David Korhol and the Rise of Chaos

The first day of classes had started out fairly uneventful but that hadn't lasted for long. The Ravenclaws had Arithmancy first thing in the morning on Tuesday; David always found it to be a terrible way to start the new year. Not only had their professor assigned a boatload of homework that David didn't have a clue about, but Ardius Ladver had managed to set David's stool on fire. Next, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their new teacher, Arabella Figg was an old woman who David thought smelled distinctly of cabbage. At lunch, David and Samir went to Ravenclaw Tower and played a quick game of chess and then went down to McGonagall's room for double Transfiguration. They slid into their seats just as their teacher turned around from writing on the blackboard. David quickly glanced around the room, nervously and noticed that Ardius wasn't in the classroom.

"Ardius isn't here; maybe he's taking it with the Slytherins this year. That would be great; I always wondered why he took classes with us."

"Class, we are about to do very complex and dangerous magic that should only be used in dire circumstances," started the professor, not as shrill as usual, but extremely sober, "for today's lesson, we will be studying with both Defense Against the Dark Arts class and Transfiguration class. Professor Figg's class walked into the room, it was the Hufflepuff 6^th years. Samir leaned over on his chair and said to David, "I wonder what they're gonna teach us," he said in his normal light Indian accent.

"Don't know. But, I notice some of the Quidditch players are coming in, their chasers are some of the best," David said noticing one of the girl Hufflepuff chasers take a seat in a table 2 desks over. He noticed her thin-framed, blondish-red hair with blond and brown streaks, deep blue eyes and pierced ears, he recognized her from some Quidditch games that he had played against Hufflepuff. In a very short amount of time, David's mind had wondered to the Quidditch season. David thought of the prospect of competing against the other teams of the world and smirked. David, while a bookworm and a Ravenclaw through and through, loved competition. It contrasted so deeply from the complexity that existed in life. It was win or lose, no gray, no in-between, it made things so much simpler. David soon realized he was staring at the girl and was brought back to reality and David quickly pulled out his quill and parchment and began writing everything Professor McGonagall was saying.

"Today you will be learning the lesson of transfiguring a muggle pen into a blade. This is advanced magic and extremely dangerous; you will also be receiving basic swordsman skills. We have brought a special instructor to teach you the necessary swordsmanship and the Transfiguration will be taught by me, of course. Mrs. Figg has thought it important that you learn the necessary skills to defend yourselves not only with magic but by brute force. This is a proud and noble tradition dating back before Merlin and if you ever misuse this spell, you will not only be out of this school, but you may might well be prosecuted. Now, I would like to introduce our swordsmanship instructor, Ms. Vulpes. She works for the Federal Bureau of Magic, the American Ministry of Magic. She has requested that we not divulge what division," she finished, motioning for the woman to enter. A young woman, maybe 22, walked in wearing a long navy blue robe that draped to the floor. She had dark brown hair which was in a pony tail and she wore a very jovial smile that gave the impression that she was very nice indeed.

"Howdy all," said the woman, beaming around the class smiling widely. The class greeted her and she walked to the head of the class and leaned against Professor McGonagall's desk, waiting her to finish speaking. Professor McGonagall started in again. "Right, class, Hufflepuffs on this side of the room and Ravenclaws on the other. Myself and Professor Figg will each instruct on how to properly perform the charm," she pulled out her wand with her right hand and grabbed a pen from the desk.

"Class, when you perform the spell, some sort of blade will appear in place of the pen. Now, there are many types of blades and your wand will select for you what it thinks would be the best weapon for you to use. After all, the wand is one of your best partners in the world; it knows you better than often you know yourself. Right, grab a pen from Ms. Vulpes and return to your groups. David and Samir exchanged excited grins and stopped writing notes and dashed up to the front of the office to where Ms. Vulpes was distributing pens. As a Hufflepuff boy reached her he asked, "So, what part of the Federal Bureau of Magic do you work for?"

She smiled back at him, "But, if I told you, you would tell the whole class and if I wanted the whole class to know, I would've had Minerva tell to you all earlier." She handed the boy a pen and beaconed him back to the Hufflepuff side of the room. David and Samir quietly took their pens and went back to their seats. Professor McGonagall told everyone to stand up and get out of their chairs as she cleared the room of the chairs and tables. Excitement was growing in David; he wondered what kind of blade he would get. He said a quick word to his wand.

"I know we're pretty new partners, but, do me a favor and make it something cool," David said to his wand just before McGonagall motioned them to raise their wands and hold out their pens.

