Here's a little B'day special!
A little fun game - my age is hidden among the text in italics. See if you can find it!
- DawnTide
Chapter 26
- Ravenclaws! Caw! Caw! -
"You guys didn't have to come." Teddy said, pulling on his Ravenclaw dueling cloak, occasionally staring at the other school teams and then down the at the Hogwarts duelers. There were five competitors from each house, including their captains who were all gathered to the side talking in hushed voices.
"Are you kidding me?" Freddie yelled loudly above the impatient crowd. All four Ravenclaw boys and Arkie had gone all out to support their friend and he even gotten white t-shirts with big, bold, blue letters of the front. Leonard had the letter 'T', Terry had 'E', Freddie had 'DD' on his, Daniel had a 'Y' and Arkie had a huge exclamation mark on hers. Teddy had to admit, it was extremely embarrassing, but at the same time, flattering.
"Teddy!" Two adults were pushing their way through the crowd to sitting next to their daughter on the stands. Mr Edwards was dressed in full merchandise, with a large raven shaped hat, that looked like part of Luna's collection. "Go win this thing! Go Hogwarts! Woo woo woo woo!" Mrs Edwards, put her fingers in her ears and gave Teddy a comforting smile.
"Colin." She tutted, but her husband paid no mind.
"Ah, Teddy, there you are!" Four more adults struggled to get through the yet to be seated crowd towards him.
"Mr and Mrs Weasley! Tonks! Mad-Eye! I didn't think I'd see you guys here." He happily took Mrs Weasley's hug and Mr Weasley's pat on the back.
"Of course. Now are you all ready? Wand? Uniform? Water?" Mrs Weasley said, wiping a smudge from his cheek.
Moody gave his usual growl, yet Teddy couldn't decipher if it was a happy one or an angry one, they all sounded the same. "For God's sake woman, he's not a child."
Mrs Weasley glared at him. "He's not an adult yet, Mad-Eye!"
"Mrs Weasley, I've got everything." Teddy said, quickly intervening.
"Good. Then we'll take a seat, Ron and the others should be here shortly." Both she and her husband walked off to find seat, leaving Tonks and Moody with Teddy. Mad-Eye took a few steps back, his one blue eyes searching the crowd of adults and students and Teddy could help getting the feeling he wasn't there to see him compete.
"Good luck, Teddy." Tonk wished him, a bright smile on her young face. She was probably in her early twenties, a huge age gap between her and his dad, but Teddy didn't mind. As long as she loved him as much as he did then she was all good in his books.
He grinned. "Thanks, Tonks. Hey, have you heard from Dad?" He whispered the last part and noticed Mad-Eye's eye glancing at them for a split of a second. Tonks gave him a sad smile before almost tripping over one of the dueling mats that covered the floor. "Sorry, Teddy, he really did want to come. It took a good talk with Mad-Eye to convince him to stay low. But we've come in his place."
"But why not? No offense, but why can you guys come and he can't, you don't exactly... blend in." He motioned to Moody with his eyes and blushed when he realized the scarred Auror had seen him.
"You've been reading the Daily Prophet, right? Werewolves aren't exactly welcome anywhere right now." She seemed to be thinking her words through carefully. "It's a wonder they let you in here. But I guess Dumbledore has something to do with that. But like I said, we're here to protect you and Harry and the others."
"Protect?" Like Teddy had guessed earlier, they weren't here to see the match, they were on Auror duty.
"Tonks! Quiet!" Mad-Eye hissed, pushing past her towards Teddy. Teddy looked up at him. The Auror was truly hideous but Teddy no longer felt scared and awkward around him like he used to. Moody had found a place in his heart, no matter how small, when he had offered to teach Teddy when he was on lock down in Grimmauld Place with Sirius, and had been there for him when his godfather was murdered. "Now you listen here boy," he began. "You just focus on your match."
Teddy was a little surprised when he heard the tone of Moody's voice. It was like he truly did want him to win. The Auror look him dead in the eye as he spoke. "Remember what I taught you. Trust yer gut and keep you head in the match."
"Yes, sir." He replied before hearing his name being shouted out.
"Teddy!" Anna called over to him and he dashed to join the rest of the group.
"Good luck!" Mad-Eye croaked. Teddy noticed a few heads had turned in both Mad-Eye's and his direction. Anna raised both eyebrows, instantly recognizing the famous Auror. "Is that Alastor Moody? What's he doing here, security? Do you know him?"
All four pairs of his rested on Teddy who shrugged. "Yeah, he taught me for a while. I like to say we're friends of a sort."
Anna shook her head, giving a small inaudible laugh. "You're full of surprises Wonder Boy. Now, listen up!" She shouted and they all huddled closely in a circle. "Now, today's the day. When the horn goes off duelers will go to their dueling mats. You all know which mat you are? Don't forget what we practiced! Benjamin, keep your stance lose, Angela, remember an equal range of defense and offense attacks are effective and Stephen, just because you know a lot of fancy spells doesn't mean you have to use them." She finally turned round to Teddy. "And you, trust your gut, it'll barely ever lead you astray. And don't even think about hesitating, it's a bad habit!."
"Yes, ma'am." He smirked with a playful salute.
"Alright. Ravenclaws, Caw Caw! On three. One. Two. Three."
They all put their hands in and raised them in the air. "Ravenclaws! Caw! Caw!' They shouted. A few weeks ago, Teddy had found the chant extremely cheesy, but now it didn't feel like a chant anymore, it was a battle cry!
