F&L: Chapter 60

Classes for the next ten days were fairly easy. Herbology had us learning both Incendio Duo and how to use it to defeat slugs, which was fairly concentration-heavy for most folks, owing to the need to precisely target small creatures with the powerful green flames. I found myself having to help some of my classmates figure it out, including Hannah and Susan, both of whom learned to cast the spell easily enough, but who were having trouble with targeting such tiny creatures. Hannah more so than Susan, though Susan was still missing the slugs around forty percent of the time, casting her flames into the dirt of the greenhouse and scorching it black.

"You have to lead the slugs. Aim for where they're going to be, not where they are." I advised.

"I know, but they move so slowly it's tricky." Pointed out Hannah.

"Aye, that's the problem. You're purely belta at this, why not show us how it's done?" Questioned Susan.

"All right. That's fair, watch and learn. You've got to match your casting speed to the slower pace of the slugs like so." I nodded.

Then I began casting at one of the slugs that Professor Sprout had released. The greenish blast of flame left my wand with an incantation and a short motion and slammed into the Flesh-Eating Slug as it crawled slowly toward a Vegetable Lamb that Professor Sprout had been using as bait. The flames splashed head-on into the front end of the Slug as I led the target, aiming slowly to match the slug's pace. There was a small shriek, and the Slug shriveled up, dying as the green flames roasted its head to a crisp. I turned back to Hannah and Susan and nodded at the both of them, gesturing to the now on fire slug corpse as I did so as if to say that was how you did it.

"Now you try." I insisted.

"All reet, I'll try it." Agreed Susan.

She did so, the next slug creeping closer to the Vegetable lamb as she tried to match its pace with the speed of her casting. As she cast Incendio Duo at the Flash-Eating Slug, though, she waited a bit longer than I had and wound up lighting the Slug's back third on fire instead of its head and front. It still killed the slug, shriveling it into a smoky, crispy husk compared to its alive form, but it wasn't quite as on-target as she had hoped. She scoffed as the slug shriveled up with a shriek, seeing her slightly off-target spell. Clearly, Susan wasn't quite as pleased as she otherwise would have been with her performance.

"Hadaway and Shite!" Scowled Susan.

"No, that was good. You just need to keep practicing." I offered.

"All right, let me try." Insisted Hannah.

I worked with Susan and Hannah for a bit longer, both of them getting it before class was finished. They moved off to help others, while I moved to do the same. By the end of the Class, the only people who couldn't regularly hit the slugs were Crabbe and Pansy Parkinson, though surprisingly, Goyle was able to hit the slugs easily enough. Unfortunately, neither Crabbe nor Pansy would take help from anyone not named Draco Malfoy, and Draco wasn't willing to help his minions himself, owing to the stupid Social Darwinist philosophy he had been raised with. Thankfully, I seemed to be carrying the Slytherin cause, along with my friends, because collectively, our helping the rest of the class learn earned us ten points for Slytherin. Not that the House Cup mattered at all, mind you.

Aside from Herbology, Transfiguration began with the Transfiguration Detection and Repairifarge Spells. The First was a spell with the incantation Revelare Mutatio, and a wand movement of a circle above your head like you were swinging around some sort of blade. The second was a spell whose incantation was the eponymous Repairifarge, and whose wand movement was a wide, U-shape. The first was meant to show you objects in the room you were in which were transfigured, and the second was meant to allow for the countering of any Transfiguration Spell, even the ones that Finite Incantatem couldn't normally counter. We learned both of those on the first day of Transfiguration for the year, in preparation for the second day of Transfiguration for the Year.

On the second day, Professor McGonagall had set up a number of objects around the Transfiguration Classroom, and as we filed in and took our seats, she began to go over exactly what this little obstacle course of sorts she had set up was for.

"All right, settle down now. You may be wondering what all of this is. Can anyone hazard a guess?" Queried Professor McGonagall as we all took our seats. I raised my hand and she called on me.

"Mister Zabini, what do you think is going on here?" Asked Professor McGonagall.

"It's a test, Professor. If I had to guess, some of these objects are transfigured and others aren't. You'll be running us through trying to sort the Transfigured Objects from the regular ones and countering the Transfiguration with Repairifarge." I guessed.

