Harry Potter and The Tomb of Hogwarts

Harry Potter and

The Tomb of Hogwarts

CHAPTER 15

The Plan

Sixty pairs of eyes were fixed on Harry as he sat at his desk, transfixed by the echoing sound of the chime behind him.

After a lifetime of ten seconds, he pulled the roll sheet over and began to call off the names. He wasn't much paying attention to who was responding, but more just trying to get his bearings. However, by the time he'd gotten half way through the call sheet he had become a bit more aware of the students and who was responding when their names were called.

At the same time a soft voice not unlike Hermione's had begun talking in his head, telling him that he'd done things like this a hundred times before with the DA.

"Just read their names," she said in his head. "Then you can make the introduction speech you've had memorized for three days. After that, all you have to do is tell them to read their books and assign the ten questions on the board. Three more minutes and you're done. Then you don't have to do anything until you duel Snape, and you've done that half a dozen times over the last week. After that, class dismissed for ten minutes."

Without giving it a second thought, he nodded to himself, confirming to himself that he could do it as he continued to take roll call. It was then that he'd realized he had already passed Dudley's name and had not even looked up to see him.

This seemed to wake him up a bit and as he continued to read the names he began looking up and acknowledging the students as they answered his call.

When he finished reading their names, he stood, walked to the chalkboard, and tapped it three times in rapid succession. A quick outline of the chapters appeared on the board along with five questions listed for each chapter. Above this in large letters was the title of the class with "Professor Severus Snape" written in the upper left hand corner and "Deputy Professor Harry Potter" in the right.

Harry took a deep breath, turned, and addressed the class.

"Good Morning, and welcome to your first class on The Art of Duelling. The purpose of this class is to teach you how to properly conduct yourselves in a proper wizards duel as well as to teach you how to defend yourselves against the threat of dark wizards. A large bulk of this class will be dedicated to a practical lessons and exercises which will train you to be a proficient duellist. You will also learn the rules of a proper wizards duel and when those rules apply. It is the Headmaster's hope that each of you will be capable of defending yourselves in any given situation, even one such as the events which transpired at King's Cross, by the end of the school year."

Harry took a deep breath. The hard part was behind him. All he had to do now was wind things up.

"However," he continued, "before we begin working on practical lessons we must first understand the basics of duelling and the laws and responsibilities of hold every witch and wizard accountable for their actions. This is covered in the first two chapters of your books, so what I would like you to do is read each chapter and answer the ten questions written on the board. If you finish early, you may continue reading through to chapters three and four, as we will be covering those in the second hour of class. Now, are there any questions before we begin? No? Very well, you may begin."

And that was that. With the worst over, he could sit at his desk and relax.

He busied himself by picking up random paperwork and shuffling it around as if to look over, though in reality he hadn't the slightest idea what they might be. He was too far dazed by the feeling of relief to see straight, and so he simply did his best to make himself look busy while he basked in the triumph of surviving his opening speech.

After twenty minutes went by Harry heard the first quill dropped on one of the tables. He looked up and saw a short Ravenclaw girl Harry guessed to be a third year sitting politely with her book closed with her parchment inside.

He stood, walked around his desk to her seat, bend down a bit and asked in a hushed voice, "Is there anything you're having difficulty with, Miss..."

"Aberdeen," came soft but high-pitched voice. "Alice Aberdeen. I've finished, sir."

Harry grinned, impressed. "Very well," he replied. "You may continue to read on to chapter three, if you like."

"I've already read that too, Sir. I've read the entire book straight through, sir."

Harry smiled. Here was Hermione three years ago.

"Well, I'll tell you what," he said sympathetically, "If you can hold out for the rest of today, I will make a full list of books that you may read in class after you've finished the assignments, alright?"

"Thank you, sir," she replied merrily.

Smiling, Harry walked around the room, checking in on some of the students and making sure none of them were having any problems. As half the class was Ravenclaws, it was unlikely, and he found that the biggest problem seemed to be the number of book lists he would need to write.

He passed by Dudley who smirked at him but said nothing, though Harry barely noticed as he was trying quite hard to avoid looking at his cousin.

After walking around for five more minutes Harry finally went back to his desk to once again review the outline for the Duel that was fast approaching.

