Harry Potter: Arcane Instability

1993-1994 year

 (September 24, 1993)

 (Godric POV)

 Three weeks had passed since that first Saturday when Professor Berrycloth had explained to all of them about the dueling tournament, and so far things were looking up for the third-year dueling team. Godric and Salazar had taken to instructing the others in great detail on anything that they thought would be helpful to dueling, which was showing them all how to take advantage of simple spells.

Godric explained how blinding someone could be easily accomplished by using Lumos (The wand lighting charm). Of course everyone knew how to do the spell, but using it in a fight was another matter.

Showing them all how to shoot the light from the tip of their wands was something none of them had ever heard about, let alone tried, but they found it was rather simple once Godric explained the theory behind it, and before long everyone, including Neville was able to send balls of light around the room, though only Godric and Salazar could keep the balls of light lit for more than ten seconds.

Everyone else's light began to dim after about five seconds once it was no longer in contact with their wands, but Godric assured them that it only took an instant to blind someone. Another benefit to the spell was that it couldn't be blocked by Protego (The shield charm), and the only way to shield yourself from it was to close your eyes, which was essentially blinding yourself, allowing whoever cast the spell to have a great advantage. 

 Levioso (The levitation spell) was another useful first-year spell that was used a lot during their practices. Salazar explained how targeting a person with a spell could be blocked more often than not, however if you targeted someone's shoes or clothes, that was another matter altogether. Having your feet swept out from beneath you was unpleasant for anyone, and could be the deciding factor in any fight. 

 Flipendo (The knockback jinx) was another first-year spell that Godric wanted them all to get to an acceptable level, to his standards at the very least. Knocking someone on their ass could definitely end a duel in a second if the spell actually managed to land, but it was more easily blocked than Levioso and Lumos, so it wasn't exactly the beat all, end all of spells.

 Expelliarmus (The disarming charm) was a spell they had all learned in their Second-year, and was one of the more used spells in practice. Godric and Salazar had driven home the point that disarming someone of their wand was considered an instant victory in dueling, and would also be the deciding factor in any given fight.

The main downside to the spell was how easily it could be blocked, but that didn't mean it was impossible. If your opponent happened to be blinded or hanging upside down, they would find it very hard to block the spell, which made chaining spells together very important, which was one of the things everyone was being taught.

 Stupefy (Stunning Charm) was a third-year spell, one that they weren't supposed to learn for a few months yet, but Harry had already learned it over the summer with Sirius, and Godric, Helga, Salazar, and Rowena had already mastered the spell, so that left only Hermione and Neville.

Hermione picked up the spell rather quickly with a little help from Rowena and Harry, and Helga had worked with Neville during their free periods after class, allowing Neville to learn the spell in less than three days, something which made the pudgy boy rather proud.

 Petrificus Totalus (The full body-bind curse) was another third-year spell they had all been instructed to use, though Neville was the only one who needed to be taught the spell. Hermione had learned it in their first-year and Harry had been instructed thoroughly by Arcturus and Sirius when it came to spell work.

Like Stupefy, the spell could be easily blocked, but if you managed to hit your opponent with it then victory was almost assured. Godric had shown them all a few different spell chains to follow that would give them the best chance for landing the spell.

 Accio (The Summoning Spell) was a fourth year spell, but one that Godric thought was prudent for them all to know. Excluding how useful the spell was in everyone's day to day life, it was outright terrifying in a fight if one used it correctly. For instance, Salazar showed how easy it was to summon someone's shoes, even if the shoes were currently being worn by someone, as seen when Godric came flying across the room feet first.

Godric had also demonstrated the spell by using it on Salazar's pants, shirt, and robes, causing Salazar to fly uncontrollably around the room. It was almost impossible to block the spell, but it was possible to resist it with enough effort, and with a few well placed charms on your clothing it made the charm impossible.

Neville had gotten Helga to help him put charms on his clothes later that evening after Godric and Salazar had demonstrated the spell. Evidently, he didn't find the idea of getting dragged around by someone else to be a pleasant thought.

