Chapter Four: Duel

It was too risky to go to the Room of Hidden Things in case Flitwick wanted to talk with me about my incoming duel, so I spend most of my time in my room, looking through the three small books on Occlumency that I found amongst the collection of books I plundered during the night.

The evening arrived quite quickly this way.

I entered the Great Hall half an hour before dinner time would end and found it packed with students of all ages and houses. People were muttering around louder than usual. Even my table looked somewhat more lively. Paulina gave me a questioning gaze when I took a seat next to her.

In response, I looked around with raised brows. "Don't tell me that everyone around here is so excited because of a little dispute between two firsties?"

"Dumbledore told us about it earlier," Paulina muttered before sipping from her tea, looking excited. "He said that the victor of the duel wins 100 points for their respective house!"

One of the older students leaned forward to get my attention and grinned.

"You can secure us the House Cup if you win!" he exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"Vegaz." Another student from the older years called for my attention, the seventh-year prefect. "Wipe the floor with the Slytherin and secure us the House Cup, then you can have a copy of my notes of each subject and year. How does that sound for you?"

'Oh?'

I nodded with a smile. "See it as done. And don't stress yourself too much. You can give me your notes on the train back to London if you wish."

"I like you, Vegaz," The older student stated with an amused laugh. "Don't disappoint me, and you got yourself a new friend."

"Are you sure that you can fight Warrington?" Roger Davies asked, sitting opposite of me a few seats away. He and his two boys were eyeing me with skepticism. "You are a muggleborn and he is a pureblood. He will know more spells than you do."

My face was suddenly the focus of a lot of gazes. Roger's words caused a few students amongst my table to doubt my chances of victory.

"Knowing many spells means nothing if you haven't mastered them," I explained as if I was a professor talking down to a student.

"And you say that you mastered a spell?" Roger snorted back. "Can you cast it silently? Or maybe with no wand?"

"Wandlessly," Paulina muttered beside me, gaining herself a glare from Roger.

I shrugged my shoulders and reached forward to touch the flame of a candle. Students around me gasped in shock and disbelief when I took the little flame into my hand, shaping it into a fiery ballerina before making her dance across my palm.

"Oh, I can do many things," I replied in a deeper tone, staring down at the dancing flame with a mysterious smile. "Magic is such a wonderful thing, Roger. All you need is a healthy mind and the necessary focus. Your blood is irrelevant."

I looked up and saw the boy gulping hard, appearing a little pale. The rest of my table grew silent, their eyes shining in amazement as they were glued on my dancing ballerina flame. I blew the animated fire out and watched the whisp of smoke it left behind to perform its last pirouette before vanishing into thin air.

Paulina looked at me as if she was in the presence of Merlin made flesh, her eyes shining with admiration. The seventh-year prefect slapped the table and burst into laughter.

"Vegaz, that was absolutely brilliant!" he roared with laughter, making more than a few heads from the close-by Hufflepuff table turn. "Where did you learn such a thing?"

"Practice," I replied with a shrug. " And listening to music will help, too."

It was true, I loved to listen to classical music when practicing magic. In my previous life, my mother was a ballet dancer and instructor. She took me with her to work sometimes and I would do my homework while she was torturing her students. Classical music would play in the background, and I still liked to listen to it while doing something that required concentration.

"Music?" Roger inquired with a crooked brow.

"Chopin, Wagner, Tchaikovsky," I replied, munching a piece of bacon. "The best of the best."

"My mother likes to Chopin when she is brewing potions for St Mungo's," an older girl cut in. "His music is great."

"What should I hear if I want to do better in DADA?" a younger boy asked hopefully.

"It doesn't work like that," Penelope Clearwater lectured, chuckling slightly. "You have to find that out for yourself since you might like a different kind of music."

"Still pretty impressive for a firstie to learn such a trick," the seventh-year prefect stated, giving me a nod of respect. "You will do well if you continue like this, Vegaz. Make sure you don't slack off."

It took me quite a bit, but I finally recalled his name: Louis Bolton. He was one of the few students who had almost as much power as a Professor in the castle, but not because he was a prefect. Few dared to get on his bad side, even from House Slytherin. I didn't know why since I spent little time interacting with people, but he was tall, well-built, slightly buff, with black hair and icy-blue eyes, and radiated the charisma of a leader.

"Eh, don't worry about that," I replied with a confident smirk.

My attention was drawn to my side when I faintly sensed the magical presence of an adult approach. I turned towards it and saw Lily Potter getting closer. She gave me a warm smile when our eyes met.

"Excuse me the interruption, Mister Vegaz," she said as she stopped at my side. "But Professor Flitwick and I would like to speak with you for a moment before your duel with Mister Warrington starts. Is that alright with you?"

I emptied my glass of orange juice and nodded. "Sure, no problem, Professor."

She made me follow her out of the Great Hall, and I couldn't help but look at her shapely backside hidden below a pencil skirt as I followed her. Nobody could say that Lily Potter wasn't a hot milf. Her curvy body was easily an eight out of ten. Her long, lustrous red hair, emerald eyes, and the full lips of her beautiful face made her quite the seductive eye candy. And she wasn't even thirty, I think.

