Clubs! -Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery

Dancing Lessons

Sarah and Charlie walked through the passageway to the Dragon Clubhouse nearly late for her first meeting.

The clubhouse was in pandemonium. Students were running all over the place. There were kids on brooms thinking of more and more creative ways to cross the gap, hoping from one broom to the other. Students dueling in the back of the room, far more than Sarah reckoned was allowed at a time. There were also students running about the room playing a new game they invented that involved pelting bludgers at each other. There was so much chaos that even Peeves was in on the fun, chucking the dark artefacts at students, who laughed as they dodged and blasted them out of the way with their wands.

 It was daring that bordered on stupidity. Sarah realized that as much as she liked Care of Magical Creatures and Transfiguration, this was the place for her.

Shortly after they arrived, McGonagall strode in, taking in the nonsense with a fierce gaze. Tamera Hall, The Dragon Club Presiden,t noticed her at once and called the club to order with a magically magnified voice. Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to the front of the room to sit down in front of Hall. Sarah and Charlie joined Andre and Tonks on the floor. Sarah saw that the Dragon Club consisted of a fairly diverse group of students, though the majority of students were fifth year and older, and there seemed to be more Gryffindors overall.

McGonagall took a seat on a stool near the door. "She's the club sponsor," said Charlie. "She doesn't do much, just makes sure it doesn't get too rowdy." Sarah wondered what on earth 'too rowdy' meant, if what she just witnessed didn't qualify.

There was still a lot of chatter until Hall stomped and shouted, "Dragons, roar!"

Everyone gave their loudest dragon roar and fell silent. Sarah laughed at the ridiculousness. Charlie was last to finish his roar, a somewhat melodic tune.

"That was a Welsh Green," he explained to much laughter.

"Alright, we've got a few announcements before we begin the activities for today," said Hall. She pulled out a scroll and read aloud. "You'll notice on the board to my right, every member's name is written down on a scale with points. Teachers now have the power to award Dragon points for excellent performance in Dragon classes and activities, for example turning in the best essay in your Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, or winning a quidditch match. When you earn points, they will be counted on the board. Get a certain amount of points, and you will earn rewards, such as additional visits to Hogsmeade, becoming a senior member, and so on. At the end of the year, whichever of the three clubs has the most total points, will receive an additional award. So go out and earn those Dragon points!"

The members broke out in another dragon roar. 

"Next, you'll see that the first reward on the board is creature food. Professor Kettleburn is offering free creature food for those who participate in the Magical Creature Reserve's Creature Adoption program. He will earn points for those who do exceptional work in Care of Magical Creatures. See Professor Kettleburn for more details. He also says to act fast if interested, because the Hippogriffs have nearly cleaned out his extra stores."

Sarah made a note to talk to Kettleburn about that. Creature food was difficult to come by.

"Next, Andre Egwu will be selling Dragon Club Pride badges after this meeting is over for three galleons a piece. Proceeds will go towards supplies to make Dragon Club uniforms Andre will be designing for us. The teachers have confirmed that the badges are not accepted as part of the official school uniform, and therefore cannot be worn during classes or mealtimes, but are permitted any other time and are always allowed on bags. See Andre after the meeting for more details.

"Finally, there have been rumors that the teachers are organizing the first of many contests between the three clubs. We do not know for sure what this will be, but the winning club will receive points to help them when the overall competition at the end of the year. We will be tested on our strengths, so make sure you're doing everything you can to strengthen your dragon skills. We will give you more details as soon as we receive them."

She refolded the scroll. "Furthermore, I'm happy to announce that the Dragon Clan has a new member. Sarah Spellman, please stand."

Sarah did, feeling rather self-conscious.

"Everyone, welcome Sarah to the clan!"

There was another loud dragon roar from the crowd. Sarah waved and sat back down.

"Now," said Hall, "for today's activity, we are continuing to explore Diego Caplan's claim that being a good dancer will make one a better dueler. Remember, Flitwick is prepared to offer Dragon points for our analysis of this claim. As such, Diego has volunteered to teach us some dance lessons. Diego."

Diego swept up to the floor as Hall sat down. "Thank you," he said. "I promise you all will see the benefits of dancing to the art of dueling. Today, I will be teaching," he stepped one leg forward dramatically, and made an odd flourishing movement with his arms, "the tango.

"This is a muggle dance that will help you become more graceful and balanced, as well as daring, in your duels. Allow me to demonstrate. Sarah, will you kindly be my partner?"

Sarah blanched. "I'm really not much of a dancer."

"Perfect," said Diego. "I will demonstrate that I can teach anyone to dance."

Charlie pushed her and she stumbled on her way to the floor. Diego waved his wand at a gramophone, which came to life with fast-paced, romantic music.

Sarah's cheeks flushed as Diego led her through the complicated steps, shying away from him as he pulled her closer. "Be close, Sarah, it is a very romantic dance."

Sarah glanced back at McGonagall, hoping she would put a stop to the promiscuous behavior, but she just stared on. Sarah caught Charlie and Tonks laughing, and wanted to shoot them a rude gesture, but couldn't without McGonagall seeing.

The dance was fast and intimate. Sarah stepped on Diego's feet about a hundred times, but he was very patient with her. It was nothing like dancing with Barnaby at the Celestial Ball. Then, there had been no pressure, they'd just moved along to the music, laughing at how ridiculous they looked. And she certainly hadn't been this close to Barnaby. Diego's whole body seemed pressed against her; she knew her cheeks must be as red as Charlie's hair.

When they finally went through a few steps without Sarah messing up, Diego spun her away and bowed to great applause. Then, everyone got into pairs and practiced their tango. Sarah squealed once when she felt someone pinch her bum. She was ready to slap the pretty, white teeth out of Diego's mouth until she realized it had been Tonks as she danced by with Charlie.

The rest of the meeting passed in this fashion, with Diego occasionally stopping to teach them new steps. Sarah got to dance with a lot of different people. Andre was probably her favorite dance partner, though she also enjoyed dancing with Tonks, who was even more uncoordinated than she was. By the end of the night, Sarah got used to the intimacy of the tango and found she'd quite enjoyed herself.

Once the meeting was over, she bought herself a Dragon badge from Andre and went back to the common room, eager to get off her sore feet and study a bit with Rowan before bed.