AN: Wow, updating this story every day for ten days in a row…I feel accomplished.
Death Reborn
Chapter 10
-Harry-
"And now we'll see what the new match ups are," he said as he turned to the listings on the wall "they usually just follow the same layout as previous matchups but occasionally switch people around.".
"Why?" Rose asked in confusion "And how do you know so much about these things?".
"As for the why," he began "it's the wizarding world…nothing makes sense here. And I know because I'm interested in the tournaments and looked up as much as I could about them.".
"For our first match of the second round!" Flitwick called out "We have Draco Malfoy against Rose Potter!".
"Kick his ass for us little sis," Flora said with a glare at the blond pureblood heir "he really needs his ego cut down to size.".
"And if you can't cut his ego just feel free to cut him down to size instead." He added with a shrug.
"Gladly." Rose said with a grin as she grabbed her scythe and ran out to the arena.
"Are the Malfoys going to need a new Heir after today?" Face asked them as the Italian watched Rose run out to the arena for her fight.
"She knows when to reign it in," he said, shaking his head "so while Malfoy may receive one hell of a beating and possibly need a healer she won't kill him.".
"She also knows it would cause a lot of problems for the family if she killed the idiot without an excuse that would hold up in court." Flora added with a pout "And we couldn't think of one…trust me, we tried.".
"Begin!" Flitwick's voice cut off any response from their group's newest member as they turned to watch the fight.
"It looks like a weapon only fight." he noted as he saw Rose and Malfoy with their weapons drawn trying to get into range quickly without acting like Ron had before.
"So who do you think has the advantage in this fight?" Blaise asked as they watched the two combatants 'feel out' the other's fighting style "I know that Rose's weapon gives her better range but is weakened when in close quarters while Malfoy's is slightly more effective when closer but better at a slight distance.".
"I don't know for sure about Malfoy's weapon but I know that Rose's scythe was made in a similar manner to goblin weapons so I highly doubt it will be damaged during the fight," he said thoughtfully as he answered the question "but Malfoy's family is known to use more…questionable tactics so it all depends on if Rose falls for said tactics.".
"There it is." He growled when Malfoy grabbed a fistful of sand from a waist pouch and threw it at Rose's eyes but smirked when his sister also saw the action and leapt back, managing to land a strike against her opponent's ribs with the back of her weapon, possibly cracking a one by the grimace on the pureblood heir's face.
"And there's the win." Hestia finished as Rose struck Malfoy on the crown of the head with the weapon to render her opponent unconscious.
"You're up next Flora," he said as he glanced at the lineup of matches "and you're fighting Padma.".
"I'll take her out for you sis." Flora promised Hestia, the 'sword' of the pair giving the 'shield' a hug "Teach her not to mess with us.".
"I took out your sister and I'll take you out as well." Padma said coldly as the two girls stalked down the hall to the arena.
"This fight will be weapons only!" Flitwick called out causing him to grin sadistically.
"This is going to be good." He said with a grin "The Patil twins think they're unbeatable…but now they'll both have had to face against Flora's whip and I highly doubt Padma has anything non-magical that can save her from its power.".
"What weapon does Padma use anyway?" Blaise asked as they saw Padma trying desperately to dodge Flora's whip strikes.
"Not sure," he admitted with a shrug "knowing about her hobby of making her own combat magic spells was simply luck and the rumor mill but I've never heard anything about her weapon.".
"Well it doesn't look like it will matter anyway," Blaise said with a smirk "Padma's so scared of the effects of that whip that she's focused only on dodging and not on fighting back.".
"But how is that a problem?" Rose asked in confusion "Couldn't she just be waiting for an opening or try and tire Flora out?".
"Yeah but she has to be able to dodge every single strike," he explained "Flora just needs to land one to start the process.".
"And by the grimace on Padma's face I'd say Flora was able to land one." Hestia said with a grin. Like with Parvarti before her Padma became slower and slower as each strike took their toll and built upon one another until Padma was left petrified on the ground and Flora was declared the winner.
After Flora's victory they watched the rest of the matches in a mix of amusement and disappointment. The first bout was Seamus against Goyle and was a magic only fight that Seamus won by simply pulling the old 'what's that behind you?' trick on Goyle before sending a stunner at the idiot who rivalled Ron in intelligence.
