Chapter Twenty-Two:
Harry vs. Draco
A/N: The End of an Era…Or the beginning of a new one?
The rest of the Battle Royals went without too much incident. Four more people were put in the infirmary due to broken bones because someone had summoned a troll into the ring. Two more people had burns similar to Ron, but since they had been eliminated fairly quickly, their cases were much less severe.
"Too bad Snape isn't still alive," said Draco to Harry as they walked with a large group to the center ring where the one-on-one matches were being held. "His knowledge of the Dark Arts was second only to The Dark Lord."
"If Peter hadn't killed him, I might have," said Harry sourly. They were being closely followed by Ginny, Fleur, Hermione, and Cho. Cho, despite losing, decided to stay and watch the rest of the tournament. They had also met up with a few others from Hogwarts who were there for various reasons. Ernie McMillan, who had already been eliminated, Parvati Patil, who like Lavender was representing Madam Malkin's, Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas who had each been eliminated as well. They had also been joined by Neville, Luna, Fred and George. Soon, the voice of Auric Orion could be heard through out the arena.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," he shouted, "We will now begin the one-on-one Preliminary Round! This round will decide the top 32 wizard's in the world and who will participate in the opening ceremony of the Worldwide Wizard's Dueling Tournament! Now, can Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy please report to the ring?" All of the lights in the Preliminary Grounds went out, except for the one over the center ring. "The rules are simple! A competitor is eliminated as soon as he either is knocked out of the ring, or submits. Each competitor can use any number of wands that are registered for tournament use!" Harry and Draco reported to the ring with the others trailing behind. "There will be a 25 min. time limit and points will be given as follows. For each time the opponent is knocked down 3 points will be given, for each time an opponent is disarmed, 2 points, and for each time a spell is deflected 1 point! Should the match come to a decision, points will be tallied, and the one with the most points will win the match. In the event of a tie, the two contestants will go into a sudden death round, where the first person to be knocked off their feet, disarmed, or beaten by any other normal means, loses the match!"
A/N: Thought of everything, didn't I?
"Wow," said Seamus, "It's just like old times!"
"I know," said Dean with an envious tone, "But, it is a bit anti-climatic." When he said this everyone looked at him with confused looks, even Seamus looked bewildered. Finally, it was Neville who asked everyone's question.
"What do you mean, Dean?" he asked.
"C'mon, one of you must feel it!" said Dean disbelievingly, "Seamus, Cho, Luna, Hermione, Ginny?" Dean was exasperated, "I thought Ginny or Hermione, being so close to Harry, could at least feel it!"
"Get to the point Dean!" exclaimed Ginny.
"It's the end of an era!" shouted Dean, "It's going to end, it's all ending right now, and the tournament is just beginning!"
Seamus, Neville, Ernie, Parvati, Lavender and Hermione caught on instantly. "You're right Dean, it's… It's so obvious… I should have caught on earlier," said Hermione, Dean blushed at Hermione's praise.
"What's so obvious?" asked Cho, unsure whether or not she should actually know the answer.
"Yeah, can you clue the rest of us in?" asked Ginny, Cho looked relieved that Ginny wasn't sure what was going on.
Seamus and Neville exchanged knowing looks. But it was Seamus who spoke first, "Dean's right it IS the end of an era!" he said with a wolfish smile. Lavender and Parvati giggled and Ginny glared at them all murderously.
Neville showed his Gryffindor courage by adding, "It's like having the final round at the beginning! It's the fight WE'VE been waiting for, for nine years!" he was suppressing a laugh as realization came to the other's faces.
"Oh, Merlin!" gasped Cho, "Harry vs. Malfoy! It should have happened my third year, but with all the stuff going on with the Heir of Slytherin, the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue they never got to finish!" Ginny paled noticeably, "I'm sorry Ginny, I forgot that the Heir had taken you into the Chamber!" Everyone knew that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin, but they did not know that Ginny, being possessed by Tom Riddle, had opened it in the first place. Hermione gave Ginny a knowing look, but Ginny shook her head.
"Don't worry about it, we'll explain everything later," said Ginny, "Harry shouldn't have to protect me forever," Cho and the others, including Fred and George, were confused. The only people who knew the full truth were Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Professors Snape and McGonagall. "With everything going on, we'll need all the help we can get and some things should not be kept secret." Everyone shifted uneasily at Ginny's words, Hermione abruptly changed the subject.
