Beware of the Fat Muggle In Love

-----------Beware of the fat Muggle in love, part 18. "The Duelling club"-------

The remaining days of January and the whole of Febuary passed without much happening, except a frensy of heart-shaped letters passing between hands on Valentine´s Day.

The match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had ended in a victory for Gryffindor, even though Hufflepuff had scored ninety points.

Ron had been yelled at pretty heavily by Harry after that game, but they were still friends.

Neville and Ron had finished their Animagus training and Neville had taken to flying around the grounds in his Eagle shape in the evenings.

Ron had found it immensly amusing when he had stalked a group of Ravenclaw girls three nights in a row during the full moon, but he was captured by Hagrid and sent directly to detention where he had to clean out the overflowing toilets that had been out of order for some time and didn´t quite smell like roses.

Neville hadn´t gotten another letter from Lucius Malfoy; this worried them all.

What things could Lucius be plotting? Was he satisfied with Neville´s misinformation?

And an even greater question: had Malfoy released Tom Riddle yet?

Malfoy didn´t seem to have changed since their visit in the Chamber of Secrets so they guessed he hadn´t.

Harry and Hermione were sharing first place as The Duelling Club´s captain, both with a perfect record of duels.

Unfortunately, they were stuck with Snape teaching them and after only ten errors in casting some particularly nasty curses, all of the houses had lost onehundred and twenty points each.

But then, on March fifteen, the Duelling Club had their first display on the Quidditch pitch in front of the whole school.

It was a bright day even thought there was a large cloud blanket covering the sky.

There was no wind and it had rained the previous night so the grass was slippery and wet.

The members of the Duelling club was the following:

Harry and Hermione as Captains.

Ron Weasley,

Dudley Dursley (thanks to his Smartwatch),

Hannah Abbott,

Neville Longbottom,

Ginny Weasley,

Ernie MacMillan,

Dennis Creevey and his brother, Colin (whom everyone was afraid to duel)

The stands were filled with people cheering, although the Ravenclaws had joined the Slytherins in silence as the two houses were convinced that it was a conspiracy that no-one from their houses were members.

The duels were to be fought one at a time and they were not rehearsed.

The team walked out on the field, much as they would have done if it was a Quidditch match that was taking place, and after their obligatory bowing and waving at the crowd, the first duel was ready to begin.

Ernie Macmillan stood in the north side of the duelling-ring and Dennis Creevey stood in the south, both with their wands raised and ready.

Snape had magnified his voice as the referee and was standing a good twenty feet away for safety.

"Fighters! Ready! Set! Go!!"

"Disparto Textilius!!" yelled Ernie and hit Dennis with a hex that everyone would have hated; the Disclothing Hex!

Dennis´s clothes were ripped off his body and there he stood in his underpants, shivering and the stands all laughed. Even the Ravenclaws and Slytherins.

"Expelliarmus!!" cried Dennis and caught Ernie off guardm(Ernie was laughing too) and sent him flying out of the ring and Ernie`s wand went flying into Dennis´s hand.

Dennis wins! The crowd cheered and was still cheering when the second fighters came out into the field and took their places.

Ron in the north side and Hannah Abbott in the south.

Snape gave them the sign to start and Ron jumped out of Hanna´s way and rolled on the ground.

"Aquato!" he yelled and shot Hanna with a beam of water in the chest, sending her out of the ring.

She sat on the ground, wetter than a sea otter, and stared at him.

"You swore you weren´t going to use that spell!!" she sobbed when she walked off the field.

The third team took their place and raised their wands.

Ginny Weasley and Dudley Dursley.

"Suarto Deneratis!" exclaimed Dudley, but Ginny jumped out of the way and responded to his hex.

"Intaglia!!"

Dudley fell over and started to float high up in the air, shouting for mercy.

Ginny looked up at him and tried hard not to laugh.

"Finite Incantatum!" she said and Dudley fell like a stone to the ground.

The crowd cheered even more than before.

Dudley felt humiliated.

The next team walked out on the field.

Neville versus Colin.

Neville was very nervous about fighting Colin; you never knew what weird trick he could pull on you.

Better to take him out as fast as possible, Neville thought and sent the Expelliarmus spell towards Colin.

Colin turned see-through like glass and the spell just passed right through him, hitting the stands behind him.

"What the fuck!?" said Neville. Colin smiled.

"Tallantalegra!" yelled Neville.

That hex too went flying through Colin.

Neville was very nervous now.

Colin stepped closer and raised his wand.

"Vanisho!" said Colin and Neville side-stepped, barely eluding the spell.

"Hydrox Massivius!!!" screamed Neville in a desperate attempt to win.

The curse hit Colin square between the eyes and actually worked!

Colin was turned into ice, looking like an eerie glass statue!

Neville sighed with relief and the stands exploded into cheers and whistles.

Flitwick came and reversed the spell from Colin and the two fighters left the field.

Then it was time for the final duel.

Harry versus Hermione.

Harry stood in the north and Hermione in the south.

It had started to rain a little but not nearly enough to cancel to final fight!

"And now, the final duel between the two captains of the Duelling Club; Harry Potter and Hermione Granger!!" cried Snapes magnified voice.

"Ready! Set! Go!!"

Harry shot a Knockout ray towards Hermione but she already knew what he was going to do.

"Impenetro!" she said calmly and raised a pink shield around her body.

"You...You..little..." Harry said.

"Don´t want to make it too easy on you, do I?" Hermione answered and returned Harry´s Knockout ray which hit his left arm, paralysing it.

Harry went to his knees, but wasn´t ready to give up yet.

"Wingardium Leviosa!!" he cried out and ripped up a big chunk of the earth and sent it flying across the ring, hitting Hermione´s shield, causing it to break and soil her with mud and dirt.

