Disclaimer: refer chapter one

If you wanted a Christmas themed chapter, sorry. This is a normal chapter.

Reviews!

DalkonCledwin: What's this? An actual plothole, no matter how minor it maybe? Ok, you are completely correct. But too late to change the chapter now; I think the best way to fix that would be to have Sapphire acknowledge that somehow? I can't seem to think of a good way at the moment, but I will address it as soon as I can think of a plausible way.

Dicoan: That will be revealed when I get to it in future chapters.

Stylo1: Thank you for the criticism. Yeah, I can see what you mean on both accounts. Not saying that this chapter is better in any way but I will try to improve.

Sceonn: A very valid point with the first part about sounding preachy. In all honesty, I wrote that in Sapphire's perspective, as in, they were meant to be her views rather than my own. I should have that a lot more clear in my writing. And about Devil and Wizard Politicking, it is not that different and the characters will note the similarities when it becomes more relevant, as in, beyond Harry and Daphne's 'talks.'

Chapter Nine

Hogsmeade was a nice little village, Harry decided. With its pubs, a few shops and other residential houses, it was obvious that it was mainly here to serve as a getaway from the rigidity of Hogwarts; essentially a place where students could kick back and relax.

Everything here was even designed for students. The shops mostly sold various types of stationary that a student would need, only Hog's Head Inn selling alcohol, and the other two places where one could get food – being the Three Broomsticks Inn and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop – having mostly food and drinks meant for the underage crowd.

Well, Three Broomsticks did sell this thing called Butterbeer, that Ingvild was drinking as she walked alongside him.

"This is... soooo much better than regular beer. Even the crap Mephisto keeps in his fridge pales in comparison! You sure you don't want any?" Ingvild said. In all fairness, the Three Broomsticks did not actually have a 'to-go' option, but one charm spell later, Madam Rosmerta had given her the pitcher of butterbeer for free.

"Is that because you got that for free or because its genuinely better?" Harry asked. "And we should... you know, pay the woman. Though to be fair I have no clue if a couple of sickles is cheap or expensive..."

"Both. And pay her with what money?" Ingvild asked. "We have no cash and Azazel finally grew a brain and blocked the credit card that I had."

Harry was quite certain that this place did not accept regular credit cards, but did not press the issue. Ingvild was right, they did not have any of the local galleons, sickles or knuts. He could always conjure some gold/silver/bronze coins, but Harry was quite certain that they had means of telling that whether said coin was real or not. Perhaps serial numbers, or some mark or even a subtle magical signature.

The Devils for example, used a one of a kind magical signature on all their currency, so any counterfeits could easily be caught. Which in itself was mostly moot because of the heavy technomancy and digitalization in the Underworld, so unless you were buying something illegal, almost no one used physical currency.

The safer option was to just steal some rather than commit a counterfeiting crime.

But now the damage was done and Harry did not feel like going back to fix it.

"Okay, maybe ask the woman if she opens tabs next time?" Harry asked.

Ingvild shrugged. She took a large sip out of her pitcher. "You – burp – seriously don't want this?"

"No, I think I'm good," Harry said, completely unbothered by her burp. "I think I might get something from that sweet shop. Or at least I think it is, with a name like Honeyduke's. If we had money that is."

"Harry, you can smell the pastries, cakes, and the chocolate even though we're almost a few feet away, you don't need to guess."

"...I was going to say that," Harry said sheepishly. To be fair, his mind was on the girl beside him. Ingvild had dragged him here, claiming that Sapphire hogged him to herself. Then, she had claimed that this was a date, which he was completely unprepared for.

Harry had not even gone on a date with Sapphire.

Then, instead of what he assumed two people did on dates like these, such hold hands and sit down and get to know each other better and the like, they had just gone from shop to shop, place to place on this admittedly cool Saturday morning, with little to no physical or emotional contact between the two.

Harry tried to use his empathic abilities on her, only to realize that he was suddenly agreeing to whatever she said, even to her suggestion of teleporting to the Underworld later today.