That said, she led me into the Entrance Hall where Professor Flitwick was already waiting for us. The Flitwick in this world looked like a miniature version of a classic wizard, wearing a classic blue and bronze robe with wide shelves, a pointy hat, and pointy shoes that were curling up slightly at the front. The lower half of his aged face was covered by a pure white and fluffy beard, just below his slightly pointy nose. Actually, he looked quite adorable.

He gave Lily a nod before turning towards me with an excited smile. "Your performance at the table didn't go unnoticed, Mister Vegaz. Fantastic, excellent, marvelous! Your control was superb!"

Lily chuckled in amusement beside me, shaking her head as Professor Flitwick continued to praise my little trick with bubbling excitement. I couldn't help but grin; his cheery nature was quite contagious.

"It's just a little trick I like to play with while I am brainstorming on a topic," I told the little Professor, making him shake his head with a smile.

"Mister Vegaz," he chuckled with a squeaky voice. "What you call a little trick makes scholars that attempt their mastery in the Elemental Arts lose their hair in frustration. Your performance makes me believe that your might have a high affinity for the element of fire. Such a talent has to be nurtured. I will make sure of that!"

He gestured towards Lily Potter and gestured. "Unfortunately, I have little time because of my duties for the school, but Professor Lily is my most trusted friend. She will help you in my place."

"You can count on me, Filius," Lily nodded at that, smiling brightly when she turned to see my baffled expression. She then proceeded and told me that I could visit her whenever I had faced both academic and other forms of trouble. Furthermore, I was offered private lessons with her, starting from next year.

Snape and Warrington appeared as Lily and Flitwick chatted with me about my fiery trick. The greasy-haired professor leered at Lily's body with hidden lust lingering in his murky eyes. It was extremely creepy, and I couldn't help but shudder, especially since Snape could easily go by as a convicted sex-offender due to his unkempt appearance.

"Headmaster Dumbledore is currently adjusting the Great Hall for today's duel between Mister Warrington and Mister Vegaz," Snape reported with a deep, monotone, and slightly nasal voice.

"Thank you, Severus," Lily said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

An awkward silence spread through the area. Snape seemed to take personal insult in the way Lily reacted to his presence. Lily was looking in the other direction and was stubbornly ignoring the man. Flitwick was unsure what to do. And Warrington was poking his nose as he stood behind his Head of the House.

"Is that much attention for a duel between two first years really necessary?" I said to break the unpleasant silence. "I am sure that Warrington and I will have lots of fun, but I doubt that our small arsenal of basic spells will impress the older students."

Flitwick chuckled at that while Snape actually nodded in agreement. Lily said nothing but seemed amused.

"Are you afraid, Vegaz?" Warrington said with a smirk. Because of his nose-picking, he was sporting an eye-catching booger on his upper lip.

"Just a little nervous," I told him, faking worry. "After all, the entire school will be watching us. Imagine what people will think of you if you somehow manage to humiliate yourself. They won't let go of it until you graduate."

Warrington lost his confident smirk, and an uneasy expression spread across his chubby face. His beady gaze wandered to Snape, who just hissed in annoyance, ignoring his young snake.

Suddenly, loud applause and cheers echoed from the Great Hall. Snape gestured at Warrington to follow him.

My own turn came soon after that, and I followed after Professor Flitwick and Potter as they walked with me into the Great Hall. The entire place was readjusted into a small arena with the students sitting on rows of seats to the left and right. Cheers and applause filled my ears, and also some booing from where the Slytherins gathered.

In the middle was the dueling platform, a large piece of rectangular stone that rose a meter above the ground. Warrington was already waiting for me at the other side, standing in the middle of a small circle. I climbed a couple of stairs and stood on the marked area of my side. There was about ten meters of empty space between us.

"Now that both participants are ready…" Dumbledore started, speaking in a loud and authoritative tone that silenced the area. "Let us begin the first duel of tonight!"

'The first?'

It almost sounded as if there is at least one duel more happening tonight.

"The challenger, Cassius Warrington of House Slytherin, against Johnny Vegaz of House Ravenclaw," Dumbledore announced merrily. "The rules will be in accordance with the guidelines of the U-13 league. No spells with the potential to cause serious injuries. No physical contact between the combatants. Before the duel officially begins, both combatants bow to each other as a sign of respect."

Warrington and I nodded and bowed to each other. Next, Dumbledore pointed the Elder Wand up and summoned a large, slightly translucent '3' above his head. The projection started to count down, and when the number '1' vanished, a loud gong declared the start of the duel.

"Stupefy!" Warrington initiated the fight with a stunner, summoning a spark of light that raced at me with moderate speed, easily evadable.

"Tarantallegra!" I hit back with a Dancing Feet Charm that traveled a lot faster than Warrington's spell.

Instead of dodging, the boy across me was frozen on the spot. He lifted his free hand to protect his face and squeezed his eyes shut as my spell was about to hit him. Because of that, my spell hit him directly in the chest and swiftly made him jump up and down, forcing him to dance like a crazy techno music fanatic.

