Different Paths

Chapter 19: Big Time Super Wizard in training

"Stupefy!" said Sirius one last time. The last of the small owls fell to the ground, very much unconscious. "There, now no more sending messages to that boss of yours." Yasmin scowled at him but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Draco was trying to struggle to his feet, yet failing miserably. "You shouldn't get up yet," said Harry. "The Dark Magic Cleanser strips off a lot of energy from whomever it's used against. It'll be a while before you'll even be able to stand, let alone walk."

"Your concern is appreciated, Potter," said Draco sarcastically. Then, more seriously, he said, "You two go on ahead without me. I'll catch up as soon as I am able to."

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"Positive. Now go!"

"All right, you heard him everyone! Lets go!" yelled Sirius. He once again unceremoniously threw Yasmin over his shoulder (despite her protests) and took off down the hall. Harry saluted at Draco before dashing out passed Sirius.

Draco tried to stand up once again before giving up. 'No use,' he thought. 'Can't get up now. Yet, strangely enough, I feel far better that I ever have in my entire life. I guess I can thank you for this Potter. And most especially, thank you, Ginny, for making my life worthwhile.'

* * *

Back at the Leaky Cauldron, things weren't going nearly as smoothly. "Expelliarmus!" yelled Ginny. Her disarmer was easily deflected by Cassandra Frost with a simple flick of her wand.

"Is that all you have?" said Cassandra in a mocking tone. "Really, I would've expected more from a member of the Order of the Phoenix. But on a second thought, perhaps that is what's expected of a mere child."

"I'll give you mere child!" hissed Ginny. She leapt forward, rolled behind Cassandra and fired a series of curses from behind. Cassandra simply shrugged them all off with a quick shield charm.

Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione were standing still simply glaring at Icicle and Flame. Ron was starting to get impatient. "Come on, lets take them out already," he hissed at Hermione, his wand starting to shake in anticipation.

"Be patient Ron," whispered Hermione. "We know absolutely nothing about these two, how they fight, how they handle battlefield pressure, any of this stuff. We have to let them make the first move first." As she said this, Hermione chanced a quick look to Ginny, a move that was not missed by Ron.

"Aw, little children seem to be frightened of us," mocked Icicle. Ron was about to rush off and strangle Icicle without magic before Hermione stopped him. Icicle laughed while Flame sneered.

"Patience, patience," muttered Hermione. She chanced another glance at Ginny as she barely managed to dodge another curse thrown by Cassandra.

"You're worried about Ginny, aren't you?" said Ron, knowingly.

Hermione nodded. "I know she's been taking extensive Defense lessons," she said. "But she's still a year younger than us and less experienced at fighting the dark arts than we are. It's natural for me to worry."

"I agree," said Ron. "OK Hermione, how about this? You go and take care of my sister by being her back up. I'll take care of these two on my own."

"What?!" exclaimed Hermione. "You can't be serious! You can't take on two Death Eaters at once!"

"Trust me," said Ron. "Let me have this one moment, Hermione. For years, I've always taken the back seat, first to my brothers, than to Harry and you. Just this once, let me stand on my own. Please, do this for me."

Hermione still looked hesitant but she gave Ron's hand a quick squeeze before going off.

"Uh," groaned Ginny as she was thrown to the ground by another curse from Cassandra. A second later, she was quite surprised when Hermione came up behind her and helped her to her feet. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I'm your backup, Ginny," said Hermione. "Now stand up, we can defeat this dark witch together."

"You're a fool, young one," said Flame as her sister burst out laughing. "What do you plan on doing?"

"I'll tell you what I'm planning on doing," said Ron. "Both of you, challenge me to a wizard's duel. At once."

Icicle and Flame starred at Ron as if he were mad. "What?"

"It be a lot easier for me to dispatch of both of you at once rather defeat one of you first than the back up," said Ron, a smirk on his face. "Come on, there's no Fundamental Rule against accepting more than one challenge at once."

"That's because most wizards and witches have the common sense not to accept more than one challenge at once," said Flame.

"Oh come now dear sister," said Icicle with a laugh. "This boy wants an invitation to an early grave, who are we to deny him one? Besides, I figure it is a good chance to try out our new tactic."

