Chapter Thirty-One: The Dueling Tutor
Lottie’s eyelids sunk with exhaustion. The sun had not yet risen, but she was already crouched in the corner, waiting in Bahorel’s Dueling classroom. “You’d think he would have the decency to at least show up on time.”
“Have some appreciation, will you?” Andrea snapped. “He’s elderly”he’s lived through three wars and he’s taking his time to help us. Just””
“Good morning.” Bahorel’s hunched form appeared in the doorway. “I ‘ope you are awake ee-nough to pay proper attention.” He pulled his wand out and pointed it at Lottie. “You”” he raised his eyebrows, causing the wrinkles on his forehead to deepen “”open your eyes.” He dropped his wand and slipped it into his robe. “Ze first trick to a master dueler is to always win.”
Lottie scoffed.
Andrea chewed on the inside of her lip nervously. “How can be sure you’ll always win?”
“Do whatever you must”to be a master dueler you must survive!” He shouted this so vehemently that saliva sprayed the ground before him. “You must survive by any means necessary.”
Lottie frowned, raising her eyebrows at the pool of spittle with distaste. “By any means necessary?”
“If a Deaz Eater is trying to keel you and you only use defensive magic””
“It would be an honorable fight!” Andrea finished, raising her voice to match Bahorel’s tone.
“You would die.”
A moment of silence. Lottie gulped and glanced between Bahorel and Andrea, who looked in need of a Cheering Charm.
“Would you razzer be honorable or alive?” he scowled, slamming his palm against his desk with a resounding smack. “So you two will duel”a friendly duel, please. I do not want a student to perish. Try to win by any means necessary. Are you prepared? Allez.”
Lottie scrambled to her feet and pulled out her wand. She lowered her head in the form of a bow toward Andrea and stood, spinning her wand in her palm. For a few short seconds, they looked at each other with apprehension. Lottie’s slack expression matched her blank mind. Before she could jerk herself out of hazy uncertainty, Andrea broke the silence. “Expelliarmus!”
“Protego!” Lottie’s natural instinct took over and she created a shield around herself. The spell was strong enough to repel Andrea’s hex, but not strong enough to reflect it back at her.
Panting, she glared at Andrea and waited for her to make the next move. “Do not wait!” bellowed Bahorel. “Do not wait for your enemy to attack you. Do not rely on your defenses.”
“Er”” Lottie twirled her wand between her fingers, trying to decide what spell to cast.
“Use your instinct!” Bahorel barked.
Andrea waved her wand again and shouted, “Expelliarmus!”
Lottie blocked it again”her shield this time was strong enough so that the disarming spell hit Andrea who promptly dropped her wand. Lottie smirked and turned to Bahorel.
“Eet is not over!” He shot sparks at the floor, which ricocheted against the padded walls. “You”get your wand back! Would you give up zat easily?”
Andrea’s eyes widened. Lottie could almost see tears fogging up her glasses. Shakily, she reached for her wand.
“Impedimenta!” Lottie shouted. Andrea froze, half bent over.
“Go!” Bahorel yelled.
With the only thing that came to mind, Lottie jabbed her wand and cast a blasting curse. Andrea slammed against the padded walls and sank to the floor.
“Good, good,” Bahorel said. He waved his wand and unfroze Andrea. She got to her feet, glowering at Lottie. “I knew Palmyitor was on to somezing.” He smiled slyly. “You”” he pointed at Andrea. “You could learn from Rowe’s creativity.” Lottie swelled with pride and grinned at Andrea, who did not smile back.
“I’m sorry,” Andrea said slowly. “There must be a mistake. You want us to play dirty? To cheat?”
“All is fair in love and war, I zink zee expression is.” Lottie nodded along with Bahorel vigorously. “When an evil wizard is trying to ‘urt you or kill you, ‘e will not play fairly.”
Andrea shrank against the wall. “I’ll just have to get used to it then,” she grumbled.
“Tomorrow, you will duel wiz my students,” Bahorel continued, purposefully ignoring Andrea’s surly expression. “Zey use nonverbal incantations, so you will not know what ees coming at you.”
