Chapter 11.6- Doom Days

I had expected the test to take place on a different occasion, on a different day.The extra time to prepare could have proven invaluable to me, and maybe Flitwick expected that to be the case because he motioned for me to leave the office and waved his wand on getting to the classroom. The desks and chairs neatly piled themselves into a corner and the room itself seemed to come to life as Candleholders that had previously been unnoticed lit with blue flames.

“Draw your wand, Mr. Potter.” Flitwick asked as we walked into the room and took our positions on opposite ends. He spun on the spot with a flourish, drawing a white line around his feet.

“Your test is simple. Force me to move, and I will teach you everything I know about dueling. Fail to do so, and you will not only never mention this again, but you will also agree to not attempt any International Charms examinations with my consent.” I narrowed my eyes at the man’s terms but he seemed unyielding. I shrugged and took my stance. It wouldn’t matter in the end. I was going to win. Especially because the terms of my victory were so easy. Flitwick probably thought he was going to be facing a fourth year student and that was going to be his undoing. Riddle had been without equal as a student from his fourth year,. I myself was much the same.

I let my wand roll between my fingers and prepared myself for the fight to come. Flitwick tossed a coin in the air and we both watched it fly through the air for about half a minute before it landed on the floor with an echoing clatter. Our wands moved almost as one but in the time before I could finish a spell, he’d whiped out two. I change my wand movement at the very last second and just barely managed a shield that took the spell with ease. I dropped the shield the second the first spell was done and moved to stand sideways and allow the spell fly past me.

“At least you know enough not to stand still and hunker behind a shield” he said, smiling from ear to ear even as his wand kept moving at rapid speeds. I snapped my own spells into being in a flash- expelliamus, stupefy, flipendo- began the spell chain that Flitwick batted to the side before I was forced to stop and take cover from a fire dragon of all things. It was only when it had passed my side did I realize that it gave off no heat and washed against the castle’s walls with no effect. Illusionary magic. That was another thing you couldn’t really learn from books.

Now that we had both tested each other for a few seconds, we took our stances again. This time, it was going to get serious.