"Ah yes, the new tactic," said Flame with a smirk. "Very well boy, we both challenge you to a wizard duel."

"All right! Now lets do this!" said Ron. He was about to charge at the sisters brandishing his wand when Icicle suddenly charged up what appeared to be some sort of freezing powers in her hands while flame conjured a blazing fire in her hands, held over her head.

"Time for the tactic," said Icicle. She pointed her hands toward the ground and sent the freezing powers forth, completely changing the ground surrounding them into ice. Ron had a hard time just keeping his balance.

"What's this? Just trying to throw me off balance by freezing the ground? My, my, my very effective," said Ron sarcastically.

"You think wrong boy," said Flame, a sinister grin on her face, "this is what we were planning on doing!" Saying that, Flame threw the large burst fire onto the frozen ground while making a jump. Ron quickly shielded himself as the burst of heat and fire exploded around him. When he recovered, he was surprised to see that he was facing only Icicle: Flame had disappeared.

"What? Where?" Ron suddenly heard laughter from some vicinity considerably above his head. He looked up and to his shock and horror, he saw Flame levitating in the air some 20 feet above their heads. "H-how?"

"Not too knowledgeable about simple physics, are you boy?" said Icicle with a laugh. "It's called a jet stream. The high temperature of my sister's fire instantly heated up the freezing air surrounding the ground, causing the air to rise rapidly. The sheer intensity of our magical powers, let's the air rise fast enough and strong enough to levitate a human body into the air."

"I don't believe it," muttered Ron. He didn't have enough time to think about physics however, as Flame started raining fireballs onto Ron's head. The fact that the frozen ground was so slippery made it very difficult for Ron to dodge each fireball and he barely managed to move out of the way, occasionally getting singed.

As Ron continued dodging the fireballs, Icicle sprang forward. Skating on the frozen ground, Icicle created a blade of ice in her hand and slashed at Ron's back. Ron screamed in pain as the blade cut a deep wound into his back.

"Ron!" screamed Hermione, now concerned about him. She was just about to rush to his side when he raised his hand toward her.

"Don't Hermione," he said. "I can do this. Just continue watching over Ginny." Hermione nodded and turned her attention back to Ginny whom was still dueling with Cassandra.

"Aw, come on boy, accept the mudblood girl's help," mocked Icicle. She continued to keep the ground frozen as Flame's fireballs kept her levitated in the air.

"And break the First Fundamental Rule of Wizard Dueling, resulting in my becoming a squib?" said Ron with a raised eyebrow. "Fat chance."

"Well, your funeral then," shrugged Icicle. She darted forward once again, brandishing her blade of ice. This time however, Ron was prepared for her. Just as Icicle slashed at him, Ron managed to grab her arm and pull her in front of himself, whereupon he used her as shield against one of Flame's fireballs.

Icicle screamed in pain as the flames engulfed her. Ron pushed her away and Flame landed right next to the Icicle, anger written all over her face. "Why you little..."

Ron grinned. "Well, that's what happens when you mess with a special type of wizard."

Flame starred at him incredulously. "A special type of wizard? You?"

"That's right," said Ron, grinning like mad and drawing himself to his full height. He suddenly looked far more intimidating than before. "I'm Ronald Weasley, Big Time Super Wizard in training."

* * *

"Any ideas?" Ginny asked as she slumped against Hermione, clearly starting to get exhausted.

Hermione appeared to be in deep thought. "There's something different about this witch you're fighting," she said. "I don't know for sure but she doesn't seem to be affected by the magic most people are." Her face darkened. "I saw her the night of the Death Eater attack on London, she killed two cowardly Death Eaters with a mere kiss. I'm not entirely sure if she's human."

"Oh great," moaned Ginny. "Out of all the Death Eaters I have to face, I pick a fight with the one that doesn't even seem to be human."

"You're going to have to go physical," said Hermione. "She may be able to shrug off most curses but I'm sure she won't be able to stand physical blows."

"Not a problem," said Ginny, suddenly perking up. "I grew up with six older brothers, I know how to get through a physical fight."

