Chapter 26

As November progressed and turned into December, I focused more and more on my studies. Magnus Gamp seemed intent on ensuring I had a second-year's level of comprehension of the subjects he had been retained to teach me and trained me relentlessly. So much so that by the second week of December, I had finished the Second Year Curriculum in Charms, Potions, and Defense. Our spars didn't stop either, and he even cranked up the intensity, adding variables to our spars by transfiguring terrain out of the grounds or insisting on sparring outside on days with poor weather. Apparently, learning to deal with such things was necessary to truly claim to have mastered Combat Magic. The first few times, he defeated me almost immediately, letting me know I was back to square one in terms of spars.

Of course, lessons weren't just spars once he had finished the second-year curriculum. He began teaching me a bit more about various extracurricular and elective subjects in the week leading up to the Christmas Holidays as well. Things that wouldn't be taught at Hogwarts at all, or if they were, had been restricted to electives, and thus, weren't taught to first years. This was, apparently, a recent development brought about by the rise of Voldemort and the Ministry wanting to ensure that another Dark Lord would not arise in Britain afterward.

"We'll start with a bit of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. There are a number of Runic Systems in the World, all using the mystical side of various ancient languages. Here in Britain, our particular blend of Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic influences tend toward specific runic systems. The Ministry has standardized along the lines of the Norse Futhark System, though some places in the Highlands and Ireland prefer the Ogham System. That's not the only system out there, of course, Aramaic and Greek are used in large swathes of the Middle and Near East, as Sanskrit is used in India, and Seal Script is used in parts of China and the Far East." Began Magnus Gamp.

"How easy would it be to hide the function of a Rune by using a different Runic System?" I questioned.

"Extremely. You-Know-Who liked to use ancient Hurrian for Wards and that killed a number of good Aurors who sought to attempt to break the wards on safehouses used by his followers during the War. And of course, Gringotts has Curse-breakers for a reason. They specialize in Runes and Enchantment to the point that a Gringotts Curse-breaker will typically learn a dozen or more Runic Systems over the course of their career." Answered Magnus Gamp.

"It seems like a useful skill, then. Learning more than the Standard Futhark or Ogham Runes." I frowned.

"It is, but let's start with the Standard and move on from there. No sense in complicating things before you even get going." Smirked Magnus Gamp.

"All right. So why learn Ancient Runes and Arithmancy together?" I queried.

"For the same reasons you learn herbology and potions together. You don't necessarily need one to use the other, but learning both enhances the whole experience. Arithmancy is the study of numbers, and how they apply to magic. A good grounding in that will let you create more complex rune schemes." Responded Magnus Gamp.

"I see." I nodded.

"Any other questions? Or can we get on with the lesson?" Asked Magnus Gamp.

"Lay on Macduff." I grinned.

"Don't quote something if you don't know what it means. Lay on Macduff doesn't mean lead on, it means fight me. Kids these days." Sighed Magnus Gamp.

That caused my grin to widen. At least Magnus Gamp seemed to know his Shakespeare, among other things. He clearly knew his Arithmancy and Ancient Runes too, because, over the course of the week, I added the basic knowledge of the standard Futhark Runes as well as a few general Arithmantic Laws, such as the Law of Threes, and how they applied to Rune Schemes. That would only help me to craft better stuff out of the Craftsman's Tradition.

Speaking of the Books I had been left by my Grandfather, I was able to finish crafting Disillusionment Rings for my friends for Christmas Presents. Not only that, but I was finally able to get things together for the Ritual of the Bluemoon Garden, between gathering the components, reserving the Slytherin Ritual Chamber, and just having time concurrent with the Full Moon this month. The ritual was, fairly involved and took me a couple of hours to set up. The Silver Mirrors needed to be arranged in a specific Arithmantic Order around a patch of fertile earth so as to amplify and reflect the light of the full moon. That took time and effort which effectively meant I wouldn't be eating dinner with everyone else on the night of the Twenty-First of November.

