It had been three weeks since the start of term and things had somewhat settled into a routine. Eat, class, eat, class, eat, study, rest, study, sleep, repeat. For Harry, it was relaxing. Refreshing, even. The constant chaos and pressure of his last two years of Hogwarts weren't present and, thanks to the game's effects, his classes felt like a breeze. Snape was still a bastard and was much more successful in 'humiliating' him with impossible questions and tasks but the actual coursework (for which Snape couldn't just give him a failing mark out of spite) was easy for him.

Flying lessons were much simpler this time around. The Ravenclaws had them with the Hufflepuffs, so no Draco being a prat and no Neville being a walking target for the Malfoy's antics. That also meant there was no cause for Harry to show off his skills, however. The one time Harry tried to flex his figurative wings and pull some minor stunts on his broom, he had been harshly reprimanded for it by Madam Hooch. So no Seeker position handed to him on a platter.

Disappointing, but it was fine. Harry didn't need Quidditch to fly, after all.

Then again, it did leave a rather large empty space in his schedule. It was the only real club that the school had. A 'proper Ravenclaw' would be expected to fill the time with more study but sitting still and reading was never Harry's style. He always learned by doing.

"Potter! You have insulted the honour of the Malfoy name and I demand satisfaction! I hereby challenge you to a duel!"

-(-)-

GAME OVER

YOU LOSE

Score

Age eleven: 110 points

Harry stopped paying attention to the text there, having already decided he didn't need to read it. Instead he chose to contemplate how it all went wrong. Things had been going so well!

Malfoy had challenged him to a duel and he had accepted. Malfoy had chosen an abandoned classroom at midnight as the location and that there would be no seconds, just he and Harry facing one another in armed combat. Unknown to the other, both boys had learned a combat spell far earlier than expected. Malfoy learned Expelliarmus from Snape while Harry had learned the same, knowing such spells would be invaluable in his next few years. His second combat spell, being much more high level, still needed work to perfect.

Malfoy showed for the duel, Harry disarmed him, Malfoy refused to concede defeat, Harry popped him in the nose. Thus Malfoy went crying to Snape.

And that, Harry realised, was where things had gone pear-shaped.

The duel had been a ruse all along. Draco had been in contact with his father for some time, the Malfoy males plotting a way to deal with him. And Malfoy Sr. had knowledge of something that would make that task much easier. Harry had emancipated himself.

That alone put Harry in a dangerous position, legally speaking. Harry was considered an adult. Draco wasn't. So in the eyes of the law, an adult had 'ruthlessly' assaulted a child. Take into account that Draco was a prominent member of the Houses Malfoy - and Black, but that was sort of up in the air - and things got worse.

But of course there had to be some defense Harry could mount? Someone who could stand in his corner and argue his case? Nope. Dumbledore would have (and desperately tried to) but was rebuffed. Harry was legally an adult. Thus Dumbledore had no legal grounds to stand in Harry's defense. Traditionally, the head of House Potter would stand for him, Harry not being old enough to take that title yet. There being no other Potters, his only choice was to await sentencing.

The Wizengamot was left in a bind. Under any other circumstances, the incident would be considered nothing more than a schoolyard brawl and treated as such. But with the Malfoys kicking up a fuss and the young Potter having absolutely no defense and no witnesses to back up his testimony that it had been a duel to which the Malfoy heir had challenged him... They had no choice but to give a guilty verdict.

Knowing it was a child they were dealing with as well as a national hero, they handed down the most lenient sentence they could, given the circumstances. One month in Azkaban prison.

Dementors' aura can drive a full-grown man insane with enough exposure. How much worse might it be for a child to be constantly exposed to it?

Harry's psyche had lasted eight days before shattering like glass.

Nodding, resolutely, Harry spoke. "Okay... Let's try this again."

-(-)-

"Potter! You have insulted the honour of the Malfoy name and I demand satisfaction! I hereby challenge you to a duel!"

"I accept!" Harry answered with a grin that unnerved Draco slightly.

"Midnight in the sixth classroom on the fourth floor east wing. No seconds." Draco stated, laying out his terms.

Things would not go the same way as before, however. "What? No, that won't do. Don't you want people to see you defend your family's honour? No, there's only one way we can do this."