When the last quill was put to rest Harry called on a young Ravenclaw in the front row and had him collect the papers. When they were all collected he placed them in his desk, stood and addressed the class once again. This time, however, he was not nearly as nervous as he had already done this part the day before.

"Now, before we begin working on any practical lessons, I would like you all to take out another parchment and split it down the middle. Now, Professor Snape and I are going to demonstrate a proper wizards duel. Now, while we are duelling I would like each of you to write down in the first column any illegal manoeuvres you take notice of. Just as a fair warning, we will both be performing three illegal moves in the course of the duel, all of which were covered in chapter two. Now, in the second column I would like a list of anything you saw during the duel that you thought was a mistake. After a short break, we will begin discussing each of the illegal manoeuvres and answering any questions you may have up to that point. If there is time afterwards, we will begin working on a basic spell every duellist should know. So, are there any questions before we begin?"

A few hand shot up and Harry called on a Hufflepuff boy in the back of the room.

"Are you going to tell us how to fight You-Know-Who?"

Harry sighed. He knew someone would ask, and he had a prepared answer, but he was still quite depleted by the question.

"All questions regarding any alleged encounters I may have had with Voldemort," the whole class flinched at the name, "will be discussed during the final class before Halloween, and not before. Now, before we continue, are there any other questions?"

Only one hand remained; that of Miss Aberdeen.

"Is there going to be a course outline of the spells we are going to be learning throughout the year?"

"There will be a list, but I'm afraid that list is to wait for another day. Anyone else?" Harry asked a little more curtly.

When nobody replied, he and Snape sent their desks back into the floor, asking each of the students to stand and so that they could raise the main platform. All the students seemed quite impressed with the platform coming from the floor and moved in to watch.

Without addressing the students any further, Snape and Harry walked to the center of the platform, saluted, and headed to their respective places. This was Harry's first rule to break, remembering Malfoy's move from their second year. Mid-way between two and three, Harry hit Snape with a basic blinding spell, which Snape knew was coming, yet played his part of being upset, broke the charm, and responded with the Jelly-legs Jinx.

Back and forth they went for ten minutes, so finely trained in the exercise that Harry had lost all recognition that he was being watched.

When the final Spell was cast, Harry was up by one. This, of course, was pre-planned so that whichever professor was teaching, he would win by one, thereby allowing them to prove themselves as an adept Duellist as well as leading nicely into the open forum they were about to begin.

Harry had another two students collect the papers and separate them into separate groups. He then began going over the suggestions of spells and techniques that the students had written down and discussed with them why he did one thing over another. He was surprised to find that through all the duels he'd had and all the work he and Snape had gone through, most of the answers he gave them boiled down to his discussion with Dumbledore the week before.

Going through the suggestions took much longer than Harry expected and by the time they had finished there was only ten minutes left of class, so Harry gave the nights homework lesson and gave them the go ahead to begin now.

After the bell rang and the class had emptied, Harry quickly ran to his office to prepare for Apparation which would begin in less than five minutes. Just as he reached the door he heard Snape call his name.

"Yes sir?" he said, turning back.

"I just thought you should know that you handled yourself well today."

Harry, stopped dead in his tracks, waited for what seemed like an hour for more to be said, dumbfounded by what could only be considered as high praise coming from Snape. Finally, after Snape entered his passage to go back to the dungeons, Harry snapped out of it, ran back in his office, and after a quick change headed into his own passageway and headed out of his room a few minutes later.

The rest of the day seemed blank when compared to his first class as Professor Potter. He'd met up with Ron and Hermione and told them what happened, spending more time on Professor Snape's comment than on the rest of the class. Still, Hermione seemed to see it as a good sign.

"Perhaps what Dumbledore had said was true," she said in an apprehensive voice.

Though Harry hadn't told Ron and Hermione the details of his conversation with Dumbledore, he did give them a very vague overview of what had been said.

"Maybe. Or maybe he's just watching his Ps and Qs. Whatever it is, I think it's real. I doubt I'll ever look at Professor Snape the same way again."

"I guess not, seeing as how I can't remember the last time you called him Professor Snape, yet you've called him that twice in the past two minutes."

"Well, I guess... I don't know what I guess. All I know is, now that we're working together it doesn't seem right just calling him Snape anymore."

"Don't worry, Harry. That's a good thing, really. I'm proud of you."

