"Harry," Tracey asked in a soft voice as they walked back to the Slytherin common room. "is Angela really your vassal?" She asked as she glanced between Angela and Harry.
"Yes." Harry nodded.
"That's what that whole thing between Angela and Blaise was about, right?" Daphne asked.
"Right," Harry nodded again. "she wanted to explain everything to Blaise."
"By the way, did my brother give you any trouble over it?" Angela asked.
"No," Harry shook his head. "he did be honest about how he wasn't yet a hundred percent okay with it but he is making an effort to deal with it in return for me treating you good."
"But...why did you become Harry's vassal?" Daphne asked Angela.
"A lot of it is due to personal reasons which I am not really comfortable with revealing," Angela replied. "but before either of you two say anything, I was the one who convinced Harry to take me as his vassal, not the other way around."
"Jet helped convince me." Harry added.
"I, along with Jet, were the ones who convinced Harry to take me as his vassal, not the other way around." Angela amended. "So please don't judge him, he has done it to help me."
"Of course he did," Daphne snorted. "still can't get rid of all of the Gryffindor nobility, can you Potter?" She said with a playful nudge.
"Believe me, I've tried." Harry joked as they arrived outside of the Slytherin common room.
"Just don't change too much." Tracey smiled at him.
"I am perfect the way I am, aren't I?" Harry grinned as they entered the common room. Once they were inside they saw all of the Slytherin's turn to look at them. "Right, screw this noise, I'm going to my room." Harry said to the girls before quickly walking up to his room while the girls took a moment before deciding that Harry's idea was a good one and quickly went up into their own rooms.
Once Harry was alone in his room he took his wand out and stared at it, his mind recalled that ball of lightning that came out of his wand during the meeting. Harry focused and tried to remember the feeling he had gotten from the ball. It took several minutes along with the combination of being too stubborn to give up but Harry was eventually able to get the ball to return.
"Ha! Can you see that Jet?!" Harry hissed happily.
"I can see it, well done, you are powerful master!" Jet hissed, just as happy.
"I...I don't even feel a little bit tired from doing this." Harry said before he heard the sound of footsteps, he quickly cut the spell off just before Blaise arrived.
"Alright Harry?" Blaise asked as he walked in and sat on his own bed. "Everyone wants to know what happened by the way," He added in a casual voice. "oh and by the way...what did happen? The rest of us missed most of it after you blasting Filch into Lockhart. You're a legend for that by the way." Blaise grinned.
"I'll tell you everything tomorrow." Harry smiled, "right now I just want to go to sleep." Harry said as he pulled his sleeping clothes out.
"Fair enough, good night mate."
"Good night, Blaise." Harry replied while internally he thought more about the ball of lightning, he would have to do some more experimentation with it.
The next day Harry realized something, everyone in the school thought that he was the heir of Slytherin. People took great care to avoid him, most of them looked at him like he was about to kill them at any second, and he wasn't going to do that, despite Jet's suggestion and belief that he should to do it to a few if only to teach the rest of them their proper place in the food chain.
Many of the Slytherin's also gave him odd looks, it seemed like they thought he was the heir of Slytherin because of his parsletounge ability and the fact that he was a great student but at the same time they doubted it because of him being a halfblood and the fact that he seemed to hold no grudge against muggles or muggleborns while also making sure that anyone who says the word 'mudblood' in his presence would get the crap scared out of them.
The Ravenclaws seemed to have joined the 'not sure' group on the topic of Harry being the heir of Slytherin, but the Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's on the other hand were a different story. The Hufflepuff's seemed scared that he would snap and suddenly set Jet or any other number of snakes on them while the Gryffindors thought that he was evil incarnate (no doubt at least partially thanks to a certain redhead). The fact that Harry had been abused by muggles certainly did not help him in the eyes of people who thought that he was actually the heir of Slytherin.
