Castor Allaway was in over his head. Having always excelled at dueling whilst at Hogwarts, the young trainee auror had enrolled himself in the competitive duels. It wasn't until he had begun to hear of his peers—and his betters—doing the same that he realized the error of his ways.

He was a very small fish in a vast ocean, and he was going to be eaten alive.

Finnian Byrne, at least, was not an auror. With any luck, the older wizard would prove to be no better than Castor himself—perhaps even worse! After all, a trainee auror was surely better than no auror, right?

At Mrs. Skeeter's direction, Castor broke out his trusted companion: "Silencio!"