Ron, seemingly sensing another step in the wrong direction between the two, found this the best time to bring up another subject close to Harry's heart.

"So, Hermione, Harry's going to Hogsmeade with that American girl, Amanda, and I thought maybe you'd like to come along, kinda, you know, together."

"Of course I'm coming, Ron. When was the last time we didn't all go together?"

"Well, I meant more of, well, oh never mind. I've got to go to class."

Harry, finding a quick grip on Ron's cloak, added with a smile, "What Ron is trying to say is, will you go with him to Hogsmeade, as in, on a date."

"Ohh," Hermione said wondrously. "Well, if that's the case, no."

"Thanks a lot Harry. You know, I would have done... Wait a tick. What do you mean, NO? Why not?"

"Because I'm going with someone else. I was going to ask you two if you'd mind, but now, I don't think it would be right. But maybe you could go with someone else."

Harry broke in this time, before Ron could get a full head of steam. "Hermione, who did you ask?"

"Well, as it so happens, I've been talking to David Dodgeson."

"Never heard of him," Ron and Harry said in unison.

"He's one of the exchange students, if you must know."

"Oh, that's just great!" Ron exclaimed. "Is everyone at school dating one of them? Heck, maybe I should go out with one too. Maybe that Sarah gal. She was okay looking. I could take her to Hogsmeade."

SLAP!

"Bloody hell!" Ron cried out, a bright red imprint of Hermione's right hand across his face. "What the ruddy hell was that for?"

Harry stifled his laugh. "I don't think Hermione liked the way you were talking about picking some girl just to make her jealous."

"Who said anything about making her jealous? If she doesn't want to go out with me, why can't I go out with someone else?"

Harry tried in vain to get Ron to understand, and after a few minutes he changed the subject.

"You know, you'll be in my class tomorrow."

"Yea, I know. I can't wait," he added with a mischievous grin.

"Don't you even think about trying anything. Don't think I won't put you back to work on those trophies, or maybe back out to the Forbidden Forest."

"That's not what I was grinning about."

"Well, what then?" Harry asked, concerned the twins might be planning something.

"I was thinking of the other houses that will be there."

"What do you mean? All of the classes will be there. That class has the sixth and seventh years from all houses, plus the Exchange students."

"Including the Slytherins. I can't wait to see the look on Malfoys face the first time you tell him what to do."

Harry's eyes suddenly began to sparkle and the grin on his face was brighter and more sadistically wicked than Ron had ever before seen.

"What?" Ron asked curiously.

"Oh, you'll see. We've got something very special planned for Malfoy."

"What?" Ron repeated imploringly.

"I can't wait to see the look on his face. It's going to be priceless."

"What!?!" Ron demanded loudly.

"Don't worry, you'll see," Harry replied simply.

Ron spent the rest of the day trying to get more out of Harry, but try as he might he was not able to get any more information. Even as they lay in bed that night, every few minutes he would ask, until finally the other boys yelled at him to shut up and get to sleep.

Meanwhile, Harry lay in bed and went over the plan. He and Snape had come up with the idea that for the advanced class of sixth and seventh years.

When they talked about it, Harry and Snape agreed that a demonstration of Harry's duelling ability versus Snape would be too rehearsed and would likely make Harry look bad in front of the class.

So, they came up with the plan which would prove Harry deserved the job, and best of all, they were both sure that Malfoy would be the one step forward and accept the challenge.

What had surprised Harry so much about the plan was how much Snape seemed to enjoy the idea.

"I'm sure Mr. Malfoy could learn a valuable lesson from this," Snape replied to Harry's suggestion.

Shocked by the thrilled look on Snape's face, Harry asked, "But will it work on him? I don't want to plan it all only to find out it was all for nothing."

"Trust me, Harry. He'll do it, and he'll fail worse than any other student in that class, including those Americans." Harry noticed a strong disgust in Snape's voice, but said nothing. Instead he moved the subject back to Malfoy.

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm a bit confused. I thought Malfoy was your favourite student."

"My favourite student? Malfoy? I doubt there has been any student I have ever liked less, other than perhaps yourself, or your father."

"But he's your Quidditch Seeker. You've always been real nice to him and shown him off like he's your best student. You've always shown favouritism towards him."

