The intra-house selections had concluded a few days ago, with sixteen from each house advancing to the final selections. Classes were suspended for two days. Thirty-two duels had taken place on the first day, and the second would cover the round of 32, the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the penultimate final that would decide who the Hogwarts Champion would be.
Harry Potter looked around at the competition left after the first day, noting the key names. Most of them were NEWT students, while a few OWL and lower ones had also made it. His eyes fell on Draco Malfoy who had also qualified for the second round. He had faced another fourth year from Hufflepuff in the previous round, winning after a duel that lasted roughly ten minutes. Another fellow fourth year was Hermione Granger. Now that was someone he was surprised to see. The girl had always been a capable witch, but he had never heard of her being a good combatant. However, after watching her in the duel, he had to admit that she knew her shit. It would be a creative duel if he was drawn against her, there was no doubt about that.
Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff, Ivan Rosier and Cassius Warrington of Slytherin, the Weasley twins, and the two chasers from Gryffindor – Angelina and Alicia – if he remembered correctly. They were all capable witches and wizards, and he was expecting all of them to make it far. He was looking forward to testing his mettle against them.
"Which one do you want in this round?" Valerie asked as they sat down at the table in the Great Hall for the breakfast. The announcement would be made in an hour, with the duels commencing right after. By dinner, the selection would be made.
Harry smirked.
Valerie saw his face and chuckled. "I hope for the same. Can't wait for the little shit to get knocked down a peg."
"I hope you're still going to do what you had planned for him, right?"
A truly evil grin overtook Valerie's face as she giggled. "I can't wait, to be honest."
"Come on," Harry said, exasperated, "at least give me a hint of what you're planning to do to him."
Valerie patted him on the cheek and tutted him. "Have some patience, my love. You'll see what I'm going to do tonight. If would be, let's say, my present to you for becoming the Hogwarts Champion."
"Is that so?" Harry asked with a small smirk, before leaning close and whispering in her ear, "And what if I want a different kind of present?"
Valerie shivered in pleasure as she felt his hot breath caress the sensitive skin behind her ear.
"I'm sure we can arrange something. Now eat up. You'll need your energy for the fights."
The couple started with their breakfast, occasionally glancing around the hall for their possible opponents. Almost everyone had a focused look on their faces. Harry's eyes fell on Malfoy for a moment, and he gave the blonde an evil grin. The grin widened when the ponce blanched and looked away.
'That's right, you dipshit. Fear for what will happen to you if you draw against me.'
"Wait for it to start, love. No need to put the fear of the devil in him already," Valerie whispered mirthfully.
"A very good morning to all of you!" Dumbledore's voice boomed from the podium once the breakfast ended, and all eyes turned to focus on him. The ancient wizard looked over and smiled.
"Now that we are all fed and nourished for the foreseeable hours, I believe it is time for us to proceed with the selection of the Hogwarts Champion. As previously elaborated, today will see a total of 31 duels until only one students remains. The duels will be revealed right now. However, before that, a round of applause for all 32 students who have qualified so far. You do yourself and your house proud."
A smattering of applause rang out, people clapping their friends on the back who had managed to qualify thus far before Dumbledore raised his hand. All sounds slowly ceased.
"Now then," Dumbledore smiled, "let us proceed with the first duel of the second round."
The ancient wizard raised his wand, and the tables disappeared and all the benches still occupied by the students transformed into stands. A large stage was erected in the middle of the stands where the duels would be taking place, with 32 chairs appearing equidistant from each other on either side of the duelling platform.
"If the remaining contenders will come forward and take their seats," Dumbledore intoned. Harry kissed his wife softly and felt her squeeze his hand when he pulled away. Giving her a small smile, he walked over to the Podium End and took the chair right in the middle.
A few senior students bristled at what they perceived as a slight when this youngster took the middle seat. Harry gave them no glance and simply smiled at Slughorn, who flashed his thumb, wishing him luck.
"The first duel for a place in the round of 16 shall take place between Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw and Katie Bell of Gryffindor."
Harry smiled at Luna when she walked over to the stage. It was truly a remarkable achievement for a third year to advance this far, and he was sure it would serve as a warning to her former bullies never to get on the petite blonde's bad side.
The duel started in earnest, and Harry observed how the two girls moved. Bell was more agile, but Luna's spells had more finesse. It was a hard-fought duel, but after fifteen minutes of exchanging a salvo, Luna managed to trip her opponent and snag her wand, qualifying for the round of 16.