It took him more time than he would admit to snap out and realize that her Sacred Gear was subtly hypnotizing him, possibly even without her realization.

For her part, Ingvild smiled as she saw Harry struggle with himself. Despite being half human, she was raised like a Devil, and her instincts, thoughts, and even morals were that of a Devil's.

She loved the fact that Harry was struggling about whether to simply steal the deliciously sweet food for himself, possibly putting the waitress he would need to place the charm or illusion on out of a job, or to ignore his own desire and simply move on. Her more dominant Devil nature wanted to corrupt that small piece of purity that Harry still had despite having spent so much time around a Devil of Mephisto's nature.

Ingvild was quite certain that little piece of 'purity' that he held was the entire reason why he never seemed to retaliate against anyone here. After the first leg of the tournament, most people here believed that he was actually lying about wandless magic.

While no one had directly confronted him, there were many who insulted and made fun of Harry behind his back, and they weren't particularly subtle about it either. Harry, for his part mostly laughed them off, not once disproving their notions whereas anyone else might have done so.

Especially someone who was raised by Mephisto. The Devil these days may have mellowed out, but there was a reason why no one from Hell bothered him. The general consensus with dealing with Mephisto was stay out of his way and he'll do the same.

After all, corrupting that which not even Mephisto could corrupt... just the thought was enough to send her on a power trip. She knew that she could just as easily 'win the battle' by nudging Harry along with her Sacred Gear, but that was no fun. He would snap out of it at any given moment, and it would quite honestly destroy whatever trust he had in her.

Ingvild could not have that. After all, as with all Devils, she was quite selfish. She wanted him for herself, at first purely because of Harry holding the Boosted Gear. After getting to know him a little, and especially realizing that she had an extreme attraction to him, she had changed her stance.

And she would label it as attraction as of now. Sure, it might be purely because of the way his Dragon nature pulled her towards him (emotionally speaking) or because of his physical attractiveness or even his performance in bed. But she did not truly know the man beside her.

Not like Sapphire knew him.

And Ingvild wasn't certainly held in the same regard as Sapphire by Harry. Sure, he respected her enough, was quite considerate, but at the same time, he was easily much more comfortable with Sapphire.

Ingvild didn't particularly like that. She personally had nothing against Sapphire. The Veela was an absolute delight to her. But once again, her Devil nature came up.

Devils were (in)famous for stealing things, be it valuables or people. While a large part of that may be stereotyping, but some of it was mired in truth. And Ingvild wanted to steal Harry from Sapphire.

More specifically, steal her spot as 'number one' from Harry's mind.

After all, she had no issues in being in a harem. It was quite common in the Underworld. Well, the supernatural world as a whole.

"Okay, we need to talk," Ingvild said out of the blue as Harry was chuckling to himself, reading an article in the Daily Prophet, which was about him. They were sitting in a rather secluded area a few ways away from Hogsmeade.

"About what?" Harry said distractedly as he skimmed through the article, written by Rita Skeeter. She painted him as some attention seeking, no good entitled brat who had somehow cheated his way into the tournament.

If nothing else, he had to hand it to her; Rita Skeeter had a real talent in writing such pieces. Why, she did a fantastic job in portraying him as such. The wording of the article, the way she wrote about her 'sources' and even the way it was edited, was downright amazing.

If Harry didn't know any better, he too, would hate this person about whom she had written.

"Doesn't that bother you? She might as well call you a little piece of shit who everyone should spit on!" Ingvild stated, more than a bit miffed. No, she was downright furious!

Harry gave her an amused look. "Why would it? Despite the fact that most of this is pure hogwash, it is a very well written article."

Ingvild threw her arms up in anger. "Seriously?! If that was about me I would have destroyed this Skeeter woman!"

Harry could only laugh silently to himself, to her ever increasing exasperation. Ignoring the other kids' and students' comments was one thing but completely ignoring what a reporter essentially told the world about you? Ingvild could not wrap her head around that.

