Chapter 33 Prelude to the Games

"Please, please, Harry?"

"I have homework, though," Harry protested. It was Saturday morning of Easter break, and Harry was trying to get his assignments done for the upcoming week.

"But this is homework, too. Please?"

Harry sighed. "All right, Pete. You win." He glanced at James's eager expression and then at Tonks, who kept glancing at him meaningfully. And he sighed again. "You might as well invite everybody, including the girls."

"Really?" James gasped, glancing at Lily.

"Really." Harry reluctantly put away his textbook and gave Tonks a nod. She grinned widely and herded the girls over to where the Marauders were standing up. Peter had been begging since Friday evening for practice duels, and at first Harry had flatly refused. But he had eventually managed to wear Harry down, and now, it looked like all of the Gryffindor sixth years were about to get a crash course in dueling and some valuable practice for the tournament the next week (and real life).

Fifteen minutes later, they all stood before the blank wall on the seventh floor in front of Barnabus the Barmy. Harry and Tonks had blindfolded all of them, in keeping with tradition, and then Harry paced in front of the wall and asked for the DA headquarters. On the third pass, the Room obliged. Harry and Tonks ushered their friends inside and removed the blindfolds, amidst protests from the girls and halfhearted grumbling from the boys.

"Right. You're here to practice for the dueling tournament next week, but let me tell you this: it's not just practice for school. If you get attacked out there, this could save your life. If you treat this like a joke," Harry gave Sirius especially a sharp look, "your next opponent will be me or Joselyn, and you will regret it."

"Do you mean to sound so intense?" Mary asked, a little shyly.

"You got hurt during the attack on Hogsmeade. Don't you think I should be?" Harry asked, a little more harshly than he intended.

Mary opened her mouth, then closed it again and nodded. Tonks elbowed Harry in the side.

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh? Not just on her, but in general?"

Harry bit back a rant about how things were getting worse outside the walls of Hogwarts with every passing day and they should be harsh; they were preparing for a war, after all. But instead of saying all that, which he knew Tonks understood anyway, Harry took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm not trying to scare you. But like I said before, this isn't just going to help you get a free pass on your practical exam. Professor Dean is preparing us for what's out there—he's an auror, in case you forgot. All I want is for you to take this seriously—no, Sirius," Harry cut him off when Sirius opened his mouth. "You know I'm just itching for a chance to really knock some sense into you, right?"

Sirius scowled but didn't protest. Things were still quite tense between them, and Harry knew that if he were to end up dueling Sirius, here and now, he would go all out, and probably (mostly by accident) put him in the hospital wing. So it was really better for both of them that they didn't duel each other.

"Anyway. We're going to follow the same rules as the tournament, but the duels will be shorter, since this is just practice. Jos and I will walk around and help you out while you duel in pairs, and if you're feeling confident, you can challenge one of us later."

"Are you really that good?" Marlene asked, only half-joking.

"Want to find out?" Harry asked with a faint smile, twirling his wand.

"Later, yes," Marlene declared. "And I owe you for the charms duel anyway."

Harry grinned, then clapped his hands. "All right. Pair up." Harry wished for a stopwatch, and the Room of Requirement provided one atop a cabinet nearby. He grabbed it and set it for 10 minutes while the others paired off, then he called their attention again. "You have ten minutes to incapacitate your opponent. Three. Two. One. Start!"

Immediately spells were flying. James had snagged Lily, Remus was dueling Sirius, Peter dueled Marlene, and Alice and Mary were dueling each other. As Harry circled the room, he made note of what they could do to improve. They were all doing a decent job, though Alice and Mary were clearly inexperienced. They were matched to each other, but with any other opponent in the room, they would probably struggle. Sirius was using far too many prank spells, trying to distract Remus by making him laugh, which made Harry shake his head. Lily was relying too heavily on her shield charm, but Marlene was making good use of her agility as a chaser to dodge around Peter's spells rather than block them.

When ten minutes were up, Harry called a stop. To his surprise, there were no clear winners, though it was clear one or two of them had the upper hand and would have won given a bit more time. Remus, for one, and Marlene.

