"Good morning class," Professor Deveroux sang out. "I know this group was taught how to block hexes with a shield spell last year. Today, we are going to learn a more advanced shield spell, which will block the majority of jinxes, elemental assaults, and most curses."

The students looked at each other uncertainly. She couldn't mean ....

"Professor," Hermione called out, putting her hand in the air.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"You don't mean the Protectoratora Omnioportantetei spell, do you?" she said uncertainly. Even Hermione fumbled over the words a bit, which was most unusual. Harry couldn't even imagine attempting the incantation.

"Yes ... and no," replied Professor Deveroux with a smile. "This is a variation on that spell. Quite frankly, by the time you got that mouthful out, your opponent has cursed you into oblivion and back again." As she said this, she glanced toward the doorway where Snape was, once again, lurking in his usual spot.

"Oh good, Professor Snape, I was hoping you would stop by today," she said with mock friendliness. "I was wondering if you would like to help me with a little demonstration?"

"Oh, wouldn't I just love to my dear ... professor." he hissed in an obvious effort to contain his contempt and be civil for once. "But are you certain? That spell is rather ...." Snape started to reply as he entered the room and faced off against the much-despised parvenu.

Deveroux's eyes narrowed, and she shot Snape a look that could have slain a basilisk. Snape shut up mid-sentence.

Harry and the other students waited with breathless anticipation as yet another round of the grudge match seemed to be in the offing. And judging from the expressions of barely controlled loathing and distrust on the faces of the two professors, it looked as if this were going to be the best round yet.

"Now, there are actually many different types and strengths of shield spells. I plan to cover the three most basic types today, if Professor Snape can contain his temper that long." Deveroux continued. "The first is the most basic. OK, Professor Snape, cast something nasty and threatening and potentially lethal at me, like we all know you're dying to do."

The class tittered as Snape scowled and raised his wand.

"How about the disarming spell?" she added sweetly with a wicked smirk.

Snape's scowl deepened as Deveroux's class laughed outright. But since he had promised to behave himself at least while the students were watching, he obediently chanted the very basic second-year-level spell, "Expelliarmus!"

"Chiel," Deveroux quietly responded, and a soft blue glow appeared around her as the red flash of Snape's spell splashed against it. The disarming spell seemed to dissolve around her, while she remained untouched.

Snape blinked in surprise. It was immediately apparent that Chiel was a spell he was not familiar with.

Harry looked at Hermione, but she only shrugged. So, Deveroux knew a spell that neither Snape nor Hermione had heard of. Interesting, he thought.

"Thank you, Professor," Deveroux said with a slight nod, and Snape slowly lowered his wand.

"That was the most basic type of spell block - a dissipating shield. It blocks the spell and scatters, or dissipates it. Now, a few notes. This is a spell I would strongly encourage you to practice without your wands. It is a little harder to do, but if you move your hand like this," she demonstrated, arm outstretched, palm facing forward, "at the same time you chant the spell, and if you focus properly, it can be done." She glanced over at her arch enemy and was pleased to note that Snape for once looked as attentive as her students.

"Say, for example, that Professor Snape's disarmament would have worked, and I had lost my wand." Professor Deveroux put her shiny, slender wand on top of her desk. "The shield won't last as long, or be as strong if you cast it without your wand, but it can buy you enough time to recover your wand while your enemy wastes their time and energy trying to break through the shield. Observe." She nodded at Snape, who cast a sixth-year-level Petrifying spell at her, and with considerably more force than the disarming spell.

"Chiel," Deveroux shouted raising her hand, and the blue-white shield shone brighter this time as it absorbed the more powerful spell. Immediately following the Chiel, Aruellia cast the Summoning Charm to regain her wand. She then pointed it threateningly at Snape, as if she were going to retaliate. Snape gripped his wand purposefully and waited for her next move, but she only lowered her wand and nodded her head.

"Thank you Professor Snape," she said, "and I must say, you are quite the model student today. Keep this up and I might just this once consider breaking one of my cardinal rules. How does five points for Slytherin sound?"

The class tittered again.

Snape set his jaw, and Harry couldn't tell if he was angry or puzzled. The Potions master's expression would have been almost comical ... if it had been on anyone else's face.

"Very interesting," Snape murmured, "I've never heard of this shield spell before, although I think I recognize the word from ... somewhere. Would you by any chance care to enlighten me on how you learned this?"

Deveroux shrugged and replied evasively, "Oh, I found it in an old spell book somewhere."

"It must have been a very old spell book," Snape replied, his look calculating, shrewd. "You mean you are allowed in the restricted section in the library, little girl?"

Deveroux shot him a stony look.

"Now Professor Snape, I thought we had an agreement about insults and name-calling. Do I need to make you write on the chalkboard again to remind you?" she said, waggling a finger in the way she usually did when scolding Draco Malfoy.

The class cracked up laughing at that remark. Even though the Potions master had decisively won the first chalkboard round, Deveroux had immediately turned right around and trumped him with the next.

Snape fumed as Deveroux decided to quickly change the subject before he erupted.

"Now be forewarned," she announced, returning the attention of her class to matters more important than teasing Snape. "This shield spell won't block everything. It does nothing against the death curse, Avada Kedavra. It also will only partially block the other unspeakable curses--which I will not repeat here for obvious reasons--and most other X-class spells such as inferno walls, meteor showers, mind-benders, and Obsequious."

She shot a dark look at Snape, who matched her look with a glare of his own.

"Oh yes, and I almost forgot. Unfortunately it also does nothing against Professor Snape's glowering."

The class laughed again as Snape looked about ready to cast some of the afore-mentioned unspeakable curses and X-class spells.

"Now, for the next type of shield...Professor Snape, if you would just cast whatever you are thinking about right now?" and she nodded at Snape, who eagerly hurled a large fireball at her.

Snape looked as though he didn't quite know what to expect next, but that with Deveroux in a tormenting mood, it was likely to be unpleasant. His suspicion, as it turned out, was more than merited.

Deveroux chanted "Chiel Ri!" and Snape's fireball bounced off of a shield that suddenly materialized around her. Snape watched in astonishment as the fireball zoomed straight back toward him and singed a few hairs on the top of his head. His expression swiftly darkened from amazement to outrage.

"Your aim is....impressive for an untrained Muggle-born child..." he remarked caustically. "Or perhaps that was just a lucky shot..."

"That is a basic, general-purpose deflecting shield," Deveroux replied, ignoring Snape's remark. "Ordinarily, you would want to aim that fireball directly back at your foe, but since Professor Snape has been kind enough to volunteer his services as a sitting duck, I didn't think that it would be sporting to turn his face into a firebrand."

A few more chuckles were heard from the class. Deveroux, meanwhile, walked over to Snape and whispered to him, and it sounded suspiciously to Harry like "Smile, Professor, it wouldn't kill you."