On the other hand, Harry could only think about how Ingvild looked very cute when angry. The way her eyes narrowed, her brows furrowed and her cheeks puffed up was downright adorable.

"Yeah, I could see your point," Harry said, smiling at her. "Prove to the world just how powerful I am, maybe by making an example out of this reporter. I could even place a curse on her, or even make her forget how to read and write, wipe her from the world in its entirety. However... why would I? I gain absolutely nothing substantial from it, apart from maybe a few seconds of satisfaction."

Ingvild narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, trying to understand that. "Really? It might, oh I don't know, improve your public image?!"

This time Harry gave her a confused look. "Why would I care about my public image with these mooks? I don't want them to fear me, love me, or even respect me. Once I get my money, we're gone from their world, probably forever. Starting needless fights with any of them seems like a massive waste of my magical energy."

Harry was quite serious about that too. Sure, he loved fighting. Sure, he loved destroying things. However, if he were to retaliate or even attack at what were basically verbal playground level of insults, it would not even be a fight.

Of course, if anyone attacked him first, all bets were off. But not a single one had done so. That itself had told Harry plenty. He was someone who believed in the weight of one's actions rather than words. No one had acted, which meant that they were either too scared or weak to act.

Ingvild was silent for a while, before she sighed. "I see. You think of them so little, hold them in such low regard that not even their opinion matters to you, huh? No matter if its a positive or negative one, you'll ignore them all the same. As the saying goes, a Dragon doesn't concern himself with the opinions of lesser beings."

Harry nodded. "A rather interesting way to put it, but that isn't untrue. So yes, let them hold on to their illusion of strength; I don't particularly care about proving myself to these idiots."

"But you don't seem to care about the effect it can have on us," Ingvild stated, her frown returning. "I have overheard a lot of insulting comments being thrown around about Sapphire and Lavinia, and some even about myself."

Harry was unperturbed. "And? What do you want me to do? Defend you? Even you all are more than capable of doing so?"

Ingvild shook her head. "No, I am simply saying that not all of us share a similar sentiment. And your inaction in this case, may cause you to look weak. And by extension, it makes me, er, us, look weak."

"Looking weak and being weak are two entirely different things," Harry stated. "One can be a rather amazing set up for the reveal that everyone was wrong about you, and the other... well, certain death should you go over your head."

Ingvild was still annoyed at that. "And what exactly are you going to reveal? Or when? You obviously don't care about proving yourself to them, neither do you want their approval."

"And you want their approval or respect or fear for what reason? Apart from a few there is hardly anyone here who is even worthy to be considered for a Pact Mage position if you're going for that, and even fewer who would make for good Pawns," Harry said calmly. "Not even the headmaster has enough power in him to justify any other place in a peerage."

"You do know that I don't have any Evil Pieces and because of the fact that I am a half Devil, and from the Leviathan line, no one is going to even give me any?" Ingvild was just as calm, but Harry did not need his empathy to note the anger in her tone.

Harry gave her a calculative look, before realization struck. "Ahh, I see. You don't care about what they say, you just want me to make them suffer for some reason."

Ingvild turned slightly red, refusing to meet his eyes. "N-No, absolutely not."

"Uh-huh, sure," Harry said, a teasing glint in his eyes. "I'm quite certain that your intentions come purely from the good in your heart, wanting not to see your friends in anguish and lash out against those that slighted you."

"Ugh! Ok fine. I do want to see them suffer! It is the Devil in me that has these urges! Happy now?" Ingvild said as she crossed her arms, turning her head to hide her face, which was red from embarrassment. She did not say that she wanted to see him doing the deed, as it would prove that she had successfully corrupted him.

"Well..." Harry began, only to have Ingvild put her finger on his lips. Her head was still turned away from him, however.

"Don't answer that."

Draco Malfoy was quite happy.

The reason? He had gotten his hands on Harry Potter's wand. Apparently, the idiot had forgotten it in the infirmary after the First Task, and according to rumors, still had not decided to even look for it.

