The first snow appeared on the grounds in early December.
At first, it was only a thin white layer covering the lawns and greenhouse roofs. Two more nights were enough to make Hogwarts look like an illustration on a Christmas card.
The castle was beautiful.
Unfortunately, beautiful scenery did nothing to persuade Marcus Flint to cancel Quidditch practice.
"That man is mad," Draco announced, dropping into his seat.
His nose was red, his hair was wet, and he looked as though the weather had personally insulted him.
Blaise glanced up from his plate.
"Good morning to you too."
"We were out there for nearly two hours!"
"On the pitch?" I asked.
"No, Peverell. In the lake."
"I didn't realise Flint had started organising swimming lessons."
Draco gave me an irritated look. Blaise chuckled.
"Did you at least catch the Snitch?"
"Three times."
"That sounds pretty good."
"Of course it was good. Except Flint decided that if I could catch it in those conditions, I ought to practise for even longer."
Blaise nodded.
"Terrible. A captain expecting his Seeker to seek."
Draco reached for the hot tea.
"Zabini. One more word."
Blaise considered it.
"Snitch."
I burst out laughing. Draco closed his eyes as though asking Merlin for patience.
It was Friday, with one last day of lessons before the weekend. I planned to practise that afternoon, so even Draco's mood couldn't spoil mine.
The past two months had gone surprisingly quickly.
We still attended lessons, did our homework and listened to Lockhart recount his extraordinary adventures. Between all that, though, I'd found considerably more to do than at the start of term.
I saw Fred and George more often. I'd helped with a few small deliveries, although after our first trip to Hogsmeade, I'd learned to ask how many parcels were involved beforehand.
The twins knew an astonishing number of students. In almost every house, someone owed them money, was waiting for an order, or remembered them because of a particularly unsuccessful prank.
Draco, Blaise and I also went to the unofficial duels regularly.
I'd watched enough fights to stop assuming an older student would automatically beat a younger one. I could probably handle some of the third-years without much trouble. Others surprised me with ideas I'd never have thought of myself.
Among the fifth- and sixth-years were some genuinely skilled duellists.
More and more often, I found myself watching their fights and wondering how I would respond to a particular attack. I didn't always have an answer, but at least I now had more ideas than simply raising a shield and hoping it held.
I wanted to find out how much of it I could actually use.
"Oliver."
I looked up.
Blaise pointed at my untouched breakfast.
"Are you going to eat that?"
"Yes."
"He's probably thinking about duelling again," Draco said.
"Actually…"
"Knew it."
I smiled.
"Is it that obvious?"
"You get the same look every time someone mentions spells."
"What look?"
"As though you've just thought of something that's about to cost someone their wand."
I returned to my breakfast.
I wasn't going to deny it.
After our last lesson, I went to the library.
Madam Pince accepted the book I was returning with an expression that suggested she would rather I had never borrowed it.
Fortunately, she found no damage.
As I left her desk, I spotted Luna.
She was sitting by one of the windows with a book about magical creatures open in front of her. Her notebook lay beside it, and a small stone sat on the windowsill.
We'd spoken a few more times since our afternoon by the lake.
Usually by chance.
Sometimes we passed each other in the corridors; other times, I found her in the library. I'd joined her by the lake once more, but the Plimpies had apparently decided not to show themselves near the bank that day.
Luna thought they might have moved into deeper water.
I suspected they simply had more sense than the students trying to watch them in the November cold.
I approached her table.
"Hello, Luna."
She looked up.
"Hello, Oliver."
I pointed at the stone.
"A new specimen?"
"Yes."
"What's unusual about it?"
"I found it under the snow."
I took a closer look.
It was grey and slightly flattened, with a narrow white vein running through the middle.
"It looks like an ordinary stone."
Luna nodded.
"It is an ordinary stone."
I blinked.
Then I laughed.
"Why did you bring it in, then?"
"I liked it."
I nodded.
"Fair enough."
Luna smiled and closed her book.
"Did you find anything about Plimpies?"
"A little."
I sat in the empty chair.
"Apparently, they often return to the same places if they find food there. But not always. It depends on the season and what other creatures live nearby."
"That's what I thought."
"Haven't you seen them lately?"
"Hardly at all. The lake's very cold now."
"I can imagine."
She looked out of the window.
