As the class neared its end, Lockhart finally decided to show off some real skill. He dragged a large, covered cage from behind the desk, filled with a swarm of Cornish pixies. Their skin was a metallic teal, tinged faintly with blue, their limbs slender and about two feet tall. But judging by the way they rattled the cage, these little creatures were far stronger than they looked. Their shrieks were ear-piercing.
"Careful now—my job is to teach you to fend off the most wicked things known to wizardkind! I'm asking you to face terror head-on. But rest assured, as long as I'm here, no harm will come to you."
Seamus Finnigan let out a snort.
"Well, they don't—they're not exactly—dangerous, are they?"
That comment sparked a chain reaction. Hodge Blackthorn swiftly gripped his wand, and Hermione shot him a surprised glance.
"Friendly tip: don't say I didn't warn you…"
"Hmph!"
"Fine," Lockhart said, clearly annoyed. "Let's see how you lot handle them!" He flung open the cage door.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Hodge cast the spell in a flash, and the two pixies that darted out first toppled backward, hitting the floor with a stiff thunk-thunk. Then, he sprang up, braced himself, and in one fluid motion, vaulted over two rows of desks. His free hand curled into a fist, swatting away a pixie diving at him from above.
Hodge leaned against the wall, scanning the classroom.
It was absolute chaos. The pixies wreaked havoc, their mischievous nature amplified by the rage of being caged. Like Peeves with an extra dose of spite, their destructive power was staggering—especially against a group of students with no real combat experience and a bumbling teacher.
The pixies zipped around wildly. One grabbed an ink bottle, soaring high and splattering ink in circles. Another tore a picture frame off the wall, smashing it to bits; both the painted Lockhart and the real one let out identical shrieks. Two pixies zeroed in on Neville's ears, teaming up to hoist him into the air—one had already gotten a grip. Wincing in pain, Neville gritted his teeth and cast a Freezing Charm, icing one pixie solid before scrambling under a desk to dodge the other.
Neville, sprawled on the floor, locked eyes with Hodge in a fleeting moment of panic. Hodge gave him a quick wave.
Half a minute later, they'd managed to regroup.
"Aren't we going to help?" Neville whispered, wincing as he watched a poor student get hoisted onto a chandelier, his ears throbbing with phantom pain from his own ordeal.
"You're right, Neville," Hodge said.
He flicked his wand, and the classroom door slammed shut with a bang, trapping two pixies trying to escape. Then he cast a spell on the windows, blurring the once-clear view of distant mountains and meadows as if they'd been coated in spiderwebs. A pair of pixies, dragging a chair to smash the glass, failed spectacularly—the chair stuck to the enchanted window, teetering precariously. They chattered furiously.
Hodge kept his eyes on Lockhart the whole time.
Neville was dumbfounded.
For a moment, he couldn't tell whose side Hodge was on. Now everyone was trapped in the classroom—no one was getting out.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" someone shouted nearby.
"Hermione?" Neville said, startled. A few feet away, he spotted Hermione crouched behind the last row of seats, occasionally stretching out an arm to cast a spell. It was her Levitation Charm that had saved the student dangling from the ceiling—Seamus Finnigan.
"Thanks, Hermione!" Seamus called, before diving back into the fray, furious.
Hermione responded with a deft Freezing Charm.
Neville raised his wand too. He'd learned plenty of spells last year—nothing too powerful, but enough to handle these pests. The problem was their agility; pixies were tough to hit. After missing two Petrification Charms, Neville risked standing up for a better view. His jaw dropped at the mess before him: textbooks, scraps of paper, and quills flew everywhere. Despite Hermione and Seamus holding their own, they were hopelessly outnumbered—most students were cowering under desks.
No surprise there. Quirrell hadn't taught them a single useful spell last year. The few who could fight back had mostly been part of Hodge's club. Lisa Turpin, for instance, was ducked under a table, shouting with glee as she stunned a pixie that got too close. Terry Boot and Michael Corner teamed up, their aim shaky but enough to fend off pixies trying to flip desks.
"Aim for when they dive, Neville," Hermione advised.
"Try the Jelly-Legs Jinx too," Hodge added.
"Hmph!" Hermione huffed again.
Clearly, someone had let everyone down. It wasn't Hodge, of course—it was Lockhart. In mere minutes, the class's faith in "Professor Lockhart will save the day" had crumbled to "hide and pray you're not spotted." To be fair, Lockhart wasn't entirely useless, which only made it worse. He shouted orders to corral the pixies, but no one listened. And as for him—
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" Lockhart bellowed, waving his wand.
Utterly ineffective. A pixie swooped down, snatched his wand from behind, and tossed it toward the window, where it stuck in Hodge's enchanted webbing. Lockhart gasped and dove under the desk. Only then did Hodge look away.
By now, only six or seven pixies were still active. Neville blinked, then cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx. The targeted pixie went limp, collapsing in a heap as the spell sapped its strength. Neville realized, delighted, that while pixies were strong, their small size made the jinx affect their entire bodies.
Terry, Michael, and Anthony stepped up, launching a final counterattack.
Seamus, somehow perched on the chandelier, rained curses down to cover Dean Thomas below. When the bell rang, the last pixie fell, battered and defeated.
"I took down two!" Lisa Turpin shouted from under a desk.
"Well done, children," Lockhart said, miraculously reappearing as he straightened his collar. Students were already bolting for the door, desperate to escape.
He strolled to the window, struggling to pry his wand from the sticky webbing.
"Splendid…" Lockhart muttered as he walked. "Exactly as I planned. Class dismissed! Oh, and I'd like a few of you to round up these pixies and put them back in the cage." Before anyone could respond, he was gone.
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
The students exchanged bewildered glances.
Hodge, meanwhile, was gleefully counting the pixies on the floor, his eyes sparkling.
Twenty-two in total. He glanced at the lopsided, open cage and decided Lockhart probably wouldn't bother tracking down where these little troublemakers ended up.
————
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