Dueling Hearts Ch. 35 (Patreon)

Daphne and Susan were openly weeping, while Lily and Angelina were sniffling lightly as tears streamed down their faces.

Even Harry and Tonks, who had seen the memories already and thought they’d be desensitized, couldn’t contain their emotions as they too shed tears for the blonde veela.

Bellatrix was completely shell-shocked, with all colour having been drained from her face as she stared at the now empty wall.

Meanwhile, Fleur sat next to her, looking completely unaffected, as if she’d just gone through a boring instructional video on proper broom maintenance.

“H-H-How-” Daphne sniffled, “How are you so unaffected by this?”

Fleur tugged at her shirt until she revealed her collarbone, where a tattoo of a perfectly balanced scale was currently glowing lightly.

“That’s definitely not healthy.” Angelina whispered, though there was really no zip to her little quip. After witnessing what Fleur had gone through, it was a miracle that the girl hadn’t gone insane.

“C-Can I hug you?” Daphne asked.

Fleur nodded, and Daphne leapt up, running over to wrap her arms around her fellow blonde.

Daphne cried into Fleur’s shoulder for a moment, wiping tears from her face before she looked over at Harry.

“Can we keep her? Please?”

Tonks snorted, Harry and Angelina chortled, and soon everyone laughed. It was a light, almost nervous round of laughter, but it lightened the mood ever so slightly.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’ll gladly welcome you into our coven.” Lily said.

“Fleur, if you ever need to talk about your feelings…” Susan began.

Fleur cringed slightly at the thought “I’d rather not.”

Seeing the redhead’s big brown eyes staring up at her with such worry, Fleur should have been repelled. She hated people’s pity, despised it.

But she didn’t feel that way. For the first time since she’d been ten, she felt like someone was genuinely concerned for her, she felt cared for. She felt loved.

It was a scary feeling. Part of her wanted to push Daphne off from where she was now perched on her lap, bolt for the door and never return again.

But a much bigger part was tired. Tired of all the pain. Tired of all the self–hatred. A bigger part of her wanted to allow herself to feel loved.

“Perhaps, in the future.” She added, earning a small smile and a nod from the redhead.

Tonks made her way over to her side. Fleur looked up, and the pink-haired metamorphmagus leant down and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

It was short, but it was very, very sweet. And when Nymphadora pulled back with a grin, Fleur couldn’t help but smile back.

“Just glad I can do that now.” Tonks said.

Fleur smiled, and then her lips were claimed once more, and the curtain of blonde hair that obscured her vision let her know exactly who it was.

The pouty, baby soft lips felt as wonderful as Fleur had envisioned. She tried to compare them to her kisses with Harry and Nymphadora, but she found she couldn’t really rank them. They all felt so different, and yet they all felt so special.

She decided the best course of action was to just lose herself in it. The rune that meant to regulate her mood deactivated just as she buried her hands in Daphne’s blonde tresses and swept her tongue into the other girl’s mouth.

The others watched the kiss, which was slowly devolving into a very passionate affair, with growing hornyness, but Lily managed to reign them all in. “We still have classes to go through today. Plus, I believe Fleur needs a proper welcome to the coven tonight,”

Bellatrix grinned as Fleur and Daphne broke off their kiss, “We’ll get to try out all the goodies I installed in the coven house.”

“Speaking of, we just completed our numbers, didn’t we? What’s the next step?” Angelina asked.

“The next step won't be until the winter solstice. Then, we’ll perform the coven ritual, and that should be it. We’ll be tied together for all eternity.” Bellatrix said.

“That sounds super ominous. I can’t wait!” Nymphadora cheered.

“What does the ritual entail exactly? Will we have to sacrifice a deer or something?” Angelina asked.

“Of course not!”

“Of course we will.”

Bellatrix and Susan stared at each other as they’d both spoken at once. Lily, who had thoroughly read the book on covens along with Bellatrix, spoke up,

“Our book says that animal sacrifice is a central part in the ritual. We need to capture an animal to represent each member of the coven.” Lily said.

Susan frowned. “Helga’s notes don’t say that at all. They just say that we need the animals for the ritual, but that they won't be harmed during the process.”

“Seems to me like you’ve got two completely different Coven rituals on your hands.” Harry said.

“Fuck, yet another thing we have to look into, huh?” Bellatrix groaned.

“It's alright. Susan, you and I can compare notes, see if we can reconcile both sides.” Lily said.

“I’m dozing off just hearing about all this shit.” Tonks let out an exaggerated yawn. “How about we all go down for lunch and leave all the technical mumbo jumbo for later?”