Snow drifted slowly down onto the grounds.
"I'd like to see what they do in winter."
"You could wait until spring."
"Then I wouldn't see what they do in winter."
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
"Right."
Luna giggled.
We talked about the lake for a few minutes. She told me she'd recently found descriptions in the library of several creatures her father had previously only mentioned in letters.
She asked about Hedwig too.
"She's fine," I replied. "Though lately she's decided my notes are the best place to sit."
"Perhaps she wants to read them."
"If she does, she'll have to learn to turn the pages."
Luna smiled.
"Perhaps she already can."
"Don't give her ideas."
She laughed quietly.
I had to admit I'd grown fond of these conversations.
Luna wasn't particularly talkative when she had nothing to say. But once something interested her, she could talk about it for quite a while.
And sometimes she said something so unexpected that I needed a few seconds to think of a reply.
Eventually, I checked the time.
"I should go."
"Have you got lessons?"
"No. I was going to practise."
"Spells?"
"Yes."
She nodded.
"Good luck, then."
"Thanks. What about you?"
"I think I'll read a little longer."
She indicated her book.
"Then I'll go and see whether there's any ice by the shore yet."
"Be careful not to fall in."
"I'll try."
She hesitated briefly.
"You too."
I raised my eyebrows.
"I'm not going to the lake."
"I know."
She smiled faintly.
"It's still good advice."
I laughed.
"See you, Luna."
"See you."
I headed between the shelves.
Behind me, I heard a page turn.
I didn't dwell on our conversation for long.
I had something to do.
The Room of Requirement greeted me with the familiar smell of wood and stone.
I'd spent a fair amount of time here over the past two months. Not every day. Sometimes I had homework, met up with friends, or simply didn't feel like spending another hour casting spells at wooden figures.
But I practised regularly.
Three dummies stood in the middle of the room. Two held wooden wands; the third served as a target by the far wall. Several obstacles stood between them.
I put down my bag and took my position.
"Let's begin."
The first dummy raised its arm. A yellow flash shot towards me.
"Protego!"
The spell scattered against my shield. I answered immediately.
"Expelliarmus!"
The practice wand flew from its wooden hand.
The second figure attacked from the side. I dodged, letting the flash pass my shoulder.
"Impedimenta!"
The dummy froze halfway through its movement. I turned towards the first.
"Depulso!"
The wooden figure struck the obstacle behind it.
I lowered my wand, and the dummies returned to their places.
Not long ago, switching from defence to attack had taken me far too long. Now I could raise a shield, take a hit and retaliate before I started wondering whether I'd done the previous part properly.
I'd also learned to move out of the way more often. If I could avoid a spell with a single step, raising a shield wasn't always worth the time.
"Change the layout."
The dummies moved. One obstacle came closer; another shifted towards the wall.
This time, I started with cover.
"Caligo!"
Mist filled the space in front of me. I moved right, careful not to catch my foot on the obstacle.
During the first few days of practice, I'd managed to obscure my own view just as effectively as the dummy's several times. Now I knew the room's layout and how far I intended to move, but I still had to reveal my target before attacking.
"Ventus!"
The mist parted under the gust. The wooden figure was turning towards me.
"Vestis Traho!"
The cloth wrapped around its arm jerked. Its wand swung aside.
"Expelliarmus!"
A hit.
I smiled and told the dummy to return to its place.
The combination still needed work. If I kept the mist up for too long, I lost my bearings. If I dispersed it too soon, I gained almost nothing. Nor was I sure a person would respond the same way as the figure I practised with.
That was precisely why I wanted to try.
I ran through the sequence several more times, changing sides and distances. Once, I failed to pull the dummy's arm aside in time and had to abandon my attack to raise a shield. Another time, the gust only revealed part of its body.
I noted both problems in my notebook.
Then I moved to the table by the wall.
A metal ball, a small mirror and a candle lay on it. I opened my notebook to the pages devoted to my eyes. Over the past few weeks, they'd filled with notes, crossings-out and increasingly illegible sketches.
"Lumos."
Light appeared at the tip of my wand.
I focused my right eye on the active magic. Bright lines formed a familiar pattern around the wand's tip. After many attempts, I'd begun to recognise the changes that accompanied making the light stronger or spreading it out.