"You almost did," Snape whispered back fiercely. "You did that on purpose, and if you do it again, you will certainly regret it!"

"I meant it wouldn't kill you to smile," Deveroux retorted slyly, in a voice just loud enough to send another ripple of laughter through the classroom.

Snape seethed with rage and looked ready to explode at any moment. Obviously, thought Harry, the ceasefire over the weekend between the two professors wasn't going to last much longer at this rate.

"If you practice timing your casting, and if you form the deflecting shield just so, you can deflect an incoming spell anywhere you wish," Deveroux continued. "With considerable practice and concentration you can use this spell to turn almost all of your enemy's spells against them. There are also ways of deflecting an incoming spell so that it bounces back stronger than it was originally, and you can even divide a bounced spell so that it hits multiple opponents. These are very advanced techniques, however, and would be best left for next term, after you've mastered the basics."

"The third type of shield we are going to cover today is something you might call a 'thrown' or 'projected' shield. You would normally want to use this to protect a friend or an ally if you see a hostile spell heading in their direction, and for some reason they are unable to block it. The incantation is 'Chiel Ahmi.'" She then demonstrated by casting the shielding spell over Snape.

A blue-white shield flickered around the Potions master for a moment, this time visible even though it was not currently absorbing or deflecting an incoming spell.

A rather malicious grin spread across the Defense teacher's face. "Illuminare Incendere!" she chanted quickly.

A brilliant blue-white lightning bolt shot from her wand and splashed harmlessly against the shield around the Potions master.

Snape's knuckles whitened as he tightened his grip on his wand. He looked as though he were trying to decide what to retaliate with, and whether or not it might send him on a one-way trip to the infirmary if Deveroux were to bounce it straight back at him.

"Okay," said Deveroux, noticing the Potions master's rapidly crumbling restraint. "I think that Professor Snape is getting a little tired of playing target practice, so I think this will conclude the demonstration."

"Now, today, when you go to your practice sessions, I want you to get into groups of two, so that you can practice working together," Professor Deveroux continued. "Defending students, remember the three types of shield spells you've learned today and try to master at least one of them. Or, if you're feeling more ambitious, you can try all three. For those of you that are attacking, remember that Professor Snape and I were only demonstrating. I don't want to see any fireballs or lightning bolts, is that clear Mr. Finnegan? Only use Expelliarmus, and other disarming spells, for now."

"Wait," said Seamus, only partially succeeding in hiding a mischevious grin, "Before we go, can you show us the deflecting spells that return spells stronger than when they were cast or split them into two?"

"Yeah," said Dean Thomas, catching on to what Seamus was aiming at. "Please?" It was no secret among the other Gryffindors that Dean Thomas had a considerable portion of his yearly school allowance tied up in various bets on the outcome of the "grudge match." Namely, that Deveroux would rack up at least 30 victories over Snape before Christmas. And the score was now 29 to 10. So naturally, he couldn't pass up this juicy opportunity to up the count.

"Certainly," Deveroux replied, her right eyebrow arched slightly. She suspected that she was being baited, but said nothing about it. Although she'd said nothing either for or against it, privately she was just a little bit flattered by the fact that the students were keeping score of the number of occasions on which she had humiliated her hated detractor.

"Are you are willing to continue the demonstration, Professor Snape? I have no objections if you don't."

"I have about an hour until my next class, but if you think I intend to waste my valuable time being your bullseye for the sake of world peace, think again..." Snape grouched.

"Relax, I'm not going to make you waste the rest of your 'valuable time', just one or two more demonstrations, and then you can go back to spying on my class like you always do, which I'm sure is considerably more useful than actually spending that time helping me teach the students something that might one day save their lives."

"You know, I think she has a point there," Hermione observed quietly.

"I think she's up to something," Ron whispered, and Harry silently nodded.

"Ok, first the magnifying shield, which will reflect a spell and bounce it back stronger," Deveroux said with a wicked gleam in her eyes, and she nodded.

Eyes narrowed, Snape cast another fireball at her, this time a small one.

"Chiel Ri! Cuerga!" Deveroux shouted. The fireball bounced off the greenish shield that appeared around her, expanded and hurled itself back at Snape, now no longer a small fireball, but great blazing firedrake. The drake circled high overhead, then dove at Snape with a loud roar of wrath and flame. Snape swiftly leapt sideways like a panther and just barely avoided the attack. He raised his wand and targeted the drake as it circled back for another strike. "Glacialis Mortis!" he shouted. A blast of icy wind shot from his wand and struck the firedrake full in the face. The firedrake shrieked and vanished, only centimeters above the Potions master's head.

Snape was fuming, his breath coming quick and harsh as he struck a fighting stance and fixed Deveroux with a wrathful gaze. He looked ready to kill. Only a couple of the students were foolish enough to laugh at what had just happened, and even those were nervous titters.

Harry wondered if he ought to warn Professor Deveroux about what Snape had done to Professors Lockhart and Lupin... "I have a bad feeling about this," he whispered to Ron and Hermione, remembering how Snape, like the Dementors, had gotten rather frighteningly out of control on the night of the Shrieking Shack incident.

Deveroux returned a mischevious grin to Snape's look of pure malice. Apparently she either did not know or did not care that Snape had a homicidal temper when pushed too far. And she seemed to be doing her level best to see just how far she could push him before he snapped.

"And now," she continued sweetly, not taking her eyes off of the enraged Snape, "For the ...."

Snape didn't even wait for the rest of the sentence. He cast two lightening bolts at her, and the students gasped. It would have been proper for Snape to wait for Aurellia's nod, and to ask for permission before performing a dual attack, but then Snape had never been one to stand on the finer points of dueling ettiquette. Flitwick had once told his students a few hair-raising stories about Snape's temper and his eventual life-long ban from formal dueling competitions. Apparently, Deveroux had not heard any of those stories. Or else she had grown overconfident at her successes in the grudge match, and did not realize how dangerous the enraged ex-Death Eater could be.

Deveroux chanted "Chiel Ri! Dulak'na!" and the two lightening bolts simultaneously bounced off of the newly formed shield, split into four bolts altogether, and sped with deadly precision back towards the Potions master. But the force of the impact of the bolts on Aurellia's shield was enough to collapse it in a bang and a flash of blue-white light, and it sent the Defense teacher reeling backward a couple of steps. Fortunately Snape was busy with his own problems or else Aurellia would have been wide open to a counter-attack at that moment.

"Chiel!" Snape roared, snapping his wand at each of the incoming bolts exactly as Aurellia had demonstrated in the case of the disarming spell earlier. The lightning bolts sizzled against the shield in four blinding flashes and failed to score a direct hit. But like Aurellia, Snape also stepped back under the force of the attack, and the light momentarily blinded him. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes, and hoped that the students and especially Deveroux would not notice that his eyes were extremely sensitive to bright light.

