That evening, at eight o'clock, when we made our way to the Great Hall, it seemed that the entire school had gathered. Yes, because the Dueling Club was about to begin.
The dining tables had been removed, a golden platform now lined the walls, and thousands of candles floated in the air. Students clutched their wands, chatting excitedly, wondering who would be teaching the club.
"Quiet!"
Professor Lockhart appeared, striding in with flair.
"By the permission of Headmaster Dumbledore, I will be leading this Dueling Club. Just as I have countless times before, I am here to train you so that you can protect yourselves if the need arises! For more details, please refer to my books."
As usual, he was in full form, never forgetting a little direct marketing.
"Now, let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape."
At this, Professor Snape appeared, his face stormy and lips curled in a way that seemed to say, "You wretch, I'll kill you."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa.""He's dead meat."
Not, Knot and Zabini muttered, while the other boys watched Lockhart like helpless calves being led to the slaughter.
"Now then, everyone. As you can see, we hold our wands properly. Count to three, and cast your first spell. Of course, neither of us intends to kill our opponent."
To say this so confidently at this point—Professor Lockhart is, in a way, quite brave.
"One, two, three—"
At the end of the countdown, both raised their wands high. As everyone expected, Snape struck first.
"Expelliarmus—be gone, weapon!"
A blinding red flash shot through the air. Lockhart was sent flying, crashing into the wall and sliding down in a humiliating sprawl.
"Impressive, Professor Snape!"
Several Slytherins, including Draco, cheered. Lockhart staggered to his feet.
"Now, did you all see that? That was the Disarming Charm. As you can see, I have lost my wand."
Despite wobbling, Lockhart returned to the platform and actually explained things clearly. Ignoring the obvious difference in skill, he was putting his body on the line to teach—truly a professional spirit.
"This demonstration is enough! Now, pair up in twos!"
Following Lockhart's words, the students began searching for partners.
"Celestia, come here."
I initially tried to pair with Millicent, who was closest, but for some reason, Professor Snape called me over.
"I want to see how you handle the famous Potter. Miss Bulstrode, pair with Miss Granger."
"Ha…"
If one interpreted his instructions generously, perhaps he wanted to prevent friends from going easy on each other.
But Snape's eyes clearly said something else to me:
—Go all out.
Snape seemed to desire a full-blown, relentless duel.
"Face your opponent! And bow!"
We bowed to each other as Lockhart's voice rang out.
"When I count to three, cast the spell that disarms your opponent. Only disarm them. One, two, th—"
"Talento Allegro—keep dancing!""Celestia, what the—!?"
Ignoring Harry's startled howl, my spell hit him directly. In the next moment, his legs began moving on their own, performing a furious series of quick steps.
…And no, this wasn't because I was holding a grudge from losing the last Quidditch match or any childish reason like that. I was merely anticipating Snape's expectations. Yes, that's all.
What surprised me was how quickly Harry retaliated, using his upper body freely.
"Depulso—back off!"
In the next moment, a shock like being hit on the head with a frying pan sent my slight body flying through the air.
"…"
Hmm, aiming a wand at a delicate, fragile, unlucky-looking girl like me shows quite some courage. This can be taken as a declaration of war.
—Very well, then, it's war.
Catching the brief hesitation as Harry struggled between sportsmanship and practicality, I swiftly pointed my wand at him.
"Rictusempra—keep laughing!"
This time, a silver flash hit Harry, bending him in half as he gasped.
"Stop… ah! St-stahp…!"
Stop? Not happening.
"Fufufufu…"
I focused my magic on Harry, who writhed between the pleasure and pain of being tickled.
"Ah…! Hii…!"
He struggled in vain, trying to suppress his laughter. Seeing him grit his teeth and desperately resist made it even more amusing. A smile spread across my face as I continued tormenting him with the Tickling Charm.
"Hmm~? Is it this spot? Or maybe this one?""Stop… hia! I can't… ah!""Oh my, showing such a pathetic display in front of everyone—don't you want to stop?"
I slightly reduced the spell's power, poking Harry's flushed cheeks, then timed it perfectly to strengthen it again.
Hehe… this is fun.
"Ugh, just kill me already…! Stop… aaah!""Oh my, such expressions too… fufufu. Want me to play with you some more?"