That didn't mean I understood the entire structure. But I knew enough to have somewhere to start.
I reached for my Will.
The light narrowed into a beam aimed at the mirror. Without moving my wand, I shifted the bright spot across its surface. I held the change for a few seconds, then allowed the light to spread again.
I could do that consistently now, at least when I was rested.
Lately, I'd been trying to go further.
I aimed the light at the wall and narrowed it again. This time, I wanted two separate beams.
The bright patch trembled. For a moment, nothing else happened. Then its centre began to darken.
Two uneven circles appeared on the stone.
There.
I smiled, concentrating on both. One drifted slowly downwards while the other stayed in place. I tried to bring them level.
The weaker circle dimmed.
At the same moment, I felt the familiar weakness, as though the effort had suddenly spread through my whole body.
I let go.
The light returned to normal.
"Nox."
I rested a hand on the table. My eyes didn't hurt this time, but I knew this fatigue. A few deeper breaths wouldn't make it go away.
Frederick had warned me about it repeatedly. The absence of pain didn't mean using the ability had cost me nothing.
I sat down and drank some water. In my notebook, I wrote that splitting the light had worked, but adjusting both beams at once was harder than creating them.
A few minutes later, I still felt weak.
I should have stopped there. Instead, I glanced at the metal ball.
One short attempt. Something I already knew how to do.
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The ball rose above the table. I steadied it with the ordinary spell, then lowered my wand slightly.
My right eye revealed the magic surrounding the object. Its pattern differed from Lumos, but I knew it from previous practice.
I imposed a simple change.
The ball moved sideways, traced a small arc and returned to the centre of the table.
Enough.
I lowered it onto the surface before I could convince myself that a second arc would be just as good an idea.
The fatigue hadn't gone away, but the movement had been exactly what I wanted. Less and less often, I ended up with an accidental result I couldn't reproduce.
That was far more interesting than simple levitation.
If I could alter how my own spells worked, perhaps I could eventually use it in a fight. Change the course of an attack, or reshape a shield at the right moment.
I'd already tried the latter. Once, I'd managed to bend part of a Protego shield. The next attempt had weakened its edge.
Promising, but I wasn't about to test the method on someone actively trying to hit me.
I added the result of the ball experiment and closed the notebook.
Enough for today.
I had plenty of spells that didn't require Will. It was time to find out how well I could use them against a person.
The next morning, Fred and George caught me before I could sit down to breakfast.
"Peverell!"
I gave them a suspicious look.
"No."
Fred stopped.
"We haven't said anything yet."
"Exactly."
Blaise, already sitting at the table, snorted.
George leaned in a little.
"Marsh's opponent pulled out of tonight's duel. Mara wants to know whether you'd like to take his place."
I put down my cup.
"Elliot Marsh?"
"Third year, Hufflepuff," Fred confirmed.
I remembered him from a meeting in November. He'd won quite quickly, taking advantage of his opponent's poor footing.
"He's had a few duels already."
"And he's quite good," George said. "But since you wanted to have a go…"
This was exactly the sort of opportunity I'd been waiting for.
I saw no reason to face a fifth-year straight away. Equally, I didn't want an opponent who was only just learning the Disarming Charm.
Marsh seemed like a good place to start.
"I'm in."
Fred grinned.
"Excellent."
Draco put down his tea.
"Tonight?"
"Yes."
He looked at me.
"I'd like to see that."
Blaise was interested in something else.
"What are the odds?"
"We haven't set them yet," George replied. "Depends how many people want to back Peverell."
"You're really taking bets on my fight?"
"Of course," Fred said. "Wouldn't be fair to make an exception for you."
"Finally, someone respects the rules," Blaise agreed.
I looked at him.
"You just want to put money on it."
"Both can be true."
George reminded me to come early. Mara wanted to speak to me before the meeting began.
The twins were already leaving when Fred glanced back.
"Just don't get disarmed in the first ten seconds."
"Why?"
"We won't have sold the snacks."
I didn't practise any magic that day.
I felt better after a night's sleep, but I wasn't going to use up my energy before the evening. Nor could I learn anything in a few hours that would replace the past months of work.
Instead, I finished my Potions essay, visited the library, and returned to the dormitory after dinner to change into more comfortable robes.
Draco watched me from his bed.
"Aren't you nervous?"
"A little."
