It’s Time to Duel!

School was surprisingly normal with a monster roaming around the castle. It took Hermione a few days to settle down after receiving her parents' reply to her letter. After seeing the letter that absolved her and allowed her to stay at school, and after Rose implied that she was brainwashing Hermione's parents, Hermione began to relax. If not for Lockhart starting a dueling club on Saturday, Hermione might have forgotten all about the Basilisk in the pipes.

"Welcome, everyone," Gilderoy said after everyone had gathered in the Great Hall Saturday afternoon. "Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to hold this little dueling club so that we may all be prepared for when the Basilisk comes around. Now, I know what you're all thinking: 'How could we possibly be as good as you, Professor Lockhart?' Don't worry, I'll only be giving a demonstration, none of you will have to duel me." He chuckled.

A hand went up in the audience. Despite the hand being covered in a large glove, indicating that it belonged to the absolute last person that Gilderoy wanted to ask questions at his exhibition, he maintained his composure. It would be easy enough to keep the spotlight off her until the right moment.

"Yes, Ms. Peta-Lorrum?" he asked.

"Why isn't Professor Flitwick teaching this?" she asked. "He's a retired dueling champion. It seems like he'd be more qualified to teach a dueling club."

"A good question, Ms. Peta-Lorrum!" Gilderoy said. "The problem that we now face is that a basilisk is roaming free within the once safe confines of the castle. I have something that all of your other professors lack, making me the most qualified to be teaching this: Real world experience. Yes, that's right, I've taken on more monsters than any of you could shake a wand at, and I'm sure there will be plenty more to come."

Up went the gloved hand.

"Yes?"

"How come you haven't added the Basilisk to that list yet?"

Was she trying to get on his nerves? Fortunately, Gilderoy was no stranger to hecklers.

"Well, my dear, I don't know where it is! Otherwise, I'd have–"

"Why don't you look for it?" the girl asked.

"It's not that simple, you see–"

"Have you been looking for it?" she asked. "There have been two incidents. You could start by looking near the sites of both of them!" She grinned cheerfully, looking for all the world like she thought she was helping him.

Gilderoy saw right through the girl's sweet and innocent routine. He knew she was rotten underneath it all. It was just a matter of drawing the rotten inside to the outside for everyone to see. Not even her friends would talk to her after he was through with her.

"Ms. Peta-Lorrum, as you seem so well-informed, why don't you help me with my demonstration?" Lockhart said.

She whispered something to Granger, then hopped up onto the platform across from Gilderoy.

"First we both draw our wands," Gilderoy said, drawing his wand from his robes.

He looked up and saw that Peta-Lorrum had her wand in her hand.

"Very good," he said. "Next we bow."

He bowed graciously, flashing a toothy grin as he did. To his delight, he heard a few giggles from the audience.

As he bowed, he saw that the crimson-haired girl curtsied.

"Alright, close enough," he said. "And now, we duel."

He watched his opponent carefully, waiting for her to make the first move. Whatever she did, he was ready for it. Gilderoy had prepared specifically for this duel, and there was no way that she could defeat him. He was ready with counterspells and hexes, confident that there was nothing that girl could do that would surprise him.

After all, he was no stranger to the efficient use of rumors to further one's reputation. Gilderoy knew that this girl was all talk, despite her trick with the fire a few weeks ago. She was an open book to him, and he knew he'd have no trouble taking her down.

Gilderoy raised his wand, hoping to trick the girl into attacking early. To his fortune, the girl waved her wand, and Gilderoy readied himself for whatever it was she was doing.

As he had anticipated, he began to rise into the air. He had learned that this was her favorite trick, and knew a trick to counter it. Gilderoy couldn't find the spell she was using, but it involved making everything in the affected area float up to the ceiling.

Gilderoy waved his wand and pointed it at his shoes. Instantly, they became far heavier than they had been. But instead of falling back down to the ground, he flew up faster. He realized that she wasn't propelling him upward, but had somehow reversed the way he fell.

