I don't own anything related to the Harry Potter franchise
After a full day spent playing around in the RoR, Harry, Fleur and all of their friends moved down to dinner in the Great Hall, where they were stared at by all of its occupants… for good reason. Every single one of them had perfect, golden beach tans, and it was late November in the Scottish Highlands... Fleur especially, had everyone mesmerized, as she appeared to be glowing with both good health and overflowing happiness.
Needless to say, Harry spent a lot of his time with his wife, but he still couldn't quite get used to how captivating she was. For that reason, he didn't get angry at the crowds of men that were drooling at her... much.
Giggling through the bond, Fleur somehow made it feel like she was whispering in his ear. "I am radiating 'appiness because of you, 'Arry. Eef they do not see zat, zen zey are blind."
By the time Harry and Fleur sat down at the Gryffindor table, they both had large, satisfied smiles upon their faces.
"Monsieur Potter... I would like a moment of your time…"
When an exceedingly snooty voice sounded out in French from the aisle behind Harry's seat, he immediately knew exactly who he was about to encounter... He knew that voice, that poorly executed affectation, that veneer of class and sophistication that sounded petulant and whiny instead… He knew, despite the fact he'd only met the boy once, and he'd been invisible at the time.
Turning around in his seat, Harry confirmed that there was a pale-blue wearing, blonde, somewhat elfin looking, large and yet vaguely effeminate teen, looking at him with thinly veiled disgust on his face. It was the older boy who accosted Fleur last night in her carriage, so automatically, he was on Harry's shit list for life…
On the other hand, for now at least, Harry decided to ignore his anger at the boy, because on record he'd never even been to the carriage before, so he technically had no idea who he even was. With that in mind, Harry adopted a cool and composed expression upon his face, as he regarded the, so far, polite acting Beauxbatons student… "How can I help you?"
"My name is Claude Jereau and I have a grievance with you, Monsieur Potter."
While Harry's only visible response to Claude's words was to cock his head ever so slightly to the side, a not inconsiderable part of his well-Occluded mind was beginning to feel giddy in the hope that this man/boy was looking for trouble. Outwardly, Harry merely asked the obvious question... "Care to explain exactly how I've wronged you, Mr. Jereau?"
While Claude nodded his acceptance of Harry's request, the smile that followed was closer to a contemptuous sneer than anything truly civil. "Yes, I think I will... Your Quidditch team has been using the... facilities here (the man's tone called into question whether or not Hogwarts had a Quidditch pitch at all) every single day so far, which has prevented the Beauxbatons team from the training it is due. I think it's quite shameless that you're barring us from practicing in a vain attempt to even the playing field against us… but I suppose that's all I can expect from an uncouth, unkempt, uneducated, ignorant, disrespectful of his betters, Englishman, of poor breeding such as yourself..."
Oh wow... This Claude guy took pissing people off, and elevated it to an artform with his inherently punchable face…
Very, very Impressive.
Of course, due to the fact that Jereau disrespected both Harry and his wife just the night before, the opportunity to seek Justice from the boy was something that he'd been hoping for… And now, the self-entitled brat was bad-mouthing both Harry's nationality and his breeding in front of hundreds of people...
It was too good to be true.
Harry felt as if he just took a cheering charm directly to the head, because he felt an odd mixture of anger and extreme elation at exactly the same time.
On Harry's left side, Fleur observed her husband's mind within the bond, tracking her man's emotions and thought processes the entire time he was accosted by that imbecile Jereau… She knew how her husband felt, as well as the direction of his thoughts, so she conveyed that his feelings were only natural under the circumstances, and she encouraged him to take full advantage of the 'opportunity' that was being provided...
With an empathic hug and a happy laugh in the bond, Harry conveyed to Fleur that he was about to laugh right in this immature boy's face.
Fleur immediately approved.
While staring up at Claude's face and drawing in a deep, bracing breath, Harry brought forth vivid memories of the twin's MC hammer-dancing earlier in the day, and then he launched into a fit of joy-filled honest laughter right in the ponce's douchie looking face… He really committed, which meant it took a little less than fifteen whole seconds to finally bring his amusement to an end.
Of course, by the time Harry's laughter finally trailed to a stop, Mr. Jereau was red-faced and his fists were tightly clenched at his sides.
"Mr. Jereau..." Harry drawled while smiling and wiping a nonexistent tear from his eyes. "I'm not who you would address that particular concern to, for I'm not your coach, your Headmistress or a convener of this tournament. Furthermore, if you've only noticed today that you haven't been practicing, then I doubt it'll make a difference if you begin doing so now. The Durmstrang team has been flying out over the Black Lake every day, all month, without ever missing a day. Level the playing field..." Harry snorted loudly again. "I like you Claude… You amuse me... You... are... funny."
With a parting smile and yet another far quieter laugh, Harry turned around to focus back on his food.
Snicker, snort, giggle.
The Beauxbatons students were having a great time. It appeared that Claude wasn't well regarded at his school.
Giggle, chuckle, snort.
Empathically, Harry asked Fleur to keep an eye on the arrogant prick standing at his back. He also started circulating Aethir both in and around his body, because he wanted to have access to extremely swift movements, if and or when they became necessary.
Fleur agreed it was wise to keep an eye on Claude, because the swine was one of the most notorious bullies at her school, and was well-known to attack from behind. She also liked that if the manchild attacked without warning, her husband would end up looking like he had precognition.
Out in physical reality, Harry picked up his fork and began digging into his pork chops as if he'd completely forgotten about the red-faced and visibly fuming boy standing directly behind his seat. He also took the opportunity to smile mischievously at his friends, because at this point, they were all looking at him a little funny.
Over the next few seconds, the Gryff girls, Hermione, Neville and the rest of the people sitting nearby, all clued in… They saw the predatory facial expression leaking through Harry's so-called casual smile, and they knew...
Harry was nowhere near done dealing with the visibly enraged boy that was staring at the back of his head.
Claude Jereau couldn't even believe the nerve of this English twerp! He was the scion of the Jereau family and no one, no one, disrespected him like this! What was far worse than merely that however, was all of the Beauxbatons women that were laughing at him as well!
This couldn't be countenanced… This needed to end, now…
Without a doubt in his mind, Claude knew he'd get away with what he was about to do... He'd say his actions were meant to be a harmless prank, and once again, Madam Maxine would sweep the incident under the rug for him. He was a very important person, thus, he wouldn't get in trouble unless he did something absurd like cast an unforgivable. No... He wasn't going to go that far. He didn't have to. He was going to ruin this English ingrate's body in a big way...
Without any warning, Claude whipped out his wand, pointed it at Potter's back, and began casting a strong parasitic infestation curse…
When Fleur's empathic warning arrived, Harry gave both a thanks and a mental head-shake in return. This Claude kid was clearly a megalomaniac, and he needed to be... humbled.
Faster than fast, Harry swiveled in his chair, grabbed a hold of Claude's extended wand arm at both the elbow and wrist, and then quick as a thought, he bent the boy's forearm backwards at the elbow, forcing the boy to point his own wand back between his eyes.
