Chapter 45: Dodging a Bullet

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13 January 1991, Hogwarts

The young Slytherin shivered at the man's cold tone, and implied threat. He returned to his dormitory and stayed in his bed, realizing that he almost became the apprentice of the fucking Dark Lord in his first year at Hogwarts. He only hoped that the man wouldn't kill him for his refusal.

It was the following day and Harry was still shaking at what happened with Quirrell. There was just too much of a risk to spending a large amount of time with the Defense against the dark arts professor. The topics that the man spoke of were far beyond the cowardly academic he pretended to be, and the passion in his voice did not fit his carefully mastered persona.

Yeah, Quirrell was probably possessed and spending any extra time with him was dangerous, let alone becoming his private pupil. This posed a substantial risk, especially with the knowledge locked deep in Harry's mind. His protection came from his anonymity. No one cared about the Slytherin quiet bookworm when Malfoy and Longbottom look all the spotlight and it suited him perfectly.

However, Quirrell had noticed, Voldemort had noticed him. And while having one of the strongest wizards in existence teach him was a very attractive idea, it was simply foolish to spend time near a master of Legilimency while having secret knowledge in his head. The fact that the castle was still standing and that things are continuing somewhat similarly to the stories in Harry's mind, was proof that no one was able to breach inside, but Harry was gaining attention and he couldn't let his knowledge into the hands of anyone but him. He didn't trust anyone to give them something that could shake the very foundations of magical society, and perhaps, he never will trust anyone for that.

Harry didn't know if his past life was automatically protected from intrusion, but Harry rarely ever thought about it, and definitely not during class, which made him somewhat safe. Plus, Legilimency was a spell, and Harry could hear spells that are malicious in nature thanks to his Arcane Hearing. It wasn't foolproof since Dumbledore accidentally got past it by getting an enchantment without negative intent affecting him. But direct spells like Legilimency were like loud bangs for Harry. Oh, he was actively blocking his ability to not be overwhelmed by the castle's magic, but it was still proof that he wasn't infallible. Harry never turned off his ability when he was in Quirrell's presence, or Snape's for that matter. It was for self-preservation purposes, but he hadn't felt anyone attempt to breach his mind. Not that he was even looking them in the eyes in the first place.

Still, having someone become your mentor without looking them in the eye was just optimistic. That's not mentioning whatever Quirrell's real plan was. Yeah, getting away from that shit show was for the best. Nevertheless, Harry really needed to step up his occlumency training to avoid causing any trouble.

To make sure that the offer is off the table entirely, Harry decided to speed up his joining of a school club so that Quirrell wouldn't try to sneak something past him. First-years were only allowed one extracurricular activity, and if he joined a club, the possibly possessed professor would need to get him to quit before getting him to accept his offer.

And so, after his charms lesson, Harry walked up to Professor Flitwick and spoke up, "Professor, is it possible for me to join the duelling club?"

The half-goblin grinned, "Oho, Mr Potter, I have been waiting for a week for you to bring up the issue. I normally don't accept first-years as they are liable to get hurt and often get left behind. I also need a whole year to train my students and prepare them for the dueling tournaments in the summer, and first years are only allowed to join a club in their second semester. However, Minerva did bend the rule to admit Longbottom to the Quidditch team, which sets a precedent for admitting you into the club, so it's only a question to if you can catch up to the other members, and if you can handle the extra workload. It will not be an easy task, Potter. Are you willing to put the effort in?"

"I promise to do my best, Professor," Harry replied.

"Alright, I will admit you as a probationary member of the club. In a month, I will personally review your membership based on your performance in the dueling ring, and your performance in your academia. If you prove to me, and the rest of the club that you can handle it, then you'll be a full member. You'll probably be the youngest member in almost a century, an impressive feat, all things considered. Do you agree with my terms, young Potter?"

The Potter scion had an intense look on his face, "Yes, I can do it."

The former duelling champion jumped while clapping his hand, "Very well, you are now a probationary member of Hogwarts' esteemed duelling club. Our first meeting is tonight at six near the Great Hall. Don't be late."

Harry understood the implied dismissal in the statement and left the room. He was immediately accosted by his friends, "So, what did you want with Flitwick?" Blaise questioned.

The green-eyed boy shrugged, "I just asked to join the duelling club. He agreed to let me join as a probationary member to see if I can handle it."

"Wait, what? Flitwick never lets first years in his club," Tracy remarked, "I remember Montague complaining about it. Apparently, he wanted to join in his first one to fight in the under twelve European duelling tournaments, and he wanted Flitwick to train him. Flitwick refused and he ended up losing in the first round to some Bulgarian boy. Montague joined in his second year but he keeps telling everyone that Flitwick is the one who stopped him from winning the whole thing."

