Liberacorpus

Cyrus watched Malfoy swagger over, followed by a broad, burly girl who was clearly the Miss Pasde Snape had mentioned.

He also spotted Fred and George a short distance away, hiding in the crowd and waving encouragement at him. Fred was even mouthing a reminder not to forget to teach the Slytherins a lesson.

"As for you, Ginny Weasley-I think someone would be willing to partner with you." Snape sneered. "Flint, here's your chance."

He stepped halfway aside, and a boy even more powerfully built than a chimpanzee emerged with a cruel grin. The noise in the hall subsided at once. Fred and George could no longer bring themselves to wave, as though a basilisk had petrified them.

"He's finally gone mad!" Ron could no longer hold back and immediately shouted what he was thinking.

Snape rounded on him with a vicious glare, but this time Ron did not back down. Making a first-year face a sixth-year-what was that if not madness? And Ginny had already caught Marcus Flint off guard once before. This time, he had clearly come prepared!

"Professor, I think this is completely unreasonable!" Percy stepped forward with a frown and placed himself in front of Cyrus. "I can pair up with Flint."

He was a model student, certainly, but that did not mean he was willing to obey every unreasonable demand a professor made.

"The students are right..." Lockhart rubbed his palms together and spoke cautiously. He hardly dared challenge Snape now, but these pairings were simply outrageous. "We set up this club to teach young witches and wizards how to defend themselves against danger, not to-"

"I believe Flint is quite capable of playing the role of 'danger.' Wouldn't you agree?" Snape sneered. "Or does Miss Weasley, with her talent for sneak attacks, consider a defeated opponent beneath her?"

The others wanted to say more, but Cyrus interrupted them.

"He'll do." Cyrus nodded. "I think Professor Snape is right about one thing. At least he looks like a very dangerous, brainless troll. So these are the sorts of students Slytherin House admits now. What a pity."

That immediately offended a whole crowd of Slytherins. Malfoy, who had been preparing to face Harry, wished he could curse Cyrus right then and there.

The most furious of all was, of course, Marcus Flint himself.

"Just you wait!" With a cruel look, he moved off to one side, putting a suitable distance between them.

The other students spread out. Even those who had already been assigned opponents did not begin their own duels. Instead, they watched this wildly uneven match. The Slytherins folded their arms, ready to enjoy the spectacle.

Snape watched Cyrus expectantly as well. He wanted to see who "Ginny Weasley" really was.

Last year, Dumbledore had asked him to keep an eye on Quirrell, and Quirrell had turned out to be Voldemort's puppet. There was no telling what the Ginny Weasley before him actually was! How could a first-year possibly resist his Legilimency?

"You shouldn't have agreed!" Hermione tugged at Cyrus's sleeve. Ron and Harry were unwilling to leave either. Each held his wand, watching Marcus Flint warily in case he launched a surprise attack.

"Why don't we just leave? There's no rule saying we have to attend the club," Hermione suggested.

"It's fine. What's there to be afraid of?" Cyrus said unconcernedly.

"We'll face him with you!" Ron took a deep breath, gripping his broken wand, which was held together with Spellotape.

"Don't make things worse. Harry can stay, though." Cyrus pushed Ron aside and turned to Harry. "You can use that move Lockhart taught you-"

"What?" Harry was completely bewildered.

When had that useless Lockhart ever taught me a special trick? "Remove your bones!"

With that, Cyrus pushed Harry aside too, drew his wand, and stood before Flint.

Harry and the other two tried to follow, but Snape swept out a sleeve and blocked them all. "I believe-your opponents are over there!"

They turned to look, and Malfoy gave a vicious grin. "Let's have a go, Potter!"

"All right, all right-" Lockhart's features were almost twisted into knots with indecision. Hermione looked at him hopefully, wishing he would stop this farce, but how could he dare defy Snape now?

"Face your partners!" Lockhart returned to the stage and called out, "Bow!"

Cyrus immediately extended his right hand to one side and bent gracefully at the waist. Flint, however, seemed to have no intention of bowing.

That displeased Cyrus.

"You should bow!"

"I'm not bowing to a little brat like you!" Marcus said contemptuously.

The Slytherins roared with laughter. Clearly, Marcus's behavior delighted them; they probably thought it was an insult to Gryffindor.

"You really disappoint me. To think Slytherin has so little grace-bow-manners are necessary!" As Cyrus spoke, he raised his wand arm above his head. With his wrist angled downward, he pressed the tip of his wand down.

Still sneering, Marcus suddenly felt his spine bend, as though someone were forcing his shoulders down. The laughing students immediately fell silent and stared at Cyrus, their hearts pounding. Even Harry and his friends felt frightened. They had probably never seen such a terrifying "Ginny Weasley" before.

"Enough!"

Cyrus had bent Marcus almost to a right angle. Had Snape not interrupted with a spell, Marcus's face might have been pressed against the floor.

Afraid of another mishap, Lockhart hurriedly shouted before the furious Marcus could lash out:

"Raise your wands and get ready! On the count of three, cast your spells to disarm your opponents-disarm only-we don't want any accidents. One-two-three-"

But Marcus attacked as soon as the count reached "two."

He fired a vicious curse, but Cyrus flicked it away without so much as looking at it.

Giving Marcus no further time to react, he mercilessly fired off a spell.

Marcus immediately felt a force seize his ankle. Then his body flipped over, and he was hoisted up to the magnificent black velvet ceiling. Everyone in the Great Hall stared, dumbstruck, while Snape found some rather unpleasant memories stirring.

"Liberacorpus!"

He pointed his wand, and Marcus immediately fell with a smack.

"Ginny Weasley-how do you know that spell?"