Dueling for Salem

Myra instructed all of the students into a classroom window, the last of whom was Asia Madison. "I see JP!" Asia shouted, pointing out the window. Relieved, Myra hoped her parents and Jared were there, or at least safe in hiding somewhere. After she felt like everyone was ready, she ran down the school hallway, which echoed eerily with her footsteps, and joined the staff on the front lawn, her wand in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Strauss shouted, deflecting a curse from an Auror as more and more wizards appeared on the side of Armistead and Exeter.

"I need to do this," Myra shouted back, unable to offer any other explanation.

Strauss didn't argue, but moved closer to the front lines, her hair flying behind her.

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JP and Filius lost sight of the other English Aurors as they mixed in with the protesters. The American Aurors, along with Exeter and Armistead, were surrounded, but they had gained enough magical manpower to put up a formidable fight. "Watch out," Filius shouted, and JP deflected a curse. "Aguamenti," she shouted, and her favorite spell knocked over two Aurors. Next to her, a police officer drew his gun. "Don't fire on anybody with a wand," JP screamed to him, then aimed "Stupefy," at the Auror who was after the officer.

As the wizards of the crowd attempted to block the non-magic people, JP encountered her mother and father, who stared at her waving her new wand at the Aurors. "Joan," her mother reprimanded. "What are you doing?"

"Dueling."

Thea didn't have a chance to argue. Exeter was knocking over anyone in his path, determined to eliminate the entire crowd if necessary. "Take him out," Clive instructed Thea.

"What?" She asked angrily. "This is not about revenge." As she said it, Clive took a curse to the chest and slumped against her. She shouted his name several times, with no response.

Troy and Jared were suddenly beside them. "Is he.." Troy whispered.

"He's stunned. Get him out of here." Troy struggled to lift Clive's still frame over his shoulder, then fought his way to the back of the crowd and disappeared. Jared leapt over one of the police cars, charging toward the school, to place himself between the Aurors and the children, who were undoubtedly still in the dormitory.

Exeter laughed, touching Armistead's arm and indicating Clive and Thea. "Mom," JP shouted. "Duel him."

"Duel who?"

"Professor Exeter. You have to. Uncle Filius told us everything."

Thea didn't have a moment to think or to be angry with Filius for revealing her secrets. She thought only of her family, Salem Academy, and the fact that, although the protestors had no magic and were practically helpless in this type of battle, no one had fled the scene. Instead, they were offering aid and helping the injured. Aiming a levitation charm at herself as her daughter bravely fought two Aurors, she flew across the police line and landed face-to-face with Exeter. "Aurelius," she said.

"Athena."

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Jared was surprised to see Myra among the staff, her face set and firing spells left and right. He had never so much as seen her wave a wand, even after it was legal for her to do magic at home. Clytemnestra Strauss was her usual viscous self, aiming curses at the Aurors while shrieking at Exeter, who may or may not have heard her. "How could you? This is our school. It means everything to them. You will pay for this."

Constance Armistead was exhausted. Jared could tell as soon as they encountered each other, but she still smiled to see him. "I'm glad you made it back," she said as if they were in the staff quarters rather than fighting against trained warriors. "How was England?"

Jared and Clytemnestra both re-aimed their spells as the head Auror, the one who had annoyed Clytemnestra through the entire occupation, approached them, grinning in an inappropriate way for a battlefield. "Hello, sweetheart."

Clytemnestra cursed him, both linguistically and with her wand, but he blocked her efforts and said, "Avada Kedavra," pointing the wand not at her but slightly to her left. Jared and Clytemnestra screamed in unison as Constance went rigid and hit the ground.

Octavius Armistead appeared from among the Aurors. "That was my daughter," he said, his voice registering his disbelief. "I told you not to touch her...Avada Kedavra." The Auror fell before he could open his mouth in his own defense. Armistead wavered, shocked at the death of his only living child, and therefore, the near finish of his pureblood line.

Jared and Clytemnestra ran to Constance's body, and Jared lifted her and ran inside to be greeted by screams from the young students. "Keep down and away from the windows," he warned, diving back out the door.

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On the lawn, Myra watched Jared disappear inside and Professor Strauss raise her shaking wand arm toward Octavius Armistead. "Avada Kedavra," she said, but Armistead did not so much as waver. She said the curse again, but Armistead still didn't fall. Myra approached them. "Stupefy," she said calmly, and Armistead was lifted off the ground. When he fell, he was unconscious. Myra conjured ropes around his wrists and stiffened his body.

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Only several steps away from them, Thea and Aurelius Exeter moved across the lawn, firing rapidly at each other. "Athena," Aurelius shouted over the roar of the crowd and the sound of spells being fired, "doesn't this remind you of London, '79?"

"This is not a duel, Aurelius. This is real."

Thea ducked as a dagger flew toward her, then ropes threatened to entangle her. Several of Aurelius' spells, she didn't even recognize. Green flashes clouded her vision, but she stepped through the thick smoke and said "Stupefy," several times. Aurelius blocked all of them.

All around them, people were falling to the ground. Thea barely registered Constance Armistead falling. American and British Aurors were fighting stagnant duels with each other, and Thea vaguely wondered what had happened to Joan.

Thea managed a shot at Aurelius' leg, which stopped him for enough time for her to shout "Tarantallegra," but the spell did nothing. He slashed his wand in the air, and she felt the cut across the side of her cheek. Screaming, and with blood in her eyes, she fired random spells in his direction.

Distantly, she heard a voice that brought her back to a particular fight thirty years ago. "Athena, think simple. Think about his hands."

Thea didn't know if Filius was really speaking to her or if she was hearing him only in a memory. She sent sparks at his left hand, which distracted him long enough for her to say "Expelliarmus." His wand flew across the lawn, and he dove for her physically. "Petrificus Totalis." He fell over. "Stupefy."

Thea vaguely registered Filius rushing toward her, but the blood loss was obscuring her vision and making her lightheaded. She fainted without seeing the end of the battle.

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As Exeter fell, Clytemnestra Strauss looked at Myra. "It's over," Strauss said.

"It's ours."

With a shout, both witches pointed their wands behind their backs. Every window in the academic building exploded. "Wands," Strauss shouted.

As the students concealed in the classrooms raised their wands out of the windows, the remaining American Aurors and the witches and wizards fighting for Armistead and Exeter dropped to their knees.