Chapter 77: Dragon Club
The next day after classes, James met up with Gwen, and they started heading to the Dragon Club meeting place.
To James' surprise, they left the castle and started heading towards the secondary quidditch pitch.
"Where are we going?" asked James curiously. He had thought they would have a room inside the castle similar to the dueling club.
"You'll see," said Gwen without further explanation. The journey passed in awkward silence. After about ten minutes of walking, James noticed a quaint and well-kept small building in the distance.
'Do they have some sort of cabin to themselves?' thought James in surprise as he observed the small building.
As he arrived near the entrance he could see two sculptures of dragons. One statue was of a Hungarian Horntail considered the most dangerous of all dragons. The other sculpture was of a species of dragon that James was unfamiliar with. He did not know all species to the letter.
"Do you understand now? The three clubs are very different from the others," said Gwen with an air of haughtiness as she was one of the exclusive members of the Dragon Club.
"Yeah... you didn't want to join Professor Slughorn's club or something?" asked James.
"That's another thing... let's go inside. They must be waiting already," said Gwen as she opened the door.
As they entered, James was surprised by the size of the room. It didn't look that spacious, but about twenty people would fit in there without any problems. There were already people gathered, "They're finally arriving! We've got everything ready," Erika said with a big smile as she introduced all the members, so James could meet them.
There weren't many. There were only nine with him there would be ten. There were from all the houses, a strange thing to see, but the house that had the most members was Ravenclaw. To be exact four, then two from Slytherin, two from Hufflepuff, and one from Gryffindor that James didn't recognize.
The only person he recognized besides Gwen was the other Slytherin girl, Narcissa Black. The cousin of his best friend Sirius. The bad thing is that from what Sirius said they didn't get along very well.
When Erika introduced Narcissa she barely nodded and didn't even look at James. It seemed she didn't approve of him being in the club.
"Let's start with the party. Then we'll show you all the facilities of the house," said Erika as she invited James to sit down, and without any other choice, he started drinking tea with all these strangers.
The word "party" was very different from the "party" they had regularly in the Gryffindor common room.
In Gryffindor, parties were loud and rowdy. In the Dragon Club, on the other hand, everyone drank tea and chatted quietly with an air of elegance. James hadn't had such an elegant tea party in a long time. Last time, he most likely did it as Edward Rothschild, something he didn't like.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Gwen as she sipped her tea elegantly.
"Nothing in particular... I just thought they had said that the Dragon Club specialized in dueling," James replied after a few seconds.
"Yes, in addition to having lots of books, we have an area-
Before Gwen could finish, she was interrupted by Erika, "Shhhh...! He'll soon find out," she said with a mysterious smile.
After about thirty minutes and a very quiet party, it was time to show James the other facilities of the house.
In the main dressing room, where they were now, there were four doors, each of a different color of wood. First Erika led James to the nearest one. As they passed through the door a smaller room than the previous one came into view, filled with shelves of scrolls and books.
"Welcome to the library! Each shelf is divided by section. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Duels," said Erika as she pointed to each large bookshelf.
"The books can only be read here. If you take any you will be expelled," Narcissa said in a cold tone. James nodded, then was shown to an area to study and read quietly in one of the corners, where there was also a fireplace, though it was turned off.
"Next area! This is the room for important meetings. Especially when we want to introduce a new prospective member and vote," said Erika. There wasn't much to see, a long table of expensive material and surrounding chairs. There were already ten chairs, so James had his place.
"Next!"
Next was a potions room. Once inside, they were greeted by the distinct smell of magical ingredients and fresh herbs. The space is medium-sized and well-lit, with walls lined with shelves filled with glass vials.
In the center of the room, there are five solid oak work tables, "The potion-making tools you have to bring your own, but you can use the ingredients here," Erika explained, as she showed him that in one corner of the room was a storage room full of carefully labeled and stocked ingredients.
"If you steal ingredients, you will be expelled," Narcissa said coldly.
'I suspect she wants me expelled...' thought James, looking at the blonde girl who had the air of a cold princess about her.
"Now, let's go to the best room," said Erika, as she led James to the last dark oak door.
"The dueling area!" she introduced as she entered the room. It wasn't as big as the dueling room where he had his confrontation against Rabastan, but it was just enough and necessary, as there weren't many people.