“Then how do we block it?” Andrea demanded. Her hair seemed to stand on end. Her fists shook as she narrowed her eyes behind her fogged glasses.
“Use your imagination!” Bahorel jerked his arm into the air maniacally. “Be ready for anyzing. You must be able to respond to nonverbal spells in order to survive.”
“But how can we surprise them if we need the incantations?” Andrea persisted.
“Learn!” Bahorel scoffed in disgust and surveyed Andrea for a silent second, his face darkening. When he was quite finished, he handed each of them a large stack of crumpled and stained parchments. “Zese are some spells you may find useful. Master ze first twenty by tomorrow and you may stand a chance.”
Lottie unrolled one of the scroll and stared. “How can we learn all of them in one day?”
“I am sure you can manage.” Bahorel flicked his wand and the door burst open. A hinge cracked against the padded wall. “We meet ‘ere tomorrow at one in zee afternoon.”
Andrea stood rooted to the spot, staring hopelessly at the old man. “Come on!” Lottie urged from the doorway. Once they were safely out of the classroom, the door slammed behind them.
“Cool, huh?” Lottie said as they ascended the stairs to their tower dormitory. “That guy really knows what he’s talking about.”
“But he wants us to play dirty!” Andrea whispered furiously. “Have you looked at the spells on that list? Half of them are Dark Magic. We’re no better than the Death Eaters if we use these.”
“It”it all depends on how you use them,” Lottie said uncertainly. “If you use them defensively, then it’s okay.”
“Whatever you say,” Andrea said, ramming the door to their dormitory open with her shoulder. “But I’m not going to use them.”
Lottie sat down on her bed and read over the parchment Bahorel had given her. “How am I supposed to practice these, then? I can’t learn all these by myself.”
“Well I’m sure you can find someone here who speaks English who’ll help you,” Andrea snapped. “I’m going to write to my mum.”
“Okay.” Lottie headed toward the door awkwardly, the list of spells in one hand, her wand in the other. “I’ll catch you at lunch, then.”
She wrenched the door open and found herself face to face with Bill. “Oh.” She jumped back a step, startled. “Hi,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“Hey,” he said, taking a step down one stair. “I was just coming to see how your lesson with Bahorel went.”
“Oh. It was great!” Lottie leaned against the marble banister. “A new way of dueling, though. We have a Dueling class at Alsemore, but it’s really formal. This is a lot more realistic.”
“Yeah, it’s tough to get over the rules of the classroom,” Bill said, “but once you do, you start winning a lot more.” Lottie could glimpse a smile under his scars.
“I was just going to practice, actually,” said Lottie after a pause. “Bahorel gave me about twenty new curses to learn by tomorrow and Andrea’s writing to her family, so I can’t work with her.”
“Oh, I’ve got the perfect place for you.” Bill turned on his heel and ran down a few steps. “Come on, it’s down in the basement.”
Lottie followed him down the set of winding stairs, while he explained, “It’s quite a remarkable invention. Bahorel made it himself, actually.” They reached the ground floor and began descending the stairs into a shadowy basement. Cobwebs filtered any light that made it down that far. A repetitive drip resounded on the stone walls. “It’s not real of course, and it won’t retaliate, but it sure looks realistic.” He pushed open an oak door to reveal a dark, dingy room with artificial light filtering in from crystal orbs suspended above. In the corner, a figure stood, wand arm outstretched. “Go on,” Bill urged.
Lottie lit her wand and approached. In the dusty light, the figure’s face seemed to move and smile, like it knew she was there and that she had let her guard down. Lottie inched even closer. In her wand light his features were suddenly completely illuminated. Terror filled her lungs and spread through her body; her heart leapt to her throat, constricting her breathing”legs shaking, she screamed.
The Dark Lord stood before her, white, waxy and still. But somewhere, Lottie still saw a lifelike gleam in its eyes. “Wh”what is this?” Lottie stuttered, backing away so quickly that she bumped into the opposite wall. She had only ever seen posters of the Dark Lord, never in person. And even though the posters moved and hissed at passersby, this figure was even more lifelike in its calm demeanor.
“No need to be afraid,” Bill said, putting a hand on her shoulder and causing her to jump again. “It’s completely artificial”everything is just bewitched to look real.”