Harry quirked his eyebrow, "How is there an under twelve duelling tournament? Only eleven-year-olds could use wands without blowing everything up and participate in the tournament."

"It's more of a joke tournament," Daphne replied, "no one really takes it seriously since the best the participants could do is send prank spells at each other. It's why it's so sad that Montague still brags about it. He lost on the first round in a joke tournament, and he blamed Flitwick of all people for it. "

Harry simply nodded. It must be one of the small quirks of the magical world, and he didn't have any interest in actually fighting in a tournament if it wouldn't really be a challenge. Still, he decided to come back to the dormitory with his friend and forgo going to the library that day. He didn't know how long the dueling meeting was going to be and he didn't to neglect his friends.

Harry was broken from his thought when Daphne hit him with her elbow on the way to the dormitory, "Hey, what gives?"

The blonde girl glared at Harry, "Granger is looking at you again."

The Potter scion suppressed a groan and looked discretely at his former friend. She was looking longingly at him for some reason. The muggleborn kept doing that during class and it was very distracting. He didn't know why she wouldn't just come to speak with him. Ever since she had returned, she just acted weirdly whenever he was near. Oh, he was never going to be as close to her as before, but they were at least friendly acquaintances.

Harry wouldn't really care; Hermione was free to do whatever she liked. He stopped being invested in their friendship months ago. Unfortunately, his friends had noticed the muggleborn's behaviour and commented on it, "Again, I don't know why she's doing that."

A teasing smile appeared on Tracy's face, "Maybe she has a crush on you. Oh, it would be so romantic. A love that is forbidden because of the houses. The Muggleborn and the Heir. It would make a great tragedy."

"It would be a trashy romance novel at best, Tracy," Harry protested, "But I really haven't spoken to her for months. I don't know why she's suddenly looking at me like that."

And he wasn't even lying. Hermione's gift was a very nice gesture to apologize for her mistake and Harry did forgive her. But for some reason, she seemed undecided between talking to him and avoiding him, and Harry was very confused about it.

The Potter scion simply did his best to ignore the girl and muttered, "Troublesome…"

Blaise snorted in amusement at his comment, and the four Slytherins kept bickering until they reached the common room. They ended up playing a small chess tournament. Harry had wanted to try out his new chess set, and Daphne had surprisingly asked to play against him. It was odd because he and Blaise usually played while Daphne and Tracy gossiped in the corner.

Still, Daphne wasn't that bad all things considered. Harry destroyed her, of course, but the Greengrass scion was competitive enough to keep trying until it was almost time for the duelling club meeting.

Harry excused himself and hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and upper years were giving him questioning looks.

One of them, an older Ravenclaw, walked towards Harry, probably with the intention of asking him to leave, but Professor Flitwick walked up the stage, "Gather around everyone. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I welcome you to the second half of your yearly duelling education. As most of you noticed, we have a new addition to our ranks."

He pointed at the only first-year in the room and Harry wanted to crawl away from their stares. Montague turned to the Professor with an incredulous expression, "But he's a firstie?"

"And I believe he can catch up to the second years easily enough. Do not worry though, his membership is probationary. I will personally judge his progress and see if he should stay a member. That being said, if I see any signs that someone is sabotaging him in any way, they will be expelled from the club, that's not mentioning the months of detention that they'll have to serve with Filch."

Everyone shivered at the thought of spending that much time with the frankly despicable squib. Harry didn't really know why his post even existed. It's not like he cleaned anything since the house elves do it. All he does is run around with his cat and try to get students punished. And even if the post was necessary, this man had no business being anywhere near children, let alone handling their punishments.

Harry didn't care that he was a squib. He did care that he was a spiteful angry sadist of a man, that relished at the thought of physically harming the students of the castle. The fact that Dumbledore hadn't fired the man was honestly disturbing.

The charms professor simply shook his head and continued, "Alright, so a quick revision on the basics. Duelling is a sport, an art, where you show your mastery over tactics and magic in a martial manner. However, using duelling tactics while fighting a criminal is liable to get you killed. So, if you're expecting to list this club as some sort of advantage when applying to be an Auror, you're more likely to be laughed at than anything else. Duelling is a demonstration of knowledge of spells and their counters, reflexes, certain skills, and tactics. There are strict rules and regulations, and there is an official list of allowed spells. Of course, not a single spell allowed to be used can be considered to be dark. Casting any forbidden spell in an official tournament is grounds for getting disqualified, and if the spell is dangerous enough, banned from competitive duelling altogether. Now, with that out of the way, let's start with a small demonstration between me and the seventh-year current champion."

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