The newly completed coven agreed, and they made their way down to the Great Hall.

…

“Welcome to another edition of Friday Night Duels! Boy, do we have a special one for you folks tonight! The new and improved Gilderoy Lockhart is set to face his toughest challenge yet. Coming all the way from the hinterlands of Siberia, the fifth ranked duelist in the entire planet, tonight, we've got Alexei Petrovic!”

“I gotta say, Frank, this is quite a risky move from Lockhart's camp. I know they say he's upped his game, but I feel like they could have picked an easier tune-up duel than this one.”

“That's a good point, Dedaleus. The Gilderoy Lockhart train could be derailed before it even leaves the station, or we could be in for the shock of our lives if he's able to take on the Russian Titan.”

In a sky box high above the pit, the members of the dueling commission were gorging themselves on lobster tails, caviar and expensive steaks as they waited for the feature duel to commence.

Mr. Bergkamp observed his colleagues as they stuffed their mouths full of food. “Why exactly are you all eating like starved men?”

One of the men swallowed down a big lump of food, dabbing a napkin on his face, “This may be the last time we get afforded such luxuries. Petrovic destroying Lockhart will be the final nail in the coffin for us.”

Bergkamp snorted, “Is that how you all feel?”

Everyone else's lack of response was all the answer he needed. Bergkamp shook his head, they would swallow their doubts soon enough.

Bergkamp shared a look with Stevens, the only other man who had the full picture. Stevens nodded soberly, even with the full picture, it seemed the man wasn't sure this gamble would work.

Down in the pit, Petrovic was wrapping up an interview with the Prophet, “They offered me many galleons. That is why I have agreed to this duel.”

Rita Skeeter grinned, she always loved the Russians for their bluntness, “And do you think it will be competitive?”

Alexei Petrovic was a big, burly mountain of a man with a thick beard and a frame covered in body hair. He was a big Russian bear. When he laughed, it was a deep, rumbling laughter filled with well-earned confidence. “I will crush that little man and turn him to dust.”

When it was time for the duel to commence, Petrovic emerged from his end trailed by his trainer, who was also his father. Petrovic's muscles were rippling against the tight body suit he wore, his fourteen inch wand still looking tiny in the massive mitts that were his hands.

Alexei Petrovic was a half-giant, the culmination of several decades of breeding experiments run by the Tsardom as they strived to engineer a duelist that was both massively powerful and technically skilled.

On the opposite end, followed by his publicist, was Gilderoy Lockhart.

The man looked even more a dandy than usual, wearing a frilly suit, lace cravat and all, that looked more at home in the palace of Versaille than a dueling arena. He also wore a very large women's hat that was tipped upward, covering the back of his head completely.

The two men stepped into the arena. There was no Thief's Downfall, no wand checks. The duelists could bring whatever they liked to the pit, all bets were off.

“It's an electric atmosphere tonight, Dedaleus! We have a sold out crowd, and they're all rooting for the man with the five hundred galleon smile!”

“Frank, is it just me, or is Lockhart talkin’ to himself? I think he's cracked!”

Gilderoy Lockhart was indeed mumbling, but it wasn't to himself.

“I believe you should allow me to fight this duel, all I need is occasional guidance, maybe let me know how my bum looks in these robes.”

“That is not advisable. This opponent will crush you into a fine powder. You should allow me to take over.”

Lockhart stomped his foot on the ground. “But I don't wanna!”

As the argument was going on, the timer had been counting down and the bell sounded, startling Lockhart, who's hand trembled as he held up his wand.

“AND THE DUEL IS ON!”

Petrovic wasted no time at all. He swung his wand in an upward arch, and a massive mound of earth erupted from the dirt floor of the arena, rumbling at a rapid speed towards Lockhart.

Gilderoy saw the incoming fissure and yelped. “Take over! Take over!”

“Lockhart's looking kind of shaky down there! Maybe the lights were just a bit too bright!”

Lockhart's head dropped as his posture changed. His body straightened out, his feet drifted wider apart, his knees bent slightly.

And when he lifted his head, his eyes were cold and calculating.

He swung his wand down and the incoming fissure exploded upward, a massive fount of molten rock erupting from it.

Lockhart sent the stream of lava bursting towards Petrovic, who had just finished casting an anti-apparition ward over the arena. The Russian immediately lifted an earthen wall to take the impact as he sent a bludgeoning curse around the side of the wall.

The bludgeoning curse was enveloped halfway through its trajectory by a sheet of burning hot magma, which snuffed it out. Lockhart had several orbs of molten hot rock floating around him in a circle.

