36 •The Dueling Club

In one of the Ravenclaw observation towers, the Ravenclaw students had gathered to watch the Quidditch match. The tower was tall, with multiple seats and covered with a cape with the colors and the shield of the house, there were at least two other equal towers around the playing field for the students of the house to occupy, in addition to an area that connected all the towers on the ground floor for those who couldn't get a place in the towers, after all, parents also used to occasionally come to watch their children at games.

[img]

Sitting among the students was Extimum and next to him were: Steve, Mitchell, Trudor, Padma, Luna, and of course Bloom.

Steve: "Okay, listen, I'm betting 2 photos from my secret collection and 3 galleons that Slytherin will win, who's joining?" Steve got up from his seat to stand in front of them as he spoke.

Trudor: "and what exactly are these photos ...?".

Mitchell: "Do you really need to ask? It must be one of the shady things Steve does, I'm telling you, you can't do anything good if you manage to get chased by all the first-year girls at least twice in a single year." .

Padma: "Now that you mention it, I heard some girls say that Steve had stolen-". Padma couldn't continue because Steve had reached out and covered her mouth with his hand.

Steve: "shhh, don't believe the things those girls say, they just make up rumors. Ahem, as I was saying, does anyone want to join the bet? "

Trudor: "Although I am curious to know what is in those photos, but it is obvious that Slytherin will win. Draco's father donated 'nimbus 2001' to the whole team, so they have a great advantage".

Luna: "I think Gryffindor can still win."

Steve: "will you bet then?"

Luna: "I only have some candies ... are you interested?" Luna reached into her pocket and pulled out some candy and showed it to Steve. He hadn't brought money to Hogwarts.

Steve: "Hmp, then no."

Luna: "but Extimum can, right?" Luna said as she looked and pulled a little on the sleeve of Extimum who was sitting next to her.

Extimum had been lost in his thoughts, he was doing hypothetical construction in his mind for a new artifact that he planned to sell, they were work gloves, however, at some point he felt that Luna who was next to him was pulling his tunic trying to call his attention, so he snapped out of his thoughts and looked around, noticing the expectant look they all seemed to give him.

It only took a moment for his mind to register what his brain had heard while he was thinking about other things, understanding why they were looking at him like that. This had been a skill that he had discovered when a few days ago when he managed to advance in his mastery of oclumency, he could review memories that his brain registered in his subconscious, although only if it had passed an average of 5 hours since it occurred, then it would erase.

Extimum gave Luna a slight look who was looking at him with an expectant look, she seemed to have become inexplicably close to him these days, Extimum had not even realized when and it was not because she was like that, because although she had also integrated well with others, she seemed closer to him. He believed that it had something to do with him being the one who invited her to the group or something else, however, it wasn't a bad thing either, so he didn't give it much importance.

(close in friendship, don't think too much about it yet)

Extimum: "well, then I'll give you 5 galleons if Gryffindor wins."

Steve: "haha, that's it, without fear of failure, excellent Luna." Steve gave Luna a thumbs up for helping him convince the big shot.

Bloom: 'Heh, we will finally know what the suspicious acts of that fat man are.' Bloom had already learned from Extimum that Gryffindor would win this first match, although he did not explain how he knew it, it was not necessary to know and she trusted his words.

Extimum: 'you're right, Steve's actions are too suspicious'.

Extimum kept thinking about his magic gloves some more before the match started. The idea was for gloves that could reduce the weight of everything with what, between contact, would be something similar to force gloves, only that it would reduce the weight of the object in contact. Although magicians could make use of spells to float things or make things smaller, but they also preferred to do some work manually, moreover, these could work while they had magic blood, so squibs or other magical creatures that cannot do magic they could use them. They would be very useful for doing heavy work efficiently, especially for squibs like Filch who has to do tough cleaning jobs and other things without magic.

...

???: "Good morning everyone and welcome to the first Quidditch match for the Hogwarts Interscholastic Cup. Today the Slytherin team will play "- * cheers * -" Against Gryffindor "- * cheers * -" Well, let the teams come in. " The announcer had started the introduction by introducing the teams that were coming out onto the field of play.

The announcer for the matches was chosen from among the students, Extimum had not been very interested in it so he did not know very well if you should only request it or you were chosen at random.

Shortly after the announcer's introduction and Madame Hooch had the team captains greet each other, the players shot off on their brooms to fly over the playing field.