"That is correct, Mister Zabini, five points to Slytherin for that." Intoned Professor McGonagall.

As I grinned at that, seeing as this sort of thing was exactly my type of lesson, Professor McGonagall pushed forward with her lesson. It seemed that she had interspersed several normal objects with the Transfigured ones, and this would be a true test of whether we had picked up last week's lessons or not. We would be going in order, with last year's top marks, Myself, Daphne, Tracey, and Parvati Patil, going first and ending on the worst grades in this class for last year, which were Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Crabbe. Parvati went first, then Daphne, then Tracey, and all three managed to get all but one of the transfigured objects, at least according to Professor McGonagall. Then it was my turn.

I stood up and cast Revelare Mutatio, various objects highlighted in my sight by my magic. I began casting Repairifarge. On a silver cup that had been transfigured from a ruffled-looking pigeon with Vera Verto, on a Brass Button that had been transfigured from a beetle, on a snuffbox that had been transfigured from a disgruntled Mouse, and so on, and so forth. By the time I had hit everything that had been highlighted by my magic, I'd gone through twelve objects, the same number as Daphne, Tracey, and Parvati. Frowning to myself, I realized that there was one that I hadn't gotten.

"Mister Zabini? Are you finished?" Questioned Professor McGonagall from her desk.

I frowned at that before going out on a Limb and trying something that I wouldn't have ordinarily thought to do. Pointing my wand at Professor McGonagall and going through the wand motions and incantation for the Reparifarge Spell, I cast the Spell at Professor McGonagall. To my gratification, she suddenly shifted into the form of Headmaster Dumbledore, who was smiling as I caught on to his little trick. As soon as he finished shifting back from Professor McGonagall's Appearance, a small, black and gray striped cat made its way out of a nearby cabinet, shifting into Professor McGonagall's familiar form.

"Well done, Mister Zabini, ten points to Slytherin for quick thinking." Nodded Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Indeed. Can anyone tell me how the Headmaster managed to so accurately take my form?" Queried Professor McGonagall.

"Polyjuice Potion, Professor." Offered Daphne.

"Correct again, Miss Greengrass. Polyjuice Potion is a potent Transfiguration effect that does not show up with Revelare Mutatio. Five points to Slytherin." Nodded Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, that particular detail was quite bedevilling back during Voldemort's War. The Dark Lord would often send out spies and saboteurs disguised via Polyjuice Potion. For much of the war, it was difficult to tell friend from foe accordingly." Intoned Dumbledore.

"But why not just use Repairifarge constantly? If they aren't polyjuiced, then nothing happens, right?" Asked Ron.

"The Ministry did institute that as a policy halfway into the War. It was bad for morale." Answered Professor McGonagall.

"Indeed. How would you feel if every time you met with your allies and colleagues, you were hit with a Repairifarge Spell just to be certain you were who you said you were? I would wager it would make you feel like a criminal." Added Dumbledore.

"How else could you tell, though?" Questioned Harry.

"It was Mister Longbottom's Father who came up with a permanent solution for the Order near the end of the War." Opined Professor McGonagall.

"Aye, Nan told me he figured out a Modification of the Revelare Mutatio Spell that sacrificed range for being able to cut through Polyjuice." Nodded Neville.

"Indeed, he did. It, unfortunately, was what got your parents targeted by the Lestranges in the first place." Affirmed Dumbledore.

"But that was that, surely? I mean, once a spell is discovered, it's difficult to cover up, isn't it?" Queried Millie.

"Not in this case." Refuted Professor McGonagall.

"Indeed. Frank Longbottom kept the exact casting instructions to himself for fear of having the spell used against the Order. He did not even tell his wife, let alone the rest of the order. When the Lestranges finally caught up with the Longbottoms, the spell was locked away in Frank's broken mind, same as everything else." Answered Dumbledore Sadly.

"Neville? Are you all right talking about this?" Asked Parvati, looking over at Neville.

Our friend was shifting in his seat, looking like he might cry, but was holding in tears at the mention of the tragedy that befell his parents. That alone would be reason enough to switch topics, and Tracey, who was sitting near Neville, reached over to pat him on the shoulder and console him, offering soothing words.

"It's all right, Nev. If you need a moment, no one will think less of you. Except maybe Malfoy and his lot, but who cares about them?" She consoled.

