The Silver Spears

 Whilst many might believe that my career as a duellist began with my duel with Henry Norcott in 1713, my life as a duellist was really affirmed for me when I went to pick up wand from Ollivander. I was like all children back then, excited to be going to Hogwarts and picking up my school things in Diagon Alley. Along with my parents, who were sadly burdened with the responsibility of an energetic and hyperactive daughter, we collected all the things that would be needed for a prospective student. Potions ingredients, robes, and a very fine broomstick were all purchased and carried for us by the house elf. But of course, like I'm sure you were, I was most excited for my wand. The ability to learn magic was the gateway between childhood and adulthood, and like all children I was desperate to be considered an adult. 

As we walked into the musty old wandshop, we were greeted by Geminus Auberon Ollivander. His son, Gerwick Ollivander, was also there and being the same age as I was, Gerwick would become a close friend and companion to me throughout my many adventures. G. A. Ollivander greeted me and after measuring me in some quite unusual places, set about searching for the right wand, with Gerwick scampering about the shop and into many different nooks and crannies in order to find the wand which his father believed would suit me best. After about a half-dozen tries of various different woods, cores and lengths, eventually he pulled out a 14 & 3/4" wand, made of aspen wood and cored with a thunderbird tail feather he had apparently taken from a young thunderbird when he had gone to visit his American counterpart, the native wandmaker Hilooha Wolfe, who's daughter I would eventually meet in my travels to the Americas. He noted that a 14 & 3/4" wand was just above the generally accepted average length of a wand, and that a wand of such length would take skill to properly master. I am sure my mother was relived to hear this, though she was probably horrified a moment later when a grasped the wand and caused my hair (which at that time was rather long) to float around my head, arcing electricity between the strands. G. A. Ollivander seemed to believe that this was a good thing however, and loudly exclaimed that the wand had chosen me, and that no other would do. As my father pressed five galleons into G. A. Ollivander's hand, Gerwick whispered to me something I shall never forget. 

"Aspen wands are best suited for those who are destined to become accomplished duellists." 

I am sure he whispered this to me so as not to alarm my mother, who looked like she might drop dead from shock anyhow. Although it is equally possible that he simply had a soft voice. In all my years of knowing him I have never once heard him raise his voice. still, in my mind my destiny was set. I was to become the greatest duellist of the age. Whether or not I achieved this is debateable, however none can deny that I was a successful duellist. It appeared that my father either overheard the whispered words of Gerwick, or he himself knew of the reputation of aspen wands, which is quite probably given his occupation as a Judge for the Wizengamot. Regardless, after we collected my wand we made a detour at my father's request to Flourish and Blotts where he purchased two books for me. The first, which is one of my most highly prized possessions, was a book called The Duel by Maximillian Wagner. Some of the more historically minded of you might recognise the book as that which was banned by the International Confederation of Wizards after the scandal Involving the anti-muggle group Dragonblood, who used techniques codified in this book to torture a group of muggle children. Certainly, I did my utmost to hide this book during the purge that followed, however I point out that I do not harbour anti-muggle sentiments. I will admit my father had a certain bias against muggles, though he saw it as more, Well they can't do magic, so what good are they? He was accepting of muggle-born wizards however he was always surprised when they excelled at their positions, though usually never annoyed. Perhaps some of that bias has rubbed off on me, and though my rivals will claim otherwise I have always tried to consciously counter any lingering biases I might have. 

My copy of The Duel was bound in rich, albino dragon-hide from a Swedish short snout. With gold clasps and red embossed writing, it was a beautiful book but also very heavy. When I set off on my adventures, I would eventually come to purchase a smaller, lighter copy, but that has since been destroyed. I remember reading and rereading the book several time throughout my life. It was with me when I set off to Hogwarts, and kept me company during the long hours of boredom I suffered through, since I refused to do any homework. The other book I got was a small little ditty of a novel, The adventures of the Boy Merlin, which is woefully inaccurate, not least because it depicted Merlin with an aspen wand, whereas most experts believe he carried a wand of English Oak. It was that little connection to the character however that drew me to the book. The boy Merlin defeated dragon, dark wizards, and basilisks in his adventures, aided all the way through with an aspen wand. I admit to fantasising about such a future for me, though I would never come face down dragons or basilisks, and only the occasional dark wizard. 