“Was it really necessary to make it him though?” Lottie asked with a shiver.
“I think Bahorel’s theory was that once you face the real thing, it won’t be as scary the second time.”
“I doubt it,” Lottie grumbled. She took a breath. “But it can’t hurt me, right?” Bill shook his head. “Then I guess it’s worth a try.”
“The reactions to the curses are realistic too. Give it a go.”
Biting her lip, Lottie searched through the scroll of spells and picked one that seemed easiest. “Er… Stupefy!”
The figure seemed to burst into life. It walked toward her until the jet of shimmering scarlet light hit it square in the chest. It didn’t fall over immediately; instead it stumbled back and slumped against the wall.
“Need to work on that,” Bill said from behind her, “but pretty good for a first try.”
The figure stood back up mechanically and reassumed its position against the wall. “This is great!” Lottie told Bill. She glanced over her shoulder at the figure, a chill suddenly creeping up the back of her neck. “Er”thanks so much.”
“Not a problem,” Bill said. “I’m going to head up to see how the elves are doing with lunch. Just call if you need any help.”
“Okay!” Lottie waved at his retreating back. The door shut, and Lottie was left alone with the figure. It seemed alive now that Bill’s comforting presence was noticeably absent.
Slowly, Lottie turned back to the figure. Frozen with an eerie smile, it was even creepier when it wasn’t moving. “I’m not afraid of you.” Her voice quivered. “You d-don’t scare me. You’re nothing. Stupefy!”
The spell was more effective now, though still not perfect. The figure immediately fell backward, but life still glimmered in its red eyes. It picked itself back up. In the dim light, it seemed to be sneering at her. “You don’t scare me,” Lottie said more loudly. “You don’t! Stupefy!”
This time it worked. The jet of light seemed to catch it off guard”it fell over, eyes shut tight.
Hours passed and Lottie remained locked up in the tiny room, practicing every curse until it was perfected. A knock on the door startled her. She was consumed by tunnel vision; all she saw was the figure of the Dark Lord before her. The door opened.
“Lottie?” It was Andrea. “Lunch is almost over. I thought we were going to”LOTTIE!” Her eyes widened under her glasses. “WHAT””
“No, it’s okay!” Lottie said enthusiastically. “It’s just a figure to use for practicing. It’s not real. Look. Sectumsempra!”
Gashes appeared in the figure’s black, silk robes. Scarlet poured from the Dark Lord as it crumpled to the floor. A pool of artificial blood ran down the stones on the floor and surrounded Lottie and Andrea’s shoes.
Andrea shouted profanities and bolted to the corner of the room, away from the blood. “Lottie, that’s really Dark Magic,” she whispered with a side-glance at the crumpled Dark Lord.
“Not when you’re using against a Death Eater,” Lottie said. “I’m going to do what I have to, to survive this war. There’s a reason Bahorel is still alive, you know.”
Andrea wrinkled her nose. “I still don’t like it.”
“Fine. Then you don’t have to use these spells tomorrow.” A moment of stiffness passed between the two friends. “Do you want to go to lunch, then?”
“Sure,” Andrea said, turning and leaving the room. Lottie followed, glancing over her shoulder at the figure of the Dark Lord. “How many of those curses have you learned?” asked Andrea.
“About half,” Lottie said nonchalantly. “Most of them were a lot easier to figure out than I thought.”
“I would imagine,” Andrea muttered.
“What?”
“Well everything I’ve read says that Dark Magic is simple”as long as you mean it.”
“Maybe that’s why Bahorel made the target the Dark Lord, then,” Lottie said thoughtfully. “Because everybody hates him.”
“Or is scared of him,” Andrea added. “Fear can also spur Dark magic.”
“I don’t think so,” Lottie said as they entered through the doors of the Great Hall. The Hall at Beauxbatons was much more elegant in its age than Alsemore’s. Instead of long tables, there were clusters of small, circular tables meant for groups of four of five people. “People who use Dark Magic aren’t afraid of their targets. That doesn’t make sense. Bahorel isn’t afraid of anything. The Death Eaters can’t be afraid of the Muggles,” Lottie said. “Oh, hi!” She waved at Hermione and Neville, who were sharing a pot of stew.