"And on that note, I think perhaps it might be a good time to change subjects. I will not keep you any longer, Minerva." Mused Dumbledore.

As he got up and left, Professor McGonagall set up the obstacle course again and called down Draco Malfoy, who was surprisingly proficient in Transfiguration, to continue, while our friend group huddled protectively around Neville. By the time class had ended, Neville had composed himself and managed to even get a decent score on the Obstacle Course. Thankfully, there was no more talk of Frank and Alice Longbottom, the Lestranges, or their fates for the rest of class, just spellwork. That gave Neville the time and space he needed to get his head back in the game. Of course, I'm also sure that being among friends also helped in that regard.

The last proper class I had in the ten-day period that wasn't a tutoring session with Magnus Gamp was Astronomy. Here, we learned about the Sun, including things like Sunspots and the orbits of the planets around it. We also learned a ritual, the Ritual of Apollo's Benevolence, which would keep you disease-free for a year and a day and required the sacrifice of a Swan over a roaring fire built of Laurel Wood, under the light of the Noonday Sun. There wasn't really all that much of note that happened during Astronomy, unlike with Herbology and Transfiguration, save that I agreed to spend any silver points I gained on reserving the Slytherin Ritual Chamber for rituals for my friend group, the same as I had done last year.

Of course, classes were just one aspect of things. I also had tutoring with Magnus Gamp. He went hard on my for the first week or so, kicking my arse around the Hogwarts Training Ground in sparring, force-feeding me healing and fatigue-curing potions, then kicking me about some more. I figured it was all thanks to how put out he had been regarding my adventure in the Malltraeth Marsh. He clearly wanted to ensure that I got the memo about taking stupid risks when I didn't have to. I had to say, though, those sparring sessions had me pulling out every trick I knew just to try and keep my head above water for as long as I could, even though I would inevitably lose. That alone was worth it, as you learned quite a bit from failure, after all.

Of course, those weren't the only things he taught me, either. Boggarts and the Boggart-Banishing Spell, with the incantation of Riddikulus and the wand motion of an upside-down Omega Symbol, were covered for the defense portion, along with the Oppugno Jinx, which functioned as a sort of Telekinetic attack that grabbed items and flung them at opponents by magic. I was aware that I could eventually learn to cast such spells via the Mind Arts, as Telekinesis was something that Zorian's Notes said was possible, but that was beyond me at the moment, and so the Oppugno Jinx was something I would learn gladly.

For potions, we went over the Shrinking Solution, which was made with Shrivelfigs, Daisy Roots, Hairy Caterpillars, Rat Spleens, Wormwood, Leech Juice, and Cowbane, and would, if properly brewed, shrink any person, beast, animal, or what have you that drank it. He also taught me about an undetectable poison, Australian Iocaine. The former was made by which was made by soaking crushed Billywig Stings in the Venom of the Antipodeon Opaleye, a type of Poisonous Dragon which could either breathe flame or a toxic mist, depending on whether the Dragon was Male or Female. Then, once the stings were thoroughly soaked, you had to add them into a mixture of Wolfsbane and Ground Adder Fangs, stir clockwise three times and counterclockwise three times, and let simmer for an hour before straining the powder out of the resulting solution and bottling. If done correctly, the powder would be tasteless, odorless, colorless, and completely undetectable by magic. If ingested, it would induce total cardiac failure within a minute in all but the hardiest of victims. It was nasty, but I couldn't help but grin that the Princess Bride had apparently cottoned onto a real thing, though.

Lastly, for Charms this week, I learned about the Cheering Charm and the Freezing Spell. The First had the incantation of Laetificet and the wand motion of a sort of smily face that you had to motion at the target with. The latter had the incantation of Glacius and a squiggle-like wand motion that sort of mimicked a frozen splash of water. The former would cause the target to become elated and served as a general counter to the effects of the presence of Dementors, though more prolonged exposure would require other counters. The Latter would freeze a target with icy cold air and could extinguish fires, turn water into ice, and even freeze an opponent in their tracks.

"Something tells me you've already studied quite a bit of the Third Year Charm Curriculum, Lad. Am I right about that?" Questioned Magnus Gamp at the end of our second week of tutoring.

"You're not wrong. Cedric Diggory contributed Third Year Charms tutoring to the Cross-House Study Group." I nodded.

