Cast yourself (you are the spell)

Chapter 9

"Stitches were invented and perfected by muggle doctors. Muggle doctors. Not wizarding healers. The only reason you didn't bleed to death was because of them, but you can't see past your blood-supremacy ideals to even realize it."

Hope doesn't know what to say. Of course, she had always known that there were objects in this world not invented by wizards, but what was she supposed to say to that?

Any previous retort she had prepared dies on her tongue.

However, she shortly finds that it doesn't matter.

"What were you thinking, Severus? Or were you not thinking at all?" A muffled voice comes from behind the door, and both girls shift their bodies toward the sound.

"I wished to see it, Minerva." Snape sounds disgruntled.

"Do you also wish to see the wizarding world end?"

Alarmed at the weird phrase, the pair's eyes meet in obvious confusion, forgetting their earlier argument in favor of puzzlement. Why would the wizarding world end because of a single duel? The words were too much to be mere exaggeration.

"Shhh," another voice booms, but this time Hope doesn't recognize it. "They could hear you."

That part makes it obvious that the girls were the two being discussed, and they both lean forward to hear more. No sound crosses their ears again, but they don't have to wait long before the double doors open ruthlessly.

"Miss Mikaelson, Miss Saltzman," Professor McGonagall acknowledges, her forehead stretched into thin lines. Professor Snape is just behind her, but no third person comes behind him.

Hope glances at Josette to find her equally perplexed. A frown plays at her lips, and her eyes are narrowed at the floor. Hope's gaze lingers for a moment too long before settling elsewhere.

"Please take a seat, ladies." Josette automatically sits down on the right chair in front of McGonagall's desk as the professor herself sits, but Hope stays standing, crossing her arms stubbornly. Snape's gaze locks on Hope, as if silently trying to force her to obey, but she ignores him and refuses to sit down.

"Truthfully, I cannot sufficiently express how severely disappointed I am in the both of you," McGonagall starts, pinching at the bridge of her nose. She stirs a small cup of tea with her other hand. "Professor Snape has taken the liberty to inform me of tonight's events, and from what I walked in on, I believe I have an accurate account. You were both there for the start of the meeting, were you not?"

They nod.

"Then, is it easy to presume that you heard the guidelines for the club in its entirety?"

They nod.

"Yet, Professor Snape relates, that despite three separate warnings, you still chose to ignore decorum in lieu of...what? Winning one over the other?"

Hope opens her mouth, but a speedy look from McGonagall causes her to shut it.

"I am afraid that this kind of carelessness and indulgence is something neither Professor Snape nor I can overlook."

"Moreover, we have agreed that you two are to serve two weeks of detention-" Hope splutters, but the woman ignores her "-starting on the Monday of next week."

Josette is unblinking next to her, appearing unsurprised at the punishment.

"While I am hesitant to postpone any type of punishment, it has occurred to me that the two of you in particular have had a-so to say-rough week, and we are all deserving of a small break. But that is also to say, should a repeat of this incident occur in the foreseeable future, I will not be so generous. Understood?"

Josette nods quickly, ready to leave as fast as possible, but Hope stays frozen. Two weeks of detention? For what, an innocent duel in which no one had gotten seriously hurt? Two weeks of detention for a club the teachers had started in the first place? She had gotten in trouble in the past, but for nothing this stupid. Never had she gotten two weeks of detention. Maybe one or two days in a row, but never this much. And what had McGonagall meant by a rough week? Had she been monitoring them the past couple of days?

"Miss Mikaelson?"

She can't help it, she laughs.

"I'm sorry," she says shortly after, injecting false confusion into her voice. Josette is looking at her like she's crazy, almost as if she might reach over and shake her out of it. "Two weeks of detention for a duel that got slightly out of hand?"

McGonagall herself is shocked as well, but she has fastly recovered.

"Choose your next words very carefully, Miss Mikaelson," she hisses out.

"No, really." Her foot taps against the floor impatiently. "You're going to punish us for seeking out the education a dueling club so entails? How can we ever hope to win a real duel if we're confined to a single spell? And you, sir-" She directs her attention at Snape.

"I mean, you practically dragged Saltzman up to the stage yourself." She doesn't even realize that she's defending the muggleborn in her own rant. She can't take a second to focus on anything but the rage coursing through her veins. She can't focus on the incredulous look on Josette's face, or the small smile pulling at McGonagall's lips.

"No offense, Professor, but how can you penalize us for not listening to the rules when you essentially forced us to fight in the first place?"

"Mikaelson, I suggest you stop talking before we are forced to-" Snape cuts in, but he's quickly interrupted. If only Hope could shut her mouth.

"How can you teach that magic deserves reward and praise, and then turn around and discipline that magic when it doesn't conform to your instructions? You haven't even taken a second to commend Saltzman's use of wandless and nonverbal magic, yet you're so quick to-"

"I believe you've made your point, Miss Mikaelson!" McGonagall speaks sharply, and Hope knows she's gone too far. "However, you've put too much consideration into the wrong one. While we admit that Miss Saltzman's skills are, indeed, impressive and remarkable, and we do not want, in any way, to discourage them. We are not punishing you because of your magic, but because of your disregard for others. Your inattention to your surroundings could have harmed another student, and-as I said before-is something we cannot neglect."

In the silence of the room, Hope realizes that she had misspoken, and now sees that she had been a fool and too quick to anger. If Josette were to tell anyone about this, she would become the laughing stock of the school.

"As for your unnecessary outburst," Snape adds. "Ten points from Slytherin, and an extra day of detention for yourself, Miss Mikaelson. Dismissed."

Josette stands up quickly, and tosses a "Thank you, Professors" over her shoulder.

Hope is right behind her, and neither of the professors miss the whispered "Kiss-ass."

The two students leave the room, continuing to bicker into the hallway outside.

"Maybe Albus was right," Snape speaks up from next to McGonagall. She tilts her head and meets his eyes. He opens his mouth to elaborate.

"Perhaps, it is not so hopeless, after all."