Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 38 - The Duelling Club

It's duelling time folks!!

 Far too soon, the second Saturday of the year arrived - the Duelling club was going to start. Al had managed to coax a fair few number of Slytherins into doing it; twenty excluding her friend group. A gaggle of ten first year Ravenclaws had arrived, giggling like anything and Al almost rolled her eyes - she'd probably spend the whole time helping them. Fred, George and Lee Jordan, the quidditch commentator had arrived looking mischievous. Al would have to keep an eye on them. And finally eight Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that Al recognised from some of her classes.

 Flitwick stepped forward and introduced her, "Welcome everyone, to the Duelling club. If you need any help feel free to ask me. Without further ado I'll hand you over to your Captain!" he said enthusiastically.

 Al stepped forward, wiping the sweat from her hands on her robes, "OK, hi everyone," she said, addressing the group of about forty, "I'm Al and I'll be running the duelling club this year." Fred and George grinned at her and Daphne smiled encouragingly. The knot in Al's stomach loosened a little bit, "I was thinking today we could start with how to duel and work on technique. And then depending on our progress we could start varying spells after Christmas?" People seemed to nod in agreement and Al relaxed a bit more; they wanted to be there. Why was she worrying?

 "So, I'm just going to introduce you to a couple of non-offensive spells," she continued, "Could I have a volunteer, please?" The Ravenclaw first years all raised their hands, reminding Al of Granger in their first potions lesson. Luckily, Theo stepped forward with a smile.

 Al demonstrated the first spell, "Verteo!" she said and a lime green light sped towards Theo, splattering him with what looked like green paint. He shuffled a little at the impact, but it was clear it didn't hurt. Then, the group watched as it began to fade in front of them, and soon it was like it had never been there. Then, she raised her wand again, "Rougeous!" and red paint splattered Theo, to the same effect. The first years clapped her and Fred, George and Lee joined in sarcastically.

 "OK, so let's pair you up!" she said, grabbing the sign-up sheet from a desk that had been pushed to the side. On it there was each participants name with their year and house. She tried to pair up students from the same year and different houses, for all that inter-house unity stuff. Unfortunately, there were only three fifth years and all the first years but two (from Slytherin) were in Ravenclaw, so pairing was a little bit complicated, but she managed well enough.

 Once everyone was in pairs opposite each other she began instruction, "People on the right you're red, people on the left you're green. Let's practice shall we? On three, I want the reds to fire," a few people looked nervous, particularly some of the younger ones so she smiled encouragingly, "One, two, three!" Everyone managed to produce some paint, although a few people's aim was off. "Really well done, everyone!" Al said with a grin - it was going quite well, "Greens, ready? One, two, three!" Again everyone fired and some missed, although not as many.

 "Right, now, onto the duelling. First off, you bow to your opponent," she said, and everyone gave a slightly awkward bow. "And then, on three, you begin to duel. Today we will be working on aim and dodging.

 "It's important to remember that you might not always duel in a nice, open space - sometimes there could be obstacles. That is why today, we will all be duelling in one room; so that you can get used to not only dodging spells, but also obstacles," she finished. People were looking nervous now. Oh well, Al thought, Let's chuck them in the deep end.

 One hour later, the duelling club dispersed, laughing and chattering amongst themselves. Al was pleased to notice that the two first-year Slytherins had got on well with the Ravenclaw first-years, and some of the students from her own year were mingling with other houses.

 "Well done, Miss Dursley!" Flitwick said, putting the desks back with a flick of his wand, "Really well done. Did you enjoy it?" he asked.

 Al nodded, "Quite a lot actually, Professor. Thank you."

 He chuckled, "No worries," he said, "Same time next week?"

 "Yes, that works," Al said, "Do you think we could set up some targets, please? I think we need to work on aim." She had been hit quite a lot during practice.

 "That's absolutely fine," Flitwick said enthusiastically, "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

*****

 The next few weeks flew by and Al found her duelling club was growing and growing with popularity. By the fourth week, they'd had to move to the Great Hall because so many people joined. At the end of that particular meeting, Flitwick came up to her, "I'd like you to do an assessment of everyone next week, please," he said, "I think we should divide it into Advanced and Amateur."

 Al agreed with him, "It is getting a bit complicated. I'm dodging fifth years while trying to help first years," she admitted. "So two meetings?" Flitwick nodded, "We can have the amateur one on Saturdays and a smaller advanced group after dinner on Tuesdays?"

 He considered this for a moment, "Yes, I think that'll do. I'll pop a notice up. Oh, and Miss Dursley?" Al turned around to see him holding his hand out, "Professor Dumbledore asked that I give you this." He was holding a round silver badge that said DUELLING CAPTAIN in big black letters.

 "Oh," she said, taken by surprise, "Thanks," and she pinned it proudly to her robes.

 Soon, it was the day before Halloween, and the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students arrived. Al was a little bit taken aback at how serious both schools seemed - Hogwarts had been fairly light-hearted and excited but the other two seemed determined to win. "That's Viktor Krum!" People whispered around her as the Durmstrang students stalked past. Al had no idea who they were talking about.

 "Quidditch player," Theo explained, as Al laughed at Daphne's swooning and Draco's gaping mouth. Soon they were sat down and tucking into dinner. The Durmstrang students had sat at their table while the Beauxbatons sat with the Ravenclaws. The so-called famous quidditch player had sat almost directly opposite Draco - who looked very smug - and seemed to be regretting his decision as the blond fourth-year became overly-friendly. It took all Al and Theo's might to keep from laughing at him.

 Daphne too seemed to engrossed in Krum to enjoy her meal, and her steaming pile of mashed potatoes soon went cold from staring at him too long. It was only when dessert appeared that she snapped out her trance and realised she was very hungry.

 Al was tucking into her apple pie and custard when Daphne elbowed her sharply in the ribs. "Look at the Beauxbatons," she hissed with a grin. Al obliged and looked up to see three Beauxbatons boys looking at them and chattering. Then, one of them winked at them.

 "Did he just wink?" Al asked, amused.

 "He winked!" Daphne confirmed, and the two girls burst into a fit of giggles. But even that couldn't pull Draco out of his trance-like state.

 "The time has come," Dumbledore said, as the hall fell silent, "for the tournament to begin. But first I would like to introduce Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of magical Co-operation and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of Magical Games and Sports." There was a polite round of applause for each of the two men sat to Dumbledore's right, "The Casket, Mr Filch." A huge treasure-chest-like box was hauled to the front by Filch and people's attention perked up.

 "There will be three champions," Dumbledore explained, "That will complete three tasks and be scored on how well they perform. The three champions will be chosen by an impartial selector..." Filch opened the casket, "...The Goblet of Fire." Dumbledore reached in and pulled out a grubby wooden cup, filled to the brim with blue flames. He placed it onto the casket, where everyone could see it.

 "Anyone wishing to enter the tournament must write their name and school clearly on a piece of parchment and drop it into the Goblet within twenty-four hours," Dumbledore instructed, "To ensure every entry is of age, I will be drawing an age line."

 Al headed into the dungeons excitedly chattering with her friends. This was going to be an interesting year at Hogwarts.