Harry's movements were so fast and they were so unexpected, Claude almost completed casting his spell directly into his own face, but at the last second, he managed to bite down painfully on his tongue, and mangle the invocation of his spell. Then, in the split second that followed, Claude flinched, yelped in surprise, and tried to jerk his wand away from his face, only for his efforts to amount to nothing.
While making full use of his preturnatural strength, Harry continued to hold Claude's arm completely still, as he stared up at the boy from the edge of his seat. At this point, he was squeezing Jereau's elbow and wrist within a vice-like grip, so none of the man's visible struggling achieved anything at all.
Showmanship was important, after all…
Slowly, calmly, but with the air of a stalking predator, Harry rose up to his full height, leaned in towards the slightly shorter Claude, and began to speak in a normal tone that was nonetheless heard by absolutely everyone in the stone silent Hall. "You weren't trying to infest my back full of parasitic bugs just now, were you Claude?"
Every occupant of the Great Hall seemed to lean closer, trying to hear what the blond boy would reply...
Claude didn't say a word. Instead, he immediately shook his head in a desperate negative, all thoughts of dignity forgotten.
"Good then." Leaning even closer to Claude, Harry gave the boy a very serious look, while holding him completely stuck in place. "I suggest, Claude... that you put your wand away, before an accident happens..." Harry's voice was leaking extreme violence with every single syllable.
While nodding his head just as quickly as the first time, Claude rapidly blinked his eyes to shake off the beads of sweat that were trailing down his brow.
Instantly and without warning, Harry released the French boy, almost causing him to fall on his ass at the sudden lack of support. Then, after giving Claude one last piercing stare, he sat back down and turned back towards his food. He so rarely got to actually finish a meal uninterrupted these days...
Giggle.
Giggle.
Snort snicker.
The Beauxbatons students were officially having a fantastic time, now.
In the wake of Harry Potter's casual dismissal of his presence, again, Claude was left standing behind the boy in a state of ruination... At this point, he had the concentrated attention of every single student in the entire Great Hall, and it was NOT of the positive variety. There was laughter floating in his direction from all around the room, but to his horror, it was mostly coming from the ladies of the Beauxbatons table...
It was official. Claude was openly being made a mockery of, and his image was being ruined!
Now that he wasn't being held at wandpoint, Claude's vision started throbbing red, as he'd quite literally never been angrier in his whole entire life, and he knew only one outcome would bring him any satisfaction... He needed to see this insufferable boy dead, and if he was going to kill him, now was the time to do it…
The day before, Claude watched with everybody else, as Potter used gigantic amounts of magic to frantically scramble around his task, and if he recouped his magic at the speed that a normal wizard would, then the boy would still be drained even now... Which made sense… Why else would Potter have physically stopped his attack just now? The boy obviously had little magic at his disposal at the moment, so he'd had no other choice.
Over the following ten seconds, Claude backpedaled several steps into the center of the aisle, and then yelled out a string of very bad English. What he said was barely understandable, but were the following words… "Monsieur Potter, I challenge you to a duel! I was just pulling out my wand to tie my shoes when you attacked me out of nowhere! I demand satisfaction!"
As Claude's words finished echoing all around the Hall, Harry slowly turned his attention back towards the boy, during which time, he recognized that he wasn't going to get to finish his meal. Claude was calling him out for an honor duel of all things, and Harry was beginning to feel like a little kid waking up on Christmas morning.
On the other hand, Harry would have to admit that Claude's current actions were surprising him, because not even the day before, he ripped apart the first Mini-Task like a champ... Then a suspicion began forming in his mind regarding the timing of this duel. There was a pretty good chance this boy wanted him to be magically exhausted when they dueled, as Claude had no way of knowing that his core was as scary productive as it was, or that he'd refilled his magical stores using lava heat earlier in the day...
After following her husband's thoughts in the bond, Fleur empathically jumped in, agreeing with him completely. She impressed upon her mate that Claude was both a creep and an opportunist, comparable to a Malfoy, and while some people at her school regarded him as a talented duelist, it would be hard to accurately gauge his skills since he only fought those people that were weaker than himself…
While outwardly Fleur was composed, inside of the bond, she'd begun smiling a rather predatory smile… Claude was massively underestimating the ferocity of her husband's magical core… and by the Gods was he going to suffer for it.
Even as he communed with his wife in the bond, Harry slowly rose back up to his feet, pushed in his seat, and then turned towards Claude for just the briefest of moments, before turning toward Dumbledore and madam Maxine instead. Right away, Harry could see that they'd both witnessed Claude's actions, because Madam Maxine currently looked extremely embarrassed.
Harry wasn't the slightest bit sympathetic…
Despite Fleur's explanation about the Jereau family, their financial contributions to Beauxbatons and their vast political authority, the fact of the matter was, Madam Maxine had exercised zero control over her wayward student during this entire sordid event, and now she was going to suffer the consequences.
While Harry called out to Dumbledore in a very casual tone of voice, his words saturated the entire Great Hall and reached every ear… "Well now... I'm quite surprised that Beauxbaton's curriculum espouses honor duels as a viable solution to dinnertime disputes… very rude, barbaric even… but If the garbled nonsense that this Jereau boy just yelled in my direction means anything at all, then he's currently demanding satisfaction of me… And since I understand that saying no to a duel comes with a rather large blow to my family's honor, as the head of my family, I have no choice but to respond to such a demand… Can the two of you officiate a very quick duel for me? I need to clean this whole mess up, but I don't want to earn myself a long stay in Azkaban, or worse... get expelled from school."
Harry smiled winningly as everyone in the Great Hall laughed. He also winked at Hermione, as there was a time she legitimately thought expulsion was a fate worse than death.
Despite the blow to her school's dignity, Fleur still approved of her husband's choice of words… She approved so, so, so very much, to the point that she was squirming in her seat… Just now, Harry Potter managed to call a student several years older than himself nothing but a boy, a nuisance, rude, stupid and he'd implied that he'd only need but a few moments time to completely destroy him in a duel…
Needless to say, Claude's face was beet red by this point, and his trembling hands were balled up into impotent fists at his sides.
Perfection.
A moment later, things got even better for Fleur, when a wide array of different Hogwarts students started snickering for obvious reasons… Harry Potter was going to castrate this arrogant looking ponce, and the bastard had it coming. None of the students above second year failed to recognize the curse infestation that Claude just tried to cast into Harry's back…
And wow was he going to regret it.
Fred and George gave knucks to each other, while Neville and Cedric just grinned, and Hermione rolled her eyes (there might have been just a bit of a smile in there). Of the Beauxbatons women at the table, Selene looked thrilled, and Bella had stars in her eyes.
At the exact same time, near the professor's end of the Gryffindor table, Ron sat back with a newborn smile on his face. He was looking forward to this older student teaching Potter that he wasn't all that. He was looking forward to when Harry would come crawling back to him in defeat.
And he wasn't the only person who hoped to see Potter taken down…
A little under an hour ago, Francine Petit was finally released from the Hospital Wing, at which point she found out that Potter had survived the entire ten minutes of the first Mini-Task, and she almost broke her knuckles when she slammed her fist against a solid stone wall. Now, Potter would be dueling against one of her school's more talented duelists, and she hoped, with all of the amassed hatred and scorn that her body contained, that the boy would get torn to teeny tiny little pieces…
Up at the Professor's table, Dumbledore arched an eyebrow at Madam Maxine. Looking for her opinion on the matter.
