eloquence | sirius black ✓

CHAPTER SEVEN

AN ACT OF PERSUASION

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It was time for Diana Allister to duel Sirius Black. And she was, quite worried, that she would lose. But she reminded herself that she was, indeed, an excellent duelist. Diana took a deep breath as she thrusted out her wand quickly. She had to be ready for it. And at that moment, courage surged through her veins. She had to make her house shine, to make her house proud of herself.
One in Slytherin, one in Gryffindor. One the top student at class, one a Marauder. Both so different from each other, yet similar in many ways, such as their knowledge on stars and the mischief in their eyes. Diana's platinum blonde hair was swaying behind her, as she approached Sirius slowly. She stared at him dead in the eye, the colour of amethysts meeting grey. Gunmetal grey, she noticed. She then looked down, letting out a breath as she pulled out her wand.
Diana held her wand in hand. She remembered the day she had gotten her wand from the wandmaker Ollivander.
"Laurel. Precisely eleven inches. Nice and supple. Dragon heartstring core, and this dragon gave two, surprisingly. Very good for dueling. Treat it well, Miss Allister." said Ollivander to her the day she got her wand.
Dragon patterns, as if it were fire, decorated the arm of her wand, spitting out vine-like patterns that resembled fiery, hot fire. Incendio, in matter of fact, was one of Diana's favorite spells. Fire was useful in many ways. Dueling with fire was quite safe too, in her own opinion. She remembered the day she had gotten her wand like the back of her hand, and she would never forget it. It was a memorable experience, and it was a memory she would like to keep until he died. It deserved to stick in her mind. She remembered the magic and power that surged through her when she had gotten the wand, and the fresh gust of wind and the smell of burnt ashes. Wind and fire.
       Fire, Diana thought to herself, wand in hand as she charged to Sirius.
"Incendio maxima!" said Diana loudly, conjuring out a Romanian Longhorn from her wand.
Diana watched as the dragon went bigger, chasing Sirius as it sprout out fire, fiery hot and burning, which thankfully, didn't hit any of the other students. The dragon chased Sirius around the room as the professor (Diana cursed under her breath, she still didn't remember her name) watched in amazement; she had never saw such amazing act of magic that required a lot of strength. Diana's energy was drained from the spell. Strong magic required a great amount of energy, and she herself knew it. But it was worth it. Sirius turned back, quickly shot a jet of water ("Aguamenti!") to the dragon, making its tail disappear. He shot the spell several more times, but not before taking a second to stop. Diana watched as the dragon evaporated into thin air. She gritted her teeth. It was going to be a hard fight if it was going to be like that the whole time.
Sirius shot a stunning spell right at her. Diana blocked it with a quick, weak non-verbal shielding charm. She hadn't mastered non-verbal magic yet, and she was still learning.
Again, the professor's eyes lit up with amazement, as she raised her eyebrow, wondering how Diana had learnt the spell. With a low grunt, she shot the disarming spell to Sirius, who blocked it effortlessly by ducking, as the spell shot straight to the wall, disappearing in a puff of red smoke. (Which made Edmund Avender cough quite some smoke. Diana apologized in her mind.)
At once, the two shot disarming spells to each other.
They both blocked it with a shielding charm, shouting the incantation at the same time, "Protego!" as the spells bounced of harmlessly. There was a tug in her heart, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"Drop your wand, Black!" exclaimed Diana.
All of a sudden, Sirius's vision was blurry. It was like the Imperius Curse, but slightly weaker. Her voice persuaded him to do so. Her voice echoed through his mind, a melodious, echoing cacophony. He felt slightly confused and dizzy; he couldn't get his concentration back. It was like that he was hypnotized somehow.
Sirius Black dropped his wand with a low thump. It was like that her voice was a spell, and the beauty of the descendant of dragons strengthened it. Diana watched in shock. It was like everything was done slowly. And she couldn't do anything to reverse it. Everyone in the room watched in shock, some jaws dropping. Metaphorically, of course. It would've taken a lot of work if their jaws actually dropped. Madam Pomfrey would have a lot of students to handle. Diana kept her head now, wanting no attention from what she had done. It wasn't intended at all. With a breath, she kept her head high, just like how she was taught to.
