Lord Voldemort seethed as he read the newspaper. The newly printed journal of Godric Gryffindor was sitting innocently on the table next to him.
Lily Potter had been the true descendant of Salazar Slytherin? His ancestor who had married the Gaunts had been the blood-adopted son of Salazar? Harry Potter had managed to bypass the blood ward at the Chamber of Secrets? The boy prophesied to kill him was now Lord Slytherin?
His anger grew no bounds. Nagini slithered around him to calm him down, but it still frustrated him to no end. A sense of calm descended upon him. Six more months and it would all be over. After Harry Potter was dead, the Slytherin Lordship would fall to him as the next blood descendant. But he knew one thing for certain. He was going to torture Harry Potter badly before he killed the boy.
"My Lord, I have more information on Harry Potter," said Rookwood, kneeling down. "I think you'll find this particularly interesting."
Voldemort's red eyes narrowed as he listened to the report.
This was unexpected. He might have to tweak his plans for the future.
...
"You are going to start getting dressed now ?" asked Neville, aghast.
"Neville's right," said Theo, looking stunned. "The ball is three hours away."
"We need that time to get ready," snapped Tracy, glaring at Theo as she and Susan went to their respective dormitories.
"Unbelievable," muttered Theo.
"Any idea who Draco is going with?" asked Dylan quietly.
"Pansy Parkinson," said Blaise in his usual monotonous tone, smirking slightly. "He was quite pissed off when Astoria said she already had a date. Nice job of asking her, by the way. The news spread throughout Slytherin House and some actually wanted to ask you tips on how to impress their dates. Surprising that they would want to ask a twelve-year-old boy for ideas."
Dylan blushed but smiled nevertheless. "I'll see you guys at the ball," he said and made his way to the Ravenclaw table. "Where are you going?"
"To get ready for the ball," replied Harry blandly.
"Harry, why do you need three hours?" asked Dylan incredulously.
The older boy simply stared back, looking slightly bewildered. "I was told that every girl who was attending the ball had already gone to their dorms to get ready, and I figured Daphne might have done the same. As a good fiancé, I thought it was expected of me to help in any way I can."
Dylan snickered. "Even if she's in the shower?" he asked cheekily. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw a faint blush appear on Harry's cheeks. This was a spectacle he had never witnessed before. "Harry, are you blushing?"
"No," said Harry calmly, having regained control of his emotions. He did not want to reveal to his brother that lately, he had been having plenty of dreams of Daphne in the shower with him… no, he wasn't about to confess that secret with the brat in front of him or anyone else for that matter.
Playfully ruffling Dylan's hair, Harry walked towards the Room of Requirement where he knew Daphne was. Doing his best to push the images of Daphne in the shower far away from his mind and adjusting his trousers, he paced three times in front of the blank wall and once the door appeared, he entered. What he saw took his breath away. Harry stood with his back to the wall, lips parted slightly as he observed the spectacle in front of him. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life. He watched his fiancée, a fond smile on his lips, love and respect shining in his eyes.
Daphne Greengrass was currently locked in a furious battle with five advanced duelling dummies, with the best the Room of Requirement could throw at her. Her usually styled hair was a mess with strands falling over her face. Her hand was a blur as she slashed her wand repeatedly, non-verbal curses and charms flowing easily from her wand, dancing around the incoming spells. While Daphne wasn't really that good at Transfiguration like her fiancé, she compensated that weakness with creative use of different Charms at her disposal. Similarly, Harry's weakness was that he found it difficult to fight in a closed environment. Battle Transfiguration at its best would be useful when it was an open area. However, both of them had a certain trait to their tactics which made them powerful duellists - both of them used their body movements to the best possible extent.
Daphne, a well-trained dancer for several years, was quite graceful on her feet as she used her moves to dodge the incoming spells, making her movements unpredictable to her enemy as she finished them off.
Harry, on the other hand, a student of martial arts, used his body to dodge the spells with the least amount of movements while he attacked in different directions, cutting off any room for escape.
Both of them relied heavily on acrobatics to win, their movements wide and powerful. The problem with both their tactics was that while their spell work was very aggressive, it was possible for them to tire quickly. To combat this weakness, Harry usually switched to dark, destructive curses in closed environments, his spells quick and straightforward.
Dylan, on the other hand, preferred a more balanced approach. He dodged too but didn't rely on acrobatics to win against his opponents. He preferred the method Amelia had taught him where he would use his opponent's weaknesses against them and take them out with precise movements. He defended himself against the assaults until he spotted their weaknesses and by this time, his opponents would tire themselves out, too weak to defend against the precise blows launched against them. This required observation skills, which Dylan had developed quite well under the careful eye of his aunt. This method was also what Albus Dumbledore employed.
There were other combat methods too. Voldemort, for example, always went on the offensive and due to the rituals he had done, he had enough power to constantly launch deadly attacks without fearing a drain on his magical core. His movements were too quick, unpredictable and random for the Dark Lord's enemies, making the duel quite one-sided. Very few stood a chance against him, which was why he was so highly feared.
Harry watched with a proud smile on his lips as Daphne managed to overcome the spells cast by the duelling dummies. Wanting to surprise her, he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and waited.
Daphne gracefully dodged the spell cast by the last practice dummy. A jet of white light flew from the tip of her wand and pretty soon, the dummy exploded into dust. A slow smirk formed on her lips as she observed the destruction around her. She had been practising on Level Four, which was a higher degree of lethal spells. Just as she wiped her face with a wet towel, she saw from the corner of her eye a spell coming towards her. Acting on instinct, she dropped the towel and flicked her wand at the spell. The incoming spell was caught at the tip of her wand and flung back at the caster.
....
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