Chapter 37: 2-7: Duelling
Disclaimer: Being neither British nor Japanese, it should therefore come as no surprise that I own neither Harry Potter nor Naruto, nor anything from their respective franchises.
A low buzz of excitement ran through the school one snowed-in Friday in December, with the announcement of a newly-formed Duelling Club which would be having its inaugural meeting that evening. The short notice was somewhat odd (not to mention a bit irritating), but Iruka resolved to attend. While his occasional demonstrations and bouts with the Headmaster were helpful, it would be better to at least see a more diverse sample of duelists.
All that went out the window when Justin Finch-Fletchley was found petrified beside a seemingly-insensate Sir Nicholas. Unlike Colin Creevey's petrification, which occurred quietly in the middle of the night, this scene received plenty of attention from students and staff, courtesy of Peeves.
After the two victims of this attack had been moved to the Hospital Wing (Sir Nicholas being pushed along with wind from a conjured fan) and the rest of the students accounted for and sequestered in their Houses, the Headmaster called the entire staff together for an emergency meeting.
"What are we to do Albus?" Pomona Sprout was visibly distraught at the attack on one of her Badgers. "We've more than enough Mandrakes growing, but it'll be months yet before they're fit to use. Now there's two students that'll be missing months of schooling, and missing holidays with their families, and we've still no idea what's causing all this!"
"It's not precisely no idea, Pomona," Dumbledore replied with a serious expression and a placating tone, "but what we do have is still too vague to be acted upon in any meaningful fashion. The fact that the perpetrator of these attacks was somehow able to affect Sir Nicholas in such a way is, I must admit, both troubling and perplexing. I myself can think of nothing capable of such a result, though I would ask if any of you might have knowledge of any similar incidents."
"Well, there was that time while I was hunting the Wagga Wagga Werewolf..." Lockhart launched into a long and florid anecdote that even Iruka, with his limited knowledge of magic, found difficult to believe. From the looks on his fellow Professors' faces, he wasn't the only one, with Professors Snape and Sprout looking particularly irritated at the pompous blowhard.
"Indeed, thank you for that Gilderoy, I shall be sure to look into that possibility." Lockhart preened at the Headmaster's praise that only barely avoided sounding shamelessly insincere. "I would ask all of you to continue to do your utmost to look out for the students, and to come to me immediately should you think of anything else or discover any new information. I believe that it would be best to cancel both classes and activities for the remainder of the day," at this the Defense Professor deflated, "and other than that do our best to move things along until the Express departs for the holidays. I think it most unlikely that our perpetrator would dare attack with most of the students out of the castle, as it would greatly narrow the likely suspects and thus put them at significantly increased risk of discovery. Unless circumstances change or new information comes to light, we can only maintain our vigilance and continue our investigations. Now, unless anyone has any further business?"
Hagrid timidly raised a hand. "I could use permission an' a bit o' help wardin' the chicken coops. Summat's been gettin' in, killed two roosters this term."
"Of course, Hagrid, by all means. Would you be available, Filius?" At the small Professor's nod, Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Thank you. I fear I shall continue to be particularly occupied for the forseeable future." Now he addressed the room: "Anything else? No? Then I bid you all a good afternoon."
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The students were very much on edge the next morning, and far more were soon confirmed as going home (or at least leaving the castle) for the holidays than had been the day before.
Iruka trudged his way out to Hagrid's hut at the first opportunity. Something had been nagging at his mind: Were the dead roosters the gamekeeper mentioned unusual? If they were a frequent occurrence, he would probably have already gotten his chicken coops warded. If they were out of the ordinary, then the possibility had to be explored that they might be connected somehow to the attacks.
"Professor Umino!" The large man waved cheerfully as his visitor approached. "What brings yeh out here in this weather?"
"Just a couple of questions about something that occurred to me," the chuunin responded, "you mentioned yesterday that two of your roosters have been killed this term. How often does something like that happen?"
Hagrid scratched his head. "Not too often. Every few years, summat gets into the chickens and kills a couple. 'S a bit odd, though, never had two times in one term. Roosters're a bit better at protectin' themselves than hens, too, so most things'd go after hens ter be safer. An' whatever it was, it didn' eat one bite from either rooster, just drained the blood, so best guess is tha' it's a Blood-Sucking Bugbear doin' it."