Having stated his position on the matter, Harry wandered away, leaving Draco standing there in befuddlement before following after Harry who seemed to be heading to the great hall.

"Professor Flitwick!" Harry shouted before running over to the staff table past all of the students eating dinner, a few glancing in his direction as he ran. "I've had the best idea ever!" He exclaimed, behaving more like an eleven year old than perhaps he ever had as he stood before his Head of House.

The diminutive professor himself was surprised by Harry's behaviour but decided to accommodate him for now. "And what was that Mr Potter? You know I can't waive the rule about first years bringing their own brooms to Hogwarts."

"No, this isn't about that!" Disappointing as that had been when he found out. Another year that he couldn't fly. "See, here's the thing. Malfoy challenged me to a duel just now-"

"No unsanctioned duels between students. 20 points from Slytherin, Mr Malfoy." Professor McGonagall immediately said, spotting Draco entering the room.

"We didn't have a duel, Professor. Part of why I came here was to ask permission for one." 'Did I just defend Malfoy? Why did I just defend Malfoy?'

The transfiguration professor's expression tightened. "I will rescind the point loss. Still, no duelling between students, Mr Potter."

"But why? Duelling is as big a sport in our culture as Quidditch is, right? Even happens in day-to-day sometimes, like just now! Malfoy has every right to challenge me to one after what I said about his dad. Shouldn't we learn how they work just in case? Or if we want to enter the professional circuit like Professor Flitwick did?"

During Harry's short tirade, Flitwick had begun to twirl his moustache and his smile started growing. By the time Harry was done, it was a full-blown grin. "Headmaster." He said.

"Yes, Fillius." Dumbledore answered casually.

"You said if the students showed interest of their own accord-"

"I did, Fillius." Dumbledore answered again, pre-emptively.

"So-"

"We will need to take time to iron out the details." Dumbledore interrupted, smiling a little himself.

"Mr Malfoy, if you would put your challenge on hold for the time being, I'm sure we will come to an arrangement that will satisfy soon." Flitwick promised, grinning like a madman.

-(-)-

The next Monday morning announcements included the introduction of a duelling club.

-(-)-

"Alright everyone, settle down, settle down please!" Shouted Professor Flitwick over the din of the Great Hall. The first meeting of the Dueling Club had to take place there, seeing as it was the only room in the castle capable of holding all of the students who had signed up.

Harry may have dispelled some of the mystery surrounding the events that created his celebrity status, but that didn't mean people would stop blindly following his lead.

"Welcome everyone to the first meeting of the Hogwarts Duelling Club!" The perpetually excited Professor continued once the students had quieted. "Now, for those younger among you may not know, duelling is an age old practice among our society that began centuries ago, most likely in the early fourteenth century as a way to settle disputes. Today it is mostly a sport. Some however, particularly those of high society, continue to duel to settle conflicts. If you happen to anger the wrong person, perhaps someone of high station, you may find yourself challenged to a duel. If so, you will gain new appreciation for your decision to join this club, I hope!"

"Now," He continued as he started walking along the duelling platform transfigured for the club's use. It was a wooden platform seven feet wide and thirty-one feet long. "As their little spat is the reason this club exists, I think it only fair we allow Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy to demonstrate how a duel works. If you two would please come up?"

As the two students climbed onto the platform, Malfoy felt a need to trash talk. "I should thank you for this, Potter. This would have been settled privately but you've given me the opportunity to humiliate you in front of the whole school!"

"Good luck with that." Harry answered calmly.

"I assume you two know at least one spell fit for duelling?" Flitwick asked them. It would be silly to try it otherwise.

"Of course. The disarming charm." Malfoy sneered.

"Yes sir, the disarming charm." Harry said at the same time, causing Malfoy to scowl and Harry to smirk.

"Ah, very good. Perfect for a demonstration. This duel will be fought with simple rules. You can use whatever spells you like to win, though no dark magic and obviously no Unforgivables. The winner will be decided by surrender or an inability to continue. Your opponent holding both wands, for example. As referee it will be for me to judge whether a duellist can continue. Do you understand the rules?" the professor asked.

"How about hand-to-hand? Is that allowed?" Harry asked.

"Listen to him! Potter wants to brawl like a Muggle!" Malfoy jeered.

"The chance to both beat you and punch you in the face is too much to pass up, Malfoy." Harry responded.

