Flitwick, Duelling Champ? WAS Re: ESE!McGonagall (not what you think)

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 164432


> Carol responds:
> I know I'm going to be jumped on for this, but I still think that 
the
> rumor about Flitwick being a duelling champion was a joke circulated
> by the students. 

zgirnius:
I've always thought it was true. And very funny that it therefore 
inspired Lockhart to enlist Snape, merely the Potions Master and 
*snicker* an inexpert duellist, as his assistant instead. Flitwick 
would have been very nice and friendly about the whole thing, I am 
sure. Snape...well, we saw how he was. (Love that scene...)

Carol:
> We don't hear any more about it; he either faints at
> the prospect of a real battle or is knocked out and sent to the
> hospital wing (with a bruise on his forehead from a spell that knock
> you backwards?) from a Stunning spell 

zgirnius:
There's a simple solution here, which you seem to be overlooking. If 
he was struck by a Stunning Spell from behind, from a person he 
trusted, his reflexes and experience would be irrelevant. It would 
also explain why the bruise is on his forehead - Snape's spell did 
knock him back (away from Snape) so that he fell forwards.

Carol:
>  McGonagall sends him as a messenger to
> Snape instead of using those duelling skills against the DEs. 

zgirnius:
Aha! ESE!Minerva strikes again, removin gthe most[otent weapon on her 
side in a crisis!! (Just kidding. This is a good point. Unless she 
thought Snape needed to know about the Death Eaters? Or, perhaps 
Flitwick is getting on in years and she's worried about his health?)

Carol:
> Even
> Lockhart, who needs a duelling partner, chooses Snape (whose claim 
to
> know "a teeny bit" about duelling is probably deliberate minimizing 
on
> Lockhart's part. I can't imagine Snape using that phrase, especially
> with regard to his considerable skills in that area).

zgirnius:
I think Lockhart did not want a skilled partner. He knows he's a 
fake, and he wants to make himself look good. And while 'teeny' is 
not a word I picture Snape using, I could see him claiming to have 
a 'passing familiarity' with duelling, or some such, when asked, 
rather than stating that he's very good. He's not been very open 
about his (considerable) talents in several areas of magic. Lockhart, 
of course, would probably imagine that such a statement by Snape is 
an overestimate of his capabilities, because Lockhart himself is 
quite boastful.