“Oh no you don't, little man!”

Petrovic thrust his wand up into the air and a torrential downpour began in the arena.

“WHAT A START! LOCKHART ALMOST CAUGHT PETROVIC OFF GUARD WITH THE LAVA, BUT PETROVIC HAS SNUFFED IT OUT WITH SOME RAIN!”

There were loud hissing sounds as the heavy rains killed the lava. Petrovic squeezed his wand tight, he was not going to play around.

He jabbed his wand outward and several threads of lightning began to snake their way over to the other side, riding from raindrop to raindrop, their paths completely random, with only their final target set and true.

The crowd oohd and aaahd as the pit lit up with multiple flashes of light as the strange lightning branched out like the roots of a tree. It was like multiple flashes of still pictures as they were all converging onto Gilderoy Lockhart.

Lockhart flicked his wand and conjured a heavy steel rod at the last possible moment. The lightning was redirected to the rod, which surged with millions of volts of electricity as its surface crackled, ready to explode.

He vanished it towards Petrovic, who shifted to the side and let the rod soar behind him.

The rod speared itself onto the barrier wards and let off a massive explosion.

“BY JOVE! THE ENTIRE ARENA IS RUMBLING AND SHAKING!”

Petrovic had conjured a shield behind himself as Lockhart took the time to dispel the downpour which had turned the pit into a sloppy, muddy mess. When the rod exploded, the burly man stood his ground even as the earth under him cracked, his shield stopping all the shrapnel from striking him in the back.

The two wizards exchanged bludgeoning curses. The heavy mud in the arena made the footing treacherous and dodging much more difficult, something that favored Petrovic, who could take a hit or two.

Lockhart was using the clay to his advantage as well. He shot off piercing and bludgeoning curses and then weaved protective, fluid sheets of mud that took enough impact from the incoming curses to redirect them. It was a dangerous dance that required precision, but Lockhart was having no issue.

“LOCKHART IS DANCING LIKE A BALLERINA, INCREDIBLE. HE'S USING THE MUD TO BOUNCE OFF EVERYTHING PETROVIC'S SENDING HIS WAY!”

“BUT HOW IS HE NOT SLIPPING?”

The answer to that was that he'd transfigured some long spats onto his shoes, enough to give him good purchase on the muddy ground.

Petrovic's feet had sunk into the mud, though he'd quickly cast anti-hardening charms on them to prevent Lockhart from trapping him in it. He was laughing uproariously, lost in the din of battle.

This was as much fun as his fight with Bellatrix.

The rumbling from the exploding rod had finally stopped, and Petrovic had dispelled his shield as the shrapnel had stopped flying.

But there was still smoke.

The smoke suddenly congealed and rushed at Petrovic from behind, rushing in through his nose, ears, eyes and mouth.

“PETROVIC'S IN TROUBLE! LOCKHART’S SMOKED HIM OUT!”

One of Petrovic's hands went to his throat as he began to cough profusely, but the other never stopped casting. He sent volley after volley of simple yet volatile curses, all to keep Lockhart from coming in for the kill.

He redirected some of his magic inward, focusing it on the smoke that threatened to choke the life out of him. With a surge of power, he managed to vanish the smoke from himself.

He coughed, his eyes blood red as he grinned widely at Lockhart, blood leaking from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth as he sent a wide arching cutting curse towards him.

Lockhart leaned back and away from the curse, but he was unable to see the mud begin to bubble, and so he was caught off guard when a greenish lamprey leapt out of the mud and sank its jagged teeth into his shoulder.

The blonde hissed in pain as the lamprey sent jolts of pain running through his body as it latched onto his wand arm. He instantly knew that this thing was venomous, and it was likely a quick acting venom at that.

He tossed his wand to his left hand, cut the eel's head off and turned the body into another spear, vanishing it towards his opponent.

Petrovic had taken the time to recover fully from his smoke inhalation, and he crouched down as another charged spear flew straight towards him.

“Oh no you don't!”

A whip of pure flame emerged from his wand tip and he swung it, cleaving the poison spear in two, which sizzled as it sank into the mud.

Petrovic then swung the whip towards Lockhart, who's right arm was hanging limply, useless at his side.

Lockhart kicked against the mud and glided backward like he was skating on ice, Petrovic willed the whip to extend outward in pursuit.

He had poisoned Lockhart, it was only a matter of time now. All he needed to do was keep his distance and let the other man wear himself out.

Lockhart skidded to a stop and Petrovic's flame whip was coming down on a wide arch, ready to strike the side of his neck.

The duel was over.

And it was.