"Of course I have. How else could I have accomplished all I have in the past five years? Remember who his father is and what position he has held with me in the past. I've had no choice in the matter. Lucius Malfoy is my best chance for getting back into good graces with the Dark Lord, and as Professor Dumbledore has always believed that he would one day return, he suggested that I do my best to keep in Malfoy's good graces."

"But in the graveyard Voldemort said that he was going to kill you."

"Really. And you are just now telling me this?" Snape replied with a sneer.

"Well, he was also going to kill me at the time, so it wasn't exactly something I'd thought about until just now."

"Indeed. Well, never you mind about that. This is not the first I've heard of this threat, and if you think back I think you may realize he wasn't talking about me."

"What do you mean? And how do you know what was said, unless..."

"No, Mr. Potter. I was not there that night, but as I said before, I have done my best to get back into the good graces of Mr. Malfoy. He was the one who told me about the Dark Lord's threats. Now, I believe you will find, if you think hard enough, that the Dark Lord said he believed that one Death Eater left his service."

"Okay, but how does that not lead to him wanting you dead?"

"Because Lucius Malfoy was able to convince the Dark Lord that the only reason I had not come when summoned was that I was with Professor Dumbledore at the time. He was able to give enough reasons for my absence, attempting to show that I was merely waiting for the right time and that he would never get another Death Eater as close to Dumbledore as I have done over the past fifteen years."

"But what about when you faced Quirrell. He must have known something was up back then."

"Perhaps, and that is likely the reason why it has taken so much time to show any progress with him and his Death Eaters. But Lucius has given me the impression that things are progressing and that there will be some time in the future when he will ask me to prove myself. So, until such time as Voldemort is destroyed or my cover is blown, I must keep up the charade that Young Draco is my prize student."

Harry hadn't said anything for a few moments. He thought about all Snape had said and, as much as he hated to admit it, it made sense. But he didn't have enough time to think things through as Snape had just then reminded him that he had less than two minutes left before he was due at his Apparation Class, and he hadn't had a chance to again think about what Snape had said until now.

But if he played things out right, Malfoy would jump at the opportunity. And, thinking for a moment on what Harry knew, and more importantly, what he'd learned in the past week and a half, Snape was right about one thing. Malfoy didn't stand a chance.

And with this thought, Harry fell to sleep.

Harry's first class on Wednesday was a repeat course of his second class on Tuesday, only this class consisted of Gryffindors and Slytherins.

There was, however, one difference Harry hadn't expected. It seemed this class was much quieter, especially on the Slytherin side, and so they finished the same work in half the time, which meant they would be able to work on some basic practical lessons.

As these students were still a bit wet behind the ears when it came to magic, Harry decided to start with the most basic spell, Expelliarmus.

After withdrawing all of the benches and arranging the pillows against the walls, Harry had the students pair up and form two lines. As he anticipated, the Slytherins paired with other Slytherins and the Gryffindors did the same. As it turned out, they paired up perfectly.

He then showed them the basic stroke of the wand and proper pronunciation. After they all repeated this several times and he was sure that they had the essentials down he had one group practice ten attempts against their partners, then they switched. They continued this exercise for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, Shape and Harry walked about the room, watching the students and helping those who needed it. By the end of the class, some of the students were showing some real promise.

Exhilarated at working in some hand-on training, Harry hadn't noticed how fast time went by, and soon the bell rang out and the students started heading out.

Harry, proud of the work he'd done, went back to his desk and grabbed something to drink, regaining his composure and grabbing the paperwork for his next class. That's when it hit him.

Suddenly, all the strength in him was gone. Using the desk to support himself he walked around and sat down in the chair, flinching at the sound of the door closing as the last student had gone.

Noticing the sudden change, Snape asked, "Is there a problem, Mr. Potter?"

Harry, taking another deep breath answered, "Sorry. I just realized what time it was. I hadn't realized how soon we'd be working with this class."

"If you prefer, I could head this class," Snape said with a slight smirk.

Taking a few deep breaths, Harry replied, "No. If I don't prove myself now, there's no way I'm ever going to be able to control this class."

"Very well," Snape replied, offering his approval.

Harry stood up abruptly and headed into his office, telling Snape he'd be back shortly.

