Capítulo 51: It's time to D-d-d-d-duel!
One week later, as the twins were walking across the entrance hall, their gaze was drawn to a small crowd of people chattering excitedly before a large cork board. They casually drew near, curious to see what had got the other students into such a tizzy.
Oleandra spotted Draco in the crowd; he was clenching and unclenching his fists with an evil smirk on his face as he read the notice posted on the board. She pushed her way in to see what all the fuss was about.
"Have you heard?" he said, turning to face the two girls. "They're reopening the Dueling Club. What do you think? It should prove to be amusing to send some more Mudbloods to the Hospital Wing, don't you think?"
"I don't get what all the fuss is about," sniffed Daphne. "What is it with men and their obsession with fighting, anyways?"
"Don't say that," said Oleandra soothingly. "As Draco said, it should be fun. Besides, we could use some practice with magical battles."
Daphne felt that Oleandra had done a lot for her lately, so she felt obligated to indulge her a little. So, it was with great reluctance that she allowed herself to be dragged to the Dueling Club's venue in the Great Hall. There, they found that the dining tables had disappeared, replaced instead with a number of blue and gold narrow stages arranged parallel to each other.
"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" Oleandra heard a familiar voice say. It was, of course, Granger.
Oleandra wondered what it would be like to duel the supposedly greatest Witch of their generation. Did book smarts translate directly into fighting strength, she wondered?
Granger would get her answer soon enough; a 'Squee!' escaped her lips as Gilderoy Lockhart stepped onto one of the stages, waving at the crowd and smiling brightly. Once he was sure he had the students' undivided attention, he began his introduction.
"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions — for full details, see my published works."
A murmur of agreement spread through the crowd. Everyone was a little on edge due to the recent events, and students of all ages were ready to learn a bit more about self-defence to bolster their confidence.
To the twin's surprise, Professor Snape joined Professor Lockhart on the stage, to serve as his dueling partner.
"Who do you think would win?" whispered Oleandra to her sister. "Ten Galleons on Professor Snape."
"Professor Lockhart has more experience in fights, doesn't he? All Professor Snape does is stay in his office all day. I don't see him beating a seasoned adventurer, don't you think?" Daphne whispered back. "I'll take that bet."
Oleandra could clearly see that Professor Snape's mouth was beginning to twist into a smirk. There was no way Professor Lockhart was getting out of this unscathed.
The two teachers started their duel. First, they faced each other and bowed; Professor Snape only bent forward slightly. Then, they walked ten paces away from each other and turned to face each other again.
They raised their wands in front of them, poised like fencers ready to strike, which apparently was the accepted combative position, or whatever that meant.
"On the count of three, we will cast our first spells," Professor Lockhart explained. "Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."
"Last chance to back out of the bet," reminded Daphne. Oleandra ignored her, watching intently.
"One — two — three —"
"Expelliarmus!" cried Professor Snape.
Both teachers had swung their wands, but only Professor Snape had actually cast anything; a jet of scarlet light sprang forth from his wand, hitting his opponent and sending him flying.
Daphne's eyes widened. That was supposed to be the Disarming Charm? How was that any different from the Knockback Jinx, or the Banishing Charm?
Professor Lockhart sprang back on his feet, the wobbled slightly. He arranged his hair carefully, then retrieved his wand from a student that had picked it up.
"There you have it!" he said. "That was the Disarming Charm. As you can see, I'd lost my wand."
He waggled his wand to illustrate his point, almost dropping it again.
"I could have easily countered Professor Snape's spell; it was very telegraphed. However, I felt it would have been more instructive to showcase the Disarming Charm's power if its effects were actually allowed to resolve…"
"Let's call the bet off, since Professor Lockhart lost on purpose," suggested Daphne, to which Oleandra rolled her eyes.
Upon seeing that Professor Snape was about to blow his top, Professor Lockhart quickly changed the subject to the students themselves. Both teachers got down from the stage and starting pairing students together.
Professor Snape didn't want the Gryffindor Trio to have a good time, so he paired them up himself. Ronald Weasley was partnered with Seamus Finnigan and Harry Potter with Draco Malfoy, his favourite student.
Then, he came up to the Greengrass twins. Professor Snape didn't like them too much due to their unhealthy lack of respect for adults and authority, and thus he didn't mind letting them suffer a little.
"Miss Granger— you can partner Miss Greengrass, this one," he said, lightly tapping on Daphne's shoulder.
"And Miss Prewett, you can have the other one," he continued.
Hermione Granger was touted as the greatest Witch her age; and Mafalda Prewett was in no way inferior to her, except for that the fact she was low-key; she despised adventures. Thanks to Ingwaz, Daphne was also about on their level, but her reputation as an elite student had yet to spread, as she had been rather normal in her first year. But from their matchups, it was clear that Professor Snape was setting them up to fail, to teach them a lesson!
Oleandra wasn't scared of Mafalda at all. She was more worried about getting the Disarming Charm to work, since she had never used it before!
"This isn't fair, damn you!" she thought angrily to herself. "At least give me some time to practice first!"
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