Chapter 13
David's match against Feodor was the next one, and as he had anticipated they both had a great deal of fun. Feodor's approach to duelling was, like all the German team's a little pedestrian and predictable. David was no legilimens like Draco, but he soon learned to pick up his opponent's body language to cast Protego in plenty of time. He decided to try an experiment to see if it worked, and cried,
"Expecto Patronum!" and pointed his wand.
The huge pearlescent dog crashed out of the end of his wand and leaped silently at Feodor.
Feodor fled.
David had won!
There was brief silence.
"A boy so young can produce a corporeal patronus?" the Durmstrang deputy gasped.
"Excuse me, sir, I am almost fifteen!" said David, hurt "I should be a poor prune if I could not produce a corporeal Patronus at my age."
David of course was comparing himself to such as Harry, who had been producing a corporeal Patronus since he was still only thirteen.
Feodor climbed back up, bowed and clicked his heels.
"You bested me fairly" he said, holding out a hand. David was glad to shake; he would have been happy to call this boy friend.
Feodor was awarded one more point than David on wand style; but was fairly marked with six for originality. David had seven for style, but a whole ten for originality. Perhaps the judges were still a little stunned at his unusual use of a Patronus, he thought! Cynically he reflected they seemed more ready to mark fairly for those of the German team of mixed blood, bumping up the scores only for those of pure and near pure blood status!
oOoOo
Martin was the last of the Hogwarts team to fight; and he was against the Italian girl Bianca Lenci on the French team. It has to be said that by comparison to the rest the match was fairly pedestrian, with some pretty enough wand work but no exceptional spells on either part. Martin finally got a stupefy over Bianca's guard and was awarded the win, but with seven and two points for him and eight and three for her, it was not a high scoring match. Martin was disappointed; unless he did something spectacular, he would almost certainly be out of the final eight.
"Partly it was going last" said Draco "It was only by comparison to us show-offs."
"No" said Martin, honestly "It's that I'm not as imaginative as the rest of you."
Unpleasant Tadeusz beat Corinne fairly comprehensively scoring nine points too on his wand work, but the judges could scarcely give him more than four for repeated uses of the stinging hex and the cruel cutting spell across Corinne's wrist that had made her drop her wand and retire from the piste in a welter of gore.
"I DO hope I draw against him next" said Hermione, stung by the fact that she had made an elemental mistake and was consequently the only one of the Hogwarts team not to record a win.
"So do I" said Bil "I'll just love to see you take him apart!"
Hercule was next against Kriszta. His wand work was not elegant but he beat her on the count using the Incarceratus spell.
Jean-Claude faced Konrad; and again it was a French victory. Konrad seemed to totally lose it, and if Jean-Claude's casting lacked elegance he had a nice line in hexes including a taunting hex which proved Konrad's downfall by making him lose his temper.
"It ees what I 'ave learned by watching muggle Parisian taxi drivers" he said cheerfuly "Zey lose zere temperes and zen zey cannot sink straight, n'est-ce pas?"
As Jean-Claude was a pure blood, the Hogwarts team were more impressed than ever that he had learned by watching muggles and had made new spells from what he had learned.
There was a break then for lunch; and wisely the three schools had been separated to eat. They were served by more than usually downtrodden house elves and Hermione was seething.
"I almost pity whoever she faces after lunch" said Draco to Harry.
"Yeah" said Harry "Let's hope it's someone nasty."
oOoOo
Harry was drawn against Corinne Gautier, who had plenty of fire but in Harry's opinion less skill than most of the second years in the MSHG. He did not bother with disarming her, merely effortlessly countering her series of hexes, and twisted the entrail expelling curse with the enlarging spell to make her monstrously fat. Corinne had no sense of humour at all, and instead of fighting on, fled sobbing. Harry was disappointed. He was pleased enough with his marks, the equal highest so far with a ten for his elegance and nine for the originality but he would have liked a better match. Corinne's score matched her lack of ability, with three and seven only.
