POTTER RESURGENCE
Chapter 17
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.
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September 30th 1994
Hogwarts, Great Hall
Hardwin jumped to the side, barely avoiding a sizzling yellow spell. He flicked his wand to send back a stunner and immediately ducked to the left to avoid another of those yellow spells. Two others came after him, almost faster than Harry's elemental spells and he had no option but to duck to the floor.
He rolled to his left just as a flame whip lashed at his former position and back again as it followed him. When it came back again, he didn't dodge this time, he flicked his wand and the end of the whip was pulled almost magnetically to his end of the wand and now he and his opponent had one end each attached to their wands.
He fed it with magic and the whip flared, growing hotter from being fed on both ends. Hardwin slowly pushed himself to his feet as they both tried to overwhelm the other to dispell the whip. While Hardwin could have easily won the tug with his bigger magic reserves, he wasn't going to need it as Harry had told him to win with as much drama as possible.
Once he was back on his feet, he fed more magic into the whip and the other boy caught his wand with both hands as he tried to keep up. That was all Hardwin needed, he raised his left hand that wasn't holding his wand and slashed it in the air.
The boy was lifted into the air and sent flying across the platform. Hardwin stalked forward as he dispelled the flame whip while the boy tried to get himself back to his feet. He was still on one knee when Hardwin attacked again.
"Aguamenti!" A powerful gash of water erupted from Hardwin's wand and flew at his opponent who conjured a shield to block it. The boy, a sixth year Ravenclaw was concentrating on maintaining the shield and didn't notice the water pooling around his knee, robes and under his shoes. "Glacius!"
Hardwin slashed his wand across his chest and an almost visible wave of cold quickly swept across the platform. Pieces of snow appeared between the two duelists until it reached the pool of water under the other boy's feet. His shield did little to protect him and an instant later, his feet and knee were trapped in ice along with part of his robes.
The boy made to free himself but Hardwin was faster. A full-body-bind had his limbs snap together, an incarcerous had him tied up from neck to toe and a disarming charm had his wand flying towards Hardwin.
With his opponent frozen in place, disarmed and all tied up, Hardwin walked over to him and tapped him once on the forehead and he fell down unconscious. The great hall immediately erupted in applause, the Gryffindors were the loudest as their only remaining representative proceeded to the next round.
The tournament had been going on every weekend since the term started. With the Tri-Wizard tournament approaching, the Headmaster had wanted the dueling tournament to be finished before the other schools arrived. The final match was to be there on October 31st, the day the Tri-Wizard champions were to be selected.
With four representatives from each house, there had been sixteen participants and their opponents were picked at random. Names of the students from the other houses were placed in a bowl and each participant would pick one paper and the one they pick would be their opponent.
This way there was no way of fighting someone from your house and it made sure that there would be no complaining about setups if you picked your opponent yourself. It had gone swimmingly and three students had already gone to the semi-final. With Hardwin winning against Marcus Belby, he joined Draco, Cedric Diggory and to nearly everyone's disbelief Luna Lovegood.
All sixteen students had duelled against their opponents and those who lost were eliminated to remain with eight. Hardwin's first opponent had been a seventh year student from Hufflepuff, Alfred Macmillan, the brother to Ernie Macmillan who was also a Hufflepuff in their year.
He was a pureblood heir and quite powerful to boot as well. His plan had been to overwhelm Hardwin and had been casting non-stop the moment the match started. He was very fast, his spells seemed to just flow from his wand in a chain and under normal circumstances, he would have been a deadly opponent.
However, fast as he was, he had nothing on Harry's casting speed and Hardwin had been training with Harry for as long as he could hold a wand. Dodging and deflecting Alfred's spells had been easy enough, untill the boy got frustrated and got careless.
Hardwin had pounced then, he wasn't as fast as his opponent but what he lacked in speed, he put it in power. Knowing there was no way he could cast a spell without the other boy blocking, he cast an overpowered stunner and just as he expected, Alfred cast a shield.
The stunner hit the shield and it shattered on impact knocking back the boy a few feet. Hardwin didn't wait for him to settle, while he stumbled back, he summoned the boy's shoes and Marcus from fell on his back. He then hit him with an overpowered levitating charm sending him flying into the air where he ran into a stunner and disarming charm.
Hardwin then lowered the unconscious boy gently to the ground to the applause of everyone.
The others had also performed pretty well for themselves. Draco had been swift and to the point in both his matches, the moment Flitwick started the match, he attacked. Overwhelming his opponents with sheer speed alone, he used simple spells to defeat the both of them. It was clear to Hardwin the boy had been taking lessons from Harry.