"Good. Then that will give us more time for other lessons this year." Nodded Magnus Gamp.

"More Bardic Magic? I've been practicing my Guitar, if so." I queried.

"Some of that, but I was more thinking ahead to the electives you might pick next year. I've already started you on a bit of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, and your sight means that you don't really require divination. Have you given any thought to any other Electives you might want to take?" Asked Magnus Gamp.

"Alchemy and Enchanting. Maybe Magical Theory and Ancient Studies as well." I answered.

"I can help you with Alchemy and Enchanting, and have a decent bit of knowledge about Ancient Studies and Magical Theory. Can I ask why the latter two? Most Hogwarts Students don't bother with them. Why do you want to?" Questioned Magnus Gamp.

"Ancient Studies goes over Ancient Magic. What little there is of it that can be taught to students, anyway. The Ancients had powerful magics, and that isn't something to take lightly. As for Magical Theory, it's required for making your own potions, enchantments, and spells, isn't it?" I shrugged.

"Most Students don't have the foresight to realize that. You'd be surprised at how many would scoff at something Ancient just cause it's old, or who think Magical Theory is a waste of time." Mused Magnus Gamp.

"So what are we thinking here?" I queried.

"Take Magical Theory, Ancient Studies, and one of Alchemy or Enchantment with the School. I'll help fill in the gaps, but I will be providing my own course on whichever of Alchemy or Enchantment you don't take. I also have a couple of other subjects that are no longer taught at Hogwarts, even as electives, to teach you." Informed Magnus Gamp.

"Which subjects?" I asked.

"Necromancy and Spiritualism." Responded Magnus Gamp.

"Isn't Necromancy Dark?" I questioned.

"It can be. However, the ability to effectively defend yourself from the Undead with specialty spells also qualifies as Necromancy. After all, a competent Necromancer knows not to call up anything they can't put down. That is most of what I'll be teaching you how to do." Pointed out Magnus Gamp.

"That's fair, I suppose. What about Spiritualism?" I queried.

"The Spirits can be powerful allies, just ask any Houngan or Shaman. Most European Wizards decry spiritualism as an Archaic Form of Magic, a holdover from the Bronze Age that no modern Wizard should dabble in, but they're wrong about that. Even aside from the Rituals, some of which can be very powerful, Spiritualism can help you call up, banish, talk to, make pacts with, and even control Spirits. Most don't know this, but the Patronus Charm was a bit of Spiritualism that Western Wizards adapted to the modern, Western System, for instance." Explained Magnus Gamp.

That made a certain level of sense. After all, Dementors were Spirits instead of Magical Beasts. It was one of the reasons they were so difficult to deal with. True, they were conceptual spirits, rather than nature spirits, ones whose conceptual core was that of Death, but conceptual spirits were still spirits. I nodded at that, and Magnus Gamp nodded back at me. Then he let me go for the day, and I made my way back to the Slytherin Dorms to shower, change, and think about what he'd told me I would be learning.

Of course, Magnus Gamp and Classes weren't the only training I did. I also had my own training, plus anything I picked up from Clubs. In my private training, I focused on the Mind Arts once again, with a secondary focus on learning from the Grimoire of Gwynedd. Of the Mind Arts, I spent time furthering my study of Xenoglossy, as well as Occlumency, Leglimency, and Oneiromancy. I also continued to drink my Bluemoon Grass Elixir in the hope that by November, I could actually begin to learn some of the actual spells out of the Azarinth Healer's Treatise, things which would allow me to no longer need things like Potions of Strength, Girding Potions, or Potions of Gytrash Speed, but which would multiply my strength, speed, and fortitude multiple times over when cast.

In terms of the Mind Arts, I was able to better pick up surface thoughts with Leglimency, shield my mind with Occlumency, Learn Languages with Xenoglossy, and even extend the time dilation of my dreamscape with Oneiromancy. With Leglimency, I felt like I was on the cusp of being able to not just receive thoughts, but also send them. True Telepathy, which wasn't something everyone who practiced Leglimency was able to get the hang of. With Occlumency, I felt like I could block out an opponent who was better than me at Legilimency, though only one who was moderately better than me. Xenoglossy now allowed me to pick up languages at a rate of four times faster than a normal person, something I could combine with my new level of Oneiromancy to pick up languages in a matter of a few weeks compared to normal.