Draco was matched against Jean-Claude.
The French boy's jarvey curse, as he called it, made Draco laugh.
"Jean-Claude, I have been taunted by Voldemort, it doesn't get any worse than that" he said.
It seemed that unless he could anger his opponents Jean-Claude was less of a wizard; he had learned to rely on the one spell to give him an advantage for his others. It was worth noting; though the MSHG all trained in a wide variety already. Draco changed the boy through various forms in rapid succession, then summoned a boggart.
It was something else that had never been done; but Draco took Bil's comment about snakes to heart.
Jean-Claude was not expecting a boggart on the piste; doubtless anywhere else he might have easily repelled it with the ridikulus spell. As it was he wailed
"WEREWOLF!" and cast fire at it before fleeing.
The cry alerted the spectators who were seeing their own worst fears to the fact that it was a boggart; and the cry
"RIDIKULUS!" rang out spontaneously from several voices.
Draco banished the creature and the pandemonium died down.
"Dear me, Professor Snape, your people like to cause a stir, no?" said Mme Duvall.
"We like to be original" said Severus.
"Sev, what did you see?" asked Harry quietly. Severus looked at him thoughtfully.
"I suspect, the same as you; a little wizened black creature" he said
Harry nodded.
"Why is that?"
"Because, son, we have faced our worst nightmare and defeated it; and many other potential fears along with it. Even my greatest concern, my family, is not a fear because I know that death is not the enemy."
Harry nodded.
"When I was a little bit dead, it was a bit like being at Kings' Cross Station; a waiting place. And my parents chatted to me for a while. And there was a little, whining thing under the seat that was the part of me that was horcrux. And that is why I suggested remorse; I felt sorry for it and for him. I didn't expect him to understand but…"
Severus nodded.
"And so we have no fear greater than that which we have overcome" he said "And I really do wonder if it's the same for a lot of the Bloodgroup."
"We can ask them later" said Harry.
The flustered judges awarded Draco nine and ten points; Jean-Claude was credited for his own spell with eight for originality but gained only two for style. Fleeing ignominiously from a Boggart had cost him dearly.
oOoOo
Hermione had been overjoyed to be drawn against Tadeusz; though she did ask Severus suspiciously,
"Did you cheat?"
"Not at all" said Severus truthfully.
"I did though" Draco whispered to Harry.
Harry grinned.
Under the circumstances he could see nothing wrong in a surreptitious switching spell!
Tadeusz approached the piste with a cruel smile.
"Might as well give up before you get hurt, mudblood" he said.
"Why not resign before I make you look even stupider?" smiled Hermione.
Tadeusz opened with the cruciatus curse; evidently he felt it acceptable as a duelling spell against the muggleborn.
The duel should have been stopped the moment he cried 'crucio' but it was not. Hermione's protego was up rapidly enough in any case and she started chanting.
"Trying for a protection circle? You will not succeed in time…Imperio" said the boy. Hermione stiffened momentarily, then ignored the Imperius curse – one of the few lessons from Barty Crouch Junior posing as Mad-eye Moody that had been of any use – as she continued chanting, whilst absently fending off Tadeusz' curses with her wand.
There was a sudden gasp from one of the girls in the audience.
"He's getting smaller!"
It was true. As Hermione chanted, Tadeusz was gradually reducing.
Suddenly he realised it himself and pointed his wand at his own body.
"engorg..." he got no further; with a contemptuous twitch of her wand Hermione cast the disarming spell wordlessly and the boy's wand flew out of the piste, where it rapidly regained its proper size.
"I have enchanted the piste to reduce you" said Hermione as she finished her chanting "And you will continue to reduce until you dwindle to nothing; until you cross the piste line or unless you can counter my charm."
The now rather small Tadeusz squealed obscenities at her in a voice that sounded much like that of a house elf.
Hermione jumped towards him.
"BOH!" she shouted.
He squealed and fell back.
