KnightofTempest
patreon
Chapter 33
🕑 Added 2025-01-18 09:00:03 +0000 UTCOver the course of the Week leading up to my Detention in the Forbidden Forest, Magnus Gamp kept up the extracurricular subjects, as well as the sparring. I was still getting my arse kicked around the training grounds, but I was assured that it was all good practice. I was certainly picking up a number of useful habits, such as always staying on the move and learning how to identify patterns in spellcasting. That second bit was the more pressing bit, as there were always going to be wizards faster than you, but learning to identify patterns was something that would help in almost every fight.
Magnus Gamp began peppering in a few of the more standard rotations of spells so I could learn how to deal with them. Apparently, most Wizards and Witches had a few go-to spells that they rotated through when in combat, and learning to recognize and break the patterns was something that was essential to being a good duelist. It was also something that most Wizards and Witches didn't tend to train often, if ever, relying on their own magic and spell repertoire to carry the day more often than not. Even the Death Eaters back during the war would generally go through a pattern of a handful of curses, generally including an Unforgivable or two, when in a combat scenario.
"That seems like they wouldn't have gotten as far as they did with that sort of thing." I mused.
"The Death Eaters liked to attack in raids, kill wizards, and then disappear. They had a dark version of Apparition called Tenebrae Improviso that allowed them to bypass Apparition Wards, which they'd lay down in an area before any potential attack as preparation to ensure their targets couldn't get away and the Aurors couldn't arrive in time. That sort of thing tends to cover for a lot of errors, but is in and of itself, just another pattern." Informed Magnus Gamp.
"I'm assuming this sort of thing was for the Rank and File?" I questioned.
"Aye, that it was. Voldemort and his Inner Circle had more varied spell repertoires, especially Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Dolohov, all of which had the most varied repertoire of curses and spells. Your average Death Eater, though? They tended not to have spell repertoires more varied than your basic Noble Wizard, if that." Nodded Magnus Gamp.
"Not even Malfoy?" I queried.
"Lucius Malfoy's Spell Repertoire is actually fairly standard if you know what to look for. It's that sense of British Exceptionalism, it means he was never as well-traveled as some of the others, which makes it hard to pick up rare spells. Besides, the official record shows he wasn't a Death Eater, just under the effects of the Imperius Curse." Scoffed Magnus Gamp.
"You don't think he was Imperiused, though?" I asked.
"No. One of the telltale signs of the Imperius Curse is that it makes you Euphoric all the time. That means the casting of the Killing Curse is functionally impossible for Imperiused Wizards. You have to muster up a strong feeling of hatred toward the target to be able to successfully cast the Killing Curse, you can't just say the words. That is an emotional component that someone whose mainlining Joy and Euphoria just won't be able to work into their spellcasting. Lucius most likely bribed enough of the Wizengamot to accept his plea and stayed out of Azkaban that way." Explained Magnus Gamp.
"Huh, you know, that might be an observation that could provide grounds for a retrial." I mused.
"Unlikely. British Wizarding Law doesn't allow for such things, once a trial is complete, it's complete. A Verdict can be reversed by a vote of the Wizengamot, but only by a three-quarters majority. Good luck getting that many members to vote for the same thing, especially with money involved." Refuted Magnus Gamp.
While that was interesting, it wasn't germane to the conversation, and I was soon being educated in more Wand Lore, this time involving Wand Cores, now that I'd learned about Wand Woods. Magnus Gamp started with the basic three before moving into some more esoteric or rare wand cores.
Dragon Heartstring, for instance, bonded with each owner, but would generally switch allegiance if won in battle, while outputting a consistent and large amount of power into spells. Unicorn Hair, on the other hand, imparted excellent control, but much less power, and was prone to falling into melancholy if won in battle. Meanwhile, Pheonix Feather Wands imparted a moderate amount of both power and control and so could be used with the most varied range of magical disciplines, however, they were prone to acting without the consent of the wielder at times and were picky about owners.