"AAAH!! Harry, you bugger!!" Hermione shrieked and Harry couldn´t help but giggle.

He rolled across the ring and stood up behind her.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry had no idea what happened.

He and Hermione had said the same spell at the exact same time, making them both fly away and their wands were exchanged with eachother.

They were both sitting on the ground outside the ring, confused.

"Excellently fought, but it seems the final duel has resulted in a draw!" Snape´s voice bellowed across the stands and the spectators cheered yet again and clapped wildly for an entertaining display of the Duelling Club.

Neville went down to the Great Hall for breakfast joined by Dudley and Hermione on the first Saturday of April.

Harry had forced Ron to train Quidditch with him since before tha sun had risen.

Harry was nervous about the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin that was to take place in less than two weeks.

It would be the final game of the year as Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw in the first match and Slytherin put them out of any further games in their second match, and had done the same with Hufflepuff after Gryffindor had gotten a crack at them.

Harry had told the other members of the team to train mentally on the confusion tactics that Neville had come up with, so they were free this morning.

They felt sorry for Ron, however; having to be the best he could so early in the morning with Harry coaching him.

Harry had actually become a harder coach than Oliver Wood had ever been.

So Neville felt lucky on this particular morning as he was helping himself to a portion of bacon and eggs.

But that feeling disappeared when the post was delivered and a letter was dropped into his knee.

He opened it and read it quietly.

"Mr Longbottom, I am happy to tell you that your information about Harry Potter has been to a great help for the Death Eaters.

It is because of your fine work that you will be given the Dark Mark in two days time.

You are to locate yourself at the top of the South Tower at five o´clock in the morning where a Portkey will be waiting for you.

Do not be late!

L. Malfoy."

Neville passed the note to Hermione who read it twice as fast as Neville had.

She looked mortified at first, then she seemed to be thinking about something that hag been eluding her for a long time.

"We have to tell Harry and Ron!" she said and rose from the table and was about to leave when she noticed that Neville and Dudley was still sitting.

She grabbed them both by the collar and pulled them along.

Once in the corridor outside she explained to them.

"This is our chance to nail Voldemort! Don´t you see?" she said excitedly.

Neville and Dudley didn´t look amused.

"What do you mean?" said Dudley.

"Back in forth year, Harry got transported to Voldemort with a Portkey! We could use the same trick to ambush Voldemort!!" Hermione exclaimed.

"I don´t think so, Mudblood!"

They turned around and saw Malfoy stand there with his wand raised and ready to send something nasty at them.

"So, Longbottom. You´ve been working for both teams, it seems!" Malfoy said.

"I think it´s best you come with me down to the Chamber, as I´m sure you´ve already told the other about, Longbottom. You too, Dursley!" he continued.

"You on the other hand, are going to deliver a message to Potter for me."

"Don´t think I´ll be doing your biddings, you arch bastard!" Hermione said through clenched teeth.

"Oh you will. Or I´ll kill you right here and deliver the message myself," Malfoy said and aimed his wand at a rat in the corner.

"Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy yelled and instantly killed the rat and pointed back to Hermione.

"You will tell Potter to come down to me. I have a few things on my chest and I really want him to be around when I get them off my chest. Do you understand, filth? Now, go tell him!" Malfoy said.

Hermione ran down the corridor and turned left towards the Main entrance and Malfoy turned to Neville and Dudley.

"Now. If you gentlemen would walk in front of me, please," he said and they did as they were told.

It didn´t take long for them to reach Moaning Myrtle´s bathroom and soon they were once again down in the Chamber of Secrets.

Malfoy sat in his throne and Neville and Dudley sat opposite him as Neville had done a few months earlier.

"Now, let´s talk untill Potter gets here, shall we?" Malfoy said still pointing his wand at them.

Neville noticed the same glow of madnesss he had seen the last time he spoke to Malfoy, only this time it was more intence.

Dudley noticed it too, and they both guessed that Malfoy had know he was mad for quite some time, but that he had accepted his madness and embraced it.

"Let´s air things out, shall we? About what has happened this past year?" Malfoy said.

"Like what?" said Dudley.

"Let´s start from the beginning. I was included as a Death Eater trainee after the first week of school. I am the one who manipulated you two to get together, but only after I had gotten what I wanted," Malfoy said and conjured a golden chalice and drank from it.

"What you wanted?" asked Neville.

"Sex! I shagged your boyfriend in his female form only days before Halloween!" Malfoy said and laughed.

Neville looked at Dudley and his heart fell into his stomach.

Dudley couldn´t stand to meet his eyes.

"Pretty. I LOVE to break people up!!" Malfoy screamed out, his voice ecchoed off the walls in the Chamber.

"After that I got my first real job as a Death Eater trainee and I blew up the pub in Hogsmeade! A work well done that earned me the Dark Mark on New Years Eve and made me a real Death Eater!" Malfoy said and refilled his chalice.

"And you got the Aurors investigating the disaster to screw it up so you wouldn´t get caught!" Neville said.

Malfoy looked confused.

"What Aurors?"

"Argyle´s team!" exclaimed Neville.

"Argyle? Who are you talking about? The only Auror I recognised in that team was...Oh, I get it! He was too ashamed to reveal himself to you!" Malfoy smiled.

"What the fuck are you talking about, Malfoy?" said Dudley.

"There was no-one named Argyle in that team of Aurors, Longbottom. That was just a cover for who he really was."

"And who might that be?" said Neville.

Malfoy smirked and emptied his chalice.

"A certain someone called Frank. Frank Longbottom," Malfoy chuckled evilly.

--------to be continued in chapter 19, "Fullfillment of the Prophecy"-------