With my school shopping completed, I would then go to Hogwarts. I apparated there through side-along apparition, and we arrived at Hogsmede, my father being well aware of the anti-disapparition jinx which was placed on the school and grounds. (I remember at one point during my Hogwarts life visiting a poor girl who had tried to apparate into her common room from Hollyhead. (Her hands were eventually stitched back on but her wandwork was always shoddy afterwards.) Making our way to the front gate, we were greeted by the Headmaster, Vindictus Viridian, who, in my post-Hogwarts life, I would develop somewhat of a friendship with. (His eventual work, How to Tame Tigers would be instrumental in my attempts to establish my own litter of Tigers to prowl the grounds of Hippolyte Manor.) He was a talented potioneer, and I'm sure that when he looked upon me as I walked through those gates, he would have no idea of the chaos I would get myself into. 

At the sorting, and after the sorting hat had sung it's song, I was placed into Gryffindor. It might have been a bit surprising to my parents, who were both Hufflepuffs, but it is not as though such things are generally carried down through the generations, unless you have particularly restrictive parents. Additionally, it's not like Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were rivals either. 

I reconnected with Gerwick Ollivander afterwards (he was placed in Ravenclaw) and introduced him to my other new friend, Leonidas Cygnet. Leonidas, or Leo as we would come to call him, was a brash and hot-headed boy, but with a heart of gold. He would become one of my closest companions throughout the years, and although there would be long periods in our lives where we didn't meet face to face, we were nonetheless inseparable. Another close friend, (although I didn't meet him until we began lessons the next week), was Eldritch Diggory, who would famously go on to be Minister for Magic and found the Auror Office, something which I will get to later. 

My first year was relatively uneventful. Aside from the general troublemaking three young and stupid kids get up to, nothing of import happened. I found myself doing best in Defence against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration, but my relative excellence in these subjects was counter-balanced by total incompetence in all others, especially those which asked for little to no wandwork, such as Herbology or Potions. (Potions was taught by the Headmaster himself, and I admit to being the reason that he lost his eyebrows several times.) The second year was taken up by one event in particular, the Triwizard Tournament. Bearing in mind that I was twelve at that point, the suicidally impulsive nature that exists in all Gryffindors took over me an I submitted my name for the Triwizard Tournament. I did not get in. In fact, I was not even selected for the group of 50 which went to Beauxbatons since the tournament was being held there. Dutifully, my friends teased me to no extent about this for the entirety of the year. Another significant event was that for second years, you could join the Hogwarts Duelling Club. Naturally, I excelled at the Club, and in no time at all was the head of the Second-Year Duellists. Leo was my constant second, baring one or two times he was unable to compete, during which Eldritch took his place. However, aside from the events where we duelled two-on-two I never needed a second. Leo and Eldritch were very proficient duellers in their own right, (Gerwick had no interest in duelling and we never pushed him to compete) with Leo ending the year second to myself and Eldritch down in fifth place. I remember with no small amount of pride, the end of year tournament and awards ceremony, in which the first (myself), second (Leo), and third (a Ravenclaw student called Catherine Hangerli) were awarded a small medal bearing two crossed wands and a number 2, with the ribbon of the medal being in the colours of the respective houses. I wore that medal with pride when I was at home, to the point where I had to be persuaded to take it off so It could be cleaned. Going into my third year, I kept the medal in my dormitory, since quite apart from being against the uniform policies, it wasn't seen as particularly meritous for one to wear a medal from a year they were no longer a part of. 

For my third year, I took two more subjects, although since they didn't involve the use of a wand I was horrible at them. Divination, I took for the idea that I might be able to recognise bad omens before duels. If I learnt anything in that class, it's that I don't have an 'Inner eye', and any omens I recognised in my later life I ignored. Care of magical creatures was at least interesting to me, though I was horrible at drawing and often forgot how to care for the creatures we were being taught about. I do remember fondly in my fourth year, getting a detention for trying to ride the yeti that had been brought to class. I also remember getting a black eye from the troll but that's neither here nor there. Our first project for Care of Magical Creatures was to look after a crup puppy. This is where I met my ever so faithful companion, Arthur. We were supposed to hand the crups back in to the teacher after the project was over, but Arthur was so fiercely resistant to this Professor Thorne relented and let me keep the crup. He followed me everywhere during school, and eventually grew to a large enough size that it was seen as inconvenient by the teachers, but by that point I was in my sixth year and they let it slide.