The match started quite well, with the Gryffindor players having good leadership and strategy that allowed them to gain some ground in the game, they were quite agile, however, their strategy did not help them for long. The Slytherin team players were much faster and easily crushed the Gryffindor players, the speed of their brooms gave them a great superiority, also, at some match point, one of the bludgers went crazy and started chasing to Harry obsessively, leaving Fred and George no choice but to focus on defending him so that he would not get hit by her, however, by focusing on him, they stopped defending other players from the other bludger, making things difficult for other Gryffindor players.

Seeing that the situation could not continue like this, Harry had chosen to continue alone without the help of Fred and George, so he was seen flying from one place to another, circling and zigzagging while looking in all directions looking for the snitch golden and dodging the bludger that threatened to hit him.

Trudor: "This is too much, Slytherin not only has better brooms, they even loved that bludger."

Mitchell: "I think you will lose Extimum, the odds were already difficult for Gryffindor before, but now ...".

Extimum: "It is still too early to speak." Extimum said as he occasionally followed with his gaze to the golden snitch that until now no seeker had been able to find.

Steve: "hehehe, I can already feel the weight of the galleons in my bag."

Harry kept dodging the bludger until he managed to lose it and finally allow himself a quiet moment to search for the snitch. Luckily, the snitch appeared in his vision not long after, right behind Draco who had come to tease him for his performance in front of the bludger. The break didn't last long when the bludger came back and flew past him, nearly hitting Draco on the head.

The situation allowed Draco to also notice the nearby golden snitch and began a chase after the snitch while fighting Harry while being pursued by the mad bludger.

Extimum could not see what happened until shortly after because they had gotten into an area below the stadium ground. Draco and Harry had shot out of the place much later, however, Draco had lost his grip on his broom and had been thrown out risking a rather ugly landing.

Extimum drew his wand at the right moment and with great effort managed to stop Draco's impending collision. Slowing him down from such a distance was quite different from what he had done when he jumped from his sword, besides, he had not yet learned the spell 'Arrest momentum' so his action was quite demanding, however, he managed to slowly land Draco on a sitting position, which could have had pretty bad results for your family jewelry otherwise.

Harry on the other hand, had gone out in close pursuit with the golden snitch, but when he was about to take it, the bludger finally managed to catch up with him and directly hit his outstretched arm, breaking it, however, Harry had not wanted to give up and making a last effort, he extended his last good arm and while maintaining a poor grip on his broom, he managed to catch the snitch, just to end up losing his grip on his broom and his body sliding off the broom leaving his sole support at his feet. This caused his body, which was now flying close to the ground, to be raked on his back against the sand on the ground until he completely released himself from his broom and came to a stop.

???: "Harry Potter caught the golden snitch, Gryffindor wins!"

** vitores **

Trudor: "I think the weight you felt in your bag was that of your galleons disappearing, don't you think Steve?"

Steve: "Hmp, we better go see Harry."

Extimum: "fine, but you better give me my reward when we get back to the common room".

Bloom: 'oh wait, I want to try something…'.

They all got up from their seats and headed for the stairs to go downstairs to see Harry. Extimum had planned to do the same, but Bloom had suggested a more interesting method. Bloom took him from his robe and flew down directly onto the playing field. It must be said that Bloom despite his small size, had the strength to carry two adults without problem (150kg). It was a much more efficient method, proposed by Bloom who wanted to show her her strength, although it would not serve to travel, but it would not be a problem for her to cushion falls or fly at a certain speed for short distances while carrying someone.

...

Upon landing in the field, he was one of the first to get close to a sore Harry.

Ron, Hermione and Hagrid had also arrived since they had positioned themselves in the lower observers and did not have to come down from the tower. Hermione had even destroyed the enchantment that drove the bludger mad which had still threatened to hurt Harry even on the ground.

However, it didn't take long for a large crowd to arrive behind them, who also gave Extimum and especially Bloom surprised looks. They didn't know that a fairy could be that strong. On the other hand, they also thought that it could be with the help of some of the strange inventions that Extimum was rumored to make.

Hermione: "Are you okay, Harry?"

Harry: "Ugh, no, I think I broke my arm."

Extimum was about to cast 'Férula', a spell to splint Harry's arm, when Lockhart crossed in front of him causing him to stop midway.

Lockhart: "Don't worry, I'll fix your arm right now."

Harry: "No, do not".

Extimum: "yes, it is better if I do it, I have been studying healing magic with Pomfrey in recent months."

Harry: "yes, you do it."

Lockhart: "haha, poor thing, you don't understand what you're saying, you're still too young, I on the other hand, I'm an expert on this." Lockhar rolled up his jade green robes and prepared to cast the spell.

