The Badgers' Lair – Part 2
Cedric kept one hand over his wand as he stared fixedly at Ernie Macmillan's face.
"Now... could you tell me why you were searching my room?"
Percy remained still for several seconds while quickly trying to think of an excuse. Then he let out a small, nervous laugh.
"Well... would you believe me if I told you I wanted to see what the other common rooms were like?" he finally said.
"Using Polyjuice Potion? Where is the real Macmillan?" Cedric asked next.
He continued looking at him with that cold expression that didn't fit at all with the kind, smiling boy everyone knew at Hogwarts.
"Uh... well, yes. We thought it would be fun. And Macmillan is technically sleeping very comfortably inside a cupboard."
Percy tried to keep smiling.
"We?" Cedric repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Percy covered his mouth immediately.
"Just having fun with friends. That's it," Percy quickly added.
But when he saw that Cedric didn't seem willing to believe him, he ended up letting out a sigh.
"Well... I had to try."
The Polyjuice Potion was still working, but there was no point continuing to act like Macmillan.
Although he had never really acted like him in the first place.
Percy slowly raised the mask he was still holding.
"I suppose you're not going to explain why you have this either."
Cedric's gaze lowered towards it.
For barely an instant, his expression seemed to change.
But he quickly became calm again.
"Put it back where it was."
"Yeah... I don't think that's going to happen."
Tyson, who was still standing beside the door, looked from one of them to the other.
"Maybe you could talk."
"No," they both replied at the same time.
Making Tyson simply lower his head and close his mouth.
"Alright."
Cedric finished drawing his wand.
Percy watched the movement and also slipped a hand into the pocket of his robes, pulling out a simple pen.
Cedric stared at it with some confusion, raising an eyebrow.
But the moment Percy removed the cap, the small object began to lengthen until it transformed into a celestial bronze sword.
Riptide appeared in his hands.
But the strange part was that Cedric didn't seem surprised at all.
Something Percy did notice.
"Just leave the mask on my bed and go. You don't even know what you're getting involved in," Cedric told him seriously.
Percy was about to open his mouth to say something, but before he could get the first word out, Cedric attacked first.
"Expelliarmus!"
A red bolt shot from the tip of his wand.
Percy moved on instinct at once, throwing himself to the side, and the spell passed beside his shoulder before striking one of the beds.
The blankets were sent flying through the air.
Percy turned his head with a slightly annoyed grimace, looking at his body.
"Tsk... you need more exercise, Ernie," he muttered just as Cedric made another movement with his wand.
"Incarcerous!"
Several ropes appeared out of nowhere and flew directly towards Percy.
He quickly pushed himself up from the floor with his hands and gripped Riptide with both hands, his expression turning serious.
With precise cuts, he sliced through the ropes before they could wrap around his arms, but one of them managed to catch one of his legs.
It almost made him fall to the floor.
But he quickly moved his sword and cut through the last one.
The remaining ropes fell to the ground in pieces.
"Wait, wait, wait," Percy said, raising one hand in front of him and stopping Cedric's next attack.
Cedric frowned slightly, but still stopped.
When Percy saw that he actually had, he quickly glanced at the watch on his wrist.
Just as the final second passed, the hour-long effect of the potion ended.
At once, Percy's body began to change, slowly returning to its true form.
Cedric didn't attack during that moment.
He simply watched him transform, still holding his wand in one hand and wearing that same cold expression.
When the transformation finished, Percy rolled his shoulders.
"Now we're talking... you can try something stronger," he said confidently, with a hint of arrogance.
Cedric didn't seem bothered by the provocation.
He reacted immediately.
Without saying an incantation, another shockwave tore through the room.
Percy, now moving with a speed Ernie's body hadn't possessed, quickly reached for his pendant.
A wooden sword came out of it.
Percy grabbed it and swung, though the movement looked more like that of a batter.
Just as the spell was about to hit him, Percy struck the magic directly, knocking it aside with the impact towards one of the nearby beds, which was pushed back until it crashed into the wall.
Cedric couldn't help widening his eyes in surprise.
But he didn't have much time to remain surprised, because Percy charged straight towards him, crossing the metres between them almost instantly while touching his pendant again and drawing Riptide once more.
The distance between them disappeared almost instantly.
Cedric barely had time to move his wand.
"Protego Maxima!"
A translucent shield appeared in front of him just in time to stop Riptide. The moment the sword struck it, a loud metallic clang echoed through the room.
CLANG!
The impact made the entire room tremble and forced Cedric back a step.
But Percy didn't stop.
He immediately followed with a horizontal slash.
Then a vertical one.