"All right. You're all doing pretty good. But here's some advice," Harry began. "It's better to dodge a spell than block it, because you never know what kind of spell is being sent at you. It could be a disarming charm—or it could be an Unforgiveable. A shield charm should be your last resort, or to protect vulnerable allies. Otherwise it's always better to dodge, and to keep moving. A moving target is harder to hit.

"Also," Harry glared at Sirius, "prank spells are funny, but they're better for a quick distraction before you move in with a real spell, like a stunner. If prank spells are all you use, you won't last long. Also, don't be afraid to mix in some surprises, like we did in Charms last week. If you can't hit your opponent, chances are there's something nearby you can hit and use to your advantage."

"Exactly," Tonks jumped in. "And vary the spells you use. If all you're shooting is a stunning spell, you might eventually hit something, but you'll only tire yourself out and make yourself an easy target. Change it up, like we did in Charms. Use your surroundings, use your imagination. Remember, you're fighting to survive, not just to win. Use every last bit of grit you can muster and land your killing blow."

They all blinked—even Harry—at the intensity with which Tonks said that last sentence. It sounded vaguely familiar…

"Like she said. Now change partners and go again. Remember what we just told you," Harry addressed the others. "Ready? Set? Go!"

With a new partner, they began.

Harry then turned to Tonks. "You just quoted Moody, didn't you?" Harry asked in an undertone.

Tonks grinned. "Constant vigilance," she whisper-yelled, and Harry grinned back. But then his grin faded.

"Am I wrong to be so hard on them?" he asked.

Tonks shook her head. "Not at all. You're trying to save them. If that means a bit of tough love, I say go for it." Then she ruffled his hair, ignoring his indignant protests. "You're making a difference, kid, and a big one. You just don't know it yet."

Harry bit his lip. "I hope so."

Tonks smacked him on the shoulder in supposed reassurance, then went to circulate amongst their friends.

After about an hour, Harry tried to call a halt to their practice, as everyone was clearly getting tired. Much to his surprise, everyone—including the girls—protested, insisting they needed the practice. Lily even stepped up.

"You said we're fighting for survival. We can't stop just because we're tired. Because if we're really attacked, we fight until we win…or we're killed. And it's getting worse out there by the day. If we can't start to make a difference now, then why are we even here?"

James grinned. "Well said, Evans. And may I just say—oomph!" Remus had elbowed him in the ribs.

"One compliment is enough," he hissed, amused.

"So can we continue?" Peter asked.

Harry blinked, glanced at Tonks, then shrugged. "All right. We'll go for a bit longer. But don't run yourself into the ground. Because this is just practice."

"Can we duel you now?" Marlene asked.

Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Sure. If you're feeling confident, you can take turns dueling either Joselyn or I."

"And we'll knock you off your own pedestal," Tonks added with a grin.

"So, who's first?"

"Me!" Marlene insisted. "I challenge Harry. I owe you from last week."

"I'd like to duel Joselyn," Lily said with a smile.

"All right. The rest of you, observe," Harry said. "Note what you like and what works, and try to use it when it's your turn."

"Aye, aye, captain!" James saluted with a grin. Harry rolled his eyes again, but he couldn't help smiling back.

Then he and Marlene faced each other, and a little way away, Lily and Tonks faced off. Harry tossed Remus his stopwatch, then readied his wand.

"On your marks!" Remus called, watching the stopwatch. "Get set! Go!"

Harry's first action was to dodge, because he knew Marlene would strike first. Sure enough, a disarming charm flew past where he had been standing just a moment before. He responded in kind.

"I want to know why you seem to be in charge of this little group," Marlene said, tossing out three spells, one right after the other. Harry dodged or deflected all of them and returned fire.

"Well, I can't claim it's because it was my idea," he replied. "James insisted, because apparently I'm the best at Defense among all of them."

"Have you ever dueled Remus? He was top of the whole year, until you came along."

"Not yet. I'd like to, though," Harry replied, narrowly dodging a tripping jinx and tossing back one of his own, cloaked amongst three stunners, a color-change charm, and a knockback jinx.

