Chapter Eight

The Duel of all Duels

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. All characters are creations of Joanne K. Rowling, © 2007, to whom I am deeply indebted. I make no money from any of this.I'm just taking her world and tweaking it a bit.

Note One: Um… hey, guys. Long-time no see. I'm not going to bore you with this huge author's note about why it took so long to get a chapter out and yada, yada, yada. I will say that I am truly sorry for the deal. Real life can be an uber bitch sometimes.

Note Two: This is unbeta'd.

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'Dear mum, daddy, and Vi,

I hope all of you are doing well! I'm sorry I haven't exactly been writing as much as I have last year, lessons are keeping me extremely busy! Plus, Professor McGonagall said that if I keep my grades up, I might be able to take some more lessons next year. She won't tell me how or why she's doing this for me, but I want to make the best of my time here at Hogwarts. I only have another five years, that's hardly enough time.

You're not going to like what I have to say next. I want to cry just thinking about it, but I won't be able to come home for Christmas this year. Things are getting really busy and Harry and Ron are wanting some help with their studies. Harry needs all the help he can get, he got behind in his studies with all the Quidditch practices.

I feel so horrible telling you this and I'm sorry in advance for how Viola will react. I promise I'll be back for Easter holidays.

I'm sorry and hope to hear from you soon.

I love you,

Hermione.'

Hermione sat back in her chair, nausea churning in her stomach as she stared down at her letter. She felt absolutely horrible having to lie to her parents like this. Yes, she'd had to lie to her family before, but never had she had to do something to this extent.

It had been a few weeks since Colin had been petrified and since then almost all the students had become terrified that they would be next. Muggle-born students were especially scared, seeing how Mrs. Noris was the cat of a Squib and Colin was muggle-born. Within days, protective amulets, spells, and charms were circling around Hogwarts.

It was no surprise that when Professor McGonagall went around with the signup sheet for the Christmas holidays that everyone jumped at the chance to leave. Hermione knew that she would have to stay over the holidays in order to get the Polyjuice Potion but once she heard that Malfoy had signed up to stay as well, she knew they had the perfect chance to use it and question him.

Shae sat down across from Hermione with a huff, making her jump. The two girls still held their homework sessions in the library and Shae eventually began to stop complaining about having to do work. It felt like a small victory to Hermione.

"I heard from Fay you're staying for Christmas," Shae said, pulling out her textbooks. "Why? Shouldn't you be going home?"

"Harry and Ron are staying," Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, but Harry and Ron are pure-blooded wizards," she replied. "You're muggle-born. Whatever this thing is that's attacking people is targeting muggle-borns."

Hermione rolled her eyes as Shae briefly touched the charm dangling around her neck. Shae had been one of the ones who bought a protective charm as soon as they started to surface. Even though Hermione pointed out that Shae was from a pure-blooded wizarding family, she still made sure to wear it every day. According to Shae, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"It'll be fine," Hermione reassured, folding up her letter. She'd ask Harry if she could borrow Hedwig later on.

Shae pursed her lips, letting Hermione know she was not impressed. Pulling out her quill, she quickly got to work on her Charms essay. Hermione dug out her own homework and began to work on it.

"Do you still have that mirror?" Shae asked suddenly.

Hermione looked up at Shae in confusion. "You mean the one Fay gave me?"

Shae nodded.

"I do," she said slowly. "Why?"

"Do you think I could borrow it?"

Hermione frowned. "I don't have it with me right now."

"That's fine," the redhead said quickly. "I was just wondering if I could maybe use it for a bit?"

"Why?" Hermione asked.

Shae fidgeted, "I just wanted to have a mirror on me in case I needed it. I lost my compact."

"I don't see why not," Hermione shrugged. "Just don't go losing my mirror."

"I won't." Shae shook her head, her curls bouncing wildly. "Thank you, Hermione!"

Hermione smiled and went back to her homework. She was beginning to see what Fay had been talking about earlier. Shae had been acting weirdly for the past month now, taking extra care in her appearance and being more… girly. Shae had always been girly but now it was to the extreme.

A rustling behind the bookcase made the two girls look up. Moments later, Ginny came dashing through the bookshelves and then out of the library.

"Is she okay?" Shae asked.

"I don't know," Hermione sighed. "She's been taking the attack on Colin pretty hard."