"The last time they faced each other was after Dumbledore's funeral," said Hermione solemnly, "Ron, Harry, and I were working on defeating Voldemort," nearly everyone except Neville, Luna, Ginny, Fred and George gave an involuntary shudder, "Harry went off somewhere on his own and we all got separated. He met up with Draco and the two of them began to duel. I've never seen a duel so intense, and whatever Harry said to Draco, made him help us get two steps closer to defeating Voldemort. Of course when Harry all of a sudden appears in his fortress, and Draco killed Nagini, Voldemort caught on to what we were doing, or had done, and ordered all of his Death Eaters and their allies on a full scale attack. Draco went back to Malfoy Manor to protect his mother and Pansy knowing that because of his treachery they would be killed, while the rest of us went back to the Burrow. That was the night Harry defeated Voldemort."
"And the rest is history," said Cho, "I've never heard of anyone called Nagini, why was it so important to kill him?"
"Nagini is such an odd name," said Luna, dreamily, "I don't remember Papa saying anything about any Death Eaters by that name."
"Nagini was Voldemort's snake," Ginny answered.
"Why…" Ernie began to ask.
"A conversation best left for later," interrupted Hermione, as they all saw Harry and Draco go to the center of the ring.
Auric Orion could not believe the tension in the atmosphere. He looked at the large group that had arrived with the two contestants in the ring. Obviously, they all knew both contestants and the looks on their faces said that something special was about to happen. He didn't know what, but he became very interested to find out. He knew that this would be a match to watch at this tournament, and that there wouldn't be another match like it, during the next three days. It would probably decide who would go to the finals. He looked at the expressions on the competitors. They were both stone faced, neither showing any emotion. 'I'm seeing the end of something,' he thought suddenly, 'this should be spectacular!'
Neither Harry nor Draco was aware of the conversation about them, or the thoughts of the ring announcer, but they each had the very same feeling. Neither acknowledged it, nor did they know what it was, the feeling was just there. They began to speak so only they could hear.
"Think we can finish this time Potter?" challenged Draco.
"The only way for you to beat me is to throw me from the ring, and you'll have to actually hit me for that to happen," smiled Harry, "I'm still debating whether I should even draw my wand."
"You will, it's too soon not to, too much publicity," smirked Draco.
"Think you'll be able to keep up?" challenged Harry.
"What makes you think YOU'RE in MY league?" asked Draco.
"Well, I did defeat VOLDEMORT, so I guess that makes YOU the underdog," Harry shot back.
They stood in the middle of the ring, the tension of what was about to happen coursed through out all the former Hogwarts Students in attendance. Even Fred and George were silent, waiting for the duel to begin.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouted Auric, "The first match of the Preliminary Round is about to begin! Harry Potter vs. Draco Malfoy! Ready? Begin!"
Both Potter and Malfoy tensed neither drew their wands. Each of the former Hogwarts students held their breaths. They each slowly drew their wands. For both combatants nothing else existed, but that moment. All lay forgotten; Ginny and Pansy, Ron and Hermione, James Collins and Malak Ruglia- all was forgotten, none of it mattered. They stared at each other, neither blinking, neither moving as an unseen war was being waged between old rivals. To everyone watching, it was the end of an era.
They each took two steps towards each other. Both raised their wands and bowed neither breaking eye contact. As if to make a statement Malfoy smirked at Potter. It was just like old times.
"Scared, Potter?" asked Malfoy in a confident voice, as they stood straight up, lowering their wands.
"You wish," replied Potter. They both turned at once, and took five paces and stopped. They were moving as one. Every movement was the exact same. Time seemed to stand still; Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours. No one blinked, afraid to miss the moment. Then it happened, the beginning of the end.