Draco had wanted to get back at Potter ever since he had embarrassed him that day, insinuating that he only made friends with the wrong sort. Then he was seen a few times with none other than Daphne Greengrass.

That had ticked Draco off even further.

Both of the Greengrass sisters were one of the most attractive girls in the school, and Draco was certain that his looks and wealth would attract at least one of the two, if not both. Sure, Pansy still pinned for him, but she lacked certain... assets... that Daphne had.

And Draco was quite sure that Astoria would have similar... assets... when she would be Daphne's age as well.

However Daphne had willingly met and had quite the talk with Harry Potter. Given her infuriated, yet confused look when she had walked in the Slytherin Dungeons, then went off to her room muttering something about 'Potter being insufferable' had told Draco everything.

She had tried to propose to the Boy-Who-Lived, yet had been rejected, rather obviously. Not that Draco could blame Potter; it was obvious that he was shagging that Veela, who was leagues above Daphne in every single department. Something Draco was completely not jealous of, no matter who might say otherwise.

It was, however, a matter of pride in the end. Daphne had never paid any attention to any boy in the school, even someone as rich and handsome as Draco. But the moment Harry Potter walks in, she goes after him like a hound sniffing some juicy meat.

It had annoyed him to no end.

Now, Draco held Harry's wand. Now Draco had all the power over Harry Potter. Who knows, now even his father will be quite pleased in him after he would destroy the Boy-Who-Lived, something not even the great Dark Lord could do.

And if Daphne were to see that, Draco was quite certain that she would be at the very least interested in him, if not outright fall for him. Who knows even that French Veela and Potter's own Veela may get interested in him as well!

All he had to do was challenge Harry Potter to a duel, and then defeat him in a single spell, which would be easily doable now that Draco held Harry's wand.

Now to find Harry Potter and then to humiliate him once and for all.

Harry sneezed into a quickly conjured handkerchief as he and Ingvild walked through the city of Gremory. Named after the very family who presided over this region of Hell, it was a sprawling city that was mostly divided into a busy downtown area and much quieter suburbs.

Hell itself was divided into seventy two 'countries' if you will, each governed by the Noble House that lived there. After the civil war that saw the rise of the current Satans, the lost Houses' lands were equally divided amongst the surviving Houses.

The interesting that was that the Gremory Manor wasn't actually located in this city, but was about thirty minute drive North-West from the city's downtown. Also, like every single Devil who lived here, apart from the mayor and a select few, Harry had never met anyone from the Gremory House. Irma had a few times, given that she was the head of the only medical school here.

"So here is where you grew up, huh?" Ingvild commented as Harry vanished the handkerchief.

"Well not exactly," Harry said, pointing to one of the buildings. It was a large apartment complex, with three buildings placed into a triangular pattern and a large park in between. "That building, the farthermost one. That is where Irma, Sapphire and I lived when we would come down here. We treated it like a vacation mostly. Sapphire lived here a lot longer than I did, mostly because my time in Hell was split between here and Tannin's Wastelands or whatever the hell he calls it."

"I have never been to this city... but I think I would have remembered most of Lilith."

"The Capital? We went there once, when we were seven. Nothing much present there apart from the government buildings and other boring stuff," Harry said. "So what did you want to do here anyways?"

"Mostly just see what all has been changed," Ingvild stated. "I may not look like it but I was actually born in the twenties...before I went into that sleeping state."

That surprised Harry. He knew that Devils aged very slowly post puberty, but that was honestly a shocker because Ingvild wasn't a full Devil. He had no idea that half Devils also aged that slowly. "Really?"

"Mmhm. When I fell into that sleep, my body and mind was placed into a stasis I think," Ingvild answered, feeling a bit embarrassed to reveal the correct reason: just wanting to spend time with Harry in a place she knew they won't be interrupted by anyone. "So physically and mentally speaking, I am still nineteen despite chronologically being almost a hundred years old."

"Cradle-robber," Harry said teasingly.

