Zia: Entering the Wizarding World

Alarte Ascendare

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter, and the characters within are trademarked by J K Rowling. Any part of the plot that is recognizable as Harry Potter canon, is also trademarked by J K Rowling. I have merely added a few of my own original characters, which are creations of my own imagination, and placed them in the world of Harry Potter, for entertainment purposes only. I do not profit from this. Please don't sue me.

The news of a Dueling Club spread around Hogwarts like wildfire across a prairie, and soon, the Great Hall was full of students anticipating a good lesson from their Defense teacher. Zia was present among this crowd, but had not lifted her hopes, as she had very little faith in Professor Lockhart, after the pixie incident. She stood, lower lip caught hostage between her teeth, eyes narrowed.

The subject of her critical eyes walked on stage with enough flamboyance for an army of flamingoes, and started racking up the show his audience wanted. Snape followed on, in his usual dark and dreary demeanor, much to Zia's delight. At least she could count on her Head of House.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works," Lockhart stated proudly.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape. He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear," he flashed his all-too-bright smile at the children by his feet.

Fantastic, Zia thought. I hope Snape at least blasts the bloody chicken off his feet.

Snape appeared to have planned something equally brilliant, as his lip curled, dark eyes glinted coldly. There was something brewing, and if Zia knew Professor Snape, whatever was brewing would be just as satisfying as a good poison from his Potions lab.

Lockhart and Snape stood, with wands pointed like swords, and then stepped back the required paces. On the count of three, there was a bright flash of scarlet light, and Lockhart found himself on the floor, wandless. When he got himself back on his feet, and brushed himself off, he declared that it was time to split into teams of two. Snape split up Potter and Weasley, and then cam over to Zia, who had been standing silently with Blaise.

"Let's see what you can make of Miss Khan, Miss Parkinson," he drawled maliciously. Zia threw him a scathing glance, but he barely flinched, and continued his twisted match-making game.She never really liked Snape, but his favoring of the Slytherins hit home with her, although she didn't appreciate his repetitive bullying of Potter and Longbottom.

Zia turned to Parkinson, who was smiling patiently, and waited for the count of three. However, Parkinson didn't intend to play clean.

"Titillando!" the raven-haired girl bellowed, and Zia buckled over, laughing under the pressure of the Tickling Hex.

"Fin- fin- finite incantatum," Zia managed to push out, getting on her feet, but all the notions of fair play gone from her mind.

"Ebublio," Zia smiled, as Parkinson was encased in a large bubble, behaving comically like the cliche mimes from the streets of Paris.

"Ventus," and Parkinson was being blown away, quite literally. But Zia soon realized that their duel was attracting attention, and it wouldn't be too long before Snape caught up with her. 

Another quick finite, and then finally the requested expelliarmus, ended Parkinson, but the rest of the Hall was in full chaos. Lockhart did the first sensible thing since his arrival at Hogwarts, and stopped the commotion, but turned the tables by requesting a demonstration from Potter and Malfoy. Zia shuddered in disgust; she still remember her confrontation with the blonde from a few weeks prior. He hadn't done much more to provoke her, but he hadn't stopped his use of the slur that got under her skin every time she heard it.

Another few moments, a bit of hissing, and a failed alarte ascendare later, the only thing the school could talk about was how Harry Potter was the Heir of Slytherin. Zia shook her head, linked her arms with Blaise once more, and stumbled down to the dormitories, exhaustion taking over, and the scent of vanilla on Blaise's skin far too comforting.