"Very good, Ms. Peta-Lorrum," he said, regaining his composure. He pointed his wand at his feet, which were now suspended at the boundary of her spell.

"Flydende skive," he cast, causing a disc to appear beneath his feet. He stood up, adjusting himself to his new world view. "See class, it always pays to be prepared for anything your opponent can do."

"Well said, Lockhart," Rose replied as she snapped her fingers.

Gilderoy realized what she was doing the moment he felt himself falling. Now, his shoes were four times heavier than they were supposed to be, which meant he was going to hit the ground harder when he landed. Quickly, he waved his wand and shouted "Arresto Momentum!"

Thankful that he had finally got the spell right, he gently touched the ground below. Not wasting a second, he aimed his wand at his opponent.

"Expelliarmus!"

Gilderoy grinned when the girl's wand vanished from her hand, but his grin faded when it reappeared a few seconds later. How had she done that? It wasn't long before Gilderoy realized that her wand hadn't just reappeared in her hand, it had sprung out of something. She had a backup! Of course! She kept a backup wand hidden in her sleeve. It was clever, but not clever enough.

Gilderoy raised his wand and fired another spell at the girl. "Flipendo!"

The girl was thrown back, tumbling through the air. She tucked and rolled in midair, then reached out her hand and steadied herself. Bringing her legs down along her body, she placed both feet on the ground, then stood up and grinned at him.

"You've been holding back on us, Lockhart," she said. "That's five spells you've done without hurting yourself! Very good!"

Gilderoy readied himself for another bizarre spell, but none came. What was she doing? It was as if she were waiting for something. He threw another flipendo at her, but she simply dodged aside it.

She twirled around his next few attempts, as if she were dancing. After nearly a minute, Gilderoy realized that she was humming a tune as she dodged aside his attacks. She was dancing! The crimson-haired girl's eyes were closed as if she were off in her own little world! She didn't even consider him a threat!

After a moment, the girl opened her eyes. Gilderoy wasn't sure what was happening, but he didn't like the look the girl was giving him. He also didn't have the faintest idea why she just patted herself on her head.

Peta-Lorrum raised her wand, then said, "Tar elom dekan!"

Before everyone's eyes, Lockhart began to shrink. His clothing melded into his body as he shrank. Lockhart's neck expanded, and his hair shriveled away. His skin became wrinkled as his entire body turned pink. His jaw protruded an inch from his face, and his front teeth expanded. Lockhart's arms and legs disappeared into his body, and he dropped his wand. As it clattered to the floor, it was joined by a small, pink rodent.

Gilderoy looked around him, panicking as he realized what had happened. He had been turned into a rodent. What was he supposed to do now? He hadn't planned on this!

Rose approached the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, looking down at him with just a hint of arrogance.

By that time, their duel had attracted the attention of most of the students and staff.

When Severus had heard that Lockhart would be pretending to duel, he had ensured that he would have time to watch. When he had arrived and saw that Lockhart's opponent was none other than Peta-Lorrum, he had nearly laughed. Not only did that guarantee that Lockhart would be put in his place, but it gave him a chance to see Peta-Lorrum harass someone other than him for a change.

"Well," Rose said, approaching the rat that had once been their teacher. "I guess that means I win." Waving Serendipity over Lockhart, she restored the teacher back to his original state. Rose smiled at her teacher as if she were a predator eyeing its meal, then curtsied.

As Gilderoy watched the girl hop off the stage, he decided that as soon as possible, he was gone. He'd work through the rest of the year if necessary, but once summer came, that was it. Gilderoy was ready to leave Hogwarts and never look back. It wasn't worth it.

"Yes, very…" Gilderoy cleared his throat. "Well done, Ms. Peta-Lorrum."

"That was brilliant," Hermione whispered as her friend rejoined their group.

"I was surprised that Lockhart could do all of that," Ron said.

"He practiced," Rose said. "He was planning that, but I don't think it went according to plan."

"He probably didn't plan on getting turned into a weasel," Ginny scoffed.

