AN:
Thank you to everyone reviewing, I enjoy reading them good and bad. I believe it is good practice to address some of them so I shall try for a few of them each chapter. I will not post the entire review just the reviewer and which chapter and my notes.
frankieu chapter 7 . Dec 19, 2021
It's a bit hard to help Luna directly. I just don't see how he would achieve it without directly threatening a bunch of 11-12 year old girls who might immediately snitch to Flitwick, the prefects or the TAs and get Darrow in trouble. Morally at this point in the story he is not there as well he looks at things from the point of view of being 30 and things just seem a bit silly. Aside from being a friend and bringing Luna into his group there is some indirect help planned in the next chapter.
ImaginativeFury chapter 7 . Dec 19, 2021
He's going to continue cannon for a while more for his convenience. Darrow likes Harry Potter enough that he doesn't want to completely destroy the story ..yet
Glrasshopper chapter 7 . Dec 20, 2021
We have similar views on electronics and magic. Personally I never liked the ZPE=Magic thing either and I won't do that for this story.
Joe Lawyer chapter 5 . Dec 20, 2021
Money! The great solver of problems!
To be fair to Harry he was an actual child/teenager while Darrow is an adult with life experience and understanding of the power of the $$ bills.
There is something minor planned for elves once he actually gets some.
Joe Lawyer chapter 7 . Dec 20, 2021
Unfortunately I had never really planned for this story to be smutty and I don't think I will take it too far in that direction.
Guest chapter 1 . Dec 19, 2021
Darrow is at least a medium sized bitch…
Guest chapter 7 . Dec 20, 2021
Whether he will improve the outcomes will be questionable. Darrow is in HP to learn magic which is similar to the magic in the Xenaverse, helps with his research, experience the plot and Hogwarts (childhood dream of the MC). Also it's a relatively safe world for get magical supplies and artifacts.
Xedornox chapter 7 . Dec 31, 2021
Glad to hear you are enjoying the story.
Redlight47 chapter 7 . Jan 8
I don't know any of those universes and Darrow can only go to places that have a live action movie/Tv show, no comic books, manga, animes, cartoons.
Shortmike24 chapter 4 . Jan 10
It's unlikely you will enjoy the rest of the story.
Thank you all for you input it is appreciated and please don't be surprised if I 'steal' some of your suggestions.
Story inspired heavily by 'Cruel To be Kind', '12 Steps To Omnipotence', 'Rise of an Empire' and a million and one other fanfics. If you see stuff and think that it's similar to another fanfic. it's probably because we read the same story and I liked that plot line or idea.
BEWARE this is a 'Gary Stu, wish fulfillment, power fantasy type story.
Thank you for reading!
Enjoy
Chapter 8
Year 4, Day 345: Harry Potter Universe, August 1993
The 17th century style decorations plastering the grand lobby of the dueling arena reminded me of the gaudy opulence of Palace Versailles. The French really wanted you to know they had been an empire of the civilized world and if you didn't like the style then you were just an uncultured swine.
A projection of power and culture, an exclamation that 'we' are better than you, a way to convey that serious matters happen in this building and I'll be honest it partially worked, only thwarted by the hectic multitude of witches and wizards in brightly colored robes and funny looking hats.
Honestly, wizarding fashion is all over the place. You have your old school Tolkien cosplayers except they don't limit themselves to grey and white robes but embrace the full rainbow sometimes along with matching hats. Then you also have the ones stuck in the 1920s, those with-what normal people would call- traditional garbs of their country of origin, furs, dresses, animal heads. Next the ordinarily muggle looking ones, the barefooted in touch with nature ones, the wicked witch of the west and forest hags ones and the list goes on, you really never know what you're going to get.
And here in this nondescript building about an hour east of Marseille in the Sainte-Baume Park there was a little bit of everything. The Southern France regional dueling competition was open to everyone around the world, just like all major dueling competitions in France. France by far produced the best duelist in the world. It was ingrained in their culture and here dueling was almost as popular as Quiddich.
I was here with Cato and Andreas, with Andreas taking the lead on getting us signed in. Nick was left at home to take care of, well, everything and anything that might come up.
