Gideon Drake and the Fire Within (Harry Potter Sequel/Spinoff)

Chapter Thirty-One: Fighting Fire with Fire

Gideon tried to grip his wand, but it flew from his hand. Trembling, either from the Shocker Spell or from a combination of fear and adrenaline, Gideon took cover and thumped the floor in frustration. When he kneeled on something painful, he adjusted his robes. Suddenly, he realised the fight wasn't over yet.

'You've lost your wand, freak! Come out, take your beating like a man, and confess to being the crazed pyromaniac that you are!' Greg demanded.

'It's no use scurrying around, over there! You're not getting past us!' Callum warned, noticing Gideon's movements between the chairs and tables until he retreated into the far corner.

'Come out, freak, or I'll transfigure you into a goat!' Jason threatened.

Gideon guffawed, 'Yeah, right, Jason! You couldn't transfigure water if you had a tea bag and a bottle of milk!'

'Why you little—enough of this! Get him, he doesn't even have a wand!' Jason ordered.

The Gryffindors converged on his location. It was just as Gideon had planned. Earlier when he had been kneeling on something hard, he had discovered an object in the inner pocket of his robes. It had been his Channelling Rod.

After finding it, Gideon moved around the room, tapping everything in sight three times. Unlike his own spells, the imbued Channelling Rod was not dependent on a wizard's magic. That meant it could do things, or rather, just one thing, much better than a wizard of Gideon's age and skill could.

Gideon watched as the Gryffindors came closer, darting between the many chairs and tables of the room to get to him. He waited until they were more than halfway across the room, with no easy escape route. Then, hoping against all hope that his plan would succeed and that the Channelling Rod could handle it, Gideon jumped up, concentrated, and thrust his arm outward with conviction.

The Gryffindor boys were mystified as the remaining chairs, tables, desks and even a couch rose up and hurtled towards them like a tidal wave of furniture. While his enemies fled, ducked for cover, or were swept away, Gideon attempted to navigate an escape route through the chaos.

Somehow, he managed it. He made it past the Gryffindors and the scattered debris to the other side of the room. However, just as the door was within reach, his hopes were dashed. Gideon tumbled forwards and the knowledge that he had failed consumed him.

'Locomotor Mortis,' Greg had yelled from beneath an upturned table. The Leg-Locker Curse had taken hold just in time.

Gideon looked around frantically for something, anything that he could levitate with the rod, but nothing was within reach. He did, however, spot his wand and began to wriggle in its direction on his elbows.

'What did he do? How the heck did he do that?' Jason demanded furiously.

Gideon watched as one by one, all the boys got to their feet, a few of them groaning but otherwise not seriously harmed.

'Think you're clever, do you?' said Greg, limping towards Gideon, who stopped moving so as not to give away his wand's location. 'Let's see what you have, there! Expelliarmus!'

The Channeling Rod shot out of Gideon's hand and into the air, where Greg caught it.

'That's mine! Give it back!' Gideon demanded.

'I've seen things like that for sale in Diagon Alley,' Sean commented, holding his shoulder, 'though, they're just toys, really, nothing powerful enough to do this.'

'How do they work?' Greg asked.

'They usually need a simple command or contact with something. Try tapping something with it,' Sean advised his friend to Gideon's dismay.