"What did you do to me?!" Warrington complained as he crouched down and began to swing his feet forward, performing the Russian Kalinka dance.

Some of the younger students began to laugh, especially the Gryffindors.

"It's called the dancing feet charm," I explained with a grin. "You seem to have some talent for it."

"Stupefy!" Warrington roared, but his spell missed completely since he couldn't stop his feet from swinging wildly around.

I was tempted to cast my Roaring Fart spell on him, but I didn't want to risk him shitting his pants in front of everyone. I didn't like him, but he didn't do anything to deserve such cruelty, so I decided to end the match with a Disarming Charm.

"Expelliarmus!"

My spell manifested as a golden beam of light that shot towards Warrington, hitting his chest. His wand was ripped out of his grasp and tossed towards me. I caught it in my free hand and put my own wand away in my newly gained wand holster, drawing some oohs and ahhs from the crowd.

"Victor through disarming his opponent…" Dumbledore boomed. "Johnny Vegaz!"

Applause and cheers erupted around me. Snape caster a Finite on Warrington and dragged the boy over to me to claim his wand back. The grim professor sneered grimly but didn't say anything.

"As promised, the victor of this duel will earn his house a prize of one hundred house points!" Dumbledore announced, causing the Ravenclaw students to scream like mad.

Eventually, I gave the Headmaster a nod of thanks and found my way from the arena when Flitwick called me over. Another duel was announced between Charlie Weasley and Crowley Mulciber.

"That was an excellent use of the Dancing Feet Charm, Mister Vegaz," Flitwick praised with a cheerful grin. "It's rarely used, but when it hits the mark, the duel is over for most opponents. Those that have a strong mind and focus can resist it, however."

"Does Occlumency help, too?" I inquired as we walked over to where the Ravenclaws were gathered.

Flitwick gave me a surprised expression. "Yes, it does. It is a practice of the Mind Arts, after all. Everything connected to this school of magic requires a strong mind and focus from the practitioner."

We went silent as the duel between Charlie Weasley and Crowley Mulciber was about to begin. The first was a tall and athletic redhead with a wild and long mane, looking like a wise old brother type. The latter was a beefy guy with a thug-like appearance, oily and short hair, dark eyes with bushy eyebrows, and with really hairy hands, almost like an ape.

"The challenger, Charlie Weasley of House Gryffindor, against Crowley Mulciber of House Slytherin," Dumbledore announced before listing the rules.

They were both quidditch players, and rumors say that the two hated each other to the guts. Mulciber was a beater and would cheat by 'accidentally' hitting people of the other team when they got close enough. In the last game between the snakes and the lions, Mulciber smacked a female member of the Gryffindor team so hard on the head that she was lying in a coma for a week or so.

When the duel finally started, Charlie dodged the first spell and retaliated with a spell that turned the hair of his opponent into a red afro. He then carried on and showered Mulciber in prank spells until the thuggish boy was turned into a silly clown. It wasn't a fight but total humiliation for the Slytherin.

But that wasn't really surprising. Charlie was one of the best students. He was the captain of the Quidditch team, a prefect, and well-known for being a strong wand.

Everything Mulciber could brag with was his… well, I wasn't sure. All I know about this guy was that he was a bully and a rather unpleasant character. He was one of the few older students that lowered themselves to the level where they would go after first and second years. I managed to avoid such individuals so far.

That said, Charlie dodged all the spells that came for him while using the Stinging Hex to torture his opponent a bit. All the prank spells seriously handicapped Mulciber from concentrating properly. He was so angry that he threw more verbal curses than spells at Charlie, allowing the redhead to effortlessly dodge and attack without breaking into a sweat.

The fight eventually ended when the swellings on Mulciber's dace disabled him from seeing properly.

"Victor through overwhelming force…" Dumbledore hollered with visible pride in his eyes. "Charlie Weasley!"

As expected, the Gryffindors ended up making a scene, roaring and screaming like a mob of hooligans on crack as they chanted Charlie's name.

Another duel followed with a Gryffindor facing a Slytherin again. Both were in the fourth year, and the fight was pretty basic. However, the Slytherin won this time around because the lion allowed himself to be affected by the insults of the snake. His housemates reacted with outrage, targeted against the smug-looking snakes.

When everything was over, Dumbledore used an impressive piece of magic to return the Great Hall to its natural state. Flitwick invited me to his office for another chat with Lily Potter tagging along.

The new development between the professors and me looked profitable. Maybe not now, but definitely in the future. One could get more and better resources such are rare books with the help of a Professor, and Flitwick was the Head of Ravenclaw. He most likely had his own private library full of arcane tomes.

Lily Potter wasn't bad either to have as an ally amongst the teachers. She was a Charms Mistress and not stupid. Private lessons with her would be valuable. There was also the fact that she was an attractive woman. Well, I still disliked the attention-seeking nature of her family, the annoying charade around her son, but if she could prove herself as beneficial… why not?

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