An opinion that took the Headmistress several seconds to form…
Of course, Madam Maxine's knee-jerk reaction to the circus act developing in front of her was to attempt to sink down into her chair, as she couldn't fault Monsieur Potter for questioning the quality of her school… Following that wave of intense shame and humiliation however, she nodded that Harry's idea was for the best.
As direct and cutting as Mr. Potter's words had been, he also managed to convey that he had no choice but to take part in the duel, but that he had no desire to actually kill the boy that he was dueling, so he expected them to bring some structure to the situation.
Suffice it to say, Madam Maxine was quite relieved that Potter moved to execute the duel here, now, with multiple headmasters present to officiate. His actions changed what would normally be a life or death struggle in a field off school property, into something far more civilized.
At exactly the same time, it hurt Maxine that it was the English boy who was forced to inject some civility into the situation, when her student attacked him from behind…
In Madam Maxine's opinion, Claude Jereau… was an insufferable, egotistical cretin, with delusions of grandeur, but he was also the son of the man who was funding Beauxbaton's brand-new, state of the art Potions labs. For that reason, Claude wasn't someone that Maxine could directly punish, much to her dismay. Of course, the real problem was that Claude knew the state of her affairs just as well as she did, he shamelessly flaunted the fact that he could get away with breaking the rules, and he was a terror to the students of her school. On a side note, the boy also won the position of Seeker for her school in the Inter-school Quidditch tournament, when he was far from the most deserving player…
The more Maxine thought about it, the more she realized this situation might work out quite well for her in the long run… Claude Jereau just attacked another school's student, one of the Champions, a Most Ancient and Noble Lord, from behind, in front of several hundred witnesses, which meant that the situation was completely and utterly… out of her hands.
That, and… since Claude made no secret of his desire to make one Fleur Delacour his second, or maybe even third wife… Monsieur Potter wasn't likely to let the boy emerge from the duel… unscathed.
Madam Maxine wasn't blind, after all… Moving beyond her professional distaste for anyone not a student of her school (or French), she recognized that Harry Potter was extraordinarily special. Disregarding the boy's newly debunked creation story, the exceptionally hard to impress Fleur Delacour was hopelessly in love with the boy, his magic was so abundant it could warp the fabric of reality around his body, and his efforts in the first Mini-Task were telling in the extreme…
Claude Jereau was doomed… and as it turns out, Madam Maxine was looking forward to the reckoning.
When Madam Maxine finally nodded her agreement, Dumbledore walked down towards Harry, Claude, and the amassed students below, a grim cast to his features and a scowl on his face... "Before we continue, I wish to convey how very inappropriate it is to demand a duel within this Hall, and if one of my students were to do so, they would be severely punished, win, lose or draw… That being said, family honor is a very real concern, so we will allow this duel to happen. Mr. Jereau has demanded satisfaction, which generally requires a duel to the death…"
In response to the word, death, Claude began to lose his nerve, and was beginning to look a little pale. In his fit of rage, he hadn't really even considered the risks he would have to face. He hadn't even given a thought to the fact that Potter would actually be allowed to defend himself, and try to hurt him in return.
"However..." Dumbledore continued, after several extremely quiet moments passed. "This duel will not be to the death like it would be elsewhere, because I will not allow a friendly tournament to be ruined by personality conflicts. You two will duel by international competition rules, which means no lethal spells, no maiming curses or killing on purpose. Do you both understand me?"
As Harry nodded his understanding, Claude's color began to return. It looked like the foppish bully was beginning to collect himself again, so Harry knew he needed to act. It wasn't in his best interests for Claude to continue thinking rationally. Then a good idea struck him and he grinned.
Two birds, one stone.
Calmly leaning down over his wife's shoulder, Harry ate one last large bite of his pork chop, making several people break out into laughter again in the process. Then, after carefully wiping his lips with a napkin, he kissed a smiling Fleur softly on the cheek, and then casually moved back into the aisle.
And what Harry found when he looked back in Jereau's direction, wasn't surprising in the slightest.
Jereau was scowling, his neck muscles were raised, his shoulders were tight, his breaths were quick, he was slightly leaning in Harry's direction, his arms were shaking, his knuckles were white, his stance was widened, and his magical shroud was roiling invisibly around his body…
Claude Jereau was pissed…
And as Dumbledore moved to the space expansion device on the wall, Harry intended to make it even worse.
"Even if Fleur and I weren't courting, she'd never end up yours," Harry whispered to the angry blond that was standing at his side, his quiet words somehow filling the entire room. "Even if she didn't completely despise you, which she does, she outclasses you in every conceivable way… Fleur's too good for you, Jereau… but then… most women are..."
"I am going to end you," Claude hissed out in return, his wand pointed towards the ground at his side, its tip throbbing with an orange light.
While this was happening, Dumbledore powered up a bracket on the wall with his Headmaster's ring, and the Great Hall widened in size, until there was enough room in the middle of the four tables to contain a dueling platform. Continuing to manipulate the bracket control, Dumbledore created the same yellow tinged barrier that had been used for the Mini-Task the day before and then he marched to the midpoint where he'd officiate the duel. "There. Now your irresponsible and immature little spat will not endanger everyone as they eat their dinner. This barrier, unlike the one from yesterday, doesn't interfere with the activation of shielding spells. Now... Mr. Jereau... Will you retract your demand for a duel?"
Claude scoffed loudly and derisively right in Dumbledore's face, before turning away from the man and staring at Harry instead.
With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore also turned towards Harry. "Will you concede that you did in fact attack Mr. Jereau, Lord Potter?"
"No. I won't, Headmaster," Harry replied, the gravity in his voice belied by the smile on his face. "I did no harm to this boy. In fact, I was trying to help him. If he'd succeeded in casting that spell at me from behind, I'd have been forced to seriously hurt him. I did what I did out of concern for his well-being."
Many occupants of the Great Hall laughed loudly at that, and Claude looked like he would bodily leap in his direction…
Well-concealed within the bond, Harry felt his wife having a fantastic damned time with absolutely everything that was currently happening, as she felt no remorse whatsoever for the firestorm that was about to follow. In fact, Harry felt the moment his wife decided to give him a little more… motivation.
"Mon amour," Fleur purred directly into Harry's thoughts. "Zis boy, Claude, will protest to his father if he simply loses the duel in a conventional manner, at which point his father will seek to punish us somehow while creating problems for my father at the French Ministry, and our situation will only grow more complex… I would have you be both a Potter and a Peverel tonight, mon amour. I would have you go all out… I promise, I'll make it worth your while…"
By the time his wife finished priming Harry to do his worst, he was formulating an elaborate and twisted plan, and she was observing his thoughts with a malevolent glee that sent shivers up his spine…
Moments later, when Harry stepped up onto the dueling platform, his entire upper body was being squeezed by an empathic specter of his wife.
Suffice it to say, Harry's mate was very, very pleased with him at the moment.