Eventually, on the 3rd of January, 1713, Henry Norcott, a renowned duellist, came to give a lecture for the Hogwarts Duelling Club.

Mr. Henry Norcott was a great Wizard. Renowned in his time, he was, like me, one of the top duellists at Hogwarts. His skill was such that, upon graduating, he sought to trade dark wizards for gold and was rather good at it too. However after striking a deal with the ministry where he would be paid a stipend in exchange for protecting the wizarding world from dark wizarda (A sort of proto-Auror if you will), he rather let it go to his head. Frequent paid lectures at all sorts of wizarding societies around the world paid for his luxurious lifestyle of candies and firewhisky. When called upon to prove his talents, he would demonstrate his skills on his assistants, all of whom were completely enamoured by his charisma that they almost fell over themselves to fall to his spells. Perhaps secretly, the ministry was glad of what happened to him, since at this point he was more of a hinderance than a help. But I shall never know. 

Another person I should introduce at this point is Hercules Rutherford, a fifth-year and also the head of the fifth year duelling club. A Gryffindor, like me, he was an accomplished duellist and had won the yearly tournaments four years in a row, and like me he had an Aspen wand. There is much more to say about Hercules, but for right now know that we interacted often and would go on to interact a lot more in our lives. In this part of the story Hercules was the one who invited Henry Norcott to Hogwarts. I think it was because Henry and Hercules' father knew each other well, but I didn't know much at the time and the topic was rarely broached afterwards. Presumably some gold changed hands as well but who can say. 

Unlike where the Duelling Club usually congregated, which was in the grounds due the size of the club, Professor Viridian had arranged the Great Hall in a way as to seat a large number of people but also so that they could face forwards towards the speaker, in this case Henry. From the one time I have been inside a small muggle church, this reminds me of that. With pews for the students to sit at and a large area for the speaker. We sat down, and I was in the very front row as were the rest of the years heads. Also there was Professor Mandrake, the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, sitting with us. 

Henry Began his presentation with a list of his achievements. Numerous semi-famous dark wizards and witches were named, along with their crimes and what became of them. I remember being surprised that a fair amount were said to have been taken in alive, and I also don't doubt him. As duplicitous and lazy as Henry Norcott seemed, I do not think he was a liar. This is partially because one can check the records of Azkaban and learn that all the witches and wizards he talked about were actually brought in alive, as well as the fact that he was a skilled wizard, despite what people might say about him. 

After about two hours of listening to him prattle on about things like this, which were two very dull hours, he finally got around to giving a practical demonstration. His assistants (there were four of them) gave him a wonderful performance, of not quite casting spells and falling to the most minor things. It would have been entertaining to watch if we were watching a play, but we were supposed to be watching to watching one of the greatest wizards of all time. 

I might have mentioned I am possessed of a crippling aversion to boredom, and right now I was bored. Furthermore, I am possessed of that trademark Gryffindor sprit, which is complete stupidity in the face of danger. These two things combined produced me standing up in my chair and shouting

"They are clearly faking, you two-bit troll!" 

This certainly woke him from his performance. I do not believe that anyone had ever interrupted his performance before. 

"Shut up, child." Was his only response. 

This annoyed me to no end, since amongst other things I vehemently hate being called a child. 

"I could beat you, wilted piece of dragon dung!"

It was not perhaps the wisest thing I have ever said, in fact it might rank up there with the stupidest. (The stupidest thing I have ever said was "What werewolf?" when in fact the werewolf was standing right behind me.) 

"Do you want to back that up, you insolent child!" He screeched at me. 

"Yes I do!" I said back, pointing at his face. (Look I can't be held responsible for the things that angry Clementine does.)

"Then I give you thirty minutes before we duel to kill!" With that he stormed out of the hall. The rest of the hall was in shock. I don't blame them, I was also in shock. The hall was cleared of students and I was brought to one side by my friends. 

"Are you stupid?" Was the first thing anyone said to me and yes, I was in fact very stupid. But that's not relevant here. Technically, as the offended participant, I was allowed to set the rules of the engagement. I was a cocky bastard however, and so the only rules I settled on was no unforgivable curses and for anyone who wants to watch to be invited. Leo, in what is probably the bravest thing I have seen anyone do, volunteered to be me second. It was practically a death sentence, but I still accepted. It was probably that point which solidified our friendship. Being willing to die for your friend is a sign of either a strong friendship, or that your friend is insane. In this case it was probably both. 

