¡Ay! Esta imagen no sigue nuestras pautas de contenido. Para continuar la publicación, intente quitarla o subir otra.
* * *
THE NIGHT AT the Hospital Wing was the last she would be spending at peace. It was a true shame that Valerie had no prior knowledge of this, for if she did she would have relished the hours resting in that mildly uncomfortable cot.
Her dream had been the same; blurred flashes of a book, a snake, and a sword. They repeated themselves in carousel, all throughout the night. Valerie hadn't the slightest idea what they meant, and neither did she want to find out. All she wanted was a good night's sleep.
She had grown more sensitive to loud sounds, and she swore that the cry of a mandrake would kill her in a second. But, as she listened to Gilderoy Lockhart's voice as he paced around the platform, she would have preferred the mandrake.
"Gather 'round! Gather 'round." he bellowed out to his students, wand in hand. "Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?"
'Unfortunately,' Valerie thought to herself.
"In light of the dark events, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little duelling club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourself, as I myself have done on countless occasions.For full details, see my published works." Lockhart proceeded to toss his cloak to a group of devoted fangirls in his audience, earning him gasps of admiration. He then introduced Professor Snape as his 'assistant,' cockily assuring the students that no harm would come to him.
The two wizards raised their wands in front of them in acknowledgement, curtly bowing to one another before taking their places on opposite sides of the platform.
Memories from the summer with her grandfather came rushing back, and she wondered just how meaningless of a coincidence it was for him to teach her duelling.
Lockhart counted to three, barely letting the last number go as Snape spoke clearly, "Expelliarmus!"
A strong, blazing force sent his opponent hurling backwards, hitting the ground with a painful thud.
"Bloody hell." Theodore turned to Snape, his hands cupped around his mouth as he shouted, "Destroy him, Professor!"
The Potions Master shot the boy a hard glare.
Lockhart, regaining his composure, strutted back to his starting position. "An excellent idea to show him that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do."
"Merlin, he's making a fool out of himself," Valerie murmured to Theodore, who cracked a proud smile.
"There we go, that's the Valerie I like! Is he really not 'easy on the eyes' anymore?"
That said, the deriding comment earned him a sharp elbow in the ribs.
"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students how to block unfriendly spells, Professor."
