Hydrus Black chapter 41

Chapter 41 -

Hydrus and his friends made their way to the great hall with various levels of excitement. It had recently been announced that a duelling club was being held, and many students wanted to join. The fact that the greatest dark lord of all time was back had made everyone put extra effort into all of their studies. Most of the teachers were sure that the school results this year would be much higher than average.

When they finally got to the hall, they were sure that nearly all of the school had come. All of the house tables were gone. In the middle of the hall was a long duelling platform; the Slytherins and Ravenclaws stood on one side of the platform while the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors stood on the opposite side.

"Who do you think is going to teach this?" Draco whispered to Hydrus.

"I'm not sure," Hydrus admitted. "I'm not a fan of Dumbledore, but there's no denying that the old man knows his stuff when it comes to magic. Professor Flitwick would be my first choice, though, he's one of the school's best teachers and he's a former duelling champion."

"Gather around, everyone," Gilderoy Lockhart spoke loudly as he walked onto the stage. Hydrus let out a very deep sigh as he looked up at the ceiling, taking a moment to pray to whoever was listening for patience.

"Or it could be that idiot," Hydrus said as he rubbed his eyes. "Someone is trying to mess with me, that's the only explanation."

"Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? You can? Excellent," Lockhart said as he stopped in the middle of the platform and smiled at everyone. He was dressed in fancy duelling clothes, even wearing a single glove on his wand hand and had a cloak draped over one of his shoulders."Now, Professor Dumbledore has made the best decision of his surprisingly long career, and he has allowed me, Gilderoy Lockhart, to restart the duelling club. Exciting, isn't it? Yes, I can see you're all looking forward to it. I will train you all up, in case you ever need to defend yourself, as I have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works. Seriously, read them, they're good books." Lockhart grinned before he removed his cloak and tossed it into the crowd, where a bunch of girls tried desperately to catch it. "Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart gestured to the end of the platform, where Professor Snape seemed to rise up as if he were rising up out of hell. "He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration," Lockhart said just as Snape walked over and joined him at the centre of the stage. "Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry. You will still have your potions professor when I am through with him, never fear." Lockhart said with a grin, not noticing Snape's glare.

"Shame, they could have wiped each other out," Daphne whispered to Hydrus, who snorted in amusement.

Lockhart and Snape stopped in front of each other, both raised their wands and held them in front of their faces. They then quickly brought their wands down and gave each other a short bow before turning around. Both walked twenty paces away from each other, and once they were both sufficiently far away, they turned around and faced each other as they both shifted into their duelling stances.

Hydurs easily recognised Snape's stance; he was facing sideways to reduce his target area while holding his wand up above his head. The second the duel started, he would likely bring his wand forward by swinging it down and firing. It was better than the alternative, where he would shoot spells while holding his wand over his head. It wasn't the best duelling stance as it had your primary weapon raised above your head instead of in front of your body. The only people who used this particular stance were idiots, those who were so sure that they'd win that they were willing to make things easier for their opponent and those who simply wanted to show off.

Lockhart had one closed hand on his hip and had his wand about chest height in front of him while leaning on his back leg. Lockhart's stance was one used by those who were great at defence while also using a lot of power in their spells, and Hydrus doubted that Lockhart had sufficient power for it, or the skill, or the luck, or the brains, or...you get the picture. If that wasn't bad enough, then add in the fact that he was doing it wrong by facing Snape with his chest forward, giving Snape a larger target area.

"One," Lockhart began counting, the whole hall had become silent. "two...three."

"Expelliarmus!" Snape quickly said as he aimed his wand at Lockhart, his disarming spell shot through the air and hit Lockhart right in the chest. The blonde-haired professor found himself flying backwards through the air as his wand fell out of his hand. The man let out a small scream before landing hard on his back.

"Pathetic," Hydrus growled out. "We've got a dark lord out there, and this is our defence teacher?"

"Yeah, so better start making funeral arrangements in advance, then," Theo replied helpfully.

"An excellent idea to show them that Professor Snape," Lockhart quickly said as he got up and walked to Professor Snape. "Though if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do, and if I wanted to stop you, it would only be too easy."

"Perhaps, it would be prudent to teach the students how to block unfriendly spells," Snape said, staring down at Lockhart like he was a particularly irritating first-year Gryffindor. Lockhart's smile faltered for a second before he brought it back up to full power.

"An excellent idea, Professor Snape," Lockhart smiled brightly. "How about we start with a volunteer?" He said before looking around. "Ah, and who better than young Hydrus Black?!" He grinned down at Hydrus. "Our very own duelling champion, come on up."