Once I had the mirrors placed around the patch of earth, I had to sacrifice a Sheng of Strong Blood, which in familiar terms was a Liter of Strong Blood or roughly two pints. Fortunately, Blood Replenishment potions were a thing that would ensure such things were doable as it turned out that Troll Blood did not count as strong enough blood, though my own blood did. This I learned using the Quantum Charm, which I found in the Azarinth Healer's Treatise. It was a charm that originally was meant to determine if a patient had strong blood for the purposes of transfusions, as Blood Replenishment Potions were an invention of Stephanus of Alexandria in Six-fifteen, centuries after the Azarinth Healer's Treatise was written. I had, thankfully, brewed a batch of those beforehand.

Once midnight rolled around and everything was prepared, I moved over to the table where an athame was prepared along with a vial of blood replenishment potion. I took both, tucking the potion flask under my left arm, and moved back toward the dirt in the center of the mirror array. Then I cut my wrist, fertilizing the patch of earth with strong blood, pouring out two liters before hastily downing the flask of blood replenishment potion just before I felt myself about to pass out. The potion worked quickly, and soon after I downed a potion of Regeneration made with troll blood once I'd bled enough of my blood onto the earth. The stuff tasted foul, but it healed the gash on my arm and supercharged the remnants of the blood replenishment potion, stabilizing me back into good health.

Once that was finished, I moved away from the dirt and pulled the lever near the door, opening the skylight and exposing the ritual chamber to the light of the full moon. Then I watched as the mirror array bounced the moonlight back and forth, strengthening the light until a veritable laser beam of silvery light was directed at the patch of bloody, fertile, earth. As I watched on, apropos of nothing, a blueish-white blossom of grass burst up out of the patch of bloody earth. First one blade, then two, then a dozen, and soon, I had enough Bluemoon Grass to make the requisite amount of Bluemoon Elixir, which I would need to drink every night for a month before my Magical Core was properly saturated enough to begin the Initiate Exercises.

I had to harvest the grass with a silver blade, which luckily was not that uncommon an herbological tool, and that I was able to owl order and then brew the Elixir in a specific manner using the Blue Moon Grass and either Pheonix or Qirin Tears as the base. I opted for the latter, which had been expensive to import, but not as prohibitive to acquire as Pheonix Tears, which were a heavily regulated substance in Magical Britain. Regardless, the harvesting and brewing took four hours, leaving me with only four hours of sleep and reliant on Wideye Potion to sit through the last of the Lectures Magnus Gamp gave on Potion Ingredients, though he wound up kicking my arse in every spar almost immediately thanks to it.

In terms of actual classes for that period of time, I not only made up what I missed in Herbology, Transfiguration, and Astronomy, but I did it while retaining my Academic Lead. Aconite and the care of it was what I had missed, and over the next few weeks we also learned about Wormwood, which required full sun, dry soil, and no other plants nearby to grow well, the Lumos Solem Spell, which produced a blinding flash similar to my flashbang spell but without the concussive or sonic aspects, Moly, which needed partial shade and well-drained soil, Nettles, which required lots of water, and how to dry them for potions use, which was a process that used an alchemical desiccant that needed to be kept away from eyes and mouths.

We also had a two-week course on the theoretical precautions needed to harvest toadstools from a fairy ring without drawing the ire of the Fae. Apparently, said Toadstools were fairly potent ingredients in certain potions, including Felix Felicis, and were easily harvested if you followed the rules properly. If not, any number of horrific things could happen to you as the fae took revenge. That was why we spent two weeks learning the rules of harvesting them safely.

Regardless, I partnered with Susan for all of this, and on several of these, we helped others to plant their own plants properly, earning Slytherin and Hufflepuff five points each. It was hardly the most points we'd gotten for such a thing, which reflected that taking the lead academically and helping others this year was beginning to reach a point of diminishing returns when it came to the house points system.

Meanwhile, in Transfiguration, we learned about the Mice to Snuffboxes Spell, along with the Rope to Snake Spell, and the Stone to Mud Spell. Thankfully, the thing I'd had to make up was finishing learning the Long-hand Transfiguration Formulae, a theoretical thing that I had already finished learning before my enforced absence from class. Unfortunately, Parvati Patil and Tracey kept beating me to the punch in learning Transfiguration, which I figured was fair enough. I could hardly be the best at everything, that just wasn't realistic.