"Know how the house elves here feel now a little do you?" said Hermione "Only I shan't cast a forbidden curse to make you punish yourself, because I'm better than you. Dwindle little man until you vanish up your own backside…or flee before my better skill. Your choice."
Tadeusz ran this way and that, terrified; and finally realised that he was not going to find a way to break the spell, especially not without his wand, and ran out of the piste.
He was down to some four inches high, and the whole auditorium rocked with laughter.
And that hurt almost as much as being made a fool of by a mudblood.
Tadeusz started to grow immediately and was regaining his own size as Hermione finished unwinding her charm. Hedda handed him his wand; and he pointed it at Hermione.
"AVADA…" he got no further as Hermione erected a protective barrier and disarmed him all in one movement.
Draco and Harry, with similar ideas, both hit him.
He went down like a ton of bricks from a fist in the face from each side.
Harry and Draco gave each other the high five.
"He should be disqualified!" cried Mme Duvall.
"He should have been disqualified for using an unforgivable curse; as should have the boy Albinus, and as should the girl Hedda for casting from outside the piste. They were not; nor will he be" said Severus "They need these little rules inconsistencies to make up for their delusions of adequacy."
Tadeusz was scolded, for form's sake, for 'forgetting' he had left the piste; but was not disqualified as Severus had predicted.
The judges were however quite chastened and did not mark Hermione down too much, giving her seven and nine; though the Hogwarts team made dissatisfied noises, even though they forbore to outright boo, at the award of six and seven to Tadeusz.
"You were robbed" said Harry to Hermione "That was absolutely brilliant! And so subtle, to MAKE him resign or die."
"I don't know that he'd DIE" said Hermione clinically "He'd be too small an atom to have any sense of being, but it would not destroy him, only make him as small as is possible. I think."
"You only think? That's not like you!" laughed Harry.
"Well I'd not done it before and I haven't covered the theory on uncontrolled shrinking" said Hermione "It's never been at issue before."
"Essay on the subject for your chanting class" said Severus.
Hermione brightened.
She was one of the few people in the world who actually enjoyed writing essays.
Bil, facing Konrad, had a respectable win, scoring eight and ten in addition to her win points and had to be restrained from going to inform the judges that if she had scored so highly, Hermione should have had more than ten out of ten on both counts.
David, facing Hercule, enjoyed his match; the big easy-going part-giant was original enough in his twist of hexes, occupying David until he countered it with a flamenco-dancing hex which David knew he would be teased about for some while by his friends! He picked up the hex as he countered it and returned it with a twist that had Hercule spinning on the spot.
"Stop! I resign!" cried the French boy. David negated it.
Hercule was green.
"I ate too much at dejeunner" he gasped "And you 'ave done for my good feeling….hélas, j'ai mal….." he sat down heavily and heaved a couple of times.
"Sorry" said David.
"It was cleverly done…and my own fault for ze greed" said Hercule ruefully. "We are still friends though, yes?"
"Oh yes!" said David happily. Hercule reminded him a little of Hagrid.
David scored for a win and had nine points for originality – the judges could hardly have awarded him less for taking control of and changing his opponent's own spell – but only five for style.
"Mudbloods like us aren't allowed style" David said to Hermione dryly.
"Apparently not" she agreed.
"Don't call yourself that!" said Harry.
"Why not?" said Hermione "It's only insulting if we let it be."
Martin was last to go again for Hogwarts and was up against the German team's Krizsta Onodi, a Hungarian. He was on better form for this match in terms of casting style though only scored two points on his originality. Kriszta did a little better with four, but was very poor on style when her best efforts were elegantly countered by Martin, one of the things he had gained from the MSHG. She rather lost her temper and went for him like a bull at a gate; and Martin was able to wait until she was completely angered and frustrated and win with stupefy.
oOoOO
During the other three matches in the second round, Hedda made short work of the already somewhat demoralised Artemise. Hedda recorded a score of seven and seven – not unfair for her combination of hexes cast simultaneously after the manner of Hermione; and Artemise retired in a storm of sobs with an embarrassing one and five.
