That week, notices were posted in the four house common rooms that a Duelling Club would be starting on Thursday night. Harry and Hermione were especially excited by the news.
“It’ll be nice to finally get some professional instruction in the subject,” Hermione said to anyone who would listen. “We asked Professor Flitwick about setting up a club last winter.”
“Yeah, except he said he’d need some help to do it,” Harry commented. “I hope he didn’t get Lockhart.”
“Why not? I’m sure Professor Lockhart is a great duellist with all the things he’s done.”
“He says he’s done,” Harry countered.
Unfortunately for Harry, Lockhart was indeed Flitwick’s assistant. The Duelling Club met in the Great Hall, where a long duelling platform had been set up with permanent ward stones set up at the corners that would allow people to pass through, but not spells. The turnout was good, with first years up through seventh years looking excited to learn the art and a few (like Malfoy) bragging about their own independent training.
To begin, Professor Flitwick hopped up on the stage. “Good evening, good evening,” he squeaked, “and welcome to the Duelling Club. It’s good to see so much interest in this noble sport. The last Duelling Club at Hogwarts sadly fell apart nearly thirty years ago, but when a couple of students suggested we restart it last year—” He glanced at Harry and Hermione out of the corner of his eye. “—I knew it was an idea whose time had come. Duelling is an excellent sport to learn advanced spells, quick thinking, tactics, and the elements of self-defence. Of course…I may be biased.” Many people laughed at that. “Now, as I am sadly very busy, I shall merely be popping in for lessons from time to time, while the regular meetings will be organised by Professor Lockhart, whom I am…sure is quite skilled at the sport as well.”
Flitwick’s voice went very sarcastic on that last sentence, and he looked rather unhappy with the choice, but Lockhart didn’t seem to notice. He bound up on the platform, flashing his trademark smile, and swept his arms over the Hall. “Hello, hello! Gather round!” he said. “Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! When Professor Flitwick approached me with the suggestion to start a Duelling Club, I was delighted. It’s a little outside my field of expertise, of course, but duelling isn’t too far removed from defence, and I am happy to help teach you to defend yourselves from both wizard and beast, as I have done on countless occasions—for full details, see my published works.”
Flitwick visibly rolled his eyes.
“Now, of course, we’ll be following student duelling rules in this club: no dark spells, no serious injuries, that sort of thing. They’re much more limited rules—more narrow, admittedly, but that’s in order to ensure your safety, of course. In a full honour duel, the rules are much looser—anything goes short of death, maiming, and Unforgivable Curses. Yes, honour duels are far more serious business than anything we’ll be doing here.
“But, we will still be abiding by the Duelling Code—honour, professionalism, and all that. So let’s have a demonstration, shall we? Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape.”
At that, a dour, dark-robed figure stepped up from the edge of the Hall, glowering at the Defence Professor, no doubt unhappy at being called anyone’s assistant. “What’s Professor Snape doing here?” Hermione whispered to Harry.
“Maybe he wanted the first crack at Lockhart,” Harry whispered back.
“Maybe they’ll finish each other off,” Ron muttered.
YOU ARE READING
Harry Potter - The Accidental Animagus
FantasyHarry escapes the Dursleys with a unique bout of accidental magic and eventually winds up at the Grangers' house. Now, he has what he always wanted: a loving family, and he'll need their help to take on the magical world and vanquish the dark lord w...