Hell, on one occasion, with the Mice to Snuffboxes Spell, I spent half the class trying to corral my mouse into sitting still, as I'd gotten a particularly excitable one. It had resulted in me not completing the transfiguration until the next week's revision class, something that Tracey just hadn't stopped teasing me about, though, for some reason, the one person you'd think would tease me about it, Parvati, just didn't. I idly wondered why that was until I heard about the difficulties her sister had been having in Astronomy. Twins tended to be fairly in synch, though not all of them were as in synch as, say, the Weasley Twins. Padma having difficulty in one of her classes certainly would breed a bit of empathy in her twin sister.

At the very least, that Empathy got me to offer to help Padma with her Astronomy during Astronomy Class. I partnered with Padma over the next few weeks, helping her to better locate various stars and planetary bodies. It seemed that Padma might have ADHD, I recognized the symptoms from my Old Life. When looking at the stars, things just sort of started to blend together for her after a while, which led to a bit of an issue when she had to pick out certain stars.

"You know, I think I might have a potion that could help you focus." I remarked during one class, where we had to find the path of the Constellation Virgo.

"Is that so? What would you want in return?" Questioned Padma.

"Can't I just be being friendly?" I queried.

"I suppose. Hermione seems to think you're OK for a Slytherin. I've been to a few of your Cross-House Study Group sessions and you seem all right there. I'd ask Parvati about you since she likes going to those, but. . ." Trailed off Padma while gesturing toward Parvati.

I looked over and saw that Parvati was chatting animatedly with Lavender Brown, another Gryffindor, about something or other. Being friends with a lot of Girls left me with a distinct knowledge of whenever something that was referred to as 'girl talk' was being chatted about, along with an instinctual hesitance to get involved in that sort of conversation if I wasn't pulled into it first by someone else already a part of it.

"I definitely need more guy friends." I muttered, turning back to Padma.

"I love Parvati, but her version of girl talk is intense even for me. It's always about fashion or the latest trends and those are just not things I'm interested in." Admitted Padma.

"You have my sympathies." I offered.

"So, about this potion?" Asked Padma, changing the subject.

"Right. It's a focus enhancer developed by the Venetian Alchemy Academy a few years back. A lot of folks on the continent take it to help them study. Import prices aren't great, but that's not an issue for me." I nodded, grateful for the change in subject.

"Right, you have family on the Continent. I thought I heard something to that effect." Mused Padma.

"I wouldn't count on my family to help me out if I were on fire. I was more talking about the fact that my mother acquired an import license for a business she set up a few months before she died." I grumbled.

"Ah, touchy subject then?" Questioned Padma.

"Let's just say my aunt is devious and didn't want me around and leave it at that." I sighed.

"Sorry I mentioned it. I didn't know. If you can get me the potion, though, I'll owe you one. That ought to help me out a lot." Offered Padma.

"No worries. If we're gonna be friends, I shouldn't let a sore subject ruin things. I'll let you know when I've gotten the potion." I shrugged.

And with that, we returned to our lessons. Not only were we supposed to find the Constellation Virgo, but we were also supposed to find Auriga and Capricorn in the weeks between the first week of November and the Christmas Holidays. We also were taught another trio of rituals, these being the Rituals of Amalthea's Bounty, the Charioteer's Speed, and the Ritual of Freyja's Beauty. Three rituals that wouldn't help in combat at all, but would help on long journeys.

The first required a sacrifice of Goat Meat, Wool, and Blood in Autumn with the Constellation Capricorn in the sky overhead. It would, for a year and a day afterward, allow the supplicant to conjure food that was actually nourishing through processes associated with the Divine Goat Amalthea. Normally, such food could not be conjured at all by a wizard, and only through such rituals could that law of magic be circumvented.

Next, the Ritual of Charioteer's Speed required a sacrifice of sweat and trail dust to be done at a crossroads with the Constellation Auriga in the Sky overhead. Its effect would allow a traveler to travel anywhere in the world in the space of a single day of travel, provided that the destination could reasonably be reached by land. Thankfully, as Professor Sinistra pointed out, the Channel Tunnel dug by the Muggles meant that the Continent currently qualified, and as such, so did Africa and Mainland Asia. Ireland, unfortunately, didn't qualify thanks to the lack of a tunnel or bridge in the Irish Sea.