I spent the last month since school finished training hard with Andreas and Cato. Andreas pushed hard in our training as he was afraid I had slacked off during school time. He was very surprised and very proud to see how smooth and fluid I had become in my movements. No more standing and casting I could run and set off chain spells without any hesitation.
I know it doesn't sound like a lot, after all in the movies people ran and threw spells all the time. And they certainly did so, of course their aim was shit and their hexes were low powered. Try in real life to run and hit a target and see how easy it is…it's really not.
However what caught Andreas by even more surprise was when in our session I transfigured a pack of Velociraptors that attacked him. Before I had stayed away from transfiguration, outside of water related spells, and stuck mostly to jinxes, hexes and the standard disarming spells. So not only was he surprised at the transfigurations but also 'WTF ARE THESE GIANT WEIRD LOOKING LIZARDS!'.
The man obviously hadn't seen Jurassic Park since it had only come out at the beginning of June and honestly it was doubtful he would ever see it. While he liked to go out in Muggle London often to explore the nightlife I doubt he would be hitting up any cinemas.
Unlike Cato, who loved Cinema, who I took to see it in theaters just so he could get the full experience and then next on his insistence one weekend we went to the Shameless universe and watched the rest of the movies in my home theater at my Beverly Hills mansion, that along with a bunch of other movies. The man liked his cinema.
Andreas had finished signing us in and was cajoling us with old dueling stories as well as pointing out certain people he spotted when, all fascinating stuff really, when I suddenly felt the older man's mood change.
"Andreas? Is that you?" My duel masters posture stiffened as we all turned around. A taller man who looked around Andreas's age and a slightly shorter and stockier boy who looked to be about 16 or 17 years old.
"Hello to you too Max!" He said to the two men approaching our group.
"Pleasure as always Andreas." The man said with a tinge of smugness. "Now what brings you here? Are you participating? I had heard that you finally retired two years ago."
"Last year actually, and no I'm not participating as a duelist but as a coach." Andreas replied. "I've entered Darrow here in the 17 & under tournament."
"Is that so?" Max responded while giving me a sizing look.
I had inched up again this summer. I was 5'8" and 150lbs, a large enough size physically at 13 years old but I knew he was more interested in my magical capabilities, how he would be able to tell from me just standing I don't know.
"Well I hope you put up a decent showing" he paused for a split second "Better than your Master did during his debut." He said with a smirk.
"Ha, ha! Very funny Max. At least I didn't cheat!" Andreas replied with a snark dismissal.
"Are we back to this old argument again?" Max said faking exasperation. "You have no proof!"
'Well these two do not like each other.' As they continued their argument I looked at the stoic looking boy next to Max and I instantly realized what was going to happen.
Holy shit, I was about to be pulled into some bullshit lifelong rivalry where I would have to win to redeem my masters honor or some such nonsense. As if on cue he stepped forward and extended his arm towards me.
"I'm Alexey. It seems we will be competing together." That seemed to snap both masters out of their totally not about to strangle each other conversation.
"Pleased to meet you." I said taking his hand. I was expecting some bullshit squeeze or something to try to intimidate me but it was a normal handshake…goes to show my mind is overreacting to the nonsense around me.
"Yes Alexey will be competing. He is sure to win this year. He's already ranked number 1 in all of the Russian territories. All at the age of 16." Max said proudly.
"That's certainly an indication of your hard work." Andreas said nodding towards Alexey "I'm sure. As for declaring winners maybe we should wait until the end of the tournament and let talent speak for itself. I think the outcome will be very different than what you think." And here Andreas paused for a split second. "Much like it was in '87."
Max's eyes widened and for a moment it looked like he was about to burst in indignation but quickly managed to get control of himself.
"Yes well, we will see about that." He said determined. "Come Alexey we need to sign in." he finished heading past us towards the registration office.
Alexey gave me an unknowing look as well before shrugged and followed the way Max left.
"Sorry about that." He said turning to me. "Max can be a bit of a handful." He said as he motioned us towards the fireplaces where we could floo back to Marseilles.