Cedric had been quite good as well. The Hufflepuff didn't use a wide range of spells but those few he did were used pretty effectively. He used power and speed together and both his opponents didn't stand a chance.
Luna on the other hand was pure chaos. She tossed around every spell or jinx that came to mind while at the same time weaving through her opponent's spells without breaking a sweat. Among those were leg-lockers, hair growing charms, levitating, color spells, jell-legs, body-switching and others.
There was no formula or definite fighting style with her and her opponents ended up in numerous states of...well chaos. Limbs in places they're not supposed to be, hair growing all over the place and her last opponent had her skin turned purple.
Hardwin reminded himself that Luna was Harry's apprentice. With Harry's knowledge and Luna's overall unpredictability, she was going to turn out to be a very dangerous witch in her own way. Hardwin didn't want to consider his chances against her, despite knowing he was more powerful than her, she would be quite the challenge.
Probably the greatest challenge he could face short of Harry himself. And speaking of which_
"Interesting choice of spells, brother." Harry smiled as he patted him on the back. "Decided to take a page out of my book?"
"I'm starting to see what you like about elemental spells." Hardwin replied. They had left the great hall and everyone behind and were heading to Harry's lab.
"I'm glad you are." Harry said. "The remaining opponents, they're going to present quite the challenge aren't they?"
"Not if I go all out."
"You just might need to go all out with Luna." Harry said.
"It isn't guaranteed that I'll be facing Luna."
"Do you really think Draco or Diggory can beat her?" Harry asked. "This is my apprentice we are talking about."
"Yeah, you're right." Hardwin said. "Do you think I can beat her?"
"I learned long ago not to assume anything when it comes to Luna." Harry replied as he entered the lab. "I gotta say I'm looking forward to the finals."
"I've been wondering something." Hardwin said as he sat down opposite his brother. "Between me and Luna, who are you rooting for?"
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Of course I'm all for you, I didn't think there was any question about it."
"I bet that's exactly what you'd tell Luna if she asked you."
"Well, I know for certain Luna would never ask me something like that." Harry replied, staring at him. "Because unlike you apparently, Luna knows exactly where my loyalties lie first and foremost."
"Right, sorry." Hardwin said with a light blush. He looked around, looking for a way to change the subject. "So why are we here?"
"I know where two of the horcruxes are." Harry replied as he pushed a piece of paper towards him. "One is almost impossible to reach, while the other is under some deadly wards but I'm working on an arrangement to help me retrieve it."
"Well, I know impossible doesn't mean much when it concerns you." Hardwin said as he picked up the paper before whistling. "Gringotts, really?"
"Yeah, I don't know exactly where but it must be in one of the Death Eaters' vaults deep down among the maximum security vaults." Harry said. "I'll need to visit the Peverell vault to see if I can pinpoint the vault we're supposed to break-in."
"I'm sorry, break-in?"
"You don't think the goblins will just hand it over to us if we ask nicely, do you?" Harry shook his head. "I doubt there's anything short of the Philosopher's Stone that could move them."
"What about Dumbledore?" Hardwin asked. "You think in a hundred years he hasn't got a favor or two that he could call in to ask for a single item?"
"Well, I prefer not to run to the mighty Albus whenever I need something but you're probably right." Harry sighed. "Though, I think he will be more willing to help if it was you who asked."
"Yeah, you're probably right." He conceeded. "So when do we meet him?"
"Today, right now."
The twins turned at the new voice to see Luna browsing through the books on the bookshelf.
"Bloody hell, Luna are you trying to give me a heart attack." Hardwin sighed."When did you even get here?"
"She was right behind us." Harry replied before turning to the girl. "What do you mean we should meet Dumbledore right now?"
"He is waiting for you, he told me to tell you both to see him after Hardwin's match." She replied while she picked another smaller book.
"And why are you telling us just now?"
"I forgot."
"You forgot?" Clearly Hardwin didn't believe her.
"Yes." And apparently Luna wasn't going to say anything else as she conjured herself a rocking chair and sat down.
"Come on, let's not keep the headmaster waiting."
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"Lemon drop?"
"No, thank you." Hardwin declined as he took a seat in front of the Headmaster.
"I'll take a few, thank you." Harry said as he scooped a handful of the sweets from the bowl and took his seat.
"You know, you're the second person who has ever accepted to have one of these." Dumbledore mused as he tossed one into his mouth. "Your father was quite fond of them too, though I think it was probably to keep himself occupied while he ignored me as I scolded him for his pranks."