"Then does that make you a cougar hunter?" Ingvild asked with the same tone. "But... I also wanted to visit the Fallen Angel territory."

"You do know that requires a visa? And one that I do not have?" Harry asked.

Technically the Fallen Angel part of Hell was a dimension that was separate from the Devil side. But because once a large majority of Hell, seven of its nine dimensions (technically called Circles) once belonged to the Devils, tensions were quite high because Devils felt that Fallen Angels had stolen what was rightfully theirs.

Officially, the Fallen Angels had been granted that dimension after the Great War by the current Satan faction as a peace offering.

The last two Circles were where the various gods of Death tortured the evil human souls, and the deepest Circle, Cocytus. Once again, this was also a part of the Lucifer's job, but he had outsourced that part of the job to focus ruling the reminder of Hell.

The Fallen Angel side was also sealed off from the Devils' Circle using a lot of powerful seals and runes. Any teleportation into their side caused the spell to redirect to specific ports of entry, and without a visa, the teleportation would simply fail to work. The Devil Circle also worked similarly, but Harry was considered as a citizen because of being adopted by Irma, and due to Mephisto's influence.

"Eh, I am sure it will be fine. I have Azazel on speed dial."

"And you think he's going to help after you stole his credit card, possibly spending all of his money and then some, and finally not even checking in with him like we agreed to?" Harry asked.

"Check in with– oh, you mean that thing where I was supposed to tell him about my Sacred Gear or whatever?" Ingvild asked. Though she made it sound like she genuinely forgot, Harry knew better.

"Yeah. That," Harry replied. "And try it if you are so sure."

Ingvild nodded and took out her phone, and called the Fallen Angel Governor.

Harry could only laugh as Ingvild was yelled at over the phone. To her surprise and (sort of) relief, Azazel had not discovered that it was her who was using his credit card, and she only got yelled at for not following through with their deal.

Ingvild was a bit miffed that he didn't give her a visa, however.

Sapphire was exasperated. She lacked the nigh infinite patience that Harry had when dealing with people who thought poorly of him.

And it wasn't as if they were clever insults or even subtle insults. Seriously, what even was a 'mudblood'? And whoever thought that 'these people are such cheats that they would have trouble with first year spells' was a clever insult?

The main problem was with Lavinia, who was beside her. The poor girl was losing more confidence in herself because of the comments, which was a huge problem. Sapphire knew that she needed to fix that as soon as possible.

As they walked towards the Great Hall for lunch, Sapphire remembered the first time they met Lavinia, who was quite assertive and confident. But because she constantly compared herself to Harry and Sapphire, and now even Ingvild, she developed an inferiority complex.

Now she just needed a way to make Lavinia believe in hers–

"Oi, Veela, where's Potter?"

Sapphire and Lavinia turned around to see that snobby blonde boy, who's name she could not remember, looking at them with a haughty expression.

He was flanked by two burly, large boys who had a dumb look on their face.

"He's out, umm, uhh..." Sapphire said after trying and failing to recall his name.

The blonde scowled. "My name is Draco Malfoy! And tell Potter to meet me on the fourth floor!"

"Right. And why would Harry want to meet you?" Sapphire was genuinely curious about that. She wondered if this was in direct relation to that downright insulting and blasphemous article by that Skater woman. Or was it Skewter?

This time the blonde boy smirked, his haughty and 'holier than thou' look returning. "Why, I wish to challenge him to a duel! To finally prove that I am, in fact, much more powerful than he could ever hope to be!"

Sapphire gave out an angered sigh. She could see that a crowd was forming, so simply ignoring and moving on may not be an option. Then an idea entered her mind. Yes, that should work.

"You wish to have a duel?" Sapphire said, but the thing she said next was also directed at the audience. "Huh, I wish Harry was actually here. Out of all the things you all have claimed us to be and the insults behind our backs, that one declaration of a duel might have actually offended him. Or who knows, he would've laughed you off at best and put you in an illusion to fulfil this fantasy of yours at worst."