I had put us in a five star hotel in the heart of the city, because as much fun as wizard accommodations can be, due to magic, nothing beats rom service and being catered to by professionals. The floo connection was to a fancy speakeasy not too far away from the hotel, where we would be able to relax for a drink and a meal before the madness starts tomorrow.
As we reached the hidden restaurant and signaled for a table to be set up I was feeling exceptionally nosey and burning to ask Andreas about his obvious frenemy. Luckily it seemed Cato was on the same page and took the lead.
"Andreas should we be concerned about this Max? He seemed to enjoy pushing your buttons." Cato finished slowly accentuating the word 'pushing'.
"No, he's an old friend from Durmstrang, a handful but nothing to worry about. We've settled most of our issues years ago…for the most part."
The man seemed to deflate a bit in resignation as it was obvious he was reflecting on a past he and Max shared.
"Well there obviously seems to be a story there more important than your typical school spat over who stole whose girlfriend. Care to share?" and asked and after a small pause. "So Darrow might have an idea why he's being targeted in the tournament." He finished with a bit of concerned tone.
'Fucking Cato', he knew how to play people, don't get me wrong I was also curious to hear the story as well, plus we had the evening free and there wasn't much to do, not enough time to see the tourists sites.
Cato made a sign for the waiter to come and ordered what I can only assume was a very expensive bottle of wine also indicating that we will need a few minutes for food.
My French was decent, a left over from my 'past life'. I hadn't used my Occlumency skills to focus on languages yet since most of my attention was taken by reading everything I could get my hands on in the restricted section.
Andreas seemed to relent and spoke up.
"Fine, it's not like it's a big secret or something tragic." He said. "But I warn you it did unfortunately start with him stealing my girlfriend during my last year at school…though I'm sure if you ask him he will see it differently." He said rolling his eyes.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear you had to go through with that, young love can be very passionate and …unreliable." Cato said with slight amusement.
"Yes, well, I got him back eventually." Andreas said a bit embarrassed. "Slept with his sister." He said in a lower tone and I swear I could see a hint of a blush creeping on the man's face.
Cato almost choked and spit out the testing sample of the wine. "Well, now you have to tell us the story!" he insisted and I only nodded.
The waiter moved to fill up both Cato and Andreas glasses with a higher volume than he would normally do for a classy drink, as if in response to the revelation and the story that would follow.
When he made for my glass Cato's hand shot out and covered it.
"Not for him. While he may not look it, young Darrow here is only thirteen years old and it would be 'very' inappropriate for him to partake." He said with an amused tone and a sly smile.
'THIS FUCKING GUY!' I'm pretty sure if my glare could shoot knives he would Swiss cheese by now. The annoying part is that I could probably do it if I tried hard enough. 'Fucking Cato!'
Andreas only nodded in agreement.
Scene Break
I waited for the French official's signal before entering Arena #8 for my second match of the day. The first match was lackluster. I was paired with a 17 year old French boy, probably a Beauxbaton student, who, upon the signal of the referee to begin; I flicked an Expeliarmus charm at him so fast that he didn't even finish the first syllable of his spell. The impact was powerful enough that it blasted him back 5 meters through the air landing on his back.
He hit ground so hard that he apparently cracked three ribs and wasn't able to continue the match, forcing the referees to award me the five points and the win allowing me to advance to the next round.
While I liked winning and owning inferior opponents I wouldn't be able to experience different styles if I kept knocking down my opponents in one shot. That and I didn't want to accidentally kill anyone so I was trying to tone down the strength and speed of my spells.
Dueling as a sport had evolved over the years in different forms and the most popular version was the French 5 point match tourney. First to 5 points win or if the opponent cannot continue you win by default. Duels used to be a 1 shot and done type of thing you either won or lost paying tribute to the traditional real life duel where a mistake was all it took to forfeit your life.
At some point for commercial reasons it was decided that the matches were too short and didn't make for good viewing so they took a page out of tennis and added points making the bouts longer, more entertaining and commercially viable.
The 3 referees, 1 main and two side assistants, were allowed to award points based on the spells used and how they hit, wand loss or a knockout by something like stupefy were automatic win points and most of the body impediments as well. No direct deadly attacks of course, thing is there was a scale to some attacks which is why you were allowed 2 'faults' at the ref's discretion.