"Not bad, Snape," Deveroux said softly, approvingly. "You've learned a few things today, I see."

"I've known how to cast, duel, fight, and kill since long before you were out of a nappy," Snape said nastily as his vision began to recover somewhat from the lightning bolt attack. "I can hold my own against anyone here. Except perhaps Dumbledore because he is in a class by himself. You I could annihilate with a minimum of effort ... and you seem to be begging for a demonstration."

Deveroux's eyes narrowed. "Oh really? Then how do you explain the Shrieking Shack incident, mister mighty wizard?"

And the reminder of that humiliating chain of events was all that it took for something just snap inside the Potions master. Roaring in fury, he cast something that looked like a whirling tornado made of violet flames straight at the Defense teacher. Several of the students cringed in fear, and some students in the front rows hastily scrambled to more distant, and safer, seats. The back row of the classroom, to be precise.

"Where'd he learn to cast that?" Harry wondered with more than a hint of fear.

"Don't know, but I don't think it's exactly tournament legal," Ron replied with disgust. Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"She should not have said that about the Shrieking Shack," Hermione muttered. "Oh, she really shouldn't have said that."

Deveroux then chanted something the students couldn't hear over the roar of the flaming tornado, and the tornado turned into a waterspout, and the waterspout performed a U-turn just inches from Deveroux's feet. Then the Defense teacher chanted something else which turned the waterspout into a tidal wave, and the tidal wave raced back at Snape with more force and speed then the original flaming tornado. Snape barely had time to swing his wand in a wide arc in front of him, shout "Glacialis Pared!" and thereby throw up a quick gleaming glacier wall. The tidal wave hit with tremendous force, shattering the wall and pouring over top of it in a flood of ice-cold saltwater. Snape was knocked off his feet, picked up by the surge of seawater, and dashed against the far wall where he grunted at the impact and spewed out saltwater in between coughing and cursing.

Aurellia doubled over with laughter while the remaining students in the middle of the classroom fled to the back wall and began shooting glances towards the door.

"This is another thing you can do, class, with practice," Deveroux said between chuckles as Snape began wringing the water out his robes with his wand. "Change the spell into something else and then redirect it. Unpredictability is a good thing to work on. Isn't that right, Professor Snape?"

Snape leapt forward with a beastial snarl, his hair still dripping wet though he'd finished drying his robes. He charged the Defense teacher like a rampaging rhino, but Deveroux only pretended to file her nails with her wand until Snape got almost close enough to strike. Then she nonchalantly raised her wand and mind-cast an all-too solid-looking brick wall. Snape ran smack dab into the wall, and he stumbled back with a hiss of fury, his forehead now sporting a large bruise.

"Ah, ah, ah, Snape," Aurellia taunted. "Wizard's duel only, no physical attacks."

The students didn't even so much as snicker. Aurellia had more than proven her point, but this was carrying the joke a little too far.

"Frigoris Mons Ventus!" Snape roared, conjuring a fierce windstorm that nearly knocked Deveroux off of her feet.

"Hey, I know that one! That's what the dueling pros call a 'Matterhorn,'" Ron exclaimed. "Charlie showed Fred, George and I that one last Christmas when he was telling us all about how he deals with wild dragons. He says that it is very difficult to cast, and it works well against dragon fire, but it's not good for much else. It's too easy to counter."

"Trust Snape to cast something like that just to show off," grumbled Hermione.

"You are call Snape a showoff?" Ron queried in disbelief. "Talk about the pot calling the cauldron black!"

Harry snickered while Hermione glowered at Ron.

Deveroux countered by casting "Tempesta Quies," a Storm Stopper.

Without hesitation Snape then conjured a Hailstorm and a Sliver Strike in quick succession, and Aurellia took a few minor abrasions and bruises before she was able to divert the additional threats.

"Not bad, Snape, but also not exactly fair," the Defense teacher whispered, her eyes narrowing, and her voice becoming nearly as menacing as the Potions master's. She then threw both arms straight in the air and mindcast a white-hot energy sphere, then hurled it at Snape with terrible force. Snape only barely dodged it by hitting the floor, and sphere sailed over his head and exploded against the far wall. It hadn't occurred to him until that moment that he was at a significant disadvantage if Aurellia started mind-casting everything. She would know what spells to expect from him by listening to his casting, but he would not have a clue as to what was coming his way until he actually saw the spell form.

"You have no room to talk about fair ... Mindspeaker!" Snape snarled.

Some of the students gasped. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had already guessed at Aurellia's extremely rare gift, but they had not spread the news to the other students.

Snape leapt to his feet and retaliated with a series of flaming arrow spells, all of which Deveroux either dodged or reversed and turned into a storm of needle-sharp icicles. Snape was able to destroy most of the icicles with "Scutum Flammare," a blazing Fire Shield, but several survived the flames and pierced him with cruel force, drawing blood and causing Snape to grit his teeth and fight to keep his balance.

"First blood," Aurellia gloated nastily. "Want to quit yet, oh high and mighty, highly-trained, highly respected wizarding family wonder?"

"Whoa, this is beginning to look like a real wizard's duel!" said Dean Thomas in awe as Snape initiated another round of fierce exchanges.

Seamus agreed. "Wow! This is far better than Lockhart's stupid demonstration when he was trying to start that dueling club."

"I don't know," Hermione said, her eyes wide with fear. "There are duels ... and then there are duels. And with their tempers, this could easily turn into a mort-de-kai. We have to find a way to stop this!"

"No way!" Ron retorted. "I want to see Snape get it! This time she'll teach him a lesson he won't forget, you just wait!"

Harry returned a blank stare. "What's a mort-de-kai?"

"A duel to the death," Neville whispered, trembling with dread.

"Ahhh, come on, Hermione, it's not a mort-de-kai. You're overreacting." Ron said as the two professors continued to battle. "They're not going to kill each other. She'll cream him, get another grudge point -- I know Dean will be very happy about that -- and Snape'll go storming out of here when he's had enough, muttering evil things under his breath like he always does."

But Snape looked far from ready to call it quits, Harry thought. If anything, it looked as if he were only getting warmed up.

"Nhuku Demonostorak Incitre!" Snape chanted, his voice taking on a hollow, echoey sound in the room.

The class watched as a huge, black-robed, ghastly monster appeared from his wand -- a winged imp, with fiery eyes, razor-sharp teeth and long, curved talons. It looked frighteningly similar to Lord Voldemort, Harry thought, remembering that horrible night when he had nearly been killed by the Dark Lord. Some of the students gasped in fear as darkness engulfed the room and the demon grew in size until it dwarfed its target.