"Rat," Hermione corrected her. "Naked mole rat, to be precise."

"How do you know that?" Ginny asked.

"Cos she suggested it!" Rose exclaimed, putting her arm around Hermione. "Brain's so clever!"

"'Brain'?" Hermione asked.

"I give all my friends nicknames!" Rose exclaimed. "Brain, Scarface, Princess, Moon, Cohort… I haven't got one for you yet, Ginny. I'll work on one!"

"Thanks, Rose," Ginny said.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Well, Brain is better than any other nickname I've ever had," Hermione said. "I'll take it."

"That's the spirit!" Rose exclaimed.

"Alright everyone, settle down," Lockhart said, regaining control of the room. "Now, why don't we have a demonstration from some of your classmates?" He flashed another smile at his audience. "Who would like to volunteer?"

Many hands went up within seconds, but Gilderoy saw one hand go up faster than the rest.

"Mr. Malfoy, I believe I saw your hand first," Lockhart said. "Come on up here."

Draco smirked as he walked up to the platform. Like Lockhart, he had been planning on this, although he was thrilled that he wouldn't have to wait long. Unlike Lockhart, he wasn't going after Peta-Lorrum. Draco had learned many times over that she was out of his league, but he had learned that there were better ways of getting under her skin than with force.

"And who would you like as your opponent?" Lockhart asked the Slytherin.

Still smirking, Draco looked towards Peta-Lorrum and her friends. Peta-Lorrum wasn't his target. Instead, he was going after the weakest member of her group. He had it all planned out.

"Her," Draco said, pointing at none other than Sally-Anne Perks.

Rose, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, and Ron all looked at Sally-Anne.

"Alright, Ms. Perks," Lockhart said. "Why don't you come up here?"

"Go get 'em, Princess," Rose whispered. "You've got this."

"I can't," Sally-Anne said.

"Come on up, Ms. Perks!" Lockhart said.

As Sally-Anne hesitantly began her journey to the steps of the platform, Rose expended her one use of sending for that day.

<Professor Babbling, she needs you. Now.>

Bathsheda wasn't immediately sure why she suddenly heard Rose Peta-Lorrum's voice in her head, but when she saw the crimson-haired girl staring at her, she knew at once what she needed to do. The Ancient Runes Professor quickly made her way to intercept the dirty-blonde Gryffindor on her way up to the dueling platform.

"Sally-Anne," she whispered. "Make sure your hands are completely visible. The rune doesn't work as well otherwise."

"Professor?" Sally-Anne said. "I thought you said–"

"Don't worry about what I said before, worry about what I'm saying now." Bathsheda glanced over at the smug Slytherin intending to tear down her pupil. The same Slytherin that had left Sally-Anne and her friend for dead over a year ago. The same Slytherin that had tormented dozens of students. "Show that pompous git who's boss."

Sally-Anne smiled at the Ancient Runes Professor, then said, "I'll make you proud."

Sally-Anne took a deep breath and walked up on top of the platform.

"Just as Ms. Peta-Lorrum and I did," Lockhart said. "First, both of you draw your wands."

Draco drew his wand from his robes as his opponent mirrored him.

"Then bow."

Still smirking, an expression he had practiced for hours in front of the mirror for no other reason than he felt like it, Draco bowed to his prey.

"Then duel!"

This would be easy. Draco had considered going after Peta-Lorrum, but after that display, he wasn't going anywhere near her. But Perks wouldn't fight back. She was too scared, and probably still shaken up after her incident last week. Granger could become a problem, although a few quick insults usually tore her down to size, and even though Weasley wasn't good at magic, he was stubborn. Draco had actually considered Potter until he remembered that Perks had just been attacked a week ago. Strike while your opponent's weak, his father had said. It was perfect.

Draco raised his wand. "Locomotor Mortis!"

He wasn't sure if a leg locker curse was the right way to open the duel, but he didn't care. It would get the job done, and let him mess with his opponent for a while afterwards while she was helpless.