Closing the door behind himself he ran quickly to the trash and heaved; spilling half of his breakfast in one shot. Quickly running over and picking up a towel he wiped his face and grabbed a drink of water.

Searching for anything that might help calm him, he began looking around the room and saw all those gifts left to him by Sirius and his other friends. Then, his eyes fell upon something he had never before noticed and headed over to one of the glass shelves and opened it up.

Picking up the old D.A. contract they'd all signed he smiled and began looking over all of the names. Ron and Hermione, both doing so well. Before they started the D.A., Ron had always been sloppy at best with his spells. But after a few meetings he was starting to think about what spells he was using and when.

Hermione, on the other hand, executed the spells perfectly, but there was very little improvement from her. This left her with little flexibility when it came to unusual situations which, Harry found, seemed to be more regular than anything else. But by the end of the year she had really begun to learn how to switch styles and become looser with her duelling style which, if this continued, would make her quite formidable within the next year or two.

And Neville. So much improvement in such a short time. And the Twins. They both seemed to soak up what Harry had taught them so quickly and readily, the only thing he'd ever heard of them putting as much effort into was Quidditch.

And the list went on. For five minutes he read over the list, feeling more and more confident with each name, not only because of what they'd accomplished because of him, but also because most of these were the same students that had been with him last year. He'd be with friends in there, and he drew comfort and strength from this. Finally there was a knock at the door and Snape told him that it was time for class.

Taking one final look at the list, Harry put it back in the case and made a note on his desk to have it put somewhere more visible when he had the chance.

Taking one final deep breath, he turned to the door, opened it, and headed out.

When Harry walked into the room he noticed many of the students had already come in, including Ron and Hermione. In fact, looking at those that were present, all but two where old D.A. members.

He went over and sat at his desk and looked up just in time to see the exchange students piling in. There, the last one to walk in, was Amanda who looked exceptionally nice today.

Harry quickly looked around for some Slytherins, hoping that they might draw his attention from and distractions. Unfortunately, it seemed none of them had arrived yet, and looking back at the clock he saw there was only a minute before class began.

More students filed in, until, with seconds to spare, Malfoy walked in, all the sixth and seventh years following him as though they were a large game coming to fight. They took the back four seats, all in front of Snape's desk as though putting an exclamation point on their disapproval of having Harry teach the course.

As the bell finally sounded, Harry closed the door with a wave of the wand.

"Here goes nothing," Harry thought to himself. Placing his hand briefly over his medallion he stood, walked around the desk, and began.

"Welcome to the Art of Duelling. Before we begin today, I'd like to first cover a few misunderstanding some of you may have about regarding this class. First, though this class is here to train you in the art of duelling. This is not a course on how to pick a fight and win, but how to survive if you are put into a situation where your life may depend are your ability to duel."

Harry noticed as he was talking that Malfoy had given Crabbe some kind of sign because he now had his hand raised, as did Goyle. Harry was about to comment when an unexpected voice interrupted him.

"Put your hand down, Mr. Goyle," came Snape's voice. "You too, Mr. Crabbe."

There was a slight softness in his voice, but it seemed Harry was the only one who noticed. The rest of the room had gone dead silent. After ten seconds, Harry continued.

"Thank you, Professor Snape," Harry said pleasantly. "As I was saying, the purpose of this class it to ensure that you will be able to defend yourselves should you have the misfortune of coming face to face with a Death Eater, or worse, Lord Voldemort himself."

A collective gasp filled the room at Voldemort's name, and this was just as Harry expected.

"I'll have none of that in this class. The only thing you do by flinching at the sound of Voldemort's name is to give him more power in the form of your fear. And believe me when I tell you that there is much to be feared of Voldemort, but his name is not one of them. And this brings me to my next point. Many of you hear were involved in a club headed by myself in which we practiced the practical side of Defence Against the Dark Arts. You may find many similarities between that club and this class, but you will find many differences as well."

He searched the class, noting many of the students whom he'd previously worked with. But there were so many new faces, and it was time to address them as well.

"However, whether in that club or not, this class is quite different. For one, Professor Snape and I will be sharing the teaching duties in this class, and we expect to be treated as equals."

"And you think you're equal to Professor Snape?" came Malfoy's voice from the back.

You're early, thought Harry, though he said instead "Point well taken, Mr. Malfoy, though I will have to deduct a point from Slytherin House for your speaking out of term."