"Now be careful, some of your weapons may be quite heavy, so make sure to get a firm grip on the pen before it transforms, where your hand is, that will be the location of the handle. Make sure to keep eye contact while it's transforming. You all will probably get a weapon the first time, it will be the right kind of weapon, but, it will take a fair while and the blade will not be a good quality. Right, the words are: Furiosa Brutus," said Professor McGonagall, in a flash of bronze light, the whole class saw the pen transform into a long, thin fencing sword. She had obviously done this a few number of times, the sword was elaborately crafted, fairly masterful and it had barely taken her any time.

David looked down at the pen and licked his lips, staring intently at it.

"Furiosa Brutus!" said David, holding his pen tight, he saw a bronze light start emanating from his pen and felt his wand start to wave a little, it was hard magic. David focused hard, it was extremely difficult to keep eye contact when the light was getting brighter and brighter and his wand kept vibrating. It had been transforming for nearly a minute when David suddenly felt a huge new weight in his hands. The light stopped coming from the former pen and David felt the full weight, he fell face forward onto the floor and saw that many other students had done the same.

"Whoa!" said David, looking at the weapon he had made as he got to his feet. It was a long, wide, two-handed sword with a gleaming metal edge. David, at this point realized that he had no idea how to properly wield the weapon. David had been one of the first to complete the charm; however, Samir had finished it first, though. Samir held in his hands a long scythe with a polished wooden shaft and a curved blade. For a first time, Samir had made a fairly impressive weapon. Within a few minutes, nearly everyone had completed the spell. There was a wide variety of weaponry around the room, many people had bewildered looks on their faces, hardly recognizing their weapons, let alone how to properly use them. David looked around, seeing who had gotten what; Cho had gotten a long pike, Fred Hylden had gotten a broadsword and Jill held in her hands a katana and Cal Mortana had gotten an enormous axe that he was still struggling to keep off the ground. David noticed that most of the Hufflepuffs had one-handed weapons. He figured they would eventually have two one-handed weapons.

"Okay, class. Pair off with someone from the opposite house," said Annie; rising from a chair by McGonagall's office, "we'll cycle through everyone so you can get some experience against all kinds of weapons. First, this is what I'll do. I'm going to enchant your blades so they won't cut human flesh," she said, pulling out her wand. She went around to each person and did a small enchantment and then came back to the front of the class. As she did, she paired off people from the houses and she paired David and the Hufflepuff girl he had noticed at the beginning of the class. The girl had a medium-sized Machete and a look of slight confusion, David obviously wasn't alone in not having a clue how to use these weapons.

"Right, you won't get cut, but you will feel a blow whenever some hits you, and your robes will have a gash on them to show where you have been cut. Right, blades up," finished Annie.

"We're going to practice parrying and attacking," said Annie pulling out a medium-length sword from behind her. It was masterfully crafted, it gleamed, even in the fairly dimly candlelight. David saw an inscription on the sword that David recognized as Gaelic. This had obviously been forged, it was too elaborate to have been of magically made. Though, David wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it hadn't been given a few enchantments.

"Right, who can tell me what this is?" said Annie, beaming to the class.

"A knife!" yelled one of the Hufflepuffs. She gritted her teeth and went on, ignoring the comment. David raised his hand. She pointed at David.

"A galidus, a weapon that originated from the ancient Celtic tribes of Scotland, Ireland and Northern France," said David, grinning; this was one of the chances he had to show off. He had picked up a lot of information about weapons and all that stuff at the British museum over the summer.

"Very...ummm...informative," said Annie, looking a bit surprised, "he is correct, by the way, a galidus, it's much like a standard sword except it is a bit shorter and a little bit wider. There is a wide variety if weapons in the world and each of you hold a weapon that will best suit you. Every weapon has strengths and weaknesses, such as weight, power, range and the like. You have to learn how to best your weapon if you want to be able to properly defend yourself in a variety of situations. While magic will serve you very well against other wizards and practical uses, there are many situations in which a blade will serve you better than any hex or curse. Right, first we are going to practice parries and thrusts. So, start practicing and I'll come around and teach each of you some basic techniques.

For about 15 minutes, David and the Hufflepuff Girl parried and attacked, with growing ease and speed. They practiced parrying, thrusting and Annie came around to each person and gave a quick about their weapon, eventually she arrived between the Hufflepuff girl and David.

"Right, a two-handed sword and a machete," she said walking towards the girl with a machete, "okay, girly, this weapon is fairly light, but powerful. What the best way to handle this one is dodge the enemy's attacks and get close and slash them. This weapon is light enough for you to make several slashes in a small amount of time, great for both dueling and group fighting." She then took the girl's sword and did a quick demonstration of ducking low and weaving left and right. She told the girl to practice for a few minutes. She walked up to David, "Howdy fella."

David smiled and said, "Hello, mate."