Marlene neatly danced out of the way of all but the color-change charm, which nicked her arm. She grimaced as her robes turned a lurid orange. Then she redoubled her attack.

"Technically, you'd already be down," Harry pointed out.

"Technically, you shouldn't be talking so much," she shot back, and suddenly she was on full attack. Harry realized she'd been testing the waters up 'til now. He raised an eyebrow, but responded in kind. He didn't even have to remind himself to hold back, as she was easily keeping him on his toes.

"You've been spending too much time with my sister," he complained. Marlene just grinned, and then they had no more breath to spare for conversation.

After being forced to become increasingly more creative in the ways he attacked and dodged, Harry finally managed to get the upper hand by peppering the entire area where Marlene was standing with conjured marbles and a few scourgifys. She slipped, barely kept her feet, and retaliated, but being forced to dodge Harry's next barrage of spells made keeping her footing difficult. And just before Remus called time, she slipped on a conveniently placed glacius charm and went down, and Harry finished her with a disarming charm.

Nearby, Lily was breathing hard, her face flushed, and Tonks was grinning, brandishing Lily's wand like a trophy.

"Never…would have used a…warming charm like that," Lily panted, fanning herself with her robes.

"That's why if you limit yourself to stupefy and shields, you'll lose," Tonks said kindly, returning her wand and cancelling the charm. "But you put up a good fight, even after you realized what I'd done. So good job."

Harry helped Marlene to her feet, ignoring her pout. "You have to use area and target spells. Sticking to just one or the other will leave you at a disadvantage if your opponent is more creative than you are. And be confident in the spells you know. If you're not sure if something will work and try to cast it anyway, it ends up being much weaker than you need it to be. But feel free to try new things. It might just turn the tide in your favor."

"I get why you're in charge now. You—the both of you," Marlene clarified with a glance at Tonks, "are demons."

Not much later, it was lunchtime, so (with some reluctance), the group of Gryffindors left the Room of Requirement for the Great Hall. Only Harry promising they could practice again the next day got them to stop complaining.

And practice they did. From midmorning to late afternoon, all the Gryffindor sixth years were to be found in the Room of Requirement, practicing. For a little while, they worked on becoming more confident with a chosen few spells they could cast without thinking. For Harry, those spells included the disarming charm, stupefy, the stinging hex, and quite a few others. The others were very comfortable with the knockback jinx, and the Marauders loved levicorpus. Lily especially favored stupefy, and Peter, oddly enough, was incredibly good at the summoning charm. So Harry and Tonks coached them through how to use their favored spells to their greatest advantage, and then continued their practice duels.

Harry soundly defeated Sirius when he became the only one who hadn't dueled Harry yet, and therefore demanded a match. Harry gladly unleashed nearly two weeks' worth of pent-up anger and frustration, though he was careful enough not to be too vicious. If he heavily favored the stinging hex during that duel, well, who was going to judge him? But at least Sirius's defeat sobered him up enough to realize that, if he had wanted to, Harry could cause some serious damage, and that he really wasn't to be messed with. The others watched in awe as Harry firmly put Sirius in his place, because up until that moment, he'd won every single duel. Of course, he hadn't dueled Tonks yet, and after being so soundly beaten by Harry, Sirius wisely decided not to challenge his sister.

Sunday evening Harry finally got away from the others for some quiet time in the library to finish up his assignments for the next day. And who should he find but Regulus, looking in equal parts relieved and put out as he labored over his Potions assignment.

"What's up?" Harry asked, furrowing his brow. Potions came easily to Regulus, which meant it was something else.

"Well, Mum removed the spell. But she also gave me a very firm reminder of what awaits me should I stray again," he said bitterly. Harry was surprised Regulus offered up that information willingly. But he was also glad.

"Good. Well, good that she removed the spell. But…I hope she wasn't too harsh."

"Not this time." Regulus sighed. "Thank Salazar," he murmured. "Anyway. I hear your dueling tournament is starting tomorrow?"

Harry nodded. "Everyone's really excited."

Regulus tilted his head. "Except you."