"Cute," Deveroux murmured as she easily fended off several of the monster's charges with her lightning-quick wand. "And where did that spell come from?"

"I think you-know-who," snarled the Potions master, as he disappointedly watched his monster get carved up and then changed into several bright orbs of bluish-white light.

Deveroux narrowed her eyes and tossed the shining spheres in Snape's direction with a wave of her wand. But at the last minute the spheres swung sharply to the right, missing Snape by a couple of feet, and they vanished into thin air.

"Looks like you missed," Snape sneered triumphantly, his lip curling.

"Fulgor Revenire!" Deveroux commanded sharply while Snape gloated. And she raised her wand over her head, twirled it, then targeted Snape's head.

Snape began casting his next spell. "Magna Ardens Sa...!"

Wham!

One of the orbs suddenly reappeared and hit him in the back of the head, causing him to stagger and nearly knocking him down. The other six followed in quick succession, splashing all across the back of his body, burning through his robes and causing him to hiss in pain and anger.

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

"I don't think so," Deveroux taunted sweetly. "You may call me Miss Deveroux, but the title's a bit of a misnomer. I never miss."

"Suffocato Caligo!" Snape chanted, sending a thick, noxious black fog toward Deveroux, who started to counter it with a quick Purifying Wind.

"Purgare..."

But before she could complete her spell, Snape sent another rain of fire arrows in her direction. "Magna Ardens Saggita!" he roared, aiming his wand at Deveroux and drawing his left hand back toward his cheek as if drawing a bowstring.

Aurellia dropped the wind spell mid-cast as a huge swarm of fire arrows zoomed out of Snape's wand directly toward her. She turned her attention from the cloud to the more threatening menace, the arrows.

"Chiel!" and a wide swing of her wand stopped most of the arrows, and she dodged the rest. But the suffocating cloud enveloped her, and she staggered out of it after a few seconds, pale and choking ... and looking enraged.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Hermione exclaimed softly, her eyes angry. "Snape cheated! He's stacking spells!"

"How can you tell?" Harry asked, as he cast a worried look at Ron, who was beginning to do a slow boil over the sight of his least favorite teacher attacking his heart-throb and actually inflicting some serious damage for once.

"You are only supposed to cast one spell at a time in a formal duel," Hermione explained, never taking her eyes off the fighting professors, who by now seemed to have forgotten all about the student spectators.

Ron snarled, and started to leap from his chair, wand in hand. "That does it! That slimy dirtball! How dare he???" Ron snapped, practically foaming at the mouth. It took the combined efforts of Harry, Hermione and Neville to hold him back.

"Ron, Calm down!" Harry ordered fiercely, grabbing Ron's wand hand.

Hermione agreed. "Don't try to interfere in this! Either of you! It won't do any good. There's nothing we can do now. They've been building up to this for weeks, and I think this is the only way they're going to resolve it. I just hope they'll come to their senses and quit when they realize how stupid and dangerous this whole thing is."

Ron muttered, "I hope Miss Deveroux kicks his..."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded sharply, while Harry snickered and flashed a grin at the red-head.

"I'm with you, Ron!" Neville whispered.

"Don't encourage him, Neville," Hermione whispered back.

Snape's hair was still dripping from the tidalwave attack, and now there were flecks of blood on the floor from the icicles that had pierced him, mingled with the residual saltwater from the tidalwave. He sported a nasty bruise on his face from the Elec-wall, and his robes were scorched and still smoking from the Porting Light Orbs. He was obviously getting the worse end of this fight, but he looked far from ready to fold.

Aurellia meanwhile was beginning to look a little winded and her face was flushed with anger. She had a few minor bruises and scratches from the combined Hailstorm and Sliver Strike, but otherwise she sported no major injuries.

Ron slowly, reluctantly sat back down, still glaring balefully at Snape, who had just finished casting what looked like a shower of deadly scalding lava rain. Hermione gasped.

"Oh! I know that one! Pluvia Liquifacta Massa Letalis literally means Lethal Lava Rain, but for some reason it is more commonly called a Meteor Shower!" Hermione said, cringing.

"That's great, Hermione," Ron remarked sarcastically. "If they end up burning us to cinders, at least you'll be able to tell us precisely what spell is killing us."

Several students started to duck under the desks in the back row as some stray lava drops seemed to head their way, and were only deflected at the last moment by some invisible barrier.

"Is that another one of those X-class ...?" Harry started to say as Deveroux retaliated with another icicle storm, this one larger and more dangerous then the last.

Hermione nodded as a stray icicle whizzed over the students' heads and shattered against the wall. "Oh yes. Definitely not tournament legal! They are using war-grade spells now," she whispered, her eyes filled with alarm as the students watched Snape gearing up to retailiate with something even more lethal than the Meteor Shower. "I hate to be the one to tell you I told you so, but, well, I told you so. I very much doubt that this duel will end with a truce."

A low, subsonic "boom" shook the room, as Deveroux mind-cast a spell which started out as a tiny, brilliant white spark, that exploded about foot from Snape when it became the size of a softball. The force of the explosion sent him flying with a force stronger than Harry, Ron and Hermione's simultaneously tri-cast Expelliarmus.

"What was that???" Harry asked shooting a look at Hermione. "I've never heard of anything like it!"

"It's called a Delayed Sonic Concussion Blast, I think," Hermione muttered. "Or something like that. Also not tournament legal. It's a very dangerous, unstable spell. Most aurors wouldn't dare use it even if their lives depended on it, because it has been known to backfire and kill its caster."

"Great, Deveroux is using Wizard TNT," Harry quipped with a grimace. "She's as bad as Snape."

"Yeah, but Snape was asking for it!" Ron countered, never missing an opportunity to defend his crush.

Snape somehow managed to land on his feet and retaliated quickly.

"Summa Incedium Pared!" the Potions master shouted.

A roaring wall of flame flew with blinding speed towards Deveroux. The heat from it was so intense that the students in the back of the room threw their arms over their faces to shield themselves. The papers, books and quills that had been left lying on desks in the first three rows of the classroom suddenly burst into flame as the students gasped.

"An Inferno Wall," Ron muttered, his voice muffled by his robes. "I once overheard Draco crowing that Snape was really good at those, but I didn't believe it until now!"

"Glacialis Globus!" Deveroux swiftly encased herself in an Ice Sphere, and the flames swept harmlessly around her.

"An Ice Sphere--great counter!" Seamus observed. "She's good at this. I wonder where she learned how to duel?"

"Obviously not on the regular dueling circuit," Harry remarked.

"She seems to know a lot of X-class spells and counters," Ron said thoughtfully. "I wonder if she's an undercover auror?"

"But why would an auror be working under cover here?" Harry wondered. "And wouldn't your dad know something about her background if she were?"

