Harry Potter and the War of Souls

Chapter 13

Duelers and Death Eaters

Hermione arrived at breakfast late the next morning, but plopped down next to Ron and Harry with a wide smile on her face.

"What are you so cheery about?" Ron asked.

"I got my dueling target."

"Already?"

"Couldn't wait."

"Who was it?"

Hermione giggled and pointed towards the Slytherin table where Millicent Bulstrode was trying to hide her face. At the sound of Hermione's laughter, however, she looked up, revealing a clear set of cat whiskers above her lip. Her nose had formed into a small triangle as well, which Harry thought, if anything, only made her general appearance somewhat improved.

"You turned her into a cat?" Ron asked, clearly amused.

"Been waiting to do it since my second year," Hermione said, helping herself to a large plate of eggs. "I got her as she was in a fight with a friend and she hadn't even found her wand before I was gone. Of course, the jinx was worse at first, but I assume Madam Pomfrey was able to heal most of the effects." She took her first bite and giggled again. "Unfortunately, the whiskers won't go away for another week."

"She can trim them down at least," Harry said. "Then they won't be quite so noticeable."

"I hope she does," Hermione said. "If they're cut away they grow back within an hour even longer and darker."

"This is an unusual mean streak coming from you," Ron said, giving Hermione a squeeze around her waist. "Fred and George would be very impressed."

"And what about you?"

"Me? I'm just glad you didn't get my name," Ron said.

"Or mine," Harry agreed. He then looked up and down the Slytherin table, then at his own. Who did get his name, though?

"Whoever has me isn't going to get far," Ron said. "I plan to keep my wand ready all the time."

"That's Bill's point," Hermione said, finally returning to her serious self. "He wants us to learn to be ready for real attacks, although at least they've quieted down it seems. I haven't heard of anything since school began."

The month continued in a similarly quiet way. Harry would have liked to return to Snape's office for gillyweed so they could get into the lake, but he had decided to obey Snape's request that he not return to his office before Halloween. He would get the gillyweed then. Besides, it would take at least that long to figure out how to battle the Inferi in the lake.

Classes continued in their usual fashion. One by one, the various duelers met their targets. Blaise Zabini got Dean Thomas while he was "resting his eyes" in the library. Parvati Patil tried to get Neville while Neville was at supper one night, but Neville put up a remarkably quick shield spell that backfired on Parvati and made her face break out in acne. In an obvious move to take revenge for Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass tried to get Hermione while she was kissing Ron in the courtyard, but Hermione heard her approaching from behind and flipped around, disarming Daphne and knocking her backwards into a hedge that gave her one particularly long scratch down one arm.

"I was sorry about that," Hermione said. "But I didn't mean to do it."

"Careful, Hermione," Ron teased. "You don't want to get the Slytherin house against us, do you?"

Hermione laughed and kissed Ron on the cheek. "No, we can't have that. Now about you and Harry. I notice nobody's got either of you yet?"

Harry shrugged. "Tomorrow we go to Hogsmeade. I wouldn't be surprised if it happens then."

"I'm not worried," Ron said. "All the best duelers are out anyway."

Later that night, Harry was pretending to do some reading in the common room when he really had his eye on Ginny and Seamus who were cuddling in the corner. But he was interrupted by Ron and Hermione who were loudly arguing as they entered the portrait hole. Harry sat up but immediately decided he was not about to get between them.

"I was not flirting with her," Ron was saying. "Honest, Hermione."

"I saw you two. I saw it!"

"You only saw the first part. It was for the duel. Harry, tell her."

"Tell her what?" Harry asked.

"Tell her I don't have feelings for Lavender Brown anymore." Ron turned back to Hermione. "I got her name for the duel and I thought a good way to get her was if I pretended to be interested in her again, you know, to get her guard down."

Hermione paused as if she was considering an answer, then she turned on her heel and ran upstairs. Ron slumped in a chair beside Harry.

"It was just a strategy," he sighed.

"So did you get Lavender?" Harry asked.

His question was answered as the portrait door opened again and Lavender Brown walked in. Her hair was standing entirely on end, as if she were a permanently frightened cartoon.

Harry held back a laugh, and it was wise that he did because Lavender surveyed the room, daring anyone to tease her.

In the end, it was only Ginny who caught her eye. "I'm sorry," Ginny said with a snort of a laugh. She stood and walked over to Lavender. "Look, Ron did it to me too, once. Go wash your hair. It'll come right out."

Lavender tossed a nasty glare at Ron as she walked up to the girl's dorms and he shrunk in his seat.

"Two females have it out for you," Harry mumbled. "I'd rather have Voldemort against me than two girls."

"I'm not worried," Ron said. "I'll do something nice for Hermione tomorrow in Hogsmeade."

But Harry thought he did look worried as they left for Hogsmeade the following morning. For his part, he wasn't really nervous for what would happen to himself when he was attacked by whoever had his name, but he did feel a bit anxious that his reaction would be over the top and he might actually cause some harm. He briefly considered letting the person just win the duel and have their fun but that idea soon passed. He knew he would never purposefully lose a duel.

Ron pulled Harry aside at one point and asked him to quietly disappear so he could have some making up time with Hermione. "Sure," Harry said, and wandered off to find Neville and the others.

Instead, he found Ginny and Seamus outside Honeydukes. She was holding a large sucker and when she took a lick, Harry heard Seamus say, "There, you've got some on your face."

"Here?" Ginny asked.

"No, I'll get it for you," Seamus said, then smiled as he moved closer to her. "Let me kiss it off."