"You don't look it."
"Should I?"
"It's your first duel."
"My first at these meetings."
He nodded.
"Right."
He adjusted his cuff for a moment.
"If you win, I'll have a go too."
"You can do that regardless."
"I know."
Blaise looked up from tying his shoes.
"Let him fight first. Neither of you's won anything yet."
I picked up my wand from the bedside table.
"Then let's go before I miss my chance by being late."
There were more people in the room than on our first visit. Perhaps forty. The desks still lined the walls, and the chalk rectangle occupied the middle of the floor.
I recognised Imogen Price talking to a friend by the window. Gareth Pike sat across the room, looking through a notebook.
Mara waited by the entrance with a list of duellists.
"Peverell. Still sure?"
"Yes."
"Good. Marsh is here already. You're on after the first fight."
She reminded me of the rules: no spells intended to cause serious injury, and the duel ended at a disarming, a surrender, or her command.
"When I say stop, you stop immediately."
"Understood."
She pointed towards the empty seats.
"You can wait there."
Before I left, she stopped me once more.
"You don't have to prove anything to anyone."
I smiled.
"I just want to duel."
"Keep it that way."
Elliot approached a few minutes later. He was a little taller than me, with short brown hair, and didn't seem particularly concerned about the audience.
"Oliver Peverell?"
I stood and shook his offered hand.
"Elliot Marsh."
"I saw one of your fights," I said. "In November. Against a Ravenclaw."
"Harris?"
"Possibly."
He smiled.
"He kept trying to hit me with the same spell."
"I remember."
He studied me with interest.
"I hear you're good."
"I practise."
"We'll see, then."
"Looking forward to it."
It didn't sound like boasting. He seemed as pleased at the prospect of a fight as I was.
The first duel ended in less than a minute. A fourth-year Ravenclaw took advantage of his opponent's overly broad wand movement and disarmed him before he could recover.
Mara announced the result. She waited for the applause to fade, then consulted her list.
"Marsh and Peverell. You're up."
Draco patted my shoulder.
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
"I've backed you," Blaise announced.
"How much?"
"Two Sickles."
"That's all?"
"I have to think about my future too."
I laughed and headed onto the marked floor.
A few people began whispering. Most probably knew my name; some might remember the events of the previous year.
Today, it didn't matter much.
I wasn't fighting Voldemort. Nobody needed rescuing. I was facing a student a year older than me who wanted to test his skills just as much as I did.
I liked that.
Mara stood between us.
"Stay inside the lines. Don't aim at the spectators. Lower your wands immediately when I tell you to."
We nodded.
"Take your places."
We stepped back and bowed.
I felt the tension as I raised my wand. My grip tightened, then I relaxed my fingers.
Mara lifted her hand.
"Begin!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Elliot attacked first.
"Protego!"
The red flash scattered against my shield. Before I could answer, he raised his wand again.
"Everte Statum!"
I stepped aside. The spell passed my shoulder.
"Impedimenta!"
Marsh blocked it. I sent a second spell after the first.
"Expelliarmus!"
This time, he dodged and immediately turned back towards me.
"Lubricus!"
The stone beneath my feet gleamed.
I tried to move clear, but my right foot slipped before I could put my weight on it.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!"
My shield appeared low and at a slightly different angle than I'd intended. It held.
I moved away from the slippery patch and regained my balance.
Clever.
The dummies had never made staying on my feet quite so difficult.
"Depulso!"
Elliot dodged left. I moved the other way, making sure the enchanted stone wasn't directly behind me.
"Impedimenta!"
"Protego!"
I didn't give him time to settle his aim after dropping the shield. Another Expelliarmus forced him to jump aside.
For several seconds, we exchanged spells while circling the centre of the duelling area. Once, I had to take a Depulso on my shield; the impact forced me to step back. I avoided the next attack and answered with a Disarming Charm.
Elliot's shield shuddered but held.
He looked at me over its fading glow.
"Not bad!"
"You too!"
He raised his wand again.
"Ventus!"
The gust hit him before he finished the movement. Marsh staggered back, spread his feet and stayed upright.
But he couldn't attack straight away.
I moved a few steps sideways, changing the angle. The slippery patch was now on his side of the duelling area, close to one of the longer chalk lines.
For a moment, I focused my right eye.