"You can't do..."

"That will be all, Mr. Malfoy," Snape jumped in abruptly, "unless you wish to lose more points for your house."

Malfoy snapped his head towards Snape and gave him a half sneer, half plea for help, which he wouldn't get.

"Thank you again, Professor Snape," Harry said again, this time with a polite nod and smile. "Now, although you did speak out of turn, you do make a valid point. The idea that a sixth year student, even the great Harry Potter, may seem an unfit choice to head one of the most important classes in the school. Well, I asked the Headmaster the same question and he told me that he felt I was the best choice for the job."

Several of the students seemed to puff up a bit as though giving Harry their support, while others, like the Slytherins, seemed to shrink away in disgust.

So far so good, Harry thought.

"Well, after discussing this point with Professor Snape we came up with an idea which we proposed to the Headmaster, and he approved. And so, during this very class, I will open a challenge to everyone in this class. I will face anyone who believes that they would be more capable of teaching this class in a proper wizards duel to five points. If you win, the class is yours, no questions asked. Are we all agreed?"

A stunned silence filled the room. That was three times already and they were only five minutes into class.

He smiled politely and waited, the silence continuing on for thirty seconds. He had noticed that Malfoy was nudging

Alright, time for second chances, he thought.

"Very well. Since it seems nobody feels comfortable with that challenge, I'll make things a bit easier for you. I will limit myself to spells I learned during my first three years here at Hogwarts. Those who accept the challenge will be allowed to use any spells which can be cast in a legal wizards duel, including any spells you may have learned outside of school."

That was the ticket. Malfoy jumped up so fast that some of his fellow Slytherins were complaining about how he'd bumped into them on his way up, but he seemed too transfixed to notice. His eyes were sparkling at the idea of duelling with a disabled Harry Potter.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape said approvingly. "I take it you are volunteering?"

"Yes sir," Malfoy said eagerly. This was his chance to get back at Harry for his father's imprisonment and he was not going to let it go by, and Harry knew it. Everything was running according to plan.

"Very well, Mr. Malfoy. Please come to the front here and go to Professor Snape for your instructions. Meanwhile, I'd like the rest of you to get up from the benches and move back to the walls."

They did as he asked and very entertained when Harry sent the benches back into the floor, but even more so when he produced the centre duelling platform.

Everyone immediately moved in and surrounded the platform while Harry finished some things at his desk.

Ron and Hermione quickly walked over to him.

"Harry, I'm not sure this is the right thing to do," Hermione said ominously.

"Don't worry," he replied with a smile, "Just go over to the platform and enjoy the show. I've got everything under control."

"I hope you're right," Ron replied as they turned away.

He finished compiling his paperwork and lowered his desk.

As he headed for the platform he saw Amanda, staring at him in awe and wonder, a huge grin across her face. Turning to look at Malfoy, he had to work hard to conceal the smile fighting to spread from ear to ear. But as hard as it was to fight the grin from thinking about Amanda, it paled when compared to the suspense of waiting for this very moment; a moment when he would be able to duel Malfoy right in front of these ninety plus students and nobody would object.

Stepping up the platform he met Snape and Malfoy reviewing the rules one last time. When they were done, Snape addressed the class.

"This duel will be the best of five points. One point will be gained for each complete disarming, which is to lose one's wand for a five count, or to become completely incapacitated. One point will be lost for any illegal spells or moves. Three faults and the match will automatically be defaulted. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah. Who wants to help Professor Potter move his things out of my office?" Malfoy spat.

"Very well," Snape said, ignoring Malfoy. "On my count."

Harry saluted Malfoy who responded with a purely hateful smirk before Snape began counting down.

"Ten. Nine."

Shield first. He'll go for a force spell, Expelliarmus or something of the like. Protect yourself first, then you'll get the clean Rictusempra. Harry thought.

Eight. Seven.

Then he'll get mad and try something bigger. A quick Blinding will get to him first. Harry grinned.

Six. Five. Four.

Then he'll be really miffed and careless, and he's all mine.

Three.

Harry's smirk grew to a smile.

Two.

Time to Dance, Malfoy.

One.

Harry turned quickly, much quicker in fact than Malfoy, and was already casting the Protego even as Malfoy was focusing on Harry's position.

