CHAPTER 24: The Dueling Tournament Qualifications

Harry didn't tell anyone where he was the previous night. When Ron asked him he simply said he took a walk. They both knew it was a lie but Ron didn't push it. After a quick breakfast Harry and Hermione started going over who they thought they would be facing in the next round of the tournament. Harry tried to sound confident but was afraid that he'd have to duel Hermione, it wasn't that he didn't want to duel a friend, it was more that he didn't want to duel such a smart friend. Finally, it was time to get down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"Welcome, everyone, to the semifinals of the sixth year qualification tournament! Our final four competitors are Harry Potter," there was a blast of applause from the crowd. "Hermione Granger," another blast of applause, not quite as much as Harry had received though. "Blaise Zabini," the Slytherins cheered loudly for the first time, Harry hid a grin as he looked over at his new friend. "And last, but not least, Neville Longbottom!" Neville received the loudest round of applause yet, making him blush. Harry had almost forgot about Neville, who continued to breeze through the tournament after defeating Goyle. Neville had received a boost of confidence after buying a new wand over the summer. He still kept the broken pieces of his father's wand, but this one seemed to work much better for him.

"The first match will be between Blaise Zabini and Harry Potter!" The two boys made their way up to the platform. "Gentlemen, you know the rules. No fatal curses, everything else is game." The two bowed to each other before beginning.

"Stupefy!"

"Respinga!" Harry countered. A large wall of what looked like a spider web formed in front of him. When the jet of red light struck it the web simply engulfed it and disappeared. Harry waved his wand and summoned a stone, which he then transfigured into a large shield. Blaise threw a variety of curses at it, all of which died against the rock shield. "Silencio!" Harry yelled, but the Slytherin saw it coming and rolled out of the way.

"Reducto!" He yelled, pointing at Harry's shield. The jet of light struck the edge of the stone shield and took a chip out of it. Blaise's eyes lit up. "ZERSTOREN!" He yelled, mimicking Malfoy's spell. As soon as Harry heard it he knew his rock shield wouldn't hold against the amplified reductor curse. He rolled out of the way before his shield exploded into a cloud of dust. Harry stayed in a crouch, trying to sense where his opponent was in the cloud. He heard a tentative step and pointed his wand in that direction. "Stupefy!" Harry heard a muffled cry and then a body hitting the floor in a heap. He just hoped he didn't hurt the Slytherin, it wouldn't do to be putting his new allies in the hospital wing. "Accio Wand!" Harry reached out his hand to catch the wand, but nothing came. Harry realized that he had been tricked, he hadn't his Blaise with that stunner, the Slytherin had faked it.

"Stupefy!" Harry heard the voice from inside the cloud and immediately conjured a shield.

"Vento!" Harry yelled, creating a blast of wind that cleared the area. Harry looked around and saw that Blaise was lying on his back after getting knocked over by the gust. Harry vast a stunning spell but the Slytherin rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. "Lashio!" Harry yelled as a whip popped out of the tip of his wand. It wrapped itself around Zabini's ankles, but instead of falling down and rolling he fought to keep his balance. Harry took advantage and cast another stunning spell which struck the Slytherin square in the chest. "Accio wand!" Harry yelled. This time the wand shot out of the stunned boy's grasp and into Harry's outstretched arm.

"Well done! I see Mr. Potter finally faced a worthy opponent." McClaggan smiled at Harry, who looked into the crowd to see that Malfoy wasn't there. "The next match is between Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger."

Harry felt bad that he had to fight his newfound ally, but had no idea what Hermione and Neville were thinking. He knew Neville had gotten very good, but couldn't see how he would be able to pull off a victory against Hermione, she was just too smart.

"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Silencio!" Neville yelled so fast that he almost took Hermione by surprise. Instead of trying to summon a shield she just dove out of the way, an odd move for Hermione. She usually relied on her cleverness and not her physical reactions. Harry realized that this could turn out to be a very interesting duel.

"Icius!" Hermione yelled, causing a bolt of ice to shoot at Neville's feet. It struck him before he had any time to react after his first rapid fire attack. Neville's feet were now frozen to the floor.

