Starstruck II: Saruman's Curse

Duel Club Pt 3 (Hogwarts AU)

The next week, the club met outside on a grassy knoll. There was a scatter of trees off to the side, a shed, a few stumps, and a huge boulder that towered over everyone. After waiting for a while, the group finally looked over and saw Professor Coggshell hobbling over to them from the school. It took her about fifteen minutes for her to reach them, all of them watching her patiently on her way over. Then she took another five minutes to catch her breath before speaking.

"Alright. Today, we'll be doing something different. Ya'll are gonna meet right here in the middle, bow to each other, and then go off and battle. The last one standing is the winner." She explained.

Everyone looked at each other. Last one standing? Cas thought. That was new. New and completely terrifying. He saw his own fear reflected in the faces of his friends. Of course, Luci and Octavius looked thrilled and excited.

Coggshell instructed everyone to their places facing each other. The sky was getting darker and the sunset illuminated the top of the boulder, bathing it in orange light. Coggshell said, "Go!" and they all scattered away from each other. Paris cast a protection spell around herself and ran to the trees. Octavius leapt into action, but his attention was so divided that he just twisted around back and forth, hissing and drooling with excitement.

Matt had disappeared. Luci had disappeared. Cas ran to the shed before he could see where Dean had went. As he rounded the corner of the shed, he reared away from a huge, rusty nail that was sticking out of the wall. Someone was sure to get hurt on that thing. He hid behind the shed and strained his ears to hear people coming. He heard a shout and footsteps running. He heard the footsteps stumble and a body hit the ground, followed by a scream. Cas couldn't tell who it was. His heartbeat quickened and his breathing became labored. Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm, he repeated to himself. He feared that he would not last long; his wand hand was sweating and his grip kept slipping. His knuckles were white and his hands were both shaking.

Just then, someone barreled around the corner of the shed, dodging the rusty nail just as Cas had done, pointing their wand right at Cas. Cas, startled, also pointed his wand at the intruder. It took him several seconds to recognize Dean at the end of his wand. They stared at each other, silently asking if they should lower their wands or not, not wanting to speak for fear of catching the attention of anyone else.

Dean lifted his fingers, then lifted both hands, Cas following suit. They both lowered their wands and put their backs against the shed, side by side. They stayed silent, waiting for any hint of approaching footsteps.

They looked at each other when they heard footsteps making their way to the shed. They lifted their wands and pointed. Paris stumbled around the corner, pointing her wand at the pair when she saw them. They stayed in a silent standoff for a whole minute before Paris whispered, "Please. He's after me."

They all lowered their wands and pulled her against the wall. They stayed there, Paris's breathing the only thing filling the silence.

Startling all of them out of the silence, a screech sounded from above, and a body launched off of the roof, landing right in front of them. Paris screamed and lifted her wand. Octavius rose and turned to face the trio. He had a wide, maniac grin on his face, showing off his sharpened teeth. Paris seemed to be frozen in fear, unable to speak. Dean and Cas both shot spells at Octavius but they bounced away. He had a protection spell around him.

He rushed forward and grabbed Paris's arm. He pulled her away from the shed and flung her to the ground. She rolled, then pointed her wand at him from the ground, shooting a few frantic spells. Dean and Cas both rushed to help her but he shot a "Petrificus Totalus" at both of them, freezing them to the spot. He turned back to Paris, his forked tongue darting in and out in a hiss. She stared up at him, horror in her eyes.