Speaking of Oneiromancy, that would become key to my training as I would effectively be able to spend twelve hours in my Dreamscape for every one that passed in the real world. That gave me an extra four weeks of training in my Dreamscape for every one spent in the real world. I was slowly creeping toward Hyperbolic Time Chamber levels of Time Dilation, which was excellent. At the same time, my Opponents that I conjured within my Dreamscape were becoming more sophisticated, allowing me to better spar and train spellwork. I used that to pick up fluency in the Spanish Language in the week I had since gaining the Time Dilation, and spent the last bit of time in my dreamscape sparring against a conjured opponent to improve my dueling abilities.

With the Grimoire of Gwenedd, I learned to cast a Spell of Invisible Armor. The Incantation for that was Arfwisg, and the wand movement was a circular motion and a point at yourself. Invisible Armor was, effectively, a Scutum Charm-level Shield, but one which could stack with other Shield Charms and which covered your whole body like a suit of armor would. It wasn't as powerful as a proper shield charm, mind you, but it was an extra layer of protection between yourself and an enemy attack. I also learned to cast the spell of War Cry, the incantation was Ryfelgri, and the Wand Motion was a simple point and flick at your throat. It allowed the next word you spoke to echo out in a War Cry that issued forth with sonic force and could burst the eardrums of an opponent, bowl them over, or even demoralize them, though that last one required a touch of Empathic Power to urge fear in their minds to be added to the spell.

Of course, training, classes, and tutoring weren't the only things I learned. There were also clubs. I made one potions club and one dueling club, along with the inaugural Cross-House Study Group session for Year Two. Potions Club was a lot easier than the last few I had made, and Snape actually allowed me to brew the potion he had given the club instead of forcing me to sit and just take notes. It was a fairly simple potion, a Bruisewort Balm, which would fade bruises on skin, muscle, and bone when applied in a matter of hours. That was something that my constantly bruised ribs from my various adventures could definitely use. As I worked at the potion, shredding Bruisewort and dicing daisies, Professor Snape sat behind his desk, reading some sort of magazine.

"Forgive me, Professor, but I never took you for a Magazine Reader." I spoke up as I added the shredded Bruisewort to my cauldron and stirred five times clockwise.

"I am not usually. However, I have found certain publications are not entirely dunderheaded. This, for example, is Sammenkokinger, a Norwegian Publication based around potions and Alchemy." Drawled Snape.

"You speak Norwegian, Professor?" I asked.

"I speak enough to arrange for an English Translation, Mister Zabini. Mind your cauldron." Intoned Snape.

And that seemed to be the end of the conversation, as Professor Snape went back to reading his Magazine and I went back to brewing the Bruisewort Balm. Over the next hour or so, I added a dollop of Bubotuber Pus, stirring twice counterclockwise, to thicken the liquid into a salve, and watched as it turned from a blue liquid with green whorls into a bluish-green cream. By the end of the Club, Snape pronounced my Bruisewort Balm acceptable, and I was allowed to bottle it and take it back to the Slytherin Dorms, though the other Club Members seemed to be more interested in talking to each other about how their Summer Went than actually brewing the potion, and thus had to stay over time to finish up. I passed by Katie Bell on my way out, who nodded at me and gave me a slight grin.

"Good to see you back, Blaise." She offered.

"Thanks, Katie. It's good to be back." I smirked.

Then, I walked out and headed for my dorms. Of course, the big thing was the inaugural Cross-House Study Group for my Second Year. Here we not only got our normal crowd, but also a few new faces as well. The new faces included Luna Lovegood, Charlie Bilmes, Gwenllian Jones, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell, which meant we even had a pair of fourth years joining. I nodded and explained how everything worked to the new folks, how they had to put in knowledge to join, and they were all willing to do so, which was gratifying to hear. I suppose now that people knew that the Study Group actually worked for getting folks ahead of the curve, they were jumping on board with the concept, whereas last year, a lot of the upper years weren't convinced.