Ron shrugged. "Sure my dad knows all the Captains and Chief Trainers, but there are hundreds of ordinary rank and file aurors and junior and intermediate aurors under them I'm sure he's never met."

"If she is an undercover auror," Hermione said, "then it's obvious why she's here."

"Maybe to you," Ron retorted. "Would you care to enlighten the rest of us mere mortals?"

"I know why," said Harry. "She's here to protect us."

The students shuddered as the teachers exchanged more spells, and more stray shots and side-effects seemed to be making their way towards the back of the room.

"Somehow," Neville complained, "I don't find that very reassuring."

"She's not doing a very good job, is she?" Parvati observed acidly.

"If she dusts Snape, I'd say she's more than earned her keep," Ron whispered as Harry laughed and Hermione grumbled, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

Hermione gave a blow by blow account of the spells being cast, but after a short time she fell silent and shrugged as the duel moved out of even her well-read range of knowledge. The students were all huddled along the back wall at this point, as the room shook and the spells between the professors continued to escalate in power, frequency, complexity, and ferocity.

"Ponderus Vortexius!" Snape commanded in a stone cold voice. A spinning, dark vortex suddenly opened up behind Deveroux, and she just barely missed getting sucked into it.

"Ahketurla cuerag'perkhalane!" Aurellia screamed out as she twirled her wand. The vortex instantly changed into a bright orange-white rapidly rotating orb, and Aurellia sent it with a deafening roar like a freight train into the ground at Snape's feet where it exploded with tremendous force. Snape saw the orb coming and swiftly leapt aside, narrowly avoiding being blown to pieces. But he lost his balance in the desperate dodge, and he fell heavily as several students gasped.

"A Gravity Trap! That beast! How dare he?!" Hermione exclaimed in outrage.
"Ponderus Vortexius is a Death Eater spell, and is generally considered the next thing to an unforgivable curse! He could get time in Azkaban if the Ministry hears about that one!"

"Yeah but what was that thing she turned it into?" Harry wondered.

Hermione shrugged, then said soberly, "I don't know, but it was probably Azkaban material too...."

Ron started to get up again, and again Harry, Hermione and Neville had to hold him back. Harry grabbed the wand out of Ron's hand and held onto it. Ron barely noticed, as he was totally focused on the battle.

Furious about the Gravity Trap, Deveroux followed up on the exploding orb before Snape had a chance to recover his balance.

"Shemelahke Perkatahl!" Deveroux retaliated. She hit him with something that looked like a shimmering veil, which surrounded Snape and made him flicker as if he were under a strobe light. He roared out in pain and rage and threw an arm over his eyes.

"What ...what was that?" Harry, Ron and Neville asked at the same time. They turned their heads to look at Hermione, who was pale and white-lipped.

"I ... I don't know," she whispered, shaking a bit. "I've never seen or heard of anything like it. And I hope I never do again. They're going to kill each other at this rate!" Then she seemed to mentally shake herself. "I'm going to go find ..." then she cast a hasty glance at Ron, who had turned his attention back to the duel, and was still seething with rage as he watched Snape hurl a pitch black cloud that crackled with numerous lightening bolts at the Defense teacher. "On second thought, I'd better stay here and help make sure a certain hot-head doesn't do something stupid like jump into this." She turned to Dean and Seamus. "You guys helped start this. Now do something to stop it! Go get Dumbledore and McGonagall, and hurry! Tell them it's a mort-de-kai!"

Dean and Seamus bolted out the door, and they were quickly followed by three other students. Several others looked as if they were undecided whether to go or stay.

"Neville, maybe you should go too," Hermione told her classmate, who looked pale and frightened as he watched the battle.

Neville looked for a moment as if he were going to stand up, then he changed his mind. He remained stubbornly on the floor against the back wall with the others.

"No," he said slowly, not taking his eyes off of the teachers, although they were getting harder to see through the thick, spent-magic haze that began to fill the room. "I ... I want to make sure she's OK. Professor Deveroux has always been nice to me. She's extra patient and helps me to keep up with the rest of you. I'm staying put. I owe it to her."

The soft but firm words inspired the remaining students in the room, and they, too, chose to stay and watch and wait for the outcome of the battle.

Then both teachers cast something at the same time, and the two spells collided with terrifying violence. Another explosion rocked the room, staggered both combatants, and the students ducked and covered their eyes from the blinding bluish light that resulted from the collision.

After a moment Harry looked up again and stared in open-mouthed astonishment, for through the smoke and fury of the battle he could now only barely see the figures of the two antagonists. And it seemed to him that Snape and Deveroux had grown much taller, no they were colossal! And they seemed to glow with ancient power.

But while Aurellia shined blazing white against the haze of battle, Snape seemed to radiate darkness, an aura of almost palpable hatred and malice and evil. His eyes were slits of cold blackness, his ebony hair a halo of darkness framing his pale cadaverous face. His wand slashed back and forth through the air like a slender black dagger, and his robes had transformed into hard, black, chitinous armor covered in spines. A dark, smoky aura rose like great black wings around him, and his voice, harsh, caustic, and asp-like hissed through the air like some fell serpent as he launched spell after spell and did not yield ground even when Aurellia pierced his defenses and struck him to his knees with a powerful earthquake.

Aurellia's eyes burned with white fury. An avenging, renegade angel she seemed to be with great wings of golden light. She looked like an infuriated, vengeful goddess of old, Pallas Athene in resplendent armor and divine wrath. Spells flew thick and fast from her wand which blazed like a flaming sword in her hand. She made no sound now. Her casting was all mental, by reflex. She was clearly in command of the situation and was beginning to rain terrible punishment on Snape, who appeared to be buckling.

No wonder the Muggles fear us if this is what we look like to them when we fight each other, Harry thought.

Then, all of a sudden, the most unbelievable thing happened: Snape's armor began to crack in little cobwebby lines. The dark wings around him began to dissipate, and his voice lost all of its menace. A brilliant light pulsed beneath the fast-disintegrating armor and seemed to be clawing its way out of the demonic shell it had inhabited.

"Encanta Terminosa," Snape stated quietly, almost wearily.

And Harry's vision vanished instantly, and it was only Deveroux and Snape facing each other again. Harry scrubbed at his eyes and wondered if he had imagined the whole thing.

Then Deveroux cried out, dropped her wand, and crumpled like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Snape paled and numbly lowered his wand, bewilderment, then horror on his face. Aurellia Deveroux lay still and lifeless on the floor, and there was a silence even more potent than the charged atmosphere in the room at the height of the duel.

Snape ran a hand through his dishelved hair as his wand slipped from his other hand. His jaw worked soundlessly, but he seemed to be stammering, "I don't understand ... How... how can it be?" He stared in shock at the results of the spell as 10 pairs of eyes fixed on him with one overwhelming accusation.