The Hogwarts team were mightily embarrassed; not one of them, even a youngster like Bil, would ever consider giving way to tears in front of the opposition unless tears of pain were wracked from them involuntarily.
"The French you know, emotional" muttered Draco.
The Hogwarts team did brighten up and cheered when spiteful and unpleasant Albinus Kasparitis lost yet again to French Arsène. It was a fairly comprehensive beating; the French boy ignored or countered the Lithuanian's curses and used Hermione's idea of combining the full body bind with the tickling curse. As he did not know the avocado spell, he contented himself with hoisting Albinus aloft and rotating him longitudinally.
Albinus cried pax when he started throwing up.
Hermione felt better; she had lost the first round to a very competent duellist.
It was interesting however that Albinus was still awarded ten for style; scored, as David said, for his blood status more than his wand work.
The final match of the round robin was Feodor against Bianca. The Italian girl's style was atrocious; but her combination of hexes showed she had learned from the contest since her match against Martin; and Feodor, bound, dancing from the ankles down, hiccupping and giggling fell voluntarily out of the piste to be uncursed by Madam Bacsó.
The scores must be added up before the playoffs would take place; and tea was served. Hogwarts had insisted that the contest all take place on one day, to get back in case of cheating by the Unseelie court arriving early; and to avoid having to stay in Durmstrang overnight where, as Severus had said, it was too easy for accidents to happen.
oOoOo
Artemise did not attend tea.
"She is 'ighly strung" said Mme Duvall.
The English youngsters smiled politely.
Hermione meanwhile discovered by determined conversation with the House Elves that they considered themselves to belong to the students. By due sophistry she managed to persuade one to accept her school tie from her, as she, Hermione was a student; and promised to pay her to work for her.
Little Rosli kissed Hermione's feet.
Hermione asked her PLEASE not to do that, and sent her to find Ron Weasley for the elf's own protection.
"Ron at least will be pleased" she said dryly "He hates housework. And I can't say I'm keen myself. And if it's only nominal pay and board we give her, at least it's a start; and it shows the others here there's something to hope and strive for."
Draco held his own counsel over wondering if the authorities of Durmstrang, once they were gone, would order all elves who had even considered Hermione's suggestions to punish themselves. She meant well; and at least she was less headstrong over her attempts to free unwilling elves. Indeed, it would bring the elves here a stage further to wanting to rebel, deep down; as the well treated, indeed almost pampered, elves of Hogwarts were unlikely to wish to do.
It was one more free elf; and that was one more to persuade others.
"Sev" said Draco "Hermione touched on something rather important in her duel with the creep; she said she'd not use an unforgivable curse to make him punish himself like a house elf. As house elves HAVE to punish themselves if they even think bad thoughts about their masters, doesn't that argue a compulsion tied to the Imperius Curse?"
Severus stiffened.
"I – Merlin's beard, I don't know!" he said "But I can start to find out! Thank you, lad; and thank you Hermione too, it's a possibility, and if that IS the case, why the self punishment of elves becomes illegal….and we can do something about it, in England anyway."
"It's the worst thing about the slavery of elves" said Hermione "That they feel a need to hurt themselves just for THINKING bad things about their owners; no other slavery has gone that far. I'd feel a lot more comfortable about those who are afraid of freedom if their own thoughts were free."
Severus nodded.
"I agree; and I shall deep legilimens Sirri, for I'm sure she'd like to know too."
"And she loves you well enough to trust you deep in there" said Draco.
Hermione made a faintly disapproving noise, for she could not get over Severus taking Sirri as a mistress, however pure his motives.
Hermione was after all, as Krait had said, rather a synonym for conventional.
oOoOo
After tea, the top eight were announced in reverse order.
Martin was delighted to have crept in by the skin of his teeth with forty points, just below Hedda with forty three. Unlike Martin she was furious to be in so low a position; she had clearly expected to be leading the field and looked daggers at Harry for having beaten her in the first round. Especially when Hermione's name was next on forty five points. Being beaten on points at this stage by a mudblood made Hedda's own pure blood boil! Arsène was next on forty nine points; and Hermione had her own private battle with herself, knowing that had she not thought she had won and lost thereby she would be nineteen points up on him instead of four points down.