Sapphire paused for effect. "But... I am not as merciful. You see, had you not bothered me, you would have escaped with your dignity. Now? You will have your duel, but with Lavinia here."

"Wha-? ME?" Lavinia yelled. "B-But why me?"

"Relax, Lavinia. You'll win even without breaking a sweat." Sapphire assured her.

Draco scowled angrily, sneering at them. "Why would I want to duel this mudblood?"

"What's the matter? Scared of losing to a girl who began her education in magic but a few months ago?" Sapphire questioned.

"Sapphire!" Lavinia tried to reason with her.

"Hush dear, I'm trash talking for you," Sapphire responded.

Draco humph'd. "Please! I am a Malfoy! We are not scared of anything!"

"Then its settled?" Sapphire questioned with a smirk.

"Not yet. We need to go over the terms of this duel. Should I win, the two of you will bow down to me! And do whatever I tell you to!" Draco said.

"Deal!" Sapphire said without missing a beat, to Lavinia's dismay.

Draco had mixed feelings about duelling a mudblood. On one hand, she most likely still had her wand and would fight back. On the other, she was a weak little mudblood, and by the Veela's own admission, had begun her education a few months ago.

And, should he win, then he would have a Veela and a mudblood under him, and the law did not recognize a Veela as human, so he could essentially enslave her and no one could stop him. He would still keep the mudblood, and if he paid her a knut per month, he couldn't be persecuted for owning another human.

"Wait! What happens if we win?" Lavinia asked just as Sapphire was leading her away.

"Then this blonde douchebag stops bothering us!" Sapphire said, without looking at Draco.

Draco smirked. He had no doubts that he would win, but he had nothing to lose if he didn't. Of course, he was going to make the Veela beg for mercy after he won for calling him a douchebag.

Whatever that was.

Lavinia was nervous as she paced around on the Fourth Floor. Turns out that said Floor had a duelling ring that was not used for a few years according to some students. The last time was some duelling club that was established by a teacher who was fired after it was discovered that his books about his exploits and claims about being an expert in dealing with many evil beings was fraudulent.

The fact that they had a rather large audience did not help her any. Apparently word had spread very quickly about this duel. It made her wonder if any other conflicts were solved this way; through just fighting it out to assert your own superiority.

It seemed a bit barbaric if it was true, according to her.

"Relax," Sapphire said, breaking Lavinia out of her thoughts. "Remember, even without your Sacred Gear, you are more than powerful for him."

"But... this school is supposed to be really good right? What if he uses some spell or magic that I cannot counter?"

"Yes. It may be," Sapphire said with a kind smile. "But believe in yourself above all else. And if he does use a spell that you don't know how to counter, just freeze it. You can use your Sacred Gear without manifesting it, right?"

"For a short amount of time, yes," Lavinia answered.

"That's all you need. One good hit. And you better prepare yourself. Your opponent has arrived."

Lavinia looked at the other end of the room, and sure enough, Draco Malfoy had arrived.

Along with him was another tall man, wearing black robes. He had greasy hair, and a hook shaped nose. He seemed to look at everyone and everything as though he hated everyone and everything.

"I have brought Professor Snape to ensure that there would be no cheating," Draco said as he stepped on to the arena proper. Lavinia did the same.

"I am certain that they can figure it out themselves Mr. Malfoy," said the greasy haired professor as his eyes fixed on Lavinia. "I want a clean duel. There will be no usage of any lethal spells."

Lavinia gulped at that. She wanted to freeze Draco as soon as the match started, but was certain that it would be counted as a lethal spell.

She looked back at Sapphire, who smiled in assurance and nodded, giving her a thumbs up.

Lavinia took a breath to steady herself.

"I am sure that... outsiders may not be aware of our traditions," the professor said. "Both of you will bow, take twenty steps back, and then begin the duel."

Draco smirked, knowing just how nervous Lavinia was the two of them bowed at each other. He was a bit confused that he couldn't see her wand, but was not going to remind her of that. The mudblood must be more stupid than he thought if she forgot her wand to a duel.

