Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [150]
“Yes, professor,” said Harry, running out of the room after Ron and Hermione.
“You were amazing Harry,” said Hermione immediately. “I only lasted for four minutes. But you just kept standing, with this odd expression on your face. Some of us thought you were dead.”
“Well… I’m not!” said Harry, throwing out his arms to clearly show that he was alive and well. He didn’t know if he would feel right telling them that he saw his dead mother, and she put her hand on his shoulder, calling his name. Harry decided just to keep that to himself.
“Our next test is… Charms,” said Ron, looking at a piece of paper.
“Thanks genius,” said Hermione sarcastically. “We’re already there.” Ron went red, seeing that they were right in front of the Charms classroom.
They took their seats with the rest of their class, and Professor Flitwick took no delay in passing out their exams. He said that their Advanced O.W.L. tests could take a while, and he wanted to have time for it.
Harry, whose hand was beginning to hurt and cramp from all the writing he had done so far today, reluctantly finished the test. He felt he did quite well too, being one of the first done. Neville, who finished last again, passed his test in, and Professor Flitwick quickly put them away in desk. He had a kind of sinister smile on, like someone who was going to do something rotten, and enjoy it.
“I think you all shall enjoy the Advanced O.W.L. test, even though that may defeat the purpose of having the test at all,” he said, smiling. “This active exam will test both your physical and metal prowess, as well as your sharpness and quick thinking skills.”
He grinned and tapped the floor with his wand. It caused the room to shake slightly, and then something quite unexpected: the floor opened up. It was like a massive mouth. Then, out of the floor, came a small stadium. It was a perfect square, with a small, colored turret at each corner. Large, magical glass covered the entire arena, but it was so clear, unless you were a wizard, you couldn’t even tell it was there, and even if you were one, it was almost invisible.
“To get your Advanced Charms O.W.L., you will have to win a duel,” said Professor Flitwick. “Four of you will duel each other at once. We will start with two groups of four, and each group will face itself. The last two standing in each group will face each other, and the top three in that duel will get the Advanced Charms O.W.L. Simple enough for you?”
“Professor?” asked Hermione. “How will this test our physical strength?”
“That,” said Professor Flitwick, “is the fun part. You see, you, yourselves that is, will not fight. Each of you will clone yourselves, and force your clones to fight. The clones shall represent you in the field, and you may use any means possible to win, any spell you desire.”
Harry could hear chuckles and whispers all around him. People were thinking of using the Unforgivable Curses, ones that were illegal to use on humans, spells that could torture and kill. Harry felt himself even thinking of using them…but then he thought, what if the clones that were fighting were like the ones he, Ron, and Hermione had made? What if they thought they were the real ones, and didn’t want to just be pawns in a duel, just created to die? Before Harry could think to hard, though, Professor Flitwick started calling out group assignments.
“Group one! You are Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, and Harry Potter! Please come down to the arena and the rest of you, watch.”
Harry got up from his desk and to the front of the room. He walked over to the red turret, Dean to the blue one, Seamus to the green one, and Lavender to the black one.
“Clone yourselves,” said Professor Flitwick, hovering in the air, observing the arena like a bird. Harry pointed his wand at himself, and saw the other three do the same.
“Clonusout!” he yelled. Quite quickly, a solid copy of himself appeared inside the arena,