Above Arsene was a surprised and delighted David with fifty six points; and Hedda flung out of the hall in disgust, pursued by Professor Hesse. Draco and Harry held equal second with fifty six points, and a surprised Bil was announced as top with fifty seven.
"Well I don't quite know how THAT happened" said Bil "Unless it was the marking over Jean-Claude. I said I was overmarked for that."
"Don't knock it; they all got overmarked too" said Harry laconically "The real test will be in the playoffs. The way I calculate it you'll go against Martin, me against Hedda, Draco against Hermione and David against Arsène."
"That should be three of the final four through then" said Hermione "Two of the matches are Hogwarts versus Hogwarts and I can't see Harry not creaming that Hedda girl again."
"How do they determine first second third and fourth? Entirely on points?" asked Martin "And if so, is that overall or from the first playoff?"
"The two with the top points from the playoff play each other for first and second, the other two for third and fourth" said Hermione. "It'd be as fair a system as any if only the marking was fair."
"Ah well, we've shown them a thing or two so I guess we can't really complain" said Harry "We have ALL our team through; including our two muggleborn."
"I can't see why Hermione isn't higher up the ratings though, she's a better witch than any they have" said Martin.
"Same reason – partly - as Ginny didn't make the team" said Draco quietly "She's a great warrior; but she lacks the flexibility for duelling. In Ginny's case it's because she's learned in a hurry how to fight. In Hermione's case it's because she's too conventional and inclined to believe what the books say is impossible. It's why you fall down as well, old man."
"Oh" said Martin. "I see. My lack of flexibility is training though; do you think I can overcome it?"
"If you want to then yes" said Draco "Hermione, deep down, likes being conventional. She wants to fit in. It may take motherhood for her to realise that there are more important things in life than fitting into the mould. Though Merlin knows, what she's got up to with Ron and Harry facing Voldemort is hardly conventional; but she worries about things like that."
Bil had little difficulty beating Martin.
After all, she and the other Marauders had been hexing him since they were in the first year and he was still running with a gang of bullies. Martin was defeated before he even began, expecting to lose to the fiery little cousin on his awe inspiring house master. Bil did not bother with finesse, but her entertaining hexes did please the audience and she emerged with fifteen points on top of her win.
Harry, out of curiosity, had asked what would happen if one of the playoff group lost but won on points, if caught by a single spell after showing finesse and skill; and was told that in such a case the judges would use their discretion about entering their points into the decision over the final four.
It probably would not enter in to it; but it was worth knowing.
Harry himself faced Hedda again, her square Teutonic face set and determined to beat him this time.
"You may have been the Chosen One to face Voldemort but he's gone now and the powers you stole from him are gone too" she declared.
Harry laughed.
"True" he said "And now I am myself and therefore more of a wizard than before."
"BLAST!" said Draco to himself "What an idiot that boy is, he missed an opportunity to say to Fishface, if you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"
"Quidsats Haddarach he might be, Obi-Wan Kenobi he ain't" said Bil.
Hedda decided not to bother with any conventional openings but launched straight in with Avada Kedavra.
The French team mostly screamed.
Harry was getting irritated by the Durmstrang team and decided to make this an example; so he folded his arms as the killing curse struck and let the bloodgroup split it up into a minor headache. His scar burst briefly into white light as the green flare dissipated around him.
"That you see was all my own" he said to Hedda. With legilimensy – arms still folded - he plunged into her thoughts, dragging out all her most embarrassing and painful moments, letting her know that he knew, that he was in control.
"So's that" he said.
There was consternation all around and whispers of awe. The Boy Who Lived was immune to the killing curse!
