Elizabeth Kane and the Chamber of Secrets

Chapter 12

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𝕬𝖙 𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙, 𝕴 met Harry, Hermione, and Ron at the entrance of the Great Hall and then we went in together. Fred, George, and Lee were there too along with multiple other Gryffindors. In fact, I was fairly certain every Gryffindor was here.

The Great Hall looked very different than I was used to. The four house tables were gone and there was a golden stage along one wall. The candles still floated overhead but the ceiling that usually reflected the weather outside had been turned off, revealing only the stone arches that the roof was constructed of. I wondered why that was.

A large majority of the school was packed in here, though I didn't see Cedric or any of the older Hufflepuffs. Heidi had come and had dragged Malcolm with her who looked sulky. Ernie and Zacharias were standing with Hannah, Susan, and Leanne.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Hermione asked excitedly as we pushed our way through the crowd to get to the front row. "Someone told me that Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young- maybe it'll be him."

"As long as it's not-" Harry started and then groaned as Lockhart walked onto the stage, accompanied by Snape. They looked like the most unusual couple. Lockhart was wearing robes of bright plum while Snape wore his usual black.

Lockhart waved his arm for silence, something he immediately got though there were some giggles from the girls. Bloody hell. "Gather round, gather round!" Lockhart called unnecessarily as everyone was already crowded around the golden stage. "Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions- for full details, see my published works."

I groaned, putting my head in my hands. Did he ever not talk about his books? Sure, he'd done some great stuff, but what a bragger!

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart continue. "He tells me he knows a tiny bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry- you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear."

I started to giggle and I covered my mouth with my hand. I'm sure he had 'sportingly' decided to kick Lockhart's arse.

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron hissed in Harry's ear. I overheard and giggled harder. I needed to get a grip on myself. I pinched my lips together and looked up. Snape's lip was curling. His eyes flicked over for the briefest second to meet mine. I wasn't sure what my face looked like, probably amused.

They turned to face each other and bowed. Then, they raised their wands and I had a mental image of them starting to fight with their wands like swords. This brought on another onslaught of giggles. I needed a silencing charm done on me.

"As you see, we are holding your wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course." Lockhart said, motioning to their uplifted wands.

"I wouldn't bet on that." Harry muttered. I giggled for what was probably the fourth time, watching Snape bare his teeth.

Both of them swung their wands over their heads and pointed them at each other. Snape yelled, "Experlliarmus!" while Lockhart said nothing at all. There was a bright scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet. He flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the stone wall, narrowly missing a torch light, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.