Malfoy, not holding back, shouted Depulso Inimicus Maxime. Coming from Malfoy instead of Snape or Dumbledore, the spell seemed to take forever to hit his shield spell.

The moment it made contact Harry began the casting Expelliarmus so that his wand movement finished just after the previous two spells dissipated, hitting Malfoy dead centre in the chest. His wand flew up and over the platform, everyone watching as it fell nicely into Harry's awaiting hand.

Snape came over and took the wand from Harry, bringing it back to Malfoy. Then he stepped back down from the platform and cast Lumos Brevis. After only a few seconds, the small ball of light disappeared, announcing their next round.

The light was out for half a blink of the eye and Harry had already cast Caecus, a blinding spell, hitting Malfoy just as he was about to finish casting Rictusempra, a spell Harry once cast on him, but it missed completely and flew off towards the ceiling. A quick Petrificus Totalus from Harry finished the round.

Since Malfoy's wand still resided in his hand, Snape simply revived him, announced Harry's point, and cast Lumos Brevis once again.

And again Harry was one up on Malfoy, casting Wingardium Leviosa on his robes before he could properly cast his own spell. As he was now too busy trying to get the front of his robes out of his face, Harry cast Accio on Malfoy's wand and caught it as casually as though it were an everyday occurrence.

Malfoy went before the light had gone completely out for the following round, but Harry had anticipated it and cast Wingardium Leviosa on himself just as he'd also bent down which gave him the extra boost he needed to jump over Malfoy's spell. Malfoy, so shocked by the tactic, hadn't noticed Harry cast Manus Pando which caused him to drop his wand as his fingers stretched out as far as they could.

Snape began to step forward, noticing Malfoy's fault and preparing to reprimand him for it, but Malfoy was already making to break another rule. But yet again Harry took notice of just how slow Malfoy was and had plenty of time to cast Silencio before Malfoy tried to cast another spell.

Harry watched as Malfoy moved his lips and Harry could swear he was mouthing the Cruciatus Curse, but he couldn't be sure. In any event, he scored the final point with the Dormio sleeping spell, which also concluded the Match.

Everyone began to cheer for Harry as Snape revived Malfoy and pulled him aside quite forcefully. Harry assumed that, other than himself, Snape was the only one who caught what spell Malfoy was trying to cast, and Harry had one last trick up his sleeve.

"Thank you. Now settle down, everyone. Please, settle down. This is still a class and we still have things to cover today. But first, Mr. Malfoy, if you please."

Snape had released Malfoy by now and was walking behind him as he approached Harry with a look of complete revulsion on his face.

The moment he was within range, Harry offered his hand to shake. "Mr. Malfoy. That will be ten points..."

"What?" Malfoy interrupted between gritted teeth.

"For Slytherin house. And thank you for assisting me with this demonstration. You did quite well."

Harry said all of this with a very sincere smile. In truth, Malfoy truly had helped Harry out in many ways. For one, he helped make an important point to the class that he deserved his position as Deputy Professor. And for another, facing Malfoy in front of all these people allowed Harry to show that challenging him in class was not going to accomplish anything, nor would it score well with the other students at school.

But more than all of this, it settled something deep inside Harry. He'd always worried that, if it ever came down to it, Malfoy might have the edge if it ever came down to a real duel. Now he knew what everyone else kept telling him; that he needn't worry about Malfoy. They were right, and Malfoy just helped prove it. Now he just had to keep things going, which brought him back to the class.

Since this was the Advanced class there was to be no in-class bookwork. The students were asked to read the books for a test the following Friday and it was their responsibility to know the material.

Instead, they split the class into two groups, each group consisting of students from all four houses. And so, for the remainder of the class Harry and Snape went over the basic spells used in duelling and made sure that everyone was familiar with them.

As it turned out, The class as a whole knew much more regarding duelling spells than Harry and Snape had expected. In the end only seven students were separated with the exchange students to make up a small class within the class. These students would be brought up to speed by whichever Professor was not working with the main group.

The bell rang to sound the end of class and Snape dismissed the class, but as they began to file out he called out, "Mr. Malfoy, if you could please come here for a moment."

Harry wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he would be damned if he missed it. As it turned out, Professor Snape invited him over as well.