"And the winner is Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw! Quite a performance from the young third year. A round of applause, everyone!"
Harry clapped alongside everyone as Luna walked off the platform, giving him a serene smile and taking her seat at the far left.
A few duels passed, and Harry observed their fighting styles. From Diggory's reliance on Transfiguration to the Slytherins' use of jinxes and hexes. There was a pattern for everyone.
Lunch had been delayed since they were supposed to conclude the round, and only two duels remained.
"The fifteenth duel shall take place between Hermione Granger of Gryffindor and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin!"
Harry leaned back with a sigh. He was so looking forward to knocking the blonde ponce down but it seemed he won't get a crack at him.
'At least I have Val's plan to look forward to.'
He watched as the blonde swaggered up the steps and walked over to the middle, a nasty smirk on his face. Hermione seemed to be glaring at her adversary, and Harry was not surprised in the slightest. First, because she always seemed to glare at everyone, and second because the animosity between Malfoy and Granger was common knowledge.
Harry watched with a neutral expression on his face as the two took their places on the platform, ready for their duel. He just wanted it to be over with. His duel would be the last, and his opponent was already decided. After all, only the two of them remained now.
Granger started as she had done in the previous duel – a disarmer left her wand. Malfoy ducked under it and fired a concussion hex, to his surprise. Although not disallowed, he had not seen anyone else cast that spell until now. The shield Granger erected barely held, and the girl was pushed back a bit. She glared at Malfoy, who seemed to say something to taunt her. Due to the runes erected alongside the barrier around the platform, sounds were dimmed to prevent the loud noises of explosions from rocking everyone, and nothing the pair spoke was audible over the chatter of the audience.
They kept exchanging spells – Granger gradually getting more creative with her spells. However, Malfoy proved more than up for the challenge as he either dodged or shielded against whatever the brunette threw at him. So far, none had managed to land a hit, and both were panting after twenty minutes of exertion.
Harry watched Malfoy and his eyes narrowed slightly when he made out the words the blonde spoke to Granger. There was no mistake, and by the murderous look Granger gave him, he knew he was spot on.
He sighed. The girl had lost her cool and let Malfoy get in her head. Malfoy, for all his tricks, had truly managed to manipulate her, as evident when she overextended during a dodge and was caught right in the face with a stunner. A disarming spell later, Hermione Granger was out and Draco Malfoy qualified for the round of 16.
As Malfoy turned to smirk at him tauntingly, Harry simply gave a bored yawn, to the blonde's fury. However, he could do nothing but stalk off the platform when Flitwick prompted him.
"Now, for the final duel of the round! Please welcome Harry Potter of Ravenclaw and George Weasley of Gryffindor!"
Harry slapped his thighs and released a breath before looking ahead firmly and walking up the stairs. He saw the redhead look at him with a smirk and shook his head with a smile. It was going to be fun.
"Go easy on me, eh, Harrykins?" George joked as they met in the middle. Harry chuckled.
"Don't embarrass me too much with your pranks, Weasley, and we'd be good."
"Can't promise anything, mate. Good luck, just not for this one."
"Take your place, boys," Flitwick interjected with a smile as the pair nodded and shook hands before walking to the opposite ends of the platform.
"Begin!"
Harry opened with a stinger right at George's throat, who ducked at the last second before rolling out of the way of a stunner. Harry gave him no reprieve and followed it with a disarming charm. George quickly raised a shield while on the ground to block it and hastily got up.
The redhead waved his wand and globs of sticky goo erupted out of it. He threw them all over the platform. Harry shielded himself against a few and frowned when he saw that he was surrounded.
He pointed his wand in the distance and cast an Incendio, but had to quickly raise his wand in alarm when the blob exploded.
"Whaddya think, Harrykins? Our newest invention's prototype. It's not finished, obviously, but works like a charm."
Harry chuckled. He should've expected something like this from a trickster. His mobility was almost nonexistent now, while his opponent could easily move around.
George smirked before showering the entire platform with a gust of flame, and Harry quickly understood his opponent's motive. He erected a shield as massive explosions covered his field of vision and from it came a series of spells – from stingers to stunners and disarmers. All were shielded against, and Harry returned fire with a few of his own.