"Sounds like him from what I've heard." Harry said.
"Indeed." Dumbledore nodded. "I sure hope you boys didn't take after him in that regard."
"Are we here for a scolding, then?" Hardwin asked. "I can't think of anything we've done that requires being called to the headmaster's office."
"Actually, it's your brother that is in trouble." He replied, blue eyes peering at him. "Ms. Lovegood might have misheard me because it was Harry that I wished to speak with."
"She probably brought the two of us here on purpose then." Harry said. "May I know what I'm being accused of."
"I know of your nightly... excursions, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore pinned him with a stare, daring him to argue. "The only reason I haven't told your mother or acted on it was because I knew it was for a serious reason."
Hardwin's face was set in stone, not giving anything away. Harry on the other hand just tossed another sweet into his mouth.
"And probably because you were following me as well." Harry said. "I don't think Mom will be very pleased with you if she finds out that I leave the school every weekend with the headmaster with me and he does nothing to stop me."
"You knew I was following you?" The headmaster looked genuinely surprised.
"After the Dobby incident, I have continued to hone my magic sensing skills." Harry replied while trying_and failing to look smug. "The fact that you used magic to hide from me is what gave you away."
"That is very impressive, Mr. Potter!" Dumbledore smiled. "I know for a fact that only Alastor is able to detect me if I actively hide myself. Well, I guess that makes two of you now."
"So, he is not in trouble?" Hardwin asked and Dumbledore peered at him.
"Of course he is trouble, he could have easily gotten himself killed or worse_"
"Expelled?" The other two stared at him and he shrugged defensively. "Hey, if you live long enough with Hermione some things tend to rub off on you."
"Good point, that does sound like Ms. Granger." Dumbledore nodded before getting serious. "But that is besides the point, you know what your actions could lead to and yet you continued to do it even when you knew I was aware of it. So tell me, what is so important that you would risk the wrath of Lily Potter for."
"I'm sure you know what the areas I've visited have in common."
"Tom?"
"Indeed." Harry withdrew Salazar's locket from his pocket. "This is Salazar Slytherin's locket and it used to be Tom Riddle's horcrux."
Dumbledore almost flinched from the locket when Harry tossed it on the table. He drew his wand and cast a number of spells on the locket. "It isn't a horcrux anymore, though there is an...imprint?"
"Yes. Before I destroyed the horcrux, I made sure it imprinted it's magical signature on the locket." Harry explained. "With my amazing magic sensing skills, I can use the locket to sense for anything with a similar signature in a certain radius and I've been visiting these places to see if Tom kept any of the other horcruxes there."
"And why didn't you come to me for this?" Dumbledore demanded. "This is not something you should be involved in and you must have come to me the moment you got any knowledge of the horcruxes."
"We were involved in this the moment that prophecy was given." Hardwin said. "And I'm no expert in how this is supposed to work but you're our headmaster first and foremost, you're neither the Lord of our house nor are you our magical guardian so coming to you wasn't even supposed to be among our options."
"What my brother is trying to say is that the prophecy was made about us." Harry said calmly, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder. "One way or the other, one of us will have to be the one to kill the Dark Lord. And while we would appreciate any contribution to help us arrive at that point, we do not answer to you."
"You have no idea what you're playing at, my boys."
"Maybe you're right." Harry said before Hardwin could explode. "We may not have any experience at fighting in a war but we shall do all we can to help and leave the rest to you."
"I would rather you kept out of it completely." Dumbledore said with a shake of his head.
"Well, that was never an option, was it?" Hardwin glared at the old man. After all they had archived against Voldemort, the headmaster had no right to treat them like children.
"No, I don't think it was." Dumbledore sighed. "It really is sad to see young people having to do things not for their age. This world is really a cruel one."
"It is, Headmaster." Harry said while Hardwin just continued glaring. "Which is why we do everything in our power to make it better or at the very least make sure it doesn't get any worse. The Dark Lord rising again will certainly make it worse, which is why we're going to need your help."
"No, Harry." Dumbledore said firmly. "You're going to tell me all that you know about Tom's horcruxes and you will forget all about this business."
Hardwin looked ready to shout but Harry placed his hand on his knee. "I believe we already established the fact that we don't have that option."
"You won't have to worry about fighting Tom untill you're adults." Dumbledore replied.
"You don't get it, headmaster." Hardwin said. "He is coming back, we know he is coming back probably even before this year ends."
"And how would you know that?"