"Now this weapon is fairly rare because it's so heavy that blocking is harder, but, when used at full force, it will break most opponents' parries. Not many can properly wield it because they can't be versatile enough with the attacks. You won't be able to either at first; you'll have two moves until you can build up a bit more strength, a vertical strike and a horizontal strike. You have to wait for the right moment to strike, because if they dodge it, you're in big trouble because you're an open target.

They practiced their new moves until Annie announced that the partners would be dueling. She told everyone to stand ready. There were exchanged looks of nervous. Annie smirked.

David looked at the Hufflepuff girl; she raised her machete so it went directly over her face. "What's your name?" David said raising the extremely heavy sword onto his shoulder.

She smiled and said, "Tina, nice to meet you."

"David," he said, nodding.

"Ready all," said Annie, "FIGHT!"

David ran forward and Tina charged, ducking low and weaving left and right. With a heavy swing, David brought his sword down, crashing it into the ground and cracking the stone floor just a small bit. With a quick change in direction, she came right next to David and raised her machete and slashed into David's shoulder. David felt the huge force of the blow and was thrown to the ground.

"Shit, that hurt," said David, getting to his feet. David raised his huge sword and held it up, ready to strike. Tina crouched down and looked up at David, moving cat-like, left and right; she was too fast for a downward strike. So, David swung his blade horizontally and hit Tina against her side and Tina flew from her crouched position and slid across the stone floor and came to a halt a few feet from the wall.

"Owww...that really hurt," said Tina. David threw down his sword and let it fall with a clatter. David suddenly felt a rush of guilt for hitting a girl; he threw down his sword and began to walk over to her. All of a sudden, David felt an extreme amount of pain in his right foot; David looked down and saw that his sword had fallen on his foot. He quickly grabbed his foot and yelped in pain. A sharp whistle blew and they were ordered to switch partners. David looked up to Tina, who was smiling at David, David now felt a fresh rush of embarrassment. David winced, rubbing his foot, but still managed to wave her goodbye to Tina as he hopped to the next partner, a beefy boy with a large battle axe.

The double class went on for about another hour at which point everyone hobbled out of the classroom, awfully sore, with taggered robes but, still everyone had a smile on their face. As the class left, Professor McGonagall reminded all of them that there if the spell was ever used outside the classroom, they would be out of Hogwarts without a second thought. She also told the class that every Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson on Tuesday would be on swordsmanship, taught by Annie Vulpes. She collected all the arms and turning them back into pens. Some of the people walking out were holding up their robes with their hands, depending on where they had been hit. David and Samir waited outside of the room for Cho, who had stayed to talk with one of the boys and the professors. She strolled out looking frustrated.

"Why so late?" said David, pushing off the wall and walking alongside her.

"That creep!" she said, sounding utterly pist.

"Who?" asked Samir, walking alongside them.

"Ian Balor, he nearly cut my robes off," said Cho, looking back. David smirked, Samir looked pist as well. Samir turned around and raised his fists. Samir was about to rush back and beat Ian senseless. David ducked in front of him and held him back.

"Calm down, man," said David throwing him backwards, not with too much force.

"Bastard," said Samir, calming down. Samir had a tendency to get extremely pist whenever someone made advances towards Cho, he viewed himself as her guardian of sorts. He was a busy man. Samir, in his first and second year, fancied Cho immensely. It was very hard on Samir, but he eventually just became a very good friend towards her and beat most guys senseless if they tried to do the slightest thing sexually. Samir, David suspected, still fancied her but would never have the balls to try to ask her out. David assumed that protecting Cho with such zeal was his way of showing his affection toward her.

They went on chatting about the fantastic lesson they had just enjoyed when they walked into Great Hall and saw many fully-grown wizards around, more than just the normal professors.

"So I raise my scythe and this guy is charging and then I..." Samir started, but never finished that sentence.

"What is going on?" asked Cho.

"Cho! David! Samir!" said Jill, running from the far end of the Ravenclaw table.

"What is it Jill?" asked David.

"All these Ministry Wizards are here and they said there was an attack by Death Eaters in Hogsmeade," said Jill, concerned.

"Gosh, what was target?" asked Cho.

"I heard it was Zonko's Joke Shop."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed two voices from across the hall. It was Fred and George Weasley, the two Gryffindor beaters; they were quickly becoming legends of the school as the most infamous pranksters ever. A boy who was obviously their little brother and Harry Potter were helping them to seats at the Gryffindor table; it looked like they were both in shock. David thought they were taking the news surprisingly well, considering most of their prank equipment came from there.

"Poor bastards," David said in mock sobriety. David looked around the hall and was surprised as he recognized a familiar face, Mr. Bernard Arbury. David jogged up to Mr. Arbury as he was giving orders to one of the wizards; it looked as if Mr. Arbury was in charge.