The floor was sturdy and also had circles delimiting the dueling area. Magical torches lit the place perfectly, and there were two small bleachers, for others to watch the duel.
"Can you have duels without being supervised by professors?" asked James. The Dueling Club was supervised by Flitwick.
"We are not supervised by professors, but we can have duels. Perks of being a century-old club" replied Erika with a smile.
The tour of Dragon House ended, and each member went about their business. Some went to the library others chatted in the main hall. James decided to go to the library, but he still wasn't confident enough to challenge someone to a duel or practice in the dueling area.
Gwen was also minding her own business, and they didn't talk much more. Sometimes she would look up and scowl at James, who was engrossed in reading a new book.
"Hey," said Gwen, lightly tapping James' shoulder man.
"What's up?" asked James, looking up.
"I want you to show me that defensive charm you used against Rabastan. Aeromanteo, I think it was called," replied Gwen, crossing her arms.
'She sure is good at ignoring previous problems and ordering things...' thought James.
"There are dozens of Defence books here. I'm sure they explain it somewhere," said James as he didn't want to play private tutor.
"It's going to take me ages to find it. Besides, it's better to learn it from someone advanced. I'd rather get straight to the practical stuff," said Gwen without giving up.
James looked at Gwen with rolled eyes. He knew the blonde girl wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted. She always acted that way when they were kids.
"Fine..." said James, closing the book.
"Let's go," said Gwen in a tone that hid happiness, and headed to the dueling area.
Before heading back to the castle, they were in the dueling area practicing Aeromanteo, or rather James teaching Aeromanteo to Gwen.
Gwen was talented. She quickly understood the theory behind the charm. The main problem was getting the reflexes necessary to block an attack in time.
To practice Gwen's reflexes, James would cast a simple Vermillious charm on her. This charm is one of the most basic. It allows you to cast a stream of red sparks from the tip of the wand. It is harmless and perfect for practicing Aeromanteo, as its speed is adjustable depending on the caster.
"Slow down, James!" said Gwen angrily and frustrated at not being able to deflect the Vermillious.
"If I slow it down, you won't improve your reflexes. Remember, you must generate the air current in the right direction. Direct the current in the specific direction and at the right time," said James, who had no plans to fulfill Gwen's wish.
"Tsch, it's okay. Attack," growled Gwen, getting on guard.
"Vermillious!" exclaimed James. This time, he aimed for Gwen's left shoulder.
Gwen waited and waited, until the red sparks were close to her, "Aeromanteo!" she exclaimed. This time, she manages to get the air current to deflect the red sparks in their entirety.
"I did it! Did you see? It wasn't that hard," said Gwen, puffing out her chest with pride.
"Vermillious!" exclaimed James suddenly and without warning. This time the red sparks had a higher speed, and how Gwen was showing off she couldn't dodge the red sparks.
"Hey, I wasn't ready! Besides, I'm sure you increased the speed," complained Gwen as she wiped her Slytherin robes repeatedly.
"You should always be alert on the battlefield, missy," scoffed James with a smile.
"Vermillious!" yelled Gwen indignantly, pointing at James.
James with an Aeromanteo deflected the attack and yawned. Gwen started chasing him while throwing Vermillious at him. James dodged them or deflected with an Aeromanteo.
At one point Gwen stumbled. James put aside his joke and rushed over, "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Vermillious!" exclaimed Gwen with a mischievous smile aiming at James, who this time failed to dodge or deflect the attack.
"I win," said Gwen with a victorious smile.
"That's playing dirty!" said James indignantly at such an act of cowardice.
"You should always be alert on the battlefield, missy," said Gwen mockingly mimicking James' tone.
"Isn't it?" added Gwen, as she approached him. She reached out her hands towards the sparks on James' robe and began tapping delicately to disperse the red sparks.
"Thanks..." said James a little surprised by Gwen's sudden gesture of kindness.
"You're welcome..." whispered Gwen as she looked up, and their gazes met.
"Let's keep practicing," she added after a few seconds as she moved back to a more distant position.
"Okay..." nodded James after a few seconds.
"And don't think about increasing the speed, until I tell you to," Gwen said in a tone that sounded like an order.
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