"You've got to be kidding me?" Hydrus groaned as he took out his wand.

"You could always say 'no, '" Draco reminded him.

"Screw that, he might let me fight someone, don't want to miss that chance," Hydrus said as he made his way onto the platform. Standing near Professor Snape, who sneered at him, as expected. Hydrus and Snape still firmly disliked each other, but Snape was still head of Slytherin house, and Hydrus preferred the man to Lockhart, who looked rather put out that Hydrus didn't come and stand next to him.

"Now," Lockhart said, his smile returning to his face once more. "Who is going to take on our school's beloved duelling champion in a friendly little duel? Anyone?"

"I'll fight him!" Neville said at once. Hydrus let out a very deep groan upon hearing that. He understood that Longbottom disliked him, but this was getting ridiculous at this point.

"Are you serious?!" Liv whisper-hissed to Neville. "He'll eat you alive!"

"Neville, he's a duelling champion," Hermione also whisper-hissed. "You've never been in a duel!"

"Ignore these two, you're a Gryffindor, you got this!" Ron said firmly, patting Neville on the back. Neville nodded to Ron before walking off from the other Gryffindors.

"Atta boy!" Lockhart said brightly as Neville made his way onto the platform. "Now, you two, a standard duel, please. First one to disarm the other wins, nothing too dangerous now." He said, waggling his finger between the two with an amused voice as if this was all one big game. "Good luck!" He told both of them before getting off the stage. Snape, meanwhile, sneered and also left the stage.

Hydrus took a moment to curse himself for coming to this club in the first place before he and Neville walked forward and met each other at the centre of the stage. The two raised their wands and held them up in front of their faces.

"You ready?" Neville asked, putting on a brave face.

"Even you can't be stupid enough to think you'll gain anything from this." Hydrus replied in an irritated voice, he had better things to do with his time than waste it on Longbottom's stupid grudge. Neville didn't say anything in response and simply glared at him.

The two lowered their wands to their sides before turning their backs to each other and walking to their ends of the duelling platform. Once there, they both turned and took their duelling stances. Hydrus had to resist the urge to roll his eyes when he saw Neville copy Snape's stance. Hydrus, meanwhile, took on a different stance. His free hand was held up behind him for balance, his knees were slightly bent, his body was turned to the side to reduce his target area, and he had his wand up and in front of his chest.

"Ready, boys?" Lockhart said in an excited voice. "We'll begin on three. One...two...three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Neville yelled as he brought his wand forward and aimed it at Hydrus. A beam of red light burst from his wand and shot towards Hydrus. Neville watched in anticipation as the light got closer and closer to his opponent. It looked like Hydrus wasn't even going to attempt to shield against it. For a moment, Neville believed that he had secured an easy victory. At least that was until Hydrus leaned his body a couple of inches to the side, and the spell missed him entirely.

"Not going to lie," Hydrus said, dropping his stance and staring at Neville. "That wasn't a half-bad disarming spell." It turned out that Neville wasn't lacking in power; that was clear now that he had his own wand. But the boy wasn't a duellist; firing one spell and hoping for the best was a beginner's mistake that Bellatrix had drilled out of Hydrus early on.

"Rictusempra!" Neville yelled, firing a tickling spell at Hydurus, who tilted his head to the side and let the spell shoot past him.

"I've had enough," Hydrus said in a bored tone. He started walking forward to Neville, who looked bewildered that Hydrus hadn't immediately started firing off spells. Once he managed to get his wits about him, he shot another disarming spell at Hydrus. "Protego," Hydrus intoned calmly, his shield popped up, blocking the spell without Hydrus even stopping. Neville quickly tried to shoot a full-body bind spell, which also couldn't make it past Hydrus's shield. Hydrus dropped the shield once he got close enough to Neville.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville said desperately, shooting one last spell at Hydrus, who ducked under it and stepped forward, stepping past Neville's wand arm and staring him right in the eyes as he poked his wand into Neville's gut, causing the boy to freeze.

"Expelliarmus," Hydrus said calmly, putting just enough power into the spell for Neville to stumble back as his wand flew up into the air and landed into Hydrus's free hand. "Stop wasting my time, you're embarrassing both of us," Hydrus told him before turning and walking away, tossing Neville's wand into the crowd, where it was caught by a red-faced Ron Weasley. Hydrus didn't trust Neville not to try and curse him in the back; the Gryffindor seemed blinded by his anger when the two were together.