Harry: "No ... no!" Harry cried out weakly in denial. He felt very weak from the great pain caused by his broken arm.

Although Harry was reluctant, people had more confidence in Lockhart as a teacher, and he also didn't seem very willing to listen and immediately acted.

Lockhart: "Now, this won't hurt, 'Brackium emendo'."

Extimum could actually have stopped him, but since almost everyone wanted Lockhart to do it, it wouldn't look very good if he stopped him, so he didn't interfere, also, although Harry will suffer a little, it was Lockhart who was again digging his own hole. , in which each time he saw himself closer to falling.

Lockhart then took Harry's arm hoping to show it fixed, but instead a very unpleasant sound like something jelly was heard.

Bloom:' Ah, that's ... disgusting'.

Lockhart: "Yeah, well, sometimes this happens. But the fact is that the bones are no longer broken. "

Extimum: "Useless". Extimum muttered under his breath, although given the silence of the place, everyone could hear him and some got a certain smile that threatened to get a laugh.

Hermione wasn't too amused that he insulted a teacher, but one look from an annoyed Extimum was all it took for her to shift her gaze to a concerned one at Harry's now jelly-like arm.

Hagrid: "but he has no bones anymore." Hagrid was also upset, not only with Lockhart's incompetence, but because Lockhart had come to try to teach Hagrid how to take care of animals earlier. Something I don't take very well, given the years he's been taking care of them and the nonsense Lockhart spits out, he was perhaps the only teacher Hagrid really disliked.

Lockhart: "But it's more flexible now. Good, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Shadowless, why don't you help Harry go to the infirmary. " Lockhart decided to ignore Extimum's comment and go on naturally.

The 'Brackium emendo' spell might indeed have repaired his bones, but it was better to first splint it and then fix it, furthermore, Lockhart had failed the spell, ending up removing the bones instead of repairing them. Both spells weren't really complex, it was just about stabilizing and rejoining the bones. Something that only required a certain level of knowledge of the bones in the affected area and skill to perform the spell. It was obvious that Lockhart had failed to perform one of them well or had even failed both.

Extimum cast some spells on Harry's scrapes and then together with Ron they helped him up. Since his arm no longer hurt, Harry was able to walk himself to the infirmary, although he still had a very strange and slightly unpleasant feeling coming from his arm.

Steve and the others had already come down from the tower and had come to look at Harry, but with so many crowds and then seeing the current state of Harry's arm, they did not approach.

Extimum: "Come back, I will accompany Harry to the infirmary. Steve, don't forget to prepare my award. "

After that, Extimum went with the Gryffindors to accompany Harry to the infirmary.

Extimum: "do not worry, you will not lose your arm, there is a special medicine to recover the bones." Extimum said to Harry seeing him so concerned about his arm.

.

The next day, all the students woke up to a news from their heads of house, a Gryffindor student had been petrified, Colin Creevey. Such news reignited the flames of rumors and gossip among the students and this time, even a little concern had begun to leak out, it was different to have a cat petrified than a student was petrified.

The news had been given by the heads of the house in each common room, so it was a topic of discussion in the great dining room at breakfast time.

Extimum was sitting at the Slytherin table, while he listened to the other students discuss the subject, although the Slytherins were the least affected with the subject, because they were mostly pure blood or believed they had a certain security to be part of Slytherin house, but for the latter it was still a cause for concern. As he listened to the conversations, Draco and the others came to the table and sat down.

Extimum: "Good morning".

Draco: "oh, Extimum, thanks for yesterday, it could have ended worse if not for you."

Extimum: "Okay, it's good that you haven't been hurt".

Pansy: "Did you hear what the heads of the house said? The Mudbloods are already beginning to be cleaned."

Daphne: "Hmp, be careful with your words Pansy." Daphne exclaimed angrily as she comforted Tracey who seemed nervous. Although Tracey came from a pureblood family, but she was actually mixed blood, so Pansy's comment was not very pleasant to her.

Pansy: "ah, Tracey, I didn't mean you, you are in Slytherin and you also come from a pure blood family." Pansy apologized and tried to clarify her point. It was true that half-bloods could also be considered mudbloods, but those born of wizarding families were held in a better point of view than those who were not.

Extimum: "You shouldn't worry Tracey, I'm sure they'll solve the problem, besides, it's like Pansy says, you're in Slytherin, so the Slytherin heir won't attack you."

Tracey: "do you really think so?"

Extimum: "of course".

