PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

26 || Parselmouth

A Muggle-born had been attacked.

Harry spent the night in the hospital wing, and the next morning, he rushed to Katie at breakfast to tell her that Colin Creevey had been brought in during the night — petrified.

Katie's face was horror struck.

"That's not all," Harry continued, sitting himself down. "Dobby paid me a visit last night."

"The house elf?" Katie inquired. Harry nodded.

"He said that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before, and I've got a hunch that it was Mr Malfoy that opened it. Oh, and you won't believe it! The gateway sealing itself? The rogue Bludger? It was all Dobby — all part of his plan to keep me away from Hogwarts."

And so the plot thickens.

***

Katie and her friends had signed up for a Duelling Club that was advertised on the wall by the Great Hall.

"It can't hurt to try it out." Ron had said.

So, that evening, Katie, Harry, Ron and Hermione made there way down to the Hall. The tables had vanished and, at the end of the hall, there sat a long, golden stage. The room was packed with students, most of whom were first and second years. Katie spotted Chris and Niall, and their friend Oscar. She sent them a friendly smile and wave.

"Oooh, I can't wait to see who'll be teaching us!" Hermione said excitedly. "Someone told me Flitwick was a duelling champion when he was young, maybe it'll be him.

Ron had just opened his mouth to say that he didn't care who taught them, as long as it wasn't Lockhart, when lo and behold, Professor Lockhart, flashing his dazzling smile and dressed in plum robes, strode onto the stage and gave a little bow. He was joined by none other than Professor Snape, who couldn't have looked more bored if he tried.

"Gather round! Gather round!" Lockhart called out. "Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"

Harry leaned across to Katie and muttered, "Lets get out of here while we still can."

The girl chuckled.

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourself as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works."

"Does he ever shut up?" Ron grumbled, earning a slap on the arm from Hermione.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling 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!" Lockhart laughed to himself.

"It'd be great if they finished each other off, wouldn't it?" Katie joked, making Harry and Ron snort.

Lockhart and Snape stepped up close to each other and whipped out their wands, holding them in front of their own faces. They then flipped them down, bowed curtly, and turned their backs on each other. Once the Professors had reached opposite ends of the stage, they wheeled back around and aimed their wands at each other as though they were swords.

"One... two... three..." Lockhart said.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape yelled. With a burst of light, Lockhart was flung backwards. He let out a yell as he landed on his back and his wand flew from his grasp. Harry and Ron both laughed.

"Oh, do you think he's all right?" Hermione whimpered.

"Who cares?" Ron said.

Lockhart bounced back to his feet, still sporting his smile. "Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm — as you see, I've lost my wand — ah, thank you, Miss Brown." Lockhart babbled to cover up his embarrassment. "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, and if I had wanted to stop you, it would've been only too easy."