Invitation

As I traced my fingers over the silver spear, I knew I had seen its image several times before, most recently on the hand of one of the Slytherin prefects.

I carefully broke the red wax seal that had a wand crossed with a spear and slid out the contents. Inside was an invitation card that read.

Mr. Alexander Fawley

You are hereby invited to attend the next gathering of the Silver Spears, an exclusive club for aspiring duelers. The meeting takes place on Saturday, September 7, at 7 pm. If you are interested in attending, please respond below.

As I thoughtfully considered the invitation, I started running over the pros and cons of joining a club. On the one hand, my plate was already pretty full this year. I needed to master the art of Occlumency, not to mention my other goal this year was to work my way through both volumes three and four of the standard book of spells.

However, on the other hand, knowing that there was a war coming with Voldemort and his followers, it might be a good idea to start working on wizard combat. While junior level dueling wasn't necessarily a good comparison for real fighting, those who reached the pinnacle of dueling had moved to a level where they turned into incredibly formidable opponents. There was also any future interaction with the Whithorns that I needed to consider.

After weighing all the options, I grabbed a white feathered quill and scribbled that I would be attending. As soon as I finished writing, the invitation went blank. After blinking in surprise, a new message slowly appeared informing me that someone would meet me outside the Ravenclaw tower at 6:30 pm.

The next day in potions, I could feel Professor Snape's dark eyes on me as soon as I entered the class in the dungeon. I think I had destroyed any standing I had with him with my adventure in the forbidden forest.

Thankfully, we had the class with the Slytherins, and for all his faults, Professor Snape seemed to have a soft spot for the members of his own house, so I took a seat next to Anna and one of her Slytherin friends.

Roger quickly grabbed the last seat available at our table. Potions was his worst class, I think it was because he had trouble concentrating for long periods.

The class was remarkably quiet. We had all learned in the previous year that Professor Snape didn't tolerate students socializing before class, and if they did, the day would be particularly challenging.

The second that the clock stuck 8:30, Professor Snape swept forward from the corner where he had been observing everyone like a hawk and began speaking. "I see everyone was able to pass the first year," Professor Snape eyes shot towards Roger, and he sneered, "Barely."

As Roger's face turned red in embarrassment, Professor Snape swooped away and continued. "You will find that this year will be far more challenging than the previous one."

Professor Snape pointed towards the chalkboard at the front of the classroom where he had written the instructions, and stated, "Today, you will be working on the swelling potions, you will find this potion more challenging than potions from the previous year."

Knowing it was better to read the instructions from my potions book, I opened my book to the correct page and started reading the instructions.

Part 1

Add two scoops of dried nettles to the mortar.

Add three puffer-fish eyes to the mortar.

Crush into a medium-fine powder.

Add two measures of the crushed mix to your cauldron.

Add two tablespoons of water to the powder in the cauldron and mix them.

Heat on a medium temperature for twenty minutes.

Add three beakers of water to the cauldron and stir the mixture carefully.

Point your wand and chant "Superba."

Leave to brew and return in 60 minutes.

Part 2

Add one bat spleen to the cauldron.

Stir four times, anti-clockwise.

Heat to low for thirty seconds.

Finish by waving your wand over the potion and chant "Infatio."

After learning all the ingredients needed, I gathered them from the potions cabinet and started working on the potions. While everyone was working on their potions, Professor Snape seemed to glide silently about the room.

Next to me, Roger seemed especially determined to make it through the day with no mistakes. But somewhere along the way, he made a mistake, and his potion began billowing toxic yellow clouds of smoke.

Before anyone could do anything, Professor Snape swooped up behind and vanished the potion and its toxic contents. "Mr. Davis, I see you're up to your old habit of not reading the instructions correctly. Tell me why you decided to add a bat liver rather than a bat spleen to the potion."

Roger's face went beet red, but before he could say anything in his Defense, Professor Snape informed him, "I expect eighteen inches on the subject of the swelling potion and its many uses by next class."

When I had finished brewing my potion, it had turned to the shade of blue described by the book, and after putting a small amount into a beaker, I took it to Professor Snape's desk. His dark eyes met my grey eyes for a few seconds as I laid the potion down.

Professor Snape collected the potion and looked it over before silently putting it to the side. I knew from the previous year that no comment on a potion was often the highest compliment Professor Snape would give.

Right after lunch was Astronomy with Professor Sinistra, we spent the first class going over a star chart. While I didn't mind the classroom, I much preferred our evening classes, where we got to use our magical telescopes.

Afterward, was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Cross. If I had to use a word to describe the class, it would be average.

Everything about Professor Cross was mediocre, and he conducted his class in the same way. If anything, how boring the class was only cemented my decision to join the silver spears, especially considering that I was looking at several more years of mediocre teachers. The next competent teacher in Defense Against the Dark Arts would be Professor Lupin, and he wouldn't be teaching until my fifth year.

The rest of the week seemed to fly by, and soon it was Saturday evening, and it was time to meet up with the Silver Spears. As soon as I left the Ravenclaw common room, I saw the same tall, pale, black-haired Slytherin prefect who had interrupted Micheal on the train, leaning against the opposing wall from the door.

