AN: I still don't own anything here.
CHAPTER 14 – Punishing fire
It turns out that a source of gossip like the Yule Ball was too tasty of a morsel for the Daily Prophet not to take, despite it being Christmas and therefore a holiday.
"Oh listen to this one my little moonglove," mirthfully said Liliana to Fleur while they were having breakfast, or rather a brunch, in the Great Hall with Chandra and Hermione "Apparently, you're using your unnatural charm to seduce me and thus gain an unfair advantage over the poor underdog, Rose Potter."
The French witch rolled her eyes and commented: "Zey make it sound like you're both innocent little girls..."
"Oh, but there's something on Chandra too, or rather, on how she went and deliberately made a joke of the traditional Yule Ball... This actually sounds about right, you know?"
"No, I maintain it wasn't deliberate at all," weakly protested said redhead raising both hands in a pacifying gesture "There would have been much more fire had it been deliberate."
"Fair enough. They still sound absolutely bipolar. And look here, they've got something to say on Hermione too! A vicious, muggleborn scarlet woman trying to steal international Quidditch star Viktor Krum from poor, good reputable pureblood witches of Britain using her decadent muggle ways and love potions. Shouldn't this be in the fiction section?"
"Viktor and I aren't like that. We're just friends..." huffed Hermione taking her eyes away from where her phoenix was pecking at a strip of bacon.
"Speaking of being like that," said the pyromancer turning on Fleur "You and Liliana, how come?"
"I would have never guessed you were one for gossip," countered the necromancer buttering up a slice of bread.
"Eh, I'm doing Nissa's job in her place since she's not here to do it herself, I'm just a good friend," said Chandra shrugging "Anyway little moonglove, it's story time."
"Very well," said Fleur as Liliana huffed "We knew already who ze ozer was, of course, neither of us is hardly unnoticeable, non? But we actually first spoke sometime after zat merrow girl left. Ma chère was on the lakeshore, looking forlornly at ze waters-"
"I was simply lost in thought," clarified Liliana huffing "I do not look forlornly at anything, it's your overactive imagination talking."
"Certainement, ma chère. As I was saying, I was curious about her expression, so I got close and asked. And zat's it."
"What do you mean that's it? You told us nothing!" protested Chandra spreading her arms as if to show how much more could be said.
"We talked and got along well Chandra, there isn't always an epic tale with a knight in shining armor, you know?" replied the necromancer sounding less than pleased.
"I was wondering," said Hermione in an obvious attempt to sidetrack the discussion "Fleur studied English and now speaks it very well, albeit with an accent..."
"Zank you Hermione."
"So, how come you speak it so well and with no trace of accent?"
The two planeswalkers exchanged a look, then the redhead raised a hand, like a schoolgirl asking a question, and said: "What's English?"
The question stumped both witches.
"What do you mean what's English?" asked Hermione in an incredulous tone "It's the language you're speaking!"
"No, we're speaking the common human-kithkin language, diffused in any plane of existence that has either race, albeit with some minor differences," explained Liliana "It's one of the reasons some think the Multiverse was once one immense plane."
"You're not the first to ask us that question," said the redhead shrugging "It comes up pretty frequently."
"I zink you two broke her," said Fleur after watching the English girl do a nice rendition of a fish "I actually zought you two were using some translation spell."
"Wouldn't know how to cast one, my little moonglove," replied Liliana caressing the French girl's face "I told you my kind of magic is completely unsuited for such tasks."
"You told her what magic you wield, right?" asked the pyromancer in a muffled tone "I'd rather avoid you two breaking up over an Hermione episode."
"That so sweet of you Chandra, but I did tell her clearly just for that. Turns out her people are a lot more open on the matter than around here."
"Uh, well ok. As long as you're both happy..."
Christmas and Boxing day came and went, and soon it was the day of the duel.
Reminiscent of the morning of the first task, Chandra had expected for Hermione to panic and fuss over her, but the bushy haired girl did nothing of the sort. When questioned on the subject, the witch answered:
"Of course I'm not worried, you keep telling anecdotes of your fights around the Multiverse in your lessons. It's not that Parkinson is a weak witch, it's just that she doesn't measure up to some of your past opponents. Just please, try not to torch the whole place, ok?"
Voices of the duel had apparently circulated in the student body, for a good portion of all three schools' population was already standing in the snowy lawn when Chandra arrived. In the very middle of the expanse stood a group of green trimmed Hogwarts students, with Pansy and Draco at their helm.
"So you came?" asked the Slytherin girl sounding excessively surprised "I almost expected you to run away."
"I repeat Parkinson," answered the pyromancer crossing her arms in front of her chest "If you haven't got any insult worth listening to you should avoid trying."
Dumbledore, who had been standing close by with most of the other teachers, stepped closer and said: "I guess I cannot persuade you to solve the matter peacefully?"