Finally, the Ritual of Freyja's Beauty required the sacrifice of a lock of your own hair, wound around a stalk of wheat, with the constellation Virgo in the sky overhead. This would ensure that you maintained your hygiene and physical appearance on long journeys, even when unable to do things like bathing or washing your clothes. While most might think of such a thing as largely cosmetic, it was also something that could cut down on sickness while on long journeys, such as the kind normally done aboard a ship in olden times, or out in the wilderness. It was one of the reasons that Viking Armies were able to avoid such sicknesses in the Medieval Period, even in situations where a Saxon or Celtic Army would have their camp struck with disease.

Those were what I learned in terms of classes, as History of Magic was not worth paying attention to. Cuthbert Binns may have been a decent teacher when he was alive, but as a Ghost, he left a lot to be desired, stuck in the same repetitive obsessions over various Goblin Rebellions in a manner not unlike an unawakened ghost of the sort that simply repeated the patterns they went through in life on a day to day basis. The only reason I didn't suspect Binns of being an unawakened ghost was that he actually did respond to Stimuli, even if he never quite responded in a way that would make you think he was paying all that much attention to his surroundings himself.

Of course, I also had my own training, of which I largely practiced the Mind Arts. My Occlumency and Leglimency were getting better and better each day, and I was now able to stay in the Dead Moment for up to twenty seconds at a time, a third of a minute. Recharge was still slow, but I felt that I was about halfway to a breakthrough there. I'd likely have one of those just before the end of the year. At the same time, my Remote Viewing and Psychometry were proceeding forward, if slowly, and I was also able to begin working on a basic level of Empathic Sensing.

Mostly, I could now detect simple emotions, things like Fear, Anger, Sadness, Joy, and so on. Supposedly, at least according to Zorian's Notes, more complex emotions were unlocked with more practice. Hatred, Disgust, Elation, Depression, and so on were all second-stage emotions, while things like Secretiveness and Curiosity would require an even more advanced understanding of Empathic Sensing. Eventually, Empathy would, in a Natural Leglimens, progress to true Telepathy, not the passive Leglimency of most wizards, but the ability to actively broadcast conversations, create false memories, and even wipe or dominate minds. All without the use of any wand or incantation.

I wasn't certain if I ever wanted to go that far, though I could see a few cases in which it would be beneficial, mostly in the way that it would let me remove my presence from the minds of guards or similar things. Mental domination, though, was too close to something like the Imperious Curse for my taste. No doubt just proving I could alter memories without using Obliviation would be cause for intense suspicion on the part of certain Wizards to begin with.

Aside from that, I was primarily spending the time I had among friends, at clubs, and at the Cross-house Study Group. It was unfortunate, however, that Trelawney seemed to find it amusing to begin assigning me random detentions for various things that made me miss out on such hang-out opportunities. I was only able to make it to three club meetings and one Study Group session in the six weeks before the Christmas Holidays thanks to that.

The Study Group Session allowed me to pick up a pair of interesting charms, the first being a highland combat charm from Morag MacDougall of Ravenclaw, Tilgeil Sgian, with a swish and point wand motion that conjured a knife blade of mystical force and tossed it at an opponent. The other was something brought in by Millie that her Grandad had shown her. The Morass Spell was a point-and-jab wand movement with the incantation Valtos and conjured a swamp where your wand was pointed. Supposedly it was a charm that was recovered by Curse-breakers from an Ancient Greek tomb in the late forties and saw use in the continental dueling circuit during its post Grindelwald's War Heydey.

The club meeting I was able to make was a Dueling Club meeting in the third week of December and two Potions Club meetings in the third week of November and second week of December, where I was only really able to talk to Katie Bell or Hermione, and the first of those had us brewing a Mental Enhancement Potion that required absolute concentration to not screw up and require a trip to Madame Pomfreys to fix.

"I cannot stress this enough. If you are dunderheaded enough in brewing this Potion, then not even Madame Pomfrey will be able to put your mind to rights. I trust there will be no conversations ongoing while you brew this potion, and I expect you all to be paying the utmost attention to your brewing." Intoned Professor Snape as he introduced the potion to the Club.

"Yes, Professor." I, and the rest of the Club, replied.

