters?

As always, reviews are welcome and thank you for your great reception to this story. I have high hopes for it.

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