"We have seen Snape's Dark Mark." Harry answered swiftly before Hardwin could reveal anything. "It grows more clear by the day and that is a clear sign that the Dark Lord is regaining power. I know you know this too, so please stop patronizing us, headmaster."
The headmaster sighed. "Tom Riddle may be getting regaining some of his power but that doesn't mean he is about to rise again. And even if he was, the ministry is stronger than ever and will handle him easily enough so I ask that you put this out of your minds and concentrate_"
"Clearly we are going nowhere with this conversation." Hardwin jumped to his feet and stormed out of the office.
Harry stood up as well and stared at the old Headmaster. "There is a horcrux in Gringotts, maximum security vault. I doubt he could give two to one person so it's probably not Malfoy, most likely Bellatrix Lestrange's vault."
He leaned on the table with his hands.
"The two of us have so far destroyed three of Voldemort's horcruxes all by ourselves." Harry said to Dumbledore's shock. "I would really appreciate it if you didn't disregard our contributions to his defeat just because we are children."
Without waiting for a response, he turned around and left after his brother. Hardwin wasn't waiting for him and while he wondered where he had gone, he was also feeling pretty angry. After all that they had done to prepare for this war, he had forgotten that people usually didn't give children time of day.
He had grown so used to Lily, Sirius and Remus treating him as an equal most of the time that he hadn't considered what people who didn't really know him would think of him. A child, who is way in over his head and trying to play at being an adult.
There were two ways one could earn respect in the magical world. One was being an adult, if an adult said anything, then it was the truth until proven otherwise, no matter how unbelievable it sounds. The other option was power, magical and political.
Becoming Lord Potter would give him political power and with the increasing number of favours owed to him outside of Hogwarts, he was right on his way on becoming the most politically powerful wizard in magical Britain.
Magical power, he had in spades, he just needed to find a way of showing everyone what he was capable of and the Tri-Wizard tournament gave him just the best opportunity. Being selected as champion was turning out to be a necessity, and at this rate a matter of life and death.
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That night, Harry and Hardwin landed softly on their brooms outside of Potter Manor. Since he didn't have full control of the wards yet, Harry had used Bill's watch to Port-key just outside the wards and they had flown the small distance to the house.
Today, they had decided to come clean with Lily about everything. They knew she would be angry, but that anger was nothing compared to how she was likely to be if she heard of certain things from Dumbledore.
"Boys?" Lily asked when they entered the living room. She had been on the couch watching TV. "Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts?"
"Don't worry mom, the headmaster is aware of our absence." Harry replied smoothly as he took a seat opposite her. "We need to talk."
"Ok, but first I need you to have this." She handed him a journal. "I was planning on bringing it for you tomorrow."
"What's this?"
"Everything I managed to make out about your father's room in the department. You can get back to me when you make sense of the notes." She replied. "Oh and congratulations on your win, Hardwin. Sorry I wasn't there to cheer you on, order business and all that."
"Thanks Mom, and it's alright." Hardwin replied. "Harry was support enough for the both of you."
"Alright then, what do you want to talk about?"
"We have been keeping things from you, mom." Hardwin started. "Things you had a right to know about but we felt...well_"
"We thought that it would be better if you didn't find out." Harry finished. "At least until we had dealt with them. Actually, Hardwin was all for telling you but I thought otherwise."
"No, Harry, we made the decision together, we're in this together." Hardwin shook his head.
"What are you two talking about?"
"The horcruxes_" Harry said. "We know where most of them are."
"Really?" Lily asked. "And why didn't you want me to know of this?"
"It's not the fact that we know of their location." Harry answered. "It's what they are, one in particular is of interest to you."
Lilly looked at them in confusion and Hardwin sighed.
"My scar, mom." She still looked confused. "My scar is a horcrux."
Lily closed her eyes and took deep breaths before asking. "And how did you find this out?"
And so they told of how they had come to that conclusion and the fact that they had kept it from her the first time they talked about the horcruxes. They told her of how Hardwin ran into the locket at Grimmauld place which they then used to create a locator.
And thanks to that locator, they had found and destroyed one other locket and knew about the one in Gringotts. They even told her of Harry's dagger though just the fact that it was Goblin-steel and had absorbed basilisk venom. Harry didn't tell her of the other horcrux that he had found as he had already made plans on how to get it.
Lily was quiet when they were finished. She looked like she wanted to run over and hug Hardwin without ever letting him go while at the same time she wanted to scold them for never having told her all of this before.
