The month of September passed by without a problem. Harry had once again started his rapid routine of studying. He had finished the N.E.W.T. syllabus from Voldemort's memories and was now learning new forms of magic which the Dark Lord had learnt from around the world. It was certainly exciting on a monumental scale - there was a reason Harry was in Ravenclaw.
Harry had also told Sirius, Amelia, Daphne, Dylan and the Greengrasses about him being Lord Slytherin. Sirius had choked and looked at him with wide eyes. Harry would never forget Cyrus Greengrass actually dancing around the drawing room at his manor in joy when he found out that his daughter was the future Lady Slytherin. They had decided not to announce it so soon, but do it during the Yule holidays when Harry and Sirius planned on releasing Godric's journal to the public. Obscurus Books had already begun printing the books and they would go on sale in December. Sirius had decided that the winter session of the Wizengamot was the perfect time to announce it.
...
In the Room of Requirement -
Daphne slashed her wand in the air as she twisted her body to avoid the incoming spell. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she glared at the smirking form of Harry Potter who was currently duelling with her. They had been at this for nearly three hours and she was utterly exhausted, but Harry wouldn't let her stop! Every time she opened her mouth to utter a spell - as he demanded non-verbal spells only - or if she was about to say that she was tired, Harry would fire lethal spells at her, forcing Daphne to fight back.
Damn her for asking Harry to train her in duelling! This was way beyond fourth-year syllabus!
But Daphne had to admit, Harry was an outstanding teacher. He may be very strict and frustrating, but his methods were infinitely more rewarding. Harry had started teaching her how to duel since her second year and after the escape of the Death Eaters from Azkaban, he had been teaching Dylan too. Daphne was grateful for that, however, it didn't discount the fact that he was too demanding of his students. She had struggled to master silent casting as Harry had refused to teach her without it. Harry repeatedly scoffed at uttering spells out loud, saying that it was a terrible weakness and thus, she and Dylan had been forced to learn the technique in advance.
Once they were adept at non-verbal casting, Harry began training them in how to fight. Daphne was amazed at Harry's technique when it came to duelling; he would curse the life out of his opponent one moment, switch to a combination of Transfiguration and Charms the next and also used a wide range of acrobatic moves to dodge spells which were thrown at him. Of course, the reason for this was twofold - one, Harry had been trained in martial arts since a very young age, so dodging spells came naturally to him, and two, Harry had a wealth of knowledge in his mind from Voldemort's memories which he was slowly learning from, combined with rigorous practice sessions with Amelia every week. Combined with his inherent magical power which was already high on the scale, he was quite a formidable duellist for his age.
"Not so fast, Greengrass," said Harry coldly as he saw her move further back so as to stop the fight. Slashing his wand as he moved closer, cornering her against the wall, firing spells at her which Daphne managed to shield and deflect. When Daphne's back touched the wall, with her wand on the floor as she was disarmed, he conjured a wooden sword and raised it above his head but before he could strike, a wandless shield prevented him from coming close to her neck.
"Nice," commented Harry, smirking slightly. "I thought I had you there."
"This is ridiculous!" cried Daphne, panting hard. "I know that you enjoy sword-fighting, but I certainly don't!"
"I did it because you were not expecting it," explained Harry. "I could have easily taken you out with a wand, but you would not have learnt anything. Aunt Amelia always says that in a fight, you must expect the unexpected. You have no idea what surprises she can bring up in a fight; I should know - I've been at the receiving end of it many times. Through pure will and desperation, you were able to conjure a wandless shield, something which you were not able to do before."
"Oh, I was desperate alright," muttered Daphne. Just as she picked up her wand, she saw a jet of scarlet light coming towards her. With a yelp, she dodged to the other side, only to see more spells being fired at her. Cursing Harry to the pits of hell, Daphne got up from the floor and danced around him, doing her best to dodge his spells. Her anger increased multifold as she saw the smirk on Harry's face. Couldn't the bloody emotionless nitwit give her even a minute to relax? Screaming in rage as the pain in her limbs became unbearable any longer due to the constant stress, she fired several curses at him.
" Bombarda Maxima!"
"Confringo!"
"Expulso!"
There was a loud explosion as Daphne collapsed on the ground, panting hard. Her eyes widened when she saw the destruction around the Room of Requirement. There was debris all around, with no sign of Harry.
"HARRY!"
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Daphne ran forwards, moving the debris with her bare hands, her wand forgotten on the floor. Just as she removed another conjured rock, she was caught off guard when she was thrown away from the pile of debris by a banishing charm.
"When I said to expect the unexpected, I meant it," said Harry impassively as he emerged from the debris without a scratch on himself. "You opponent, who you think is defeated, might only be playing you and would choose the best moment to attack when your guard is down. According to Sirius and Aunt Amelia, the Death Eaters during the last war used this to their advantage and even Alastor Moody was caught off guard. You - UFF!"
"You complete ARSE, Harry Potter!" screamed Daphne, as she pinned him to the ground. "Do you have any idea what a dirty trick that was? I thought I had killed you!"
"That was the point," said Harry, frowning slightly. He didn't get it. Why was Daphne worked up over this?
"That was the point?" hissed Daphne, her blue eyes flashing an eerie white for an instant as she glared at her fiancé. Cupping his face angrily, she said, "I have put up a lot with you over the past three years, but this time, you have crossed the line. You may be incapable of understanding the ramifications of what you just did, playing on my emotions like that, but don't you fucking dare do that to me again! I thought I had killed you!"
Harry blinked in shock. He was genuinely confused. "What did I do wrong?" asked Harry curiously.
Daphne's heart melted at the innocent question. She sighed as she collapsed tiredly against him, her head on his chest as she breathed deeply.
"How would you feel if you thought you had killed me?" asked Daphne quietly. "I know that you can perform the Killing Curse. What if I had been present when you were practising it and you fired the curse at me accidentally?"
Harry paled slightly and his eyes widened in shock and understanding.
"That's how I felt when I saw the destruction around me after I fired so many blasting curses at you," she said. Looking up and seeing the shocked expression on Harry's face, she gently caressed his face, locking eyes with him. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell his face.
....
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