Dueling Club
When class was over, Chris went to Quidditch practice where he saw Professor Flitiwick on the field.
"Hello, Mr. Evergreen, would you mind talking to me for a second?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"No I wouldn't mind," Chris said.
"Excellent. Come with me for a second," Professor Flitwick said.
When Chris went with Professor Flitwick outside the field, he gave Chris 3 paper.
"This is the schedule for the dueling club. Please give this to Miss Alder and Miss Granger as well," Professor Flitwick said.
"I'll give it to them after Quidditch Practice," Chris said.
"Good, well then I'll see you in class tomorrow," Professor Flitwick said.
...
After practice was over, Chris went to the Common Room and saw Kristine and Hermione.
"Here you go," Chris said.
"What is it?" Kristine asked.
"It's the schedule for the dueling club. It seems that it starts next week," Chris said.
"Alright," Hermione said. "Well the schedule isn't too bad. We have to go to Professor McGonagall's classroom by 8:00 P.M so we all have plenty of time to study and rest. 1st years are paired with 2nd years on Mondays, 3rd with 4th on Tuesdays, and 5th, 6th, and 7th are together on Wednesday. On Thursday it's the first 3 years and on Friday it's the other 4 years. It's like a regular class size, but I'm sure that with 3-5 teachers teaching only dueling spells, it should be much more productive,"
"Before we get to that," Kristine said. "What do you think the reason for this whole dueling club is. There's really no point in making this whole secret club even with seeing Chris' talent,"
"Here is a theory," Chris said. "You-Know-Who is alive. The professors know this and rather than having unprepared students, they have some elite students learn spells that can help defend Hogwarts. The reason why it's a secret is because The Ministry is trying to make the public unaware by denying it. Professor McGonagall said that Dumbledore would get in trouble so it means that if the current Minister of Magic is aware of this dueling club, he'll think that Dumbledore is building up an army to go against the Minister of Magic which will cause a war between Hogwarts and the Ministry,"
...
The two girls were silent at this theory.
"Chris that sounds like a fairy tale. There's no way that the Ministry would do that," Hermione said. "Because that would make it just how You-Know-Who wants it to-"
"Get it now Hermione? You-Know-Who is not showing up because of two reasons. The first is because Harry Potter has defeated him. Secondly, while he can call his loyal followers to do his evil bidding, that would mean that he would have to expose himself. He's lying in wait for him to recover and take over the Wizarding World once more," Chris said.
"Still it's extremely far-fetched. While it's not implausible that You-Know-Who is still alive and the Ministry is trying to cover that up, but to wage war on Dumbledore because of this is absolutely absurd. Wouldn't it be better to have young elites go into the Ministry's army just in case?" Kristine asked.
"The fact that the Professors want to keep it a secret shows that the current Minister is not capable of thinking ahead. I know what people like Minister Fudge is like. Originally, Dumbledore was supposed to be the Minister, but he didn't want to so by default Fudge was Minister. People who get into power like him know that they can be kicked out at any moment. They don't care about the people, but only about how they can stay in power the longest. If it was up to me, I would put in another Minister that could help us prepare for You-Know-Who," Chris said.
"Careful Chris," Hermione said while looking around. "You could get in serious trouble for saying something like that,"
"What is the Minister going to do? Punish my family?" Chris asked. "They wouldn't dare touch them just like how they don't dare touch the Malfoy family. The Ministry is mostly just a group of frightened politicians. Of course, there are a few that are not like this such as the Aurors, Barty Crouch, and people like Arthur Weasley. Without people like them, the Ministry would have lost to You-Know-Who a long time ago,"
"Alright let's not talk about this anymore," Kristine said. "I'm going to bed. Today's transfiguration homework was a bit difficult,"
She yawned and left the Common Room. Hermione soon followed leaving Chris alone in the Common Room.
'Well at the very least, they have some idea of what's going on,' Chris thought. 'Even if they don't believe it right now, if they even have the slightest acceptance towards my "theory" then spending tonight to talk about this is not wasted,'
...
It was now the following Monday. After practice, Chris rested for around half an hour before going to Professor McGonagall's classroom with Hermione and Kristine. There were 24 small chairs on left side of the room creating a huge space in the middle and the right side of the room..
Inside was only Professor McGonagall and 3 other students who were extremely familiar to Chris.
"Hello Harry," Chris greeted.
"Hello Chris, it's nice to meet again," Harry said.
"Hey don't tell me you forgot me already," Ron suddenly said.
"Of course, hello Ron and Se-yeon as well," Chris said.
"Hello," Se-yeon said timidly.
'Guess she's not too good with people,' Chris thought.
"Hello there Mr. Evergreen, Miss Granger, and Miss Alder," Professor McGonagall said. "Well you are also quite early. Please have a seat anywhere. Since this is a joint class, there'll be no separation between houses and years. In fact, I encourage you to sit next to other house members and if you're comfortable enough with other year members as well,"
Harry sat between Ron and Se-yeon while Chris sat in between Hermione and Kristine.
"So do you think Professor Snape is going to be here?" Se-yeon asked. "I don't think he likes us three,"
"The chances are high. Regardless of what you think, he's one of the most talented wizards in the school," Chris said.
Harry and Ron groaned at that.
"What if he's sick or... just something happened to him?" Ron asked.
"He's a potions master. Even if he got bitten by the most poisonous animal in the world, I'm sure he would come," Hermione said trying to defend Snape a little. As Snape was not that cruel to the three, they were not as hostile as Harry and Ron.
"Well we'll have to find out," Kristine said a bit annoyed with Ron's whiny attitude.
Soon it was 8 and there were kids streaming in filling up the empty chairs. Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout also came in the room around the same time.
After she saw that everyone was seated and quiet, Professor McGonagall went to the middle of the classroom.
"Hello 1st and 2nd year students. You have been chosen by your extreme talents. This will be the first year of the Dueling Club, a secret club where you will learn how to use spells that will help you defeat even the strongest of enemies. There is a lot to cover, but I am sure that we'll be able to do it. Think of it as your advanced night time class. By being here today, you have signed the parchment so I am sure you know the rules. However, to reiterate, you will not say anything about the club to anyone. All your parents have been informed and they know not to ask questions about the dueling club to you. No purposeful injuries and no foul play. Those are three rules that will be implemented for now. More can be added later on although they will not be added to the parchment," Professor McGonagall said.
Professor McGonagall went back and Snape was the next to speak.
"While I teach mostly dunderheads, most of you are the smarter ones out of the dunderheads so I hope that you all absorb what we teach you here," Snape said with his usual cold tone.
Snape left the middle and Professor Flitwick then went to middle.
"Well, the first thing we have to do is to find a captain. For today we'll be dueling and the winner of their respective year will become the leader of their year,"
Suddenly the room turned tense. With everyone being somewhat competitive, they were all determined to be at the top and if they can impress the professors.
'Well this is getting interesting,' Chris thought.