The Phantom of the Opera

A/N:

So, after much beta-ing, and headaching, and rewriting, here it is!! Sorry to have kept you waiting.

A very big thank you to my main beta person, Roman Glaub!

I improvised a little with the Grade A and B jinxes - just imagine that you have a scale of jinxes goes from D to A, with A the most powerful (and Bombarda of course comes from the PoA film).

Need I say more? Just read, and enjoy!

The Phantom of the Opera, Chapter 2: The Duelling Club

'And bow ... good! Right then. On the count of three ... One! Two! Three!'

'Expelliarmus!' Hermione cried.

'Reducto! Bombarda!' Malfoy rallied back. Hermione ducked and rolled to the right on the floor.

'Finite Incantartem!' Professor Gimble stopped Malfoy's jinx. 'Malfoy! I said Grade B jinxes only! That was a Grade A!'

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. If she had been hit by Malfoy's Bombarda spell, it would have left her in the Hospital Wing for months.

Had joining the new Duelling Club been a good idea? Was it a mistake? The last one, in her second year, had stopped after the first session. But this was five years on, and the circumstances were different. When the new Duelling Club had been announced, she had signed up gladly. It was a great way to vent off her frustration, with jinxes and counter-jinxes. And currently there was plenty to be frustrated about. Best of all, she had a reason to throw spells at Malfoy, her greatest enemy. It was also good exercise - like all females of her age, she was getting increasingly worried about her weight. Plus, of course, it was yet another great way for her to practice her spell casting.

Actually it was a second great way for her to vent off her frustration.

There was also the Phantom.

It wasn't as if the time in his secret lair underneath Hogwarts was spent flinging jinxes back and forth. He was Hermione's sole confidante. He was an amazing listener;[Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:34:00 2006 ] he would sit there listening as she poured out her troubles to him. But he didn't just listen. He was an intelligent person - strange, because Hermione could see no way that he could have had an education - and consequently he conversed with Hermione constantly. When she had finished, he would talk back to her. Sometimes to console, sometimes to chide, sometimes just to talk. She loved him - not romantically, but as the best friend she had ever had.

She had first met the Phantom - so he called himself - in her second year. She had run into the girl's toilets, crying, after having been teased by her classmates. She had sat in one of the cubicles, hiccupping and sniffling to herself for fifteen minutes straight.[Author ID0: at ]

[Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:36:00 2006 ]

Then He had appeared.[Author ID0: at ]

[Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:36:00 2006 ]

He was Hermione's age - a little older, maybe a year and a half. He wore a strange mask that covered the upper half of his face, with little holes for his eyes. Etched over his forehead was a lightning bolt. He had wordlessly taken her through a secret passage hidden behind the third cubicle from the left, and they had walked for what seemed like miles down endless corridors, dimly lit by candlelight. She followed in a kind of trance, but she felt perfectly safe.

They reached his secret lair, again lit by several candles. It was like a large cave. To one side was a simple bed, and on the other side was a desk. There was a very basic chair by the desk, which was really not much more than a wide plank on four legs. The desk itself, however, which was really no more than a wide plank on four legs, was full of papers, and there were several exquisite feather pens sitting in inkpots of all shapes and sizes. That was his secret - he educated himself. He sat her down, gave her a small goblet containing a strange potion, and just talked to her. Was it the potion, or the beautiful sound of his rich voice? Somehow after a few minutes she fell fast asleep, and woke up three hours later in the dormitory [Author ID1: at Sat Apr 1 21:40:00 2006 ]

A few weeks passed, and she began to convince herself that it had all been a dream. But then, he had appeared to her again. He took her down to his lair again, and this time, he encouraged her to talk to him. She was hesitant at first, but after a few minutes she found herself telling him everything that everybody had said to her, why she was constantly so unhappy, and how she had next to no friends - next to none, save a weird redheaded boy called Ronald Weasley who kept following her around.

After that, the Phantom's visits became fairly regular - close to every other weekend he would visit her and take her through the endless, winding passageways to his cave. She was surprised when he made her swear not to tell anyone, not even Professor [Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:43:00 2006 ]Dippet, but agreed. It was a big thing to keep secret, especially for a second-year student, but Hermione completely trusted the Phantom.

However, now was not the time to be dwelling on the past.

'I said bow, Miss Granger! That's the third time! Pay attention!'

Hermione came back to the present, and bowed - ugh - to Malfoy.

'Wands ready ... on the count of three ... One! Two! Three!'

This time Hermione was determined to stop Malfoy from doing anything at all. 'Contrahereo!'

Malfoy's jinx, halfway out of his throat, disappeared into a gurgle as he shrank down to the size of a mouse. His wand, now the equivalent size of a short tree-trunk, dropped out of his hand and onto the floor. His robes dropped in a swathe around him, and he quickly pulled them around his naked body.

There was raucous laughter from the other students in the club, and Malfoy scowled at them with a beetroot-red face. 'Change me back!' He squeaked at Hermione, but his voice was so comical that it only caused everybody to laugh even louder. 'Change me back! My Father will hear about this!'

Hermione, laughing so hard that she was almost in tears, pointed her wand at him, and giggled, 'Engorgio.'

Malfoy shot up to his normal size again. Luckily,[Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:45:00 2006 ] his robes fit around him again, but his arms were pinned to the sides.

'Shut up!' he growled at the others, but they didn't stop. Malfoy bent down, and picked up his wand in his mouth. After a last excruciating glare at Hermione, he stalked out of the room.

There was a brief silence after he left, then Professor Gimble spoke. 'Well done, Miss Granger, for excellent use of the Contrahereo Spell! Fifteen points to Gryffindor!' [Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:47:00 2006 ]

*

Hermione stumped up the spiral staircase to the Gryffindor Tower. It was on the seventh floor - yet another way for her to keep in shape.

She reached the Fat Lady, who was fast asleep.

'Bongworthyness.' Hermione said. The Fat Lady jerked out of her sleep.

'Hmmph? What do you want?'

'I said Bongworthyness - the password!'

'Oh. All right, fine, in you go ...' the Fat Lady gave a yawn and opened the portrait. Hermione walked straight in, and immediately wished she hadn't.

'Hello, Hermione...'[Author ID0: at ]

[Author ID2: at Sat Apr 1 13:47:00 2006 ]

A/N:

Notice Prof. Dippet, and not Dumbledore, because this is meant to be set quite a while ago - probably (19)40's to (19)50's.

Contrahereo comes from the Latin Contrahere, which means to shrink. Well done to all who noticed! By the way, if you're thinking the shrinking idea is linked to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Mike Teavee), yes, you're right, they are similar, but it was just a coincidence.

I've decided to be evil and leave it on a cliffy. Don't worry, I've already started the next chapter, so you don't have long to wait (I hope (!!)).

But before you jump to conclusions, if it was the Phantom in the Common Room ... would Hermione "immediately wished she hadn't" gone into the Common Room?

I'm so evil, how can I live with myself?!

--dan