Direct blasting or cutting curses above the shoulders was generally considered faults yet things such as fire spells or transfigurations that were going to maul your face off were allowed…wizard logic. After each point awarded you were allowed 1 minute to recover and decide if you could continue the match.
My opponent was a well-endowed French girl named Michelle Cas.. something, I didn't quite catch it as I was admiring her figure. As we observed the proper traditions and bowed to each other I could see her curly blond locks fall below her shoulders and sharp golden eyes trying to pierce through me as a form of intimidation however all I could think was 'Why wouldn't she put her hair in a ponytail?' it's obviously the superior style for sports…but then again she probably cast a charm that would keep her hair out of her eyes.
As the referee signaled for us to begin I let her make the first move. She threw two lightly colored spells in quick succession which I recognized as an Expeliarmus and Stupefy. The fact that she did it silently and quickly showed she was a cut above my previous opponent; then again the poor guy didn't even get a spell in so I can't say for sure what his capabilities were.
I quickly raised a Protego stopping the first spell and stepped to the right keeping the shield up while avoiding the second spell. I had retracted my water shield for the duration of the tournament as I didn't want to show that off to the world just yet,
Her follow up spell I knocked to the side with my wand, the same for the next three shots. I couldn't help but smirk as we silently circled each other wands at the ready. When she realized I wasn't going to make to be the first to move she launched a purple blasting curse which I again knocked to the side however this time in the same smooth motion I flicked and swirled my own Expeliarmus and Stupefy at her. To her credit she brought what I can assume to be a Protego shield quick enough that was able to stop the first however was shattered by the second knocking her on her ass.
"Point Miercuri!" the referee shouted and before I could launch a follow up attack a white barrier sprung up between us. "Back to corners 1 minute!" He continued.
"Distracted by the pretty girl are you?" Remarked Cato slyly.
Andreas frowned and followed up as well. "Being chivalrous is all nice and well but it has no business in a dueling competition. I know you are faster and stronger than this. The quicker you finish your opponent the more time you have to recuperate before your next match. You have to fight three more matches before you top your group."
Jeez.. what's with the sudden competition heebie-jeebies, can't a God have some fun? It's like he forgot I had crazy stamina. I looked into the concerned yet hopeful eyes of Andreas and relented. This was all about me advancing to face the protégé of Max. I was in group 1 and he was in group 2 if we won we would face each-other today in the quarter finals. There were 8 groups with 16 competitors in each, the semi-finals and finals would be held in the last two days of the tournament.
"Fine, not to worry I was just testing the waters out. I'll end it quickly."
"Good, you will get a higher ranking if you finish things in a strong decisive manner." Andreas confirmed. Yea the duelists were ranked like tennis players based on various stats. It's why Alexey was ranked #1 in the Russian territories.
"Duelists, to starting positions!" I heard the referee say.
"Begin!"
This time I took the initiative before she could strike. My fast spells pinned her down. She didn't have time to put up a general shield and blocked with her wand as I advanced on her.
First, second, third blocked but the fourth Expeliarmus got through launching her wand in the air.
"Point Miercuri! Back to corners, 1 minute."
I threw the wand to the ref and headed back to Andreas.
"Satisfied?" I asked.
"Very, keep at it don't give her time to recover, momentum is key." He answered.
Once again we returned to starting positions.
"Begin!"
I immediately launched a Stupefy which she once again blocked and returned in tandem.
Instead of blocking I ducked allowing the spell to fly harmlessly over my head while at the same time casting Incarcerous, surprising my opponent.
Four ropes launched out of the tip of my wand and high speed towards her. To her credit she managed to avoid the two going for her upper torso by ducking but still fell prey to the lower two. With a thud she fell to the ground all tied up. I couldn't help but notice one of the ropes ended up slithering up, wrapping around the chest area further accentuating her shapes. This spell could be kinky.
"Point Miercuri'! Back to corners 1 minute." The ref released the spell on Michelle and I could see she was very frustrated heading back talking with her coach.
The break time flew by even faster than before.
"Begin!"
"Confrigo!" I shouted at the top of my lungs surprising my opponent.