Half a grin appeared on his face, and he said, "Glad you decided to show, Alex."

Holding out his hand, he added, "Zackary Hawk, but you can just call me Zack."

As we made our way through the castle, I asked, "So, what exactly are the Silver Spears?"

Zack held up a hand and replied, "Well, it's a very select club, and you have met the minimum requirements for recruitment. As for everything else, you'll get the full explanation when we get to our destination."

"What requirements?" I asked curiously.

Zack just shot me a silent smirk.

Eventually, we made our way to a large full-sized mirror inside an old wooden mahogany frame tucked away in a deserted corner on the fourth floor. Zack pulled out his ivory-colored wand and held it to the mirror's surface.

The mirror's surface rippled like quicksilver, and Zack waved, "After you."

As I passed through the mirror's rippling surface, I expected a cooling sensation. But, the best way to describe it would be like passing through a thin layer of damp heat, but as soon as I passed through, the feeling faded away.

Darkness greeted me on the other, so I pulled out my wand and chanted, "Lumos."

On the other side was a relatively spacious human-made tunnel lined with stones. The tunnel behind the mirror made me think that this was one of the seven secret passageways that connected Hogwarts to Hogsmeade.

Sure of my suspicions, after Zach passed through, I asked, "Does this tunnel lead to Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah, but that's not where we're going," Zack explained I followed him down the tunnel.

After a few minutes, Zack stopped at what seemed like a random point, pulled out his wand, and tapped it in a similar manner that people do at the entrance of Diagon Alley.

The wall unfolded, revealing a doorway. I looked at it in suspicion. The last time I entered a door underground, it didn't go so well.

Not about to back out now, I went through the doorway. On the other side was a large room with a dueling ring on the ground. Five students were inside of the ring, standing behind an older, blond-haired wizard that I recognized from the dueling tournament from South America. When I entered, the room went quiet as a tomb. As I studied their faces, I thought I recognized a few of them.

From what I could tell from their robes, there were students from each house and different years in the room. Counting Zack, two were from Slytherin, two from Gryffindor, one from Hufflepuff, and one from Ravenclaw, for a total of six.

The student from Ravenclaw was a witch with auburn hair, and if I wasn't mistaken, she was in the fourth year. I bet that she is the one who arranged the invitation that I found in my bedroom.

The older wizard stepped forward to shake my hand and greeted, "Well, Alex. I'm Jean Batt."

As we shook hands, I replied, "We've actually met before."

Jean's eyebrows rose while he tried to place my face. "A few years ago, we met at the dueling finals in South America." I clarified.

After a moment of remembrance, he replied, "Ah, yes, I remember now, you were with another lad. I'm glad you decided to come and see what the Silver Spears are all about."

"Well, I have to admit that the mysterious invitation in my room was a nice touch. But I can't help but wonder why did you choose to try and recruit me? The message mentioned that I had passed a minimum requirement to be recruited. What requirement?" I questioned.

"Well, as you know, this is an exclusive club for serious duelers. And while we all come from different backgrounds, we all have one thing in common."

Jean paused, and I couldn't help but ask curiously, "What?"

He grinned and pulled out an ivory-colored wand whose color matched my own. "Every member of our group has an aspen wand."

Not sure of the significance, I asked, "Why does it matter what type of wand a person has?"

Jean explained, "The type of wand and core a witch or wizard has, tells a surprising amount of information about them. We learned long ago that aspen wands perform martial spells with great ease, and people that are chosen by aspen wands often become proficient duelers. So, in 1784 a small group of accomplished duelers formed the Silver Spears with the rule that only people with aspen wands would be invited."

"I'm guessing from the few members here that having such a unique requirement prevents there from being many members."

Jean shrugged and replied, "It doesn't need to be. We have around 100 active members coming from schools like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, Koldovstoretz, and Tianlong."

After digesting the information, I asked, "Why join a club at all? I thought that dueling was more of a solo sport."

Zack cut in, "It is, but the road to the top is difficult, and the club offers several advantages. The first advantage is practicing against one another; becoming an accomplished dueler doesn't happen overnight. It takes time and endless hours of practice. Next, with your parent's permission during the summer, retired members are often willing to take the time to train with you. Depending on your performance, you could get someone who has won the international dueling conference to train you. We have a surprising amount of past champions among our ranks."

I had to admit, the thought of being trained personally by an international dueling champion sounded terrific. "How would I impress them? I've never heard about any dueling competitions at Hogwarts."

"There isn't any at school. However if your get your parents's permission there is a dueling competion you can participate in.The British Isles has one over the winter holidays, and if you advance far enough in it, there is an international competition during spring break." Jean explained.

"Really? How does that work? Will we be competing against one another?" I asked.

Zack shrugged and said, "Sometimes. Dueling is a solo sport after all. There is an age bracket involved, but you can duel outside of it if you feel confident enough." Smiling mischievously, he added, "But, don't tell me that you think that we are the only dueling club at Hogwarts."