Dinner was calm, as there were no first-year Slytherins present except Daphne Greengrass, making Alexandra conclude that with all the teachers present in the Great Hall, no one had yet been warned of the "incident" between the two enemy Houses. It would not last, but for the moment the Gryffindors were all grinning like they had won a wonderful prize, and were congratulated by the older students. Alexandra saw some teachers at the High table frowning, including Professor Snape. By the end of the day, Gryffindor was going to lose the last points it had in its hourglass, that much was certain.
Half an hour later, she entered the Duelling room of Hogwarts. It was a dusty and not pretty place, with a lot of debris everywhere. Pieces of wood and bits of glass littered the ground. Most of the windows were blackened with a sort of slime. The large platform which should have been used for Duelling was leaning against a wall broken into three pieces and they were remnants of chairs and tables everywhere.
"Not a pretty sight, is it?" asked Professor Flitwick, who was making disappear most of the debris with simple flicks of his wand.
"No, no it's not, Professor," answered Alexandra. "What happened here?"
Flitwick sighed, any good humour completely absent. "The war happened. Some of the most brilliant students of the Duelling Club were Gryffindors and Slytherins, and what happened in this room was one of the first warnings we had of the last conflict coming. Two students expelled from Hogwarts with their wands broken. Nineteen students had to be admitted in the Hospital Wing, five had to be transferred to the Hospital of Saint Mungo in urgency. The Duelling Club was closed in 1976, and my efforts since then to reopen it have always been met with failure. But enough of this."
Flitwick slashed his wand, and all the pieces of wood remaining vanished, the clouds of dust were sent outside, and the slime was thrown out of the windows and then disappeared into nothingness.
"Now, Miss Potter. Is there something you want to know before we begin?"
"Yes, Professor. You see I was passing a corridor when..." she explained the ambush she had just been the witness of before dinner. She did not miss the interested look on her teacher's face. "What I just don't understand is why Neville Longbottom and Leo Black knew so many spells when Draco and the other Slytherins knew only to send sparks. I mean, I knew only two spells before mounting the Hogwarts Express, and I learnt them between the moment I got my wand and September 1st!"
Her professor nodded and then explained."While there has been no attempt on his life since the fall of the Dark Lord, it has always been acknowledged the Boy-Who-Lived's life was going to be under threat. Neville's grandmother, Dowager Augusta Longbottom, requested an exemption to train her grandson with several tutors since he was nine years old."
Now that explained everything, Alexandra thought. It was not exactly that impressive a feat to know so much magic when you were two years ahead in experience of your year-mates.
"As for Mr. Black, I can only speculate, but I would not be surprised if his father, Lord Sirius Black had requested the same for his son, although I was not aware of it. Or perhaps young Mr. Black was trained by his father, as Lord Black was and is still quite talented at the type of spells you described. So, for that matter, was your father."
At Alexandra's grimace of the mention of James Potter, Professor Flitwick sighed but did not make more comments.
"As for the exchange of spells, I will keep your knowledge of such events secret. The Gryffindors' and the Slytherins' versions of the event will be all over the castle by tomorrow morning, anyway. In the future, if you see a similar fight, do not intervene unless you believe the life of a student is in danger. Battles where the Lions and Snakes are involved tend to end badly for those who are caught in-between."
"Now, I will be teaching you Duelling," Flitwick stated. "Let's be clear and serious, Miss Potter. I do not teach you these lessons for you to go and curse someone freely." The tone employed by her Head of House was clear and bore none of the humour and joy he spoke with in class. "This class exists in order for you to stay alive and defend yourself when you come under attack with the correct amount of force."
He explained when she raised an eyebrow. "So I don't need to see someone's lawyer to try you with a sentence implicating jail time in Azkaban."
His voice turned more cheerful after that tirade.
"There are four forms of Duelling. The first is friendly duelling. Wizards do it all the time to train, to practise new spells, to keep themselves in good condition. This type of duel stops well before first blood, and is deemed an excellent manner for young wizard and witches to get in touch with their repertoire of spells and know the limit of their capacities."
"Second are the duels of competition. These are a lot more brutal, although it is considered bad form to permanently maim or kill your opponent. This is a bloody sport, but the judges always stop the match before death. Killing will get you banned from participating in the official circles. There are a lot of protocols and rules, because the safety of the spectators and participants is paramount. This type of duelling is the most practised today," Flitwick smiled and bowed slightly to her, "and I happen to be a renowned retired champion of it. If you manifest enough skills it, it is possible I will enter you in some tournaments, like I do for Ravenclaws who manifest a talent in Duelling."
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