"Fuertas." He said calmly. A ball of fire shot out of his wand and melted the ice around his feet. He freed himself with just enough time to dive out of the way of Hermione's stunner.

"Lashio!" He yelled, jumping to his feet. The whip shot out of his wand, but Hermione was ready.

"Bolla!" She yelled, creating a giant bubble around her that protected her from Neville's attack. The whip wrapped around the bubble, but disintegrated before causing any damage to it.

"Vento!" Hermione yelled, creating a blast of wind.

"Vivo Rochia!" Neville pointed his wand towards the ground. Just before Hermione's gust of wind reached him a golem emerged from the ground. The wind hit the rock being, but didn't cause much damage. The golem approached Hermione slowly, lifting it's arms as if to hit her.

"Reducto!" The jet of energy hit the golem in the right shoulder, blowing off its right arm and spinning the creature. "Zerstoren!" This spell did the trick. The golem exploded into chunks of rock, which were promptly sucked back into the ground.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville yelled, trying to take advantage of the fact that Hermione hadn't returned her attention to him yet.

"Protego!" She yelled, causing Neville's beam to shoot back at him. "Lashio!" Neville dove out of the way of his own jinx before leveling his wand at the whip and muttering "diffindo." The whip broke apart.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled. Neville waved his wand back and forth quickly.

"Riffleta!" Neville yelled. A concave mirror appeared in front of Neville. The beam of light struck the mirror and split into two. Both beams shot back at Hermione, who summoned a shield. Unfortunately, the two beams were coming in at different angles. One beam hit her shield while the other struck her shoulder. She crumpled to the floor. "Accio Wand!" He yelled, grabbing the wand as it zoomed towards him.

"Well done, Neville!" McClaggan called above the roar of the crowd. "That was the best duel as of yet!" Neville was torn between looking pleased with himself and upset that he had cast a spell on one of his best friends. "Ennervate." McClaggan muttered, sensing the student's anxiety. Hermione got to her feet and looked around, confused for a second.

"Neville, that was fantastic!" She yelled, throwing her arms around his neck. "You really have improved!" Neville blushed, but Harry wasn't sure if that was because of the compliments or the hug.

"Ladies and gentleman, if you would allow me to speak with the finalists for just one minute…" The crowd went quiet and Harry walked forward. "I wanted to let you know that we have some time left in class and we could have the finals right now, but I wanted to make sure you aren't too tired."

"I'm fine." Neville said quickly. McClaggan looked at him strangely, "well it's not like death eaters are going to make sure I'm in good enough shape to duel, are they?" The Scot turned to Harry.

"I see that you really are a good teacher." Before Harry could object he continued. "If you feel up to it we will proceed." Harry couldn't back out after Neville's quick agreement. He nodded. "Excellent." McClaggan turned to the now silent audience. "I have a treat for you all today. We will finish the sixth year qualification tournament now, both finalists are ready." The crowd roared. "For the finals the rules remain the same, however, you will not be dueling on this platform. Follow me." McClaggan swept out of the classroom.

Harry wondered where they were going as he and Neville followed closely at their Professor's heels, then it dawned on him. They were heading towards the Great Hall, and it was lunch time. They would be dueling in front of the whole school. Harry looked at Neville, who, judging by his blanched face, must have just came to the same conclusion.

"Just don't humiliate me, ok?" Harry said, trying to breathe some life into his friend, it didn't work. Neville gave a half hearted smile and went back to looking nervous. Harry realized that this was the first time Neville was in the spotlight. Harry had grown accustomed to it over the years, and although he didn't like it, it didn't bother him nearly as much as it used to. Neville was feeling like Harry had been in his first year.

When McClaggan reached the large double doors leading into the Great Hall he turned around and smiled. "The finals for each year will be held here, in front of the whole school. This way the champion from each year will be able to see what his opponent's tendencies are. A large part of dueling is knowing what to expect." Harry agreed with that, the only reason he survived his fourth year was because Moody had showed him the unforgiveable curses.

McClaggan pushed the doors open and led the way into the crowded hall. As Harry and Neville walked in there was a round of applause, the Gryffindor table, however, was going crazy. Harry looked around and saw that Fred and George were sitting at the table smiling at him. Fred gave him a thumbs up while George pantomimed being hung by a noose. Harry could only laugh.