"Are we quite done with the pep talk now?" said Cassandra looking quite bored. "I don't exactly have all day you know."

"Oh, I'll give her all day!" hissed Ginny. She ran straight at Cassandra. Cassandra leveled her wand and fired a curse at Ginny, but Ginny ducked low and slid underneath the curse, ending up behind Cassandra. Twisting around, Ginny landed a roundhouse kick on the backside of Cassandra's knees, knocking her to the ground. Cassandra grunted in pain and rolled out of the way as Ginny tried to smash her fist into her face. Both duelers quickly scrambled to their feet.

"Going physical on me now are you?" said Cassandra. "Well then, I must reciprocate." Cassandra twirled her wand around. It soon grew to about the length of five feet and transformed into a make shift staff.

Ginny was looking quite confident now, as she started hopping around on the balls of her feet like a boxer. "OK, I'm ready now. Are we going to continue?"

"Any time you feel like it," said Cassandra, while twirling her staff around.

Ginny grinned and launched herself at Cassandra, intending to pummel her. Cassandra grappled around with the red haired girl, blocking every one of her blows. "Scared now?" said Ginny, her face near Cassandra's.

"Don't get so cocky," said Cassandra. She spread her hand underneath her staff facing Ginny's abdomen. Before Ginny had a chance to react, Cassandra blasted her away with a powerful reductor curse.

"Ginny!" screamed Hermione. Ginny was flung into the air and landed on the roof of one of the nearby houses, the impact of her fall causing an indent in the tiles. Ginny groaned at the pain of several broken ribs before falling unconscious.

"Down goes the first dueler," Cassandra said, twirling her staff around, "up comes the backup."

Hermione's face put on an expression of determination. "You've got that right," she said as she leveled her wand at Cassandra. The two girls started circling around each other.

* * *

"Big Time Super Wizard in training?" repeated Icicle, now recovered from her burns. The two sisters shared a look and burst out laughing.

Ron looked annoyed. "Hey, I think I deserve a title," he said. "After all my brothers I'd think I'd deserve one. Bill's the Head Boy, Charlie's the Quidditch star, Percy's well.... Percy, Fred and George are the resident hell raisers, and Ginny's the only girl. Heck, I mean Harry's the Boy Who Lived. I think I deserve a title all for my own as well."

It was at that moment when Ginny was blasted onto the roof of a nearby house. Ron desperately fought every impulse of his to go rush to her side and kept his eyes on the sisters.

"Oh well big words those are," said Flame, "but big words mean nothing if you can't back them up!" With that, Icicle refroze the ground and Flame once again threw a burst of fire onto the ground, propelling herself into the air.

"OK, time for a little action," said Ron. He brandished his wand, ready to hex Icicle, only to dodge more of Flame's fireballs. "Oh great," he muttered as he dodged another fireball.

Flame laughed as se launched another fireball at Ron. "What's the matter boy? Too pathetic to back up those big words?"

Ron bit back the sarcastic remark he was about to make, deciding that he needed to concentrate on the task at hand. As he dodged all the fireballs, he thanked God that Icicle was now in no condition to use her ice blades, though he was still bleeding badly. That just meant that he had to take care of Flame first, before he could dispatch her sister.

'Now, what to do,' Ron thought as he dodged another fireball. What would Harry do in my situation?' Automatically, Ron's thought process went back to Harry's activities in the past: jumping on the back of a mountain troll to save Hermione's life, slaying a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, conjuring a patronus to drive away a group of dementors, summoning his Firebolt to out-fly a dragon during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament...

Triwizard...First task...summon...Firebolt...

"Of course! Why didn't I think about it earlier?" exclaimed Ron.

"Whatever it is you thought of, it is far too late! Now burn in Hell!" exclaimed Flame. With a high cackle, she launched her largest fireball at Ron.

Right before the fireball engulfed him, Ron yelled, "Accio!" at the top of his lungs.

"Ron!" screamed Hermione as the fireball completely engulfed him. When the flames had cleared, there was no trace of Ron.

Flame started laughing hysterically. "Oh my, the poor thing! Reduced to nothing but ashes! Not a single speck left!" Flame was clearly delighted in Ron's demise, as was Icicle and the two sisters soon started laughing hysterically.