Extimum's words seemed to be far more effective in calming and reassuring Tracey than Daphne's attempts.

Draco: "Changing the subject, Professor Snape told me that Lockhart will open a dueling club next week, I think everyone will go, especially with the ruckus the monster is causing. I wonder if I can hit Potter. "

Extimum: "sounds interesting, I'll go."

Pansy: "Hmp, those Muggle-borns shouldn't even know the etiquette of duels."

...

They talked about some more things until breakfast time was over, Extimum had incantation classes with Hufflepuff so he parted ways with them to catch up with Steve and the others. Steve had not yet delivered his reward for winning his bet.

As he was walking out of the dining room, Luna who was still in the dining room caught up with him and stopped him.

Luna: "wait, Extimum".

Extimum: "yes?"

Luna:" Was it you who took me to my room when I sleepwalked?".

Extimum: "yes, in fact, the first time I saw you was when Bloom and I found you walking through the corridors."

Luna: "Thank you, I have been able to sleep much better these days by not walking around the castle while I sleep."

Extimum: "Okay, it wouldn't be good if you're walking around there at night, fine, we'll see you later, I still have to get to incantations class." Extimum had already turned around when he heard another question from Luna that made him stop in his tracks.

Luna: "Do you happen to wear ... woolly gloves or something like that? It is that, even though I was asleep, I could feel as if something very soft had supported me." Luna asked while putting a finger to her cheek, as if remembering the sensation.

Extimum: "maybe you should have imagined it, you were asleep after all." Extimum continued on his way after replying.

Luna: "yes ... it's just that I remember touching something really soft, fluffy and warm, I had never felt anything like it, but maybe it was really just a dream".

Bloom:' hehehe, she discovered you'.

Extimum:' Of course not, I made sure he slept, at most he will only have hazy memories about it'.

Bloom:' but, I don't understand, why didn't you drink his blood? You seemed to enjoy it when you did before'.

Extimum:' mmm, I don't know, I guess I didn't mean to at the time, don't ask weird questions, it's not like I'm out there biting anyone when I get a chance'.

Bloom had asked because Extimum had superficially bitten Luna in the previous nights. Although Extimum could actually stop her and even take Luna away, but she would still continue in her plan to wander, so it would just cause a struggle on her part, although being asleep she would not exert too much force, but she moved too much, so Extimum had slightly sunk one of his fangs into Luna's neck; managing to relax her body and make her sleep soundly. Making it easier to transport it back.

As they disappeared after crossing the door, Luna lightly rubbed her neck looking in the direction Extimum left.

Luna: 'But the feeling was very real…'. Luna actually had no clear memories because she was sleepy, but between some of the occasions she remembered feeling a slight sting in her neck accompanied by a warm sensation that made her sleep again.

.

A week passed quickly and today would finally be the dueling club.

Harry had recovered from his literally boned arm just one day after the events. Among other things, he, Hermione and Ron had made a big fuss in the middle of a potion class in order to steal the missing ingredients for the polyjuice potion they were preparing, however, although Snape got very angry, they were not really discovered. Extimum hadn't been there due to the fact that they didn't share that class, but Ron enthusiastically remarked that Hermione had been the one to act primarily in the robbery, making Hermione a bit ashamed of her actions.

Professor Flitwick also approached the students this week to confirm who wanted to go back for Christmas. Extimum was originally planning to go home, but then he thought that there was nothing he really needed to do in his house and he just had to visit Snaglok, so it was not worth going back, it would be much better if he just stayed here where there would be other acquaintances, for this reason, he sent Bloom by floo together with a suitcase with his prototypes and a letter to Snaglok.

Bloom seemed perked up at the idea of ​​going to Diagon Alley again and since she would only go to Gringotts and return, it would only take her a day. Although Bloom was actually not bored here either, after all, except for the forbidden forest, she had gone with Extimum almost everywhere, her routine was based on going out with Extimum in the mornings around the castle, have a great feast at all meals, listening to lectures, reading books, listening to conversations from the people around her, occasionally touring the castle alone, and flying out at night with Extimum.

-

Among the prototypes that Extimum shipped were: an upgrade for its home redesign artifact; shoelaces that increase the lightness of its wearer; gloves that reduce the weight of everything they touch and slightly increase strength and a potion that cleanses and improves the quality of the skin. They were few products, but it had not been that long since he managed to complete them. All were accompanied by a letter explaining all their complications and instructing Snaglok what steps to follow with them. Extimum did not need to take over a market that sold all kinds of things, it just needed: to make a profit, increase the recognition of the wizarding community towards its brand and achieve a definitive and completely exclusive product that would take it to the top.