He moved in to Ginny's face, and before he thought better of it, Harry pulled out his wand and shouted out a Jelly-Legs Jinx. Seamus immediately wobbled backwards then looked around for who had cast the spell on him.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled. "What are you doing?"

Harry took a step back and said, "It was a dueling assignment for DADA class."

"Well you certainly timed that, didn't you? What were you doing? Following me around until you got your chance?"

"Harry!" Seamus yelled good-naturedly. "A little help please."

Ginny beat him to the mark and fired off an anti-jinx. Seamus took a moment to steady himself, then ran over to them. "I knew whoever's name you got wouldn't have a chance," he said. "Thanks for not going harder on me."

"You're welcome," Harry said awkwardly.

"Seeing as what I was about to do, you probably could've done worse," Seamus said. "But Ginny told me you wouldn't mind if we're together now. Right?"

"There's nothing between Harry and I anymore," Ginny said, her voice still pinched with anger. "Right, Harry?"

He refused to look at either of them. "No. Of course not."

Seamus put his arm around Ginny and began to lead her away. "Later, then."

Harry slumped against a wall. He only had one female angry at him right now and he felt terrible. He hoped Ron was having better luck with Hermione today.

He considered walking over to The Three Broomsticks, but decided against it. He thought he'd look even more pathetic sitting alone at the table than he did now. He began ticking off the names of his DADA class. As far as he was aware, everyone had gotten their targets now, and everyone had been attacked. Everyone but him. Who had yet to go?

He ran down the names in the order of where they sat in class. All of the Gryffindors had found their marks. He went through the Slytherins and began checking them off as well. Finally, he came to one name who had not yet gotten his target: Theodore Nott.

Theodore Nott's father was one of Voldemort's death eaters, but unlike Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy, he returned for his final year at Hogwarts. Harry remembered Nott's father from the Department of Mysteries battle. Hermione had Stupefied him early on.

So it was that one hour later, as Harry stood looking up at the Shrieking Shack, that he was not at all surprised to see Theodore Nott creeping towards him. Harry rounded with his wand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Nott's wand flew from his hands, but he yelled, "No, Harry. It's not the duel. I'm just the diversion. Run!"

On instinct, Harry swung around and saw a handful of death eaters approaching him from the other side. He began firing spells at them and ducking at spells shot at him as he ran through the grasses along the back of the Hogsmeade buildings. A curse caught him on his shoulder and flung him to the ground. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he rolled and aimed a spell at the death eaters who were still moving toward him. He got one who froze in place and fell to the ground, but there were five now who surrounded him.

He got up to run again, but a Death Eater clutched at his leg. He reared his leg back and kicked forward as hard as he could. "Ow," the person sneered and as he backed up, his hood came off and Harry saw a recognizable blond head.

The sight of Draco Malfoy gave Harry new energy. He leapt to his feet, dodging a spell blast that landed where he had lain and tackled Malfoy across the waist, knocking him to the ground. "I'll mean it this time, Malfoy," Harry said and yelled, "Sectumsempra!"

Malfoy gasped and fell back as blood began spurting from his robes.

"No," a female's voice cried who rushed over to Draco and apparated away with him. There were three death eaters who now remained. Harry put up a shield charm in time to deflect another curse, but fell to the ground again when he was hit from behind with something that felt like he had been clubbed in the back. Harry coughed and fell forward, completely out of breath. He tried to crawl forward to retrieve his wand which had fallen with him, but before he could, a foot stepped on his hand and three wands went into his face.

"Crucio," a voice Harry recognized as Bellatrix's said, and Harry immediately felt his body convulse with pain. He heard himself screaming and felt nothing but a wish to die and end the pain. He lost track of time for how long she held him under that spell. Was it a minute? An hour?

Finally, she released him then knelt down beside him. "Do you hate my master, Harry? Do you hate the Dark Lord?"

Harry couldn't breathe, much less talk, but he nodded his head and finally whispered, "I'll kill Him someday."

"Hate is good, Harry. I like that. The Dark Lord wishes for you to join Him, to stand at His side and rule the Wizarding World. For that, you must be able to hate."

"Never," Harry whispered.
"Ah, we are all sorry to hear that. Perhaps I should kill you, then. An early Christmas present to my master."

She raised her wand again, but this time was hit from behind by a spell blast which turned her upside down in mid-air.

"Liberacorpus," another death eater yelled and Bellatrix fell to the ground, freed from the curse. A series of blasts were exchanged before the death eaters all disappeared. Hermione was the first to reach Harry.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Harry sat himself up on his elbows, then fell back to the ground again. "I'm fine. How did you know?"

"I heard you screaming," Ginny said, coming to his side. "Seamus helped round up the younger students and get them to safety. The rest of us-" she motioned to the handful of students around her, who included mostly former DA members. "-We came for you."

Harry nodded. "Is anyone hurt?"

"I twisted my ankle running over here," Luna said, standing at the edge of the group. "But I already healed it so everything's fine."

"Other than you, no one is really hurt," Hermione said with a sideways glance at Luna. "The death eaters were so focused on you, they didn't notice us coming until it was too late. You look in pretty bad shape though. Madam Pomfrey is going to have a fit."

"Then let's get back to Hogwarts." Ron helped him to stand and with a very slow and long walk, they finally returned to Hogwarts. There, Madam Pomfrey was able to heal his wounds but insisted he remain through the night. In fact, she kept him another two days, and only released him because Harry said he refused to stay a moment longer. After all, it was Halloween night and he had a meeting with Snape in his office.