Ginny was absolutely distraught when news of Colin's petrifaction was announced. Hermione felt terrible for the poor girl. She had been having such a hard time adjusting to Hogwarts and then to find out one of her friends had been attacked was taking its toll. Ron had always described his little sister as full of spunk and highly annoying, but the girl Hermione was getting to know was anything but that.

"Ginny seems to be taking everything hard this year. Adjusting to Hogwarts, Mrs. Norris and Colin being attacked…Maybe Madam Pomfrey should take a look at her," Shae suggested. "She's so fidgety and pale all the time."

Hermione shrugged and went back to her work. An hour later, the two girls had finished all that needed to be done and were making their way down to the Great Hall for their dinner. Hermione saw Harry and Ron were already seated at the Gryffindor table and bid Shae goodbye as she went over to where Fay and Parvati were sitting.

"Potions tomorrow," Hermione began, pulling a plate of mashed potatoes towards her, "that's when we'll get the rest of the ingredients."

Harry and Ron glanced uneasily at each other but nodded, going back to their food.

The next afternoon found Hermione, Harry, and Ron seated in the dungeon for their double potions lesson. Hermione had decided that she would be the one to steal the ingredients. She knew what she was looking for and how much, plus she had a clean record with the professor. If she had been caught, it would maybe result in detention (although Hermione felt like crying every time she thought of the possibility of getting it). If Harry and Ron were caught, Snape wouldn't rest until he saw the two Gryffindors expelled.

Harry managed to get a hold of Fred's Filibuster fireworks and was waiting for Hermione's signal to set it off. Because of this, she noticed that Harry wasn't paying attention to what Snape was teaching, resulting in the professor to constantly visit his table to bully him.

Finally Snape waltzed over to shower praise on the Slytherins. Hermione caught Harry's eye, and with a deep breath, nodded her head. Harry reached into his robe and then flung the firework across the room. It landed in the Goyle's cauldron and seconds later, his Swelling Potion exploded. As chaos erupted in the class, Hermione sprinted out of the room.

The store-cupboard was situated across the corridor from classroom. After making sure no one was around, Hermione whispered, 'Alohamora,' and Snape's private store of ingredients was open to her. She quickly grabbed the ingredients she needed, locked the door and scurried back to the classroom.

There was a lineup at the front of the room with students holding various, swollen body parts and waiting for Snape to cure them. Poor Neville had gotten hit with the potion on his left ear and had to hold up his head with his hands from the weight of his swollen ear.

Once everyone had been cured, Hermione watched nervously as Snape stalked over to Goyle's cauldron and reached inside. There was a sudden hush as Snape pulled the mangled firework out of it and held it up.

"When I find out who did this," he began, his voice deadly quiet, "I will personally make sure whoever it was is expelled."

Hermione felt herself break out in a cold sweat as Snape glanced at the Gryffindor side of the room. Since it was mainly Slytherin who had been hit with the potion, Hermione knew that he was sure a Gryffindor had pulled the stunt. Luckily, the bell rang seconds later. Everyone scrambled their things together and left.

"He knew it was me," Harry said once they were out of eyesight. "I'm sure of it."

"How?" Hermione asked. She led the two boys up the stairs and towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "You didn't give any indication that it was you, you're fine."

Harry didn't look convinced as he entered the bathroom. They hurried into the cubicle as Myrtle's cries sounded from the pipes. Hermione, Harry, and Ron always ignored her when she cried and, in return, Myrtle ignored what they were doing.

After putting the ingredients into the cauldron, Hermione turned to Harry and Ron with a smile. "It'll be ready in two weeks," she announced. "By Christmas, we'll find out what Malfoy knows about Slytherin's monster."

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Hermione opened her trunk and reached inside, rolling her eyes at Shae hovering behind her. She pulled out the box she kept the hand mirror Fay had given her for her birthday and opened it, pulling out the intricate mirror and handing it to the redhead.

"Be careful with it," she warned, watching as Shae gingerly took it and wrapped it in a handkerchief. She knew Shae would take good care of it, but it was still one of the first presents she had gotten from a friend and was a little wary.

"I will," Shae smiled. She placed it into the pouch of her bag and then quickly ran to hug her friend. "Thank you so much, Hermione."