He already had an idea of ​​what that product could be, it was an ambitious and revolutionary project for the magical community, but currently he did not have the ability to make even a prototype, perhaps by the fifth year he could, the Ancient Runes teacher did not liked having students learn runes unsupervised and she wasn't willing to teach them until the third year, well, she was right in her precautions. Extimum had already had to bolt for a moment before her experiments exploded in her face for writing a rune wrong or make combinations that are too crazy. If Extimum did not have the reflexes that he has, he would not risk playing with the runes so carelessly, however, such experiments were not without results, he had managed to discover some methods that were not widely used or not even known with the runes.

Runes were a very demanding branch of magic. Starting with knowing and memorizing the runes, their uses and effects, not to mention that there were runes in different languages ​​and some were better for certain things or had more development in certain subjects, you also had to know how to write it correctly, some runes were just words in ancient languages, but others were more like characters or symbols. Extimum had no trouble remembering them, but since he had only studied up to the third year and part of the fourth, he only knew basic runes, which he managed to use in conjunction with the runes he found in the family grimoire. There were several ways to inscribe them, by means of special pens that help in their writing, writing them manually and if you had enough skill, writing them with your wand or finger. Extimum hadn't bought a runemaster pen, but he didn't want one either, it was better to learn how to make them without help first. Then there was the question of combining them, because runes is an ancient magical branch, there are not many complete records of a specific language or simply the magical slant of the language was better for certain things, so combining the runes of different languages it was not a rare activity and it had no impact on effectiveness either.

-

According to the notice that Extimum read a few days earlier, the dueling club would be held in the great hall at 8pm. Although the topic sounded interesting, when looking at a general level of Hogwarts population, there weren't really too many who attended the club. Some were not interested in it and others just knew how to duel, after all, it was only duel, not actual combat and although duel battles in the magical world could be quite dangerous, but Extimum doubted they would get that far on the subject and it is likely that many people knew it too, so except for Lockhart fans, only those of the first years went, or people like Extimum who only went to see the fun.

Extimum spent time after dinner chatting with Steve, and the others before leaving the common room and heading to the great dining room to attend the dueling club.

Upon entering the large dining room, the place had been adapted. The large dining room tables had disappeared and instead there was now a long golden dais, illuminated by lights that floated over the place, similar to the lumos enchantment. The ceiling was now completely black, without any magical effect. The students had gathered around the dais, toting their wands and waiting excitedly.

After securing a spot near the stage, Extimum waited for the event to begin, though it didn't take long for Lockhart to be seen walking the stage wearing fencer-like clothing along with a cape.

Lockhart: "Come here, come closer! Does everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Great! Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to open this modest dueling club, with the intention of preparing all of you in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I have done countless times. For more details, consult my works ".

Lockhart: "Now, allow me to introduce you to my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart said as he pointed to the other side of the dais Snape was now climbing up.

Lockhart: "He agreed to help me with this demo, but don't worry, you won't be left without a Potions teacher after this demo, don't be afraid!" Lockhart said while winking at the last part.

Mitchell: "yeah ... I wasn't worried about him at all." Mitchell commented quietly.

Extimum, on the other hand, watched the development of the situation with great amusement.

Lockhart and Snape faced each other and bowed. They then raised their wands in front of them, as if they were swords, then they turned around and walked a bit to give themselves some distance between them.

Lockhart: "As you can see, we hold our wands in the conventional fighting stance. When I count three, we will do our first spell. But of course, neither of them has the intention of killing. "

As Lockhart spoke, he and Snape struck a fighting pose. Lockhart chose to maintain a fencing pose, while Snape held a pose in which he raised the arm that held his wand and used the other to stabilize his movements.

[img]

Lockhart: "One ..., two ... and three."

Lockhart didn't act immediately upon finishing his account, but seemed to think about it for a bit, giving Snape time to act first.

Snape: "Expelliarmus!" Snape spoke the spell clearly and slowly, making clear his intention that those present might well understand the spell he cast.

A bolt of yellow light shot out of his wand and slammed into Lockhart, sending him flying a few feet back and landing at the end of the dais.

Steve: "Damn, take away that half smile you have, Extimum, you give me the creeps."

Extimum: "It's true, how disrespectful, Steve, to feel the chills when you should be worrying about the teacher's health." Extimum sat up and said in a dignified way.

Moon: "hehehe".