 Silencio (Silencing Charm) was a useful fifth-year spell, as it temporarily rendered the target mute, making it so they couldn't voice a spell. It was easily blocked, and could actually be forcefully expelled if the target was ready for the spell. Godric wasn't a big fan of the spell, mostly because it was useless to those who were sixth-year on up because that was when they would learn how to cast spells voicelessly, but for dueling with other third-years then it could be the deciding factor in a duel.

 The last spell they were all required to learn was Protego (The Shield Charm) which was actually a sixth-year spell. Hermione, Harry and Neville had actually learned the spell after only a day of practice, which was impressive considering none of them had ever even tried it before the lesson.

After learning the spell, Godric had made sure everyone was able to block most spells he threw at them, even going so far as to point out their weak spots and make sure they were prepared for all manner of spells.

 Currently standing on the stage was Harry and Hermione, and opposite them was Godric. "Alright. To prepare you for the team battles, I want to try something. Harry, Hermione, I want you two to verse me in a two on one duel." Godric said, and at once Harry and Hermione nodded in understanding as they moved to stand shoulder to shoulder on the makeshift platform that was the dueling arena.

Normally neither one of them would feel good about ganging up on someone, but when that someone just so happened to be Godric, they felt the more people the better it would be. The boy was a terror in a duel, and of their whole group, Salazar was the only one who was his match.

When the two of them dueled it was on a scale that none of the others could even comprehend, and if not for the wards and charms around the room, everyone feared the castle might have taken damage as well.

 Off the stage, Rowena gave the signal to begin the duel, and at once both Harry and Hermione were casting spells at Godric, who effortlessly swept them aside as he launched two spells in quick succession, forcing both Harry and Hermione to raise their shields.

Using the moment for what it was, Godric chained spells together as he sent a barrage of magic towards his two friends who were struggling to keep up, and in less than a minute they were both laying stunned on the ground. Helping them both recover from their stunned states, Godric moved back over to where he had been standing before.

"Okay, now this time I want you to try something else. I want Harry to focus solely on defense. That means I don't want you to attack in any way, simply defend yourself and Hermione. She'll be the one attacking." Godric said, earning a nod of confusion from Harry. "Hermione, Harry is going to be your shield. I want you to only attack and trust him to guard you." Godric told her, earning a resigned nod of understanding.

 Rowena once more gave the signal to begin the match, and Godric began launching spells towards Harry, who just so happened to be standing between Hermione and Godric. Harry did well by blocking Godric's barrage this time, simply because Godric was forced to shield himself when Hermione's spells reached him.

The duel lasted almost three minutes before Harry tried to attack Godric with a spell instead of shielding like he was supposed to and Godric stunned him, then stunned Hermione who hadn't expected the attack because she hadn't expected Harry to be hit.

 "You were supposed to defend, not attack. By breaking from the plan, you not only left yourself wide open, you left your partner open for attack as well. During a fight you must trust your team to do their jobs. If you break rank the whole formation will fall apart and you leave the group open for attack." This last part Godric said as he looked at Neville, Rowena, and Helga.

He didn't even glance in Salazar's direction, for the simple fact that Salazar already knew this better than most people. "Sorry about that, Hermione." Harry apologized to the bushy-haired girl. "It's okay. I wasn't getting through his defense anyway, and I was running out of ideas." Hermione said, not holding it against Harry.

 Next up, Godric tried the same thing, only this time it was with Neville and Helga versus Salazar. Neville was on defense while Helga tried to attack Salazar. The duel wasn't quite as long as the one with Harry and Hermione, not because Neville stopped defending, but simply because he wasn't fast enough and blocking Salazar's barrage of spells.

"That was actually pretty good, Neville. Even though you didn't last as long as Harry and Hermione, you blocked more spells than they did. Salazar put more pressure on you than you normally would expect in this kind of situation." Godric told Neville, who looked a little down trodden at the sudden loss.

"Really? I blocked more spells than Harry?" Neville asked hopefully. "Yes, but you still lost. So don't get too excited." Salazar stated, ruining the boy's mood once more. "Can it, Salazar. There's no need to be a prat." Helga warned. Salazar smirked unapologetically as he moved to stand in front of Rowena so Godric could blast them with spells.