Andrea waved politely and turned to sit at a table out of their earshot. “You don’t think they are?” she asked seriously. “Think about it”what if the Muggles revolted? Not the tiny camp revolts”I mean if every Muggle revolted. They must be terrified. And think about having to report that to the Dark Lord.” She shivered.
Lottie frowned. “I guess so.”
Hermione stood up from her stew and swept over to them. “How was your lesson?”
Andrea opened her mouth to answer, but Lottie quickly intervened, “Great. It was really cool. How’re the plans for the Order going?”
Hermione shrugged. “It’s hard to get people to join,” she said. “Not,” she added hastily, “because it’s not a good idea. They’re just afraid to use the name. After what happened to the old Order members, can you blame them?”
“I thought that was why they were here. To train,” Andrea said thoughtfully.
“Well, yes, but they were hoping for a nice undercover job, I’d bet,” Hermione explained. “But for every ten people who say no, we get one yes, so it’s not a complete waste of time. A lot of them have family in other countries who they say would be happy to join up too.”
“So we’re really going international,” Andrea said. “That’s exciting.”
“Yes. Naesa is particularly enthusiastic.”
Lottie laughed. “I’ve never seen her enthusiastic in my life. Except maybe in detention.”
Lottie’s anxiety woke her early again the next morning. Her stomach flipped over as she pushed herself out of bed. Class wasn’t until one in the afternoon”she knew she had no chance of getting to sleep again. She had never really dueled against anybody who wasn’t her age and hoped that Bahorel would set her against Andrea.
The red morning light shone through the dusty windows. Andrea was still sleeping. Deciding not to wake her, Lottie scribbled a note.
Gone to practice. See you at one.
She stuck it on the tiny table beside Andrea’s bed and tiptoed out of the dormitory. The castle had succumbed to silence. Lottie’s own breath was magnified. Her own pulse was deafening”it roared in her ears, but it couldn’t have been as loud as the thoughts careening through her head; all of the old, dark portraits along the wall were snoozing, leaning their heads against their frames.
Something in front of her exploded. Lottie froze in her tracks and spun around. “Watch it!” she shouted to two teenage boys dueling fiercely before her. One boy lowered his wand and smiled, pushing a mop of sweaty blond hair out of the way of his blue eyes. Lottie realized that they probably didn’t speak English. “Er… sorry,” she said awkwardly, bounding down the stairs. Once she reached the landing, she spun around and said, “Carry on.”
She could hear the boys’ laughter as she descended the steps to the basement. The door to her training room stood ajar. The figure of the Dark Lord leaned casually against the wall, his pointed teeth glinting in the little light found in the dingy room.
The night before, she had practiced each spell, but she was far from perfecting any of them. “Incendio!” she shouted lazily at the figure. Its robes caught on fire. For a few moments, Lottie watched it run about the room in circles with grim satisfaction until the figure mended itself.
“Diffindo,” she tried. A rip appeared in its robes; crimson blood flowed from underneath.
“Are you really going to use that against a real person?” came Andrea’s voice from the doorway.
Lottie turned around. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Because you could seriously hurt someone.”
“Bahorel wouldn’t have said it was okay to use if he wasn’t prepared to heal the people who get hurt,” Lottie answered automatically.
“You’re worried,” Andrea said, triumph ringing through her voice. “I can tell. You’re afraid you’re going to hurt someone.” She pushed her taped glasses up her nose. “Anyway, I just ran into Bahorel and he says we need to eat breakfast,” Andrea went on, observing Lottie shrewdly. “Come on, then. Let’s go.”
Lottie could hardly stomach her breakfast and ran right back down to the training room once she had finished half of her oatmeal. At a quarter to one, Andrea came in with the same disapproving frown to tell her that they needed to get to the Dueling classroom.
A line of students, some even younger than her and some as old as Bill and Fleur, stood with their backs to the wall. Lottie and Andrea joined the back of the line. The door cracked open and Bahorel stepped in. The class did not greet him. He began addressing them in French with the occasional glance at Lottie and Andrea. After demonstrating several wrist movements, he clapped his hands and the class started pairing up. Lottie turned to Andrea, but felt an arm on her elbow. She turned to see the blond boy smiling at her. Now that Lottie could see him properly she saw scars lining his freckled face. He was tall, over a head higher than herself. His wavy, blond hair fell over his face in a casually handsome way. “Monsieur Bahorel says zat we are dueling partners,” he said in a heavy French accent.
