58 Oppugno

Arth gave a slight smile.

"Hello Mr. Nott, I've heard many things about you."

Theodore raised his eyebrows.

"I do not see any reason why you should, may I ask how?"

"No need to be humble, many know of your brilliance in potion making."

"I'm flattered to hear it. However, the same can be said about you."

Arth raised his eyebrows.

"What about me?"

"Your intellect isn't some hidden secret, plus, rumors about a certain boy who invaded into the Ravenclaw tower are starting to spread."

Arth cursed himself inwardly.

Why did he have to go flaunt his intelligence to the whole word. What a childish thing to do.

Arth gave a smile and pushed the thought out of his head.

"It is just a rumor, anyways, may I ask you for a duel?"

Theodore raised his eyes as if still skeptical before answering.

"Sure, standard style I presume?"

"That would be fine."

Arth and Theodore faced each other and gave a small bow. Before turning around, Theodore frowned.

"Take our your wand, we are about to duel."

Arth waved it off with a smile.

"There's no need to."

Seeing the look in Theodore's face, Arth realized at once that he had misunderstood.

With a wry smile, Arth explained to Theodore.

"I didn't mean to offend you, the phrase came out wrong. What I meant to say is that I don't have a wand to use, a couple of your-" Arth sent a glance towards Malfoy who was facing off against Harry, "house members broke it durning a scuffle in the quidditch fields."

Theodore frowned.

"I do not wish to be given a handicap, although I realize that I am not a professional dueler, it does not suit me well to fight against someone who is at a disadvantage."

Arth shrugged.

"Nothing we can do can we? All I can say is please go easy on me."

Theodore sighed.

"I guess you have a point, I'll try to hold back..."

Ten seconds later, Theodore was on the floor. He was eagle spread on the ground while wearing a disbelieving look on his stunned face.

He got up and gritted his teeth.

"Again."

Arth just smiled.

"Sure."

Arth and Theodore faced each other once more before doing a bow. Arth's was a nice and elegant bow while Theodore's was a curt one. They turned around and took a step.

"One." Said Arth calmly.

"Two," Replied Theodore with a fire burning in his eyes.

"Three."

Theo swung his wand above his head and pointed it at Arth.

"Cadere!"

However, Arth calmly waved his hands.

"Protego."

An invisible shield formed in between the two and the spell rebounded off towards Lockhart. With a magnificently terrified face, Lockhart slipped to the floor.

Seeing that his first spell didn't work, Theodore let out another one.

"Expelliarmus."

"Protego. Expelliarmus."

However, it was once again effortlessly blocked by Arth. He even counter attacked causing Theodore to roll to the side in an attempt to dodge it.

"Why-can't-I-hit-you?" Yelled Theodore while blasting a spell each time he paused.

"Well, you are saying you incantations our loud so I know what to expect and your eyes give away where you are aiming at."

"The-hell! How-do-you-Have-time-for-That?"

"It's a skill, you can learn if you practice."

"..."

Lockhart finally recovered from the spell and tried to stop the two with a forced smile.

"Now boys, it's great that we are getting excited over dueling but I think it's best for us to calm down and-"

One of Arth's spell seemed to deviate from its course and straight for Lockhart's face.

Lockhart saw this and went pale. He immediately dropped to the floor.

Arth clicked his tongue.

He had missed.

"DON'T-STARE-ELSEWHERE-WHEN-YOU-OPPONENT-IS-IN-FRONT-OF-YOU!"

Theodore was now getting angry as he took out some potion bottles and threw it at Arth.

Arth just sighed.

"Daydream potion? Effective but only if it hits."

Arth grabbed his pendant and threw it up into the air. The pendant transformed into three spinning daggers. He focused onto the three flying bottles.

"Oppugno."

The daggers changed direction mid way and zoomed towards the bottles. With a loud shine, all three bottles blew up, leaving a cloud of smoke in between Arth and Theodore.

Arth shook his head.

"Inefficient, throwing bottles mid duel is suicidal-"

"Expelliarmus!"

A jet of red emerged from within the smoke and hit Arth in the chest. With a bang, he was sent flying.

Theodore held a triumphant gaze as he gasped for air. He was about to gloat towards Arth when three daggers fell right at him, making a small triangle around him.

A transparent wall formed around him, casing him inside a firm barrier. Disbelieving, Theodore sent a gaze towards Arth who was getting up from being hit.

Arth gave a smile.

"Well done, nice play you had going, using the fog to disrupt my sight then hitting me with a spell. It was my fault for underestimating you. It seems that both of us had the same idea."

Theodore wanted to cry.

If that was him looking down on him, what would he be like when he was serious?

Arth looked around and saw chaos.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart.

A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor.

Arth leapt forward and pulled Millicent off. He made sure to be a bit rough when throwing her off Hermione.

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Macmillan..."

"Careful there, Miss Fawcett...Pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second,"

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair — Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you —"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch- Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Neville's round, pink face went pinker.

"How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.

"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."

He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops— my wand is a little overexcited—"

"Wands can get overexcited?" Asked Arth with a peculiar look. "I never knew that... unless it's him lying again."

Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too. Harry looked nervous.

"Three — two — one — go!" he shouted.

Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"

The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it..."

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack.

Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight towards Arth.