It was Ron who voiced at the top of his lungs what every student was thinking, and his anger would have given even the most fearless auror pause.

"YOU KILLED HER, YOU VOLDEMORT-LOVING DEATH EATER FREAK!!!!"

"RON!" Hermione scolded in embarrassed astonishment and worry, as she clamped a hand over her hot-tempered friend's mouth, while Harry pocketed Ron's already-confiscated wand for good measure. Harry and Hermione each grabbed ahold of Ron's arms with one hand, and Hermione and Neville held the red-haired teen back by the robes.

"Let me go!" Ron shouted, struggling against Harry, Neville and Hermione. "Let me go! I hate you! I HATE YOU! YOU KILLED HER!" And if looks could have killed, Snape would have been dead on the spot due to the intensity of the red-headed boy's glare.

The Potions master turned slowly, painfully away from the students and stared helplessly at his victim. He shook his head once as if in denial not merely of Ron's accusation, but the entire chain of events that had just unfolded. Then, not knowing what else to do, he turned and bolted for the door, his battle scarred robes trailing like tattered black wings in the wake of his passing.

Professor McGonagall just barely missed a head-on collision with Snape as she strode into the room. "What's going on in here?" she called out sternly. "I've just had five students running down the hall towards me babbling something about a mort-de-kai ... Oh!" she gasped in horror as she saw Professor Deveroux. She ran back to the doorway and yelled down the hall. "Madam Pomfrey! Thank goodness you've arrived! Hurry, Miss Deveroux's been injured in a duel!"

"Snape killed her!!!" Ron shouted out.

Madame Pomfrey and her two student assistants entered the room and ran straight over to the stricken professor. Madam Pomfrey bent over and picked up Deveroux's limp, pale wrist.

"She's still alive," the healer observed tersely. "But barely. She's ice cold. We have to get her to the infirmary... fast! Minerva, tell Albus to send Fawkes and to meet us on the way there!"

One of the assistants conjured a stretcher and blanket, and the three nearly ran out of the classroom with the unconscious Deveroux.

"All of you stay in here until I get back. I mean it," McGonagall commanded the class as she stormed out of the room.

The students slowly returned to their seats, numb at what had just happened.

Sally Anne Perks was crying, and more than a few boys looked like they were trying not to.

"She looked like she was dead," whispered Parvati.

"Did you see the look on her face before the spell hit?" Seamus Finigan said darkly.

"Yeah," muttered Neville. "She knew it was something bad. I've never seen a teacher look so scared."

"Hermione, did you catch what Snape cast?" Harry asked, his mouth set in a firm, angry line. If he hadn't already hated Snape enough before this, Harry loathed him even more now.

Hermione nodded. "I wrote it down ...'Encanta Terminosa.'"

"Terminosa? Why does that sound so ominous?" Ron asked fearfully as Hermione started flipping through her textbooks.

"I don't know what it's supposed to do," Hermione remarked. "And it's not in the index of any of my texts. I want to get to the library after class."

"We all will," Harry said. "I wish we could go now."

"Professor McGonagall told us to wait," Hermione said imperiously.

"I know," Harry retorted, more sharply than he intended. "I just wish we could go now."

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Professor McGonagall returned with Professor Dumbledore beside her.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Dumbledore addressed the anxious students. "You may rest assured your teacher, Professor Deveroux, will be all right." The class let out a collective sigh of relief.

"What happened? What did Snape ...?" Harry burst out, but was stopped from going any further by McGonagall's steely gaze.

"After talking with Professor Snape, I came to the conclusion that what happened was a very unfortunate accident," Dumbledore continued, glancing at Harry. "He had cast another form of magical disarmament, similar to Expelliarmus or Finit Incantata. The spell he used should have merely rendered Professor Deveroux incapable of using magic for several seconds, two minutes at most. This is not ordinarily something that is taught anymore, and is considered an illegal move for a formal tournament duel -- but the spell should not have had such a profound effect as it did on Professor Deveroux. We are ... still trying to determine what exactly went wrong."

"But she'll be OK?" Ron asked.

"Mr. Weasley! Never interrupt the head..." McGonagall started, but Dumbledore raised his hand.

"He meant no disrespect, Professor McGonagall. The students are merely concerned and upset right now," the elderly wizard pointed out mildly. "Yes, she will be all right in a few days. She's resting in the hospital wing as we speak. And as I said before, this was an accident." His eyes scanned the room, and seemed to linger on Harry and Ron longer than the other students. "A very unfortunate one, but an accident nonetheless. Please remember that."

"For those of you who may have missed class, or have class in less than one half hour," Professor McGonagall said, "I have already spoken with the rest of the staff. You will not be punished for missing class, and will be allowed to make up any work that you may have missed. The lunch hour is already over, but if you go into the Great Hall, you will find a table set up, ready for you."

Harry's stomach growled as he realized that it was, indeed, past lunchtime.

"You are free to leave now," McGonagall said, "Except for you, Mr. Weasley. You are coming with me. I believe you owe Professor Snape an apology."

Ron shuddered and turned red up to the tops of his ears.

"Well, it was nice knowing you," he whispered to Harry out of the side of his mouth. "Give my regards to my family for me."

"Will do," Harry whispered back.

"Ron, how many times have I told you, the less said the better!" Hermione whispered.

"Gee, thanks a lot Hermione. If he kills me, I'm going to come back as a ghost and haunt you." Ron replied.

"As for the rest of you," McGonagall was saying, "We will not detain you any longer, but should you wish to speak to us in private, we will be available. Mr. Weasley?"

Ron hung his head and slunk over to the Gryffindor headmaster like a whipped dog.

"Oh, I feel sorry for him," Seamus whispered.

"Me too," Dean agreed. "Bet he ends up joining his brothers in detention."

McGonagall left with Ron in tow as the other students filed out and headed to the Great Hall for a late lunch. While Harry was eating, he heard a soft hoot and glanced up. Hedwig flew towards him, carrying a small envelope. She dropped it neatly before him, and was rewarded with a treat.

"Hey, it's from Hagrid!" Harry said happily. He hadn't had much of a chance to see Hagrid outside of the Care of Magical Creatures class. "He's inviting us over for lunch on Saturday, at 1!"

"That sounds great ... except for the lunch part, perhaps," Hermione said. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to have a snack before going down."

Hagrid was a good conversationalist and a great friend to the three, but his skills as a cook were somewhat akin to Deveroux's skill with a cauldron. Or rather the lack thereof.

Harry scribbled on the back of the parchment: "Sounds great -- we will be there -- one o'clock sharp." He then returned the note to Hedwig, who took off to deliver the new message.