The explosions died down and he watched with a sigh as George still stood with a smirk on his face. Apparently, he had been moving around and dodging all his spells. Harry looked up at the redhead. It had gone on long enough. He wanted to test himself, so he didn't want to resort to curses or jinxes and end this quickly, but nothing stopped him from getting creative.
He quickly erected boundaries around the platform and a jet of water erupted from his wand until the entire platform was covered. A powerful freezing charm froze the entire duelling area as George looked on in surprise.
"Weasley?" Harry called out, and George looked at him smirking. "Good fight."
Harry quickly froze the base of his boots and George's eyes widened. He could do nothing but shield himself when a barrage of spells started to come at him from every direction as Harry started to skid along the ice at a rapid pace. In one move, his trap had been nullified and he could barely keep track of Harry as he moved around.
A stinger found its way through his shield and hit his chest, and he staggered back before he felt his shield buck under the assault. He quickly cast the shield away and dropped to the floor before casting several blasting hexes at random all over the platform.
Harry staggered on his feet and quickly turned his course as ice exploded all over the platform, casting spell after spell at where he supposed George was. A few grunts sounded out as his stingers connected.
The explosions ceased, and Harry quickly spotted George painfully grabbing his ribs. A quick disarmer was all it took for him to end it.
"Good one," he said as he walked over and held George's wand out. The redhead chuckled and took it with a small grimace.
"Didn't I tell you to go easy on me?"
Harry smiled. "That was me going very easy on you. Good work on that spell. Keep working and I might see about getting you guys some funding for that joke shop you guys keep advertising about."
The redhead's eyes widened as Harry walked away.
"And there we have it! After a brilliant display of creativity from both participants, Harry Potter qualifies for the round of 16. We shall adjourn for lunch now, and get underway right afterwards."
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"That was a good duel," Valerie remarked when he joined her for lunch, and Harry nodded before smiling at Luna who was sitting opposite them.
"I should've expected something from him. The twins love their pranks, and to be honest, they are geniuses. I would honestly not want to get on their wrong side."
Valerie chuckled.
"The Marauders were the same, you know?"
Seeing his interested look, she grinned.
"They graduated soon after I joined Hogwarts, but their pranks were brilliant. I personally felt that they took it too far sometimes, but no one can deny the ingenuity it takes to come with some of them."
Harry nodded with a smile, done with his lunch before turning to look over at the noise that seemed to come from the opposite table and sighed.
"That idiot can't rest two minutes without behaving like a ponce," Valerie muttered.
"I really hope I get him in this round. I honestly can't wait to humiliate him in front of everyone."
Valerie looked at him, surprised. Harry noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing," she shook her head, "it's just… I've never seen you this overworked."
Harry sighed.
"I've been ignoring the idiot's antics over the past three years, but that doesn't mean I don't know anything. When he was duelling Granger just now, the ponce again called her a Mudblood. I couldn't care less about Granger, but that word… It pisses me off."
Valerie frowned.
"Don't let him get into your head then. He will surely try something. Remember what he did on the train. Just finish him off and move on. He's not worth much of your time."
"I hope I get Draco."
Harry turned abruptly to look at Luna, who seemed to be playing with her food. Sensing their eyes on her, she smiled.
"I learned a new spell that I want to try on him. But I am afraid of what he will do after the duel."
Harry and Valerie looked at each other, before looking at Luna.
"Will it humiliate him?"
Luna nodded. The couple smiled.
"I believe I can count on you then. Show us what you've got if you fight him, Luna. Don't worry about what he'll do. We'll handle him."
"Okay."
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"We are now ready to begin the round of 16. 8 duels will be fought in this round, with straight knockouts. Spell restrictions are now lifted, and anything non-lethal is allowed. The first duel shall take place between Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin!"
Harry sighed before smiling at Luna, who nodded at him. He saw the wide grin on the ponce's face and glared. If the cunt tried something with Luna…
The barriers went up and all sound ceased. He saw Malfoy try to rile Luna up, obviously using some less-than-savoury words, but the blonde girl remained unfazed, her serene gaze fixed on the Malfoy scion, who looked taken aback for a second before smirking and walking back to his spot.
'Come on, Luna. Flatten that douche.'
"Begin!"
"Reducto!"
A bright flash came careening towards Luna, who erected a shield that absorbed the spell before waving her wand forward. Everyone watched on, confused when nothing happened.