Hedda screeched and went at him with every violent spell she knew, trying to expel his entrails, cut him open and burn him. Harry set up barriers effortlessly, then summoned his Patronus, still with his arms folded. Before she quite knew what was going on, the white stag had snagged Hedda's robes in his horns and carried her off the piste, burst open the castle door, and deposited her in the lake.
"That was almost James-like" said Severus "But not in a bad way" he added hastily.
"She made me pissed, Domine" said Harry.
"Hmm, do tell" said Severus.
It was of course a win for Harry as Hedda had been forced out of the piste. There was nothing in the rules banning it; the only method of force-out that was banned was by the contestant using physical means. And Harry had not; it had been his Patronus.
The other Durmstrangers fell back and gave him a wide berth, students and teachers alike. Severus noted on Professor Hesse's face a look of wild terror and chagrin; and promptly went to talk to him.
"Good, isn't he?" Severus said, pleasantly, meeting the other's eyes.
"Er, yes. What one might expect of the Chosen One of course" said the Durmstrang deputy head, turning away "Excuse me, I wish to see that Hedda is all right…"
Severus had seen what he needed to see however.
Hesse was a senior member of Odessa, implanted in Durmstrang to make recruits; and the duel had been for one purpose and one purpose only; to find out whether Harry Potter was still a danger to Odessa and its ideals or whether he had become an ordinary young wizard since the death of Voldemort.
That Harry seemed utterly immune to the killing curse – which Hesse had told Hedda to use – had shaken the dark wizard to the core. And he was frightened; frightened of Harry, frightened of the power the whole Hogwarts team demonstrated so casually, and frightened of what the response would be when he reported to his superiors.
Severus smiled grimly.
Forewarned was forearmed; and he would far rather have a nice, certain piece of legilimensy to arm himself with than the dubious claims of a prophesy from a muddle-headed old fool.
Life would not cease to be interesting for Harry or his friends after leaving Hogwarts.
Draco faced Hermione next; and it was by tacit consent that they put on something of a show as well as duelling seriously.
"It's nice not to have to hold back, to face real opposition" Draco had said to Hermione as they mounted to the piste.
Hermione flushed in pleasure; that was a real compliment.
Draco did not need to fear hurting Hermione, she was more than adept at protection spells and if there were any accidents the Bloodgroup would absorb damage, including him.
By tacit consent too, they undertook silent casting so as not to give away the secrets of some of the spells they were using, such as sectumsempra, that Draco used, since it was a distinctly dark spell, invented by Severus in his darkest teenage years. Hermione's quick Episkayo healed the wounds he opened all over her as might not have been possible had their blood not sang together; since dark magic could not be healed fully. Hermione, unamused, turned Draco into a ferret.
Draco turned himself back and grinned. She threw bluebell flames at him of greater intensity then usual; and Draco, knowing Hermione's specialities of underwater flames did not make the mistake of casting Aguamenti but instead summoned a wind to blow them back at her. Hermione quickly cancelled.
Then Draco cast Aguamenti and aimed it at the floor, concentrating on the word 'saponify'.
It worked better than he could have thought.
Hermione took a step forward, gave a wild squeal of horror such as she had not done from mere wounds, and slid with more speed than grace on one heel all the way to the other end of the piste and off the platform.
Draco was beside her in one bound.
"Are you all right?" he demanded.
"OW….bruised in body and in pride" said Hermione crossly. Draco passed his wand over her to heal any damage caused by landing on her coccyx.
It was a win for him. Not entirely as he had planned or hoped; but it was a wonderful spell to remember!
"What did you do?" demanded Hermione.
"Turned the water to soap….Jark asked me to do it to help him wash the car, and I recalled the ground got a bit slippy. Of course on polished wooden boards…"
"You deserve the win, Draco; it was excellent lateral thinking" said Hermione, determinedly.
"One of the nicest things about you, sister mine, is your generosity" said Draco, kissing her on the cheek.
Harry and Draco were on equal points, sixteen, one ahead of Bil. Which was how, as Bil said, it was supposed to be.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
A/N Dune and Star Wars referenced in one sentence….