 They continued dueling in pairs, then went four versus three, then five versus two, giving everyone a chance to attack and defend. When the practice session ended, everyone made their way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Tomorrow is going to be awesome!" Godric said excitedly. They were with the rest of their friends at the end of the Hufflepuff table, Luna included as they ate their food. "You forget, Godric, not everyone is at yours and Salazar's level of dueling. I know Professor Berrycloth is going to begin the dueling tomorrow after lunch, but you can't be this excited to duel against children." Rowena reminded him.

"You forget, we're allowed to challenge students in higher years. There are a few people who I've been itching to duel. Starting with that bonehead, Weasley." Godric said as he glanced over at the table where Percy Weasley was sitting.

"Isn't he a seventh-year? I thought N.E.W.T students weren't allowed to enter dueling." Harry asked. "What do you have against Percy? He's barely even spoken to us since the year started." Hermione questioned. She could understand if Godric wanted to humiliate Ron, but Percy was a different story altogether.

 "O.W.L and N.E.W.T students aren't allowed to enter the dueling division with the other schools, but it's perfectly acceptable for them to enter the ones at Hogwarts because it's just one day a week, and they don't even have to enter if they don't want to. As for why I have it out for Percy, I didn't appreciate how he treated Penny the other day." Godric explained as glared once more at the red head.

"Penny? Who is Penny?" Susan asked curiously. "Penelope Clearwater. She's a seventh-year Ravenclaw prefect. Her and Percy are dating. I am curious how you know her." Rowena said as she stared pointedly at Godric.

Seeing the number of gazes directed towards him, Godric frowned before he answered, "I met her on the train during our first year. She got me out of a tight spot with the Slytherin prefect. I've seen her quite a bit over the last two years, and she's been nothing but kind to me. Listening to that rule-spouting moron try and tell her what to do just because he's Head-Boy and her boyfriend was annoying, then he tried to tell her what she was going to do once they finished school. I was already fed up with him at that point, but then she mentioned how she was interested in signing-up for the dueling division and he pretty much told her that she would fail if she signed up, mostly because she would have to duel him. He made it out like he was Magic's gift to wizard-kind. She told him to back off, and he basically called her inferior to him, in more words of course."

 "Your act of chivalry aside, what makes you think he's even going to sign up for dueling?" Salazar asked. He had been telling Luna a story about a baby unicorn in the forest when Godric began explaining his vendetta against the Weasley prefect, which for some reason had captivated Luna's attention, thus putting his story on hold for the moment.

"Elementary my dear boy." Godric said with a sadistic smile on his face as he suppressed a chuckle. "Based on how he told Penelope that she would have to duel him, it leads me to believe he is signing up. Plus I overheard him saying how he was going to sign up for dueling in the hopes of putting it on his resume. He wants to prove that he knows how to use his wand when it comes down to it, but I'm going to ruin that." Godric finished, and everyone could swear they could see little horns atop his head.

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 (General POV)

 The next day after lunch, Professor Berrycloth announced that he would be allowing those to sign up for the dueling division if they wished. Of course, students who wished to participate in the tournament would need to hand in permission forms from their parents by the end of the winter holidays saying that it was okay to travel abroad for school. Once everyone had been given form, the DADA teacher silenced the room before addressing everyone.

"Originally it had been my intention to use the Great Hall for dueling, however the headmaster has decided otherwise. Outside of the castle near the Quidditch Pitch, you will find the colosseum. The headmaster constructed it earlier this morning." Scarcely had the professor finished his words that everyone in the great hall began pushing their way out of the room and running down the halls.

"You should have seen that one coming, professor." Salazar told his head of house as he calmly strode past the man who looked a little miffed at the whole situation.

 By the time that everyone exited the castle and made their way to where they were told the new building was located, most of the school was there and gawking at the sight before them. "It looks similar to the roman coliseum." A Ravenclaw boy said from beside them.

The murmuring from the students disappeared when Professor Berrycloth appeared in front of them once more, standing directly in front of the giant double doors leading into the new building.

"As I said earlier, this is The Coliseum, our dueling arena. Those who wish to participate in dueling will meet here every Sunday after lunch. Also, this is the place where the dueling tournaments will take place, allowing for representatives from other schools and those outside of school to come and watch. I've been told the building is enchanted with every manner of protection charms that are humanly possible, so there is no need to concern yourselves with accidentally breaking anything." The DADA professor explained.