Standing at his spot at the midpoint of the dueling platform, Dumbledore looked back and forth between the two opposing teen wizards, and addressed them with a sigh. "Are you both ready?"
Harry and Claude nodded in perfect unison.
With no more additional drama, Dumbledore called out a single word... "Begin!"
Right away, Claude began casting a quick series of simple spells at Harry, with a surprise Incarcerous mixed in near the end. The boy clearly wanted to test out his opposition, to see what his defenses were like.
Harry leaned right and left, dodging two stunners and a jelly leg jinx before swatting away the rest of the stunners with the tip of his wand.
Deflecting curses with your wand is an unbelievably tricky skill that requires the Wizard performing it to have both excellent physical coordination, and the ability to project magic out of the tip of their wand with flawless timing. The skill's also a bit power hungry, because the Wizard needs to be releasing more power than the spell that they're deflecting. Despite those two things being true, it's still a worthwhile skill to learn because it doesn't require an incantation and it doesn't slow down movement like a Protego does.
As Harry weaved through one spell after another, batting spells to the right and left with the tip of his wand, he was never forced to erect a Protego shield, and he never had to say a single word…
Finally, Harry broke through Claude's barrage of stunning spells, at which point he stepped to the left to avoid the Incarcerous ropes flying in his direction. In return, Harry Conjured a large but low power oil slick below Claude's feet, just to act as a distraction. He had something rather elaborate in mind, and he was going to need to put it together in stages…
There was a very rare technique that Remus Lupin used on Harry over and over again near the end of the summer, until he finally found out the trick to it. Harry wanted to cast three different Notice-me-not-charms behind and to Claude's sides...
In Lupin's style of dueling, the Notice-me-not-charms that he casts cause his opponent to unconsciously avoid specific areas of the dueling platform, without ever realizing that they're being hemmed in. During the late months of the summer, Harry had spent quite a while wondering how Lupin was corralling him into specific areas of their dueling platform, until eventually, he noticed that it only happened when he wasn't allowed to use his magical shroud.
After finally figuring out what Lupin was actually doing, Harry was able to negate the effect of the Notice-me-not-charms within his Mindscape, and basically erase their effects. But he still found Lupin's skill absolutely ingenious, so he sought out further details.
Unfortunately, the actual motive behind Lupin learning the skill was enough to break your heart…
When asked, Lupin confided that he found Notice-me-not charms extremely useful in dueling, but only because he was uncommonly talented and efficient at most aversion type magics. Lupin spent so much of his life trying to exist unnoticed by the scared and judgmental people living around him, these types of aversion spells became second nature to him…
It's very hard to live in Magical Britain as a werewolf… which is why Lupin was both mortified, and grateful, that Harry insisted Dumbledore retain his services as tutor and Potter family vassel…
In regards to dueling, under normal circumstances, Notice-me-not-charms are incredibly magic draining, due to the fact that they affect the five senses of absolutely everyone in the surrounding area, which means the magical power required scales exponentially with the size of the audience... For that reason, aversion type spells aren't ever used in dueling competitions, with spectators and judges, etc. With that many wizards watching with magical senses of their own, casting a single Notice-me-not charm would require a gigantic amount of power…
Well... Power expenditure was the very least of Harry's concerns, so since then, he'd become quite good at performing the skill.
Back in the present, Harry had other designs with the Notice-me-not charms he was about to cast beyond just rooting Claude in place, but they'd all take some time to implement. For that reason, he was going to have to be on the defensive for quite a bit of the duel, as he prepared his final trap. That's why Harry took advantage of the time Claude was banishing the oil slick at his feet to cast a few discrete spells.
By the time Claude looked up from vanishing the oil slick, he was surrounded on both sides and behind by a trio of Notice-me-not-charms.
Thankfully for Claude, he was already standing with his feet braced when Potter's oil slick landed, so he didn't fall… It also didn't take long to Vanish the entire thing, and once again, his entire attention was back on his opponent.
In a string of slick wand movements and whispered intonations, Claude Banished a Conjured boulder towards Potter that he Transfigured into a wolf in the air. He then sent off several rapid impact curses and an Expelliarmus to divide the boy's attention. It was only after all of that was done that Claude decided to go all out, Conjuring a flock of birds to peck Potter's eyes out.
Before the Transfigured wolf even landed in front of him, Harry Vanished it from existence. For obvious reasons, it was no challenge to release more power than the Transfiguration contained, so he hadn't bothered waiting for it to arrive.
Then came the barrage of common spells…
Repeating his performance from earlier, Harry dodged to the right and left, easily slipping by the curses sent his way. Then, for the first time this entire duel, he started sending back his own Expelliarmus spells to the boy's right and left.
For the purposes of his plan, Harry needed to act as if he was having trouble dealing with his opponent. He didn't want the pompous oaf to figure out just how outclassed he was, and attempt some kind of desperate attack. With that idea in mind, Harry slowly Vanished Claude's dive bombing birds, while spraying the boy with several poorly aimed return spells. At the same time, or rather between every fourth or fifth spell that he cast in Claude's general direction, Harry also released a discrete spell towards his secret construction project...
It was working.
Even though Potter's disgracefully sloppy return spells would've missed him either way, Claude played it safe. He didn't know what trick his opponent wanted him to fall for and he wasn't having any of it. He spent the next several moments huddled behind a Protego shield, just waiting for his opportunity. Then, when Potter's attack finally came to an end, he re-emerged from his shield to cast a strong Aguamenti charm, followed by a freezing charm.
Claude Jereau was going to turn Potter's legs into ice cubes.
Leaping away from the obvious trap, Harry rolled to the right, as Claude's water spell froze into a solid mass, right where he'd been standing. So far at least, the hardest part of this duel was simply to act as if he wasn't completely bored. Lupin was a far better duelist than this Claude character would ever be, and Fleur trumped them both.
Hell… Even during the roll that Harry just threw himself through to avoid Jereau's ice trap, Harry's wand had remained firmly fixed upon his own project.
All of the sudden, as Harry found his feet again, he realized that he'd just completed the initial construction part of his plan, and it was officially time to start moving closer, which would likely be the tricky part. The entire crux of his current plan was to intimidate Claude enough that he didn't think of advancing closer… With that goal in mind, Harry began releasing tendrils of his aura shroud, and injecting them with intense levels of anger and bloodlust.
After advancing these tendrils all around Claude's body until the boy was firmly wrapped up in emotions that Harry had only ever felt for the Dursleys, the boy likely felt as if he was being advanced on by a hate filled, homicidal maniac. At the same time, Harry erected a strong Protego shield in front of his body, and he started walking towards Claude while adopting a character. He made a huge production of smiling like a lunatic, as he stalked forward at a confident and measured pace. For his plan to work, Harry needed Claude both freaking out and focused entirely on his approach.
Notice-me-not charms aren't perfect. If you focus on them hard enough you'll eventually figure out that they're there. Harry needed Claude distracted, oblivious and most of all… stationary.
When Claude saw Potter walking toward him, with that sick, insane smile upon his face, he blanched in alarm, and felt his leg strength take a hit, because he couldn't even believe how dangerous the boy looked. Potter wanted him dead and that much was obvious!