Hercules tried to get me to back out of it, but I was absolutely adamant that I would do no such thing. I adore him for what he offered to do, really. He was even willing to throw himself under the bus so that I could live. I refused all offers. This was my fight, and besides, It was against an out of touch showboat, whereas I was in the prime of my life. What could go wrong?

We went to the entrance hall where Henry was waiting. The staff had half-heartedly tried to fashion a makeshift duelling arena, complete with raised platform and seating. It sounds stupid, but I was grateful for it. The carpet eventually saved my life so without that I wouldn't be the person I am today. I would be dead. With no unforgivable curses (not that I knew how to cast them anyways) It would be a more showy duel. The one thing I had decided on In setting the rules was a strategy to tire him out. He was old, and fat, and such people do not often make good duellists. Still, I cannot deny he had every advantage. I would have been nervous going into the bout, but as previously stated I was stupid. 

Henry had chosen to use one of his assistants as a second. A scrawny, blond-haired boy, he looked very smug and only a few years older than me. I would eventually find out that he was 18 years old. (I was 13 at the time). We took our places at the end of the carpet and bowed to each other. I did a traditional bow, whereas he merely jerked his head. The duel began at once. He fired off several blasts of fire at me, and I had to quickly defend myself.

Turning on the offensive, I shot several hexes at him but he redirected them into the walls. It went back and forth like this for several minutes. He managed to get me several time and opened a nasty wound on my right arm which started leaking a purple pus. I only managed to get one spell past his defences, but he was wearing a dragon-hide jacket and so it merely bounced off the skin. To me, at that point, It was looking hopeless. I was tired, exhausted and in massive pain. He on the other hand had barely broken a sweat. That was when I noticed what we were standing on. The carpet. I quickly cast accio and pulled the carpet from under him. He was caught completely unawares, and fell flat on his back. I cast a stunning spell at him but he blocked it. He got up and snarled, then, in a move I can only describe as the stupidity of confidence, he stepped back on the carpet. At this point it was all bunched up, and so I repulsed the carpet using depulso, and it caused Henry to fall over again, this time on his front. Some of the students had started to laugh now. I, in my stupidity, bowed to them and they cheered harder. This clearly enraged Henry, who cast advada kedavara from the floor. Unable to see my opponent, I would have died were it not for my wand. Through a process I didn't understand at the time, though I later learned was due to the special properties of my wand core, my wand seemed to spin in my hand and shoot golden lightning at the incoming curse, meeting it halfway and redirecting it to score the ceilings and walls, sending rubble down upon us. I was shocked, but Henry used this time to get up, and clearly taking inspiration from the surroundings, picked up a sword with his wand and threw it at me. This was where he made his mistake. In his arrogance, he looked at the walls and picked up another sword with his wand. Crucially, he had taken his eyes off of me. I had seen the sword getting thrown at me and deflected it back at him. Had he been paying attention to me, he would have noticed the sword, but he wasn't and the sword impaled him through the chest, straight through the heart.

There was a stunned silence as he fell. It was a few seconds before the referee, Professor Thorne, said "The second takes his place." Very, very tentatively, the scrawny blond stepped up to the platform. He was visibly shaking, and when I cast stupefy, he flinched as the spell hit him.  I walked over to his body. I could hear his breathing. It was something I'll never forget. I pointed my wand at him, but waited. What I was waiting for, I didn't know, but eventually Professor Thorne said "The duel is to the death." In modern times, I could have easily said no. That stunned was enough and my honour was satisfied. But back in those early days, I knew what I had to do. I cast bombarda. His head exploded. 

No-one screamed. 

No-one cried. 

Everyone cheered.