The fight went on, with Malfoy casting hex after hex, with odd cutting curses mixed in that had Harry and Valerie gripping their seats tightly, while Luna either shielded or swatted aside. Harry was very impressed with her. She was a very capable witch if she could already swat spells aside. That required some finesse.
Suddenly, one of Malfoy's cutting curses was swatted aside and it collided with the noise-dimming rune at the edge of the platform. The loud boom of Malfoy's Reductor colliding against Luna's shield made everyone cover their ears. However, nothing could be done in the middle of the duel.
Suddenly, Malfoy coughed as he stopped casting, and Luna got her bearings back. The onslaught had been intense, but she had endured.
Her wand raised and she cast a stinger. Malfoy opened his mouth to cast a shield, but instead of reciting the spell, a loud bray came from his throat.
Everyone froze, before looking at the blonde ponce whose eyes widened. He had no time to react as the stinger hit him straight in the face. Loud cries of a donkey's braying filled the Great Hall as Malfoy dropped to the floor and cursed. Only instead of a human cursing, it sounded like a donkey braying at the top of its voice.
Disbelieving looks were slowly replaced with gleeful expressions before a cacophony of laughter filled the entirety of the Great Hall. Harry couldn't believe it! His face was contorted into a disbelieving smile before he laughed.
Throughout the smattering of laughter, Luna stood serenely, having already disarmed Malfoy, with a wand in either hand. The announcer's voice was easily drowned out amidst the roar of laughter that had filled the Great Hall.
Finally, Dumbledore released a loud bang from his wand, which brought some semblance of normalcy back to the otherwise rowdy Great Hall, and it allowed the announcer to proceed with the formalities.
"And the winner, the first quarter-finalist, is Luna Lovegood from Ravenclaw!"
A huge round of applause filled the Great Hall as some students who hated the guts of Malfoy stood up and gave the girl a standing ovation. For her part, Luna simply smiled serenely and walked down the stairs of the platform. Her eyes fell on Harry who gave her a large smile and a thumbs up. She smiled at him and walked over to her seat.
Harry observed how the other few boys slightly cringed when she passed and grinned.
'Great job, Luna!'
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A few duels progressed, and Harry observed the usual suspects qualifying. One of them pitted Alicia Spinnet against her friend Angelina Johnson, which the former won after a hard-fought battle. Fred Weasley also won against a Slytherin after humiliating the latter with a few prank spells. Heated glares were directed at the remaining Weasley twin, who took it all in stride.
Finally, his turn came, and he smirked when he saw who he would be facing. He got up when the declaration was made and walked over to meet his opponent in the middle. The wizard smirked at him.
No words were exchanged between the pair as they took positions.
"Begin!"
Harry didn't intend to hold back anymore and fired a powerful Reductor at his opponent, who shielded himself. However, the force of the spell managed to push him back a few steps. He gave no quarter, quickly following with a stinger and a stunner.
Rosier glared as he shielded the first and dodged the second, before firing his own spells, which Harry expertly dodged. All the practice he and Valerie had done together was paying off as Harry slowly seemed to be closing in on his opponent. Rosier seemed to gather what he was trying to do, and Harry smirked. Before the older wizard could react, a powerful Reductor shot at him from a much closer range. The shield he had conjured shattered under the force of the spell and Harry cast two vicious stingers which connected with his shoulder and jaw.
The jaw swelled up, and Rosier failed to form any coherent words. Unable to speak, no spell left his wand. Harry simply walked over and plucked the wand right from his hand, before throwing it at him.
"And after that dominant display of magic, Harry Potter advances to the quarter-finals!"
Harry smiled at the applause, ignoring the dark looks some Slytherins seemed to give him, and walked down the stairs with a nonchalant expression on his face. He caught Slughorn's eye and gave the man a respectful bow, smiling internally when the old man beamed.
"Quick and efficient, a good duel, Potter."
Harry looked to the side and smiled at Diggory.
"Your transfigurations are to be careful of, Diggory."
Diggory smiled as the next duel started. They watched on as Warrington dispatched his opponent, a boy from Gryffindor, with relative ease.
"He is another strong one," Diggory muttered, looking on as Warrington walked towards the Slytherin contingent, exchanging a few words with a girl before taking his seat. Harry eyed him and nodded.
"Creative with his spells. He would be a good opponent as well."
"And that concludes the round of 16! Please give it up for the students who have overcome the odds to qualify!"
A smattering of applause rang out as the chairs were repositioned, and the remaining eight students took their seats again.
