"Are you ready?" Crystal asked Harry the morning of the Defense Against the Dark Arts tryouts.

"Yes, I am," Harry replied. "Let's go."
Their regular classes had been cancelled due to the Elite competitions so after they finished eating breakfast they made their way to where they were supposed to meet Professor Love. It was a cool morning with a light fog floating above the ground. Perfect conditions for Crystal to compete in. Not long after they arrived Professor Love came across the grounds.

"Hello everyone," she began. "we will have three different sections in the Defense Against the Dark Arts tryouts. The first section is a knowledge test to see how much you know. Then you will meet a creature that you must defeat. Last we will have a dueling tournament. We will then combine the score of all three sections for your total score. While you are waiting to tryout you will stay in the tent by the Quidditch pitch. When you hear your name go onto the field and you will be told what to do. After you tryout please make your way into the stands were you will stay until the section is done. There will be a thirty minute break between each section so you can rest. Good luck everyone and would you please make your way to the tent."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Crystal walked across the grounds to the tent. To their surprise the rest of the competitors were already in the tent.
"Well Potter, think you can actually win?" Draco sneered. "Well don't get you hopes up because I will win."
"No you're not," Hermione protested. "Harry has had a lot more experience in fighting evil. In fact, he's fought your dad."
"Shut up mudblood no one asked for your opinion," Draco replied.

Before anyone could stop him Ron punched Draco across the face, knocking him back into a chair.

"Taking up for the mudblood now are we? You'll regret it in the end," Malfoy warned.

"Draco Malfoy," the announcers voice boomed across the tent.

"Love to stay and chat but it's time for me to go win." And with that Draco Malfoy disappeared onto the field.

The first section of the tryouts was easy. They asked simple questions almost anyone would know the answer too.

Once back in the tent Harry said," This is too easy."
"You still have two more sections and something tells me that they won't be that easy," Crystal said,

"Harry Potter," the announcer called.

"Good luck," Crystal, Ron, and Hermione said in unison.

As Harry marched onto the field he noticed a small wooden crate at one end of the field. Occasionally the crate would jerk violently but then it would calm back down again.

"All you have to do is defeat the creature inside the box," the announcer began. "I'll open the box in three, two, one!"
A dark figure slowly made it's way out of the box. A slight mist covered the field as the cloaked creature made it's way towards Harry.

"A dementor," Harry laughed. "This will be to easy." Harry began focusing on a time last year when Gryffindor had won both the house and Quidditch cups. "Expecto Patronum," he cried.

A silver stag charged from the end of Harry's wand toward the dementor. The dementor flew high into the sky then landed with a crack on the ground. The dementor tried to get up but tripped over it's own robe.

"This isn't right," Harry thought. "Riddikulus!"
The dementors long black robe was instantly replaced by a bright pink robe covered in flowers. The stands erupted in laughter. The boggart, now defeated, burst into smoke. Harry walked up to where he would sit until the next section of the tryouts.

"Crystal Lockhart."
Crystal emerged from the tent and made her way onto the field. Another box was place onto the field.

"Three, two, one!"
Out of the box appeared yet another dementor. Crystal twirled her wand in her hand. "Too easy," she thought. "How should I defeat the boggart?" The cloaked figure drew closer. "Riddikulus!"
Out of the dementor's hood appeared a huge pair of lips. The crowd laughed so hard the boggart was gone in seconds. Crystal took a bow then made her way into the stands toward Harry.

"I didn't know you were afraid of dementors," Harry exclaimed as Crystal sat down.

"Yeah," Crystal replied. "The first time I saw one I relived my mother's death. It was horrible. Later I learned how to fight it, even without a wand. My dad said it was possible because of the blood bonding ritual thing Voldemort performed. Oh. . . .what form does your Patronus take?"
"A stag. My father was an Animagi and could turn into a stag. What about you?"
"A unicorn. My mother was also an Animagi and guess what she could turn into."
"A unicorn," Harry chimed. "That's cool. How could you tell that it was a boggart just by looking at it?"
"It's very simple if you know what to look for," Crystal began. "First a real dementor is taller. Second dementors movements are smother. And have you ever seen a dementor in a box?"
"Well now that you mention it," Harry began. "I guess I was kind of stupid."

The dueling tournament took the longest out of the three sections. There were three different brackets and the winners of each bracket advanced to the finals. Once in the finals it was double elimination. The winner of the first bracket was Crystal, the winner of the second bracket was Harry, and the winner of the third bracket was Draco.

The first match in the finals was Crystal vs. Harry. Crystal was a lot faster and gave Harry his first loss. The next match was Crystal vs. Draco. Crystal once again came out on top and left her the only one who hadn't lost. The next match was Draco vs. Harry. Harry quickly won knocking Draco out of the competition for good. Harry had to duel Crystal again. If he lost, he was out for good.

"One, two, three!"
"Expelliarmus!"

Harry couldn't believe it. He had just won against Crystal. Now it was time for the final match and neither Harry nor Crystal would accept defeat.

"One, two, three!"

All Harry seen was Crystal smile as she disappeared from view.

"Oh great," Harry thought. "How will I ever find her?"
"Expelliarmus!" Crystal shouted.

"Barium!" A force field appeared in front of Harry protecting him from the disarming charm. The charm reflected back to where it came from but Crystal was no longer there.

"Ha," Harry laughed. "Have fun. Serpensortia!"
A snake slid out of the end of Harry's wand and headed toward the invisible Crystal.

"I hate you," Crystal hissed. "Leave," she told the snake. The snake began to slither away but it was to late. Harry hit Crystal with the disarming charm knocking her backwards onto the ground. As she hit the ground she became visible once again.

"And the winner is Harry Potter!"

"Congratulations," Crystal said as Harry helped her up.

"It took me too long to find you. You could have defeated me," Harry replied.
"No you deserve it."

Over the next few weeks the Elite tryouts continued. Neville had defiantly won the Herbology tryout but no one was sure of anything other subject. Finally the competitions were over and everyone couldn't wait until the awards ceremony that Sunday. Except for Crystal who couldn't wait until their trip to Hogsmeade the next day.

~*~
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