The other, rarer, wand cores that were still used often enough in Magical Europe to be worth talking about were as follows, Thestral Hair, Peacock Feather, Acromantula Web, Augurey Tail Feather, Boomslang Venom, Kelpie Hair, Troll Whisker, Dwarf Beard Hair, Mermaid Scale, Pegasus Down, Coral, Bone, Dittany Leaf, Moly Sprig, Rusalka Hair, Veela Hair, Salamander Egg Shell, Bicorn Horn Shaving, and Thunderbird Feather. All of these had varying qualities, though some, like the Augurey Tail Feather, were more suited for niche disciplines, like the Mind Arts, while others, Like Veela, Dwarf, or Rusalka Hair, tended to not bond with Wizards that didn't at least have partial ancestry tied to the beings whose hair was used for the core. Of these, apparently, only Thunderbird Feather was considered equivalent to the main three for a Generalist Wizard, at least according to Olivander.
When I asked about that last one, as Thunderbirds were a North American Magical Creature and couldn't be found East of Greenland, I was told that it was largely because there had been a fashion for Thunderbird Tail Feather Wands in the aftermath of Grindelwald's War. This was primarily because the head of the American Wizarding Expeditionary Force that had helped with Grindelwald's Defeat, General William B. Franklin, had a wand with that particular core. It was apparently more popular in Wizarding France and the Low Countries than in Britain but did still pop up here and there.
"What about Chimera Scale?" I questioned.
"That's extremely rare and is more of an additive to a core than a proper core by itself. Chimeras are endangered and have been since the fifties, after all. They only shed once every decade or so as well." Frowned Magnus Gamp.
"But if someone did have a Chimera Scale in their wand, what could they expect?" I queried.
"Why are you asking?" Asked Magnus Gamp.
"Because my wand has powdered Chimera Scale packed around the Augurey Feather." I answered.
"I see. Chimera Scale increases the power of existing cores substantially but requires a good match, inborn talent, or both to control that extra power. It makes sense, though. Your wand hits with the power of Dragon Heartstring, but if you have an Augurey Feather Wand Core, that shouldn't be the case at all, given how weak the power output on Augurey Feather is, though it does tend to add quite a bit of control to compensate, which is why it's a good wand for Mind Magic." Informed Magnus Gamp.
That was interesting by itself, but Wandlore was far from the only bit of extracurricular information Magnus Gamp taught me this week. I also was taught the Bardic Spell of Pob Laith, which I had to cast by reciting the tale of Gwrhyr, Interpreter of Languages, who could speak all the Languages of Man, Animal, and Being and who was instrumental in two of the series of Impossible Tasks set before Culhwch, cousin of King Arthur, before he was allowed to marry his love, Olwen. Once again this meant a longer casting time than I would like, though I would be able to practice in my dreams using Oneiromancy in order to get the casting down to a few mnemonic lines.
Aside from that, my classes continued as normal. We learned about the various different types of magical fertilizers in Herbology, and which sorts were good for which types of magical plants. It was a surprisingly in-depth conversation, as different fertilizers were utilized for different types of magical plants and each was designed to enhance a specific aspect of said plants. We were only going to learn about the animal-based ones this week. Apparently, next week's unit was on plant-based Magical Fertilizers, the next week would be on mixed Fertilizers and Potions.
"You see, dearies, you don't want to use animal-based fertilizers on any plants that require dry conditions. It will have the opposite effect than the one you were hoping to achieve. Instead, you'll want a plant or potion-based fertilizer for such plants. For instance, if you attempt to use an Animal-based Fertilizer on a Silphium Plant, you'll quickly find the Silphium rotting from the roots as the animal-based fertilizer chokes out the plant. On the other hand, feeding a Devil's Snare a Plant-based Fertilizer will starve the poor thing of the nutrients it needs to survive and thrive." Lectured Professor Sprout.
I looked over at Susan, who as per usual was my Partner for Herbology, and found her wrinkling her nose in disgust throughout the entire lecture. That amused me to no end, but when I mentioned it to her, I got a hostile response that I wasn't really expecting.
"Hadaway with that! I do not scrunch my nose up at any point!" Hissed Susan.
"Susan, you were doing it the whole time during the lecture." I pointed out.
"No, I wasn't and you didn't see anything like that either!" Insisted Susan.
"Wait, are you embarrassed about that?" I questioned.
That was the wrong thing to say, as it earned me a swat on the arm and a warning growl from Susan. She looked me dead in the eye after that and reiterated herself.
"You didn't see anything." Insisted Susan.
"Right, must have been a trick of the light." I nodded.
"Aye. Must've been." Concurred Susan before she walked off.