"We will now begin with the quarterfinals. The draw for this round and the semifinals will be simple. Duellists will face each other in the order of their round of 16 matches, which means the first duel shall be Luna Lovegood of Ravenclaw versus Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff!"
Harry smiled. He was looking forward to how they both did against one another. Luna's unpredictability against Cedric's tenacity would be something to look forward to.
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Albus Dumbledore looked on with a smile as the third quarter-final came to an end. The qualifiers had revealed some hidden gems of Hogwarts, most notably Luna Lovegood. No one had any idea that the young girl was such a capable witch. Her academic scores were good, but the tournament had revealed that she was as ferocious with her wand.
Sadly, she had been defeated after a hard-fought duel with a young man four years older than her. The young woman had every right to be proud of herself.
However, the final duel would see the young man he had asked to take part in this tournament against another formidable wizard. He was looking forward to how Harry defeated the Warrington heir.
He looked on as the two met in the middle before taking their positions at the opposite ends of the platform. The Warrington heir was Harry's first adversary who was adept at using spell chains, and he demonstrated the skill with ease.
Harry simply swatted the spells aside, and Dumbledore smiled. It was a truly advanced technique to swat the spells aside when they were part of a spell chain due to the lack of time between each spell, and Harry had pulled it off flawlessly. Based on the expression on the Slytherin's face, even he was surprised.
He cast a jet of water at his opponent, who dodged. Dumbledore chuckled before his eyes widened. The jet changed its course and hit the Slytherin in the back, sending him sprawling on the floor. He quickly caught his bearing and looked at Harry in surprise.
Almost the entire hall was watching Harry Potter in shock. It was an unheard-of skill to change the course of a spell after it had left the wand, but Harry Potter had managed to do it. The young man waved his wand and the temperature around him dropped drastically. Warrington's eyes widened when the floor was encased in ice in various places before he felt his clothes start freezing.
He instantly started casting warming charms on himself, all the while shielding or dodging Harry's stingers. The Slytherin seethed at the way his adversary seemed to be toying with him. He did the best he could under the circumstances but didn't quite manage to keep himself warm enough to ward off all the freezing water. He could feel the back of his knees freeze and grimaced when his mobility reduced. He tried to cast an Incendio, but only a small stream came out before it fizzed away.
Dumbledore could only marvel at Harry's strategy. He had managed to prevent his opponent from moving around efficiently by freezing his body in places as well as freezing the floor. The temperature inside that barrier was so low that not even an Incendio seemed to work.
Warrington gave up and kept firing cutters and bone-breakers at Potter, only for him to swat each spell away or dodge. He was thinking of just what he could do. He had expected that his spell chains would be enough to beat Potter, however, the boy had broken his morale in the first salvo itself by swatting his spells aside. He had never seen anyone at Hogwarts do that.
Harry watched as Warrington flexed his wand and grunted when he felt something pierce through his skin. Blood trickled down his back and he realized what the Slytherin had done. He quickly raised a shield around him as he was attacked by icicles from every direction and grunted as he pulled the icicle that had hit him on the back out.
He had let himself get comfortable, and as a result, he was the first one to concede blood in this duel. Harry chided himself.
Warrington sighed as he panted, his breath coming out in short gasps as his assault seemed to fail. Potter had been too quick to recognize what he had done. It was a very complicated piece of magic, invented to get rid of leaves by greenhouse workers, and he had employed it with ice that covered the ground. It was not enough.
'Well, if I'm going out, it's against a worthy opponent.'
Finally, he felt the temperature start to climb again and Warrington tried a final effort and cast a massive stream of fire, melting all the snow around the battlefield. He felt the ice on his body melt and found that he could move once again. However, before he could take the spell down and attack Potter, a stunner hit him right in the face and he knew no more.
"What a display of magic! Harry Potter advances into the semi-finals after defeating Cassius Warrington!"
Harry sighed and walked over to the unconscious wizard. Flitwick met him in the middle and he saw the diminutive professor revive the Slytherin.
Realization dawned on the man's face as he sighed and got back on his feet. He stared at Harry for a few moments before nodding.
"Thanks for that battle."
Surprised, Harry could only watch his retreating figure before walking over to his seat near the platform. As his back was being checked on by Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to mutter something under her breath, only one thought rang through Harry's mind.
'Huh. Seems there are decent Slytherins left. I wonder if there are more.'
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To be continued…
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