18 November 1992, Hogwarts
Daphne Greengrass wasn't jealous. She really wasn't. Well, maybe a little bit. But that was justified. Who in Merlin's name is Luna Lovegood and why was Harry even hanging out with her? It wasn't fair. He barely even talked to the girl and now they were best friends.
It wasn't fair, and it was mostly because she could tell where this was going. Since Lovegood isn't a Slytherin, he was going to hang out outside the common room, and thus without them there. There was a strict policy of not having non house members in their common room, and that was pretty severely enforced. Slytherin matters stayed in Slytherins and not with outsiders. Harry was already barely hanging out with her since the beginning of the year, and this was a sign that he was drifting away from her.
From the start of the year, Harry barely stood still. It was maddening and somewhat concerning. There was this intensity and urgency in everything he did. The Greengrass scion honestly didn't know where it was coming from, but her friends and her decided to leave Harry be, and let it get out of his system. Only it never did.
This urgency got even worse after Filch was attacked and the Chamber of Secrets was presumably opened. Something in her gut told her that Harry knew more about the attacks than the rest, but she couldn't really confirm it. To her shame, for a fraction of a second, she thought that Harry might have done it, that he might be the heir of Slytherin, but he was with her during both the attack on Filch and the petrification of Dean Thomas. So, he, thankfully, wasn't a monster that petrified muggleborns with an ancient monster.
Desperate for an answer, Daphne ended up asking her mother for advice. It was shameful, but her mother was very intuitive about this stuff, and she had never steered her wrong before. Of course, the letter she got back was full of teasing that the younger Greengrass did not appreciate, but what she told her was to learn an interest of Harry's, involve herself in it, and they would end up spending a lot of time together.
She ended up choosing Dueling. Well, she chose it because she had no clue what Harry really did in his spare time and when she discreetly looked at his work, she didn't understand a word. For example, he once had a notebook out where he was writing some kind of essay about 'the benefits of using Orichalcum to accelerate the recharging of spell infused gems'. Seriously, it took two weeks for her to even understand the title, and it showed just how advanced Harry really was in terms of magic. This was post-NEWT research stuff, not something a Hogwarts student, let alone a second year one, needed to know.
So, yeah, her only choice was duelling. Her mother had given her some basic tutoring in self-defence, but she could only hope it would be enough to impress Harry. He did look impressed when he saw her use that ice hex on Mulciber when he harassed her that one time. Yeah, he was on another level altogether; his duel with Flitwick was just amazing, even if he lost in the end.
Anyway, this was why she was coming to Lockhart's new duelling club altogether. Harry was coming with Lovegood, for some reason, and she had joined them.
It was maddening how relaxed he started to act right after he met Ravenclaw. It was like the stress that was on his shoulders lessened a lot and it showed. It was unfair that Loony Lovegood of all people helped him in a way that Daphne herself couldn't. Well, that was a bit mean, but Daphne had to admit that the 'Loony' nickname was very well-earned. Lovegood was always looking in the air while humming innocently, while always badgering about made up creatures that her father's insane magazine kept talking about.
They arrived at the Great Hall and noticed that it was overhauled in the same way Flitwick did during their first duelling club meeting. The difference was that a quarter of the school was attending. It was mostly due to Lockhart's popularity, but also because it was listed more as an activity than a club and that meant that people who were already in other clubs could attend. Malfoy, in particular, kept claiming that he was some kind of duelling prodigy and that he was going to beat Longbottom and prove that the boy who lived wasn't that special.
Well, Longbottom wasn't special. Everyone knew that from the classes. He was mediocre in everything but Herbology and Defense, where he seemed to shine. But the unsatisfactory end of the past Quidditch match made everyone itchy to fire hexes at each other. Dean Thomas being attacked so soon after didn't help matters.
It showed in the uproarious chatter that permeated the air in the Great Hall that Daphne noticed the moment she entered the vast room with Harry and Lovegood at her side. If there was a way to describe the atmosphere, it would be that it was tense. Draco was already here, and so was Pansy. Crabbe and Goyle, or Draco's minions as Harry liked to call them, were also there. And so was Millicent, who had started to cling to Pansy for some reason at the start of the year. Daphne hoped that Pansy wouldn't rub off on her; she didn't spend a lot of time with her, but Millicent seemed like a nice girl. She tended to stick with Lily Moon and Theodore Nott but started to drift away recently.
Anyway, this entire thing was a disaster waiting to happen, and so, while waiting for Lockhart to show up, asked Harry, "What are we doing here, Harry? I doubt we're going to learn something here. We're already going to Flitwick's club."
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