As both turned to face each other, time began to speed up again, as they both simultaneously shouted, "STUPEFY!" Instead of the red beam that usually shot from the wands, there was a crimson, wild bolt of raw, untamed magical energy that surged from the wands. The two bolts struck each other exactly half way between the two casters and exploded with a blinding flash of red light. At that moment both Potter and Malfoy charged each other, waving their wands. They both stopped, with just inches between the tips of their wands. They both shouted simultaneously, "PROTEGO!" To the astonishment of the crowd, both shields collided and there were blue bolts of energy surging from between the two shields. Both opponents were knocked back and thrown off balance. The crowd had significantly grown as more people grew interested in the match. No one had ever seen a shield charm be used to counter another shield charm. Malfoy recovered as he was able to keep standing, but slide back several feet. Potter, on the other hand, landed on his back. He also slide several feet and used the moment to roll back onto his feet. Both raised their wands simultaneously and shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!" The two silver bolts of raw energy connected and exploded in a flash of blinding silver light. Potter and Malfoy were matching each other curse for curse in both skill and power. They each took a defensive stance and started to circle each other trying to anticipate the other's next move. Malfoy attacked first, sending a wordless hex at Potter. A yellow beam of light shot from his wand, and in an awesome shot of power, Potter raised his wand and sent out a shockwave. The shockwave dissolved Malfoy's hex and knocked him off his feet. Malfoy began to stand, but no one could follow Potter's movements as he sent three curses at Malfoy. Malfoy pointed his wand at the ground and used a banishing charm, sending him airborne, and Potter's curses missed completely.
Potter looked up in surprise as five curses came at him. He deflected the first three, but the last two went right through him. He began to shimmer and fade. Malfoy anticipating this, immediately spun around in mid air and fired off two more hexes at Potter who had disapparated above and behind him. Potter deflected them easily and sent a hex at Malfoy. Malfoy also deflected this and both apparated. They both disapparated back on the ground, and sent another curse at each other. The red bolts of energy collided and exploded in a bright flash of red light, and both were gone. Everyone looked up several feet from where Potter and Malfoy had been. Both were disapparating, sending a hex at the other, deflecting another one and apparating again. Sometimes the curse and hexes would strike each other and explode high in the air. Everyone gasped at the spectacular light show over head.
As they landed once more, Malfoy charged Potter. A red light seemed to be collecting energy at the tip of Malfoy's wand. Malfoy pointed the wand at Potter and sent out a large, powerful, red beam at him. Potter threw up a powerful shield charm at that moment and was pushed back several feet, to the edge of the ring. It was now a battle of wills as the shield charm was pounded continuously by the red beam. Both of their wands began to shake from the strain. Potter took a step forward, but Malfoy remained firm. Their wand arms began to shake from the strain. Potter took another step forward and Malfoy began to slide back several inches. Their arms began to shake even more violently as they grabbed onto their wands with both hands. They each tightened the grips on their wands and Harry took two more steps pushing Malfoy back even further. Malfoy forced more magic through his wand. The beam began to flux and increase in size. Potter's shield became strained and he re-doubled his efforts. Both contestants lost ground and were forced inches from the edge. Even as both combatants lost ground, their arms shaking violently from the strain of trying to over power the other, both refused to give in to the other.
Harry knew neither could take too much more of the strain. He jumped to the side as he dropped the shield charm. At that same moment Draco dropped his wand jumping out of the way of a magic rebound that never came. Harry inwardly cursed himself, but when he looked at Draco he couldn't help but smile. Draco had been cursing himself as well. Both had dropped their spells at the same time, and they simply cancelled each other out in stead of rebounding towards the other.
Draco looked on at the smiling fool. He cursed himself again. He knew by Harry's cocky smile that he had lost the match. It was the same smile Harry got on his face before catching the snitch or when Ginny said she loved him. It was the very same smile that Draco remembered from Harry's Pensieve, before Harry dropped his wand and Pettigrew killed Snape, the night Harry defeated Voldemort. Draco remembered back to that night when Harry and he dueled in one of Voldemort's strongholds. The duel was merciless, but Harry had smiled then as well, before making that preposterous proposition that he had reluctantly taken. Draco's training that year, after Snape had killed Dumbledore, left him with few equals, yet Potter matched him. Then Potter soon after defeated Voldemort. No matter how hard he trained, no matter how well he mastered his already significant powers Harry Potter had always been two steps ahead of him. The least Draco could do was put up a good show and end it with his pride and honor in tact. All he could do was to go all out and push Harry to the limit. Harry Potter was now officially the better man. Though Draco had admitted it to himself before, he was now going to acknowledge it. It was then when Draco felt the change, yet he could not place it.
"Having fun Potter?" Draco shouted.
"Ready to submit?" asked Harry with fierce determination. Harry felt the air shift around him. Somehow he knew Draco was planning something drastic, he had felt it. They looked each other in the eye, and knew the end was near. Harry was still unsure what to do, but he wasn't going to wait for Draco's attack. He was the Boy Who Lived, he waited for no one! Just then, everything seemed to change. Harry's vision became a blur of colors, yet it felt natural. He focused on Draco; the former Slytherin was glowing with a deep, dark green aura. He was drawing massive amounts of power from the room. Harry could feel as everything seemed to converge on Draco.