In some respects, I suppose I did earn it. I beat him fair and square, and everyone saw that he cheated. Despite that, I was still a bit shaken up. The crowd swarmed over me, patting me on the shoulder and congratulating me. I made my way towards the fresh corpse of Henry Norcott, and saw that he was still clutching his wand. In picking up his wand, I started a strange tradition which I continued all my life, that of collecting the wands of the people I have defeated. Thinking I should do a complete job of it, I picked up the wand of the blond youth as well. Later, I would go to Gerwick and ask him to tell me something about the wands I had won. Henry Norcott's wand was Elm, rather short at 9" and cored with kelpie hair. The boy's wand was Laurel and 12 & 1/2" with a core of kneazle whisker. I remember Gerwick turning his nose up at this wand, apparently in disgust at the use of kneazle hair, which is a very sub-standard core. I have kept both of these wands throughout my whole life, though most of the time they have been locked up in a room of the manor. When I took ownership of the house after my parents died (this is many, many years in the future) I would come to rennovate the small library off the study into a storage or display room. Chiefly displayed among these was the many wands I had acquired during my life, as well as various other medals, awards, or trophies. Until that time however, they were simply stored in my room in the manor.   

Despite the cheers from the crowd, for the professors there was an immediate problem. How I should be punished. Although it had been a legal duel, the simple fact that I had challenged someone to a lethal duel was grounds for expulsion, not to mention that I had killed two people on school grounds and damaged the building itself. After the crowd had been dispersed I was pulled to one side by Professor Thorne and taken to Professor Viridian immediately. They spent a long time in discussion, wondering how I should be punished. Eventually they settled on two things. Firstly, no Hogwarts student was allowed to participate in a duel on school grounds from this point forward, and if any duels happened I would be punished alongside the offending students. Secondly, the action would be reported to the ministry, and if the ministry wanted to arrest me or impose further punishments the school would co-operate with the ministry. I protested the first, saying that students should be allowed to duel in clubs at the very least, and they eventually conceded on that point, but the punishments still stood. 

The Ministry, in their eternal wisdom, only said that I should attend the funerals of both of the dead participants. So I set my calendar and attended the funeral of Henry Norcott. This was my first time in wizarding society, and Henry was a well known duellist, and so were many of his friends. The funeral was not quite what I expected, although I made several contacts there. The number of contacts is too long to list in a non-boring manner, but so I shall introduce them as they crop up throughout my life.

Apparently, amongst Henry's particular social circle, dying in a duel was considered a very good way to go. They all wanted to hear me recount the duel, and were shocked when I described that Henry had violated the terms of the duel. But still, it was a fun party. These maniacs celebrated their deaths with a fury that made me think they had no regard for life, but as the person who ended Henry's life I was given special treatment at the party. 13 is probably not a healthy age to get drunk, yet if you ask any 13 year old they will say they are too young to care. I was exactly the same. As shot after shot of red currant rum was given to me, I steadily began to forget more and more about that night. In fact the most I can remember is waking up in the morning with a corked bottle of red currant rum in my hand and the contact details of a half-dozen of England's finest duellers in my pocket. Being both February and snowy, I was rather cold, and had just reached to pull out my wand when I noticed that I was in a muggle town. After some wandering around, I found a wizard dwelling and persuaded them to help me get back to Hogwarts. That involved a lot of sending owls back and forth and the promise that I would pay the family, (Mr. and Mrs. Waffling), a tidy sum. 

Eventually when I got back to Hogwarts I donated the red currant rum to the girl's dormitory and set about starting a correspondence with the names I had been given. For the rest of the year I would talk with these fine wizards and witches, and they would ask me various things. Some would ask about my studies, or they were curious about how much Hogwarts had changed since their time there. Some would want my input on the societal matters of the day, as an outsider's perspective. Some would give me tips of duelling, or tell me about secret passageways around the castle they had discovered when they were there. 

Most important to me, however, was in my fourth year when someone by the name of Silvanus Cain contacted me. 

PS: for those who are interested, I did indeed take first place at the end of year tournament. I was followed by Leo and in fourth place this time was Eldritch. 

He had heard about me through a friend of friend, and his initial correspondence was brief, if not monosyllabic. After I revealed I had an Aspen wand however, (something which he had been hinting about asking me for a while), he opened up. Mr. Cain was the current head of the Silver Spears, a secret duelling society. I cannot reveal much about the society, as I am bound by a magical oath on pain of death to not reveal the innermost secrets of the society, but I can at least provide you with a detailed description of the outer levels of the society. During my fourth year, I was steadily initiated into the Silver Spears. Firstly that required confirming that I did actually possess an aspen wand. This was trickier than first believed, since they were unable to come to school and I wasn't able to leave. Eventually, it was decided that my initiation would be done in two parts, firstly I would go to stay at the house of a society member over the Christmas holidays, where all the checks and balances would be done. Then, I would go back to Hogwarts and they would perform the ceremony during the Easter Holidays. 

