Ancient: The Legacy of Slytherin

Dragon in the Room

Fifth year. Monday. 7 months before the Goblin Rebellion.

Professor Weasley informed me that my first class at Hogwarts would be Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Hecat. Imelda told me that Hecat was something called an "Unspeakable" before she became a Professor and was only 43 years old, although her appearance suggested she was much older. Apparently, somewhere in her line of work she had miscalculated her time travel and ended up aging herself considerably in the process. It sounded terrifying.

As I rounded the door to the classroom, I heard a commotion inside. Two students appeared to be fighting each other with their wands, and I wasn't surprised to see that one of them was Sebastian Sallow, whose back was to the door. The other faced the door and appeared to be a Gryffindor with bright red hair. He was tall, taller than Sebastian but not quite as tall as I remember Ominis. When I walked in, he turned his focus away from the fight and onto me. Sebastian took advantage and sent him flying backwards with a spell I didn't recognize.

"Focus, Leander! Is that all you got?! Merlin when will I finally have a real opponent to duel?"

Leander returned his focus to the duel and cast back at Sebastian, who expertly deflected upwards, sending Leander's cast into a giant skeleton hanging from the ceiling. I hadn't looked up since entering, but the skeleton appeared to be a dragon. I shuttered at my last memory of a dragon. Suddenly, the head broke off and went spiraling towards Leander until someone shouted "Arresto Momentum," stopping the skull before it crushed him. It was Professor Hecat, who expertly placed the skeleton head back where it belonged.

"Kill each other on your own time, and try not to involve one of my most prized possessions in the process."

"Sorry, Professor Hecat." They both apologized simultaneously.

We all took our seats as Hecat began the lesson. I enjoyed listening to her- she was so knowledgeable, which was clearly based on years of experience in the field. I felt eyes on me again, and when I looked up, Sebastian was shamelessly staring at me and smirking.

When there were five minutes left in class, she suggested we wrap up with a duel to usher in the new school year. The class became excited and everyone except me raised their hands to volunteer.

"Ah yes, the new fifth year. How about you start us off, dearie? Mister Sallow, you'll be Miss Gene's opponent."

Oh Merlin, anyone but him. He nearly killed Leander before class! I didn't possess the spell knowledge to successfully duel anyone, let alone someone as...reckless as him.

He strode past me confidently. "Hello Arabella Gene. Time for a proper Hogwarts welcome."

Whatever that meant. I felt the pull again.

We assumed our positions at either end of the dueling table, which Professor Hecat summoned up from the ground. It was intimidating to suddenly be exposed to the amount of magic within these walls.

"Alright, let's have a clean duel. The first person to push the other from the platform wins. Commence!" Hecat clapped her hands together and the class started to cheer.

Sebastian wasted no time taking the offensive, casting Depulso at me. I didn't even know what that spell did! I blocked him with a successful Protego and attempted a Stupefy, but he deflected it. I tried casting Levioso, one of the literal three spells I knew, but he successfully blocked and hit me with a Stupefy. I stumbled back a bit, but recovered quickly and sent a basic cast combo his way. Only one landed, and he let out a small "Ow." The tides shifted when he cast Expelliarmus and my wand flew out of my hand.