In the Shadow of Power - Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 10

The clock tower was the same place Alayna had exited from before to meet up with Scrope. A huge pendulum swung above students' heads as they passed in and out of the castle. Upon arriving at the tower, Alayna realized she had no idea what this Lucan Brattleby looked like. Sebastian had neglected to give her any identifying information and he had mentioned the club was exclusive so she doubted it was a good idea to go asking random students about it.

As luck would have it though, Alayna spotted Sebastian hanging around the tower with a few other students.

"Sebastian!" Alayna called out and waved. Sebastian waved back, turned to the group he was with to excuse himself, and approached her.

"Hey! What's up?" His smile was infectious and there always seemed to be a mischievous glint to his eyes.

"Well, I finally decided to check out that dueling club you mentioned," she dropped her voice so others couldn't hear.

"You did? You made it just in time then! A bunch of students are gathering for a tournament of sorts," Sebastian grinned. "Want to partner with me?"

"Oh, that's great! But...partner?" Alayna tilted her head. 

"Yeah, you have the option to duel either by yourself or with a partner. Normally, I would duel by myself, but I think I would rather have you on my side than against."

"I'm...flattered, I think? I'll be your partner." 

"Come with me then, we'll have to let Lucan know." Sebastian gestured for her to follow him over to a very young Gryffindor boy with a mass of curly brown hair on his head. She hadn't expected a student like him to be in charge of the dueling club. "Hey, Lucan! We've got a new competitor. This is Alayna, she's going to be my partner."

"The new fifth year, right? Nice to meet you! I look forward to seeing what you and Sebastian can do together!" The young boy smiled. "I'll have to rework the roster a bit if you're going in with a partner, Sebastian. Give me a few minutes and then we can get started."

"That's it?" Alayna asked as they walked away. "For an exclusive, secret club it seems pretty easy to get in."

"Don't get me wrong, it is difficult. Not just any duelist can join, but since I vouched for you it's an easy ticket." Sebastian smiled. "Now we just wait for our first match." A few minutes later, Lucan announced the first match up which included Sebastian and Alayna against two other students; a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

"Let me handle the Ravenclaw. You focus on the Hufflepuff," Sebastian whispered to her as they took their positions on one side of the tower. "Ravenclaws always have a few tricks up their sleeve." Telling her who to focus on might have been offensive, but Alayna knew he didn't mean anything by it. It was her first time dueling like this, so she wouldn't mind taking the weaker opponent.

"Begin!" Lucan announced. The Ravenclaw was quick to begin firing off spells. It seemed she too had decided Sebastian was the more troubling opponent and focused her attention there. The Hufflepuff boy with her was a little more hesitant. He didn't get a spell out before Alayna was casting at him.

"Levioso!" With her spell, the Hufflepuff floated into the air. It didn't take more than a few basic spell casts for him to be down for the count. And around the same time, Sebastian skillfully dispatched of the Ravenclaw.

"Not bad," Sebastian smiled. "Think you're ready for round two?"

"Absolutely!" Alayna was a little surprised by how well she'd done, but the Hufflepuff hadn't been much of an opponent either. She was looking forward to some tougher opponents where she could really test her skills.