Shortly before the students' belated lunch hour was about to expire, Ron straggled in looking pale and ill.

"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "You're still alive!"

"Oh, you look right miserable! What happened to you?" Dean queried.

"Uhhhh..." Ron moaned.

"So what took so long? You aren't going to have time for lunch now!" Hermione said.

"Don't...really...feel like eating," Ron replied with another groan as several irridescent soap bubbles floated out of his mouth. He looked as ill as the time when his wand had backfired and he had ended up belching slugs for several hours afterwards.

"Oh no," Hermione exclaimed in horror. "He didn't!"

"No, actually..." Ron began, then stopped as more soap bubbles came flying out of his mouth. "The soap wasn't Snape's idea. It was McGonagall's."

"I'm afraid to ask about what Snape did," said Seamus.

"Nothing yet," Ron replied amidst another stream of soap bubbles, "other than handing McGonagall the ammunition."

"Nothing?" Harry exclaimed incredulously.

"He said he needed time to think of an appropriate punishment. And he said it would be much worse than this."

"Oh Ron, you really need to learn to control your temper once in a while," Hermione scolded.

"Oh shu..." Ron hiccuped and more bubbles flew out. "Shut up Hermione!"

****

Forty minutes after the duel, as though nothing had happened, Snape was present for his next class, which was Ravenclaw only. Yet in reality, everything had changed. The news had by then travelled to the farthest corners of Hogwarts' rambling hallways and classrooms. The fourth-year Ravenclaws, who were mostly quiet, serious, nerdy types anyways, barely spoke a dozen words during the entire Potions class, and then only on the subject of the lesson (which was hastily scrawled on the blackboard in Marvin's No-Mess Magichalk).

Snape kept his hooked nose buried in a huge, six-inch-thick, dust-covered tome the whole time. His hair was in a state of total disarray, he sported several nasty cuts and bruises, and his robes were scorched in several places and smelled of smoke and ozone. But he seemed to pay no mind to his injuries from the duel. His concentration was completely focused on whatever it was he was reading. And whenever he turned a crackling, withered brown page half the class jumped nervously and the other half quavered and shot the professor a fearful glance. Snape later facetiously remarked that it was the quietest class he had ever taught, and that he would have started killing people sooner if he'd known how effective it would be in getting his students to behave themselves.

Fifteen minutes after the bell marking the end of the class period, young Argyle Graytalon was pressured by his fellow classmates into approaching the brooding professor to ask if they were dismissed. Snape hadn't even looked up when the bell had rung, for he was totally absorbed in whatever he was reading. At the young Ravenclaw's nervous question, Snape glanced up at his hourglass, saw that it was empty, and dismissed the students with an impatient wave of his hand. The stampede out of the classroom nearly upset several cauldrons and caused poor Argyle to end up stuck in front of the Potions master's desk while the rest of the herd jockeyed for the privilege of being the first one out the door.

"You," Snape commanded suddenly to the terrified boy in front of his desk,"Whatever class you have next, I will see to it that you are excused from it." He tore a page out of the tome, carefully rolled it and tied it. "Take this to Madam Pomfrey as quickly as you are able. It is a matter of life and death."

No student's head ever nodded so fast in all the history of Hogwarts, as the youth reached out a trembling hand to take the fragile paper.

"And tell her..." Snape continued, "tell her that I am afraid that there is nothing more I can find on such short notice, but that I will be available to help in any way I can if she requires my assistance."

The boy nodded again and took off so fast that his feet barely touched the floor on his way to the exit. Meanwhile Snape chewed a pale finger, fiddled with the hourglass, and debated whether to head for the library or the infirmary, or to stay and wait for some news. After a moment he decided to lock up and tack a cancellation notice on the door. How could he waste his time hiding from the consequences of his actions and babysitting kids when he should be doing something more useful? Now the question was, to the library to search for more words of wisdom from the past, or to the infirmary where his mere presence would no doubt throw the entire place into an uproar?

****

"I can't find that spell anywhere!" Harry complained after reading what felt like his 100th book. "Are you guys having any luck?"

"No," Hermione muttered, obviously frustrated. "I've looked through these three times already! Ron?"

"Nothing yet," Ron said as he flipped through an enormous book of spells and enchantments. "But I think my bubble breath is finally gone."

"Well, that's nice Ron, but that doesn't help," said Harry.

"Speak for yoursel..." Ron broke off as he hiccuped and another batch of soap bubbles came out of his mouth. "Nev...never mind. They're back."

"You really shouldn't have said that to Professor Snape, you know. He'll make you regret it in his class on Friday. But if you're lucky maybe the worst he'll do is make you apologize to him in front of the class and then feed you his latest poison."

"Shu..." and the red-head stopped as a couple more bubbles floated out. "Shut up Hermione. Oy, I really wish these wretched soap bubbles would go away. Do you think if I go back and grovel nicely that he'll give me something to make them stop?"

Harry and Hermione both stared at Ron.

"Right," Ron said sheepishly as he turned pink. "I didn't think so either, but I just had to ask. This is..." he paused, waited for another cloud of bubbles to pass. "This is driving me nutters. At least the slugs went away after a couple of hours."

"Well maybe this will teach you to think before you insult somebody, Ron. I really thought you would have learned your lesson after the slugs."

"Do you hear that, Harry? I did it for her and now I never hear the end of it! That's gratitude for you."

"I'm not getting involved in this one. So have you found anything?" Harry persisted.

"No ... wait! What was that spell called again?"

"Encanta Terminosa," Hermione replied. "Really, Ron, a little less talking and a little more listening on your part and you would avoid a lot of the trouble you get yourself into."

"A little more reading and a little less bickering and we would have found it by now," Harry scolded with irritation. "Honestly you two are almost as bad as Snape and Deveroux sometimes. And if you get into a duel one of these days, don't expect me to intervene."

"Hmmm... well, this might be similar," Ron said, ignoring Harry's remarks. "Magna Encanta Terminosa. It's supposed to render an opponent incapable of using magic..." he stopped as more bubbles floated out of his mouth.

"Just like Dumbledore told us," Harry said, perplexed.

"Wait, here's a footnote ... listen to this!" Ron said, and he began to read, "There are many variations on this little-performed spell. Encanta Terminosa is considered one of the milder variations, which only deprives a witch or wizard of magic use for a few seconds. The more commonly used spell, Magna Encanta Terminosa, lasts a couple of minutes, usually long enough in a duel to cast an unopposed spell or two. It is generally considered illegal for tournament use, because it is exceedingly unfair to deprive an opponent of his ability to defend himself, just as it is also unpardonably rude and unfair to cast while an opponent's back is turned. This differs from the Finit Incantatum in that the Terminosa spells sap magic from the opponents themselves while the Finit spell merely neutralizes individual spells.