While the potion wouldn't do much for me, given I had picked the mutually exclusive Brilliant option on the Questionnaire, it was a measure of trust being extended to the students by my head of house, and it wouldn't do to screw that up by directly doing the opposite of what he'd demanded in exchange. That did sort of put a damper on any socializing, but I did wind up with a rather nice batch of a Generic Mental Fortitude Elixir. I would stash those vials of purple potion away for a rainy day, in case any of my friends ever needed a dose.

The next Potions club was much more fruitful of an endeavor socially, as we were simply brewing hair straightener that day as a sort of more relaxed club activity after the intense concentration required for the Mental Fortitude Elixir. Unfortunately, that didn't stop some of that socialization from being mean-spirited, as Jessa Eekins, Fifth-Year Slytherin showed.

"I suppose that Granger will be wanting more of that hair straightener after this, eh?" Grinned Eekins.

The Girl was a thin, sort with long, dirty-blonde, hair pulled into a ponytail. Were this a few years later and Eekins a Muggle, I would've suspected her of going for the Heroin Chic look. However, Eekins just looked like that and nobody in the upper years of the House was willing to say why exactly, likely based on her being a Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch Team this year, after two years of being an alternate. My best guess was it had something to do with dark magic, given how Heroin Chic could describe several female Death Eaters that were locked up in Azkaban right now.

"Excuse me? Just what do you mean by that?" Demanded Hermione.

"Well, just look at the state of that rat's nest you call a hairstyle, Granger. I'd have thought you'd be desperate to get whatever cosmetics you could into that monstrosity." Smirked Eekins.

"Lay off Eekins, I doubt you of all people want to go into criticisms of appearance." Tried Katie Bell.

"Oh? And why's that Bell? Afraid the topic will drift to your nose?" Retorted Eekins.

"Eekins, don't." I tried.

"Oh shove off, Zabini. I know you're friends with this little mudblood and this blood traitor here. I don't have to listen to you." Scowled Eekins.

"How dare you! Don't call Hermione that word!" Snarled Katie Bell.

"Why? It's an apt description isn't it?" Demanded Eekins.

"Eekins, enough! If you want to insist on being such a Puttana, especially to friends of mine, then I think you and I need to take this to the Dueling Pit." I growled out.

"I don't know what that word means, do you know what you're getting into? I'm gonna give you one chance to back down." Snarled Eekins.

"I do know what that word means, Miss Eekins, and I will not allow Mister Zabini to back down after using such. . .foul language to describe a member of his own House." Interrupted Professor Snape, looking just a bit pissed off that he'd been forced to actually be an authority figure by the brewing argument.

"Very well, I accept your duel. Let's do it at the Dueling Club next week. You've been dueling above your weight class, you should be able to handle it." Sneered Eekins.

"Fine, let's talk stakes, Eekins. If I win, I want an apology to Hermione and Katie and I want you to stop being such a cantankerous bitch going forward." I growled.

"Fine, and when I win, I want you to grovel at my feet and pay me five thousand galleons for your disrespect." Scowled Eekins.

"Five thousand!" Hissed Katie Bell.

"What? Are you saying he's not good for it?" Demanded Eekins.

"The stakes aren't equal there!" Protested Hermione.

"Hermione's right. If you want five thousand Galleons from me, I'll want you to put up something you value just as much." I insisted.

"What would that be, Zabini?" Questioned Eekins.

"If I win, in addition to the apologies, you are barred from the Slytherin Quidditch Team for the rest of the school year." I returned.

"The House won't stand for that, pick something else!" Huffed Eekins.

She may have said that with confidence, but I sensed a glimpse of fear wafting off her at that. It was a sickly yellow color coming off her body, in keeping with how I visualized emotions via Empathic Sensing. Fear was yellow, I'd read too many comic books in my previous life for it to be anything but yellow. She was afraid likely because she wasn't doing so well in Quidditch this year and the House absolutely would agree to her being replaced with someone else. It was time to press that advantage home.

"I think they will. You haven't been doing so well in your stint on the team, have you? I personally don't care much for quidditch myself, but I'm willing to bet the rest of the house is just dying to see someone better take your place on the team if it means more victories." I pressed.

"Mister Zabini is correct, Miss Eekins. I suspect he may be informed that Mister Flint has been scouting talent from the lower years for a week now just in case you underperform in the next match against Hufflepuff." Intoned Snape.