"You're welcome," she responded, hugging her friend back.

Shae put her bag away and then the two girls made their way down to the common room. Fay looked up from where she was sitting on the sofa and smiled, standing up. Together, the three girls made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. A small crowd had gathered around the wall near the doors to the Great Hall. Hermione saw Harry and Ron in the crowd and walked over to them.

"What's going on?" she asked, craning her neck to see what was going on. She saw a poster but was too short to read what it said.

"They're starting up a Duelling Club," Harry said, standing on tiptoe. "The first meeting is tonight."

"A Duelling Club?" Fay asked.

"It might be a good idea," Ron said. "You know, so we can be able to defend ourselves in case we need to."

Hermione nodded, although she didn't think teaching students how to duel would be able to protect them if the Slytherin monster attacked. Still, it was a useful skill to know.

Later that night, most of Gryffindor were making their way down to the Great Hall. Dean and Seamus were so excited at the idea of the Duelling Club they were practically skipping down the stairs. Hermione was more apprehensive at the idea of learning how to duel, but was intrigued at the same time.

"I wonder who will be teaching us," Fay wondered.

"I heard that Professor Flitwick was a master dueller when he was younger," Hermione piped up. "It could be him."

All the tables in the Great Hall had been pushed to the side except for one long one in the middle of the room. Hermione glanced around, seeing that practically the entire school had shown up for this event. She followed Harry and Ron as they pushed their way through the crowd to where the table was, hearing them groan once they caught site of Professor Lockhart standing upon it.

"Are you kidding me?" Harry moaned.

"Attention! Attention!" Professor Lockhart called, clapping his hands together. Everyone quieted down to watch the professor turn around and smile at everyone. "Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to teach all of you how to properly defend yourselves like I have done myself many, many times! I would like to introduce my partner, Professor Snape, who has so kindly agreed to help me with the demonstration."

Professor Lockhart brandished his arm as Professor Snape climbed up onto the table. "Maybe they'll off each other," Ron whispered.

"Ron," Hermione chastised, elbowing him. Ron scowled, glaring at Hermione before turning back to the demonstration.

"Now, never fear. I promise your Potions master will be in tip top shape when I'm done with him," Professor Lockhart continued, winking at the crowd. "What I shall be teaching you first is a simple disarming spell like so."

Professor Lockhart took a step forward and flicked his wrist at Snape, looking like was wielding a rapier rather than a wand. Nothing happened and Snape raised an eyebrow at the man opposite him. "Just like that, of course I would never attack a man when he wasn't at the ready. Shall we, Professor? Remember it is very important that you bow during a duel."

A hush came over the hall as the two men turned to each other. Snape didn't take his eyes off of Professor Lockhart as he dipped his chin slightly. Professor Lockhart held out his arms and gave more of a curtsey than a bow, before standing up. Both men held their wands out in front of them like swords.

"On my count," Professor Lockhart called out. "Three…two…one!"

Professor Lockhart did another elaborate swish of his wand, and again, nothing happened. Snape, on the other hand, took one step forward and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

Hermione closed her eyes as a bright flash of scarlet light blinded her. She heard Professor Lockhart give out a yell and opened her eyes just in time to see him go flying off the table. The Slytherins in the room began to cheer as Professor Lockhart quickly got up, looking more ruffled than Hermione had ever seen him.

"Very good, very good!" Professor Lockhart cried out. "Well done, Professor Snape. I, of course, could have countered that but where would the fun be in that?"

Dean let out a loud snort at that, but shrank back into Neville at the glare Lavender gave him.

"Now, why don't we pair you up to try?" Professor Lockhart suggested, snatching up his wand. "Professor Snape, if you would be so kind as to help me?"

The two professors went around the room, pairing up students as the room began to buzz with excitement. Hermione bit her lip, not sure if she wanted to try what she had seen. This practice could result in someone getting hurt if they weren't careful.

Snape had reached their group and gave them a cold, calculating smile. Hermione felt her stomach drop as he looked at them with hard eyes. "I think it's time to split up the dream team," he announced. "Weasley, you go with Finnigan."

Ron looked visibly relieved as he made his way towards Seamus. The Irish boy didn't look as happy, eyeing Ron's still malfunctioning wand warily.

