Let the du-du-duel begin!

Just as Soisen expected, Snape immediately took an interest in his idea of the Filter of Reason and they inadvertently entered into a deep academic exchange to quickly deduce what the approximate formula of the potion would be, even shouting at each other with reddened faces about whether the water from the Lethe River should be used while cold or needed to be heated to maximize its effects.

Students passing nearby were stunned to hear the shouting and with pale faces, they hurriedly fled the scene. The rumors began to spread like wildfire minutes later and Sinistra ran down to the dungeons when she heard them.

-By Merlin's knickers! -She burst into Snape's office and looked at the two present who turned in her direction red-faced, snorting and with bloodshot eyes, "What's going on here? -he demanded to know.

Sinistra had never seen Snape so...!

Excited?

After learning that they were only discussing a countermeasure for Amortentia, Sinistra kept silent and sat in a corner, watching them without another word. She had a suspicion that with such a "friendly" exchange of words, they might get their wands out if they got too excited.

As for what happened to Peter? Looking at Snape's "excellent" mood, Soisen needn't ask anything.

...A month later...

Soisen emerged satisfied from the dungeons and examined the vial in his hand, where his Filter of Reason had been successfully distilled. The characteristic mark of the potion was that there were traces of three different colors in it and they all had a perfect geometric shape even in motion.

He stopped when he noticed several students, who were huddled together excitedly as they talked amongst themselves, apparently about one of the new announcements that was on the student board. He patted the shoulders of one of them and asked what was going on.

-Lockhart is opening a dueling club! -the Hufflepuff sophomore said excitedly.

-Don't tell me..." Soisen felt a smile grow on his face.

It could be decent practice for Sylvia and Hermione. And maybe he could show off a little....

Or should he go unnoticed? Honestly, after his training with Nagini over the summer, he doubted any wizard from fourth year down would be his opponent.

The two witches' training had been... interesting.

Silvia had adapted very well and could move with relative familiarity in a duel. She focused more on distracting and defending than attacking, but it was working for her at the moment.

Hermione, on the other hand, had too rigid a demeanor at the start and Soisen had to, as she said, "play dirty" to get her to understand that her opponent would not follow the rules if she didn't want to.

He faced the two witches seventy times and they had yet to add a victory to their side. Silvia and Hermione also practiced against each other and Silvia won most of them, which awakened Hermione's competitive spirit in a positive way.

And just as she expected, the duo went looking for him as soon as he finished eating the last bite and left the Great Dining Hall.

-Are you going to join the Dueling Club? -Hermione asked him.

-No, I'm going to Beauxbatons soon, remember? I'm not going to join something only to leave a few weeks later, that would be rude.

-Will you be going to the demonstration this afternoon? -Silvia was feeling a little excited.

-Sure," Soisen nodded.

Miss Potter's meeting with Malfoy? No way!

When Soisen and company later joined the dueling demonstration in which Snape and Lockhart were present, everything happened just as expected.

Lockhart was thrilled to be the center of attention and requested a figurative duel of nothing with the potions master, who ended up giving him a one-sided beating. Saving his face, he explained that this was how they were NOT supposed to act and asked Ron and Potter to come up on stage.

-I believe Mr. Weasley's wand is not in optimal condition and could pose a danger to others... or to himself, for that matter.

Yes, during one of Ron's races to avoid being late for class, even though he knew the paths from last year, he tripped while descending the Grand Staircase and ended up falling on his own wand.

A bit of magic tape and presto, we have a wand that fails two times out of three and emits a rotten egg smell.

-I think Mr. Potter could do with a more... competent opponent. Soisen, perhaps? -Snape turned and pointed at him, signaling for him to come up immediately.

Wait, shouldn't he have chosen Malfoy?

It only took Soisen to see the sneer Snape made discreetly.

That was his revenge because he was right and the Lethe River water had to be used cold!

Looks like he'll have to ask the twins to give Snape a portion of extra large dung bombs when he leaves for France.

-All right," Soisen narrowed his eyes, stepped forward and up onto the dueling platform.

-Well, an excellent choice, Severus! -Lockhart said, not missing an opportunity to intervene, "You saw the protocol. Raise your wands and... where is your wand, Mr. Galegold?

Lockhart immediately felt the looks around him become strange.

Even the first years know by now that Soisen, who established Hogwarts' fifth house last year, is an out-of-the-ordinary student who never uses a wand and does not possess one of his own. Moreover, he performs better than his peers who do have one.

Everyone knows this, but no one is willing to admit it out loud.

Since Lockhart didn't seem to realize his mistake, Soisen merely raised his right index finger on the outside of his robes, as if pointing to the sky.

-Reverence," Snape said dryly in the audience, growing impatient.

-Huh? -Lockhart still didn't know what happened, but since everyone didn't show any surprise he decided to go with the flow. Take a bow, all right, and now turn around and ten paces away.

Potter and Soisen followed protocol and after counting the tenth step, they turned around.

-Ready? -Lockhart alternated between the two duelists, "On the count of three, you may begin and remember, we only want to disarm the opponent! We don't want any accidents. One, two... three!