Chapter - 85 : An Heir and a Spare part - 3

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From then on bad things happened whenever Footswitch said the word "muggle." He'd begin to hiccough uncontrollably, or turn bright pink, or -Harry's favourite - a pair of eagles would swoop down out of nowhere and begin pecking him on the nose.

It was perhaps due to the misuse of their house mascot - or simply the disruption caused to their Defence lessons - that the Ravenclaws were especially incensed by these pranks. A group of fourth years took to following Footswitch around as his bodyguards, while others spent even more time in the library than usual, looking for spells to counteract the pranks. Unfortunately for them their strategy didn't work, mostly because no one could figure out who was casting the spells. A lot of people were convinced it was Fred and George, but no one suspected Harry, who with his Invisibility Cloak could move about undetected.

Footswitch was soon forced to capitulate and avoid any mention of Muggles - something which required a heavy revision of his lesson plans. Many of the Pureblood students were disappointed, but the muggleborns in every House were delighted by the change. In fact Harry suspected they had helped hurry the process along, since he knew neither he nor the twins were responsible for Footswitch tripping over thin air and falling down a whole flight of stairs, or losing all his lecture notes to a badly aimed Vanishing spell

After a whole week of Defence classes focused on the bloodthirstiness of Giants, Harry was prepared to declare their pranks a success; he doubted anything would cure Footswitch of his prejudice, but at least the man had abandoned the subject of Muggles for the time being.

It was therefore with a feeling of smug satisfaction that Harry entered the Charms classroom after a celebratory lunch with Fred and George. The other Slytherins were already at their desks and most of them nodded hello as he walked through the door. Draco greeted him with a scowl. "There you are, Orion. Where in Merlin's name have you been?"

"Off with those Weasley twins again, I expect," Nott said. He slid over so that Harry could sit between him and Draco. Harry smiled in thanks.

"Really, I don't see the appeal of those two red haired menaces," Draco said with a petulant huff.

"They're my friends," Harry told him mildly. "And knowing what I do, I prefer to be on their good sides."

"What d'you mean?" Draco eyed him suspiciously.

Harry just smiled mysteriously and used Flitwick's arrival to avoid giving an answer.

"Settle down, settle down, everyone!" The diminutive Professor waved his wand and levitated himself to the top of the tall stack of books on his chair, giving him the necessary height to meet his students' eyes. The Slytherins all quieted, having a healthy respect for the Ravenclaw Head of House; Flitwick's past as a Duelling Champion was common knowledge. "Today we'll be working on the Levitation Charm, as promised, so I hope you've all come prepared." Flitwick gazed round the classroom. "Mr Crabbe, do you have your wand?"

Crabbe looked blank. "Er, haven't found it yet, Professor."

"It's almost the end of October, Mr Crabbe," Flitwick said disapprovingly, but didn't press the subject. Professor and student had been having similar exchanges for weeks, and it seemed Flitwick had finally given up expecting a different answer to his oft-repeated question.

Hermione sent Crabbe a reproachful look from her seat next to Daphne, but otherwise the class continued with no further attention paid to Crabbe's missing wand. Feathers were passed round and the students split into pairs to swish and flick and try to levitate them. Harry, of course, had his feather floating above his head on his first try.

Flitwick squeaked excitedly. "Oh well done! Brilliant work as always, Mr Black. Look everyone, Mr Black's done it. Ten points to Slytherin!"

A pleased murmur spread through the classroom and the students gripped their wands with renewed determination.

"Let me try," Draco said, impatiently nudging Harry aside.

Harry cancelled his spell and let the feather drift down to settle onto the desktop in front of them. "Go on then."

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Draco smirked triumphantly as the feather began rising. His smirk was quickly replaced with a scowl as the spell failed only a few seconds later.

Harry struggled not to grin. He and Draco got on well enough, but Harry hadn't forgotten the rivalry that had existed between them in his old world.

"You're doing it wrong!" Hermione turned round in her chair to lecture the Malfoy heir. "It's an upwards flick and a downwardsswish, not the other way round."

Draco glared at her. "That's what I did."

"No it isn't," Hermione said. "Look, here, I'll do it. Wingardium Leviosa!" Her wand movements were precise and her feather rose smoothly into the air.

"Excellent work, Miss Granger. Five points to Slytherin." Flitwick smiled warmly at her. "Mr Malfoy, that was a good effort. Keep trying." The Professor moved over to help Crabbe and Goyle, leaving behind him a smug Hermione and an angry Draco.

"Granger just got lucky." Draco crossed his arms petulantly. "And stop laughing, Nott!"

Nott made no effort to hide his sniggers. "How do you explain Orion also managing it before you? Looks as if you're just incompetent."

"I most certainly am not incompetent! I'm a Malfoy!" Draco snapped back. "And of course Orion managed the spell. The Blacks have an affinity for Charms."

"Uh, actually, our affinity is for offensive magic," Harry said.

Draco waved the correction away. "Whatever. Charms can be used offensively, so of course you'd be the best in this class."

"He's the best in every class," Daphne put in from her seat a few desks away.

"Er, thanks, Daphne," Harry said while Draco glared at her. Daphne smiled at them both and returned to focusing on her work.

"I didn't know that about your family's affinity." Nott tilted his head as he looked at Harry. "I thought you Blacks had a specific talent for curses instead of for all offensive magic?"

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