Chapter 103

"Long story. But can it be done?"

"Let's see..." Hermione scratched her chin, deep in thought. "I presume you're talking about the Mirror? It really depends on what, exactly, 'heart's desire' means. With a decent Confundus Charm — or maybe even after being Obliviated, which leaves the target in a highly suggestive state — you can definitely force someone to want something. Whether that counts as your new 'heart's desire,' however, I think is a matter of interpretation."

"Ah," Milo was crushed by disappointment. He'd hoped to trick the Mirror of Erised into showing him whatever he needed to see, but he was pretty sure that he'd destroyed his chances of getting a favourable outcome in any 'matter of interpretation' when he tried to use Spontaneous Divination to mimic a Cleric spell.

"However," Hermione said, looking thoughtful. "It's possible — unlikely, mind, but possible — that a sufficiently powerful Love potion might have the desired effect."

"A Love potion." Milo said flatly.

"It basically comes down to how, well, fluffy one interprets the meaning of 'heart's desire' to be. Will someone who is madly in love, but drugged by a potion into loving someone else see their 'one true love,' or the person who is pressing on their minds at that very moment? The answer to that, I really couldn't tell you. Seems more up Professor Dumbledore's alley, to be honest. It's all academic, in any case. Harry said he was going to move the Mirror, I doubt we'll ever see it again."

"Of course we will!" Milo said. "It's on the List. If it wasn't going to pop up again later for something important, why would we have seen it after Christmas? It would have been a complete waste of everyone's time."

"You have a very unusual view of the world," Hermione said, her tone making it perfectly clear how she felt about that.

"It's never led me astray yet," Milo said defensively.

"Now that is a matter of some debate," she said. "Oh, also, McGonagall told us that Dumbledore officially pardoned the Gryffindor house for assaulting the Slytherins in Potions. Apparently we've fallen precipitously behind even Hufflepuff, not that there's anything wrong with them, in our courses because of all the detentions."

"Well, that's a relief," Milo said. "I badly need that time for spell research. There just aren't enough hours in the day."

"Tell me about it," Hermione said sympathetically. "I don't see how I'm going to fit all the courses I want onto my schedule in third year," she said. "Which reminds me — I really need to get back to studying."

After she left, Milo returned to work on Ron's Amulet. He'd have to spend most of the rest of today and tomorrow on it, but Sunday...

...Sunday was saved for Quirrell's Duelling Club.

o—o—o—o

"S-s-some of you are p-p-probably wondering w-why the D-D-Defence P-Professor would start a D-Duelling Club," Quirrell stammered to the assembled students. Roughly one-third of the entire student body had signed up for his Club, from first-years to seventh-years, and stood assembled in the Great Hall. "B-because whatever you c-could learn in this c-club, surely, I c-could teach you in y-your regular c-c-course?" Milo blinked. He hadn't been wondering that at all; he'd mostly been wondering how much longer he had to wait before magically curbstomping some local 'wizards.' "Well, the d-d-difference between D-Defence Against the D-Dark Arts and D-D-Duelling lies in y-your opponent. C-can anyone t-tell me what a Red C-Cap, a Werewolf, a Dementor, a D-Doxie, a B-Boggart, and even a V-V-V-Vampire have in c-common?"

Students shuffled their feet, glancing at one another, trying to determine any similarity between these extremely disparate creatures.

"What's the answer to this one?" Ron whispered hopefully to Hermione.

"I don't know!" she whispered back, her eyes looking somewhat wild. "It's not in any of our textbooks, and most of those creatures aren't covered until third year or higher!"

Somewhere near the front, an NPC raised his hand.

"Yes, C-C-Cedric?" Quirrell asked the boy.

"They're not human," he said simply. "And they all have some sort of weakness to memorize, or a vulnerability to a particular Charm or Curse."

"C-correct," Quirrell stammered, "and ten p-points for Hufflepuff." There was some astonished murmuring from the ranks — a Hufflepuff (not that there's anything wrong with them, great people, by the way) answered a question about Defence and got it right? Who was this boy? "In short," Quirrell continued, "as l-l-long as you're prepared and r-r-reasonably alert, most m-magical creatures pose l-little threat to a q-qualified wizard or w-witch. Now, who c-can tell me how fighting another w-wizard or w-w-witch is different?"

Again, it was Cedric who raised his hand first.

"Because, in theory, a wizard fighting another wizard is a fair fight," the handsome Hufflepuff explained. "They both have access to the same spells, and since every spell — Unforgivables aside, of course — can be countered in some fashion, it comes down to the differences between the individual witches or wizards in question."

"C-correct again," Quirrell said. "A-and another t-ten points for Hufflepuff. N-now, to the c-c-crux of the m-matter, what is the f-factor that will d-determine which w-wizard will prevail?"

This time, nearly every student in the hall raised their hand.

"Yes, Mister M-Malfoy?" Quirrell asked Draco, who was standing near the front, surrounded by a gaggle of Slytherins, as always.

"Blood purity and raw magical power," Draco said simply.

"I-interesting," Quirrell said. "And what s-say you, Miss G-Granger?"

"Practicing the most advanced spells," Hermione answered, "so that they can be cast reliably and effectively even under stressful circumstances."

"And y-you again, M-Mister D-Diggory?"

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