Duelling Club

At eight that evening, Cyrus returned to the Great Hall with Harry and the others.

The Great Hall had been completely transformed. The long dining tables had vanished, and a gilded stage had appeared along one wall, illuminated by hundreds of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was once again as black as velvet. Almost the entire school had turned up, packed tightly together, everyone clutching a wand and looking excited.

The four of them used their small size to squeeze through the crowd. Hermione struggled to speak. "I wonder who'll be teaching us. I heard Professor Flitwick was a duelling champion when he was young. Perhaps it'll be him."

"Whoever it is, as long as it isn't-" Before Harry could finish, he saw the two people he least wanted to see step onto the stage. One was a radiant Lockhart in plum-coloured robes; the other was a gloomy-faced Snape. In stark contrast to Lockhart, Snape wore his ever-present black robes.

Harry's unfinished sentence turned into a mournful groan.

Hermione, on the other hand, was delighted. She still believed Lockhart was every bit as great as his books made him out to be!

All his idiotic behaviour had been overlooked in the dazzling glow of his handsome face.

It was hard to imagine Hermione being so irrational. Lockhart alone had her utterly bewitched. Apparently, even in the wizarding world, good looks could be as potent as a potion. Otherwise, Tom Riddle would never have been so successful.

Just a scumbag who used his good looks to deceive young girls, wealthy women, married men...

He even deceived female ghosts!

Shame on him!

He deserved to be condemned!

What? I looked like that now?

Never mind, then.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Excellent!" Buoyed by the enthusiastic support of hundreds of female students, Lockhart grew even more animated and threw himself into his performance.

"Now, Professor Dumbledore has given me permission to start this little Duelling Club, to give you all proper training in case you ever need to defend yourselves, using the methods I myself have employed on countless occasions-for further details, please consult my published works.

"Allow me to introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart said with a broad grin. "He tells me he knows a little about duelling himself, and he has generously agreed to help me with a brief demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters worrying-once our demonstration is over, I'll return your Potions teacher to you in one piece. Nothing to fear!"

"Wouldn't it be brilliant if they both seriously injured each other?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear.

"Oh, come on. Lockhart probably couldn't withstand a single spell from Snape," Cyrus said, shaking his head. "I heard Snape's the strongest of the four Heads of House."

If he were free to unleash his Dark Magic, Snape was indeed stronger than the other three Heads of House. Even Voldemort recognised his talent. After all, he was a genius who had invented several spells while still at school.

And according to Sirius, at eleven, Snape had already known more curses and hexes than most seventh-year students.

Harry wholeheartedly agreed with Cyrus, because he saw Snape's upper lip curl into a truly terrifying expression-like a cat toying with a mouse. He couldn't understand why Lockhart was still smiling. If Snape had looked at him like that, he would have taken to his heels and run as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"Some people tell so many lies they end up fooling themselves. Rather pathetic, don't you think?" Cyrus whispered in Harry's ear.

Ron turned to him in surprise.

"You're not shy anymore?"

Cyrus ignored him.

By then, Lockhart and Snape had turned to face each other and bowed. Lockhart made all sorts of flourishes with his hands, while Snape merely jerked his head impatiently. Then they raised their wands before their chests like arrows.

The students fell silent, watching nervously. They were like spectators watching two great masters duel atop the Forbidden City, afraid the slightest sound might disturb the combatants.

"As you can see, we hold our wands in the standard duelling position," Lockhart told the hushed crowd. "On the count of three, we'll cast our first spells. Naturally, neither of us will be trying to kill the other."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Snape bared his teeth and gave a low chuckle.

Both men swept their wands sharply up over their shoulders.

"One-two-three-"

With lightning speed, Snape uttered the incantation:

"Expelliarmus!"

A dazzling flash of red light erupted, blasting Lockhart off his feet. He flew backwards off the stage, slammed into the wall, then slid down to lie crumpled on the floor. The blow had nearly stunned him senseless.

Wasn't he supposed to be just a potion brewer?

Why was he so powerful?

Malfoy and several other Slytherin students clapped and cheered.

Hermione bounced up and down on tiptoe. "Do you think he's all right?" she shrieked, her fingers pressed over her mouth.

"Who cares!" Harry and Ron said together.

Lockhart staggered to his feet. His hat had fallen off, and every strand of his wavy hair was standing on end.

Seeing the young witches and wizards' doubtful looks, Lockhart realised he had to regain control and explain away his embarrassment. He hurried back onto the stage, the lingering effects of the spell leaving his head swimming and his steps unsteady.

"Well, there you have it! That was a Disarming Charm-as you can see, I've lost my wand-ah, thank you, Miss Brown."

He turned to Snape. "Yes, Professor Snape, an excellent idea to show them that. But I hope you won't mind my saying that your intention was rather obvious just now. Had I wished to stop you, I could have done so without the slightest effort. However, I thought it would be educational to let them see..."

"He really has no shame." Cyrus's mouth twitched. Lockhart had plainly been outclassed, yet he still dared to say that. Snape must have been regretting using "Expelliarmus" instead of "Sectumsempra."

Sure enough, Snape looked murderous. Lockhart seemed to notice too, and hastily said:

"That concludes the demonstration! Now I'll come down among you and divide you into pairs. Professor Snape, if you would care to help me..."

They moved through the crowd, pairing everyone up. Lockhart put Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Snape reached Harry and the others first.

"I think we ought to split up the Dream Team," he sneered. "Weasley, you can pair up with Finnigan. Potter-"

Harry instinctively moved closer to Hermione.

"I don't think so," Snape said with an icy smile. "Malfoy, come here. Let's see what you can make of the famous Potter. Miss Granger-you can partner Miss Bulstrode. As for you-Ginny Weasley-"

The corners of his mouth rose into a wicked smile.