James was quite confident in his skills and was ready to swear that the older mage had entered the shop alone, but he hadn't sensed the boy even when he stood a few steps behind him. Again, a shudder ran down his spine at the thought of how their encounter might have ended if they had actually come to try and intimidate Master Vittoro, like the other mages had a few days earlier. He wondered how accurate the backstroke would have been, but he had little illusion that it would have missed the target, or left any opening. Draco showed how he wielded his sword, and even though he had only done a few simple moves the trained eye could tell they were not at all amateurish. The boy had had at least some basic fencing training behind him, and the moves in his performance seemed practised by repeated repetition. He must have been learning this somewhere for at least a few years. James thought as he closed the front door on the bolt.