Mitchell: "It's true Steve, we worried about Lockhart and you incriminating Extimum, how low are you falling".

Steve: "you guys ... Hmp".

Lockhart rose from his position on the ground and quickly dusted himself off as if nothing had happened as he walked over to Snape.

Lockhart: "That was a disarmament charm; As you can see, I have lost the wand ... "- As Lockhart spoke, a girl had come to give him her wand -" Ah, thank you, Miss Brown! Yes, Professor Snape, it was an excellent idea to teach it to the students, but if you don't mind me telling you, it was very evident that he was going to attack that way. If I had wanted to stop him, it would have been very easy for me. But I thought it would be more instructive to let them see. "

Snape's face clouded a bit upon hearing her words, but he only calmly responded to Lockhart's words.

Snape: "Perhaps it is wiser to teach students how to block enemy attacks first, don't you think, Professor Lockhart?"

Lockhart: "Excellent suggestion Professor Snape, let's pair you up. Professor Snape, if you please help me. "

They both got off the stage and entered the crowd to form pairs.

Extimum was set against Daphne, Steve against Mitchell, Padma against Pansy, Harry against Draco, etc.

After making pairs, both teachers returned to the stage.

Lockhart: "Stand in front of your opponents and bow."

Extimum and Daphne bowed slightly, keeping their gazes fixed and adopting their poses.

Extimum adopted his combat pose, it was similar to Snape's, but with some differences. His right hand, with which he would hold his sword, was kept closer to his body so that his sword would protect his body, in this case, keeping his palm extended. His left hand on the other hand, would remain raised at the height of his head to protect it and have a good angle to attack. All this while keeping your body in a sideways position.

the pose was primarily a graceful yet practical base for dueling, but in a battle royale he was likely to just maintain a more relaxed pose and act accordingly, maintaining some aspects of the practiced base.

Daphne on the other hand, kept a much simpler pose, keeping her wand level with her face and her body also in a sideways position so that she could quickly dodge.

Lockhart: "Wands ready !. When he counts to three, cast your spells to disarm the opponent. Just to disarm it; we don't want there to be any accidents. One, two and ... three. ".

Although Lockhart said disarming spells, not many of the firsts years had fully mastered it or even seen it, so it was understood that it was primarily spells that could fulfill the task of immobilizing or disarming the opponent.

At Lockhart's signal, multiple spells shot out from all directions in the room.

Daphne: " Flipendo".

Extimum: "Expelliarmus". (disarm/ redirect spells)

Daphne: " Expulso". Daphne was not at all discouraged by his ease in rejecting her spell and continued. (explosion capable of sending someone flying)

Extimum: "Expelliarmus, Everte statum ". Extimum redirected the spell and counterattacked as he got closer to Daphne. (temporary stunner)

Daphne:" Rictusempra". Daphne dodged to the side and cast her spell. (tickle)

Extimum:" Tarantallegra". Extimum tilted his head avoiding the spell and cast his own.

Daphne was hit by Extimum's spell and her feet began to dance, however, she was still able to cast a spell.

Daphne:" Expulso".

Extimum dodged again and turned his body quickly approaching Daphne's position, stopping his body when his right hand that now had its long nails gently pressed against Daphne's neck.

Extimum: " You have lost". Extimum said as he canceled the spell that still affected Daphne.

Daphne: "* uuff *". Daphne just sighed dropping all the held breath she had held during the duel and gave up when she felt the sharpness of his nails

Extimum: "you really know how to defend yourself." Extimum praised her as he watched the students who duel in much more disorderly fashion, some had already abandoned all pretense and were fighting with blows. As they did not know many spells, they ended up using their fists, it was not something exactly very well seen considering they were magicians, but it was still the last resort.

Daphne: "* sigh *, what are you talking about, you were much better."

Extimum: "that is true, but if you look at the others, you will realize that, in fact, you are one of the most outstanding".

Daphne looked at the chaos of the battles going on around her and, in fact, she could be considered one of the most skilled for her age. Those of higher years had much more organized and exciting battles, but by the early years, about half were already fistfighting or constantly falling victim to the spells of their opponents.

Lockhart: "Stop, stop." Seeing the great chaos that mourning actually resulted, Lockhart decided to stop them.

Extimum meanwhile, approached the battle that Hermione and another girl a little more robust were still continuing. Because of the situation, Hermione was losing and not on very good terms, the other girl had her tightly held by the neck while they both writhed on the ground in a struggle and their wands were on the ground at some distance.