“Oh,” Lottie said, nervousness swelling in her stomach. His dueling skills, she knew, were superb for his age and she did not enjoy losing. She turned to Andrea, but was disappointed to see her being taken to one of the dueling courts by the blond boy’s friend.
“’Ere,” the blond boy said, gesturing to one of the narrow lanes. Lottie stood at one side and waited nervously as the boy situated himself on the other side. “Are you ready?” he asked politely. Lottie nodded and bowed warily.
A tense moment passed between them before the boy flicked his wand. A jet of red light flew toward her, blowing wisps of her hair back. “Protego!” she shouted. His spell bounced off her shield. The boy did not wait before firing another jinx. Its purple light shattered Lottie’s shield. She dodged to the side and picked herself up, grimacing at him.
“Stupefy!” she shouted. The boy blocked it easily. Taking a page out of his book, she sent four Stunners at him in a row. He blocked all of them, but Lottie could see his defenses weakening.
He slashed his wand and the stones on the floor in front of Lottie exploded. She was blown back and slammed against the floor, her elbows rubbed raw by the ground. The last thing she saw was the boy’s Stunner racing toward her before everything went black.
She woke to the blond boy extending a hand to help her up. She took it and stood up, grinding her teeth. “Zat was a very impressive duel for a zird year.”
“I’m going to be a fourth year,” Lottie growled. “And I don’t want it to be ‘pretty good,’ I want to win.”
“Well you ‘ave two more weeks to learn, zen, eh?” the boy said, a grin cracking against his lips. “We ‘ave ten more minutes. Would you like to try again?”
“Sure.” Lottie pulled out her wand ad patted it against her leg irritably. “Let’s go.” She bowed and raised her wand. Without waiting for him, she shouted, “Diffindo!”
The back of his robes split to reveal a long, shallow gash, dripping scarlet underneath. The boy looked down in surprise, raising his bushy eyebrows as the narrow line of blood running down his chest; he only let the cut delay him for an instant. Jabbing his wand toward her, he shot another jet of red light her way. Lottie dodged out of the way and nearly collided with the blond boy’s friend who was still dueling with Andrea.
“Incendio!” Lottie shouted. Flames shot out of her wand, but the boy met them with a fountain of water that overpowered her spell. Water drenched her robes. The pressure of the spell caused her to stagger and fall to the floor.
“Tarantallegra!” she yelled from the ground. The boy seemed to be baffled by this move and didn’t move quickly enough to dodge the spell. His legs started dancing furiously. Lottie scrambled to her feet and sent a series of Stunners again; he blocked every one. A jet of red light flew toward her and her wand was immediately knocked from her hand.
“Okay, okay,” she said, holding her hands in the air.
“Do you give up?” asked the boy, jinxing his own legs to stop the dancing. He ran a hand over the cut on his chest; blood stained his palm, but the wound was not deep”his face remained calm and stoic.
“Well you didn’t present me with many other options, did you?” Lottie retorted. “Give me my wand.” The boy tossed the wand to her.
“You may want to ‘elp your friend, zere,” he said, gesturing to Andrea. “She does not seem to be doing well.”
Lottie turned to see one of the older students trying to heal a large, dripping gash across Andrea’s face. “These people are ferocious,” she breathed. “Thank you very much,” she told the older student, quite loudly. “I’m going to the hospital wing now.” She gestured toward herself, made a walking motion, and pointed toward the door.
He didn’t seem to understand her, but waved cheerily as they left the classroom. “Half of the jinxes he used were Dark and probably illegal,” Andrea said as they turned down the corridor.
“Andrea, we’re practically illegal,” Lottie said. “Who’re you afraid of upsetting? The Dark Lord?”
They entered the hospital wing and immediately a plump Healer with piercing grey eyes swooped upon them. “I hurt myself,” Andrea tried to explain, pointing at the gash on her face. “Er… I was in Dueling Class.” Andrea mimed cursing Lottie with an imaginary wand.