Harry shrugged. "I don't feel the need to prove anything."

"Then why are you in Gryffindor?"

Harry laughed, Regulus's comment taking him by surprise. "Believe it or not, we're not all arrogant ponces."

"Just some of you are."

"Yep."

Regulus rolled his eyes, almost smiling, then returned to his homework. Harry did as well, and they passed the rest of the evening in companionable silence. About twenty minutes before curfew, they packed up their things and said their farewells before returning to their dorm.

Monday, all the sixth years could think about was the first round of their dueling tournament, which was estimated to last all week. The Gryffindors and Slytherins, especially, were eager to show off their skills. Unfortunately, some of them couldn't wait until class, and some of them ended up losing points before even entering the classroom. Namely, Sirius and Severus, who literally ran into each other just after lunch and it escalated from trading insults to wands being drawn before Remus intervened, took points off both of them, and ignored Sirius's protests. Harry was proud of him for taking his role as prefect seriously. Well, he usually did, but he was understandably more lax when it came to his friends.

Finally, though, it was time for DADA. The sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins eagerly entered their classroom, only to find it transformed.

The desks were arranged in concentric semicircles around the outside of the room, much like they had been for the boggart lesson so long ago. But the room was far bigger now, and the desks were arranged on tiers, the second one rising ten feet off the ground, circling the room and facing down into an arena-like area some twenty feet across—more than enough room for a one-on-one duel. To make things even more interesting, the arena resembled a commercial street already partially destroyed as if by spellfire. Partially crumbled shop fronts, rubble, and miscellaneous objects that could have been merchandise lay scattered around the area, and though the reminder of the Hogsmeade attack was chilling (at least for Harry), he had to appreciate the lengths Professor Dean was willing to go to accurately simulate a real-life duel, as well as just how far magic could go in mirroring a real setting.

Amidst awed and excited murmurs, the class filed in and chose their seats around the outside. Unsurprisingly, the students split down the middle—Gryffindors on the right, Slytherins on the left. The tournament bracket was displayed on the board opposite the door, big enough that even those farthest away could read it clearly.

When the bell rang, Professor Dean entered the room and went down to the center of the arena.

"Welcome to the first round of the dueling tournament," he said loudly. The room wasn't so big that he needed to use a sonorous charm (though it was twice the size of their usual classroom), but he had to raise his voice slightly to be heard nonetheless.

"First off, I want every one of you, especially those of you dueling today, to take a few minutes to review the rules," he began. "Because, once again, any violation means you are automatically disqualified, and ignorance is no excuse. I will not review them for you; you are responsible enough to do it yourself. Five minutes to review, and those of you dueling today—Nott, Pettigrew, Snape, and Selwin, and possibly Avery and Glaston, depending on time—can review your strategies. Five minutes starting now."

There was a rustle of parchment as everyone retrieved their notes to review the rules and discuss who they thought would win. Five minutes passed quickly.

"All right. Nott and Pettigrew, go ahead and make your way down to the arena. The rest of you, don't forget you are meant to take notes on each duel. I will be checking for them at the end of class. Failure to turn them in will result in lost points and no credit for today's class. And being so close to exams, you really can't afford to lose credit now." Professor Dean smiled a little ferally, as though he was daring them to try him.

"You got this, Pete," Harry said.

"Knock him dead," Sirius declared.

"But not literally," Remus clarified pointedly.

"Go win this. Show 'em who's boss!" James said, clapping Peter on the shoulder as he passed.

Peter grinned nervously.

"Remember to dodge, and don't give up," Harry added as Peter passed him last.

"Thanks, guys," Peter said. He straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin, then marched into the arena like he'd already won. The other Marauders grinned proudly.

Nott glowered as he entered the arena and took his position.

"Now, once again, there are to be no spells cast with the intent or capability to cause permanent or lasting harm. I'll be refereeing to ensure this rule especially is followed. You may begin when I say the word."

Professor Dean then raised his wand, and a shimmering shield formed to enclose the arena. Sound could still get through, but spells wouldn't.

"Ready? Begin!"