Extimum launched a 'Rictusempra' on the more robust girl who immediately released Hermione when affected by the tickling, then Extimum helped Hermione up.

Hermione: "* uff *, thank you". Hermione gasped a bit from breathlessness and thanked Extimum.

Snape then walked around stopping the spells that the students had cast on others and they did not know how to cancel them.

Lockhart: "I think I'd better teach you how to intercept unwanted spells."

Extimum: 'don't tell me'. Extimum thought sarcastically.

Trudor: "then * uff * why didn't * uff * not show us before?" Asked a panting Trudor with a bruise on his face.

Lockhart: "I need a couple of volunteers ... Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you guys?" Lockhart directly ignored his question and continued.

Snape: "Bad idea, Professor Lockhart. Longbottom causes catastrophes with the simplest spells, we would have to send Finch-Fletchley to the infirmary in a matchbox. "

Snape: "How about Malfoy and Potter?"

Lockhart: "Excellent idea, you two come up here please."

After being chosen, they both took the stage and positioned themselves at a good distance from each other, while Snape and Lockhart gave them some advice.

Extimum and the others gathered around the stage again to watch the demonstration. Extimum also checked all his friends, but very few had any real injuries other than a blow or just being exhausted.

Steve: "ugh, I want to die, I feel like everyone was against me today." Steve said plaintively while rubbing his bruises.

Mitchell: "ai, I didn't hit you that hard, don't be a crybaby."

Pansy: "It is true, you should learn from your friend, she fought a second year and you don't see her complaining". Pansy teased Steve while pointing at Luna.

Luna had had to fight a second year boy and it was not a very good fight for her when she only knew at most 2 spells, however, she did not lose that badly due to being good at dodging spells.

Padma:" It's true, you were incredible, Luna, I don't think I could have lasted that long against a second year if I was only in my first year".

Luna: "thank you, although it was actually very exhausting and I still lost."

Lockhart: "Three, two, one, go!"

There was a quick exchange between Harry and Draco, but Lockhart didn't seem to have taught Harry any spells that could really help him, so the first few rounds were just a replay of their previous duel, however, Snape did seem to have recommended something to Draco. who cast a new spell shortly after.

Draco: "Serpensortia!"

There was a pop at the end of Draco's wand and a long black snake came out of it, which then fell to the ground between the two of them and stood ready to attack. His appearance shocked and scared the nearby students back, except for Extimum, who was now curious if he could understand the snake, even though he could not speak to it.

Snape: "Don't move, Potter, I'll take care of it." Snape seemed to enjoy Harry's dilemma in the face of the vicious snake, but since he posed a real threat, he still had to act.

However, before Snape could arrive in front of the snake, Lockhart acted.

Lockhart: "Allow me! 'Alarte ascendare' ". Lockhart pointed his wand at the snake and it immediately rose into the air, only to then fall intact to the ground shortly thereafter.

Extimum blinked a bit at Lockhart's actions, he didn't understand what his goal was in making her fly, even if he wanted to get her away from both of them, that wouldn't solve the problem.

The snake seemed angry at being treated that way and looked for someone to try to vent its anger, focusing on the students around it.

The unfolding of the events further scared the students who recoiled further when they saw that the snake was now looking at them.

Harry (parsel): "~~Leave him, don't attack him. just calm down~~". (Well, you won't see me writing in parsel here, sorry)

The snake then focused its gaze on the two closest people, an unfortunate Hufflepuff, Finch-Fletchley and of course, Extimum who was still standing close and looking at the snake with great interest.

Actually, Extimum couldn't understand anything, he didn't know if it was because the snake was common or he just didn't want to say anything with his hiss, but at least his empathy told him that the snake was very upset and he could understand the meaning of the words what Harry said.

Steve: "Extimum, stay away from the snake."

Trudor: " Could he be scared?".

Mitchell: "don't be silly, it's Extimum we're talking about."

Extimum just kept watching as Harry's constant hiss seemed to calm the snake and made it hesitate.

The snake seemed reluctant to follow Harry's command, so he just shifted his focus from Finch and looked at the next closest one that was Extimum, however, the moment the snake crossed glances with Extimum it froze, it seemed really exalted and fell into a dazed state, so it more easily followed Harry's command and slowly backed away from the edge of the dais, until it focused on Harry.

Snape immediately acted upon seeing the snake recoil and cast a spell.

Snape: "Vipera Evanesca". Snape's spell was the counter-spell of the snake summoning spell, so the snake disappeared consumed in sparks.