I wouldn't learn what had been bothering my redheaded friend about her scrunching her nose up until Hannah Abbot told me. Apparently, it was a habit she'd had whenever the topic of something gross came up from the time she was six years old. Susan's Mother apparently used to tease her about it and Susan was self-conscious about it because of that teasing.
Aside from that, the rest of the week's classes went by without much in the way of anything else interesting. In Transfiguration, we learned the Bubble Conjuring Spell, which conjured a stream of bubbles from the tip of one's wand. Something that was supposedly going to be the most difficult spell that we would learn this year, which was why we would practice it for three weeks in a row between this class and the first Transfiguration class of February.
"Conjuring Bubbles may not seem all that difficult, but Conjuration of any kind is an advanced form of Transfiguration. This will be, perhaps, the simplest form of Pure Conjuration you will learn in your time here at Hogwarts, but we still dedicate three weeks to learning it for that very reason." Informed Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, haven't we already learned conjuration spells?" Queried Parvati.
"Not as such no. If you are referring to the Incendio, can anyone tell me why?" Asked Professor McGonagall.
"Because the Incendio is a charm, professor." Spoke up Tracey.
"Correct, five points to Slytherin for the right answer. Can anyone tell me the difference between a charm and a conjuration?" Pressed Professor McGonagall. I knew this one and spoke up.
"A Charm has an incantation and wand movement to aid in focus, Professor, but Conjuration is a form of pure transfiguration, which has neither." I answered.
"Correct, another five points to Slytherin. While there are spells that are cast like charms which you will be learning in this class, those are not pure transfiguration and instead are transfiguration effects filtered through charms. However, much like our very first class this year, where you learned to change matchsticks to needles without any incantations or wand movements, so too will this be an act of pure transfiguration. Now, I don't expect many of you to get this in one class, that is why we have three weeks for it, but I will expect you all to put in your best efforts this entire time. You may begin now." Informed Professor McGonagall.
Of course, I knew my process for transfiguration was different than the norm for Witches and Wizards. Most of the class would be attempting to force the magic to work by will or intent alone, and while that might be fine for Parvati and Tracey, both of which were something of prodigies when it came to transfiguration, I found it easier to imagine a series of steps in my mind's eye and then channel that intent through my wand.
To whit, I first imagined the moisture in the air, collecting and coalescing at the tip of my wand before taking shape as bubbles and erupting forth. I played the sequence over and over again in my Mind's Eye for around an hour before actually attempting the spell. Unfortunately, my first attempt did little more than conjure a small spritz of water from the tip of my wand. That forced me to go through the mental sequence again, breaking down the shaping of bubbles into multiple parts. My next attempt conjured a few bubbles that floated lazily in the air, though it was hardly the consistent stream that Professor McGonagall had demonstrated at the start of class.
I returned to my Mind's Eye one more time to fine-tune my process. By this point, two hours had passed and Parvati had already gotten the Conjuration down. As I ran through and fine-tuned my process, Tracey got things down on her end as well. With ten minutes left in the remainder of class, I tried for a third, and final time this week and this time, succeeded in producing a consistent stream of watery bubbles from the tip of my wand just in time for the end of class. I had made it in time to still be in the top three students in the class, which I almost hadn't been.
After all, with five minutes remaining in class, Dean Thomas managed to successfully cast the Conjuration, marking him as the fourth student to successfully cast it in the class. He almost edged me out, there, although that wasn't too surprising to me. Dean usually managed to grasp Transfiguration with minimal help pretty quickly. I was willing to bet he would advance to the NEWT Level in the subject if he decided to seriously study it. Still, it was a close-run thing.
Of the remaining class that I cared about, Astronomy, things were much more relaxed. Instead of learning any rituals, we went over the basics of navigation by stars. Fortunately, as we had already learned about finding the North Star, this was largely a continuation of that, and I partnered up with Padma Patil on this, as her ADHD meant she had difficulty with stars like this, they all tended to blend together to her.
Mind you, I had managed to get her a supply of the Venetian Focus-Enhancing Potion as I'd promised, but a little extra help between friends wasn't a bad thing. I noticed I'd begun seeing her at the Cross-House Study Group again, which was nice. She had been more friendly, so it would be rude not to return the favor.
"Can you spot Orion?" I questioned.
"I see it." Nodded Padma.
"Wicked, what direction is it facing?" I queried.
