Chapter 15: The Duel

Despite Harry's confidence in his magic, he was nervous. He bolted down lunch in the effort of avoiding Dumbledore, and edged off to the Quidditch pitch. Dumbledore had finished setting up for the duel. Around the field were display boards. Harry was unaware of their purpose. The hoops on either end of the pitch had vanished. Around the entire stadium, Harry could feel protection in front of the stands.

"What do you think Harry?"

Harry jumped and spun around. Only a few paces behind him stood Albus Dumbledore, who had apparently learned how to mask his aura and presence.

"One point Albus," he said flourishing his hand. Harry glared and Dumbledore's smile faded slightly.

"What are the boards for?" asked Harry, changing the topic.

Dumbledore drew out his wand and called "Lumos!"His wand tip lit, and on each of the boards were the words "Lumos, illumination charm: Dumbledore."

"Clever," said Harry.

"Thank you. And shall we more specifically set the rules of the duel?" Harry looked pained. "Harry, I would like to apologize to you. I let my enthusiasm for new magic get away from me. While I happen to be very interested in your magic, I will restrain myself from attempting to magically invade your privacy. By no stretch of the imagination does this mean that I will cease trying to puzzle it out, but I want you to know that you need not see me as a threat."

Harry felt so conflicted; he trusted Dumbledore, but then he would remember how it could mess up his life if anyone knew all of his secrets. The effect of this was a lot of flip-flopping looked repentant.

Harry looked at Dumbledore intently. He looked like he knew that he had frightened Harry. He looked like he cared. Instead of being frustrated with and wary of Dumbledore's curiosity, he felt sorry for being so rude to Dumbledore, and grateful for his respect.

Harry looked deep into Dumbledore's blue eyes, and he saw was innocent curiosity. He saw intelligence and kindness. He saw into the eyes the man who had saved him and had given up everything to protect him and he knew that he wouldn't be able to stay upset with Dumbledore. He knew that he would always trust Dumbledore. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Alright, thanks," he said, looking back into Dumbledore's eyes. "Let's figure out the rules," he said hastily changing the subject. "I think we'll both agree to not use unforgiveable curses and dark magic?"

Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

"And I think our aim in the duel should be to harmlessly, er, incapacitate the other?"

"Indeed," said Dumbledore.

"Are there any other parameters that you would like to add?" asked Harry.

"Nothing comes to mind," said Dumbledore, "except that the duel will end immediately in the case of any…accidents? Shy of that, I sincerely hope you won't hold back."

"Of course," said Harry.

"Then I will cast the charm?" asked Dumbledore. Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued. "Then we hold hands like this," Dumbledore reached out to Harry as if to shake his hand. Harry let the hand hover in the air for a moment before taking it, keeping his aura buried as he did so. Dumbledore's hand was smooth and warm and his fingers wrapped gracefully around Harry's. "This is similar in theory to an unbreakable vow, however if one of the wizards breaks a rule, they lose the duel rather than dying.

"Now I will list the agreements, which binds me to the agreement, and after each one you say the words 'I agree' to include you in the contract. Are you ready, Harry?"

Harry nodded. Dumbledore, keeping his eyes locked with Harry's, drew the elder wand and tapped their hands where they joined. "In this duel I agree not to use dark magic."

"I agree."

A ribbon of red light encircled their hands. Harry's hand tingled and twitched involuntarily in Dumbledore's. Harry looked back up to meet Dumbledore's unrelenting gaze.

"I agree to end the duel when one of us has been harmlessly incapacitated for one minute."

"I agree."

"I agree to stop dueling in the case of an injury or dangerous accident."

"I agree."

The three ribbons of light danced around their hands, turned blue, and disappeared. Harry looked back at Dumbledore, his hand still tingling slightly. They stayed that way for several moments, their tingling hands clasped until they were interrupted by the distant rumble of feet and chatter of a crowd approaching. Harry withdrew his hand and looked away to hide his blush. Dumbledore blinked a few times and lowered his hand. Both of them stared in silence at points around the stadium as they listened to the crowd outside the stadium crescendo and begin climbing the stairs of the stands. They both looked up at the same time and their eyes met. Each nodded, and they walked in silence to the middle of the pitch.

The stands filled quickly. The noise wasn't what Harry was used to on the pitch. The crowd was not clapping and cheering as much as talking and whispering excitedly in anticipation. It gave Harry the impression of being inside a beehive.

"Ready?" he asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded.