Alicia put in the Bombardment and Locking Charms, while Angelina put in the Reductor and Water-Making Charms. Meanwhile, Charlie Bilmes put in the Potions Recipes for Hiccough Sweets and Gillyweed Tonic, two products sold at his Uncle's Joke Shop, which would cause the imbiber to begin uncontrollably hiccoughing and would allow the drinker to breathe underwater for an hour at a time, respectively. Gwenllian Jones, meanwhile, put in the Smell-Changing Charm, the Cooling Charm, and the Heating Charm, while Katie put in the Antidote to Uncommon Poisons, the Wideye Potion, and Doxycide. Finally, Luna put in the Recipe for Quick-Drying Ink, the Recipe for Invisible Ink, and the Counteragent for Invisible Ink, all three of which were taught to her by her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, and which would be better received than information on Crumple Horned Snorkacks, Wrackspurts, or the Rotfang Conspiracy.

In the end, I spent a lot of time teaching Occlumency to the new folks, with Alicia, Angelina, Katie, and surprisingly, Gwenllian, managing to pick it up fairly quickly, though both Charlie Bilmes and Luna were proving sort of hopeless at it for different reasons, with Luna's Chaotic Mind naturally proving resistant to attempts to order it and Charlie just getting distracted midway through the lesson. I still managed to learn the Bombardment Spell, with the Incantation Bombarda, and the Wand Movement of a sort of tailed triangle. I also managed to learn to brew the Antidote to Uncommon Poisons and Doxycide, though I just barely managed the latter, given how Charlie interrupted my brewing time, asking for a tip on how to finish his initial Occlumency Exercises.

No, it was during Dueling Club that second week when something interesting happened. I was challenged by Terry, looking to knock me off my pedestal as King Duelist in our year. Anthony Goldstein was his second, though Daphne had skipped club this week to do something else with Tracey. That meant that my Second was going to be Millie. As the four of us headed down into the Dueling Club Pit, however, I would find myself to be surprised by what Terry had learned during his stint at Junior Duelist Camp in the Cotswolds over the summer.

He definitely made me work for it. . .

XXXX

I stood at one end of the pit with Millie waiting behind me as my second. Across from me, Terry stood with a cocksure grin on his face, the smiling face of Anthony Goldstein behind him waiting. I nodded at Terry, who nodded back to me before beginning the traditional pre-duel Banter that we always tended to get into before one of these challenges.

"You sure about this, Mate? It's gonna take a lot more than one Summer at Junior Duelist's Camp to knock me off the top of the mountain." I warned.

"We'll see. I picked up a few tricks from some of the Counsellors. Who knows? I might surprise you, Mate." Retorted Terry.

"Maybe. I guess we'll see, now won't we?" I questioned.

"We will. Are you ready?" Queried Terry.

"Say when." I nodded.

And with that, Terry drew his wand, my own popping into my hand via the spring-loaded, rune-activated, wand holster at my wrist. I immediately began by casting one of my new spells, Bombarda, at Terry. Predictably, Terry dodged, throwing himself to the sand to avoid the explosive energy. From a prone position, he fired off an incarcerus spell at me, the conjured rope spinning toward my legs like a bola. I severed the rope with a severing Charm and fired off a Flipendo as he rose to his feet, knocking him back on his arse. Fortunately for Terry, he managed to turn his fall into a backwards somersault and come out of it on his feet, firing a spell with an incantation of 'Magnus Malleus' at me. A large hammerhead-shaped blast of concussive force struck out for me, enough to break through the Scutum Charm, forcing me to cast the Grit Shield to tank the blow. My counter was to fire off an Incendiary Bolt Spell at him, which he in turn blocked with a Grit Shield before whipping up a massive cloud of obscuring smoke with Fumos Maxima, forcing me to waste time with Ventulus to clear the smoke with a gust of wind.

As I did that, however, a Flipendo crashed into my right side, throwing me to the dirt of the Arena Floor, and forcing me to roll aside to avoid a Stickfast Hex that would have stuck me in place. As soon as I got to my feet, however, I was forced to duck as a Severing Charm flew my way, aiming for my wand hand. It missed me by inches, and I fired off an Impediment Jinx that tripped Terry up and caused him to stumble out of the remaining smoke cloud. As I straightened, I fired another Flipendo that he managed to counter with a Scutum Charm, only for me to fling a Battering Ram spell at him that smashed his Scutum Charm to bits. Unfortunately, he allowed the momentum of the attack to knock him back into the smoke cloud, and my Follow on Glacius did little more than freeze a patch of dirt and sand on the floor of the pit.