"Mr. Arbury, what are you doing here?" asked David, greeting him with a smile. Mr. Arbury looked very distressed and took out a napkin from his breast pocket and wiped sweat from his pudgy brow.

"Nasty business, David. I've been put in charge of a new Hogsmeade security force. Attacking Hogsmeade is a symbol of Ministry incompetence and we can't be having that," said the overweight wizard, looking very tired.

"So, these wizards are staying here, then?"

"Mostly in Hogsmeade, but, one or two will be here at Hogwarts, for various reasons. Now, it's been very nice seeing you, David, but, if you would be so kind..."

David took the hint; he went to go eat dinner with his friends. He grabbed a roll and a leg of chicken and listened to Cho, Jill and Samir converse.

"Scary, eh? I mean the Death Eaters can hit Hogsmeade, who knows where else they could strike," said Samir, thoughtfully.

After a few weeks, things were getting easier to keep us with at Hogwarts. All the classes were becoming more and more routine, Muggle Studies was still David's favorite class, but the sword-fighting lessons were getting up there. Luckily the Quidditch season was coming up; David was heavily looking forward to it. Arithmancy was, as always, a nightmare, David was ready to swear that Professor Vector was making stuff up to confuse David.

One Saturday morning, the day Quidditch practice was to start, David woke up early one day and strolled down to the common room where he saw Cho Chang was sitting alone by the fireplace. David slid into a seat next to her and tapped her gently on the shoulder.

"Hey, Cho. Up early? First day of Quidditch, tryouts and all," David said, pulling up his chess set that he kept under a nearby chair. She looked back at him with tear-filled eyes. David dropped his all the pieces in his hand and the pieces fell to the floor, after which David could hear some of the pawns yelling angrily.

"What's wrong?" asked David, looking concerned.

"Oh," she said, wiping her eyes, "I was just thinking."

"'Bout Cedric?"

"Kind of..." she said looking into the fire. David looked at her, concerned; the thought had occurred to David that she had taken his death rather lightly. David rubbed her back, trying to make her feel better. A tear ran down her face.

"It's not your fault. You shouldn't feel bad."

"But, that's not the problem anymore. I don't feel bad anymore. But, I think that I'm afraid to move on from him, dishonor his memory and all."

"Why, is there someone else for the famous Cho Chang?" asked David, suddenly playful.

"David, please. I'm being serious," said Cho, reprovingly. David became serious again.

"Okay, Cho," said David, bringing his chair so that he looked directly into Cho's deep eyes. She returned the gaze; David said to her seriously, "You weren't married to the boy. It was, indeed a tragedy, but you must move on. He was a hero of his house and of Hogwarts and all of us were sorry to see him go, even Samir. There isn't a reason in the world, or a person in the world who can tell you that you can't move on to someone else, that be your wish."

The tears in Cho's eyes began to dry and a smile began to shine on her face.

"You have nice eyes, David," said Cho, smiling wider. David was stunned by the statement for a moment and then smiled in return.

"Must say the same for you," said David growing playful again, "So, who is it, Cho?"

"I don't wanna tell you, it's embarrassing," said Cho.

"Oh, c'mon, I won't tell a soul."

"Okay," said Cho, leaning in, "I'll give you a hint. He's not in this house and he plays Quidditch."

"You know that was two hints."

"Shut up, David," said Cho, smiling.

"Right, let me guess. Three guesses," said David, relaxing in his chair.

"George Weasley?" guessed David, cracking his knuckles.

"He's cute and kind of funny, but no."

"Draco Malfoy?" David guessed, but he knew he would be wrong.

"That racist bastard of a spoiled brat, hell no!!!" she said, seeming outraged at the very concept.

"Just kidding! Alright, last guess," said David, thinking hard about his next and final guess. Then it hit him.

"Harry Potter!" said David, a bit louder than he meant to.

"Calm down, David," said Cho, trying to silence him.

"Yes! I'm right! I'm right! NANANANA! YOU LIKE HARRY POTTER!" said David, acting rather childish.

"David! Please!" exclaimed Cho, looking slightly offended and highly embarrassed, a rose tint growing in her cheeks. David decided to calm down and be serious.

"Wait...if you don't mind me asking...why him? The fame?"

"No, nothing shallow like that. I don't know, he asked my to the Yule Ball last year and I sorta liked him before that, but Cedric happened and all that, so, I just wasn't sure."

"But, you didn't answer my question."

"He is just always so brave. I mean, for Christ's sake, he's fought the Dark Lord 3 times. He just always seemed so nice to me, but I think the real thing is that he is the only person at this school who feels worse about Cedric's death than I do," Cho said, starting to blush a bit.

"Hold up, Cho," said David, "Somebody is coming down the staircase."

It was Samir; he was holding his broom and wearing a smile. "Ready for the tryouts? Captain elections and all that business."