The fight after that though was one of the few that was actually impressive as it was Daphne Greengrass against Neville Longbottom in a full force fight with Daphne relying on her spells and Neville using his gauntlet covered fists to try and knock out his opponent. It was almost like a dance as Neville danced around Daphne's spells while the Ice Queen bobbed and weaved around Neville's punches with an astonishing amount of skill but was unable to use her spear due to the close quarters of the fight. But, like all good things, the fight eventually came to an end when Neville overextended one of his punches and Daphne caught the brawler with a stunner.
He winced at the next fight when Millicent fought Oliver in a weapon's only duel. Oliver managed to avoid her blows and stay in the fight for a bit but the future Ravenclaw, while a certified genius in spell work, had very poor physical conditioning and was taken out of the fight in short order.
The next fight was another boring one unfortunately as it was Sally, who had shown average ability at best in her first match, against Morag who had shown herself to be highly formidable in combat, the match clearly in the Scottish woman's control during its entire duration until Morag decided to end it.
"Finally," he said with a grin "Hestia gets the chance to kick some ass again. Good luck love." He said as pulled his wife into a tender kiss, which she happily returned before she walked out to the arena for her match against Sue Li.
"This fight will be a full force match!" Flitwick declared "Begin!".
Immediately Sue began casting her Chinese spells while Hestia used her Protego shield to block them as she ran forward, mace held ready. Sue quickly realized that her spells weren't going to work as the Chinese girl pulled out a Naginata from an extended pouch and tried to get some distance between herself and Hestia.
"Huh" he said in surprise as Hestia ducked a slash from the weapon "never pegged her for a Naginata user.".
"I was figuring a short blade," Blaise admitted "but it does kind of make sense as she seems to prefer distance to close range combat.".
"But it isn't going to help," he said with a smirk as Hestia landed a good blow that sent the spear like weapon before holding her mace above Sue's head "as close range is Hestia's preferred way of doing things.".
"Winner by surrender, Hestia Thanatos-Potter!" Flitwick declared loudly as the group cheered.
The next fight, which was Goldstein against Susan and while Anthony was competent with the sword his spell work left much to be desired, something Susan capitalized on in their magic only fight which ended with Goldstein on the ground in chains.
The ninth fight, to his amusement, consisted of Hannah Abbot sending three stunners at a magically Exhausted Runcorn who had used up most of his reserves in the first round, thus putting the son of the auror out of the tournament.
The tenth fight was similar to its predecessor as the weapon only match consisted of Lily dancing around Megan Jones, using her short sword to nock away any of Megan's axe strikes until the physically exhausted girl surrendered, barely able to hold up her axe anymore.
"Well," he said as he stared at the only other competitor in the room," let's get this show on the road Nott.".
"Yes," Nott said neutrally "lets."
"This will be a magic only fight!" Flitwick declared when they reached the arena "Begin!".
The moment he had been cleared to begin he launched a reductor curse that Nott blocked calmly while sending a bombarda his way which he moved to the side to dodge. This pattern continued on as the duel progressed, one of them would fire a spell while the other blocked or dodged, waiting for their opponent to tire or slip up as the field around them grew to be covered in more and more rubble.
Leaping back to avoid a conjured arrow he noticed several more of the weapons lying around the arena and got an idea as he cast a spell to create a moving shield in front of him while subtly casting the second spell for his plan.
"I never realized you were that desperate to lose Potter," Nott said with a smirk, having not noticed what his spell had done "but I'm more than happy to oblige you.".
Grinning at his opponent's obliviousness he used his magic to blast forward before pointing his wand between Nott's eyes, "You lost Nott," he said with a smirk "I have my wand between your eyes and you're unarmed.".
"What are you talking about Potter?" Nott demanded while preparing a spell "My wand is…where is it?!" Nott panicked, having finally realized that he had used a switching spell to replace Nott's wand with one of the arrows before charging.
"Back there," he said with a grin "and as the arrow was already fired you can't use it as a weapon making you unarmed. So…do you surrender?".
"I…yield." Nott growled as he grinned before summoning his opponent's wand and handing it back "Keep a better eye on it next time." He advised before heading back down to the waiting room. The tournament was almost over which meant, much to his displeasure, that he would soon be fighting one of his wives or his sister.
AN: I intend to finish the tournament next chapter (although it may take two) and after that there may be one more chapter of pre-Hogwarts situations before they're off to school.