Samuel never expected to be preparing his little brother for a duel after less than a week at Hogwarts, but then again, here he was.
Knock knock, creaked the door to the Charms classroom. "Come in," declared a wise voice from inside.
Samuel entered the room, to see Professor Flitwick standing atop a pile of books to grade some papers. Samuel respectfully addressed the man, "Professor Flitwick, may I speak to you?"
"Ahh," replied Flitwick, turning around and pushing his monocles up, "Sullivan, is it not? You know, I have some of your siblings, and I am glad that one of you are in my house! Might I say, I quite enjoy your family. Do you have any younger siblings?"
Flitwick beamed with joy. The professor was the head of Ravenclaw - for the witty, intelligent and creative.
"I'm honoured that you think so highly of my family, sir, truly," bowed Samuel, "And yes, I have a little brother, Simon, though he is four-years-old. He's a little... Eccentric, to say the least."
Flitwick chuckled, "Eccentric, you say? Funny, he seems like he could be a Ravenclaw one day!"
Samuel laughed alongside the professor, before remembering what he had come there for. "But anyways, do you mind me asking a question? It's about your dueling..."
Flitwick lit up, "Dueling? Well, I'll have you know I was a duelling champion! What must you know, boy?" Flitwick got down from his pile and faced Samuel, looking directly up of course.
"Well, hypothetically, if you were challenged to a duel, what spell would you use?" Samuel pondered.
"Hypothetically, you say? Well, alright then. If I were being attacked by say, a dark wizard, I would most certainly use this charm. I- actually, think it would be easier showing you," babbled Flitwick, "Do you mind taking your wand out, Mr. Sullivan?"
Samuel nodded, following his instructions. "Of course, professor, now wha-"
"Expelliarmus!" cast Flitwick, sending Samuel's wand flying across the room.
Samuel's mouth gaped in amazement, pleasing Flitwick. "Impressive, right? That, my boy, was the Disarming Charm, known as Expelliarmus. Curious on learning it?"
Samuel smiled, "Of course, professor, yes!"
The two practiced and performed, leading to Samuel almost perfecting the craft.
"Impressive, Sullivan," Flitwick confessed, "You have a lot of potential."
Samuel appreciated the professor's warm smile, although it quickly faded. "May I remind you, however," he continued, "That this is for dire circumstances, such as self defence. If you were to duel on school grounds, unauthorised, it may lead to expulsion. It is strictly prohibited. Understand?"
"Er... Yes, professor."
"Do you promise not to go against my word?"
...
"Yes, I promise not to go against your word."
"Very well. Now salutations and farewell, I must go back to grading these papers," Flitwick explained, ging back up to his pile, "And I believe you should be leaving as well. I must admit that this was fun, however."
"I agree, professor," smiled Samuel, as he began to leave the Charms classroom.
"Wait," paused Flitwick, "Ten points to Ravenclaw."
He felt great - he bonded with his professor, learnt a new spell, and... technically avoided lying.
He did say that he wouldn't duel. He never said Samwise wouldn't.
Samuel returned to the Training Grounds, the empty green area where Flying classes were held. He found Samwise and Rowan practicing spells on the training dummies. Suddenly, Rowan turned around. "Samuel!" he cheered, "Did you learn anything new from Flitwick?"
"Yes, he taught me the spell of Expelliarmus," responded Samuel, "And I am now ready to teach it."
"The Disarming Charm?" questioned Rowan, "Nice! I told you Flitwick was great!"
"That's enough nerd talk," croaked Samwise.
"Hey," Samuel snapped, "Do you want our help or not?"
Samwise put his arms up in defence, "It was just a joke, relax! Now are you going to teach me the spell or not?"
Samuel scowled, but the continued to teach the spell. After all, he was his brother.
"Expelliarmus!" cast Samwise, after the training. Rowan, who had faced opposite to himself and opposed him, had his wand go flying. "Woah!"
"Good job!" congratulated Samuel, before remembering that he was his brother. "I mean... It was alright."
Samwise playfully rolled his eyes.
"Anyways," remarked Rowan, "I think that that's enough for now. Let's meet again in an hour, okay?"
"That's alright with me." Samwise chimed.
"Wait," Samuel paused, "We have Expelliarmus, an offensive attack."
"Yeah...?" Rowan asked, "What of it?"
"For our next few tactics we should find more variety - a creative advantage and a way of healing!" Samwise smiled.
Samuel was impressed with his brother. He usually never focused or was disinterested, which meant he was serious about the duel. "Exactly."
Samuel and Rowan had left for the Ravenclaw Common Room - an elegant and regal blue area filled with much light, decor, and a sense of intelligence. Samuel had noticed an older boy with a defined face and black hair swept to the side.
"Hold on," announced Rowan, "Isn't that Chester?"
"Chester?" Samuel asked.
"Chester Davies," Rowan explained, "He's our fifth year male Prefect. I wonder what he could be doing here at this time..."
And then, as if on cue, Chester turned to face the boys. He approached them and layed his arms on their shoulders. "Well if it isn't my favourite two first years, Samuel Sullivan and Rowan Khanna!"
"Y-you know us?!" stammered Rowan.
"Of course I do!" Chester chuckled, "You two are amazing! I've heard that you guys were trying to learn new Charms spells!"
"W-what?!" Samuel shook. Perhaps word got out that they were helping Samwise train for the duel.
"You don't have to act clueless!" Chester stated, "You were just trying to get ahead in class!"
"You misunderstand-" Rowan testified.
"Oh? You were doing it to personally better yourselves? Well then, my respect for the both of you had skyrocketed!"
"Actually-" Rowan announced, before getting cut off.