An orange bolt lanced out of his wand towards his opponent. As he had been informed by Professor Snape, most magic manifested itself as a bolt of some color at first. It was something about concentration and control, and one could remove the bolt with more practice, similar to the way that one could remove the incantations as well. Until then, he had to settle for people knowing exactly the kind of curse he had just used. Not that it mattered. Draco knew that he was going to win either way.

To Draco's surprise, Perks lowered her wand and raised her left hand. She flexed her fingers, revealing what looked to be a tattoo of several interlocking circles. Wait, was that some sort of rune? What was it doing on her hand?

"Strada!"

A translucent disc appeared between Perks and Draco. His curse shot right into it, hitting the disc like a rock landing in a pond. Ripples were sent through the disc as it took the full force of the curse, leaving his opponent unharmed.

Draco gaped at his opponent. What was that? The mudblood had to be cheating somehow! This reeked of Peta-Lorrum!

"What?!" Draco shouted. He turned to Professor Snape. "She's cheating! She didn't even use her wand!"

Severus didn't know what it was any more than Draco did, but he knew who was responsible.

Bathsheda.

She had taken the girl under her wing. This was all Septima's fault. Those two were always trying to top one another. Septima had taken on a prodigy, so Bathsheda had to find one of her own.

That answered that, but where had Perks learned to use that rune like that? A normal second-year's reflexes shouldn't be nearly that refined. Okay, his might have been at that age, but his had to be. Perks ran with Peta-Lorrum; she shouldn't need reflexes like that.

Severus realized it was a stupid question the moment he thought it.

She runs with Peta-Lorrum.

Severus glared at Peta-Lorrum, who smiled back at him once she realized he was glaring at her.

What did you do?

Monday

After leaving Myrtle's bathroom Monday morning, Sally-Anne and Rose returned to the Room of Requirement. Sally-Anne looked around the room, still amazed that a door had appeared before her eyes. Sure, she was in a school where they learned to use magic, but it was still amazing to see. There was a cobblestone floor around them, matched by the walls and ceiling. Mounted across one wall were what appeared to be several crossbows, and two other walls were lined with targets.

"Alright, Sally-Anne, let's see what you can do," Rose said, impressed by what the requirement "I need a place to train her" had yielded.

Sally-Anne nodded, then closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths to ready herself, concentrating on everything that she had learned. Sally-Anne felt the flow of magic within herself, channeling it through her body to her hand with each breath. She closed her left hand, then extended it out in front of her body. Taking another deep breath, she opened her eyes, then flexed her fingers as she shouted the incantation to activate it.

"Strada!"

A shimmering disc appeared in front of her, glowing a faint shade of blue.

"Hmm," Rose said as she inspected the disc. "How long can you do that?"

"Not very," Sally-Anne replied through a strained voice. She closed her hand and the disc vanished from sight. Sally-Anne panted a little, weakened by the strain the disc put on her.

"I need a number," Rose said. "How many rounds?"

"Probably just one," Sally-Anne said. "A round is eight seconds, right?"

"Six."

"Then yeah, probably just one."

"That's not helpful," Rose said. "Well, maybe if you can react fast enough to block an attack, but you'd probably want to throw it up as soon as your opponent attacks."

"Alright," Sally-Anne said. "Why don't we work on that?"

"Okay," Rose said. "Try to block my attacks."

"Wait, what?"

Rose moved to punch Sally-Anne, who screamed and fell to the ground to get out of the way.

"Alright," Rose said. "At least now I know where we need to start. Stand up, and let's try that again."

"It's hard when I'm not ready," Sally-Anne said, climbing to her feet.

"You think an enemy is going to give you warning?" Rose asked.

"Well–"

While she was thinking, Sally-Anne was knocked to the ground by Rose.

"Ow!" Sally-Anne exclaimed.

"Yup," Rose said. "It's gonna be awhile."

"She's not cheating, Malfoy," Professor Babbling said. "It's called a 'Shield Rune'. It's a form of magic that uses a rune instead of a wand."