I didn't, in point of fact, know that. However, as Snape said that, the fear wafting off of Eekins redoubled in size and grew from a pale yellow to a vibrant, piss yellow. Sinestro eat your heart out. Unfortunately, that piss yellow began to shoot through with lines of angry red as fear turned to anger. Eekins' lip curled as she became too angry and scared to not rise to my bait.

"Fine! It's not like you can win against me anyway! A First Year beat a Fifth Year? It can't be done! You'd better have my five thousand ready and wear your groveling shoes, Zabini!" Snapped Eekins.

"Then it is settled. I trust this will be held under the Normal, European, dueling rules. Do not make me do the paperwork for an accidental death. I will be most put out if I have to do so." Intoned Professor Snape.

And with that, the duel was set for Dueling Club of the day before we left for the Christmas Holidays. Of course, five thousand Galleons was steep for kids, but I had many times that in my vaults. Hermione, though, seemed to be a little pensive about the whole deal. I spoke to her after Potions Club that day and she let me know exactly what was on her mind.

"I appreciate you stepping up, Blaise, but five thousand Galleons is too much!" She sighed.

"I can pay that easily." I pointed out.

"That's twenty-five-thousand pounds, Blaise!" Hissed Hermione.

"And? Is that a lot?" I queried.

"That's more than the average person earns in a year! My father earns that in about four months of work!" Huffed Hermione.

"And what does your father do for a living, 'Mione?" I asked.

"He's a dentist. A sort of healer specialized in teeth. That's not important! It's too much money to risk on a bet like this!" Clarified Hermione.

"Well, here's a silver lining. I'll only have to pay that if I lose." I offered.

"Eekins is a fifth year, how can you possibly beat a fifth year?" Demanded Hermione.

"Come to Duelling Club next week and find out." I grinned.

"You're impossible!" Exclaimed Hermione before stomping off.

For myself, I just made my way back to the Slytherin Common Room and headed for my dorm. It seemed that word had already spread because I was stopped by a few people demanding to know if it was true or not. Draco and his group were already celebrating my inevitable downfall in a corner of the common room. Someone had even procured them a case of butterbeer to do it with. Draco saw me enter and gave me a look of superiority as I did.

"You've bitten off more than you can chew this time, Zabini! I'm going to enjoy watching Eekins thrash you and take your money! I've even decided to borrow a Camera so I can see you groveling whenever I wish!" Sneered Draco.

"I wouldn't count your chickens yet, Malfoy." I huffed.

"Please, Eekins is a fifth-year. If you can beat a fifth-year, then I'll eat a toad. Maybe Longbottom is willing to part with his? Of course, that will never happen so it's a moot point." Scoffed Malfoy.

"We told you your hanging around with Mudbloods like Granger would be your downfall. Didn't we Draco?" Smirked Pansy.

"Indeed we did, Pansy. Crabbe, another Butterbeer!" Snapped Draco.

As one of Draco's two lumbering minions went to grab him a refill out of the chest of ice that they'd somehow gotten into the common room in the amount of time it had taken for word to spread, which frankly was a ludicrous turnaround time for something like this, I moved to ignore him. Honestly, I expected the Butterbeer and Ice Chest had been obtained earlier for a celebration after the ambush on Potter they'd tried that I'd foiled and they had never gotten around to drinking it because of that. Of course, then I was confronted by Daphne, Tracey, and Millie.

"So, you against Eekins?" Questioned Tracey.

"Yes? What about it?" I queried.

"Is it true?" Asked Daphne.

"It is." I confirmed.

"Well, I won't say she doesn't have it coming. Jessa Eekins is what Pansy Parkison wants to grow up to be." Sighed Tracey.

"How do you plan to win?" Demanded Millie.

"That's for me to know and everyone else to find out." I answered.

"Well, you'd best win. Draco is going to be insufferable for the rest of the year if you don't." Sniffed Daphne.

"Besides, if you lose, Eekins is just going to go right on being horrible to people." Added Tracey.

"We also don't want you to get hurt." Frowned Millie.

"I'll be fine, really." I promised.

"In that case, I shall be your second." Nodded Daphne.