"Mr. Malfoy, I understand that you and Professor Potter have not gotten along over the past five years. While I can sympathize with you as your Head of House, as well as your Duelling Professor and Professor Potter's colleague I feel I must warn you that today will be the last day that I will accept any disrespect directed towards him. He has both the Headmaster's full support as well as my own, and if you disrupt this class or in any way show a lack of respect to him I will personally see fit that every floor of this castle is scrubbed and polished with a toothbrush. Do I make myself clear?"

Malfoy, clearly shocked at Snape's threat, simply nodded.

"Very well. And I suspect that you, as a Slytherin Prefect, will convey this message to the rest of the house."

"Yes sir," Malfoy said hoarsely.

"Professor Potter. Do you have anything to add?" Snape asked politely.

"Thank you, Professor. I think you covered everything quite well. Do you have anything to add, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry challenged.

"No sir," Malfoy said between gritted teeth.

"Very well. I'll see on Friday then. Good day."

Malfoy didn't say a word but sneered at both Harry and Snape, then walked out of the room, fuming all the way.

"Well, that could have gone worse," Harry commented.

"Worse? I don't think it could have gone any better, the little prat."

Harry's ears pricked at the slip by Snape. He looked over at him in astonishment, about to ask for an explanation to his outburst, but Snape had already packed up and begun to head for the passage back to the dungeons, calling out behind him, "If I were you, I'd get moving. You've got another class in four minutes, if I'm not mistaken."

Harry's eyes bulged. Snape was right. He turned without thought and headed for his office, swapping robes and grabbing his bag and running down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He came out on the third floor this time and headed straight for the staircase which, as it turned out, was just around the corner. He was in such a rush when he reached the staircase that he didn't even notice that Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the sixth year Gryffindors were still above him, coming down the fourth floor staircase which seemed to find fit to choose this time to move.

At lunch he was treated like royalty by every Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor in the school. It seems that the entire school knew about the duel between him and Malfoy. Of course the Slytherins seemed to be more than a bit miffed at him, but none of them seemed willing to address it to him face to face.

Even Dudley seemed sheepish to look at him during lunch. Everyone else kept patting him on the shoulder and telling him how much they enjoyed his class, even those who were in his earlier classes.

He was back in the spotlight, but for once it didn't seem to phase him too much. He'd earned the respect of his fellow students instead of having it given to him because of he was the Boy Who Lived.

The rest of the day went the same as lunch, and he enjoyed playing the celebrity, though Professor McGonagall had spoken to him regarding his newfound celebrity status.

"Now that you're a Professor," she said, "you need to exercise some caution around the other students. Of course, I don't expect you to give up being young; lord knows I enjoyed myself when I was your age. I just thing you might want to keep an eye on your fans and make sure that you keep yourself out of trouble, if you can," she added sternly.

"Well I'll have you know that I've done quite well so far, thank you."

"So I heard. I also heard about the incident with Mr. Malfoy earlier today. Both the good and the not so good. I hope you realize how fine a line you treaded there, Mr. Potter."

"But if I didn't then I'd be looked at as a fraud by every Slytherin in the class. I had to make a statement before they made it for me."

"I'm not saying you did wrong. I'm simply saying that you need to watch what you are doing. There was a very good reason for you to do what you did, but it may not be so next time. I'm simply saying that you should keep that in mind, especially when you are not in your classroom."

"Yes Ma'am," Harry answered back. He'd known all this, but he let her go on. If he didn't she'd probably go on all day.

"Very well, then. Off to Charms with you."

And off he went, first to Charms and then to Quidditch practice.

Practice turned out pretty well all around. Ron had done even better than the previous practices catching nearly every goal attempt that was made. For a while the team began to become concerned with the chasers, but they soon realized that it wasn't how bad the chasers were doing, it was how good Ron was doing.

All in all, it had been a truly perfect day. Harry just couldn't help but smiling, even through dinner, homework in his class, and all the way up to the time he got into bed.

And so, as the full moon rose and shone through Gryffindor Tower, he lay there and thought about his upcoming classes, the rapidly approaching Quidditch game, and his first date with Amanda during the coming weekend.

Still the smile remained, even as he slept, and though he knew a day like this was not likely to come around again for quite some time, he decided that he was just going to enjoy it while he could.

COMING SOON

CHAPTER 16

Good Things Come in Threes