Flitwick stroked his moustache as he thought. "There are rules in tournament duelling specifically for unarmed attacks... Very well. Each unarmed attack must be followed by a spell. Is that clear? Under tournament rules an unarmed foul would earn you a penalty in the scoring but since this isn't that kind of duel, an unarmed foul is a loss. Understood?"

"Yes sir." The two combatants chorused, one rolling his eyes at the idea of it while the other formed a plan.

The three of them got into position. Draco at one end of the platform, Harry at the other and the Ravenclaw head of house at the halfway point. "Are the combatants ready?"

The two boys nodded.

"You will begin on my signal."

There was a tense silence that felt to the two students like it lasted at least a minute. In truth only around four seconds passed before...

"BOOM"

And the duel was on! Both young men fighting for their dignity in a clash that would go down in history as... two young boys flinging little red lights at one another. Really, there's no grand spectacle to be had in a duel between first years that only know a couple of spells.

Still, as the duel went on, the boy who never had to exercise tired quickly and the boy who spent his childhood doing manual labour was still going strong. And inevitably the prince of Slytherin got caught, a red spark of light struck him and just like that his wand was gone. Flying away from the platform.

And then slowly coming back?

Draco tracked his wand as it floated through the air towards him. Was this part of an official duel? Was someone helping him? It didn't matter. If he could get his wand back he could keep fighting! So he chased it. Even when it moved away, dodging and swaying away from his grasping hands, he kept going knowing it was his only chance to defend his family's honour.

He didn't notice where the errant wand was leading him.

Meanwhile, Harry was having a whale of a time, playing keep-away with Draco's wand using the levitation charm. Every dodge brought Draco closer until finally the wand was close enough for Harry to snatch it out of the air. He didn't, though, not yet.

"Hello." Harry said, grinning as Draco noticed he'd been baited to standing right in front of his opponent.

Then he was on the floor with a bloody nose.

Flitwick sighed. It wasn't the most glamorous start to his duelling club but he would take it. "Duellist Malfoy is unable to continue. Duellist Potter is the winner!"

Duel Over

WINNER

Draco Malfoy (tutorial) defeated!

+100XP

-(-)-

A/N: Short chapter. Sorry but this feels like the most natural stopping point since we're skipping a month after this.

So Harry died again. Dementors. You could argue that the Dementors were around in third year and didn't kill him but that wasn't to the extent of Azkaban. For the most part the students were safe within the castle so they were allowed respite from the Dementors' aura. Not in Azkaban. That's kind of the point. As for it effectively killing Harry, he's eleven. Think of it like an immune system. The weakest are the young and the old and all that. Willpower only does so much.

This also brings back my points that this is not a 'nice goblin' story. There were consequences to emancipation that Clawhammer knew about but didn't mention.

So Quidditch is replaced with duelling (for now). Convenient way to increase Harry's XP without him having to go on ridiculous nonsensical adventures (more than usual)! Yay! Well he might still do that from time to time anyway.

Finally, people want Harry's stats to be shown now and again to keep track. Here you go!

LEVEL 4

SKILLS

Arithmancy: 5

Battle Magic: 15 (+10)

Black Magic: 5

Beast Mastery: 5

Charms: 15

Divination: 5

Elemental Magic: 5

Firearms: 5

Heavy Weapons: 5

Healing: 10

Herbology: 15

Mechanics: 7

Melee: 5

Potions: 15

Runecrafting: 5

Science: 5

Stealth: 10

Survival: 8

Transfiguration: 15 (+10)

Unarmed: 10

COMBAT

STR: 12

MAG: 16 (+2)

AGI: 14

END: 12

LUC: 18

SOCIAL

Intelligence: 3

Wisdom: 1

Courage: 1

Diligence: 1

Expression: 2

PERKS

Parselmouth

Bird of Prey

Ladykiller

Kneecapper!

Cunning Linguist

FAMILIAR PERKS

Stealth Flyer (Hedwig)

Right. Stats done. There was one more thing. I started another fic a bit ago called Harry Potter: Life of a Ninja. It's technically a GOTY fic but I don't bother decorating it with game tropes. Just a straight up story. Still, those of you who were wanting the Ninja origin? That's exactly what it is. Head on over and check it out.

Thanks for reading.