Immediately freaking out in his rising fear, Claude tried to break Potter's shield with mass amounts of Shield Break curses and Expelliarmus charms, pouring all of his strength and desperate will into every spell, dripping sweat onto the platform.
It wasn't working!
None of it was working!
Potter's shield was still holding, the boy was moving closer with every moment that passed, and the predatory expression upon his face was freaking Claude out! Hell, it almost felt as if he could feel the boy's evil intentions!
Thankfully for Claude, all of Potter's return spells flew wide to the right and left, but the boy was getting closer and closer, which meant soon enough, his poor aim wouldn't even matter!
As Claude entirely lost his cool, he started casting bone breakers, cutters and blasting curses that would get him disqualified if they were actually fighting in competition. Then, when even these more lethal spells were deflected harmlessly into the barrier, Claude lost it entirely and he sent across a strong Ignis Maxima spell. Ignis Maxima had always been Claude's specialty, thus, many, many boys at Beauxbaton were carried to the Hospital Wing with extremely bad burns, every single year.
Harry Potter would be next…
Unsurprisingly, Harry didn't encounter any spells that he would've considered a real threat as he marched in Claude's direction, although he did have to deflect a rather impressive Incendio Maxima spell that the boy managed to cast without a word.
Not bad, but nowhere near enough…
Even as Harry weathered the various curses Claude cast using his Protego shield, the insane smile on his face never faltered, and his aura shroud never stopped screaming bloody murder at the boy. It was important that Harry not ruin the image of perversely happy evil that he was currently telegraphing towards Claude, which is why he was forcing himself directly through the boy's spells, rather than avoiding them, seemingly without a care in the world.
Thankfully, in the end, Harry never had to stop his forward progress, and he was eventually within ideal range.
There was something that the clearly freaking out Claude hadn't seen yet, because of the Notice-me-not-charms encircling his body. As the duel progressed, three stone walls were built to his sides and back, and yet he wouldn't learn about their existence until it was far, far too late…
Without further ado, Harry started channeling magic into a lone-wizard-powered area-of-effect spell, because he had something extremely... creative in mind.
Claude targeted Harry's back with a magically resistant, parasitic bug infestation curse... the git. If Claude had succeeded, Harry would've needed to spend the next four days in St Mungo's getting debugged, and he would've ended up with a rash of hideous curse scars that would never go away. In response, and with Fleur's encouragement, Harry meticulously planned out a massive dose of… poetic justice...
The day before, Harry's friends did end up showing him a Pensieve memory of the spell that ended Francine's Mini-Trial… Not only that, but Harry figured out how to cast a much smaller version of the same spell for himself... The only catch was that for best effect he needed to cast the spell within a relatively confined space.
Since that time, Harry also altered the spell to be just a little bit more... frightening… "Insurmarachnea," (insect, and SPIDER swarm) Harry intoned, casting a pale and sickly green looking spell towards Claude's feet.
Since the bugs and spiders that Harry was Conjuring don't bite and are all non-poisonous, they're all technically allowed under International Tournament rules, which was fine because Harry wasn't looking to murder Claude anyway. Instead, he was going to give the spoiled brat a taste of his own medicine…
When that lunatic Potter cast a green spell at his feet, Claude attempted to leap backwards and out of the way.
He didn't get far.
In his attempt to retreat backwards, Claude crashed into a solid wall that he hadn't even known was standing at his back.
How in the Hell had there been a stone wall just a foot behind him without him even knowing?
As Claude tried to figure out the wall, the puke green spell landed at his feet, and the platform erupted like an anthill had been kicked. Bugs, beetles and spiders of every imaginable variety, began to spill out of a red pimple-like protrusion from the platform. Claude yelped in renewed fright, changed course, and tried to run to the right. Once again he failed when he slammed painfully into yet another wall and dropped to his knees.
Claude just couldn't figure it out! A wall behind him he might've missed, but how in the nine Hells had he not noticed a big damn wall three feet to his right?!
Looking to his left next, Claude cursed loudly when he noticed a third wall barring his way, which meant he couldn't retreat at all. Then, as he kneeled there in his confusion, bugs and spiders continued to emerge from the ground, before scattering all around his body. At the disgusting sight of the bugs, Claude finally snapped out of his confusion, overcame his fear of Potter's violent intentions, and began running towards his opponent for the very first time.
He didn't get far.
Before Claude could move even two steps, he was hit by a jelly legs jinx out of seemingly nowhere, and he dropped back to his knees. Looking up, Claude finally locked eyes with Potter...
The black haired, green eyed boy, was smiling cheerfully and waving goodbye to him, as he continued to wave his wand. Then, their eye contact was abruptly cut off, when a fourth rock wall grew out of the platform directly in front of Claude to the height of the other three. The four walls met and fused together, creating a square of walls on his every side. Then, before he could even react, a fifth slab of stone grew out to cover the top of the… box…
Suddenly and nearly silently, Claude found himself imprisoned inside of a pitch black, solid stone box.
The amount of disrespect that Claude was receiving from that English malcontent was inconceivable, and he really was incensed beyond measure... While screaming his anger and frustration into the dark, he cast a point blank blasting curse into the stone wall in front of him, forcing a wave of stone chips and debris to slam into his own face and body.
It didn't work.
The stone walls must be very thick, because the large crater Claude just blew into the wall hadn't amounted to anything at all. Claude tried again and again, casting dozens of blasting curses in a reckless attempt to get free. Nothing, no salvation, no way out!
As much damage as Claude knew he must be doing to these walls, he never saw any light pouring in from any direction. Then, while he was wracking his brain for further options, a foreign sensation near his calves suddenly shattered his concentration…
In an instant, Claude forgot about both his anger and his indignation, in the face of a new and more immediate feeling... He could feel many, many, small and prickly appendages, moving on his feet and calves, and he could hear sounds emanating from all around him...
click
skitter
click flutter click
skitter click click skitter
flutter flutter click skitter flutter click
click click click click flutter click click skitter click
click click click click click click click skitter click click click click click click click skitter click…
The clicking and scurrying sounds of movement grew exponentially with every single second that passed, until it was becoming deafening in Claude's ears, and he was left just kneeling there in the dark, shaking his head, in his current state of mad denial. He was gasping for air in a complete mental breakdown. He was completely incapable of facing his current reality...
His brain refused to even think of it.
Claude was in here with... This couldn't actually be happening... No one would dare do this to him!... He was Claude Jereau, and his father was a very important man!... No one treated him this way!... But he had done it!... Potter had done it!...
"Oh Gods…"
With those two quietly spoken words, Claude Jereau fully understood the true nature of hell he was currently being subjected to, in this small, pitch black box, and his body began to tremble with growing shock and horror.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of bugs and spiders of every variety were filling up the box...
With a wheezy little gasp, Claude began to feel countless little legs and hairy appendages start walking along every inch of his legs, climbing up his body at a rapid rate. He tried to Vanish them off of himself over and over, but he had no success whatsoever. The area of effect spell that Potter cast at him was apparently very strong, and he'd need to overpower it to Vanish even one single bug. Claude also couldn't use his signature fire spell, because to do so would be to die... He was currently inside of a small, prison solitary sized box, which meant any fire spell he cast would either burn him to death or use up all the air as fuel.
