It hurt.
Especially when Harry said Professor McGonagall had called him away to make him Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. That hurt Eliana even more.
Some people could dive fifty feet to catch a ball and brake sharply the first time they rode a broom.
Some people spent less than three minutes on a broom before throwing up until the world spun.
She had never failed so miserably at any class!
Eliana felt crushed as never before.
She didn't think she would ever be happy again.
From this day on, she was Eliana: cold, ruthless, and incapable of smiling.
Oh, and he was the youngest Seeker in a century, admitted as a special exception.
He'd skipped a grade, basically!!!
Feeling thoroughly outclassed, Eliana was so miserable she ate two steaks in a row.
Malfoy, now in fresh clothes, shuffled over with a hand on his waist, leaning on his two lackeys. "Well, well. Eating your last meal, Potter? Want me to pack you a couple of steak-and-kidney pies? You won't get any more after this. I bet your Muggle relatives don't have anything like them."
"And you! Ritchie!" He turned on Eliana, who was chewing away in despair. "No need to pack anything for you! The food won't stay in your stomach anyway!"
Eliana was too deep in the agony of I'm really that bad? to pay him any attention. He apparently took that as an invitation to push further.
"Oh? Did I hit the mark?" A vicious grin spread across his face.
Harry gave him a cold look. "Back on the ground with your two useless bodyguards to protect you, and suddenly you're brave, are you?"
"Ha! You think I'm afraid to take you on alone, Potter?" He whipped his head around. "You too, Ritchie!"
Eliana was still chewing her way through her crushing disappointment. She ignored him.
"Midnight tonight. The Trophy Room. A Wizard's duel—" He glanced at Eliana. "No physical contact!"
"Well? Dare to show up? I bet neither of you even knows what a Wizard's duel is."
"Of course they do. Eliana can be Harry's second," Ron said. "Who's yours?"
Before Malfoy could pick the burlier of his two lackeys, Eliana caught a word she didn't like through the haze of her misery.
"Who said I'd be anyone's second? I'm taking the lead!" she protested.
Malfoy sneered. "Suit yourself. Crabbe's my second. See you at midnight."
He stalked off without looking back, neck held high like a goose with its backside in the air. A goose walking a little awkwardly, that was. One that had pulled something in its back.
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"What's a Wizard's duel? And what's all this about seconds?" Harry asked. "Why does everyone seem to know except me?"
Eliana took a sip of Pumpkin Juice and said calmly, "I don't know either."
"What?!" Harry and Ron cried together.
"Merlin, the way you acted, I thought you'd already fought a few duels. You looked like you knew more than me," Ron said, stunned. "You really don't know?"
"What's so surprising?" Eliana shrugged. "You can guess from the name. It's a fight. The two main fighters go at it while their seconds act as sidekicks, harassing the other side—isn't that it?"
Ron hesitated. "Well, you could put it that way, but usually a second only steps in when their fighter dies."
"What?!" Harry looked horrified. "I barely know any spells."
Eliana cocked her head. "Then sneak up behind Malfoy and kick him to help me out."
"Didn't he just say no physical contact?"
Eliana looked at goody-two-shoes Harry. "Once the fighting starts, who's going to care? If we beat him to death, nobody will know we broke the rules of the duel."
She said coldly, "History is written by the victors."
Harry and Ron both stared at her.
After a long moment, Ron muttered, "Mate, I don't think you need to worry. Malfoy sounds like he's in a lot more danger than you."
"I think so too," Harry said, staring blankly ahead.
Eliana gave them a benevolent smile.
I knew it. Malfoy came from a Wizard family, after all. He was bound to have something up his sleeve. I didn't know why he'd swallowed his pride when I made him sit beside me in Potions Class, but I'd stayed on guard. And look—now he'd shown his hand.
Good. This was her chance to see what those young Pure-blood Wizards could do in a fight.
Full of fighting spirit, Eliana pushed the dishes aside and began drafting a battle plan for midnight on a sheet of parchment.
She didn't know many spells yet, and she could cast no more than three in a row. She might not match Malfoy in raw ability, so she needed to plan carefully, combine her spells, and use them well.
"Spells that might cause damage:
1. Levitation Charm: Lift Malfoy ten feet into the air, then drop him. The impact might seriously injure him and send his wand flying. But Malfoy knows this one too, so watch out and dodge it."
Ron couldn't help reading it aloud.
"2. Confringo: At my current level, it can only shatter a cubic meter of stone, but it'll do as a basic attack. This spell is prone to rebounding, though. Take care to dodge."
Harry started reading the next part... then couldn't go on.
"Wait a moment." Hermione, sitting beside them, held a hand out in front of them. "If I heard right, you're planning to duel Malfoy at midnight?"
"Mm-hmm?"
Eliana hummed and wrote down a third point:
3. Lumos: Channel enough magic into the wand and it will produce a blinding flash, briefly blinding the opponent and creating an opening to attack.
After a moment's thought, she added a note: Might hit an ally. Could wait until ally is dead before using.
(Harry caught sight of that and shot her a terrified look.)
"That's far too dangerous!" Hermione said.
Ron smacked his lips. "I don't think we're the ones in danger."
Hermione looked deadly serious. "And Gryffindor will lose points over this—if you get caught!"
"Then we just won't get caught," Eliana said calmly. "And if we do, well—bad luck for Gryffindor. Who told it to take in a menace like me? It has only itself to blame for its poor judgment."
Hermione looked furious with the shameless scoundrel. "That's unbelievably selfish of you—"
Eliana shrugged. "Thanks for the compliment."
She swept the parchment off the table, tucked it under her arm, and left.
Hermione rounded on Harry and Ron. "Listen, you absolutely cannot act like her—"
The two boys exchanged a glance.
"Bye!"
They bolted.
Before you continue