"Potter," Snape continued, "you can partner with Malfoy." He signaled for Malfoy to join them and then turned to Hermione. "And Granger, you can partner with Miss Bulstrode."

Hermione felt herself pale as the girl in question made her way over to her. Millicent Bulstrode was a very large, very mean looking girl from Slytherin. Hermione knew that she hung around with Pansy Parkinson and that she wasn't very smart, but that was about it.

"Face your partners!" Professor Lockhart called once everyone had a partner. Hermione glanced back to see Fay and Shae (who had been partnered up) giving Hermione sympathetic looks.

Hermione turned to face Millicent, holding her chin up high. The look the Slytherin girl was giving her made her want to run and hide. Hermione would have to be faster than the other girl to win but hopefully that wouldn't be too hard to do.

"Bow!"

Hermione tilted her torso forward but kept her eyes on Millicent. She clutched her wand tightly, ready to strike.

"Wands at the ready!"

Blood was pounding in her ears as Hermione and Millicent locked glares. The cruel grin spreading on Millicent's face wasn't very comforting.

"When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent – only to disarm them – we don't want any accidents."

Hermione raised her wand at the ready as the girl opposite did the same.

"One … two … three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione cried. There was a flash and Millicent's wand went flying out of her reach. Hermione couldn't stop the victorious grin from spreading across her face as she turned to Professor Lockhart to see if he had been watching. However, something large crashed into Hermione as she turned. She yelped, both in pain in surprise, as Millicent wrapped her arm around Hermione's collarbone.

"Are you insane?" Hermione cried. She reached up and grabbed a handful of Millicent's hair, yanking it. Millicent let out a growl and the arm tightened around her. "Let me go!"

"Let her go!"

Hermione crumpled to the ground as she was released. Harry was in front of her in seconds, looking at her with concerned eyes. "Are you okay, Hermione?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Hermione breathed, glancing back at Millicent. She had recollected her wand and, with a withering look at Hermione, stormed out of the Great Hall. Harry grabbed hold of her elbows and helped her up as Professor Lockhart tried to calm down the chaos that had erupted.

"Maybe I should have taught you all to block spells," he chortled nervously. "Longbottom, Finch-Fletchley. Why don't you two come up here so we can demonstrate how to properly block unfriendly spells?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Snape drawled. "Longbottom can barely hold his wand, let alone cast a successful spell. If we let them have at it, Mr. Finch-Fletchley will be leaving in a matchbox."

The Gryffindors all glared at Snape as poor Neville turned beet red in humiliation. As Snape's eyes roamed the hall, Hermione had a feeling she knew where Snape was going with this. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy – let's see you two up here."

"Perfect! Perfect!" Professor Lockhart cried happily.

Harry looked like he wanted to murder Snape as he reluctantly jumped up onto the table. Snape took Malfoy and was whispering in his ear while Professor Lockhart instructed Harry.

"This is not going to end well," Fay murmured, watching.

"No it isn't," Ron agreed. "Harry will be off the table in a second if Lockhart's teaching him anything."

"Lockhart knows what he's doing," Shae protested with wide eyes.

"Sure he does," Dean scoffed.

Professor Lockhart patted Harry on the shoulder as he called out to have wands at the ready. Harry looked panicked as Malfoy turned to him, a grin spreading across his face.

"Remember to bow," he called. Harry and Malfoy barely bent their heads, their eyes locked. "On three. One … two… three!"

Malfoy was the first to move. "Serpensortia!"

Gasps and screams flittered throughout the hall as a large, black snake appeared on the table before Malfoy. Hermione felt as if her blood turned to ice at the sight of the snake, clutching Ron's arm until he winced with pain.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape drawled, clearly enjoying this. "I'll get rid of it…"

Suddenly, the snake jerked and jumped to the side. Screams came from the side as the snake hissed angrily, annoyed at the loud noises, and began to coil itself in prepration to attack. Justin Finch-Fletchley stood frozen on the spot, right in the way of the snake's path.

A low hissing noise made the snake stop. All commotion stopped instantly and Hermione turned to Harry. He had ran to the edge of the table and was hissing at the snake slowly.

Ron swore under his breath as Snape quickly flicked his wand, staring at Harry with an unreadable expression. The snake disappeared but everyone was frozen in place.

"We have to get him out of here," Ron whispered to Hermione.