I Informed my parents that I would be staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas Holidays, and waited at Hogsmede for someone to come and pick me up. You could imagine my surprise when Hercules himself turned up. He preferred to travel to and from Hogwarts by means of a magically enchanted, flying trunk, despite being able to apparate. I would eventually come to learn that he has a slight fear of apparition, splinching in particular, and would only use to to travel short distances. Having little else to do during the journey, Heracles began to tell me about the Silver Spears, himself being an initiate. Unsurprisingly, he couldn't tell me much. Especially not the details as he was also bound by oath. However, I did learn that he had only recently become a member, that his initiation took place over the summer, and that the Silver Spears only recruited people with Aspen wands. Although that is what they are famous for these days, for me at that point, a whole lot of information suddenly clicked into place. Another point he mentioned was that you had to have defeated another duellist before you could be accepted. For me of course that was Henry Norcott, and Hercules had apparently beaten a travelling duellist called Phillipe de Courcillion, although he revealed to me that since his grandfather had also been a member of the Silver Spears before his passing, the group was aware of Hercules and had already spied him out as a potential member. Since this was before the creation of the Daily Prophet, word of my duel had passed by word of mouth to Mr. Cain, who had then contacted me out of curiosity. I later learnt that he heard of a 'witch with an unusual wand' from one of the people who was friends with Henry Norcott and endeavoured to learn if it was Aspen. 

One of the proofs for joining was that I had an Aspen wand, and Hercules, despite being a member, couldn't be witness to this for me since he was considered too much of a novice and too much of a close personal friend. (This rule was apparently put in place when someone tried to sneak in one of their friends who didn't have an actual Aspen wand, but was borrowing it from someone who did). After the long flight down the country (the trunk wasn't particularly fast) we arrived at Rutherford house. It is an old-style building, and still has the stones which were carved by the ancestors of the Rutherfords in the middle ages. It is quaint, in it's own sort of way, though I admit I like my houses to be much more spacious than others. (Hence the Brazillian Palace I would reside in for a while). 

I was given a room in the attic, which I didn't like much. I still remember hitting my head off of the beams. The next day I was shown to Silvanus Cain for the first time. He was an immediately fashionable person, with a small, wispy beard that complemented his silver robes magnificently. He would stay at the house occasionally as well, as he tested me and made sure I was eligible to join the Silver Spears. (Some amoungst you might find his name rather prophetic, however I would learn, but only a few years later, that he had changed it from Greylock.) I cannot describe to you all the tests I had to pass in order to join the society, although the inquisitive amongst you might be able to figure out some of them. Suffice to say, that, at the end of the Christmas holidays I was deemed fit to join the Silver Spears. Christmas, incidentally, was an enjoyable affair with Hercules and his family. Most fun of all was that I got two occasions to open presents, once whilst at the holidays and once when I came back. 

Something of a spark had erupted between me and Hercules as well. He is a very handsome man, with long hair and emerald green eyes. I find no shame in admitting that I shared my first kiss with him under the mistletoe that Christmas. Upon returning to Hogwarts we continued our relationship in earnest, though we were separated by two years which made liaisons difficult during the week, but only amplified our desire on Sunday, the only day we didn't have lessons and were free to do what we wanted. That desire eventually manifested itself in my birthday present to him on the 16th of February. Myself. I had gone to great lengths to make sure we were not disturbed in a little secluded corner of the castle, and I was not disappointed. It was the first time I had been completely naked outside of a bath, though it wouldn't be my last. (Some of you might even remember the photograph which graced the cover of the Daily Prophet in 1744. That was taken not long after I left school.) It was also the first time I had ever seen a man naked. I remember running my hand over his body, exploring it, as he explored mine. (We are of about equal height, I might have forgotten to mention.) When we eventually lay down to finally do the thing we both wanted to do, I remember the incredibly pleasurable sensations that followed. I do not remember how long we continued our duet, but by the end the sky was dark and we were both sweaty and exhausted, though thoroughly pleased with each other. Throughout the rest of the year, we had sex as frequently as we could, and I can say that I developed somewhat of an addiction to it. I remember at one point we passed each other in the hallway and then promptly ran off to a broom cupboard together. (We still managed to get to classes on time, surprisingly.)