"While not considered dangerous by themselves, Terminosa spells are highly frowned upon by the wizarding community, and are rarely used today. This is primarily due to the fact that the infamous vampiress Lady Mortgona developed these spells to kill the elves circa 1032. The dark wizard Grindelwald rediscovered and used these spells in order to eliminate the elf races, high fairies and most of the nymph races.'"

Hermione shuddered. "How awful! But it makes sense, in a twisted sort of way: the elves were powerful magic users. Cast something that disables their ability to use magic, then kill them with something else while they are defenseless."

"But we are still don't know whether or not Snape meant to kill her," Harry said, frustrated.

"I wonder what would happen if we tried to use this spell on each other," Hermione said.

"Hermione! Have you gone Bangers?" said Ron, a little too loudly for the library. Madam Pince gave the three a long, disapproving look. Ron lowered his voice. "You saw what ..."

"Yes, I know, but it would be one way to find out how harmless this spell really is," Hermione said. "Let's go back to the common room."

"No, too many people, too much unwanted attention," Harry said. "Let's find an empty classroom. Although I'm thinking the same thing as Ron. What if it does something really nasty to us?"

"I don't think anything could be nastier than this," Ron complained as he hiccuped and began spewing more irridescent globes into the air.

"Somehow, Ron, I think you'll live," Harry said sarcastically.

"Do you think there's any possibility that the Encanta Terminosa spell might cure these wretched soap bubbles?" Ron asked as the three exited the library, leaving an ephemeral trail of bubbles in the air behind them.

"I highly doubt it Ron. If Finit Incantatum wouldn't cure it, then I doubt very much that anything else would either." Hermione said as they searched for an empty classroom. "Besides, I don't think Encanta Terminosa works that way. I'll explain when we find a place to talk."

Ron groaned and made a face.

They found that their Defence Against the Dark Arts room was empty, all classes there having been cancelled until further notice while Professor Deveroux recovered in the hospital. The rumors had already begun circulating around the school that the Defense position had claimed yet another hapless victim, and that Professor Snape was apparently not above killing to try to get a job that no sane teacher would want because it was undoubtably jinxed.

"Listen," Hermione said quietly, her eyes dark with suspicion as they gathered into a small huddle in the front of the room. "This Terminosa spell is supposed to be used to disable someone, prevent them from casting anything, right?" The other two nodded. "What if he cast this spell, and then followed with another, more dangerous spell, maybe not realizing how bad it would hit? Something that none of us picked up on? Casting this on ourselves would be one way to find out."

"That could be," Harry mused. "Try it on me, then."

Ron hiccuped loudly, and a huge cloud of bubbles flew out of his mouth. "Ugh! I sincerely hope that was the last of them," he said while Harry and Hermione tried not to laugh.

Hermione got her wand ready, but even she was trembling a bit. "Encanta terminosa!" she said, and pointed her wand at Harry. Harry suddenly felt that horrible chill people get when they have walked through a ghost, or if they have had a very close brush with a Dementor, but a second later, the feeling was gone, and he was still standing, alive and well, as his friends watched anxoiusly.

"Well?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine." Harry said. "Felt like someone doused me with ice cold water for a second, but that's it."

"Try to cast something now," Hermione urged. "Hurry, this spell isn't supposed to last long."

Harry grabbed his quill from his bag and placed it on the desk. Then, waving his wand over it with a swish and a flick, he chanted, "Wingardium Leviosa." Nothing.

Ron stared in surprise. This was a basic, first-year spell they could do in their sleep! "Try again," he urged.

Harry did, and this time, after a brief pause, the feather slowly lifted in the air and hovered an inch off the desk. When Harry tried the spell a third time, the feather soared lightly above their heads, almost to the ceiling.

Hermione nodded. "That settles it, then. Snape must have cast something else immediately afterwards that we all missed. It's the only explanation that makes sense."

****

The mood in the Gryffindor common room later that evening was unusually quiet and somber. Even Fred and George were subdued by the news of what had happened that morning. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan stood by the large window to the left of the fireplace. The other students were either seated at the tables, the couch or the chairs.

"I never would have imagined something like this happening if I hadn't seen it before my very eyes," said Lavender Brown, sniffling.

"I just can't believe it," whispered George Weasley, shaking his head sadly. "I know Snape is a vicious old moat monster, but I never dreamed he would try to kill Professor Deveroux. And all over some stupid practical jokes."

"Remember, Professor Dumbledore said it was an accident," Hermione stated a bit uncertainly, thinking about the Gravity Trap. "And she was goading him something awful before the duel broke out. It's a wonder he kept his temper as long as he did. And besides," she continued, her voice lower. "We are just as responsible for this. We also goaded them on. We eagerly wore the buttons and kept track of the score."

Ron turned and glared at Hermione. Meanwhile, the other students looked penitant. Lee Jordan, the Weasley twins, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan squirmed uncomfortably.

"You needn't remind us again, Hermione!" Ron said sharply.

Hermione bit her lip to keep from crying, and Ron relented, slightly.

"I'm sorry, Hermione.... I'm just, you know, freaked out a little... It's so frustrating! Not knowing ...."

Hermione nodded, and the room fell silent again.

"It was freaky," Fred agreed quietly. "We were supposed to go to Snape for detention today, like we'll be doing till the day we graduate. But we couldn't find him at first. And then when we finally did find him, he only dragged us straight to Filch and walked away. Not a word. Not even a snarl. In a way, I'm sort of relieved ... but it just showed how not normal this day was. Usually the greasy-haired git has some nasty chore or other to throw at us along with the usual accompanying sarcastic commentary."

More silence. No one had the heart to bring up the old running joke about the daily "Weasley Torture."

"Ummm... guys?" Dean finally asked, hesitant. "What about ... well, I know this isn't a great time to bring this up, but what about ... the bets? The grudge match? I think it's safe to say ... it's done with?"

Lee Jordan bolted from the room with a look of disgust and outrage on his face. He came back a moment later, his hands full of tally notes, betting sheets and records. With numb efficiency, he threw them all into the fireplace, where the flames eagerly devoured the written notes of who owed what to whom over those last few months. The fire destroyed everything, and Harry found himself wishing he could forget this day as quickly and as completely as those scrolls disappeared into the flames.

"The grudge match is over!" Lee announced in a strange, hollow voice, far removed from his usual Quidditch announcer's voice. "No money changed hands, so nothing is owed to anyone. All bets are off!!!" Lee leaned his forehead into the stone archway of the fireplace, and he pushed the last few scraps of paper into the fire with a poker. The flames bathed his face in flickering red-orange hues, which matched rather perfectly the horror and regret in his expression. "All bets are off," he choked out again.

END OF PART I

Stay tuned for Part II of III, Watcher and Hunter