Harry, overwhelmed by laughter and tingling pain, was slowly losing it. By then, I was completely in the zone, unaware that everyone else had moved a safe distance away.
If you want, I can continue polishing the rest of the battle sequence so it reads just as thrilling and professional as the rest, keeping Celestia/Elaina's mischievous personality vivid.
Do you want me to do that next?
"St-stop! Enough!"
Professor Lockhart suddenly came to his senses and shouted, and Professor Snape instinctively leaned forward, startled.
"Finite Incantatem—end the spell!"
The spell on Harry ceased, and I, still reeling from the sudden emptiness, finally became aware of everyone staring. Many faces were frozen in shock, and for some reason, a few students were looking at me with flushed, almost eager expressions.
Snape sighed and lightly placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Celestia, you went too far."
"Huh?"
"Are we really just going to drown Harry in pleasure until he can never defy Slytherin again?" I thought.
"You lot aren't ready for that yet," Snape muttered.
Somehow, he seemed quite taken aback. I couldn't quite understand adult logic, especially from someone who usually hates Harry so much.
"Goodness,"
Lockhart moved quickly through the crowd, observing the aftermath of the duel.
"Miss Granger, stand up slowly. Miss Bulstrode, hold her firmly. Her nosebleed will stop soon enough."
Surprisingly, Millicent had easily defeated Hermione. Before Hermione could cast a spell, Millicent had apparently thrown her wand aside and tackled her.
"No need for wands! I'll crush you!"
She pinned Hermione down, locked her in a headlock, and applied a choke to her carotid artery until she passed out. At this point, one could hardly call her a witch anymore.
"Well then, it seems I should teach you how to defend against hostile spells."
After sending the injured to the infirmary, Lockhart regained his composure and looked around.
"Now, who's willing to be a demonstration pair? Longbottom, Celestia, what do you say?"
"Lockhart, that's a bad idea."
Snape intervened in a serious tone.
"While I might tolerate Longbottom being humiliated in public, as the housemaster, I have a duty to stop this before Celestia or any other Slytherin awakens… certain tendencies."
Now, what exactly was I supposed to do?
"Malfoy and Potter, how about it?" Lockhart suggested.
"That's a brilliant idea!"
He gestured for Harry and Draco to step into the center of the hall. Draco eyed Harry from head to toe, his voice low as he murmured:
"Potter… you don't have to push yourself, you know."
Being spoken to with that pitiful, almost sympathetic look from his nemesis, Harry almost teared up but shook his head resolutely.
The second round of the Dueling Club had begun.
With Lockhart's command, Draco swiftly raised his wand and shouted:
"Serpensortia—come forth, serpent!"
A long black snake erupted between them. Screams echoed around the hall, and Harry froze. Lockhart shouted, "Leave it to me!" as he waved his wand.
With a loud bang, the snake soared through the air before crashing to the ground. Angered, it reared its head toward Justin Finch-Fletchley, fangs bared, ready to attack.
"Gah!"
Surprisingly, Harry hissed softly under his breath, whispering something to the snake. From the sidelines, it appeared as if he were controlling it.
Just before the snake could strike Justin, it paused, turned toward Harry, and vanished under Snape's recovering spell.
"What kind of prank is this!?"
Justin, interpreting the snake's actions as an attack, stormed out angrily. A confused Harry was pulled along by Ron and Hermione and exited the Great Hall as well.
"So Harry's a Parselmouth, huh?"
A Parselmouth is a rare person who can speak to snakes, usually a genetic trait. The most famous Parselmouth, of course, was Salazar Slytherin, founder of our Slytherin House.
A tense silence hung in the air, and Millicent whispered in my ear.
"So… does that mean Potter might actually be a distant descendant of Slytherin?"
"Pretty much," I replied.
"Even though he's in Gryffindor?"
"…."
Now that I think about it—
I recalled Harry's Sorting Hat experience.
(He seemed to take a lot of time, just like me…)
It didn't take long to figure out what that meant.
And almost immediately after the chaos of the Dueling Club, events took another sudden turn. This time, Justin Finch-Fletchley and the ghost Nearly Headless Nick were attacked by the "Heir," leaving them turned to stone.
(End of chapter)
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