Iruka's suspicions shot through the roof. "And when were the roosters killed, anyway?"
"Well," the gamekeeper replied, "the most recent one I jus' found yesterday, so it must've been the nigh' before. Firs' one died on Halloween, an' o' course I forgot what with all the mess that evenin'." Hagrid looked particularly disturbed at the oblique reference to the attack on Mrs. Norris.
"Thank you, Hagrid," Iruka said, "that clears things up a bit for me."
"Anytime, Professor. Give Harry and the others my best, would yeh?"
"Of course. Enjoy your holidays!"
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Soon thereafter, Iruka was once again in the Headmaster's office, recounting the information he'd learned on his trip to the gamekeeper's hut.
"Most intriguing," Dumbledore mused while stroking his beard, "I quite agree that the timing of the first rooster's death, and its exsanguination, seem rather unlikely to be mere coincidence as they relate to our current trouble. It strikes me as most probable that whoever is behind the attacks within the castle also killed Hagrid's roosters. I would have expected, in that light, to see another message following the petrification of Mr. Finch-Fletchley and the incapacitation of Sir Nicholas, and yet no such message has thus far appeared."
"I suspect that a second message will appear," Albus continued, "however perfunctory it may be. Regardless, we would seem to have found another clue, though it seems thus far to have only answered an incidental question. Still, I shall ask Filius to place a number of monitoring spells around Hagrid's chicken coops - if chance favors us we might be able to identify the perpetrator should they require yet more blood."
Iruka departed again after assuring his employer that S.E.N. would be apprised of the latest development.
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All four student members of S.E.N. departed on the Hogwarts Express for winter holidays. In one of their private sessions, Harry had expressed to Iruka his excitement at getting to experience a family Christmas celebration as a participant rather than as a spectator and domestic servant. For his part, the chuunin simply daydreamed about introducing Vernon and Petunia Dursley to Mitarashi Anko.
As in previous years, Iruka joined in with the Lovegood family's festivities. Unlike the previous years, he and his four students (along with both sets of available parents) were gathered together at Longbottom Hall for that family's annual New Years Eve Ball. Both Granger parents had spent much of the evening wide-eyed at the copious and often casual displays of magic, from the decorations and foodstuffs to the house-elves. Some of the other attendees had given the Grangers (and to a lesser degree Harry) sour looks and/or made pointed comments aimed at their Muggle outfits, but Augusta Longbottom often politely but firmly rebuked those she caught exhibiting such behavior.
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Term resumed, and on nearly the first evening not already significantly occupied by other activities, the postponed Duelling Club finally met.
Upon arriving, Iruka naturally gravitated towards where S.E.N. had gathered, joining their speculation about exactly what the Club would entail and who might be running it. The Duelling Club was being held in the Great Hall to accommodate the large number of interested pupils; the House Tables had been removed, and in their place was a duelling stage - a long rectangular platform, about a meter and a half across by ten meters long, and elevated by about a meter to let participants be clearly seen by all in the room while allowing most stray spells to fly harmlessly over the spectators' heads.
Much to the chuunin's dismay (and that of three of his students) it turned out that the Club was being run by Gilderoy Lockhart, though the inclusion of Severus Snape as an assistant at least provided a bit of hope that there might be some useful information at some point.
Quite a few of the wizards in the room, Iruka included, took a great deal of satisfaction and amusement watching Lockhart blasted across the room. This quickly turned to frustrated exasperation when the pompous idiot simply had all the children in the room pair off and begin duelling. After calming the chaos that promptly erupted (with Iruka's help), Lockhart then suggested a single match on the stage, choosing Neville and pitting him against Draco Malfoy. Snape's animosity towards the young Longbottom was plain as day, and Iruka could clearly see him fighting to hold back some sort of acid remark.
In a less-than-promising start, Malfoy jumped the count, casting a Pimple Jinx before the match had officially begun. Neville was unfazed, however, and casually dodged the incoming spell before responding with a Tongue-Tying Hex. Actually, he tried to; only a faint spark came out of the young Gryffindor's wand, guttering out before it had crossed even half the distance to the Malfoy scion. A vicious smirk crossed the pale boy's face at that point, and several more times he cast unpleasant but entirely permissible spells which were dodged and replied to with weak or failed spells by Neville. Mutters (some sympathetic, some derisive) and titters became increasingly common and loud among the spectators at each of the Longbottom heir's attempts to cast.