The woman, apparently offended by Andrea’s assumption that she did not speak English, bustled off to fetch a potion. “Honestly, why don’t think bring along a translator if nobody knows English?”
“My dueling partner knows some,” Lottie said. “I wonder where he learned it.”
Andrea narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it when the severe looking Healer returned with a bottle. She pointed to a stiff wooden chair. Andrea sat. Lottie watched, amused, as Andrea had to endure the woman’s intrusive questions in an accent so thick that she was hardly understandable.
“No,” Andrea repeated. “I was dueling. Practice dueling. With another student.”
The Healer rolled her eyes and continued to swab a thick orange paste onto Andrea’s face. After fifteen minutes of the irritated Healer shouting at Andrea in rapid French, they left the hospital wing, Andrea sporting an unnecessarily large bandage over her cheek.
“Honestly, I think she was just being passive aggressive,” Andrea said, gesturing to the bandage on her face.
“What were you saying earlier?” Lottie asked without hesitation.
“Hm?”
“About my dueling partner.”
“Oh.” A smile poked out from beneath Andrea’s bandage. “Well it seemed to me that you”you know”liked him.”
“What?” Lottie’s heart pounded against her ribcage. “That’s ridiculous,” she said roughly. “He’s older than us. And he hardly speaks English.” She stared at the ground, using all of her knowledge of Occlumency to stop herself from blushing.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Andrea persisted. “He knew some English and he’s not much older than us. You two seemed to be having a good time together. Better than my partner, at least,” she added darkly. ‘I think he was honestly trying to kill me.”
Lottie forced a laugh, but her heart still hammered in her chest.
“Can I duel with you next time?” Andrea asked.
Lottie froze. She stammered for an answer. “Well…er…I dunno. My partner and I have…an interesting dynamic going on. I want to try and beat him before we leave.”
Andrea stopped walking too and turned back to Lottie, a grin stretching across her face.
“It’s not like that,” Lottie lied, rather convincingly if she did say so herself. “I don’t even know his name. He’s just a really good dueler. That’s all.”
Andrea sighed. “Fine,” she said. “I guess I can work on beating my partner too, then.”
The next morning Lottie and Andrea reentered the dueling classroom to find Bahorel waiting for them, his knitted cap pulled tight over his ears. “Good morning,” he said stiffly.
“Morning,” Lottie replied brightly. Andrea hummed her salutation.
Without waiting, Bahorel asked, “’Ow were your duels yesterday?”
When neither responded, he said, “Zey were not excellent, I will tell you. I ‘ave reviewed zem. Woolbright, did you even study?” Andrea flushed scarlet. “Rowe, I see you tried some of ze new spells, but you do not fully understand zee technique. François seemed impressed, ‘owever.”
Lottie blushed red too, her heart leaping to her throat. “Is that his name?” she managed to ask.
“Yes,” Bahorel said. He continued speaking to Andrea, commenting on her technique, but Lottie stared dreamily out the window. She imagined herself sitting on the Quidditch field with the blond boy”François”talking in French… writing long letters in neat handwriting… The outraged, stupid reaction of Colm Scrive”
“Rowe,” Bahorel snapped. “Pay attention.”
“Right, sorry,” Lottie mumbled, pulling out her wand.
“I am going to show you your duels. Pay attention. Rowe, you first.” He waved his wand in a complicated pattern and two shimmering, pale green figures appeared from his wand. They were life-size”almost perfectly lifelike, save for the fact that they were see-through and green. Lottie stared at her own face and frowned”she had never noticed how messy her hair was before. “Go on!” shouted Bahorel at the memories. “You know what to do.”
Immediately, the figures ran into place. Lottie saw her own strained bow. “Your pause, ‘ere,” Bahorel commented, “is far too long. You lost the duel right zere.”
Lottie watched herself fight and with each passing minute, felt an overpowering urge to knock Bahorel’s wand out of his hand. She grimaced at each pause, each blunder; it all seemed so obvious now.
“You see?” asked Bahorel once the duel ended.
“Yeah.” Lottie stole one more glance at the misty image of François before he evaporated into nothingness.
