The Dueling Club

Not long after Halloween, the yearly Quidditch Cup began.

Slytherin had seven Nimbus 2001s this year, and Cho took that personally. Ravenclaw's team began training so often that even the most devoted Quidditch fans started looking exhausted.

Edmund did not join the extra sessions. At his level, more drills would not change much. His job in a match was simple: keep Cho safe and make sure no one used the field as an excuse to hurt her.

The first match was still Slytherin against Gryffindor. Slytherin's new brooms made the difference obvious before the whistle even blew, and nearly every Gryffindor in the castle came out in the rain to shout themselves hoarse.

Harry, as usual, found trouble.

A rogue Bludger locked onto him and chased him across the pitch as if nothing else existed. The training he had done with Edmund saved him from being flattened immediately. He managed to dodge again and again, and in the end, despite a broken arm, he caught the Snitch directly in front of Malfoy.

Then Lockhart tried to help. By the time Madam Pomfrey had finished shouting, Harry's arm no longer had bones.

Edmund had skipped the match because standing outside in a thunderstorm held no appeal. When the returning students told him what happened, however, his interest went straight to Harry's arm.

He found Harry in the hospital wing with a Quidditch magazine in his left hand and his boneless right arm resting limply on the blanket.

"Edmund!" Harry said, brightening. "You came to see me."

"Naturally," Edmund said, already sitting beside the bed and lifting Harry's arm.

The arm was fascinating. It moved like a length of warm rubber. Edmund turned it over, bent it twice, then tied Harry's fingers into a loose knot to see how far the structure could be pushed.

Harry's expression gradually went dead.

"Do you remember the incantation Lockhart used?" Edmund asked.

"No," Harry said. "I need rest."

Edmund opened his mouth again, but Madam Pomfrey swept in and removed him from the ward with the authority of a general expelling an invader. Even Edmund did not argue with her on her own territory.

Harry's bones grew back by Sunday evening. His hatred for Lockhart deepened, and now it carried a layer of fear. Edmund also learned something: Lockhart possessed a rare talent for making bad situations worse.

A week later, Edmund and Hermione were crossing the entrance hall when they found a small crowd gathered around the notice board.

"They're starting a Dueling Club," Harry said, almost glowing. "First meeting tonight."

For Harry, it was a chance to fight Malfoy without getting detention. For Edmund, it was exactly the kind of distraction the school needed.

He turned to Hermione and Cho. "You two should use it as practice. Real opponents are different from training dummies."

Cho studied him. "You don't sound surprised."

"Dumbledore complained that my Chamber explanation had frightened the students," Edmund said. "I suggested giving them something else to think about."

"So this club was your idea?" Hermione asked.

"The suggestion was mine. The execution is someone else's problem."

They learned the details after dinner.

At eight o'clock, the long House tables had vanished from the Great Hall. A temporary gilded platform stood in the center, lit by hundreds of floating candles. Students pressed close from every side.

"I wonder who will teach us," Harry said, struggling to see over the crowd.

"Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was younger," Hermione said. "It should be him."

Edmund stood with Hermione and Cho behind a quiet Shield Charm that kept the press of students from crushing them.

"As long as it isn't-" Harry began.

He stopped.

Gilderoy Lockhart stepped onto the platform in robes of bright purple, smiling as if the entire evening had been invented for his benefit. Snape stood beside him, dressed in black and looking as though he had been dragged there by force.

Lockhart lifted both hands until the hall quieted.

"It is my great honor to support the Dueling Club," he announced. "When Headmaster Dumbledore mentioned this proposal, I knew at once that such a club required my personal guidance."

"Shameless," Hermione said.

Cho nodded in rare agreement.

Edmund only smiled. He had not suggested the club for credit. He had suggested it so Cho and Hermione could gain more combat experience, and so the rest of the school would stop whispering about monsters every waking moment.

Lockhart continued speaking. Naturally, he found time to promote his books. Only in the final half minute did he deign to introduce the scowling man beside him.

"Professor Snape has kindly agreed to assist me with a small demonstration. Do not worry. I shall return your Potions master to you in one piece."

Snape's smile was thin enough to cut parchment. Edmund almost felt sorry for Lockhart. Almost.

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