"Sonorus!" said Harry, and his voice boomed across the stadium. Across the boards was written "Sonorus, voice magnification spell: Potter." Harry saw the board and panicked. The board knew his real name. He couldn't confund the board because then it would likely read "Confundus charm: Crockett." He quickly reached out to it with his magic and bent it to his will. The name changed from Potter to Crockett. He glanced at Dumbledore and had the sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore, too, had just been looking at the board. His stomach lurched, but he focused instead on the spectators.

"Good afternoon! Thank you, students, for coming to the demonstration! Professors, thank you for giving up your class time. As you may or may not have guessed, the demonstration will be a duel between me and your very generous headmaster. For our safety, we have cast a Dueler's charm with a specific set of rules, but in a hostile dueling situation this would not be the case. Also, for your viewing purposes, Professor Dumbledore has added the boards around the stadium to tell you what spells we are using.

"The goal of our duel is to incapacitate the other for one minute. Please feel free to pick one of us to root for, but remember that I'm the one grading you."

The observers in the stands laughed.

"Neither of us will use any dark magic, but some of the magic may be very potent and for that reason there are strong shields between you and the field. The purpose of the duel to your Defense against the Dark Arts lessons are for you to witness the speed of the duel and the variety of spells used, and I would like you to pay special attention to our defensive magic. And now we will begin! I hope you enjoy it! Quietus!" said Harry, and "Quietus, voice quieting spell: Crockett" flashed across all of the boards. Dumbledore glanced at the board and narrowed his eyes for a moment before facing Harry.

They stood several paces apart and bowed to each other, maintaining eye contact. They both turned around and walked ten paces and turned back around. The boards flashed a count down.

"…3…2…1…" and there was a bang as the duel started.

"Expelliarmus!"shouted Harry.

"Protego,"said Dumbledore, each of their incantations flashing up on the board.

"Levicoloportus!"cried Harry, momentarily forgetting that the spell hadn't been invented. Dumbledore was yanked into the air by his ankle, his robes falling over his head exposing his high heeled buckled boots and a pair of loosely fit padded leather quidditch trousers. Harry'd always wondered what Dumbledore had under his robes.

Dumbledore remained upside down, but Vanished his obstructing robes so that he could see. Over his torso he wore a red collared shirt with gold stitching. Harry noted that the two of them were both dressed in Gryffindor colors.

With his vision no longer impaired, Dumbledore resumed shooting spells at Harry despite being upside down and in mid air. Harry dodged most of them, but he was hit with a shielding charm that stopped him from moving in any direction or casting any spells at Dumbledore. Dumbledore took that moment to flip like an acrobat in the air and land gracefully on his two booted feet.

Harry knew that he could eventually figure out how to remove Dumbledore's shield around him, but decided that it would take too long. Instead he pointed his wand downward and carved a hole through the grass and fell into it. He carved a tunnel and walked along in it until he thought he was under Dumbledore.

"Reducto!"he said, as he pointed his wand upwards, blasting dirt and grass out from above him. He levitated himself out of the crater and found that Dumbledore had rolled to avoid the explosion just in time and was getting to his feet. Before Harry knew it, the sod around him was levitating and the grass roots were growing and elongating. The roots were floating closer and closer to binding Harry. Before Harry could react, thick rings of root constricted around his legs like iron, and Harry tripped and toppled over. Before he could be bound anymore, he transfigured the roots into water and the water sloshed into the ground. Apparently this had given Dumbledore an idea, for he quickly conjured a six foot orb of water and descended it onto Harry, encasing him within it. At least Dumbledore had had the forethought to also cast the bubble head charm on Harry's head so that he did not drown.

Harry was stuck in the center of a hovering sphere of water, and he was gaining altitude. He couldn't believe it—this is exactly what Dumbledore had done to Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic. Harry's arms and legs flailed around him, and though he kicked and paddled he could never get his head, hands or feet closer than a few inches from the edge. He tried casting spells, but his magic wouldn't break the surface. He thought of boiling away the water, but he would also end up boiling himself alive. He looked over at one of the display boards. The water was distorting his vision, but he could just make out that a countdown had started signaling that he had less than a minute to escape.

He could think of no solution. He gazed through the shiny blue surface of the water and down at Dumbledore, who was waving his wand in a complicated pattern.

And a memory struck him. As he gazed through the shiny blue water, he felt oddly similar to when he'd woken up in the blue crystal. And with that memory, came one of the memories he'd witnessed during his ten year sleep.