The active spell covered the stone in a thin layer of magic. I saw exactly where it ended, then returned to ordinary sight.
Elliot knew where his own trap was, but now I didn't have to guess either.
I sent an Impedimenta at him. He blocked it and answered with a Disarming Charm. I dodged towards the centre, positioning myself so he had to turn away from the clear end of the duelling area.
He took my next attack on his shield.
He avoided the one after that, retreating along the chalk line.
There wasn't much room behind him now. The slippery stone lay to his left, and I moved with him, giving him no easy chance to return to the centre.
Elliot glanced down.
He knew what I was trying to do.
He cast Expelliarmus at me, presumably hoping to force me back. I stopped it with a shield and answered at once.
"Impedimenta!"
This time, I aimed to his left. He didn't want to retreat over the line or dodge onto the slippery patch. He moved right, towards clear stone.
Exactly what I'd been waiting for.
"Depulso!"
I cast at an angle, aiming for his right shoulder. Elliot tried to raise a shield but didn't finish it in time.
The impact turned him and pushed him left.
His foot landed on the enchanted stone.
It slid out from under him. He swung his free arm, trying to keep his balance.
"Expelliarmus!"
The red flash struck him in the chest.
His wand flew into the air.
"Stop!" Mara called.
I lowered my own wand, reached out with my other hand and caught Elliot's. He managed to avoid falling, though he had to drop to one knee before he could get off the slippery patch.
He looked at his empty hand.
"Damn."
I let out a breath and laughed.
"You nearly got me with the same thing."
"I cast it myself." He shook his head, looking at the floor. "Should've seen that coming."
"Oliver Peverell wins!"
Applause broke out. Several Slytherins cheered, and someone across the room whistled.
I returned Elliot's wand.
"Good fight," he said.
"Thanks. That first Lubricus nearly had me."
We shook hands.
"Are you really a second-year?"
"Yes."
He shook his head, but he was smiling.
"I'd like another go sometime."
"So would I."
Mara asked him to remove the spell from the floor before the next pair came on. I stepped aside and returned to my friends.
Draco immediately leaned towards me.
"That was brilliant."
"I made three Sickles," Blaise announced.
I looked at him.
"Glad you enjoyed it too."
"I always support my friends."
"Especially when they win," Draco added.
Blaise didn't deny it.
I sat down and only then noticed how tightly I was still gripping my wand. I relaxed my hand.
I was pleased with myself.
Elliot knew how to keep the pressure on, and he'd genuinely surprised me. For a moment, I'd come very close to losing. But I'd defended myself in time, then taken my opportunity.
Without Will.
I'd briefly used my right eye to see the spell's exact boundaries. Everything else had come from what I'd practised over the past months.
Fred appeared beside our chairs, notebook in hand.
"You should fight more often."
"Because I did well?"
"That too."
George joined him.
"It was good to watch. Though a few people will be more careful with their bets because of you."
"You'll manage."
"We hope so."
Fred gave me a closer look.
"Well? Was it worth trying?"
I looked at the rectangle. The next duellists were taking their places while Mara checked that the floor was clear.
"Yes."
I smiled.
"Definitely."
On the way back to the dungeons, Draco argued that I should have tried pushing Elliot onto the slippery patch sooner.
"I was standing on it at the start," I reminded him.
"Not after that."
"After that, he was trying to disarm me."
Blaise laughed.
"That does tend to interfere with planning."
I didn't mind their comments. I was trying to reconstruct a few moments myself, especially the one where I'd nearly lost my footing. Everything had happened quickly in the room. Now I was noticing things I hadn't even had time to consider during the fight.
My next practice session could be different.
I wanted to work on defending myself when I wasn't standing firmly on both feet. And find out whether I could force a dummy back without casting three spells into almost the same spot.
But that could wait.
For now, I'd won my first duel.
As soon as we entered the dormitory, Draco announced:
"I'm speaking to Mara tomorrow."
"About a fight?" I asked.
"What else?"
Blaise sat on his bed.
"I'll have to start putting money aside."
Draco turned to him.
"To back me?"
"Haven't decided yet. Depends who you're fighting."
A pillow flew across the room. Blaise ducked in time.
I laughed and put my wand on the bedside table.
I'd enjoy watching Draco duel.
I'd enjoy having another go myself even more.