They let me go after that, and I headed to my dorm to try and cook up a strategy. Honestly, compared to Magnus Gamp, Jessa Eekins was nothing. Of course, compared to Magnus Gamp, I was nothing, so that wasn't really a valuable metric. However, I did have several advantages that I planned to press to the hilt. The Dead Moment was one, and so was my training in Combat Magic. I had instincts and tools that someone like Eekins just didn't have. Plus, I had the Tebo Duster, which could tank some amount of spellfire if necessary, though I was fairly sure that Eekins would demand I not wear it. That, however, wasn't covered by the Normal European Dueling Rules, which Professor Snape insisted be followed earlier. It wasn't Alchemy or a Broomstick, and as Normal European Dueling Rules permitted the use of other enchanted protective items, owing to the German Practice of Dueling Gloves that had been in vogue around the time of the Bern Accords, I suspected I'd be able to lean on that to retain my Duster.

It was still going to be an uphill battle, though not an insurmountable one. I expected to take more than a few lumps over the course of the duel, and I knew I wouldn't come out unscathed even if everything went to plan. It was, however, the best I was going to be able to do for the time being. Just pulling off a win would be considered something legendary, after all.

I went to sleep that night after downing my nightly Bluemoon Elixir and was plunged into a vision. I was in the Duelling Club Arena and facing down Eekins. We were trading spells but she was growing more and more frustrated in her inability to put me away. There was a spike of deep red shot through with black in her aura that I couldn't recognize before she cast a spell that stank of dark magic at me, a net of black lightning. I dodged, leaning on the Dead Moment to be able to do so, but the spell honed in on my second, Daphne. When it struck her, she convulsed, wracked with pain as her organs began to fail on her from the mystical assault. She died as she vomited up blood and bile onto the sands of the Dueling Pit.

Once again, I was then treated to a cavalcade of visions of friends dying one by one. Hermione being killed via Basalisk Poison, Tracey being soul-eaten by Dementors, Susan and Hannah being slain by Dragons as an accident occurred during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Terry dying to a bolt of green light I recognized as the Killing Curse, and so on. At the end of the visions, words appeared once again, burned into my Third Eye as if the Fates themselves were trying to tell me them.

"You can't save everyone." They said.

Then I awoke with a gasp. It was the early morning hours, before any classes or even breakfast. My gaze wandered over to my books, those venerable tomes that had been left to me by my dead Grandfather in his will. There had to be something in there I could use to avoid Daphne's death. The Fates may be telling me I can't save everyone, but since when have I listened to anyone tell me I can't do something? If my friends were fated to die horribly, then I would fight that fate as hard and as best as I could. Maybe, with skill, and a little luck, I could defy the Fates and come through this with my circle of friends intact. I had to at least try, after all, the struggle to defy fate is one of humankind's oldest stories for a reason.

Vowing to take up that challenge, I headed over to get in some research of my own via my Grandfather's Tomes. When the time came for the duel, I would have to be prepared to avert Daphne's prophesied death with whatever knowledge I came up with. It took me all morning, but I finally found something that might help. Once I got back from the detention I'd been assigned by Trelawney that day, I set myself down and got to work.

It was another ring, one meant to capture a single spell in it at a time that could then be discharged later. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make this Ring of Spell Capturing as I am now. Fortunately, I had something for that. I dug into my Family's Trunk and came out with the single vial of enhanced Felix Felicis I had earned for surviving the Worst Day Ever all those weeks ago. If skill and luck would see me win, then I would have all the luck in the attempt. Drinking the vial down, I got to work carving the Ring. When the time came for the duel, the day before we left for the Christmas Holidays, I was as ready as I could be. Throwing on my Tebo Duster, and donning my Mokeskin Pouch, I made sure I was packed and ready to leave before heading for the Duelling Club Room.

After all, it was likely I'd be spending the rest of the day after this in the Hospital Wing, even if everything else worked out as planned. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here's the next chapter. It's a bit of a timeskippy one, but that's what happens in years that aren't super jam-packed with stuff to do relevant to the plot. It's also the first year, so I really don't want to crowd it with a shitload of extra stuff that didn't happen the first time around. Suffice it to say, putting this duel in was the most I was willing to do at the moment.

Speaking of which, the next chapter will be the Duel with Eekins and will end with everyone leaving for the Christmas Holidays. After which we'll have a few interludes as people go home for the holidays before coming back to Blaise.

Stay tuned. . .