Jimmy dropped into an overzealous bow to Miss Potts, mostly to mock her – she was too prim by half, by anyone's standards. Then, with a broad grin that ruined any faux-formality of a second ago, he swished his wand with a, "Glisseo!" Hopefully the floor beneath her feet would turn suddenly slippery, and she would go tumbling as though she'd been standing on ice.

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The satisfaction that Millie felt in having won her first duel could hardly be measured. Her elation was palpable, visible even, and was unusual enough that her friends had even noticed. Now they sat in the stands again, or readied themselves for their own duels, as she faced off against the most notorious boy in their year.

Jimmy Fletcher had lost some of the boyish, gangling features that once made him seem more like a Creature than wizard. He had lost none of the boorish tendencies that had once convinced her of that belief. If anyone had asked her it was his bow to her curtsy, customary and expected, that might have been the first thing that Millie Potts could have approved of all year.

"Diminuendo! " Her wand moved with a wave that the young witch hoped would make Gryffindor just as small as a mouse. If only Houstonia was in the crowd to snatch him up, no doubt the judge might be upset but she, herself, would have welcomed the intervention of any cat or owl with a Mr. Fletcher at a proper size.

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