"Gather round, everyone! Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? Wonderful!" Lockhart waved for silence and called out.
"Now, thanks to Professor Dumbledore's generous support, I've been able to set up this little Duelling Club to help you train for any eventuality. If you ever need to defend yourselves, or want to learn the defensive techniques I use, you'll find them described in detail in my published works," Lockhart continued.
"Now let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart said with a broad grin. "He tells me he knows a thing or two about duelling, and he has generously agreed to help with our lessons."
"Professor Snape, shall we give the students a demonstration? Don't worry, everyone. I'll control my spell. It'll only be a simple demonstration, and I'll make sure your Potions teacher comes back to you without a scratch!" Lockhart promised, his voice brimming with baffling confidence.
"I think we should teach the students how to defend themselves against unknown dangers. Let's have a student demonstrate with you instead," Snape said, frowning at Lockhart's grin.
"Very well! A demonstration with a student won't fully showcase my flawless spellwork, but I suppose I can oblige you!" Lockhart spread his hands helplessly, a hint of regret on his face.
Inside, though, he was overjoyed. He had been afraid Snape would prove too powerful and embarrass him. Now Snape had gone and picked a student!
"Jerry Green, come up here!"
"Jerry..." Hermione clung tightly to his hand.
"Don't worry. We're at Hogwarts. Nothing will happen!"
After reassuring Hermione, Jerry walked to the front.
"Hermione, why is Jerry the one duelling Lockhart?" Harry hurried over to her when he heard Snape's announcement.
"Yeah, I was hoping Snape and Lockhart would duel and both come out worse for it!"
Hermione