Draco looked from Babbling to Snape. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Snape wasn't calling the girl out on it, so it wasn't a trick. What was a "Shield Rune"? It didn't matter! One way or another, Draco would win this duel! He was a Malfoy! The Malfoys had several rules, but one of the most important was "Win or don't come home."

"Tarantallegra!"

Once again, Perks threw the disc between herself and Draco. Just like before, the disc took the full force of the hex, leaving the girl untouched.

Draco was beginning to fume with anger. He threw curses and hexes at the girl, but nothing made it through. How was she so fast?!

Draco decided he needed to change tactics in order to beat this girl. She could block his spells, but what if she were threatened by something other than a spell?

"Serpensortia!"

Instead of another curse or hex, a snake sprang out of Draco's wand. Professor Snape showed him the spell a few weeks ago, just before the Chamber of Secrets nonsense had started. It summoned a snake, which Draco figured would be useful. In this case, he was right.

Sally-Anne was ready for almost any spell Draco could throw at her. Unfortunately, summoning a snake was not on that list. She jumped back, startled and afraid.

The snake went right after Sally-Anne as she tried to back away from it. It flicked its tongue, hissing at the Gryffindor. It stopped hissing and lunged at the poor girl.

Sally-Anne just barely got a shield between her and the snake in time, but the snake recoiled and moved around her. It wasn't a large platform, but it slithered onto the floor, then struck again. Sally-Anne fell to the ground to get away from the snake. It sailed over her, landing near the audience, then attacked her again.

Sally-Anne couldn't think. All she saw was a snake coming after her, and her instincts kicked in. She threw up her hands to block it, and it latched onto her right arm, sinking its teeth into her.

Sally-Anne managed to pull the snake off her, tearing some of her skin off with it. As she threw away the snake, she began to feel dizzy. The dirty-blonde girl fell to her knees as she tried to concentrate. All she could hear was the snake hissing.

Hermione and Ginny gasped as their friend fell to the floor. Minerva brought a hand to her mouth, and Bathsheda had to stop herself from trying to intervene.

"We've got to do something," Harry whispered. He didn't know what he was going to do, but that was his friend up there. He started for the platform, but a hand reached out and grabbed him before he could get far.

"She's got to do this on her own, Scarface," Rose said. "Believe in her."

Harry looked reluctantly at Rose, then at Sally-Anne, and finally at Malfoy.

"She could be dying up there," Harry protested.

"She is dying," Rose said. "That's snake's venom, and by the looks of her, she failed her Fort save against it. She's already getting pale, so she's probably only got a few rounds left before she dies."

Her friends all stared at her in horror.

"Don't go help her," Rose said. "We can do that after she beats Butterhead."

Harry continued to stare at Rose, then turned back to Sally-Anne.

"Pathetic little girl," Malfoy hissed. "Even with all your tricks, you're still helpless without the Freak around to save you."

Friday

"I can't do it," Sally-Anne said after trying and failing to stop yet another barrage of attacks from Rose. "I'm not fast enough."

She sunk to the ground. It was hopeless. She just wasn't as fast as Rose was, and there was no point in tiring herself out trying to be.

"Alright," Rose said, walking over to her friend. With as much warning as she ever gave, Rose punched Sally-Anne in the arm.

"Ow!" the dirty-blonde girl exclaimed. "What was that for?!"

Rose remained silent, but instead punched her again.

"Stop it!"

"Why?"

"We're finished!" Sally-Anne exclaimed. "I give up! I'm not as fast as you!"

"Good," Rose said, punching her again. "If you've given up, then it'll be even easier to punch you!"

"It hurts!"

"So what?"

Rose punched Sally-Anne harder, and the other girl tried to crawl backwards, falling to the ground as she did.

"People aren't going to stop just because you asked nicely, Perks," Rose said, punching Sally-Anne again. "They don't stop just because it hurts. If you want them to stop, you've got to make them stop. Otherwise, they'll just walk all over you."

"But I can't!"