Lockhart raised his hand up and grabbed onto the whip.

Petrovic balked in shock. Before he could even process what was happening, Lockhart had appeared in front of him. Before he could dispel his whip, Lockhart's wand, now back in his useless right hand, cast a point blank stunner.

Petrovic was sent flying as he took the stunner on the chin.

“SENSATIONAL! LOCKHART WINS! WHAT A DUEL! WHAT A DUEL!”

…

When they arrived, they found that a sixth table had been conjured up, placed a ways away from the four House tables.

“Whatever this is all about, I can already tell it's going to be stupid.” Harry said with a sigh.

“He-hem.” Dolores Umbridge cleared her throat as loudly as she could from her seat at the staff table. “After much consideration, it has been agreed that your so-called ‘coven’, and those who share your degeneracy, should be segregated from the normal student population in order to prevent a spread of your toxic ideals.”

“This is ridiculous! Albus, surely you can’t condone this?” Lily asked the Headmaster with indignation.

Albus’ eyes twinkled, and Lily instantly knew that he did, in fact condone this. “Lily, I believe it’ll be to everyone's best interest if you sit apart from the others, so that tensions and distrust may continue to escala- pardon. I meant, so that we may continue to keep the peace.”

Lily looked like she was about to protest, but Bellatrix put an arm on her shoulder, “Just drop it. Who cares whether we sit at the designated outcast table? We aren’t in school any longer.”

“We actually are in school, Bella.” Susan pointed out innocently.

“Whatever.” Bellatrix rolled her eyes as the coven members all sat around the table.

The murmurs from the house tables grew as people noticed that Fleur had joined the new-fangled coven at the table. If they had been seen as dark before, the addition of the tattooed girl only added to people’s suspicions and distrust.

“I would like to make another announcement.” Umbridge, who had yet to sit down, spoke once more, “Due to the many deficiencies in Professor Black’s teaching methods, I have received permission from the Headmaster to set up my own Defense Against the Dark Arts course. Those who wish to drop Professor Black’s course and sign up for mine may do so over the next week.”

Bellatrix seethed from her spot on the table. “That fucking bitch. She’s braindead if she thinks anyone will sign up for her bullshit class.”

The others stayed silent, not wanting to point out that many would likely make the switch. While no one knew what type of a teacher Umbridge was, a large majority of students hated Bellatrix’s methods, and her apathy towards anyone not named Harry when it came to teaching had done a lot to sour the student body on her.

With the announcements over, the eight of them prepared to settle into their meal at their now designated table, when they were soon joined by others.

First, it was Blaise, Hermione and Luna, who slid in on one side.

“We’re guilty by association anyways.” Blaise said with a shrug.

“Don’t worry, I already owled my father. The Quibbler will come out with a headline tomorrow defending out traditional wizarding values that are being assaulted. He already secured an interview with Myrtle Warren!” Luna said.

“Oh joy. Backed up by The Quibbler.” Tonks’ sarcasm was lost on Luna, who gave the metamorph a big thumbs up.

Next, Tracey and Ginny joined them on the opposite side.

“Girls, you don’t have to do this.” Daphne said.

“Please, what kind of friends would we be if we stand by while you guys are ostracized by the rest of the school?” Tracey said. “Besides, I always wanted to sit at the cool table.”

“Same with us.”

The twins and Katie Bell had abandoned the Gryffindor table to join them as well.

“We may not be into any of that freaky shit, but we’re going to be damned if we’re going to stand by while our friends are being attacked from all angles.”

“Meal times just aren’t the same if I can't talk Angie’s head off.” Katie said, shooting her friend a wink.

Just as they had when Bellatrix made her announcement, The Masked Weasley and Pansy also joined them at the table, plopping down across from Tracey and Ginny.

“Dating a Weasley can be quite an adventure, huh Trace?”

“Parkinson, did you just call me Trace? At the start of the year you told me you hoped I'd die in a fire. ”

Pansy snorted, “We're in-laws, Trace. That's all water under the bridge!”

There was one final student who braved becoming an outcast to sit with the coven at their table, and it was someone none of them really expected.

“Lavender?” Harry asked as the ditzy blonde squeezed in next to Hermione, allowing her to be as close as possible to the coven.

“Can I be in the coven?” She asked eagerly.

The others shared incredulous looks while Harry sighed. “I’m sorry, Lav, but Fleur just closed it up. We can’t take anyone else in.”

Lavender pouted. “What about alternates? Or like, junior members? Do you need a coven secretary?”

“I don’t think it works that way. What would we even need a secretary for?” Lily asked.