 With that, he opened the large doors to allow everyone entry. Everyone who only wanted to spectate made their way into the stands so they had a view of everything, while those wishing to duel made their way into the center of the place, where there just so happened to be a very large raised platform, which was remarkably similar to the stage in the Room of Requirement, just on a much larger scale.

"Some of you might have noticed, but there is a pedestal just inside the main doors. Like the trials in the school, the headmaster has set up a way for students to duel one another and keep track of your placements. There are eight boards that keep track of students. One for each year, showing the placement of each student in their respective years, while the eighth board keeps track of your overall score. For instance, if a fourth year challenged a fifth year student and won, they would be placed higher on the overall ranking than the fifth year. The top three students on this board at the end of the school year will be awarded medals signifying their position of gold, silver, or bronze for first, second, and third place, as well as a sum of money befitting the position." It was here that the DADA professor finished his explanation and allowed the participating students to go to the pedestal and register their names.

Unlike the trials in which the identities of the participants could be kept hidden, no one opted to use an alias for their names, simply because the rest of the school would get to see them when their names were called to duel.

 Once everyone was registered, Berrycloth separated them into their years. Unsurprisingly, no first-years opted to sign-up for dueling, but there were two second-years, a boy and a girl. The boy was in Slytherin while the girl was in Gryffindor, and to Godric's surprise, it was Ginny Weasley.

He had seen her a number of times in their house common room, and the one time at Harry's birthday after their first-year, but he couldn't recall having any meaningful conversation with her. The fact that she was stepping up to duel at her age was worthy of note in his mind, and he was rather proud of her for it.

As for the Slytherin boy, Godric couldn't recall ever seeing him a day in his life. 'He looks quite forgettable, so no one can blame me.' Godric thought absently. Beside him, Salazar was thinking the same thing, not being able to recall seeing the boy in the last year. 

 There were actually seventeen students in third-year who signed up for dueling, seven of whom were already in a group for the upcoming tournament. Godric was pleased to see that Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had dared to sign-up, and combined with him, Harry, Hermione, and Neville, there were more students from Gryffindor in the third year dueling than the other three houses. Slytherin had four students, Hufflepuff had three, and Ravenclaw had four. He was very quick to brag to Salazar about having more people than he did, but Salazar ignored him.

 There were twenty-eight students in fourth-year, seven from each house, which was actually quite impressive. Godric didn't know that so many students in one year were so competitive. It was a good thing the fourth-years were so competitive, because there were only five fifth-years who signed-up for dueling, two from Gryffindor and one from each of the other three houses.

It seemed that Fred and George Weasley were more than a little excited to duel their fellow schoolmates, especially since they weren't allowed to participate in the dueling division against the other schools because they were in fifth year.

 For sixth year, there were only fourteen students who had signed-up for dueling, and they just so happened to be the two teams from Gryffindor and Slytherin. No students from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw bothered to sign up in sixth-year, which was a shame.

As for the seventh-years, only three people signed-up, one of which was Percy Weasley, and of course Penelope Clearwater was there as well. The final seventh-year was from Slytherin, and the young man looked quite confident despite his scrawny stature. At the very least, he looked calm and collected, which was a good mindset when entering into a duel. 

 With everyone registered, it was time for the first volunteers to step up onto the stage. Before anyone could really ask to be first, a sixth-year Gryffindor boy and a sixth-year Slytherin girl climbed the stairs and drew their wands.

Rather than have Professor Berrycloth signal the start of the match, a timer appeared in the air between the two opponents, starting at 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… then there was a small bell chime that signaled the beginning of the duel.

There were no chaining spells together, no strategy, just a back and forth of who could cast the most spells. In less than thirty seconds the Slytherin girl lay petrified on the ground.

"Is that how most duels are?" Harry asked with a perplexed look on his face. "I-I don't know." Godric answered dumbly. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when the two older students went on stage, but he was sure he wasn't expecting that.

"That didn't look as scary as I thought." Neville said, looking far more confident than he had a minute prior. "Don't let your guard down. Not everyone will be as inept as those two." Salazar cautioned.