After three more exchanges, Malfoy placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "Come on, Longbottom," he drawled with a sneer, "I don't know why you even bother. It's not like everyone didn't already know that you're practically a squib. Pathetic, really, to see such a once-proud old family reduced to this..."
Neville's face had, as the taunt progressed, grown progressively stormier before shifting to a look of intense focus. He cut off the Slytherin's insults with a firmly-shouted "Expelliarmus!"
For the second time in one evening, the audience was treated to the sight of an until-that-point-perfectly-groomed blonde nitwit pinwheeling through the air in the opposite direction from his wand.
While Snape looked nearly ready to commit homicide, Lockhart was beaming. "Spectacular! Well done, Mister Longbottom, well done indeed. And Mister Malfoy, some excellent spellwork by you as well; do come back up here for a moment." The pale boy climbed somewhat dizzily back onto the stage, where Neville handed his wand back with polite (if clearly frosty) formality. "Let's have a hand for our first two duellists!" The Club's sponsor stood grinning between the two boys and basked in the applause that was directed at least close to him.
After dismissing Neville and Malfoy, Lockhart moved on to pairs from successively higher years. While it was entertaining, the actual educational content was fairly lacking; at the current rate, most of the students would be lucky to duel even a handful of times before the end of the year. After the seventh-year duel finished, Lockhart dismissed the Club for the evening. Speaking among themselves, S.E.N. concluded that they'd attend one more meeting, but stop after that if things didn't improve.
A/N: Those of you who are spectacularly observant and/or pedantic might have noticed that December 17, 1992 (the official date of Lockhart's only Duelling Club meeting) was a Thursday. I am aware of this, but decided that Lockhart is just smart enough to recognize that there's already an activity on those evenings that could draw away potential fans members, including the Boy-Who-Lived. Thus, he bumps it back one evening. That puts it several hours after Justin was attacked in canon, which I only realized after writing the entire Duelling Club scene. The original version of that scene has ended up with the rest of my outtakes and deleted scenes.
So yeah, Harry wasn't revealed as a parselmouth. Different circumstances, different results. There was really no practical way to show this in-story (at least not without being ham-fisted about the whole thing) but Lockhart's choice of duellists was no accident: Lucius heard about the Duelling Club from Draco over winter hols, and (whether directly or through Snape) suggested that particular matchup to Lockhart. He actually suggested that or Draco vs. Harry, but Lockhart has gotten the message that Harry prefers to avoid the spotlight, and is savvy enough on such matters to not piss off someone so potentially useful. As far as why those particular matches were suggested, there were a few factors: A poor showing by Neville and/or Harry would weaken their social/political standing and that of their family/allies; Neville makes an easy opponent and thus (in the logic of bullies) a good opportunity to show off strength and power; an official duel gives Draco license to cast painful and/or humiliating spells on his chosen victim without consequences. Lucius also took the opportunity afforded by advance warning to drill Draco in some suitable spells, and that combined with a desire to humiliate a perceived 'helpless' victim are why Draco didn't immediately jump to a showy spell like Serpensortia - it's his big showboating finish, and his plan was to gradually load Neville up with unpleasant but not disabling hexes for a while before finally finishing the match. That worked out so well for him, didn't it?
The duel shows that Neville is ahead of where he was in canon - confident, focused, and coordinated enough to dodge relatively imprecise spellfire - but still has a long way to go. His biggest obstacle is still his father's wand: It belonged to an Auror, a warrior of light, and that doesn't align well with Neville's more peaceful nature (I'm borrowing that from a one-shot whose title I can't recall at the moment). For that last spell, Neville is concentrating hard, focusing his will and intent, which ends up combining with the wand actually agreeing with him for a change and his naturally high power level to massively overpower the Disarming spell. When he's not casting in the kind of hurry that a duel tends to require, he's better at getting at least some results from the wand than in this scene or this point in the canon, because he has time to gather his focus better.
Fic Recommendation: "Harry Potter and the Daughters of Fate" by McWhite - Just a fun little story in which the whole "Master of-" concept gets seriously messed with.
Posted 29 July 2018
Current WIP Chapter: 63