Charlie was making his way over, looking somewhat amused, a fifth-year prefect badge catching the light on his robes. He glanced between Aegeus and Rosalind. "You must be joking. You're the ones Vance has been on about?"
"What do you mean?" said Rosalind, puzzled.
"He said that there were two first-years that impressed him to the point that he had to make an exception and let them join." Charlie shook his head slowly, something between disbelief and amazement crossing his face.
Vance strode in a moment later, sleeves already rolled to his elbows, wand resting loosely in his right hand. The room's scattered chatter died within seconds.
"Let's get one thing straight," Vance said, his voice flat and booming, "There is no friendship or house pride in this room. If I order you to duel someone, you better give everything you got. And if you have a problem dueling four years younger or older than you, then you're welcome to go through that door"
Vance pointed toward the door and waited for a moment. When no one took him up on the offer, he continued.
"Standard spells only, low power. You are here to help each other improve. Not to put your opponent in the hospital wing."
He moved down the room, calling out names: "Ashworth. With Vane."
A third-year Ravenclaw stepped out, adjusting his grip on his wand with a mix of surprise and embarrassment at having to duel with a first-year. Rosalind took her stance opposite him and offered a proper bow.
Moments later, Vance called: "Granger. With Fairweather."
Charlie, a few paces off, caught Aegeus's eye and mouthed something that looked distinctly like good luck before turning to find his own partner.
The boy who stepped forward was a Slytherin in his seventh year, broad-shouldered and strong-built. He had an ash wand, glancing down at Aegeus as if he wasn't sure what to do from here.
Aegeus noticed he was a little different from other Slytherins, for one, he didn't look down on anyone from other houses with the usual contempt that seemed second nature to them.
Vance's voice cut across the room a moment later. "Start when I give the signal. And— Start!"
Fairweather raised his wand with a practiced, effortless flick. "Locomotor Mortis!"
Because he was dealing with a first year, he decided to go easy on him.
But even still, the Leg-Locker Cursors flew faster and harder than any spell Aegeus had ever faced— a seventh-year's magical weight and cast-speed wasn't something a normal first year could stand up to.
His feet moved before the thought had even fully formed. He sidestepped the red bolt searing past his ribs, and then it dissipated harmlessly against the reinforced wall behind him. His weight shifted instantly back into balance, the tip of his wand already flaring red.
"Expelliarmus."
The Disarming Charm was aimed low— the standard dueling technique, the one every book agreed was a solid choice. Fairweather, caught slightly off guard by how fast the return came, but he still snapped his wand down in a relaxed parry, casually knocking the red beam aside with a shield.
Fairweather didn't give him a second chance. His wand was already moving again before Aegeus had fully reset his stance— two spells back to back, fast enough that there was no gap between them he could see. The first jinx clipped his shoulder and spun him half a step off balance; the second caught him square in the chest a heartbeat later, and his legs simply stopped answering him, already locked under him before he'd even registered the spell landing.
He hit the floor hard enough to knock the air half out of him.
Fairweather lowered his wand immediately, alarmed. "You alright?"
"I am fine," Aegeus said from the floor, more annoyed with himself than with the spell still aching faintly in his legs.
"That was—" Fairweather ran a hand through his hair, looking almost apologetic. "I know that's a lot faster than what you are used to dealing with. I wasn't sure if I should—"
"Don't worry about it," Aegeus assured him again.
"That's fine then." Fairweather didn't look entirely convinced, but he offered a hand down anyway, which Aegeus took.
Vance, a few paces off, had clearly been watching the whole exchange. "Granger."
"Sir."
"Your first shot was correct— good footwork, textbook disarm." His tone gave nothing away. "But when Fairweather used a two-spell combination, you couldn't decide fast enough."
"That's true, sir."
"That's the actual lesson tonight. Knowing the right counter isn't enough." Vance nodded once, already moving on to the next pair. "Again."
They went four more rounds. Twice more, Fairweather's second spell landed before Aegeus could recover from dodging the first— not through any lack of speed on Aegeus's part, but simply because a seventh-year's rhythm between casts was faster than anything his week of study had prepared him. By the fourth round he'd stopped being frustrated by it and started treating it as experience.
By the time the session ended, well past the hour Vance had promised, his robes were dusty at both knees, and his legs ached in an entirely new way. Across the room, Rosalind was smoothing down her sleeves, her expression controlled, except for a burned scuff along her left shoulder where Vane's second spell had grazed her.
Fairweather, sheathing his wand a few feet away, gave Aegeus a look that had settled somewhere between impressed and faintly apologetic.
"You're really good," he said. "The best first year I have ever seen; you just need more experience"
"Give it a year or two." Fairweather shook his head, almost to himself, and headed for the door.
"Later"
Charlie fell into step beside Aegeus and Rosalind as they filed out into the quiet corridor, glancing at the state of their robes. "Rough one?"
"It wasn't so bad."
Charlie huffed something that wasn't quite a laugh, and then ruffled his head. "You are really unique."
~~~~~~
Later that night was their Astronomy class.
It was taught at an hour that felt deliberately unreasonable; the class dragged themselves up the highest tower under a sky Professor Sinistra deemed "cooperative enough" for the time of year, though nobody had the energy left to appreciate it.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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