 After the girl was hauled off the stage and unpetrified, another sixth-year Slytherin stepped on stage just as the Gryffindor boy from the previous match turned to face him. "Not so fast, Faden. Send one of the others up here." Lucian Bole, the Slytherin who had stepped on stage shouted at the would-be opponent.

"What's the matter, Lucian? You scared you'll end up like Sadie?" Faden said with some laughter. "Fat chance. I just don't want you to cry about being tired from your previous duel when I kick your arse." Lucian shot back, earning a scowl from Faden.

"Gentlemen! Enough banter! If you can't act civilly towards your opponent then you can leave." Berrycloth interrupted as he stepped up on stage. Reluctantly, Faden stepped down from the stage and let another member of his house faceoff against Lucian.

 Much like the first duel, spells were thrown at one another with no rhyme or reason, ending only when one of the many spells miraculously hit its target. Lucian came out victorious, and soon enough he stepped down to let another member of his house have a go at the Gryffindor team.

This went on for a while, with Slytherin beating Gryffindor and Gryffindor beating Slytherin until finally there was only one from each team left, which just so happened to be Lucian versus Faden. The two were clearly the better duelers in their house, or as Salazar put it, luckier than the others.

Given how Lucian was responsible for beating three members of the Gryffindor team, it was safe to say it wasn't all luck. Faden on the other hand had only beaten two of the Slytherin team, but he was confident in making it three.

 "Ten galleons says the Slytherin kid wins." Godric said to Harry who seemed to reel back at the bet. "You're betting against our own house?" Harry asked. The question seemed to gather the attention from those within earshot until finally everyone was looking between Godric and the two contestants up on stage. Hell, even the two duelists were looking down at Godric, one with a smirk while the other looked quite furious.

"You know me, Harry. I like betting on those with the least likely chance of winning." Godric said, his words turning the tables on those listening to him. Faden looked to be on the verge of laughter while Lucian looked outright murderous. With that, the duel began and in less than a minute Faden was declared the winner.

"I know what you just did. You got him angry and made him lose focus. That is why you voiced the bet loud enough for everyone to hear." Salazar said to Godric, who didn't so much as flinch at the accusation. "Prove it." Was all Godric had to say on the matter as he went to congratulate his house for coming out on top of the Slytherins.

 The pedestal near the entrance glowed, which in turn gathered the attention of those nearest to it. Checking it over, everyone could see Faden's name at the top of the list, with Lucian in second place, followed by the other Gryffindor and Slytherins who had dueled each other.

On the board which showed everyone's overall score, the same list was copied over, showing everyone in their respective positions, as well as showing the rest of the school beneath them. Being that Faden and Lucian had won the same number of duels in their respective year, they should have been tied, however given that Faden had beaten Lucian, the scale was tipped slightly in his favor.

 "I was wrong." Salazar suddenly said to their group. "If the rest of the school is as inept as the sixth years, we have nothing to worry about. Let's just hope the other schools are in a similar position, and first place will be ours."

Godric nodded in agreement, while Harry and Neville looked quite hopeful. "I don't understand something. From what we've just seen, the rest of the school doesn't take dueling very seriously, and yet, Godric and Salazar are on a whole other level. How did you two get so good at dueling?" Hermione asked curiously.

Their training over the last few weeks had been extreme, and they had all seen Godric and Salazar perform spectacularly, especially when you compared them to the sixth years. As it was, Hermione thought that even she and Neville might be ahead of the sixth years in skill, simply because they had been taught actual skill, not just flinging spells at one another.

"Don't try to look at them as if they're on our level, Hermione. Godric and Salazar have been in more duels and fights than any of us could ever dream of. Godric himself searches for conflict because by his very nature he is a problem. Don't think about it too hard." Rowena told her, not bothering about the situation any further as they moved to see the fourth-years move towards the stage.

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 (Savrin POV)

 Taking a day for himself, Savrin left the school without anyone's notice and made his way to the Ministry of Magic. Moving unseen, he travelled to the Department of Mysteries on level nine, then made his way towards the Time Room.