As the bugs crawled up Claude's legs, under his pants, up his torso and under his shirt to his neck, his brain slowly but surely stopped functioning. He was way too terrified to remember any of his seven years of magical education. He couldn't make use of the thousands of spells he knew, or his high class magical upbringing. He couldn't think of much at all in fact.
Claude only had the brain capacity left to do what any muggle would have done in a similar situation... He let loose a blood curdling scream that sounded exactly like it was coming from the mouth of a five year old girl.
Outside of the increasingly thick stone cube, Harry finished putting the finishing touches on his masterpiece. First, he'd reinforced the walls several times as they waited, so that they wouldn't be easy to blast out of. Next, he'd built in a small candy cane shaped chimney on top of the square so that Claude wouldn't actually run out of air.
Now that all of that was done however, Harry was left just standing in the dueling platform as if he was waiting for a bus, curious to see if Claude would have the mental fortitude to blast himself out of there.
Everyone in the Great Hall waited to see what Claude would do, and then... nothing happened... They were all just left milling around and waiting.
Completely counter to the rest of the waiting audience, Fleur spent the entire moment howling with mad, beautiful, strictly empathic laughter. She loooooved Harry so freaking hard right now, to the point he was Occluding his body's reactions, because she was doing wonderful/terrible things to him inside of the bond.
Then it finally happened…
The stony silence filling the Great Hall was shattered, when erratic clicking, clattering and slinking noises started coming out of the stone box's candy cane shaped air vent. Over the next few moments, the sounds became louder, and it was the only warning anyone was going to get.
All at once, a thickly compacted outpouring of pissed off, skittering, clicking, insects and spiders were ejected from the air vent as if they'd been forced through a Play Doh pasta maker. Bugs, beetles and spiders of every harmless variety, exploded out of the tube into the freedom of the dueling platform, where they scattered in every direction.
Slowly, Harry put a hand to his face in consternation, because what he was looking at would only happen under one condition. It could only mean that the space inside of the box was completely full, and the spiders inside had literally nowhere else to go...
Oh wow!...
When guilt started taking root in Harry's mind, he thought back to how much trouble Claude and his father had caused both Fleur and Adrien over the course of the summer. Next he thought about the spell that Claude just attempted to cast into his back. With all of that in mind, Harry soon realized what he just did was a completely appropriate response under the circumstances.
Still...
Harry began to wonder if the area-of-effect spell he'd cast didn't end up functioning at full power, even though he'd created it alone... That many bugs in such a tiny amount of space...
Even louder than before, the bond was full of musical, feminine laughter, as a wildly amused Fleur was completely unconcerned with the fate of Claude Jereau. That idiot had tried to infest her mate's back with bugs for Gods' sakes. No Hell is deep enough for that, and Claude was just lucky that her Harry was the one who'd taken care of him! If it had been her that had dueled the Jereau family scion, then France would be down a cabinet family heir.
Back up on the dueling platform, Harry slowly turned towards Dumbledore and Madam Maxine. Whether or not he felt guilty about the lengths that he just went to, it was important he not allow his adversary to suffocate on the bugs that were swarming his body… It was well past time to end this little circus, so Harry called out to the Headmaster, Headmistress pair, in a carefully casual voice... "Ummmm, you know... It really can't be pleasant in there... I'm no expert on the rules of dueling so I'll just ask... Do you want me to end this and get my opponent out of there?"
Up until the moment that Harry called out to them, Dumbledore and Madam Maxine had just been staring mesmerized at the bugs flowing out of the box's candy cane shaped chimney. It was as if they were watching the scene of a particularly gruesome car crash on television, and they were completely mesmerized.
Madam Maxine especially was confusing Harry, because rather than looking upset, she looked like she might start laughing at any second.
Eventually, Dumbledore exploded out an, "Oh! Yes... Please Harry. Take down the stone walls."
It wasn't going to be hard to get rid of the structures that Harry had Transfigured, as Vanishing your own magical constructs is always far easier than it is for other things. After walking a few steps closer, Harry Vanished the over-large box, all in one fell swoop… At which point, he realized he should've Vanished his work in some other order.
The Professors and students sitting outside of the dueling barrier recoiled in disgust, as the stone box very suddenly disappeared. In its place was yet another cube shaped something. A thick, square shaped, wriggling, mass of bugs and spiders was revealed, for just a single moment, before it exploded outwards in every direction. Many students were beyond grossed out and they rapidly moved as far from the barrier as they could. Ron passed out cold at the sight of all the spiders and Francine turned white before throwing up all over her dinner (Fred caught that happening and made sure to record it for a Pensieve memory).
Harry could sympathize with everyone who was grossed out, from where he was standing inside of the barrier. He was grateful that he'd had a spider as a pet when he was a toddler. Still... He had to admit that it was pretty damned gross. Uncountable numbers of tightly packed bugs, beetles and spiders, boiling apart and running around was most definitely far up there on the eww scale.
As efficiently as possible, Harry Vanished huge swaths of the bugs, as he walked closer to the Beauxbatons boy. Once he was done Vanishing every critter inside of the barrier, all that was left was Claude laying on his back in the middle of the platform.
At first it was hard to tell if the French boy was conscious or unconscious. His eyes were wide open, but he wasn't moving beyond many odd body twitches and facial tics. He also appeared to be crying and drooling at exactly the same time (he'd also voided his bowels in a really big and obvious way).
Harry and the rest of the spectators were all left just standing around, staring at the twitching and trembling boy.
All of the sudden, and with no provocation whatsoever, Claude screamed a guttural, broken, tortured scream, and pointed his wand in front of himself towards the ceiling. Without any intonation at all, the boy's wand began emitting huge jets of extremely intense flames that made Harry jump back in surprise. The geyser of flames went on for a little under a minute, and Harry would admit that he was extremely impressed by the end of it. Then, when the flames finally ended, Claude continued lying there with his wand pointed at the ceiling.
Slowly and carefully, Harry returned to Claude's side, where he started poking the boy with his toe. After waving his hands in front of Claude's face, clapping, shaking and pinching him, and getting no reaction at all, he turned towards the two duel officials. "Ummmm, Headmaster, Headmistress. I think he's... broken," Harry announced, as if he'd had nothing to do with this outcome in the slightest.
At Harry's words, Dumbledore walked up into the barrier to take a closer look. He looked down into Claude's still wide open eyes, and then quickly took his wand away for his own safety. He could see in the boy's mind that if he was capable of it he'd burn the entire world down to ashes. His mind was just repeating the idea to kill them with fire, over and over again in a fast-paced, endless loop.
Backing away from the deeply disturbed boy, Dumbledore approached Madam Maxine, where he handed the boy's wand to the Headmistress and magically carried his whisper the two feet it took for his voice to reach her ear. "I just checked Claude out with some passive Leglimency. I'm afraid your student has been driven to insanity by sheer unmitigated terror."
Madam Maxine acted thoughtful as she took what time she needed to school her features. After those few moments passed, she leaned way down, so that she could whisper back into Dumbledore's ear. "'Ow good ees zis Madam Pomfrey of yours? My 'Ealer would not know what to do een zis seetuation."