"You think anyone out there cares if you're in pain?! You think they care if you're upset?! Guess what? They don't!" Rose shouted. "The world hasn't got mercy! The world hasn't got pity! It's time you wake up and realize that the world is cruel!" Rose's voice had risen to a scream. It echoed around the Room of Requirement as Sally-Anne attempted to crawl backwards. "Real life isn't one of your fairy tales, Sally-Anne! Everything you love can be ripped away from you in an instant! And there won't be anything you can do about it!"

Sally-Anne stared at Rose as she tried to back away.

"Rose, I–"

"If you want a better world, you've got to make it yourself! Give it your all! If you can't open a door, break it down! Punch it until your hand breaks! When your goal's in sight, run towards it until you collapse from exhaustion, then crawl the rest of the way! If you don't give it everything you've got, the world will bleed you dry! You want to help people?! You want to keep Harry safe?! Then you've got to do it, Sally-Anne, because no one else will!"

Sally-Anne didn't know how to react, so she just looked on with horror.

Rose glared back at her, but she looked more sad than angry.

Rose punched Sally-Anne again, but softly. "Life isn't fair, Sally-Anne," she said after a few minutes of silence. "After the way your boyfriend yelled at you last week, you know that."

"What?" Sally-Anne asked. "We're not–"

"Don't care," Rose said. "You've been attacked by a troll and a basilisk, nearly within a year of one another. You've already begun to see that life isn't fair, but what you don't realize is that you've got no clue just how horrible it is out there."

"I haven't got a crush on Harry," Sally-Anne blurted out.

"Why would you want to crush Harry?"

Sally-Anne blushed. "I mean… It's not like… Erm…"

"I'm glad you're going after Harry, Princess," Rose said. "It makes for much less drama than you looking at someone like Butterhead. Remember, Harry stopped an evil wizard with a cult following. That means that said following will be coming after him. Voldie won't stop until one of them's dead. So, if you want Scarface to stay safe, you'll have to do it yourself." Rose stood up, then offered Sally-Anne her hand. "Like I said, no one else will."

Sally-Anne looked up at her friend, and accepted the hand offered to her. The dirty-blonde girl allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "I'm ready," she said.

Rose grinned. "I know."

As Sally-Anne stood up, Rose said, "Remember, I won't always be here. You've got to learn to stand on your own two feet." Rose took a few steps back. "You don't need to be as fast as me to stop my attacks. You keep trying to do it the hard way."

"Hard way?" Sally-Anne echoed.

"You're looking for visual cues," Rose replied. "It's a lot harder for someone to control audible cues. Listen for my cloak ruffling and throw up a defence. Now, let's try it again."

Rose had put Sally-Anne through misery and pain in order to force her to understand how horrible the real world would be. Sally-Anne understood now that she couldn't always depend on Rose to be there to help her. She stood on her own two feet, determination burning in her eyes.

"I'm not helpless anymore," she said.

Sally-Anne closed her eyes and listened for the snake. Sally-Anne realized that she didn't need to be as fast as the snake, nor did she need to know where it was, but it stopped hissing when it was about to attack. Sally-Anne hoped it did that every time it attacked, and not just the first time.

She heard the steady hissing nearby, then it suddenly stopped.

Sally-Anne opened her eyes and dropped to the floor. Flexing the fingers on her left hand, she slammed her hand into the ground.

"Dostradi!"

It was if everything were in slow motion. As the snake lunged at her from her right, purple sparks shot out of the ground around her. The sparks quickly formed a circle, swirling around her as they moved upward. A purple dome, crackling with electricity appeared around the girl as the snake lunged towards her.

Nearly the entire audience gasped as the dome formed around the second-year.

The serpent was caught by the dome, sending current surging through the creature's body. It spasmed violently as it was electrocuted, hissing wildly in pain. The snake was launched away from the Gryffindor, hitting the ground hard. It spasmed once more, then finally collapsed to the ground, dead.

Sally-Anne stood up and faced Malfoy.

"Filthy mudblood!" Malfoy spat. He fired an ankle-biting curse at her, but she blocked it like the rest.