Grinning, I opened up my mind with Leglimency to try and suss out his next move before immediately being forced to jank to the right as a short, whirling blade of cutting force erupted out of the smoke like a buzzsaw at me. I wasn't quite fast enough this time, and a line of blood was drawn from the tip of my left ear being cut. A Ventulus spell dispersed the rest of the smoke, revealing Terry standing nearby with a grin and casting an Expeliarmus at me that I dove to the sand to avoid. My next spell, however, was a Flagrante Curse that superheated Terry's Wand and burned his hand, forcing him to drop his wand to the sand with a yelp and an angry red burn on his palm. A quick seize and pull charm snatched Terry's wand from the sand and flung it into my grasp. A halt was called, and I was declared the winner.

"Damn, you made me work for it, huh?" I asked as Millie began applying Wiggenweld Potion to my cut ear.

"Yeah, I thought I had you for a bit." Huffed Terry, Anthony smearing Burn Salve on his palm.

"You almost did, Mate." I nodded.

As we spoke, however, Hermione made her way down to the Pit, stomping toward us with a look on her face. That spoke of trouble to come as she made her way over, face scrunched up and anger in her eyes.

"Honestly, you two! Why would you go with such lethal spells?" Demanded Hermione, practically shrieking.

"Don't worry, 'Mione. That's what the seconds have all these healing potions for." I tried.

"Yeah, we would have been fine." Hedged Terry.

"Fine! You could have seriously hurt each other!" Exclaimed Hermione.

"Hermione, we're on it, really. Neither of them was going to be seriously injured." Insisted Millie.

"I expect this sort of thing from Blaise and Terry! They're so into Dueling, they're practically Gryffindors, but not you too!" Scowled Hermione.

"Hermione, relax. Nothing happened that can't be fixed." Intoned Anthony Goldstein.

"No, don't tell me to calm down! Two of my best friends in the whole world almost killed each other! I will not calm down! Of all the idiotic things to do!" Huffed Hermione.

I looked over at Terry, who looked back at me, and we both frowned at the display that Hurricane Hermione was putting on. Hermione was so brilliant at magic that it was easy to forget she hadn't grown up around it. For a Wizarding Duel, this was pretty standard. That was why there were always potions and healers or something available to be used in the aftermath. For a Muggle, though, well, entirely mundane medicine couldn't fix things like dismemberment. Magic, meanwhile, absolutely could. If you got your arm cut off or something, provided it wasn't with a curse that made it so you couldn't be fixed or something, skele-gro and a few powerful healing potions could fix that. With Muggle Medicine, you would be looking at being a cripple and needing a prosthetic or wheelchair for the rest of your life. Honestly, so long as something wasn't immediately fatal or caused by Dark Magic, you could heal from pretty much anything with magic and time.

Hermione stomped away, muttering about boys and being idiots the whole time she did so. In the meantime, Terry and I watched on, bemused at the whole situation. I honestly couldn't tell whether Hermione was just taking her frustrations out while she could or if she actually felt that way. One thing was for certain, though. If Hermione thought this was bad, there was no way that she would care for the duel I was about to have with Draco. Thankfully, that Duel was going to remain in-house for the time being. If everything worked out, Hermione wouldn't be hearing about it at all. When the time came for it, that Friday evening, I could only hope it stayed that way. Otherwise, Draco and his Kemmlerite Spells he'd been taught would be the least of my worries compared to the revenge that Hermione would wreak on me.

After all, she was the brightest Witch of our age, and clearly able to come up with a creative punishment if she wanted to. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. This was supposed to come out yesterday, but I had a surprise visit from family to deal with last night and couldn't get it out on time. Here we have the time-skippy chapter leading up to the duel with Draco. A lot happened here, and I'm not just talking about Blaise Learning new stuff. The Cross-House Study Group is growing, too, and we also got the first of the challenges that Terry is posing to Blaise this year to attempt to become King of the Duelists for their year. It was a lot closer than it would have been previously, too.

At any rate, the next chapter will include the rematch duel with Draco. Then we'll finally get to be doing Chamber of Secrets Plot Stuff afterward now that the initial bit of Second Year is over with.

Stay tuned. . .