Dumbledore smiled as he levitated the comatose boy down to their side. "Poppy is the best of the best and will have him back on his feet in a jiffy. She sees this exact reaction at least twice a year. Let us go."
At this point, Madam Maxine was looking at Dumbledore as if he was as crazy as Claude. Dumbledore's students are routinely driven insane by fear? How is this man in charge of a school? Either way, Maxine was happy that Poppy was so good at her trade. She hadn't thought that Harry Potter would render Claude down to a ruined husk. She was torn between concern and extreme amounts of mirth at the moment, and she was leaning heavily towards mirth. Maybe zis Poppy could rebuild Claude to be less of a pain in the derriere. She would ask when they arrived in the Hospital Wing…
The two Headmasters walked out of the Hall, with the comatose, twitching, drooling, smelly, broken, boy in tow.
It did appear, Harry had been completely forgotten by the Headmaster's, because he was left just standing there in the barrier, looking completely bemused. After a few moments passed, during which time Harry idly spun his wand in his hand, he just shrugged and walked down the steps towards his table.
As he approached his friends, Harry saw that upwards of twenty people were giving him that increasingly familiar look again... Sighing heavily, Harry waved both of his hands in a go ahead gesture. "Okay guys. Just get it over with will you?"
Fred and George nodded seriously at their friend, and then obliged.
"HARRY POTTER!"
Everyone at the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables nodded their heads in perfect unison, then the Hall was filled with interspersed giggling. Harry really hoped this wasn't going to become a school wide joke meme (of course it was).
As he eased back into his chair, Harry's arm was immediately seized and pulled in tight by a re-faced Fleur. By this point, Harry was well-aware that Fleur almost never blushes in embarrassment...
He was getting laid tonight for sure.
"You
Are
sooooooo scary," the twins announced, in unison.
"You followed all of the International dueling rules to the letter, and yet you crushed that boy in a biblical fashion..." Hermione looked mildly ill at this point, but that made sense since she'd never been a fan of bugs. "If that Jereau character hadn't tried to fill you with magically parasitic bugs just moments before the duel, I'd be saying what you did was overkill."
Selene cheerfully exclaimed, "yeah, you smote 'iis ass Old Testament style!"
Cedric, Katie, Harry, Fleur and Hermione laughed at Selene, while the purely magical raised people were clueless.
Everyone's attention eventually swung back to Harry, at which point he realized that he needed to explain his actions. Sighing expressively, Harry shrugged at his friends, before his expression became one of mild embarrassment. "Uhhh, yeah, okay. Look… Claude and his father have been giving Fleur a hard time for a while now, and I could tell that he had really bad intentions. He's a spoiled brat and just conceited enough to be truly dangerous. I... When people seriously attack me or mine, and push me too far... I tend to react in extreme ways. I want to avoid unnecessary violence and I go out of my way to find a less lethal solution but... It doesn't always seem to work. The problem is the methods I use when I'm forced to think fast are… well… Okay." Harry looked chagrined as he finally confessed the truth to his friends. "Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've caused someone crippling psychological trauma…"
Out of nowhere, Cedric suddenly snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "the two Slytherins!" Then he smiled when everyone looked in his direction, and he gestured across the table at Harry. "There's always folklore about Harry that can neither be confirmed nor denied right?"
"Ze Ballad of Harry Potter," Fleur exploded quickly, before shoving a knuckle into her mouth. The whole time they'd been talking, she'd been sitting back and squirming in her seat. She looked like she was desperately trying to control herself."
Unlike everyone else, Harry could feel Fleur's immense amusement taking place inside the bond.
Everyone nodded at Fleur with odd looks on their faces, before looking back at Cedric.
Cedric laughed and paused, before lighting a Lumos towards his face as if he was telling a campfire story. "This story circulated earlier this year in the Hufflepuff common room. Harry's admirers in my house like watching him run his morning routine every day, and they always return with fresh gossip and tales of daring do… Then one day in late September they came back looking very confused. The girls in question tried to explain what they'd seen, but they were far too shocked to describe it well. They described Harry running by while smiling like an angel and it was just like any other day, except... for these two huge, seventh year bullies, that were floating behind his back, naked, in an aggressively sexual embrace. Harry runs so fast and it was such a surreal sight, the girls involved weren't sure that they'd ever really seen it at all. They looked for the two Slytherin goons all day and couldn't find them. In the meantime, they saw Harry in all of his classes and at meals like normal. The girls put the incident behind them as just a daydream or mass hysteria of some kind. They didn't think of what they'd seen again until the following day, when the two Slytherin boys reemerged again, and the story became legend. The two formerly badass, scary Slytherin goons, were now afraid of loud noises, afraid of crowds, afraid of black hair, stutter, have facial twitches, and won't even look at each other... When these boys were asked what happened, both of them started crying as they ran away..."
Cedric smiled again, as he pointed his Lumos in Harry's direction. "The story behind this has become yet another Harry Potter style, adventure myth, that no one can either confirm or deny... I think I just stumbled upon the answer."
While up until this point, Fleur was just barely able to contain her laughter to either her Mindscape or in the bond. Cedric's story, and even worse his excellent delivery, was just a step too much for her, and she choked out a loud, hard, physical laugh, before snorting loudly, and slapping both of her hands atop her face… Everything was quiet for a time behind her hands, and despite knowing better she began to hope. Eventually, she gathered her courage and separated two fingers to look around.
Ugh… There he was... Harry Potter was just sitting there and pointing at her, with a huge shit eating grin upon his face.
Fleur immediately did the only thing that made sense under the circumstances. She launched herself at her husband and began biting his arm while pummeling him with dandelion fluff punches.
While howling in laughter, Harry tried to fend off his wife's small bites and mini fists of fury. He also started calling out for help from his friends. "Oh come on! Someone has to back me up this time! Fleur snorted and we all heard it. Someone, anyone, help meee!"
The girls at the table all showed off their extremely strong solidarity, by crossing their arms in unison and speaking as one. "We… Heard… nothing."
Cedric and Neville just shook their heads, because they'd both decided to stay far away from this one.
Fred and George looked torn, but they were being given the stink eye by Alicia and Katie. They eventually surrendered Harry to his fate.
In an attempt to get control of the situation, Harry caught both of Fleur's arms, circling then around his waist as he pulled her in close to his body. Immediately after, he began taking a bite to the neck with as much class as possible. Over time, it became harder to act nonchalant, because the biting became a nibble, then nibble/licks, and then her lips sealed around his neck. At this point, Harry's wife was giving him a brand new coat of hickey in front of the entire Great Hall, causing him to flush red, even as he continued to run his hands up and down his mate's back. Fleur clearly wasn't done yet and she seemed to be having a moment, so Harry just let her have it without complaint. He was, however, grateful that Ron was lying unconscious in his mashed potatoes down the table. If the jealous redhead had seen this extremely public display of intense affection, Harry would've had to take part in a second honor duel.