"Thank you," Samuel gazed at Chester in appreciation, before subtly putting his finger to his lips at Rowan to signify silence.
"Well then," Chester went on, "You didn't hear it from me, but there is a secret Ravenclaw duelling book hidden somewhere in the Artefact room, and if you guys are interested..."
Rowan quickly responded, grabbing Chester's arm and looking straight into his eyes. "Yes please."
Being honest, Samuel was disappointed by the Artefact Room. He had it expected it to seem grander, but it was simply a small storage facility off the Entrance Hall of the Hogwarts Castle. Talk about overestimating.
"Alright," Rowan declared, sweeping dust from a bookshelf he was examining, "Let's get to work. It must be here somewhere."
Samuel scanned his location, a hard task when a voice continued to repeat.
Samuel...
"What was that?!" he snapped.
"Uhh, I didn't hear anything." Rowan said, holding a skull.
He must have been correct - nothing happened. Perhaps Samuel was just tired? But the voice kept echoing.
Samuel...
"Shut up..." thought Samuel, attempting to ignore it. He stumbled into a shelf of books.
"Woah!" Rowan rushed to Samuel's side, helping him up. "You alright?"
Samuel nodded, before noticing Rowan's sudden interest in what was behind him. "Sorry," apologised Rowan, brushing Samuel aside, "But I just think that... Yes."
Rowan grabbed a thick, navy blue book with a brown spine. As he opened it, he found the symbol of Ravenclaw - a glorious Eagle.
"Could it be?" questioned Samuel, leaning it to grab it. And right as he did, he had fainted.
Samuel had seen visions of certain rooms - one of a strange, dark stone area. Another with ice-like crystals emerging from around. One had great darkness, a sense of fear. Another was in the forest, housing a large, monstrous spider. And the final one seemed to be one great underground vault.
When he awoke his eyesight was cloudy. "Oh, you're awake." Rowan realised, "Here's your glasses. They fell off when you, you know, fell."
Putting his glasses on, Samuel got up. "How long was I out?"
"Just for a short while," Rowan explained, "But all that matters is that you're okay."
Samuel shook it off, before reading a spell from the book - Rictusempra, the Perpetual Tickling Charm. The perfect creative advantage.
When the Ravenclaw pair had returned to the Training Grounds, they found Samwise drinking a strange green liquid from an oddly shaped vial.
After he had gulped it down, he had seemed more full of energy, more replenished. It was then that he noticed the duo. "Oh, Samuel! Rowan! Guess what? I've learnt how to brew Wiggenweld potions from Snape!"
Rowan gasped, "Don't they heal injuries, boost your energy, and counter sleeping spells?"
Samwise grinned, "Yeah they do. I doubt the two of you did anything better."
Samuel snarled, "Oh yeah? Just watch this. Rictusempra!"
At that instant, Samwise dropped his vial and clutched to his sides. "Wha- what is thi-HAHA!" he cried, "HA-HELP! I- HAHA- CAN'T STOP- HAHA- IT HURTS!"
Finally, after about ten seconds of torment, the charm wore off. Samwise dropped to the floor. "I'll never doubt you again."
And so, the three had began training, and after about an hour, Samuel knew that his brother was ready.
"You sure?" Samwise asked, "I could use a bit more practice."
"How about this," suggested Samuel, "You can test out your skills against an opponent... Say, Rowan."
"That's good with me." the two opponents chorused in unison.
The duel had begun when the two students were ready. Samwise begun, "Expelliarmus!"
Rowan's wand went flying, and as he went to get it, Samwise cast, "Rictusempra!"
Rowan stopped and fell to the ground, tickled, before getting back up and retrieving his wand. "Lumos!"
A light shone so bright that it blinded Samwise, enough to distract him.
Rowan grabbed a vial of the Wiggenweld potion, regaining his energy.
But it didn't matter.
"Expelliarmus!" Samwise roared, and the battle was over.
"Good job!" Rowan congratulated.
"To the both of you," Samuel explained, "You did well. The question is, what now?"
Samwise grinned, "Time to obliterate Snyde."
When the boys approached the courtyard, they found Merula bullying a poor blonde boy, a Gryffindor who was alongside a familiar face.
"Hey, leave Ben alone!" Samson defended, "What did he do to you?"
Merula scowled, "I just don't appreciate filthy Mudbloods terrorising this school!"
The boy, who Samuel could deduce was 'Ben' looked down at himself in shame. Then, Samwise stepped in.
"If anyone's terrorising the school, it's you!"
Merula smirked, "Wow, Sullivan, didn't expect you to actually show up. So, are we going to duel or not?"
"Of course," Samwise growled, "To defend myself and the rest of the school from you!"
"Then shut up and start." Merula barked, "Expelliarmus!"
"Lumos!" countered Samwise.
Merula gulped down a vial, which gave her opponent the opportunity to cast "Rictusempra!"
Unfortunately, Snyde got back up. "Rictusempra!" she imitated.
Samwise fell down, almost completely knocked over. Samuel watched in worry. Would be truly just give up?
No.
That's not something Samwise would do. That's not something a Sullivan would do.
Samwise got back up, and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
Merula's wand went flying, and it was clear to see that she had lost the duel."What the- but- We hadn't learnt that yet! No fair!"
The crowd around them laughed, clearly enjoying her loss.
Snyde glared at Samwise, then at Samson and Samuel. "You- no- all of you Sullivan freaks- stay away from me!"
Tears seemed to well in her eyes from embarrassment, as she left to go retrieve her wand.
And, somehow, Samuel felt a sense of sympathy.
Just then, two familiar voices come from behind.
"Mr. Sullivan..." croaked Snape.
"What happened here?" Flitwick interrogated.