Even though she was startled her wand hand automatically went up to block the spell, now I didn't put a lot of power behind it since I wasn't trying to maim my opponent but something must have gone wrong.
"Ahhh!" she yelled sharply as her wand flew out of her hand upwards as her whole arm was launched up and backwards.
"Point Miercuri!" The ref yelled as the white barrier sprung up to life once again between us.
I wasn't surprised when the referee announced me as winner of the match as Michelle was not able to continue, the Confrigo broke two fingers and dislocated her shoulder. Not my intention but eh, it happens.
"Excellent job Darrow!" Andreas congratulated me. "We have about half an hour before your next bout. Let's get a quick snack to replenish your energy."
Sure why not I could go for a snack.
Scene Break
My third match was over fairly quick, in one round. I faced another French opponent. We exchanged spells in a quick successive fencing like manner, cast, parry, cast, parry, parry, cast until I launched a Confrigo at ankle level which caught him flatfooted. The spell broke his tibia, it was pretty brutal actually seeing it and he was unable to continue.
That's why now I was facing my fourth opponent, a German boy named Martin Mueller.
As soon as the ref gave the signal we both stepped to our right side while simultaneously exchanging spells.
We both dodge and exchanged once more. His reaction time was good, very good and while I could go much faster I only moved fast enough to match his tempo.
Stupefy, Parry
Stupefy, Dodge
Stupefy, Protego
Step
Step
Expeliarmus
Step
Step
Twirled out of the way of another Stupefy he sent my way launching my own in retaliation and while I expected him to block, he surprised me by stepping forward bouncing the spell back at me as if we were playing tennis and in the same motion launched another curse slightly to my right.
It was only through my Godly reflexes that I recovered and stopped my rightwards movement and turned completely sideways letting the two spells past on either side of me.
Flicking a Protego into existence absorbed a third spell aimed straight at my head.
"Fault! Mueller." I heard the ref shout and saw the ward barrier spring into existence.
"Deprimo to the head!" he continued then turned to Mueller. "Don't try that again, I don't care how weak it was it I will not have brains splattered all over my arena." Ref laying down the law.
I heard Andreas shout at me to take initiative so that's what I did. Falling into his tempo was a mistake.
Back to our starting positions on the signal I burst into motion launching a chain of Expeliarmus, Stupefy, Confrigo trying to overwhelm his defenses.
Mueller showing incredible instincts again dodge the first two spells and bounced back the third. I block the spell with my Protego encased wand to the side and as I was making the flicking motion for another Stupefy I saw his hand swing back from the end position of the bounce which raised a cloud of dusty dirt from the ground right into my face.
A well-executed and practiced move. On any other wizard this for sure would have allowed him to hit me and gain a point but in my case I was quick enough to dodge even with the dust disrupting my view and cast a powerful Stupefy.
The blaster bolt like red light moved to fast for my opponent to react catching him square in the chest and launching him straight into the back wall of the arena.
The gasps and murmurs of the audience well they were just that, while the ref just gave a dirty look. Broken sternum, ribs and one punctured lung, Mueller was not able to continue.
Cato had no reaction while Andreas only said it was bad form on my part but acceptable.
I don't feel bad. You don't send a Deprimo to my head and expect me not to retaliate.
Scene Break
I sized up the stockier boy across from me in the arena as we bow and wait for the referee's signal to begin. Alexey Arapov, my duel master's rival's protégé which makes him my supposed nemesis in this competition.
Unsurprisingly he won his group giving up only two points in total for all of his matches, even more unsurprising he won all his matches just like me by beating his opponents so hard they weren't able to get back up.
Upon signal we both burst into motion in the same direction he to his left and me to my right. We exchange a volley of spells in a silent stalemate with both of us dodging, blocking or bouncing.
Unlike Mueller who was quick Alexey has both speed and strength. I feel the power behind the spells I block or bounce, sending small vibrations up my arm. He probably broke all of his opponent's arms.
Alexey breaks the tempo with a Protego which blocks my Expeliarmus with a loud thud. My enhanced eyes pick up his lips moving in a silent incantation. At the same time he makes a movement to the left of his shield. I launch a spell to the where he is going to pop out from behind his Protego but he quickly switches to the right and swings a dark colored spell towards my legs.