A silence seemed to descend on the place now that everything had calmed down, everyone was looking at Harry with different looks: fear, anger, interest, cunning and intrigue.

Finch-Fletchley: "What do you think you were playing at?" Finch seemed offended by what seemed to him an attempt by Harry to encourage the snake and said between fear and anger.

Extimum: "Tch, what annoying children." Extimum muttered as he sneakily moved his finger and tied Finch's laces.

Extimum had had a lot of fun with the events unfolding, so he was annoyed by Finch's comment that he blamed Harry without knowing that he actually saved him.

So when Finch along with the other students were about to leave the room, he stumbled falling face down on the floor.

*LOL* (mmm,It is interesting that the translation says LOL, is it really used in this way? instead of just saying 'hahahaha'?)

His fall caused laughter among the slightly sour atmosphere of the place and although some had doubts if it was Harry, but being on the stage it was impossible that he would have done it without being seen, so they discarded it and took it as someone's act plus.

Extimum also turned to leave the place.

Pansy: "Wow, Extimum, I didn't know you could be that bad." Pansy patted her shoulder as she walked out with the crowd.

Extimum: "I don't know what you're talking about." Extimum kept his expression always calm as he replied. If Pansy hadn't accidentally noticed the movement of his finger, she wouldn't have believed he had something to do with it.

Pansy: "whatever. Hey, Longbottom. " Pansy didn't care much that Extimum didn't admit it, instead she fixed her attention on Neville who was in the crowd and walked away as she followed him.

After leaving the dueling club, Extimum said goodbye to Daphne, Draco, and Tracey; Ron and Hermione on the other hand, had run off with Harry to explain the situation to him. Extimum did not follow them and went to Professor Flitwick's office to ask him to open the floo network so that Bloom could return, they had an agreed time so that there would not be too long to wait.

...

**Knock Knock**

Flitwick: "Go ahead."

Extimum: "good evening, Professor Flitwick."

Flitwick: "ah, Extimum, go ahead, come in, you come to open the network floo, right?".

[img]

Extimum: "that's right."

Flitwick: "well, wait, I'll finish here and I'll help you right away, if you like, you can have a cupcake." Flitwick said as he opened a drawer in which was a box full of cupcakes.

Extimum: "I will not be polite then." Extimum thanked him and took some to eat while he waited.

Professor Flitwick's office is on the seventh floor. It was not a very large room. As you enter, the desk where Flitwick attends is located directly in front, to the right there are some a shelf with books and to the left there is a simple partition that separates the office from the teacher's personal bedroom. The place has some portraits and trophies. Farther behind the desk is the fireplace that the teacher uses to heat the room and travel by floo.

[img] (only this image of the games comes out: v)

Professor Flitwick was sitting on a large chair reviewing some papers on his desk, the chair had something similar to stairs so that he could sit on it comfortably.

Flitwick: "And voila, alright, now let's let your little friend come back."

Professor Flitwick jumped from his chair and landed on the floor, then took out his wand and waved it in a certain pattern that opened the fireplace grate and allowed access to the floo network.

Extimum took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, it was 9:38 pm. The dueling club had only lasted about an hour and a half and the agreed time for Bloom to return was at 9:40 pm, Snaglok would help her to return safely since this time Bob was not needed.

A few minutes later, the fireplace was lit with green fire and from there Bloom flew out. Professor Flitwick immediately closed the fireplace after she left.

Flitwick: "Ah, Ah you two are really on time, neither of you a minute late."

The Flitwick words were true, but it was because Extimum could still maintain the link with Bloom even from a distance, although it would not be as good as if he were in the castle, but it would work as if they sent messages from a distance, the message arrives late, but it arrives. Which is why he had advised Bloom to enlist since he left dueling class.

Bloom immediately flew towards Extimum and sat on his shoulder.

Extimum: "Thank you Professor Flitwick, you have been very helpful."

Flitwick: "Okay, you are a very good student, so making a few exceptions and helping you with this matter is only minor."

Extimum: "I'll say goodbye for the moment, good night."

Flitwick: "Good evening."

Extimum left Flitwick's office and headed for the common room.

Bloom: 'now yes, tell me everything that happened'.

Extimum: 'well, the really interesting thing happened in the dueling club…'. Extimum narrated to Bloom the facts of what had happened today.

Extimum: 'oh that's right, did you order the things I told you?'

Bloom: 'yes, they said they would arrive in a few days'.

Extimum: 'that's good, well, let's rest now, it's been a long day'.

--------------------

discord.gg/ZZrUfk3msj