Since the news of Colin being petrified after visiting Harry spread, a new theory emerged among young wizards, claiming that Harry was the heir of Slytherin.
Harry found this annoying, as he was certain that Draco Malfoy was the true heir of Slytherin, but lacked evidence.
So, he came up with a plan: he and Ron could use Polyjuice Potion to transform into Crabbe and Goyle, then extract evidence from Malfoy.
However, Polyjuice Potion was a highly advanced brew, and their magical textbooks didn't contain instructions on making it.
The recipe for Polyjuice Potion was in the most powerful potions, which was kept in the restricted section of the library. Borrowing books from there required a special note from a professor.
To get the note, Harry pretended to be an admirer of Professor Lockhart, enduring his vanity, and managed to obtain the required permission.
Harry and Ron then began brewing Polyjuice Potion.
The first phase required ingredients like fluxweed, knotgrass, leeches, and lacewing flies, all common magical materials.
However, the second phase needed ingredients like powdered bicorn horn and shredded boomslang skin, which were rare.
Snape was the only one at Hogwarts with these, so they planned to steal some from him, following the example of Cedric in the previous school year.
They sought help from Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, who gladly assisted, giving Harry and Ron some tricky fireworks.
During a Potions class, Harry lit one of the fireworks and tossed it into Goyle's cauldron.
The lesson was about brewing the Swelling Solution. Goyle's potion exploded, splashing the class.
Amid the chaos, Malfoy's face swelled like a balloon, and Goyle stumbled around with eyes swollen shut.
In the confusion, no one noticed Harry and Ron secretly leaving the classroom, heading to Snape's storage room.
A week later, a notice appeared on the bulletin board in the entrance hall, announcing the creation of the Dueling Club.
Most young wizards were intrigued by the idea of a Dueling Club, as wizard duels were a unique cultural phenomenon, akin to medieval knights' jousting or battlefield clashes.
Dueling was a formal contest between two or more wizards, using only magic.
The participants bowed to show respect, assumed standard duel positions, and, on the count of three, attempted to disarm, incapacitate, injure, defeat, or kill their opponent, aiming for victory.
Dueling also served as a sport, with friendly matches and even international competitions like the Triwizard Tournament.
Legend has it that Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion, and currently the most famous dueling competition in the world was the All-England Wizarding Duelling Competition.
Wizards usually talk about some legendary duels that happened in the past, the most notable one being the epic duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
Hermione and Cho Chang expressed their interest in the Dueling Club.
After weeks of magical combat training with Alaric, they were eager to assess their abilities.
Having no real opponents except for each other and Alaric, they were uncertain of their skills.
Alaric himself didn't want to join the Dueling Club because in his opinion, this so-called Dueling Club was just noobs wizards pecking each other.
"We want to join the club with you Alaric," helplessly, Hermione and Cho Chang said to him.
Alaric also understood what they were thinking. They just wanted to show the results of their training to him, their "teacher", who had taught them so many new things.
Unable to resist the invitations from his "students", Alaric reluctantly agreed to join the Dueling Club.
At 8 PM, the long dining table disappeared in the hall, replaced by a gilded stage illuminated by floating candles. The students, excited with wands in hand, gathered.
"I wonder who will teach us," Hermione said as they squeezed into the chattering crowd.
"Someone told me that Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young. Maybe he will teach us."
"Don't get your hopes high,the truth will disappoint you," said Alaric.
Alaric, with a slight smile, revealed that Gilderoy Lockhart would be leading the club. He introduced Snape as his assistant, claiming Snape knew a thing or two about dueling.
Lockhart waved at everyone t9 be silent, then shouted: "Come around, come around! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Great!"
"That's right. Headmaster Dumbledore allowed me to open this small dueling club to fully train everyone in case you need to defend yourself one day.
You can protect yourself in the same way that I have protected myself countless times. For more information on this aspect , please see my published works."
"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart said, grinning broadly.
"He told me that he himself knew a thing or two about dueling, and he generously agreed to help me give a small demonstration before class.
But I don't want you all to worry that much because after I finish the demonstration with him, I will return your Potion Professor fully intact, believe me."
Lockhart, confident and flamboyant, reassured everyone as he introduced Snape
Alaric watched with a skeptical expression as Lockhart, with his cocky demeanor, dared to challenge Snape, a former Death Eater and master of dark arts.
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