"If she's ok with that, sure," answered the redhead shrugging.
"I'm not a coward like you, Potter. Surrender if you really wish to avoid this."
"So be it," sighed the headmaster, his shoulders dropping "I'll leave the field to professor Flitwick then."
The diminutive professor, who was somehow standing on the snow mantle instead of sinking in it, marched closer and, with his squeaky voice, explained the rules: "This is an honour duel, and as such you'll go on until one of you surrenders or is incapable of continuing the fight. You cannot cast any spell outlawed in Britain. Anything I've not expressly forbidden is permitted. Please get ready."
Pansy moved in a pretty standard dueling stance, with her wand arm drawn back above her head and the other holding a small dagger in front of her, while half turning to expose only one side to her opponent's spellfire. Chandra simply ignited her hair and donned her goggles. Flitwick took his own wand out and cast a circular shield to protect the onlookers from stray spells but large enough to give the two girls enough space for their duel, then he gave the starting signal.
"Diffindo, diffindo, diffindo!" immediately cried out Parkinson, her wand blurring through the motions of the cutting charm.
Meanwhile Chandra jumped to the left and, not wasting time to wonder why her opponent had cast three spells in the same direction almost expecting her not to dodge, she slammed her left hand on the ground while channeling mana in her right in the form of a fiery ribbon shaped like an infinity symbol. The ground near her hand erupted like a mini-volcano and a smallish column of molten magma flew in Pansy's direction.
"Protego!" said the Slytherin witch dropping her project of all out offense to summon a shimmering dome to stop the lava from incinerating her.
It worked, but the molten matter blocked her sight for some precious seconds. When she could see Chandra again, the ribbon floating near the redhead had grown visibly but the planeswalker didn't seem to care as she joined her palms and then slammed them on the ground to summon what looked to be a dog that had been charred to the bones and somehow still moved and growled, spewing ashes and burning cinders around.
Some of the girls in the audience screamed at the creature's appearance, but Chandra didn't care. Her opponent had decided that since the elemental wasn't attacking, it was safe to focus on her with another cutting charm. Big mistake. The pyromancer sent two spiraling, intertwined jets of fire ‒one of her beloved pyrohelixes‒ at Parkinson to gain time for the ribbon to build up some more mana.
"Protego!" called the Slytherin girl once again blocking the spell, but it was obviously a draining spell for her.
Chandra estimated that she could use it another two times, three tops if she didn't cast anything else, and smirked.
"Now!" called the pyromancer at her summon, spurring it to jump ahead, hot cinders spewing from its mouth, eyes and ribs.
She then grabbed the ribbon and molded part of it into a deceptively small fireball she hurled forwards.
"Diffindo!" called Pansy throwing a cutting hex at the beast, but the creature was deceptively agile and the spell missed, then she had to add an "Aguamenti!" to try to douse the fireball, which resulted into a heavy blanket of steam.
Chandra's smirk widened, her opponent was making things too easy. She used all the remaining mana from the ribbon and fed it to her next spell, turning the ground in front of her into lava and sending it rolling towards Pansy in a brilliant wave.
Apparently, the witch had dodged her summon, or she had killed it, since she stumbled out of the cloud of steam not visibly worse for wear. Unfortunately for her, she walked out right in front of the flame wave.
"Protego!" she shouted rising a shield that was probably her last.
The defensive spell, though hasty, did its job and the wave passed her without any real damage, but it was evident to everybody who had won the duel: Pansy was on the scorched ground, shivering and panting, while Chandra was juggling a smallish fireball and smirking victoriously.
"What will it be, Parkinson? Do you surrender?" asked the pyromancer placing her goggles back where they usually were.
Pansy's eyes searched for a solution first, then support from her peers. Most students weren't looking at her, hypnotized by Potter's bobbing fireball, the girls from Slytherin were nodding their heads to suggest she should give up while she still could, but it was Draco's reaction that caught her eyes: he was staring intensely at her. She had often seen that look: he was considering her worth, like a businessman considers a deal.
She knew fully well she wasn't beautiful like Greengrass, but her blood was very pure and such a thing had attracted the Malfoy heir's attention. But that was it, without a contract there was no guarantee they'd end up together as she planned, so she had to show she was worth his interest.
He minutely shook his head, and she knew there was no other choice.
She turned her head back towards her opponent and raised her wand. It was going to be the last spell, one way or the other, of that she was sure.
Chandra's eyes traced her movement, her smirk dimmed and her hand moved to throw the fireball.
"Bombarda!" called the witch pumping her reserves dry for that last spell, tracing the required movements.
Her spell, a whitish projectile, left her wand and met the fireball in midair but too close to her. The resulting fiery blast forced the pyromancer to take a step back, but that was it; Pansy instead felt the heat sear her outstretched hand and saw her wand turn to ash.
She had been right, it had been the last spell.