At that moment a loud horn went off and Teddy dashed of to duelling mat fifteen, which happened to be right in front of his friends, including Ron, Harry and Hermione - who'd all slipped in just in time - Tonks, Mad-Eye, Arkie and her parents.
"Keep your head in the match, Teddy!" He thought loudly. His opponent was a tall beefy boy dressed in Ilvermorny duelling robes.
Teddy gulped, already feeling like throwing up, the boy looked like his spells would pack a heavy punch. He'd never felt this way in practice. It wasn't fear but nervousness. He didn't wanna let anyone down. Usually, in duelling practice he'd have time to study his opponent's style of duelling. How they shot their spells, what type of spells they used, their stances and weaknesses. But he didn't have that luxury anymore.
This time he would have to do what Moody said and follow his gut. A referee stood just outside of the mat, holding a clipboard and quill. "You both know the rules. The match will be the best out of five. First person to disarm and, or knock the other person down wins."
The two competitors stood inches from each other, so close that Teddy could smell the other boy's hot breath. "Wands at the ready!" The referee shouted. "Bow!"
They bowed, then began to step away from each other. "Three. Two. One. Begin!"
Teddy instinctively turned around, prepared to fire a non-verbal spell. The Ilvermorny boy did the same but his spell was incredibly strong, so strong in over powered Teddy's spell and hit him square in the chest. He tumbled backwards, giving thanks to the slight padding in his uniform. "Round one to Ilvermorny." He Teddy got onto his knees, blushing at how impossibly quick his demise had been. He glanced at the duelling mat across the room.
Anna had disarmed her sparing partner and had noticed Teddy on the ground. She glared once before preparing for her second round with the Beauxbaton's Duelling Captain. He looked over his other shoulder to see Moody shouting something at him. "Duelling isn't just a test of strength, boy. It's a test of the mind."
He looked back down at his knees then stood up onto his feet, a determined look in his eyes. "I'm ready." He said and the referee nodded, writing something on his clipboard quickly.
"I hope you know a bone repairing spell, Hog-Trash!" The Ilvermorny boy shouted from the other side of the mat.
Teddy didn't let his comment faze him. "I do as a matter of fact! But don't worry, I'll make sure to use it on you when the match is over."
"Three. Two. One. Begin!"
Everything slowed down and Teddy watched as the boy turned around, firing a spell at Teddy, who instead of trying to block the spell, simply jumped out of the way. The spell flew past him, hitting one of the Ilvermorny boy's fellow competitors. The boy covered his mouth in surprise. "Levicorpus!" He was lifted off the ground and into the air, then landed flat on his back.
Teddy stretched his wand arm smugly. "Round two to Hogwarts."
"Round three to Hogwarts."
"Round four to Ilvermorny." Teddy cursed, rubbing his hand and picking up his disarmed wand. In the stands everyone was leaning forward. Mr Edwards was cheering on the top of his lungs while Mrs Edwards covered her ears. Arkie was leaning so far forward she looked on the verge of falling off her seat. The boys were whooping and showing off their t-shirts to anyone who would look. Tonks smiled comfortingly.
"Three. Two. One. Begin!"
The two red and blue sparks from their wands collided, giving a lime green flash. "Reducto! Reducto!" The boy shouted.
"Protego!" Teddy's wand danced in front of him and an invisible barrier came up, shielding him. The Ilvermorny boy was giving him no mercy. It was anyone's match. Teddy was struggling and looked up at the stands, towards his old teacher. Mad-Eye's blue eye was still looking all around the room, but his normal eyes was focused on Teddy only. Focus... That's it!
Teddy looked back at his opponent but let his mind wander through all his memories, picking one of them. "Expecto Patronum!" The large grizzly bear shot out from his wand tip and reared above the boy who gave a shout, firing a spell that when straight through the patronus. The memory of Remus and Teddy standing among the Weasley's at the Quidditch World Cup swirled around in Teddy's mind. The referee looked surprised and Teddy suddenly remembered his plan.
"Reducto!" The boy's feet flew out from under him and he fell to the ground with a thud. The patronus vanished and he tucked his wand back into its holster, staring at the referee. "Round five goes to Hogwarts. Teddy Lupin wins the match!"
Loud noises erupted from the stands nearby. Teddy walked over to the Ilvermorny boy, offering him a hand up. "Good match."
"Man, how did you do that?"
"Let's just say, I learnt from the best." He smiled, wishing more than ever that his father was there to see that. Finally, he was able to join the others. "Teddy!" Arkie met him at the edge of the dueling mat, hugging him. "You were amazing!"
Mr Edwards was right behind her with his wife. "I didn't know you could produce a patronus, Teddy." A large Auror shoved past him.
"Yes, yes, surprise, surprise." Mad-Eye grumbled, towering over Teddy. "Yer father would be proud."
"Thanks, Mad-Eye."
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed around the room. The last of the duelling matches had ended and everyone was awaiting to find out who the winners were. "The winners of this year's Inter-school Duelling Competition is... Hogwarts School For Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Teddy didn't have the chance to look back at the others before he was suddenly toppled to the ground. Freddie, Terry, Leonard and Daniel had jumped upon him all talking at once. It was impossible to decipher what they were each saying, but Teddy guessed they were congratulating him. He looked up at Harry, Ron and Hermione who were all laughing besides the others.
As he laid on the floor, with four boys on top of him, cutting off his air supply, he could see Anna and the other Ravenclaws celebrating. Another moment to use for his next patronus!