"It's just ridiculous, that's all I am saying." Harry was saying to his fellow second year Slytherin's as they sat at the Slytherin table for breakfast. "If I was the heir of Slytherin, which I am not, but if I was then I would do better than target the caretakers cat."
"People have been saying that you did it because you knew that Filch is a squib." Blaise commented.
"If I would have done it then it would have been because I thought Filch is a prick." Harry replied.
It turned out that Mrs Norris was simply the first victim and definitely not the last, the next person to be attacked was Colin Creevey who was found petrified in a hallway. And naturally the whole school knew of Harry's dislike of Colin so they were all pretty sure that it was Harry who was responsible. Though eventually the school stopped talking about how Harry was obviously the heir when something interesting was announced, starting today was the dueling club.
Harry and his friends naturally decided to go, which is why they were in the great hall with about ninety percent of all the other students from every year. In the middle of the hall was a long dueling platform, the Slytherin's and Ravenclaws stood on one side of the platform while the Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's stood on the opposite side.
"Who do you think is going to teach this?" Draco whispered to Harry, who was stood with Jet on his shoulders.
"I'm not sure." Harry admitted. "The best choice would either be Professor Dumbledore or Professor Flitwick. They're both powerful wizards and Flitwick is a former dueling champion."
"Gather around everyone." Lockhart said as he walked on to the stage.
"Or it could be that idiot." Harry sighed.
"Can you all see me? Can you all hear me? You can? Excellent," Lockhart said as he stopped in the middle of the platform and smiled at everyone. "Now, Professor Dumbledore has made the best decision of his career and he had allowed me, Gilderoy Lockhart, to reform the dueling club. Exciting, isn't it? I will train you all up, in case you ever need to defend yourself, as I have done on countless occasions. For full detail, see my published works." Lockhart grinned before he removed his cloak and tossed it into the crowd where a bunch of girls caught it. "Let me introduce, my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart gestured to the end of the platform where Professor Snape seemed to rise up as if he was rising up out of hell. "He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration," Lockhart said just as Snape walked over to the center of the stage. "now I don't want any of you youngsters to worry. You will still have your potions professor when I am through with him, never fear." Lockhart said, not noticing Snape's glare.
Lockhart and Snape stopped in front of each other, both raised their wands and held them in front of their faces, they then quickly brought their wands down and gave each other a short bow before turning around. Both walked five paces away from each other and once they were both sufficiently far away they turned around and faced each other as they both shifted into their dueling stances.
Harry easily recognized Snape's stance, he was facing side ways to reduce his target area while holding his wand up above his head, the second the duel started he would quickly bring his wand forward by swinging it down and fire. It wasn't the best dueling stance but was generally used if the person was confident of their victory. Lockhart hand one closed hand on his hip and had his wand about chest height in front of him while leaning on his back leg. Lockhart's stance was also one used by those confident of victory, but it was also used by those who were great at defence while also using a lot of power in their spells and Harry doubted that Lockhart had the sufficient power for it, or the skill, or the luck, or the brains, or...you get the picture.. If that wasn't bad enough then add in the fact that he was doing it wrong by facing Snape with his chest forward, giving Snape a larger target area.
"One," Lockhart began counting. "two...three."
"Expelliarmus!" Snape quickly said as he aimed his wand Lockhart, his disarming spell shot through the air and hit Lockhart dead center. The blonde haired professor found himself flying backwards through the air as his wand fell out of his hand.
"Oh look he managed to do a backflip." Jet said in an impressed voice just before Lockhart landed hard on his back. Many students began laughing while a smaller amount of students - mostly girls - began wondering if Lockhart was alright.
"I don't think Professor Snape likes him." Tracey said in a dry voice.
"An excellent idea to show them that Professor Snape," Lockhart quickly said as he got up and walked to Professor Snape. "though if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do and if I wanted to stop you it would only be too easy."