"You two don't seem to be very worried." Lily finally said. "I take it you have a plan to avoid Hardwin's death?"
"We're working on something."
"Good, because I would have to abandon the magical world to their fate because there's no way I'm letting my son be a martyr." Lily said fiercely. "I have already given up so much for this world, I'm not willing to lose any more."
"And neither are we." Harry replied. "We will eventually find a way of extracting the soul fragment from the scar but for the moment, we have a way of sealing him away while we look for ways on freeing Hardwin."
"What do you mean?"
"With even on of his horcruxes still in place, the Dark Lord is reduced to a shade when his body is destroyed and in such a weak state, we can seal away the shade, possibly forever." Harry explained. "That way, we can have all the time we need to extract the horcrux."
Lily nodded, trying to make sense of what she was being told but her mind seemed sluggish.
"You two should get back to the castle. I'm not sure I even want to know how you got here." Lily said. "I'm going to need to think about all this. Good thing I don't have any classes tomorrow."
"Have a goodnight, mom." Harry said and hugged her. "Let me just pick something from my room, I'll be back in a second."
Harry ran his way up the stairs leaving the two alone. Hardwin walked over and sat down next to Lily.
"Are you okay, mom?"
"Oh, my sweet boy." She pulled him into a hug. "Of course I'm not fine. I just heard my baby is likely to die to save the world, there's no way I can be okay after that."
"I'm not going to die, mom." Hardwin said. "I don't think Harry would let me even if I wanted to. He would probably find a way of bringing me back just to shout at me and call me a no good foolish Gryffindor."
Lily laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like something he probably would do, alright."
Hardwin smiled and hugged her back. "Everything is going to be alright, mom."
"I know sweetie." Lily said. "Don't think that I'm not mad at you both for keeping this from me."
"I wanted to tell you from the beginning but Harry wouldn't let me." Hardwin replied. "He didn't want to worry you especially with the fact that there was a solution."
"He has good intentions like always but his methods could use a bit of refining." Lily said with a smile. "I have to admit that this time it was quite effective."
"You mean leaving us to talk?" Hardwin grinned and Lily nodded. "He is not very good at this emotional stuff."
"No, he isn't." Lily agreed. Harry was capable of a lot of things but that wasn't one of them. At least not when he means it and not just putting on a show.
"It's what I keep you around for, brother of mine." Harry replied as he arrived from his bedroom. "Now we need to get going before Dumbledore begins to wonder why we're taking so long."
"Oh, stop with that already." Lily rolled her eyes. "I raised you, Harry and I can tell when you're playing with words. Albus didn't give you permission to come here, did he?"
"I said he is aware, mom." Harry grinned. "I can't imagine how you came to the conclusion that I meant he had given us permission."
Laughing, the twins left their mother behind and jumped on their brooms to fly past the wards. "So what did you need in your room?"
"Leaving you to talk wasn't enough?" Harry asked with an amused smile.
"Nah, I don't think that was all." He replied. "I know you had other reasons."
"Being selected as champion has become a necessity brother, so I needed to borrow Abraham's journal." Harry said. "I need to find a way of making sure that there's no chance of me not being selected by the Goblet."
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October 22 1994
Hogwarts grounds
"I'm sure the both of you know the rules." Flitwick said sternly staring at both of them. "No unforgivables, no dark magic and once the other loses their wand or gives up the fight, the match ends. Is that clear?"
The two kept glaring at each other. Flitwick fixed them with a stare. "Mr. Potter? Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes professor." They answered through gritted teeth.
After the fiasco that was Cedric and Luna's duel in the great hall, the staff had decided to have the remaining duels outside. With Cedric being the hardest opponent she had faced so far, Luna had been forced to pull out quite a lot of tricks to win.
Harry was sure he had seen a Patronus or two in the chaos, how she knew to cast one he could only guess as even he hadn't attempted one before. Cedric had tried to keep up, he really did as he had lasted the longest against her so far. He had dodged, deflected, vanished, shielded and even a couple of times thrown back a few spells but to no avail.
He had been on the defensive almost for the entirety of the duel and it had been only a matter of time before he was hit. It had only required one spell to mark the end of the duel and when he was hit, everyone knew the duel was over.
Cedric had been on the defensive for about three minutes and Luna's spells had been growing progressively creative. He ducked under a spray of yellow paint and rolled on the ground, having forgotten about the swarm of bees that he the frozen.
When he rolled over the bees, it broke the magic holding them in place and they attacked. A simple wave of his wand had them falling back on the ground but it had left him open for just one second and he paid for it when he was hit with a tickling charm.