"It's tilted left. That means it's pointing east, right?" Asked Padma.
"Right. You've been practicing." I grinned.
"If you want to do something, you should do it well, Blaise." Smirked Padma.
"You'd be surprised how many folks don't get that." I chuckled.
"I'm not one of them." Huffed Padma.
"Good to know. So with Orion pointing east and the Big Dipper, that's two points of Navigation, which we can use to infer the other two to get our cardinal points." I nodded, noting down the cardinal points using a quill on parchment.
"Right, hand me the Astrolabe, will you? I'm going to get our longitude and latitude, then we can hand this in." Nodded Padma.
I did so and after another ten minutes or so of calculating angles, we finally had the longitude and latitude, jotting them down, before turning our assignment in to Professor Sinistra who looked over the calculations and nodded. Seeing that we were the first to do so, she awarded us both five points before sending us on our way. Honestly, Padma had improved a lot in Astronomy ever since I got her that Focus Potion. I was pretty sure that next class, I'd be able to partner with someone else.
Mind you, Magnus Gamp's tutoring and Classes weren't the only training I did. I also managed my own training during my downtime. Mostly, this was spent on the Mind Arts, with special emphasis on increasing my capabilities with Occlumency, Leglimency, the Dead Moment, and Oneiromancy. I also spent time in my dreams with Oneiromancy training the Bardic Spells further. Finally, I spent time working on a pair of spells I'd found back home in the Grimoire of old Roman Spells.
The first had the incantation Validus Vapos and wand movements of a pulling motion followed by a flick at the target. It shot a jet of scalding steam at the target that could parboil flesh. It was a favorite of Roman Naval Officers, first used in the First Illyrian War by Wizarding Roman Naval officers at the Siege of Issa to great effect against the Illyrian Fleet.
The second had the incantation Deflagratio and a wand movement of a twirl and flick at the target. It caused any combustible, non-sentient, substance to combust into flames even if wet. It had been invented by a Wizarding Flamen Volcanalis, or High Priest of Vulcan, back during the Samnite Wars and had been exclusive to the Priesthood of Vulcan for centuries, only proliferating after the Priesthood was abolished with the Empire's Formal Conversion to Christianity under Constantine. At that point, it was largely used as a tool of war against siege engines, though the knowledge was thought lost to time after the fall of Rome, instructions had been found in Antioch during the First Crusade and brought back to England by a Wizarding Companion of William Marshall, English Crusading Knight and Earl of Pembroke.
Aside from my studies and training, however, there were also clubs this week. Potions Club was largely uneventful. We were given the Formula for Obeah Oil, something of a specialty of the Houngans of the Caribbean. Obeah Oil functioned as a General Counter-Curse and could reverse the effects of most common curses when applied to a cursed Wizard, though it had its limits. Bloodline or other powerful curses could not be cured with Obeah Oil, though supposedly there was a more potent version that could suppress the effects. Unfortunately, the formulae for such Oils were not given away by the Houngans, and exports were expensive, making up a statistically significant chunk of Wizarding Jamaica's Revenues. We would have to make do with the lesser version, which I brewed competently enough and stashed for later use.
No, it would be in Dueling Club where the excitement happened this week, as Millie had challenged Pansy Parkinson publicly at the start of Club. . .
XXXX
It had started because of something that Pansy had said to a mutual friend about her at the Malfoy Yule Ball. That something didn't bear repeating at least to me, but it had made its way around the Slytherin Girls' Gossip Mill by now, resulting in Millie being sullen for most of the week as some other Girls began teasing her. That sullenness had given way to anger, which in turn had led to this, a public duel at Dueling Club with more than just an apology on the line. If Millie won, then Pansy would have to give up one of her family's collection of dueling spells. If Pansy won, then Millie would have to act as her servant for a week.
As the pair of them took their place in the dueling pit, I watched on from above as Daphne served as Millie's Second. As I did so, I was approached by the Weasley Twins, who were infrequent members of the Dueling Club. I'd asked them about it once and they'd replied that they had other extracurriculars that sometimes kept them from Clubs. Regardless, they approached me and I nodded at them.
"Fred, George. What can I do for you two?" I questioned.
"Do you understand what the stakes are here?" Queried Fred. I had since learned to tell the Twins apart, and that was definitely Fred.