The class went on. Lottie hardly watched Andrea’s duel. She leaned back against the wall and imagined François holding her hand before she went back to Alsemore, smiling at her, teary eyed.
“Lottie?’ Andrea nudged her gently. “You awake?”
“Huh? What? Oh. Yeah.” Lottie glanced around. Bahorel had left. “Sorry,” she said quickly. “I”I must have fallen asleep or something.”
Andrea smirked. “No problem,” she said. “We’re supposed to meet here tomorrow to duel again.”
“We’re dueling again?” Lottie asked, suddenly alive again.
“Apparently. He wants us to perfect those spells he gave us.”
“Are you going to?” Lottie asked.
“No.” Andrea stood up. “I’m going to find some other spells to use instead. Bill showed me the library the other day.”
Lottie stood up as well. “I’ll come too!” she said. ‘I haven’t seen the library yet.” They went on their way, Lottie following Andrea down the complicated twists and turns of the corridors until they finally reached a set of monumental doors. Andrea had to stand on tiptoe to reach the doorknob. She pushed the doors open and let Lottie in.
It felt like she had stepped into a pool of dust. The books looked so comfortable and neat on their shelves that Lottie had a suspicion that they hadn’t been touched in decades. “Come on,” Andrea whispered. “Bill showed me where he keeps some books in English.”
Lottie didn’t really pay attention as Andrea led her to a tiny stack of books in the corner with recognizable authors and pronounceable titles. “I’m going to study these,” Andrea said.
“Okay,” Lottie whispered. “I think I’m going to look around for a bit.” Andrea nodded and cracked open the first book. Lottie went on, passing the table where Andrea sat with a speed that shouldn’t be allowed in a library. She could hear voices speaking in low French farther on.
The back of the library, it seemed, was where all of the useful information was saved, because it was much more inhabited. Other older boys”around François’ age”lined the maple tables. Lottie kept her head turned as she passed them, pretending to be searching for something. She walked into a row of shelves and averted her eyes until, with a pang of excitement, she saw him.
François seemed to notice her at the exact same moment. He turned and grinned, pushing his hair from his eyes. “Er”hi,” Lottie said with an awkward wave. She stared at her hand in horror, flopping back and forth like a fish. She had a sudden urge to blast it off suddenly. “G-good duel, yesterday, eh?”
François smiled.
“Oh, er…” Lottie pulled a book from the shelf. “I found what I was looking for,” she said, showing him the cover of the book. His smile broke and he began to laugh. Lottie glanced at the cover of the book”the faded painting on the cover illustrated a particularly gruesome image of a man turning inside-out. Lottie’s face burned. “Er… yeah. This is what I want. See you,” she said, running out of the shelf with the book clutched to her chest. She returned to the table where Andrea was sitting.
“Find anything? Andrea asked without looking up.
“This.” Lottie showed Andrea the book. Andrea shot her a disapproving glance. “I’m not going to use any of this magic,” Lottie said hurriedly. “I was just…curious.” She smiled and flipped through its ancient pages.
It turned out to be a Potions book and, although it was in French, it had several moving illustrations. Lottie didn’t look too hard at the pictures”she was not particularly interested in it. The book opened to the most used and worn out page with a fading illustration. “Curiosity is what begins everyone’s interesting the Dark Arts,” Andrea snapped.
Lottie looked down and gasped. The drawing before her showed a snake shedding its skin. “That looks””
“What?” Andrea peered over her shoulder.
“Oh.” Lottie pulled the book to her chest, so that Andrea couldn’t see it. “That looks”completely evil.” She glanced down at the drawing again. It looked exactly like the snakeskin she had found in the hidden chamber in second year”the one Andrea knew nothing of.
“You should put that back,” Andrea said with a gesture toward the book. “It’s the school’s.”
“I will, don’t worry.” Lottie tucked it into her bag and said, “Once I get a good look at it.”
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Sorry for the wait, guys; I was out of town.
Thanks to TheBird for coming over and having a good laugh over this chapter with me... and fixing my errors.
This chapter is dedicated to my cat, Crookshanks. (Yes, I know. His name is Crookshanks.)