He had only started giggling when four spells hit him almost simultaneously. It took Madam Pomfrey two days to put him back to normal. At this point, people were starting to wonder if anyone can actually beat her.
One thing had become for certain though, the great Hall was no longer big enough. More than half of the school had been there and with the dueling platform in place, it had turned out to be a tight fit for the students and that was why this particular duel had been put outside. A wise decision too as almost every student had come out for this duel.
Draco glared at his opponent as they took position. Harry had said that he couldn't beat him, that he could only last a minute or so and Draco was about to prove him wrong. He had been improving brilliantly and with how the tournament had been going he would never have made it this far without Harry's help.
And now he was facing Harry's other student. Harry had told him that his brother was stronger on defense than offense and preffered to defend for as long as possible untill he gets an opening. It would therefore be up to Draco to draw him out of his defense if he was to get an opening of his own.
"Begin!" Flitwick shouted and jumped off the platform. The grounds were quiet as everyone waited for the match to start.
In a flash, Draco had his wand up and started casting. He could see Potter doing the same and their first three spells met in the middle of the platform and exploded in a shower of sparks. Ropes flew from Draco's wand towards Hardwin but they had barely left the wand when they were blown back by a gust of wind.
He slashed his wand and cut through the ropes before they could reach him and another wave of his wand dispelled the wind. At the rate things were going, he was the one going to be on the defensive rather than Potter. He needed to turn things around and fast.
And so he started moving, something he hadn't done before in this tournament. His previous duels, he had stood in one place, an unmoving force that battered it's opponents untill they broke from the speed and power behind his spells.
He didn't need shields so he simply dodged. After practicing for hours with Harry, whose spells travelled faster than they had any right to, Hardwin's spells didn't stand a chance at hitting him. So he dodged, weaving through the spells like a dancer and whenever he got a moment, he shot back a stunner or two.
They fell in a rhythm, and for the next half a minute or so, Draco dodged and Hardwin tried his best to hit him. Draco suddenly realized Hardwin wasn't slowing down, despite continuous casting, his spells still came at the same pace and at the same power. He wasn't tiring at all, and yet Draco was getting a bit slower. It was time to change pace.
The next time he got an opening, he didn't shoot at Hardwin, he pointed it up and closed tight his eyes and even covered them with his hand. "Lumos Maxima!"
He didn't see the flash of blinding light but going by the pained gasp from Hardwin, it had worked perfectly. He opened his eyes to see the dark-haired boy on his knees covering his eyes with both hands. His wand was lying on the ground next to him.
Draco straightened and grinned at Harry from where he was seated in the stands. He raised his wand and fired off a very powerful stunner at Hardwin and blinked when a shimmering shield appeared to block it. Blinking in surprise, he glanced at the wand that was still lying innocently on the ground before firing two more stunners and both were blocked with the shield.
The boy could do wandless magic just like his brother, he remembered having seen it in his last duel but he had thought it was a fluke. Draco felt like a fool for never having thought of this. If Harry could do it, there was no way he hadn't taught his brother as well. Even defeated as he looked, Hardwin still had the presence of mind to cast a wandless shield to protect him.
If only he could shatter the shield, then Draco could stun and disarm him before he recovered from his eyes being burned out.
"Confrigo! Reducto! Bombarda!" Three of his strongest spells left his wand and exploded loudly and that part of the platform was covered in fire and smoke. Draco waited for a couple seconds along with everyone in the stands with baited breath.
And then the fire started dieing down untill only smoke remained. And from the smoke, Hardwin emerged. His robes were smoking and his messy hair was singed, he had a cut on the side of his face and the robes were torn in different places.
Something heavy seemed to be in the air and Draco took a step back, wand held tightly. When he cought site of Hardwin's eyes, he knew he was royally fucked. They were glowing, two emerald orbs just like Harry's had been in the photo in the Daily Prophet.
Hardwin raised his wand and Draco barely made out the blue of a disarming charm before he was blasted across the platform. He didn't even notice his wand fly from his hand as he landed roughly and fell on the platform. His vision was fading and he remembered something Harry had told him.
"One thing you should know that in terms of raw power, Hardwin is much stronger than me." Harry had said to Draco's disbelief. "And with the right amount of power, even the most basic of spells can be lethal under the right circumstances."
Draco, even as he lost consciousness hoped this wasn't one of those circumstances.
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AN: Hi, that's chapter 17 for you, next chapter we shall have the other schools arrive, dueling final and probably the champions selection. Till then, saty safe.
