"Ginny is so strong..." Daphne stared, dazed, as a single spell cleaved Cassandra's Protego and forced her into a messy roll. Measured against Daphne's own first year, even her current level... would not beat Ginny.
She could not help it. She was not a fighter, always a half beat slow on the draw. Daphne did not mind, though. Tom said her kind of slowness was endearing, very cute. If Tom liked it, that was enough.
"Wait." Daphne whipped her head around and eyed Tom suspiciously. "You did not feed her Strengthening Draughts, did you?"
"I really did not." Tom shook his head. "I did give Ginny a few pointers. The spell she is using now is one I taught her. But I did not give her body enhancers. Her talent is genuinely good."
How good? By Tom's own scale, she was not far off where he had been before he gained Andros's gift for magic. That was already high praise.
The key was mindset. Watching Ginny grow more ferocious on the platform, crushing Cassandra's momentum, Tom liked her even more. Talent plus mentality decide a witch's ceiling. With proper training, Ginny might become a very useful hand in the future.
Training would start with her head before her hands. The girl was too jumpy, unlike well behaved Daphne and Astoria.
Daphne gave a glum little oh. It was not Tom helping Ginny that bothered her. It was the sudden sense that she was... useless. She had received the most of Tom's guidance and potions, yet seemed the weakest.
Hmm?
Tom glanced past Daphne to Astoria. The younger girl was already snickering. "Sister," Astoria rolled her eyes, "have you fallen so far you are comparing yourself to me?"
As sisters, Astoria knew exactly what her unreliable elder sister was thinking and could only sigh.
"Hehe, do not mind me. I only think it in secret. I will not tell you."
Tom and Astoria both laughed. He ruffled the younger girl's hair and murmured, "Do not worry. Who knows, maybe one day you will surpass her."
Astoria smiled sweetly and shook her head. She did not crave power. As long as she could live safely and stay by Tom and her sister, she was content.
...
On the platform the duel had reached a boil and was sliding toward the end. Sustained intensity tested both girls, not in raw reserves, but in the strain of constant focus. As minutes passed, success rates dipped and spells weakened.
The storm cloud had broken. Ginny's left forearm took a hit. Heat flared, twisting her expression with pain. Across from her, Cassandra, panting, smiled the smile of a winner, and that only stoked Ginny's ferocity. Will surging, she unleashed her sharpest strike.
"Reducto!"
"Expelliarmus!" Cassandra snapped back, and to her horror, when the two spells crashed, hers ricocheted away without resistance while Ginny's kept roaring on.
The scarlet bolt was on her in a blink. There was no room to dodge. Cassandra flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.
Ting!
A clear metallic ring. The Blasting Curse scraped sideways as if glancing off a shield. Cassandra opened one eye and saw Professor McGonagall's wand raised toward her.
Obviously, that Protego had come from McGonagall.
"Miss Voray, this bout is yours to lose."
Cassandra stood silent a moment, then nodded. "I lost."
Ginny grinned. "Lady Voray, do not take revenge later. I am only a normal student. I scare easily."
She bared her teeth, then hopped down and went straight to Tom, who was already meeting her. Without a word, his wand glowed green as he healed her arm.
"Well? I am amazing, right?"
"Compared to me there is still a gap, but you were very strong," Tom said with a smile, careful not to splash cold water. She was plainly venting on his behalf today. When a girl is that brave for you, you lift her up. Praise lifts people, and lifted high enough, they touch the sky.
"I want a reward." Ginny's eyes sparkled.
"Later. Come to the Room of Requirement."
Professor McGonagall was already shuffling students into their own drills, unwilling to spend an entire class as spectators, and she sent Cassandra to Madam Pomfrey for a checkup. Cassandra watched Tom and Ginny leaning together and felt a rush of unfamiliar frustration. Was she really that bad? A first year had beaten her.
Cassandra knew Ginny's true level was beneath her. This win had come from ferocity and that last burst. But a loss was a loss. Excuses were the refuge of the sore loser.
Cassandra wrestled with shame and self doubt. Frank burned with anger. One girl had picked off two of his, and Ilvermorny's face was about to be lost.
"You lot, go find Hogwarts upper years," he hissed, keeping his voice low.
They nodded. The tallest black haired boy glared at Tom. "Should I test Riddle?"
Frank, wary, shook his head. "Forget it. His petrifying curse is too strange. Do not provoke him yet."
The boy looked unconvinced, but under Frank's hard stare he went off to find Slytherin's Avery and issued a challenge. He would not have feared an average teacher, but Frank was not only a teacher. He was also his third cousin once removed. The Graves family's prosperity showed in its numbers. For wizards, numbers mattered.
With Tom's promise secured, Ginny happily returned to the Gryffindor crowd and was immediately hauled into a corner by several brothers.