Hermione nodded and they pushed past Neville and Seamus, reaching the table as nervous whispers began.

"Come on," Ron hissed. "We have to go, now."

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, looking confused. Hermione realized he had no idea what he just did.

"Never mind," she said, grabbing Harry's arm and yanking him off the table. "Let's go."

People scrambled out of their way as Hermione and Ron rushed Harry out of the Great Hall.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" Harry demanded once they reached the Gryffindor common room. "Why is everyone acting so strange? You heard me tell that snake to get away from Justin."

"That's not what you were saying," Hermione timidly pointed out. "You were hissing at it."

"You're a Parselmouth, Harry!" Ron exclaimed, looking both angry and nervous. "How come you never told me?"

"I'm a what?" he asked.

"A Parselmouth – it means you can talk to snakes."

"I know," Harry nodded. "But I'm sure loads of people can talk to them."

"No they can't," Ron disagreed, running a hand through his hair. "This is bad."

"What's the big deal, Ron?" Hermione asked. The stunned silence back in the Great Hall didn't come to a surprise to Hermione. She remembered before her first year that she had been stunned when she heard Harry hissing to the boa constrictor at the zoo. Hearing that sort of thing when you were unprepared was extremely unsettling. But Ron was acting far more rattled than she thought necessary. "Harry's talked to snakes before…"

Ron rounded on her, "You knew?"

"Y-yes," Hermione stammered, taken back by Ron's ferocity. "Harry and I were at the same zoo before we found out about Hogwarts. I caught him hissing to a snake and then he accidentally set it free."

For a brief moment, a look of hurt flashed across Ron's face. It was gone in a second and he slumped down onto the sofa. "Listen," he began seriously, "talking to snakes is not something that should be broadcasted. Being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for."

It all slid into place for Hermione and she gasped, figuring out what Ron was getting at. She remembered reading the chapter of Salazar Slytherin in Hogwarts, A History to Viola earlier that summer and discovering what a Parselmouth was.

"Now the whole school is going to think that you're his great-great-great-great-great-great grandson or something," Ron said darkly.

'Enemies of the Heir Beware,' Hermione repeated to herself, feeling dread settle in the pit of her stomach.

"But I'm not," Harry protested, looking panicked.

"I'm not sure you can prove that," Hermione said slowly. "Salazar Slytherin lived about a thousand years ago, Harry. For all we know, you could be."

Hermione deflected all questions that the girls asked her when she turned in that night. Shae was furious that Hermione wouldn't tell her what was going on with Harry and went to bed in a huff, pulling the curtains around her bed closed with a snap. Fay was more understanding, simply nodding when Hermione told her she wasn't saying anything.

"What happened after we left?" Hermione asked, grabbing her pyjamas.

"The meeting was pretty much over," Fay replied, taking her hair out of her pony tail. "Lockhart tried to get everyone to calm down and go back to their dormitories but no one listened. Everyone just began to talk."

"Great," Hermione groaned. "Just what we need, more gossip about Harry."

"What happened tonight was really big, Hermione," Fay pointed out. "Of course people are going to talk. Justin was milking it, too and Sally-Anne was right alongside him."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Of course they were. "Harry feels really bad," she sighed, heading towards the bathroom. "He just wanted to make sure Justin was all right."

"Too bad that's not what it sounded like."

Hermione nodded and couldn't help but shiver as she remembered the hiss that came from Harry. She quickly changed and exited the bathroom, placing her uniform on her bed. She grabbed the skirt and folded it neatly, placing it on top of her trunk. Grabbing her sweater, Hermione was about lay it on her skirt when a strand of hair on the shoulder caught her attention. It wasn't hers, she realized once she had picked it up. The strand was short and black.

Hermione grinned, realizing the hair must have been from Millicent from when she had tackled Hermione. She went into her trunk, pulling out an extra vial from her potions supplies and placed the hair in it, gingerly corking the bottle. Once everything was put away, she crawled into bed and snuggled into her pillows. At least something good had come from that meeting.

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End Note: We're getting into the real meat and potatoes of the story now! It shouldn't be too long until it's actually finished.

Update shall come when it's ready. Again, not jinxing myself to say when it should be up because we all know how THAT goes.

I do want to say thanks for everyone who has stuck around. It means a lot.

Cheers!

Kelci