As Draco drew in the needed magical power, he saw what had changed as he stared into Harry's eyes. Harry stood there unmoving, he even lowered his wand. He actually was waiting for Draco to attack. Draco felt as if his whole soul had been exposed, and Draco knew what the change was as soon as he saw it. It was in his… his eyes. Harry Potter was smiling, and his eyes seemed to be twinkling, just as Dumbledore's used to before he died, and he stared at Draco with the same soul penetrating gaze that the old man had.
Draco pointed his wand into the air. A green spark of magical energy surged from the tip of the wand. Harry brought up his own wand protectively in front of him. Everything seemed to slow down again as Draco swung his arm in a wide arc and pointed it at Harry. A powerful, dark green, stream of pure magic shot out at Harry. Harry seemed to be moving in slow motion, yet no one could follow his movements. The stream of magic connected with Harry's wand and with a small flick of his wrist it was redirected. He jumped to his left to avoid the explosion. The then cast three quick curses at Draco. Draco deflected each of them with ease and fired a hex at where Harry had been.
A blast came from Draco's left, but he turned and deflected it. Another came from directly above Draco, he jumped out of the way, and shot two more into the air. He felt a rush of magic gather behind him, and he instinctively spun around and blasted the source with a powerful charm, but there was nothing there. Draco cursed to himself again, he had been certain each time where Harry was, yet he was never where he appeared to be. He could no longer follow Harry's movements or even his distinctive magical signature. Not only had Harry Potter surpassed him, but he reached a level Draco could never aspire to. Instead of despairing, this only spurred Draco on. He refused to let his rival win. He refused to let it all end.
Another curse was hurtled at Draco, and he blocked it with a shield charm. The Shield blocked the curse, but Draco was still knocked of his feet. Draco stood and pointed his wand where Harry disapparated only to have a silver bolt strike him from his right side and knocked his wand out of his hand. The Harry in front of him vanished and saw Potter standing to the right of him. Then he disappeared when Draco drew Pansy's wand, which was knocked out of his hand from his left. As Draco turned he saw Harry flick his wand and Draco flipped into the air and landed on his back. Draco quickly recovered and he tried to reach for the closest wand when both of them where knocked out of his reach. He looked to where Harry was just a few feet away from him. Harry fired another hex which hit Draco square in the chest. Draco flew backwards and landed on his back, inches from the edge of the ring. Before Draco could move, Harry was already standing over him. He stared into the twinkling eyes of his rival. He felt Harry reach deep into his soul and he knew it was over. It was done, finally complete. Harry Potter had beaten him.
"Yield," was all Harry said standing over Draco, pointing his wand right between Draco's eyes. Auric Orion's voice could be heard over the cheers of their fellow competitors.
"Harry Potter advances to the next round of the Worldwide Wizard's Dueling Tournament!" Harry helped Draco stand. Draco nodded his head acknowledging Harry's victory. They each gave each other a brotherly half-hug their hands still clasped together, and patted each other on the back.
It was a strange feeling for Draco Malfoy as he stepped out of the ring. His former classmates, who had loathed him, were cheering for him and congratulating him despite the fact that he lost. Many even gave him a friendly pat on the back. He was completely taken aback. He had been a slimy git to all of them, especially to Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, yet they were all… accepting him. Despite the fact that he lost, they had all accepted him into their group, and all because of Harry Potter. A sense of completeness washed over him. It was over, they had finally finished it. Draco then identified the new feelings he had. They were friendship and acceptance. Draco felt as if he belonged. He swelled with pride, his honor had been restored.
A/N: Draco loses and Harry advances, as if you didn't already know that wasn't going to happen. The tournament isn't over yet, and there are still many more challenges to meet. Personally, this is probably going to be my favorite chapter. I had been looking forward for ages to writing this chapter, and to me everything seemed perfect. From the mood and tone set before the match, to the play by play from the eyes of the spectators, and Draco's realization that he was not going to beat Harry, and for Harry, yet another transformation as he discovers his destiny. Harry's powers are growing, but will he be able to take home the prize? Please, Read and Review! I really want to know what you all thought of this chapter!