"I'm sure he does, Brother Mine. Just in case he doesn't though, we might want to fill Blaise in on the consequences here." Remarked the twin I was confident was George.
"Right, he is foreign, after all. He might not know about what can be done to Servants that's not technically against the letter of the law." Agreed Fred.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, you know about Magical Contracts, yes?" Questioned George.
"The bit about how the participants' magic automatically forces them to obey the stipulations?" Queried Fred.
"I do. What are you getting at?" I asked.
"Well, the law doesn't generally protect servants from being forced to sign those." Informed George.
"After all, most servants in Wizarding Britain are House Elves who can't be bound by the standard Magical Contract." Explained Fred.
"You're saying that if Pansy wins, she can try and compel Millie to sign a Magical Contract?" I questioned.
"Indeed she could. It could be about anything, and if Millie doesn't want to suffer the consequences of welching on a bet, she'll have to sign." Answered George.
"I don't think even Millie's thought that through. Do you think that Ickle Pansy is the type of girl who'd try that?" Queried Fred.
"She is a Snake, Brother Mine." Pointed out George.
"So is Blaise here." Retorted Fred.
"More to the point, Pansy is absolutely that petty." I insisted.
"So that begs the real question." Intoned George.
"Indeed it does, Brother Mine. Do you think Millie can win?" Asked Fred.
"Against Pansy Parkinson? If this were October, I'd say no. But now? After almost six months of extra studying? I'm confident that Millie can wipe the floor with her." I nodded.
"I hope you're right, Blaise." Frowned George.
"'Cause if you're not, Millie could be in for a world of hurt." Added Fred.
As the duel below got started, I turned back around to watch with a frown on my face. Intellectually, I knew that Millie had all the tools necessary to beat the pants off of Pansy Parkinson, but I couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry for my friend. With a sigh, I realized I'd just have to trust in Millie's abilities to see her through this. After all, there wasn't much I could do myself without breaching protocol and being kicked out of Dueling Club.
As I watched on, Pansy seemed to open with a Knee-Reversal Hex, a particularly nasty bit of Magic that would painfully twist around Millie's knees until her legs resembled those of a chicken, with backward joints. Fortunately, Millie dodged, hitting the sand of the arena in a shoulder roll and coming back up with a Scutum Charm that blocked a Head-Engorging Hex, which would cause the head to swell up like a balloon painfully and overbalance the target if it hit. As Millie deflected the Head-Engorging Hex off her Scutum Charm, she fired back with an Incarcerous that forced Pansy to counter with a Severing Charm that split the conjured ropes in half. A Flipendo from Pansy smashed into Millie's Scutum Charm and knocked her back, but Millie slammed her Scutum Charm down into place to block the Follow-On Incendio.
As the flames washed over Millie's Scutum Charm to no effect, Millie bulled forward and smashed her Scutum Charm into Pansy, who tumbled backward with an outraged squawk. I couldn't help but grin as I saw that. Technically, Millie had hit Pansy with her Scutum Charm, which made that maneuver legal in terms of the dueling rules, if only just. As Pansy was sent to the sands, Millie pushed past her and let out a Fumos Maxima Spell, creating a smokescreen that took up half the dueling pit. Pansy pushed herself up to her feet and glared at the smokescreen.
"That's cheating! You hit me like a damned Muggle!" Shrieked Pansy.
"I hit you with a Scutum Charm, it's not technically illegal. I did hit you with a spell, after all." Responded Millie from within the Smokescreen.
"Are you gonna let her get away with that?" Spat Pansy to Gemma Farley.
"Why wouldn't I? She's right, it's technically a legal move." Shrugged Gemma.
"Fine, I'll deal with her, then!" Snarled Pansy before conjuring a wind to blow away the smokescreen.
Of course, just as she did that, Millie cast a Seize and Pull Charm from out of the smokescreen, the conjured tether grappling onto Pansy's arm. Millie tugged back on the tether and Pansy went sprawling onto the Arena Floor with a squawk of surprise just as the conjured wind revealed Millie's position. Only a timely roll to the side saved Pansy from being hit with a Stickfast Hex that would have stuck her in place and won Millie the bout. Instead, the Stickfast Hex hit bare sand. Pansy pushed herself to her feet and snarled out a spell I hadn't heard of before. A ball of shimmering, pale yellow, light hurtled forth toward Millie, who put her Scutum Charm in the way only for the shield to shatter in contact with the Sphere. A Flipendo sent Millie reeling and Pansy snarled out the incantation to one more of those spheres.
