Midnight Duel

In the Great Hall, Harry's mind was a mess, his head crammed full of thoughts.

When he woke up that morning, it had only belatedly occurred to him: how did Loren know about the Three-headed Dog? And how did he know how to deal with it? What was that method?

In response, Loren tore up his bread, dropped it into his Pumpkin Porridge, added a spoonful of honey, and stirred it all together. "I read it in a book. I forget which one." His tone was utterly perfunctory.

Harry had wanted nothing more than to dump the Pumpkin Porridge over Loren's head.

"Harry Potter, enjoy your last weekend at Hogwarts. I've already written to my father. He's a Hogwarts governor, and you're about to be expelled." Malfoy's provocative voice rang out, just as irritating as ever.

"Now that you're back on solid ground, with your little friends around you again, you're much braver." Harry, his thoughts interrupted, showed no courtesy whatsoever. Professor McGonagall had said the fault was not his. Compared to Malfoy's governor father, whom he had never met, he trusted Professor McGonagall more.

The surrounding Gryffindors laughed at just the right moment. The High Table was filled with teachers, and Malfoy and his two lackeys did not dare make trouble. They could only darken their faces and crack their knuckles.

"I'm willing to face you alone anytime," Malfoy said. "Tonight, if you've got no objections. A wizard's duel. Wands only. How about it?"

"I suppose you haven't even heard of wizard duels?"

Ron stepped forward. "Of course we have. I'll be his second. Who's yours?"

Malfoy ultimately chose the larger, meaner-looking Crabbe. "Midnight, in the Prefects' bathroom. How about it?"

Once they had settled it, Malfoy smugly left with Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron explained wizard duels to Harry. Two people fought with magic, and if one died, their second took over. But they were both first-years and had only been taking classes for two weeks, so they could not cast any especially powerful spells.

"Best thing would be to throw away your wand, aim for his nose, and hit him as hard as you can!" That was Ron's final conclusion.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I accidentally overheard you and Malfoy talking." Hermione could not help cutting in.

"Malfoy's from a pure-blood family. He might know nasty curses you don't. And if it comes to a fistfight, the two of you together still couldn't beat Crabbe."

"Most importantly, you absolutely cannot wander around the school at night. Think about it. If you get caught, how many points will Gryffindor lose? And you'll definitely get caught. Don't be so selfish."

Beside them, Loren let out a satisfied burp. "I think Hermione has a point."

But Harry and Ron felt that none of this had anything to do with them, and the two returned to the Common Room to discuss their battle plan.

At half past eleven that night, the dormitory had gone quiet. Ron and Harry slipped out of bed, crept down the spiral Staircase, and entered the Common Room.

A few dying embers still glimmered in the fireplace, and the armchairs seemed to have become dark, shadowy lumps.

Just as they were about to reach the portrait passage, someone spoke from the chair nearest them. "I can't believe you're actually doing this, Harry!"

A lamp popped to life. It was Hermione, dressed in a pink dressing gown with a frown on her face.

"I'm going to tell your brother Percy—he's a prefect!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, ignored her completely, pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady, and climbed through the hole.

Hermione, furious, followed them out. "Don't you care at all about the House Cup points? I earned every one of them from the professors!" She spoke like an enraged lioness.

"This has nothing to do with you!" Harry thought she was being far too nosy.

Suddenly, a sound of heavy snorting came from the darkness.

"Don't tell me Mrs. Norris found us right away?" Ron held his breath.

It was not Mrs. Norris, but Neville, curled up on the floor and sleeping soundly. As they approached, he startled awake. "Thank goodness! I lost the note with the password on it, and I've been locked outside for hours!"

This had happened often before. Harry and Loren used to check whether Neville had returned before going to bed. If he had not, they would come out and open the door for him. Sometimes, the Weasley Twins would bring Neville in after returning from their nighttime wanderings.

But it had not happened again since Neville got his Memory Charm. Today, it had happened once more.

"Keep it down, Neville. Today's password is 'Pig Snout.'" As Harry spoke, he turned to look at the Fat Lady's portrait.

The figure in the portrait by the entrance was gone, leaving only part of the background on the canvas. He cried out in a hushed voice, "The Fat Lady's gone visiting again."

None of them worried too much. Older students had told them that when no one needed the door opened, the Fat Lady often went visiting, discussing opera and bel canto with portraits elsewhere. She usually returned within an hour.

"Ron and I will go to the duel first. Hermione, keep an eye on Neville, and stop meddling in our business." Harry made up his mind.

Hermione refused. She wanted to make sure the two of them did not get caught by Filch and break even more school rules. Neville did not want to stay here alone either.

In the end, the four decided to go together. That would also keep Malfoy from outnumbering them.

The group moved through the dim light on tiptoe, holding their breath and not daring to breathe too loudly.

Even so, the trip was far from peaceful. Cries of alarm rang out from time to time. Bloody Baron startled Neville every single time, and Sir Nicholas deliberately hung upside down from the ceiling, letting his head dangle down.

Neville wanted to curse at the sight of them.

At last, the four arrived at the Prefects' bathroom without incident.

The bathroom was pitch-black at night. The gilded Cups and medals reflected scattered specks of light, barely enough to make out the outlines of objects.

Loren, who had been waiting behind a display case for a long time, finally saw them, but he did not make a sound.

The four moved close to the wall, their eyes fixed on the doors at either end of the room. Harry held his wand, in case Malfoy suddenly burst in.

A long time passed, but there was still no movement.

Loren rested a hand against his chin, strolled over to them, and voiced a guess. "Do you think Malfoy might be deliberately messing with you two?"

A voice suddenly came from a place they had assumed was empty. The four in the room were instantly terrified and all turned toward Loren. "Why are you here?!"

Loren put on an aggrieved expression. "You were having a group night outing without me, so I came by myself."

Hermione was practically losing her mind. Five Gryffindors on a nighttime outing—if they got caught, their House Cup score could be deducted into the negatives.

Harry knew it could not be that simple. "What exactly happened?"

Only then did Loren reveal his actions, half truthfully and half falsely. "I overheard Malfoy's plan in the bathroom."

"They planned to lure you here, then report you to Filch for wandering around at night and teach you a lesson."

"So at dinner, I told Malfoy that you had changed the duel location to the First Floor."

Ron shouted angrily, "Despicable Malfoy! That's so despicable! He doesn't follow the rules of wizard duels at all!"

"Loren, why didn't you just tell me about this?" Harry was angry too. He had nearly been made a fool of.

Hermione began scolding Harry and Ron. "I knew it, I knew it! Without Loren, you two simple-minded idiots would definitely have cost us points!"

"I think nighttime wandering is fun!" Loren pulled out some nuts and offered them to everyone. "We haven't gone on a nighttime outing before. This is a perfect chance."

Those words, that behavior, and the nut snacks left them all stunned.

How could he so righteously declare that he wanted to wander around at night? And drag them along with him!

Why had he come so thoroughly prepared? He even had snacks!