The Dark Side (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 5: Snakes

          I had almost entirely forgotten about the Chamber of Secrets, there hadn't been any attacks, and the voices had all but left. Until after the Quidditch match. The voices crept along the walls of the dormitory. I closed my eyes and clenched the green blanket so hard my knuckles turned white.
          "It's entirely normal," I repeated to myself over and over. Then a terrifying thought popped into my head. The last time I heard those voices, Mrs. Norris was petrified. Someone else is going to be petrified too. Maybe not. Maybe I'm having a nightmare. Everyone will be alright, and they'll leave. As soon as I finished my thought, the voices left to find its prey. I had a hard time getting back to sleep, and it was scarce at that.
          The next afternoon we had Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Draco was dreading it and being honest, I was too. We walked into the classroom.
          "Oh, no," said Crabbe. Draco had an evil smile on his face. There was a very long duelling stage in the middle of the room.
          "Gather 'round! Gather 'round! Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent," he was wearing the most peculiar robes I had ever seen. It had what looked like some ancient Quidditch under-robes complete with half of a cape. "In the light of the dark events of the recent weeks, Professor Dumbledor has granted me permission to start this little duelling club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves. As I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details see my published work," he removed the half cape and threw it into the crowd. The girls all gasped and fought over it. "Let me introduce you to my assistant, Professor Snape!" we all turned to see if it was the real thing. But there he was, arms folded and with his usual scowl, he walked up onto the stage.
          "Lockhart is toast," whispered Draco. I snickered.
          "He has sportingly agreed to help me with the demonstration. Now I don't want you, youngsters, to worry. You'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him. Never fear," Draco rolled his eyes. They walked to the centre of the stage, wands ready. They faced each other, then turned. They reached their respective ends and pointed their wands at each other. "One, two, three!"
          "Expelliarmus!" Snape's powerful spell threw Lockheart to the very back of the stage. Most kids laughed.
          "An excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape. But if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you, it would have been too easy."
          "Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the student to block unfriendly spells, Professor," he looked doubtful.
           "An excellent suggestion, Professor Snape! Let's have a volunteer, uh... Potter! And Weasley, how about you?"
          "Weasley's wand causes devastation of the simplest spells, you'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox. Might I suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy perhaps?" Draco was already up on the stage when Snape summoned him. Snape went to the back of the stage, and Draco went to the middle, waiting for Harry. They mirrored the two professors.
          "On the count of three cast your charms to disarm your opponent. Only disarm. We don't want any accidents here. One, two..."
          "Avertaies!" Draco yelled. The spell sent Harry flying back to Lockheart's feet. All the Slytherins, including me, laughed at the 'Boy Who Lived'. He got up to look at a very proud Malfoy.
          "Rictusempra!" Harry yelled in turn. It was Draco's time to fly back. One look at Snape and he was being pulled up by his collar.
          "Serpensortia!" a huge snake flew from Draco's wand. It looked around, hissing. That's what other people heard anyway. I heard it speaking, looking for its prey.
          "Don't move, Potter, I'll rid it for you," Snape walked up to him, but was interrupted by Lockheart.
          "Allow me, Professor Snape," he cast his spell, which I had never heard before. It only threw the snake into the air, and it landed right back where it had been before, but now it was angry. Harry now moved towards it and did something I never thought anyone else could do. He spoke to the snake in Parseltongue. My jaw fell open. As the snake moved closer to one of the students, he egged it on more. Harry was asking it to leave them in peace. Now the snake turned to him. Snape killed it with a simple burning spell. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I didn't even notice all the kids staring at him. All I could do was stare at the cheap material of the stage cover. "Class dismissed," said Lockheart. The entire class left, even Harry's best friends. I stayed at the back of the crowd with him.
          "I can do it too," I walked away, catching up with Draco.