Eventually, Fleur loudly popped off of Harry's neck, kissed it again for good measure, breathed out the word "tonight" into his ear, and purred in satisfaction when her mate shivered from head to toe. Then, when she turned towards the rest of the table, she blanched in a way that made it obvious she'd forgotten they were even there.
After blushing slightly for just a single moment, Fleur visibly shook it off and looked completely unashamed. "Sorry about zat, but I needed to express myself… I love eet when my 'Arry destroys our enemies, een new and creative ways."
At everyone's confused look, Fleur clarified. "Zat boy's fazzer aas been pestering mine for my 'aand een marriage for well over 'alf a year now, and zey've been rejected at least two dozen times already, which ees why Claude's fazzer aas begun causing my fazzer issues at work. Zey clearly believe zat zey are rich and powerful so I 'aave no say een ze matter. Zey also zink my fazzer would sell me off for iis own convenience. Zey are wrong een both aspects of zeir beliefs. Claude ees especially delusional because ee's ze type zat believes might makes right, and 'ee believes zat I am just as fickle and capricious as 'ee ees… 'Arry just made every-zing easier for my family by destroying ze cretin een such a thorough fashion. Zis way 'Arry aas clearly established both hoo eet ees I belong to, and what 'ee will do to zose hoo eenterfere."
With that said, Fleur turned and dropped her face back into Harry's neck. Just explaining what her mate just did for her was getting her all hot and bothered again…
Not one of the girls at the table could figure out how Fleur does it. The Veela teen somehow looked the very definition of an independent and sophisticated French Lady, while openly admitting that she loves completely obliterating her enemies, and that she belongs to Harry.
The boys at the table were also blushing at Fleur's unconcealed sexuality, and how she'd said that she "belongs" to their friend. Chagrined looks began forming on their faces, since they were all pretty sure they were going to catch hell from the girls… but that was the moment when they noticed the girls' blushing faces, and they began to giggle in a moment of extremely profound relief.
Even after Fleur managed to calm down again, Harry continued rubbing her back in slow, intimate circles, as he was feeling just a little out of breath, and it wasn't from the duel. Then a thought struck him and he couldn't keep it to himself. "I'm just glad you want to be mine, love, because you're just as, if not more scary, than I am."
Everyone at the table nodded in perfect unison…
"Soooo, did I win the duel?" Harry asked the question very suddenly, without any warning, and while looking at the still erected barrier.
The entire group of them laughed for a third time and this time it was very hard to stop.
Harry Potter: Unleashed: Uncensored - Tied Up Scene -CH 24
In one very sudden and aggressive movement, Harry was pushed backwards into Fleur's bed, where his arms were tied to her bed-posts by velvety ropes, and he stared up at the woman in surprise.
"You did eet again, 'Arry," Fleur purred, into the dark and silent room. "You made me 'ot for you een ze Great All, surrounded by all of my teachers and 'undreds of other people. I started sucking on you een front of zem, 'Arry, and I am a proper Lady. You deserve every leetle zing zat ees coming to you…"
"Oh thank the Gods," Harry choked out, as Fleur's silvery hair descended down towards his waist.
Suffice it to say, Fleur followed through with her promise in the Great Hall... Harry was very well taken care of for the rest of the evening…
Return to the chapter here
When Harry woke up the following morning, it was with a wide, wide smile already affixed upon his face. He felt soft breathing on his right nipple and he shivered just a little, before wrapping his wife up in his arms. The night before was... well... decadent was a word that didn't quite fit. He would've used the word blissful, but there'd been a little too much intensity, delayed satisfaction and teasing for that.
Either way, Harry was an exceptionally satisfied man, and he knew exactly who to thank for his ultra-buoyant mood… He began preparing for his wife's imminent wake up with the trifecta of love thru bond, love thru shroud, rubbing back combo, and then he waited.
Not long after, Harry heard vague sounds of pleasure through the bond and Fleur snuggled into his body more insistently... "Good morning love," Harry whispered, into the platinum blonde tresses of her hair.
"Mornin...ma 'usband," Fleur murmured into his chest, still mostly unconscious. She was being wrapped up in so many ways by her mate, he was lulling her back to sleep because it all felt so comforting. She rubbed her face against his chest again, because that was all she currently had the energy to do…
It was only five Am, so they had some time before Harry would go for his run, despite the fact he was having a lot of trouble getting motivated. Harry had this vague awareness that his magic was preparing him for danger, and didn't want him taking days off. He'd always felt a compulsion to train both physically and magically, and most of the time he enjoyed the motivation. Today, Fleur was just too damned adorable, and he was rebelling against the impulse to move.
Fleur felt her husband's inner turmoil, so she cutely kissed his chest and squirmed against his body.
"Not helping at all, wife." Harry smiled up at the ceiling even as he mock protested.
Fleur didn't answer vocally but she conveyed in the bond that she had no sympathy whatsoever. She would never, ever advocate that he leave her alone in bed.
With a small happy sigh, Harry kissed the top of Fleur's head. It was official. He'd be staying in bed with Fleur a little later today, and then he'd have to Disillusion himself to complete the obstacle course at full, physically impossible speeds. He couldn't have people seeing him moving as fast as a car, but he wasn't getting out of bed just yet.
Fleur slowly roused herself at the idea of her husband moving at faster than human speeds. Looking up at her mate from his chest, she saw with quite a bit of satisfaction that the move was still painful to his heart. "'Arry... How fast can you move now, really?"
Harry looked down at Fleur again and rubbed his cheek against hers. "As a human or in my Animagus form?"
"Uman, 'Arry," Fleur breathed into her mate's skin. "Seence eet ees obvious you would be fast as your animal."
"I can outrun the fastest sprinter in the entire world for several minutes straight, or run very fast for distances that would make a marathon runner angry at the injustice," Harry explained in a matter of fact voice. "It's tiring as all Hell to run full speed however, because to do that means Aethir needs to use a ton of my magic to help me. I also can't have a magical shroud out while I go full speed because it tears the ever living hell out of my muscles, so I need to regenerate as I move. With all of the magic I'm using to move that quickly, it's quite a bit more energy efficient to just Apparate like everybody else does. It does look cool though, and I can think of several different situations where Apparition isn't as helpful as rapid movement."
"Like ze Tasks for example," Fleur pointed out in a purr. "You are a dangerous, dangerous man, 'Arry, and I finally see why you keep eet all very close to your skin. I deedn't understand zis summer, but I do now. Any advantage you 'aave should only be revealed when zey are sorely needed. Someone ees targeting you as ze ordinary teen wizard 'Arry Potter, razzer zan ze magical power-'ouse you 'aave become. Zey truly 'aave no idea just hoo zey are messing wiz."
Encouraged by his wife's rather bloodthirsty satisfaction, Harry tightened his hug and kissed her forehead. Then, on a whim, he began projecting an image of himself massaging her muscles inside of the bond. To both of their surprise, it really did seem to help easing the muscles made sore from her exploits the night before.
For quite a while, they just snuggled closely while taking turns giving each other mental rub downs in the bond.
Both Harry and Fleur eventually forced themselves out of bed.
By that point, Harry was in a huge hell of a hurry, which led to him running ten miles in just under thirty-two minutes.
To Be Continued
Author's Note:
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