The moment they finished taking twenty steps, the duel was interrupted before a single spell could be thrown.

"What is happening here?"

That voice made Draco falter a bit.

Dumbledore had entered the room. Around them, all chatter came to a sudden silence at the headmaster's presence.

Luckily, Snape moved to his rescue. "Mr. Malfoy challenged the outsiders to a duel, Headmaster. I am here to ensure that the duel goes smoothly and there is no cheating."

"I see," said the headmaster as he turned to Sapphire. "And may I enquire why you agreed?"

Sapphire was not surprised in the slightest that Dumbledore had known it was her who agreed and not Lavinia. "Mostly about sending a message."

"There area far more peaceful ways," Dumbledore said, looking at her with a disappointed expression.

"I am aware. But the other party wants to resort to duels. We merely responded in kind." Sapphire answered without missing a beat.

Dumbledore was silent for a while. "If that is what you wish, I will not stand in your way. But instead of Severus, I shall preside over this duel." He looked at Draco this time, knowingly. "To ensure that the duel goes cleanly without any long lasting injuries."

Draco cursed. He and Snape had made a deal of sorts. It was a contingency more than anything; in case the mudblood won, Snape would make something up and declare her a cheater. Thus, he would win regardless.

But Dumbledore's presence was a problem.

Snape himself was silent for a while. "If that is your wish, headmaster." He said. He knew that there was no way that he could convince Dumbledore otherwise. No doubt the old headmaster had made a guess about Draco's less than pure intentions.

He was annoyingly observant like that.

"Without any further ado, begin." Dumbledore said.

Draco pointed his wand at Lavinia, smirking to see that she still had not brought out her own wand. He had first planned to use a borderline illegal spell – the blood boiling curse – to win instantly. But with Dumbledore here, he knew that he could not use it.

Draco instead opted for a simple stupefy, but he made sure to overpower it to cause enou–

A large gust of wind rammed into Draco, making him fly out of the ring even before he could utter the first syllable of stupefy. It was powerful enough that he had been knocked unconscious the moment it hit him.

His limp body fell a good ten feet behind the arena. Lavinia's determined face was the last thing he saw.

Snape, Dumbledore and the rest of the audience stared unbelievingly at Lavinia, who looked at them. She lowered her outstretched palm, her determined expression turning into an embarrassed one.

"Oops?" was all she said.

Given the way Draco had wanted to duel Harry, Lavinia had genuinely believed he was that powerful. It was the same spell that had destroyed that wall in their living quarters a few days ago, and Harry could easily withstand that spell. So she had empowered it a little bit further to 'test the waters' so to speak.

She had no idea that Draco would be that... that... weak.

Sapphire shook her head in amusement at Lavinia as Dumbledore declared her the winner. Snape wordlessly took Draco to the infirmary.

'Wait till Harry hears about this!'

The audience then suddenly broke out into applause at Lavinia's victory.

Ok, gonna end it here for now. Not gonna upload another chapter to this story for the rest of the year (sorry for that; could not resist). Next chapter will go further into the relationship between Harry and Ingvild. It was supposed to be in this chapter, but it was becoming too long for my liking.

And I am quite sure that I will receive some hate for making Harry act this way this chapter. As in, someone who doesn't even give a damn about what anyone thinks of him, to the point where not even Rita Skeeter's article was enough to offend him.

In my defence, I tried to give Ingvild good points as well as to why Harry should care, no matter how insincere her intentions may be. And even tried to go into how it affected Sapphire and Lavinia. I may not have been successful in any of that, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

I will also further expand into it from the Hogwarts students' perspective in the next chapter to give it more context.

In my opinion, Dumbledore finding out about the duel just made sense; even in canon he seemed to know whatever went in Hogwarts if the plot deemed it necessary for him to know.

And yes, Sapphire forgetting names is being turned into a running gag.

I know its a bit late, but Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

(does it concern anyone else that 2021 sounds like 2020 won?)