He and Dumbledore were standing beside a basin full of glowing green liquid. Dumbledore was moving his wand in complicated pattern over the basin muttering quietly. He stopped. "This potion cannot be penetrated by hand, Vanished, parted, scooped up, or siphoned away, nor can it be Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise made to change its nature." Dumbledore raised his wand and conjured a crystal goblet. "I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to be drunk."

And Harry knew how to get out of the bubble.

He pointed the wand at himself and removed Dumbledore's bubble head charm. Then, he let the water flow into himself. He gulped it down as fast as he could, and transfigured himself a pair of gills while he was at it. He had already drunk more than a normal person should, but his body aura allowed the water within him to be compressed, but eventually his body bloated comically. The diameter of the bubble had only been an inch or two taller than his height, so Harry's body was soon forced into a crouching position. Harry used all of his magic to make his stomach impossibly larger until he, himself looked like a great balloon. He supposed he looked like his aunt Marge had when he'd blown her up.

And when the magic sphere could force Harry no smaller, the surface of the water broke, and Harry fell from the sky. He collided with the ground and his body sloshed against it like a gigantic fleshy water balloon. Harry opened his mouth and great waves of water rushed out of him soaking into the grass. The countdown had stopped, but still read "Crockett: 3 seconds". He straightened up and cast a shielding charm around himself, still squeezing water out of his body through his mouth. He removed his gills, and since Dumbledore's spell had gone from the water, Harry vanished most of it from his system instead of continuing to vomit it up. He felt the bloated feeling leave him again. He was free from the water, albeit a bit soggy. He dried his red and gold robes with a quick spell.

He looked across the field. Dumbledore was standing with his wand at his side, his lips parted slightly. As soon as he met Harry's eyes, however, he raised his wand and fixed a look of concentration on his face. Harry mirrored his gesture and spells flew between them once more.

They danced farther apart and closer. Sometimes they were at opposite ends of the field whirling and drawing up spells with both hands, and sometimes they were only five paces apart. The stadium echoed with the chant "Croc-kett! Dum-ble-dore! Croc-kett! Dum-ble-dore!" accompanied by clapping and stomping.

Once, when they were merely feet apart, Dumbledore blossomed the beautiful bubble words from his wand. They reached out to Harry and Harry couldn't help but try to read them as they circled his head. They said something beautiful, something comforting. He was enraptured, hypnotized. He found himself still trying to decipher the words, his conscious thought slipping away, until the crowd around him began counting down from ten. He snapped out of it and conjured a great ring of fire that burned the letters.

Harry wielded the fire like a lasso and sent it flying until it encircled the place where Dumbledore stood. The fire burned so high that Harry could no longer see Dumbledore. The display boards started counting down, but after only thirty seconds, Dumbledore flew over the twelve foot flames on the back of a great lion, his robes (back in place) billowing behind him. The lion landed gracefully and started bounding a lap around the field, Dumbledore still on his back. Dumbledore raised his wand and moved it in great circles over his head. A great wind began to blow around him, tossing his wavy auburn hair dramatically over his intense features as he rode the lion. He continued his motion until he was as far from Harry as possible, and then the lion stopped. Dumbledore stopped moving his wand. His hair stopped blowing around him. He stood still for a moment gazing at Harry, and Harry looked back, a little nervous.

Then the wind hit Harry with a force that didn't so much knock him over, as lift him violently into the air. The wind tore at Harry's robes, and his short hair whipped his face. His wand was whisked from his hand as he was pulled in all directions. He flew upside down and sideways. He hardly knew where he was, but then he was back on his feet in the middle of the field. The wind was gone without a trace.

Harry spun around. Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen, and Harry's wand was missing. He looked up at the crowd and they were silent. He looked up at one of the display boards. It read a log of the spells they'd each recently cast.

"Unknown: Crockett
"Unknown: Dumbledore
"Unknown: Crockett
"Animal Transfiguration: Dumbledore
"Unknown: Dumbledore
"Unknown: Dumbledore
"Disillusionment charm: Dumbledore

So Dumbledore was invisible. Fortunately, Harry didn't have to rely on his eyes to know where people were. He had his auras. He was missing his wand, and his body aura was relatively useless for this sort of thing, so Harry closed his eyes and began forming contact with his instinct aura. It could have been worse, though Harry. At least the instinct aura would give him the best reflexes once he found Dumbledore.