"You know what your problem is, Butterhead?" Sally-Anne panted. She didn't like this tactic, but she needed him annoyed. Anger made people make mistakes, and she needed him to make a mistake. "You think you're going to win just because you believe that you're better than me. Not because you are better than me, but because you think you're better than me."

"What's she doing?" Hermione whispered to Rose, seeing the grin on Rose's face.

"Winning," Rose whispered back. "She's making him angry so he'll make a mistake."

"Why?"

"Sally-Anne doesn't actually know any spells to use against him," Rose said. "But she's counting on him trying something against her she can use. She finally remembered the spell."

"What spell?" Hermione asked.

Saturday Morning

"Defence is good," Rose said. "But it won't win you any fights. Sure, you might wear down your opponent, but you won't always have the time to wait for them to wear themselves down trying to kill you. What else have you got other than that kethé dome thing and the boring disc?"

"Professor Babbling has only shown me those two," Sally-Anne said. "Wait! There's one more! It reflects force back at my opponent!"

"Show me," Rose said. She took a step back. "I'm going to come at you slowly with this one, since we're not testing how quickly you can–"

"Don't hold back," Sally-Anne said, standing tall. "I can take it."

Rose smiled. "You're gonna go far, Princess. Get ready."

"Petrificus Totalis!"

Sally-Anne and Rose both smiled.

Perfect.

She raised her left hand one final time.

"Rufta!"

A shimmering disc appeared, just like before, but this time, it didn't absorb the spell. It sent it flying back at Malfoy.

The purple bolt ricocheted off the disc and lanced through the air towards the helpless Slytherin. It struck him square in the chest before he had a chance to react, causing his limbs to slam into his sides.

There were several cheers from the members of the audience who had been subjected to that spell by Malfoy. Draco watched helplessly as the floor rushed up to meet him. He fell flat on his face, unable to catch himself.

Lockhart stared at the two students on the platform.

Severus stared at the frozen form of his student in silence.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron stared at Sally-Anne in silence.

A smile slowly formed on Bathsheda's face.

Rose grinned.

"Woohoo!" she shouted. "You go girl!"

Rose applauded, followed shortly by Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Luna. Professor Babbling joined in with them, then Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, then the rest of Gryffindor House, and finally everyone else watching. Even Professor Snape gave a small clap.

Students stormed the platform, but Rose reached her friend first. Rose caught her just as the other Gryffindor keeled over.

"I've got you, Sally-Anne," she said. Rose waved Serendipity over the girl, and Sally-Anne felt the haze lift.

"I'm so proud of you," Professor Babbling said.

"Thanks," Sally-Anne said. "Thank you both for your help."

"That was amazing!" Ron said as her friends reached the platform.

"Alright, everyone, alright," Lockhart said, although no one heard him. "Let's settle down!"

Severus walked over to Malfoy and released him from the effects of the boy's own curse.

"Attention!"

Everyone turned to face Professor Dumbledore, from whom the loud, booming voice had originated.

"As it is almost time for dinner, I believe we should all clear out of the Great Hall," Professor Dumbledore said calmly. "I apologize that more of you didn't get to practice, however, I believe Mses. Perks and Peta-Lorrum, along with Mr. Malfoy, have all given us excellent demonstrations of the capabilities of a student when one applies themselves." He smiled warmly at all three of them. "Fifteen points to each of you. Well done."

"But I lost," Draco said.

"Winning isn't everything, Draco," Severus said to the boy as the other students began to clear off.

"That's not what Father says," the Slytherin replied.

"It may be hard to believe, but your father isn't always right," Severus muttered under his breath, stepping down from the platform.

Draco's face twisted into a snarl, then he raised his wand at Perks.

"Petrificus–"

Professor Snape grabbed his wrist before he could complete his hex.

"Don't," the Potions Master said. "They won this round." Seeing his pupil's look of disgust, he added, "Accept it. Learn from it. Come back stronger."

As Severus watched the boy walk off, he muttered, "One day you'll learn."