Stand tall and regal, above the others. Make them believe that you are brave and cunning, even when you have nervousness deep inside. It made a great facade, and came to be useful for Diana throughout her years in Hogwarts.
The professor had an amused smile etched upon her face as she handed Sirius's wand back to him. When his vision had returned to normal, Sirius accepted his wand with a small smile as he headed back to sit with the Marauders, embarrassed of what he had done.
He didn't know how Diana Allister could've disarmed him. Not one bit at all.
At first he wanted Gryffindor to win. He just wanted to make his house proud, but he somehow dropped his wand off his own accord. Perhaps the Slytherin had forced him to do it somehow. His ears were tinted slightly pink. He assumed that the feeling was embarrassment. Nothing more than that, but perhaps it could be.
The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor announced who would go to the next round, loud and clear. Diana, Lily, and Severus were on the list. Diana grinned as she moved forward to sit with the two, who were in a conversation about the Potion essay Slughorn gave them three days before. "Who'd you think will be going for the last round?" asked Lily with a curious glint in her eyes. Her emerald eyes sparkled in the daylight seeping through the windows of the room, a bright shade of green.
"Probably you and Severus. Both of you are excellent duelists," Diana pointed out. It was true, the both of them were excellent duelists, but Lily and Severus certainly thought differently, based on their answers.
"Diana and Sev." said Lily with a grin.
Her voice seemed sure of it. Diana nodded at her answer. Lily and Diana gestured for Severus to give his answer. He seemed to be lost in thought, and so Diana stayed quiet, giving him some time to think about it. He then opened his mouth, and spoke out three words that Diana did not expect at all.
"Diana and I," said Severus plainly.
Diana sighed in defeat. It appeared that there was a chance that she was going to be up against Severus on the last round. He, like her, was an excellent duelist. But Severus knew more spells and dark curses than an average seventh year would know. Diana knew that because he showed her his notebook filled with dark spells that made her widen her eyes. Diana knew them. She saw them in black magic books that she found (and was allowed) to read in the Allister Library. Also, Diana Allister had more strength than Severus (and focus), which was certainly an advantage to her, even though her concentration could be brought off by the smallest of things; like a cough or sneeze. Unfortunately, that is.
As the last round started after what seemed for an eternity (Lily lost to Severus), it was time for the two remaining Slytherins duel each other.
Diana Allister was up against Severus Snape. But either way, it would be an advantage to the Slytherins, since whoever won would receive ten house points. It was a good day for the house of snakes; the house of green and silver, for they were going to be earning points. Even if it was just ten.
At the end, both of them disarmed each other at the same time, still making the Slytherin house receive ten points, with a soft chuckle from the professor ("Excellent duelists think alike; they have the same mind. I suppose that both of you are just as goood.").
Diana had wanted to win.
Nonetheless, she was fine with sharing the win with Severus. She knew that he was, too, an excellent duelist, and deserved the win as much as she did, especially with the fact that the two were good friends with each other since the day Diana defended Severus from the Marauders. Half of the Marauders, actually. James and Sirius.
"It was a good duel." Diana said to Severus, who nodded.
"You both did great." Lily commented. That made Diana flash a grin at her.
And with that, the three left, grins and small smiles on their faces. Well, Severus didn't smile, but he did something that was close enough to a smile. Diana didn't think that she had ever seen a smile on his face. But the point was that the trio was true friends since that very day; since the day of dueling at Defense Against the Dark Arts.
But little did they know that the snake that didn't belong. One of the snakes in the trio. Him. He would be the one to separate the trio. The male snake would separate them as easy as a flick of a wand, a quick swish.
First by breaking ties with the snake, and calling the lion a mudblood.

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q: last song you listened to?

a: probably one of my friend's songs- he makes music n i love all of it