"Simple enough." Harry stated before Draco found his wand wrenched from his grip and flying into Harry's hand. "I believe I win." Snape looked like he'd swallowed a lemon while everyone else just stared for a bit. It wasn't until Penny started clapping that the moment was broken and all the students, barring a few Slytherins, started to clap and cheer.
"But…how?" Draco muttered as he looked at his wand in Harry's hand.
"Wandless Summoning Charm." Harry informed the blonde before handing the wand back to the other boy. Harry was about to step off the platform when Penny stepped onto Draco's vacated spot. "Penny?"
"I kind of want to show off since you got to." Penny smiled and Harry nodded. Internally the Artificer was already grumbling though. Penny wanted to show everyone a copy of their practice sessions, which usually involved a defeated Harry sitting or lying on the floor trying to catch his breath. All the while Penny would be only moderately winded and would have a grin on her face.
"I get the feeling this has an ulterior motive." Harry stated as the two met in the middle of the platform.
"Can't have you getting a big head now, can we?" Penny smiled pleasantly as the two turned and made their way to the designated positions. Harry rolled his eyes with a sigh before turning to face Penny.
"Right then, uh, three…two…one!" Lockhart counted down again, startled at losing control of the course of the Club. Harry instantly fired off a Flipendo at Penny and the blonde only covered her hand in what looked like a localized Protego, before she smacked the Jinx away into the ceiling.
"Are you even trying?" Penny asked with a flat look at Harry. The boy was given no time to respond before four fireballs materialized around Penny and were sent screaming down the platform towards him. Harry snapped into the full-focus he'd developed in the many practice sessions he'd had with Penny and Tonks. Water formed around Harry, a Wandless Aguamenti Charm, before rapidly swirling around into a thick wall in front of him. The fireballs snuffed out when they came in contact with the water, each releasing small gouts of steam. Harry lashed his conjured water forward like a whip towards Penny. The Prefect smiled brightly; apparently glad to see he was taking this more seriously now, before using Finite on the conjured water.
"Well that wasn't nice." Harry snarked at her when his water vanished.
"Neither is this!" Penny retorted as six fireballs materialized and went rocketing towards Harry. A Protego appeared in front of Harry taking all six fireballs before being dispersed and Harry grinned at Penny, he couldn't help but start getting into this a bit. It was so much like their regular practice sessions that he'd already tuned out the gawking crowd. Though a small part of Harry's brain noted that Lockhart seemed to be the biggest gawker of them all.
"This straight platform is kind of ridiculous, traditional though it may be." Harry commented as he built up a spell.
"Dueling is an art as well as a dispute settler, Harry." Penny replied. "It's not truly the same as a Magical Battle between Spellcasters."
"True enough, I guess." Harry shrugged before inhaling deeply. Nobody in the Great Hall was expecting what Harry did next. It would actually be talked about for years to come at Hogwarts. The Second Year threw his head forward and exhaled a blast of fire not unlike a Dragon towards Penny. Lockhart literally threw himself from the platform and landed in a heap on the stone floor of the Hall. Penny, in contrast, appeared only slightly surprised before grinning and raising both her arms high above her head. The dueling platform cracked and a large section of it came up and turned ninety degrees to act as a shield for Penny.
"Careful Harry, I might think you're actually trying to harm me!" Penny playfully accused her friend. The fire died down quickly enough and Penny let the platform drop back into place. It was still charred and broken, of course, but it was at least back in the area it had come from.
"Says the girl that was lobbing fireballs at me not even a minute ago?" Harry questioned. "I thought you just wanted to play with fire?"
"Try some of my new Spellcraft, Harry." Penny grinned before swinging her right arm upwards towards the ceiling. A sudden, powerful wind began to blow and dust was picked up from the stone of the Great Hall floor. Students shrieked or yelled as their robes billowed about in the gale. Harry quickly saw the point of this particular spell.
"Did you just make a miniature pseudo-sandstorm?!" Harry exclaimed as he performed the 'Impervious' Charm on his own face. Difficult to do to be sure, but still possible if one understood the spell and how to apply it.
"I call it 'Sand Veils All', do you like it?" Penny asked through the wind and the dust.
"Wait a minute, are you saying this is an Original Spell?!" Harry asked in surprise. He didn't know Penny was that far into Arithmancy!
"Yes, though it is based off of two other Charms." Penny was grinning, though no one could actually see it through her spell.
"Very impressive Penny!" Harry praised her genuinely. "Maybe you can teach me sometime?" He questioned with a laugh of his own.
"If you're good." Penny teased and Harry felt his eye twitch at the 'mothering' tone. "Catch."
"Catch?" Harry repeated before he threw up two Protego shields at the same time, his eyes wide as small balls of compact sand pelted the double-layered shield. Did she just…? 'You're truly amazing Penny.' Harry thought to himself as he analyzed what his friend had just done. Her 'Sand Veils All' was a spell that could, itself, be used as a medium to cast other spells! That took not only great focus and considerable power, but the very ability to use it that way had to be worked into the original spell to begin with.
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