This room was filled with beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light. Clocks could be found on every surface, large and small, grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room, so that a busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps.

A huge crystal bell jar stood at the far end of the room, and it was from this that the sparkling light came. The path through this room, toward the bell jar, was a narrow passage between the many desks. There were also small offices just off the main chamber.

At the far end of the room near a locked door rested a glass-fronted case standing against a wall, which is where all of the Time turners in Britain were stored. There were many time turners of various sizes in the large glass case, but all of them served the same purpose. To turn back time. Something which Savrin could not let happen.

Despite how terrifying the demonic entity was, he was nothing compared to Time itself. That was a being who had put the fear of God into him, and forever instilled in his mind that it was better to let catastrophes take place than to breach into her domain.

 Checking over the documents in the room, Savrin made sure that every Time Turner was in the case and that no one was currently using one the devices. He also had every document regarding the devices in his hands before he incinerated them, deciding it was best if everyone forgot this information. It took only a few minutes for the time turners to lose their magic and for them to be squished into balls of metal.

Looking around the room, Savrin took note of the many clocks and the bell jar. Seeing the hummingbird trapped inside the jar and watching as it hatched and grew before it shrank down and returned to its egg, Savrin decided it too was unnecessary. With a wave of his hand, cracks appeared around the jar before it too imploded in on itself, leaving only a tiny egg floating in the air.

"It is too soon for you to come out right now. I will let you know when the time is right." Savrin whispered to the egg that was brimming with magic. He was tempted to devour the little egg, but a part of him wanted to see what would happen when he introduced it to the world.

 With his goal achieved, Savrin destroyed all of the clocks in the room with a sudden burst of magic before he disappeared from the room and then the Ministry entirely. He would check the other Ministry's around the world in the future for time turners or devices of a similar nature, but for now at least Britain was safe.

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 (Cornelius Fudge POV)

 "Dash it all! That blasted Arcturus Black and his blasted grandson! With calling in all of his debts and the death of Lucius, the Ministry can barely afford to get by as it is! With Lucius' testimony and the imprisonment of all those purebloods, it's a miracle the public isn't calling for my head already." Fudge cursed angrily in his office to the one person he could trust to not spill his secrets.

His undersecretary, Delores Umbridge was the ever faithful underling any good minister could hope for, and it was for this reason he trusted her enough to reveal his true thoughts on what was happening in the world right now.

"I've heard speculation from some reliable sources that say Arcturus will try to run for Minister of Magic in the next year or two." Delores said, bringing Fudge up short as he stared at his undersecretary. "He wants to run for Minister?!" Fudge asked aghast.

"Yes. It's why he has been reforming everything in Britain. First Hogwarts to get the children to his side, and then when he funded the DMLE. He's trying to turn the Aurors to his side by making sure they know it is he that is keeping their department afloat." Umbridge explained, causing Fudge to turn a dark shade of red.

 "I can't believe this! This is why he orchestrated the reform of educational books! They were written by that damned headmaster he appointed! I'll bet he's making sure the information in those new books describes him in a better light. He's making the populace rely on him while subjecting them to learning exactly what he wants them to learn!" Fudge bellowed as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"It would make sense, Cornelius. He knows the wizarding world would only accept a pureblood like you or him as Minister, but now he's making the filthy little muggle-born see him as their one true benefactor. You don't think it strange how all of the pureblood witches and wizards are disappearing? It's Black's doing!" Delores stated, shedding light on the catastrophes that had been happening in the last year.

 "But what to do about him? It's not like I can call him out on it. People would see it as me being paranoid about losing my job." Fudge said as he tried to calm himself so he could think over the situation.

"You need to discredit him, Cornelius. Start a smear campaign with the Prophet. Put him in the light of the people so they can see everything he is trying to do. Finally, you need to make sure the children of our world are learning only what we want them to learn. We can't have them think that he has their best interest." Delores suggested, causing a number of ideas to appear in his mind.

"You're absolutely right, Delores. We'll start by removing that man he made Headmaster and make sure the new headmaster is loyal to me, not Arcturus Black." Fudge declared, already thinking of a way to get Delores into the school to get dirt on Arcturus Black and the man he had made headmaster, Savrin Kincade.