"Excellent, how marvellous," Lockhart said enthusiastically as he made his way onto the stage, barely glancing at a red-faced Neville, who stomped off the stage and returned to the other Gryffindors. "Exactly what you'd expect from an amateur duelling champion." He said, staring at the crowd, which was why he didn't notice Hydrus stop at his end of the platform and turn to give Lockhart a look that quite plainly said 'choose your next words wisely'. "He didn't do badly for his age, of course, but not quite at the level of an expert yet. But certainly above average," Lockhart continued, unaware of the death glare he was getting from Hydrus. "I dare say that if he keeps practising, then after a decade or so, he might even be able to take me on. Yes, he may be a duelling champion, but I'm sure that, like you all, there's plenty he can learn from me. One can only learn so much from their parents, talented though Miss Black might be, she's no Gilderoy Lockhart." He finished grandly, smiling brightly at the crowd.

"Oh shit," Draco sighed deeply as he heard Lockhart just indirectly (and possibly unintentionally, Draco doubted the idiot even thought about what he was saying) imply that he was better than Bellatrix Black in front of the boy who loved her more than life itself.

"So, Lockhart's dead then," Theo concluded.

"Magic willing," Daphne nodded hopefully.

"Now, then," Lockhart continued obliviously. "Who should we have up next? How about -"

"You," Hydrus cut him off, surprising the man. "I'm fighting you." He said firmly.

"Me?" Blinked Lockhart as the crowd began whispering. "Now...I appreciate your enthusiasm, Mr Black," Lockhart chuckled as if he had been told an amusing joke. "But I don't think that's a wise idea."

"Why not?" Hydrus asked him straight away. "There is a dark lord out there, in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, we're perfectly safe at Hogwarts," Lockhart said easily.

"Yeah, well, I'm not staying at Hogwarts all year round. Besides, I'd like to improve my skills since I'm apparently just an 'amateur duelling champion'," Hydrus said, glaring hard at Lockhart, who was finally starting to pick up on the fact that Hydrus had not appreciated his words.

"Oh," Lockhart laughed awkwardly. "Oh, my boy, I'm terribly sorry if I-"

"Why are you so nervous?" Hydrus asked suddenly.

"Nervous? Me? I'm not nervous, I just -"

"You said I would need at least a decade before I can take you on," Hydrus reminded him. "So I shouldn't even be a challenge in your eyes, correct? Why not show the crowd how real duellist handles a fight?" Hydrus said, gesturing around.

"Like I said, I appreciate your enthusiasm," Lockhart said with a forced laugh. "But I really don't think that that's the best idea, my boy."

"I am not your boy," Hydrus said with narrowed eyes, glaring a hole through Lockhart. "You want to imply that you're better than my mother? Then you're damn well going to back it up, now get ready and let's duel." Hydrus finished, a mad look in his eyes.

"I..." Lockhart paused and looked around, seeing the whole crowd staring eagerly at them. He couldn't help but send a hopeful look towards the only other teacher in the room.

"I wouldn't worry, Gilderoy," Snape said silkily. "After all, he is merely a child, no matter his achievements. It'll be good to show the students how a real duel works. Surely, for a wizard of your calibre, it'll be as easy as taking candy from a baby." Drawled Snape before he and Hydrus looked at each other with matching expressions that more or less said the same thing: 'Fuck you. But let's deal with Lockhart.'

"I...I don't..."

"There is indeed a dark lord out and about, Gildeory," Snape said, staring at him with the smallest upward curve of his lips. "The students could benefit from seeing a real wizard duel. For them, it might even be the very thing that could help save them from death."

"Oh...well..." Lockhart gulped as he looked around. If the crowd had been interested before, then it was nothing compared to the looks that he was getting now. "Oh...why not?" He finished with a forced chuckle. "For the good of the students." He added on loudly in a brave voice, one that would have sounded a lot better if his words didn't come out shaky.

"No time like the present, Lockhart," Snape replied. "Begin the duel, I'll count you down."

"Right," Lockhart said with a stiff nod before he and Hydrus walked up to the centre of the platform. Much like the previous duel, they both raised their wands and held them up in front of their faces. "Now, Hydrus, there's still time to stop this if you want," Lockhart said in a quiet voice, trying to sound encouraging, as if he was trying to do Hydrus a massive favour.

"Tell me," Hydrus spoke in a soft voice. "Do you have a vagina?" He asked, giving him a hard stare with narrowed eyes.

"What?!" Lockhart blinked hard and stared at him with no small amount of confusion. "What? I...no...no, of course not."

"You will once I'm done with you."