"What do you want, Malfoy? If you're just here to insult me, you can just save your breath. I've heard much worse from much scarier people." Harry says, attempting to dismiss the would-be bully. Daphne had taken to giving Harry some tips on how to deal with Malfoy, as the pompous peacock of a Slytherin was only really threatening if you let him believe he had power over you.
"I'll have you know Potter, that I am far more threatening than anyone you could meet. You'll find out tonight. We shall have a duel, third-floor corridor, second door on the right. Ten o'clock." Malfoy says, puffing out his chest to appear larger and more intimidating.
Harry recognized that room as being where the headmaster said that you would 'Die a most gruesome death' if you entered. As Harry was about to decline though…
"You're on! He'll see you there and kick your ponce rear end to the curb!" Stephen says, an anger in his voice that Harry was shocked at.
"See you then Potter, I hope you're prepared to lose it all." Malfoy says, before attempting to dramatically swish his robes like his head of house and walk off.
"Stephen, why? I don't think I had any real reason to accept that." Harry asks, looking over to his roommate.
"For starters, I wasn't thinking very much. Malfoy has always thought himself better than all of the rest of us since we were kids, so any chance to put him in his place is something to leap on. Secondly, if you hadn't accepted Malfoy could call you a coward, saying you were too scared to fight him. Third, it's not like Malfoy has a chance anyway, you killed a troll! What's he able to do to you since you did that?" Stephen explains, all in one breath.
"Malfoy's words don't really get to me, but as for the troll bit, I got really lucky. Malfoy has probably had dueling practice before, I've got nothing that we haven't worked on in class." Harry says calmly.
"That's not quite true Harry, you've got all of this year's DADA spells down, to the point that you've taught all of us the spells. Second, you're far and away the most powerful of all of us in the club in terms of raw magic. Your dueling chances are pretty good. Professor Flitwick even said so himself." Daphne says, looking at Harry. She did have a point, Professor Flitwick saw potential in Harry's dueling abilities, and while Harry wasn't sure about the power aspect, he did know all of the first year Charms and Defense spells.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice as it is, if I don't show up Malfoy can call me both a liar and a coward. At least by showing up I can win and maybe show him how futile it is to keep trying to mess with me." Harry says frustratedly. "He's set the time for after curfew, and the location in the forbidden corridor, that probably means he's more likely to not show up himself and instead send someone there to get me in trouble. What do you think?"
"Malfoy's too much of an idiot to come up with that plan. He's probably just thinking you're an upstart who needs to be put in his place, and this certain spell his father showed him will be perfect to do just that." Daphne says confidently. "You showing up and knocking him aside will bruise his ego, hopefully beyond the point of recovery."
"From everything I know about Malfoy, Daphne's right." Tracey says, backing up her friend. "Although I don't think you winning will do more than make him complacent for a time while he licks his wounds."
"Well, what am I going to do then? I'll need to find some way to stay out of trouble for this." Harry says, putting his hand under his chin and thinking.
"The guys and I can cover for you, since I got you into this mess. We'll just have a night in and say you're playing exploding snap with us or something. That should stop people from looking for you after curfew." Stephen says.
"You shouldn't go alone, so someone can keep an eye out while you're focused on everything else." Hermione says, looking worried. "I don't like breaking school rules, what if we get detention?"
"Then we'll rest easy knowing Malfoy will also get a detention. We have five people here who can all give a memory of Malfoy challenging me to meet him there." Harry says. "Professor Flitwick will at least give us the benefit of a doubt that I wouldn't be breaking the rules for no reason."
"You can go with him, Hermione! I'll cover for you so you can keep an eye on him." Padma says.
"I suppose that is our only option, since I wouldn't be able to lie about where you are if you went with him. " Hermione says, looking downtrodden. "We'll meet in the common room at 9, hopefully no one will pay too much attention to us, or think that we're just heading to the Sphinx Club room."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll head straight to the club room after dinner and practice until then." Harry says.
"And we'll say that you guys are in bed asleep." Stephen says pumping his fist up. "You just worry about putting Malfoy in his place.
"Tracey and I will keep our ear to the ground about what Malfoy's plans might be, as boisterous as he is, he's bound to want to tell someone. If we hear anything, we'll let you know as soon as we can." Daphne says, Tracey nods alongside her.
"Alright, guess it's a plan." Harry says, resolving himself. He has around 3 hours after dinner to prepare for his duel. He can only hope it's enough.
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