But then, a voice from above her said, "I wouldn't laugh yet!"

"What?" exclaimed Flame as she looked upward.

There, several feet above Flame's head was Ron Weasley on a beat up, old broom.

"Right before your fireball hit me, I managed to summon this broomstick," said Ron. "It's probably from that nearby second hand broom store, I don't know and I don't care. All I needed was a broom that could take me above your head. Can't forget about the Third Fundamental Rule of Wizard Dueling: a dueler is allowed to use any available weapon or method of combat, so long as it isn't denied by the Second Rule. And since I don't think you can maneuver that well in the air..."

Ron suddenly leapt off the broom, pointed his wand toward the opposite direction of Flame, and yelled, "Reducto!" The resulting explosion rocketed Ron straight toward Flame.

"No!" screamed Flame. She however couldn't maneuver out of the way as Ron rammed his fist into Flame's face, all thoughts of 'don't strike a woman' forgotten.

"Sister!" screamed Icicle as both Flame and Ron came hurtling to the ground. It was only seconds later that Icicle realized that Ron had successively managed to calculate his angle of hurtling toward the ground as he and Flame came falling right down on Icicle herself. When the dust had settled, Flame and Icicle were out cold on the ground, while Ron had successfully managed to use the sisters' bodies to cushion his fall.

"And that," said Ron as he pulled himself to his feet, "is what you get for messing with the Big Time Super Wizard in training."

"Ron!" said Hermione, looking up from her own duel. "You're all right!"

"Oh ho, you bet I'm all right," said Ron, as he wobbled toward Hermione. "In fact, you could say," Ron started swaying dangerously, "I've never felt be..." Ron suddenly fell to the ground, very much unconscious.

"Ron!" yelled Hermione. She couldn't rush to his side however, as Cassandra was completely blocking her path.

"I personally would worry about your own health if I were you," said Cassandra. "You're a mudblood, and our Lord doesn't tolerate mudbloods, so I will have to dispatch of you personally."

Hermione glared at Cassandra. "Oh? And how do you plan on dispatching me?"

Cassandra studied her nails as if she were bored with the conversation. "I'd figured I'd use my special kiss on you. I only use my kiss on people who really deserve it. Mudbloods definitely fall into that catergory."

Hermione grimaced but kept her cool. She already knew from Ginny's duel that Cassandra could shrug off most standard curses. And she didn't have as much confidence in her physical abilities as Ginny did. She therefore would have to really use her head to defeat Cassandra Frost.

"Well, I'm really hoping to end this duel soon so, ta-ta." Cassandra rocketed straight toward Hermione, whipping her staff around.

Hermione was completely prepared. As Cassandra made her first swipe at her, Hermione managed to sidestep the blow. She blocked a second blow with a well cast shield charm.

"You're good," said Cassnadra.

"I've only just started," said Hermione. She muttered a quick charm that levitated several small rocks around her into the air. With a flick of her wand, the small rocks flew straight at Cassandra.

Cassandra started twirling her staff around, deflecting all the rocks away. One of the deflected rocks hit Hermione in the shoulder and she winced in pain. That wince was a mistake as it was all Cassandra needed to completely close in on Hermione, much to her horror.

"Good bye, mudblood," said Cassandra, rubbing her hand on Hermione's cheek. She started to lower her lips onto Hermione's as Hermione stood there, paralyzed in fear. However, their lips had only just brushed when Cassandra's eyes widened in shock. She hurriedly pushed Hermione away. Hermione landed on her rear end, a few feet away.

"What? Why did you push me away?" asked Hermione, clearly confused.

Cassandra didn't answer Hermione's question. Instead, she just gave Hermione a calculating look and asked, "Tell me what's your name?"

Taken by surprise, Hermione automatically answered, "Hermione Granger," without thinking.

"Well then Hermione," said Cassandra, "I suggest you surrender now. I will spare your life if you do so."

Now Hermione was really confused. "Why?"

"Because," said Cassandra looking sorrowful, "mudblood or not, I do not give my kiss to pregnant women."