For a moment, my heart leaped into my throat as Pansy sent that sphere of pale yellow light hurtling toward Millie, who had no shield up and couldn't dodge properly. Thankfully, all those Cross-House Study Groups seemed to have given Millie at least a little bit of an instinct for dueling and she dodged the only way she could, by dropping to the sand of the Arena Floor. The Sphere sailed over Millie's head and now it was Millie's turn to roll to the side to avoid a Stickfast Hex. She came up to her feet and hit Pansy with a Leg-Locker Curse at the same time as Pansy hit her with a Jelly Legs Jinx. Both fell to the sand, but only Millie managed to rise, albeit slowly and unsteadily due to the Jelly Legs Jinx making her legs feel and act like jelly. A disarming charm later and Pansy's wand was lying in the sand next to her own downed form.
"And that's the match! Well done Millie!" Called out Gemma.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Daphne helped Millie up the stairs where Terence Higgs cast the counter to the Jelly Legs Jinx on her. I spent the rest of Dueling Club looking up what that shimmering, pale yellow, ball was. I finally found the answer in a book of Curses. That, it turned out, was the Bonebreaker Curse, a particularly nasty bit of dark magic that not only acted as a shieldbreaker but hit with enough force to break bones. Indeed, it was designed to do just that. It was a Curse for maiming an opponent, something to use if you wanted to capture an enemy for later torture or interrogation, even though the curse itself was already quite painful.
When I saw that, I realized that Pansy wasn't just petty or vindictive, she was downright cruel. She must have gotten that streak of cruelty from her father, which opened a whole new can of worms regarding the lack of judicial oversight on the part of the post-war Wizengamot.
From what I recalled of Lord Parkinson, the man was one of the few Death Eaters who were rumored to have been particularly nasty, but who remained free of Azkaban. Of course, unlike the Lestrange Brothers, Dolohov, or Bellatrix, all of whom had been nasty enough to leave witnesses and who never denied their crimes to begin with, Lord Parkinson's defense had been that he was an unwitting pawn of Voldemort's and as such should be given leniency. The Wizengamot had believed him, for one simple reason.
The reason they believed him was the nature of those rumors, that Lord Parkinson had been Voldemort's Chief Interrogator for much of the war. That wasn't a position that was conducive to having witnesses, and the man had been wealthy enough and titled enough to buy his way out of interrogation via Veratiserum. In the absence of witnesses, without being capable of compelling the man himself to talk, there was simply no way to prove he had been anything more than the unwitting pawn of Voldemort he had claimed to be. Lord Parkinson had been let off with a rather large fine and house arrest for a decade, a sentence which had only recently been lifted.
It was clear to me that Pansy was cut from a similar, if somewhat less competent, cloth as her father was. I doubted she would be able to get such a lenient sentence in the same position, but she clearly inherited a similar measure of cruelty. I was going to have to keep an eye on her in the future. Of course, that wasn't the only problem I was about to have. The next night, I found myself being forced to head off into the Forbidden Forest alongside Harry and Hagrid as detention instead of going to the Cross-House Study Group.
And thanks to my Sight, I knew I would have to deal with Vampires before the night was up. . .
XXXX
AN: All right, so here's the week leading up to Detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid and Harry. A lot of it was more of the same, training and classes and such. The big thing here is that Pansy Parkinson is becoming an actual threat as compared to canon, where she was literally just one of Draco's Sycophants. Here, she learned enough Dark Hexes and Curses to pose a threat to Millie in a formal duel.
You may be wondering about the magical oaths binding Draco to stop dicking with Blaise and his friends until Second Year. Well, as has previously been stated, that may well bind Draco, but his friends can pull stuff on their own recognizance and so long as Draco hadn't ordered them to do so, it's fair game. Mind you, that's still going awful close to the line, which was why Pansy likely felt the need to come at Millie indirectly in order to get Millie to challenge her instead of challenging Millie herself.
You can expect as Blaise and Company get more skilled and powerful, Draco's Group will get more twisty and into Dark Magic to compensate. This is just showing an early version of that escalation.
At any rate, the next chapter will be Detention in the Forbidden Forest and Blaise and Harry encountering Vampires.
Stay tuned. . .
