the Duel (part 2)

As the cockatrice crowed on that chilly morning of October, Gryffindor faced Slytherin alone in the Dark Forest. Gryffindor spoke "Salazar, I know you as a cruel, vengeful wizard, but even my harshest opinions of you do not deny you reason. Therefore, listen to reason. reveal your hidden chamber, and destroy the creature therein, abandon this wicked quest for the slaughter of innocents, and we will have no need of bloodshed this day or any other. do this not, and I have no choice but to kill you today! What will it be?"1

"FOOL!" scoffed Slytherin "Dare you threaten me, you weak-willed lover of mud bloods? I am your better at all things! you were a fool to challenge me, but this shall be your last folly! my house will reign supreme, and yours will be forgotten! If it is a duel you want, a duel to the death you shall have!" with that, Slytherin made a mocking salute with his wand, and went into a preparatory stance. At once Gryffindor did likewise, and the duel began.2

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Gryffindor, but Slytherin easily blocked the spell of disarming. with a contemptuous sneer, Slytherin commanded, "Serpensorcia!" and a deadly Egyptian Asp sprang from his wand and slithered toward Gyrffindor. With the counter-curse "Vipera everasca", Gryffindor disintegrated the serpent.3

Although Gryffindor was prepared to fight to the death, he did not wish to kill if there was any hope of avoiding it. Such compassion extended to Slytherin, even though he strongly disliked the Snake-Wizard and his pure-blood arrogance. true, Gryffindor himself was pure-blood, but he didn't think THAT made him better than anyone else. The true measure of a wizard, Gryffindor believed, was in his heart, not in his relatives.4

Still, he held to the hope that Slytherin was not beyond redemption, and that maybe just a good thrashing would correct his attitude.5

"Rictusempra" Gryffindor shouted the spell of disorientation, which caught Slytherin off-guard, as he was expecting a more powerful spell to be cast against him. Slytherin spun in the air then landed on his posterior, facing the other way.6

To Slytherin, this was the final insult! It was bad enough that Gryffindor had called him out to fight over worthless mud bloods, but now he was resorting to CHILD-SPELLS? Gryffindor had humiliated him with a spell usually taught to first-year students! Seething with wrath, Slytherin gut up, and turned to face his opponent. "So, you think you can beat me with child-spells?" thought Slytherin "let's take the kid-gloves off". "CRUCIO" Slytherin uttered the Curse of Pain, an Unforgivable Curse!7

Torturous agony wracked the body of Gryffindor, and he fell writhing in pain. He forced his mouth, which longed to scream, to utter instead "P-P-P-Protego!" and the pain subsided. 8

Gryffindor knew the the caliber of man he was fighting. Slytherin had no honor, no moral restraint. If Slytherin could stoop to using one Unforgivable Curse, what would stop him form using others?9

"Salazar! You disgrace yourself! I had hoped to settle this duel honorably, but now you lower yourself to the Unforgivables? Is this the honor you teach your house?"10

"Honor?" laughed Slytherin "Godric, you are deluded! do you think that dying with honor makes you less dead than any other corpse? Honor is a concept dreamt up by the weak, hoping to dupe the strong into limiting themselves. Power is the birthright of the strongest, and all power rightly belongs to them. Including occulomency. Now, Godric, prepare to die..."11

even before Slytherin had finished these words, Gryffindor knew what was coming, and what he himself must do. there were no rules of engagement here, no curse was unforgivable in this fight.12

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" both wizards shouted together, and deadly bolts of magic shot from both wands toward their opponents...13