"Perhaps, it would be prudent to teach the students how to block unfriendly spells." Snape said, looking like he was doing his best to not insult Lockhart. Lockhart's smile faltered for a second before he brought it back up to full power.
"Yes, an excellent idea, Professor Snape. Now, how bout a volunteer pair?" Lockhart said as he looked around. "Um...Potter, how about you? Come on up." He said. Harry sighed before he handed Jet over to Daphne, in truth he didn't mind dueling someone but it was more the fact that Lockhart insisted on acting so friendly with him. Harry got on the stage just as Lockhart began looking around for an opponent for Harry. "Now, we've got Mr Potter, now who should he face? Hmm...how about..."
"I'll fight him!" Ron Weasley shouted suddenly.
"No," Harry shook his head. "I'd like at least someone who can give me a challenge."
"Shut it! I can beat you!" Ron said in a confident voice.
"Fine," Harry rolled his eyes. "let's duel then. I could use a good warm up."
"Mr Weasley it is." Snape said before Lockhart could reply. Ron got up on the stage, Harry and Ron walked towards each other and stopped in front of each other just like Lockhart and Snape had done before. They both brought their wands up in front of their faces.
"You scared, Potter?" Ron said as he glared at Harry.
"Yes, I am not sure what diseases you carry." Harry calmly replied, earning some laughter from nearby students. Ron's face went red because of that, Harry and Ron dropped their wand hands down to the sides of their body before turning around and walking away from each other. Harry stopped in front of Professor Snape while Ron stopped in front of Lockhart.
They both took their stances, Ron tried to copy Snape's stance but made the same mistake as Lockhart by not standing sideways. Harry, on the other hand. stood sideways with his wand in front of him at chest height while his other hand was behind him and held up for balance.
"On the count of three I want you to disarm, only disarm, we don't want any accidents over here." Lockhart said before he began counting. "One..."
"Kill him!" Jet shouted.
"Two..." Lockhart continued. "...three!"
"Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted as he fired his disarming spell towards Harry. To Ron's credit the spell looked decently powered for someone of his age, but it wasn't really enough when fighting against Harry. Harry casually leaned to the side and allowed the spell to shoot past him. Ron blinked before he fired the spell again, this time Harry side stepped before firing a disarming spell of his own. But unlike Ron he wasn't going to fire one spell and wait, he fired two more disarming spells to follow up.
Ron side stepped the first when he saw the second and third coming, he leaned to the side and was barely missed by the second but was hit by the third and went flying back before landing on his back just as his wand landed next to him.
"So I win then?" Harry asked in a bored voice. Ron, seeming to not understand that he would have been better accepting his loss, quickly crawled over to his wand. Harry rolled his eyes and waited until Ron got to a kneeling position, Harry aimed his wand at the floor in front of Ron. "Pila ricochet." Harry calmly said, a glowing white ball shot out of his wand and bounced off the floor in front of Ron before hitting Ron in the face, Ron let out a cry of pain as he landed on his back just before Harry's disarming spell hit him and his wand went flying out of his hand and was caught by Harry. "So...you want to go for a third round?" Harry asked in a casual voice.
"Weasley," Snape all but growled at Ron who was clutching his bleeding nose. "it wasn't bad enough that you so easily lost but then you try to attack your opponent after you've already lost. Ten points from Gryffindor and a week's detention. Someone take Weasley to the hospital wing." Percy glared at Harry before he quickly walked over and grabbed Ron before taking him out of the hall and to the hospital wing.
"Anyone else?" Harry asked as he twirled his wand in his hand.
"We'll fight him." The Weasley twins said at the same time.
"There are two of you." Snape sneered at them.
"Indeed boys," Lockhart chuckled. "we appreciate the enthusiasm but it's hardly fair for Mr Potter to fight two on one. He'll need a partner."
"A partner?" Harry blinked.
"Yes, come on, a two on two duel is exciting." Lockhart grinned. "Anyone want to volunteer to be Mr Potter's partner?" He asked the room.