When Easter arrived, I again told my parents that I would be staying at Hogwarts when in fact I and Hercules would be going to his house again. His relatives would be in Sicily for the Easter Holidays, so we would have the run of the place to ourselves. You can only imagine what we got up to. To put it in polite terms, we spent at least 13 days completely naked, copulating like rabbits with small breaks only to use the toilet or eat, though occasionally we ate whilst having sex. (Incidentally, It it surprising how much having sex develops your body's muscles. Of course It helped that we mostly ate fruit.) But I know you did not open this to get a detailed history of my sex life, entertaining as that would be. My initiation into the Silver Spears is a matter of secrecy, and the only details I can recount are that I swore a magically binding oath of secrecy, and that I met the rest of the Silver Spears and gained access to their knowledge. 

To recount a list of all the Silver Spear members would be both dull and only interesting to those who know more obscure branches of history. One name of which I am certain has some prestige in the modern world is Barnabas Deverill. Although his later exploits would be both great and terrible, at this point he was an excellent dueller and the right hand man to Mr. Cain. Of course what struck me most about him was the two-toned wig he wore, and his absurdly stupid little pencil moustache. I teased him to no end about it and looking back, If I had know what he would become then I might not have done it. Might being the keyword. I was still possessed of that trademark Gryffindor stupidity after all. My Initiation over, I returned to Hogwarts with a small pendant, a silver spearhead, which was the only thing that would mark me out as a member of the Silver Spears for several years. (This was all an Initiate was allowed to wear). 

After the fourth year came the fifth, the examination year. My liaisons with Hercules petered out during these times, especially the final weeks before examination when we were revising. As he wanted to get top marks, and I didn't want to be expelled, we studied to the best we were able. It was generally accepted as standard that most people in the duelling club either became a lifelong duellist after year 5 or left the world of duelling entirely. Having placed first in every tournament I competed in, I was determined not to let my standards drop during my fifth year. However, I need hardly have worried. Due to my correspondences with the varied members of the Silver Spears and those contacts I had made in the wider duelling world (who kept me informed of the latest trends in duelling) I was far and above one of, if not the best, duellist in the school, and easily trumped all competition.(Leo placing second and Eldritch placing 17th, having chosen to focus on academic subjects) After the exams were over, in the summer, I learnt what grades I had received. I had 3 Outstandings, in Defence against the Dark arts, Charms, and Transfiguration. Potions and Care of magical creatures, I was pleased to see I had managed to scrape an Acceptable in, and everything else was a Dunce.

My three subjects for NEWT levels set, I relaxed into a happy summer, where I followed my father around as he made several visits to Germany as part of an international effort to centralise the wizarding world in Central Europe, which at that point was a mess of several independent systems. A large number of breaches in the statue of secrecy had come from the Central European region recently, and so the effort was put in place to try to prevent such things. Not much of importance to me really happened whilst I was there. Great strides were made in the wizarding world of course, the 1715 Conference of Altstadt Is an important moment in Wizarding History after all. But for me personally, a bored teenager, I was eager to flex my new duelling muscles. Unfortunately the only people not participating in the conference were two young men whom declined my offers to duel. I would be taught a spell by one of the Senior Warlocks in attendance for whom I reminded him of his daughter, though I confess to never having used it much. It is flashy, but not very practical. My only recompense from the boredom would be a brief betwixtment with a very attractive muggle boy from one of the nearby towns, to whom I showed a few discreet spells. (It would not be the last time I flirted with muggles by showing them magic. Incidentally, If any wizard from the ministry wishes to arrest me for the breaches of magical law I admit to in this work, I invite them to try to get past my tigers.) 

My sixth year passed very uneventfully. I was excited by the more complex magic we were being taught, and Hercules and I broke off our relationship. It would have been hard, since he was now in the Corps, travelling around the world, and I was stuck at Hogwarts. We kept on good terms though, and I was even best woman at his wedding to one Ambrosia Cairo, though that is a least a decade later. Most importantly however, my seventh and final year was approaching. 

As many of you may well know, Durmstrang is a school famous for it's Martial Magic