Harry began panning out his instinct aura around him, but there was an unfortunate side effect; he had forsaken his sexuality for so long that getting in such close contact with the aura was making hot blood pool in Harry's abdomen, and his pants tighten uncomfortably. He mentally thanked whichever wizard had set robes as a trend rather than tights.

Harry searched in vain for Dumbledore's aura. It was nowhere to be found. The headmaster had hidden it well, but then Harry thought to try to find places where he couldn't search. Harry tried finding holes in his magical vision. He swept the entire stadium…except…a yard directly behind him. Behind him was a Dumbledore sized spot he couldn't see. Harry almost jumped in surprise. He scrambled to regain his wits (which became more difficult the longer he was in contact with his instinct aura), and focused in on his blind spot. He probed at it with his aura. He dug into it. He tore at it. Finally, he crushed it, and Albus's aura was exposed. Albus's aura mingled with Harry's raw instinct for a whirling moment of silence and then…

"You found me," whispered a deep singsong voice in Harry's ear.

"Did you think you could stay hidden?" asked Harry trying to keep his voice calm despite his breath quickening as he felt Albus's invisible breath on his neck. Harry didn't turn around.

"No," said Albus. Harry felt an invisible hand slide down his arm. Harry shivered. What was he doing? "I hoped you'd find me. My only question is…what are you going to do with me now?" Harry could feel Albus directly behind him. He could feel his warmth through two sets of robes.

"The aura…the aura you used was unfamiliar. Does it do to you what it's doing to me?" Albus sighed.

Harry groaned and realized that he hadn't used any occlumency on his aura. His face, already flushed from accessing his instincts, turned deeper red. He threw up his occlumancy around the aura, but the damage had been done. Albus pressed closer and Harry inhaled sharply.

"It's so pure," he rumbled invisibly, breathing in the scent of Harry's hair. "It's so strong…it makes me want to—"

"Albus," interrupted Harry before he lost himself in Albus's words, "I think it's time to duel again. I—I am going to walk away, and you can reappear or I can make you visible."

"Or I can make you invisible," said Albus. Harry could hear him smiling.

"Bugger," said Harry, as he saw himself vanish below his eyes. He was invisible. He was no longer under the watch of the stadium. His body was on fire and the man behind him was not helping. No one would see if he…He was free to turn around and…His brain was clouding over and he could only imagine how Albus felt; Albus had just been exposed to a completely foreign set of distilled, raw instincts, most of which, in the absence of hunger and danger, were screaming to fuck.

Harry needed to save both of them. He closed his invisible eyes and envisioned a solution… A bell rung.

And then he and Albus were sprawled across the ground, completely covered in icy cold yellow paint. They scrambled to their feet, both slipping and sliding. The paint had served to make them visible and to shock them out of their inadvertent erotic temptation. And now the two of them were completely yellow.

The bell was still ringing and Harry and Albus looked around for the source of the noise. Their eyes fell on the display boards which read,

"Disillusionment charm: Dumbledore
"Disillusionment charm: Dumbledore
"Dumbledore: 0 seconds
"Crockett: 0 seconds
"Conjuring: Crockett"

The bell stopped ringing and the stadium was silent. Harry was sure he'd be able to hear the spectators blinking in astonishment, had his ears not been filled with paint. Beside him, Albus stood contemplating the display board. Albus was the first to speak.

"A duel well fought, Harry," he said, extending his yellow hand.

"Er, yes, and you too," said Harry, "thank you. It was a pleas— an honor," he said, taking Albus's proffered hand gingerly. Please don't fire me.

The audience burst into wild applause and cheers and Harry jumped almost a foot in surprise. When he landed, he slipped in the pool of paint and fell. Albus, whose hand was stuck to Harry's by the drying paint, was pulled down on top of Harry. Harry's cheeks burned from embarrassment of his clumsiness.

"And once again, we end a duel on the ground. Don't worry," said Albus, reading Harry's mind. "After a demonstration like that, a little fall isn't going to lose you their respect."

"And your respect, Headmaster?" asked Harry, wincing. Please don't send me to Azkaban. Albus paused.

"Has never been higher for anyone," said Albus solemnly.

They looked at one another as they lay in the pool of yellow paint.

"Here's your wand, Harry," interrupted Albus. He pulled it out of his pocket and accidentally smudged it with yellow.

"Oh, I am sorry, Harry," said Albus. "I'll clean that off." Without looking at what he was doing, Albus began rubbing the wand with his saturated robes, effectively turning the whole wand yellow.

Harry chuckled and the spectators thundered on.

A/N: YEAH. So. That's that.