"You're about to get loads of mail, a lot of them are going to be howlers. What are you going to do with all that?"

"We'll just burn it all to cinders." Fleur responded confidently.

Lavender's face fell. "What about a publicist?"

"Why would we need a publicist?" Susan asked.

"What about a fluffer? I'll be your fluffer!"

Angelina blinked. "What's a fluffer?"

"What's your name again?" Bellatrix asked the blonde.

"Lavender Brown."

"Wait, you're the one who's failed every single assignment I've given!"

Lavender flushed. "Defense isn't my strong point."

"You're failing my class too." Lily said. "In fact, we talked about you at length during the last staff meeting. You're at or near the bottom in every single class."

"Except for divination." Lavender said proudly.

"Except for that one."

"Well, I can be your live-in seer! I'll read the tea leaves." Lavender was beginning to sound desperate.

"Man, this is getting a bit uncomfortable." Tonks whispered to Harry.

Bellatrix sighed. "Listen, unfortunately, we're maxed out. We're at seven witches in the coven, any more would upset that number. The arithmancy just doesn't add up."

"Arithmancy?" Lavender's eyebrows furrowed. "You're following that load of baloney?"

Lily and Bellatrix both scoffed, though Luna piped up in Lavender's defense. "I do agree, arithmancy is one of the weaker disciplines."

"Listen, If I can show you that eight is even better than seven, can you let me in?"

"If you were able to do that, which is very unlikely, then we'd still have to discus-"

"Alright then, I'm in!" Lavender snapped her fingers as she settled into her seat. "We're gonna be naming this thing Lavender's Coven after I show you guys up."

Lavender started piling food up on her plate, humming to herself as the rest of the table shared raised eyebrows and shrugs.

Just as things had finally settled into a semblance of calm, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had to burst into the Great Hall carrying cardboard boxes full of pins.

"Alright marks, come get your fresh Draco merch! I've got t-shirts, signed posters and Draco brand chastity rings!" Malfoy yelled out.

"Chastity rings?"

Draco smirked, holding out his left hand, which sported a plain silver ring with his name etched on it in cursive. "It's a special charmed ring, it'll make sure you retain your chastity, it'll even ward off impure thoughts."

Harry didn't believe there'd be anything more absurd than what he was witnessing now.

He was proven wrong when an avalanche of students began flooding Draco and his cronies. Some bought shirts. Others posters, but the chastity rings were selling like hot cakes.

It made no sense. A castle full of hormonal teenagers, choosing abstinence?

Draco leered at him smugly. "See Potter? This is the power of following true wizarding values. I've just saved all of these students' souls from being corrupted by your corrupt darkness."

Even Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students were getting in on the action. Umbridge had gone up to Draco, talking excitedly with him, and Harry dreaded what would come of those two joining forces.

…

Journalists were not allowed in to see Gilderoy Lockhart immediately after his sensational victory, as the man needed time to recover.

“Ah! Ow! It hurts, it still hurts so bad!”

The medi-witch sighed as she looked down at Lockhart, “Mr. Lockhart, I'm afraid I can't give you any more pain relief potions. Now, the poison has been removed and you're all bandaged up. I'll leave some essence of murtlap to help soothe your hand.”

“Thank you so much, miss. You may leave now.” Mr. Bergkamp was by the door.

The woman gladly accepted the dismissal, collecting her things and leaving as promptly as she could.

When the door closed, Bergkamp smiled widely at Lockhart. “Meester Lock'art, what a wonderful performance!”

Gilderoy was whimpering. “It doesn't feel wonderful. I could have died! I was poisoned, and then this maniac grabbed a flaming whip!”

“Ah yes, the flaming whip, I must say, I am quite curious as to how that worked.”

“It is simple.” A voice from the back of Lockhart's head stared calmly.

Gilderoy pouted as he removed his hat, turning his head away to allow Tom Riddle to be face to face with the dueling Commissioner.

Bergkamp chuckled. “I'm all ears, Mr. Riddle.”

“It is a common failing of any magic that remains connected to the wand. It serves as a continuous link back to the wizard, and anyone with the requisite skill can manipulate that magic and use it to travel to the source. Of course, my opponent was powerful, and his whip would have burnt my host's hand far too quickly for me to have been able to perform such a feat.”

“It did burn my hand!”

“That was why I needed him to extend the whip, the more he extended, the weaker and less dense its magic became, and the easier it was for me to overwhelm it and use it to return to its source.”

“Fascinating.” Bergkamp said with a chuckle as Lockhart sank his hand into the murtlap.

“This is going to be a very profitable partnership indeed.”