A faint and I fell for it almost catching me off guard if I couldn't move past mere human and wizard speeds. I move faster than should be possible and let the spell fall to the ground behind me. I launch a Stupefy in return which he bounces back at me.
I make to step aside and cast another when I suddenly feel something grab my leg. Startled I looked down to see a stone hand wrapped around my ankle.
That was a mistake. I only catch a flash of red from the corner of my eye before darkness takes me.
I awake to the face of Andreas above me.
"Darrow, you were knocked out." He states. "Thirty seconds before you have to get back in there. Can you continue?"
I nod to him as I stand. "What happened?"
"Second last spell was a transfiguration. Ground turned into a hand and grabbed your leg then you were hit with a Stupefy." He states. "You let him dictate the tempo." Andreas says while giving me a bottle of water. "Here it will clear the fogginess."
The cold water does just that.
"He's fast but not as fast as you. He just has more experience and is better at predicting what you're going to do. Take control of the rhythm and hit him hard don't hold back. Got it?" I nod once again. "Good, now get back out there."
I'll admit it he is good, very good actually and he caught me by surprise so he deserves his point but that's all I'm willing to give.
The referee gives the signal and I take initiative by launching my practiced Stupefy-Expeliarmus chain spell at him moving faster than before.
He manages to deflect all the spells but I keep up the pressure and don't give him a moment to launch his own. Once again he throws a strong Protego which absorbs my spells with loud thuds.
I once again see him do a small silent incantation however this time sensing that the same trick wouldn't work twice there are no faints or fakes. From behind his shield he flicks the dark colored spell at the ground in front of me.
Thick stone spikes with blunted tips burst from the ground towards me. I use my superior speed to effortlessly dodge them.
He wants to play Transfiguration so let's play Transfigurations.
With a swish I flick my own spell to the ground in between us from which three razors sharp toothed drooling Velociraptors spring up.
I hear the crowd gasp however if Alexey is surprised his face shows none of it.
With a burst of speed the 'raptors' charge him seeing him only as the delicious bag of meat I imbedded in their will.
Alexey to his credit does not back down and instead steps forward with his left leg and leans forward with his wand holding right hand as if reaching for the ancient dinosaurs.
In a surprising move he makes a jerking backwards motion with his right hand as if he was pulling a rope with his wand. The 'raptors suddenly get launched over his head at breakneck speeds crashing into the arena wall behind him and in one smooth motion he launches another spell at me.
I block 'Holy shit! He's good!' I certainly did not expect that. And from the crowd's reaction they didn't either. The oversized lizards hit the magical arena wall so hard that they dispelled back into dirt.
'Ok no more playing around' I cast another Expeliarmus chain spell at him forcing him on the defensive. He's stuck in a patter blocking my spells with his wand. I aim to his right to forcing him to step to the left. The last spell in my chain goes slightly wide and misses Alexey. He gladly lets it fly past him.
I stop as if to catch my breath and I can see he takes the break as an opportunity to recover, reposition and launch his own offensive; instead I use my superior speed and re-launch my offensive catching him off guard.
He quickly makes to block and step to the left again when suddenly his left foot finds no grip and slides into a 'splits'. The spell that went wide had transfigured all the ground behind him and to his left into smooth ice. My stop was a faint to catch him off-guard.
"Confrigo!" surprised he has no time to recover and avoid my spell. I aimed directly for his wand hand.
He gives off a sharp yell and the milky white barrier instantly springs up between us. The referee goes to Alexey who was now on the ground clutching his hand and signals for the healers after a few seconds.
"Nice one Darrow!" Andreas remarked as I returned to my corner. "You control the rhythm you control the battle!"
"Thanks! He was really good, really surprised me there a few times!" I responded.
"Yes, I wouldn't expect anything else from Max's student. Between us Max always pushed himself the hardest I expect he went even harder on his student." Andreas answered with a wistful remembrance of older more youthful days.
The referee came back and announced me as the winner. My Confrigo spell actually blew away two of his fingers, fractured the bones in the hand and broke his wand. I felt bad about the wand, the flesh wounds could be easily mended by magic but the wand would be harder if not impossible to fix in some cases.