"Hem Hem." Harry froze. "I can't believe that still works." A smiling Professor McGonagall said, sitting back down and motioning towards Dumbledore.

"Welcome, all, to the finals of the sixth year dueling tournament. The winner of this duel will enter into a school tournament with one representative from each grade. To make sure the competition is even years one through three will be in a different tournament than the older students. Now, without further delay, I give you Breannan McClaggan."

"As you all know the rules of this tournament are simple, no fatal curses. Now, if you would all be so kind to stand up…" He looked around the room to make sure nobody remained in their seats. With a wave of his wand the tables disappeared. "If you would all make your way towards the walls I will explain the few changes I have made." The students began moving. "I've decided that due to the size and importance of this match, the duel should take place in a larger area. Therefore the duelists will have most of the Great Hall to their disposal. They will be able to move almost to the wall and up as high as the ceiling. We will cast a ward by the walls to make sure no stray spells hit the audience."

Harry and Neville stood in the center of the near empty Great Hall. The walls were lined with students, giving them enough room to do anything that Harry could possibly imagine.

When McClaggan had finished the wards he signaled for Harry and Neville to draw their wands.

"Stupefy!"

"Respinga!" Harry countered. He dove out of the way of the ice beam Neville shot his way. Harry was trying to think strategically, but the thought that he was in the great hall and in front of the entire school kept coming into his mind. He wanted to do something big and impressive. He leveled his wand at Neville and yelled "Vur Fengsel!" A jet of fire shot from his wand and formed a cage around Neville. Neville quickly tried to douse the flames. Harry was expecting that Neville would take his attention away and took the opportunity to point his wand at himself and transfigure his back into a pair of Thestral wings. He took off and was high in the air before Neville got out of his prison.

Harry began to rain down curses and jinxes from above as Neville did everything he could to deflect them.

"Vento!" Harry was caught off guard by Neville's spell, which didn't hit him but made it nearly impossible to fly straight.

"Icius!" Harry yelled, freezing Neville's feet to the floor. Harry then took away the thestral wings, which were just making it harder for Harry to regain control of his descent. He then pointed his wand at himself again and whispered, "wingardium leviosa." Harry controlled his fall the floor and set himself on his feet just as Neville finished melting the ice around his feet.

"Lashio!" Neville yelled, but Harry was ready. Instead of defending himself he dove out of the way, allowing Neville to maintain the whip. Harry quietly summoned a large piece of wood and waited for Neville to attack again. When Neville cracked the whip Harry spun and allowed the whip to wrap around the two by four he was holding. With a big tug Harry yanked the whip out of Neville's hand. As soon as tit left Neville's hand it returned to its wand form. Harry watched as it arced gracefully from Neville's hand, but before he could retrieve it he felt a crash against his jaw. He stumbled backwards, and when he got up he saw Neville picking up his wand. He realized that while he had been watching where the wand was going Neville had acted quickly and threw a punch to knock him off balance.

"Fuertas!" Neville screamed.

"Aqueous!" Harry yelled, a jet of water shot out of his wand, put out Neville's fireball, and continued towards him.

"Icius!" Neville hadn't tried to dodge the spell, he sent an icicle at Harry's jet of water which froze it and threw it back at Harry. Harry was impressed with Neville's quick thinking, but melted the ice without a problem. Suddenly Harry was struck with an idea. Neville would probably use the shield he had used to defeat Hermione, if Harry could make him use it he could win.

"Stupefy!" He yelled, mimicking Hermione's last move. As Harry expected Neville summoned his mirror shield, splitting the beam into two and reflecting it towards Harry. Harry spun his wand in his fingers.

"Vortichos!" He yelled, causing the black hole to open and swallow both of the beams of red light. Harry leveled his wand and pointed once in front and once behind Neville. Neville saw the black hole open in front of him, and summoned a shield to protect himself, but he didn't see the hole open behind him. Neville crumpled as it struck him. "Accio Wand!" Neville's wand sped into Harry's outstretched hand.