"Professor," Daphne raised her hand, narrowly beating out Angela. "I'll do it." She said. Harry glanced at Angela and saw that she was giving him a questioning look, clearly asking him what he wanted her to do.
"I'll take her." Harry nodded, though his nod was more focused at Angela who nodded back in understanding.
"Here Jet, you stay with Tracey." She said as she handed Jet to Tracey before walking onto the platform.
"Hey Jet," Tracey whispered to Jet. "I know I'm not your favorite or anything but just behave for me, please? She said, giving him a questioning look, a relieved sigh escaped her when Jet nodded in response.
"Thanks for volunteering, Daph." Harry whispered to Daphne when she stopped next to him and stood on his left side.
"Thanks for accepting, I want to see how good I am, I've been practicing really hard." She whispered back. "You know it's not too late for you to switch me for Angela." She said, giving him a questioning look.
"You are more than good enough Daphne." Harry smiled at her, she smiled back just before the Weasley twins stepped onto the other side of the platform. Harry and Daphne met them in the middle of the platform, all four raised their wands in front of their faces.
"This time..." One of the twins began.
"You'll lose." The other finished.
"Doubt it." Daphne and Harry said at the exact same time, each with matching grins. The twins scowled at them before all four of them lowered their wands and turned around before walking away from each other. Once they were far enough away they faces each other and took their stances.
"Alright, this is exciting." Lockhart grinned. "Start on three, one...two...three!"
The Weasley's went first and both fired disarming spells at the same time, Harry and Daphne dodged before they both returned fire with their own disarming spells, the twins dodged and returned fire with what the two Slytherin's recognized as a couple of prank hexes, no doubt to humiliate them. Daphne ducked under her spell but Harry did not, nor did he attempt to dodge.
"Protego!" Harry said and to the shock of the Weasley's - along with everyone else in the hall - he blocked the spell with a fully functioning protego shield, a shield that was really not supposed to be able to be learnt at Harry's age. Harry took advantage of their shock and aimed his wand at the Weasley twins while his free hand quickly reached over and covered Daphne's eyes. "Solis flare!" A bright light shot out of Harry's wand, blinding the Weasley's who quickly covered their eyes and took a couple of steps back. A few other people had to close their eyes as well, but Angela, Tracey and the other Slytherin's had seen Harry use that spell before and the more fast thinking Slytherin's were able to close their eyes in time while Tracey also made sure to cover Jet's eyes.
Harry removed his hand from Daphne's eyes and gestured to the twins with a grin, Daphne looked at the red eyed twins who were still blinking in an attempt to clear their version. Daphne grinned back at Harry before they both aimed their wands at the twins. The two started with disarming them but before anyone could even blink the pair quickly shot as many hexes as they could before Lockhart eventually called them to stop.
By the end of their barrage of spells the twins were looking very different, Harry's twin was now supporting silver hair, elf like ears, a green face, several boils along his face while also suffering from a bad case of purple nurples. The twin that Daphne got was suffering from a a silver face, green hair, a nose longer than Snape's nose, a severe cold and a wedgie.
"I like to think we won that." Harry smiled at Daphne.
"I like to think so too." She smirked just as everyone who wasn't prepared finally recovered from Harry's 'Solis flare' and were able to finally see the Weasley twins. The Slytherin's didn't even bother to hide their laughter, they were glad that the twins that took so much joy in pranking them were now embarrassed in front of the whole school, by second years no less.
"I think that's enough excitement for today." Harry said as he offered Daphne a hand, she placed her hand in his and he escorted her off the platform while Snape said something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'ten points to Slytherin'.
A.N: Hi guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I mentioned in the last chapter that I had something special planned for Harry's response to the accusations of him being the heir of Slytherin, it will be shown in the next chapter, I hope you guys like it because it is a really simple thing but it's also something I had hoped Harry would do in canon.
Anyway thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review.