Oh well as the French would say C'est La vie.
Scene Break
I was slightly annoyed as I watched a happy drunk Andreas mix, mingle and brag to the other coaches and guests in attendance of the party. Then again there was a lot for the man to be proud and brag about. I was technically his first student that he trained for a competition, it was my first ever competition which I had just won for the first time all at the tender age of '13'.
A lot of firsts for the guy which was bringing him and me a modicum of fame in the dueling circles. Oh if only they knew the truth-hopefully not anytime soon.
Now the annoying part wasn't Andreas per se, he's had a couple of mediocre years before coming into my service so I was more than happy to let the man enjoy his time in the spot light. It wasn't even the fact that I had to socialize and boast of Andreas's coaching techniques, which were made even more effective with my godly attributes, no, it wasn't that it was the fact that I had to play the part of thirteen year old who would not do to be seen with a 'GAWD DAM DRINK IN HIS HAND' and I really wanted to enjoy some of this fancy ass magical wine that was being served.
Literally all of my proverbial Olympian cells were screaming to grab a bottle and go to town.
Even worse were the cheeky well-meaning adults who were all like 'Let the boy have a sip! He won after all!' and then I'd have to have a few sips and pretend like I didn't just want to chuck that bitch down!
"Enjoying the party Monsieur Hammer?" Cato's voice brought me out my annoyance.
"Oh don't you start with that too!" I said exasperated.
"Really, you don't like it? I think 'The Hammer of Marseilles' has a nice ring to it." I just rolled my eyes at him.
'The Hammer of Marseilles' was the nickname I'd received after the semi-finals and unfortunately it was used by the referee to announce me as the winner in the finals.
The semi-finals and finals were held earlier today, a few days after my fight with Alexey. In the few days in-between we entertained ourselves by sightseeing and observing the rest of the competitions. The adults gave an average showing from which it became clear that Mueller and Alexey would dominate next year and the other younger age brackets were uneventful.
In the semifinal I faced another French boy which upon the ref's signal I quickly casted a Stupefy chain. He was fast enough that he threw up a Protego but was pinned in place, his concentration being all taken up by holding the shield. The continuous pounding reverberated with loud fast 'Thuds' in the arena with my 6th shot breaking the shield and the 7th shot breaking his arm and knocking him out.
Those in the audience who had seen my previous bouts started cheering and shouting 'Le Marteau', 'The Hammer'.
In the finals I faced another Frenchman however this time I decided to play it a bit different. I once again didn't give a chance for the opponent to make an offensive move. Instead of sending a chain spell I concentrated and sent a lightning bolt continuous Stupefy beam at him.
The concentrated firepower instantly broke through his shield like shattering glass and launched him at the end of the beam all the way into the arena wall. I accidentally put too much power in my little experiment to recreate the Voldemort and Potter dueling beam and even the arena barrier shuddered when it sprung up to separate us.
The audience fist gasped and went wild when it was confirmed that my opponent couldn't continue.
The cheeky ref actually announced me as 'Winner Darrow Miercuri – Le Marteau de Marseilles' which of course the audience loved.
"Come now Darrow don't be such a downer." He said with his mouth burgeoning in a small smile. "I went and had a chat with the Madam in charge of the event and I have secured a few of these bottles to take home" Cato finished as he took a big sip of his wine.
That instantly perked up my mood. I turned to Cato from watching Andreas vividly gesticulate some story, probably about us training, to a group of witches who were more than obviously enamored by the tall and good looking Swede.
"So then" I started "once Andreas is out for the night and I can take a more appropriate adult form care to join me in exploring some of the nightlife around here, have a real celebration?"
"No can do. I said I've secured some of these wonderful bottles and that has come at a price." He said finishing his wine glass and handing it to me. "A price I am more than willing to pay."
"Now if you'll excuse me I have a witch to entertain." He said with a coy expression and left towards a mixed group of wizards and witches where one particularly regal looking middle aged witches was waving at him.
'Fucking Cato'.
I saw Andreas signal for me to come over to his group of witches and sighed.
'Well at least no one can say I wasn't a good wingman.'