Then a thrust straight at Cedric's chest.
Each attack crashed against the magical shield, making it shake harder every time.
Little by little, cracks began to spread across its surface.
Cedric didn't seem worried in the slightest.
Instead, his expression became even more serious.
Suddenly, Cedric's wand moved with almost unbelievable speed.
"Flipendo!"
The spell caught Percy completely by surprise.
It was incredibly fast.
Even faster than Harry's.
It struck him in the side, sending Percy flying. He spun once through the air before crashing onto one of the beds.
The wood creaked beneath his weight.
Tyson looked at the bed in concern.
"I think that was Owen's."
But Percy didn't have time to worry about whose bed he had just destroyed.
He'd pay for it later...
Harry would, obviously.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Cedric shouted.
And just like before, the spell shot forward faster than normal.
Which was genuinely surprising, because Percy hadn't known spells could be cast that fast.
Percy threw himself to one side.
The spell passed over him and struck the wardrobe.
Its doors slammed shut.
Percy rolled across the floor and got back to his feet.
Cedric flicked his wrist once more.
Another red bolt shot towards Percy.
Percy had no choice but to draw his wooden sword.
The instant the spell was about to hit him, the wooden blade struck the red bolt.
The spell was knocked upwards towards the ceiling.
BOOOM!!
A small stone flowerpot shattered and crashed onto the floor.
All three of them looked up.
Tyson quickly stepped back to avoid the flying fragments.
"That'll be difficult to fix," Tyson muttered as he looked at the poor flower lying on the floor.
"Tyson, not now."
"Just saying."
Percy closed the distance once more.
This time, the Hufflepuff boy didn't try to raise another shield.
He stepped aside just as the wooden sword came down barely inches from his shoulder.
Cedric spun on the spot and fired another spell at point-blank range.
"Depulso!"
Percy took the shockwave straight to the chest.
He was blasted backwards, but while still airborne he quickly flipped over, regaining his balance.
Before he could even touch the ground, Cedric already had his next attack prepared.
"Expelliarmus!"
Still in mid-air, Percy managed to twist his body and swing his sword, sending the spell straight back at twice its original speed.
Cedric avoided it by leaping to the side while casting one final spell.
"Glacius!"
A sheet of ice spread rapidly across the floor.
Percy, who had landed on another bed, pushed himself upward, clearing the ice in a single leap.
His wooden sword came crashing down towards Cedric.
CLANG!
Cedric blocked the blow using nothing but his wand.
Percy's eyes widened slightly.
The instant their weapons met, Cedric twisted his wrist, redirecting Percy's sword and making it slide along the wand.
At the same time, Cedric moved his wand like a dagger, driving it straight towards Percy's neck.
For a split second, Percy looked genuinely surprised.
But he immediately let go of his sword and caught Cedric's wrist with one hand.
Then he lifted his leg and drove a kick straight into Cedric's chest while jumping backwards, snatching the wand away before retreating.
The kick forced Cedric back several steps, while Percy landed after a few backward hops before casually tossing Cedric's wand aside.
Cedric stared at Percy.
"You're actually very good at holding back," he said, looking at the wooden sword Percy had switched to halfway through the fight. "Some people would call that arrogance. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit."
Percy frowned slightly.
As far as he was concerned, Cedric had already lost the moment he was left without his wand.
Without taking his eyes off Percy, Cedric threw a side kick into the wardrobe beside him, where he had ended up after Percy's kick.
Instantly, one of the drawers sprang open by itself and launched something black into the air.
Straight into Cedric's waiting hands.
It was a black bow.
Not particularly flashy, but undeniably distinctive.
Percy stared at the weapon in confusion.
Its wood was almost black, with small symbols carved along its entire frame.
The string seemed to be made from some silver material that shimmered faintly under the room's light.
Cedric held it with a natural ease completely different from the way he had handled his wand.
Then he picked up a quiver and fastened it around his waist with practised ease.
He calmly drew a dark wooden arrow, set it against the string, and aimed at Percy.
Percy slowly raised his sword, looking at him in disbelief.
"A bow?"
"I'm better with it than I am with magic," Cedric replied calmly.
A small chill ran down Percy's spine.
Tsss.
The only sound was the whistle of the arrow.
A mere flash cut through the air.
Purely on instinct, Percy barely tilted his head.
The arrow grazed his cheek before burying itself deep into the wall behind him.
Percy turned, staring at the arrow embedded almost halfway into the stone.
Then he felt something cold trickling down his cheek.
He touched it and looked at his fingers.
They were stained with blood.
Percy slowly looked back at Cedric.
The boy already had another arrow nocked and ready.