1.
"Severus Acheeum" Jupiter cried, overpowering her spell to shatter the flimsy shield charm her opponent threw up in haste. It cleanly severed the Achilles tendon of the wizard opposite, causing him to fall to the ground with a pained cry, a full body bind curse and Accio wand cast before he hit the floor. Cheers erupted around the long platform before the victory horn sounded. Jupiter turned to face the crowd as Ludo Bagman climbed onto the stage to declare her final victory for the year formally.
"And there you have it, folks! Jupiter Etsuko takes the title for the fourth year running - her junior career ending in perfection!" The crowd went wild, the most successful junior talent raising her hands to wave at them, basking in the spotlights cast on her. "One question has been on everyone's mind tonight though - a rumour started while you were duelling that you won't be competing in the senior division! Is this true Miss Etsuko?"
Rumours sure did travel fast in the wizarding world. Jupiter had been trying to keep that a secret to get a juicy paper deal to tide her and her family over the next three years. She gave an apologetic smile to her fans as Ludo cast a Sonorus towards her.
"Sorry guys, I'm afraid it's true." The crowd was inconsolable for a few minutes as people shouted their disappointment. "As you all know next year is OWLs year for me and I promised my parents that no matter how successful I was, I would take a few years off to focus on exams. I'll be back better than ever in three short years once I'm of age and can compete internationally though!" Her declaration didn't do much to soothe the crowd though, but she knew she had to keep her promise to her parents.
"A true shame!" Ludo exclaimed, agreeing with the crowd. "But we all know that you would have wiped the floor with your competition anyway as I think you've already beaten everyone in the division currently in your debut year while you were all juniors! We're all looking forward to seeing you come back with many new tricks up your Slytherin sleeve and see how you fare against the international crowd." Jupiter nodded along, before raising her arm for one last farewell. "Let's give Miss Etsuko some appreciation to show her how much we'll miss her!"
The crowd went wild once more, green sparks flying out of hundreds of wands and Jupiter took a formal bow, before walking down the steps of the duelling platform without a glance behind her.
–
Back in the changing rooms, Jupiter was jumped by her friends.
"That was awesome!" Draco shouted first, walking slightly faster than was appropriate for a Malfoy. Daphne had no trouble in rushing over though, grabbing Jupiter by the arms and swinging her side to side while Blaise and Theo leisurely made their way around to ruffle her hair.
"Thanks, guys." She laughed, giving them a one-armed hug as she reached up to untie the top of her duelling robes with her free hand. "Although I have to ask, was it any of you guys who leaked my semi-retirement to the gossipers of the wizarding world?"
Theo looked slightly nervous as the others side-eyed him. "Ahhh, I may have said a bit loudly in the crowd how I wanted you to teach me that blasting spell you used at the start now you have more free time without worrying about the Seniors."
Jupiter smiled fondly. "It's okay don't look so worried - I'm surprised it stayed a secret this long, and honestly it was much nicer to have the crowd cheering me on than just have to listen to the gossip after a Daily Prophet interview or something."
Theo looked relieved until Daphne grabbed the boys' arms and started ushering them out, startling them. "Come on guys - we need to let Jupiter get changed before we can go to Malfoy Manor to celebrate!" Jupiter smiled gratefully, walking over to the bundle of clothes she left before the match. She'd only just gotten back into the Muggle-style clothes she would wear home under robes before someone knocked at the door.
"Jupiter? Are you in there honey?" Her mum, and probably her dad too, were waiting for her.
"Come in!" She called back, folding her duelling robes to put into her bag. Before she had a chance to turn round she was engulfed in a hug by her parents.
"Aww Jupiter we're so proud of you!" her mum gushed, her dad nodding happily in agreement. Jupiter beamed up at them.
Her parents were Ministry astronomers and met in Japan when they were at an annual astronomy convention. Love at first sight they called it, though Jupiter believed in no such thing. She couldn't deny that her parents were made for each other though, and was glad they made it work even though when they met they couldn't communicate at all thanks to the language barrier. Her mum, Millicent, was from a branch of a small English pureblood family whereas her dad, Jun, was heir to one of the Japanese equivalent of the Sacred 28 pureblood families. He had already been promised in marriage to a second daughter of another wealthy pureblood family when he had met Jupiter's mum at the convention. He declared his intention to break off his arranged engagement and was threatened with disownment but made the choice to follow 'his Milly' back to England and the rest was history.
"Thanks, Mum" Jupiter smiled as her dad summoned her bag, ready to go.
"Due to the crowd that I believe is waiting outside, Ludo spoke to the Minister and got us a portkey straight home so you wouldn't be hassled and worn out before you got to the Malfoys." Her dad said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a chunk of a broken training dummy.
"Awesome. Tell Bagman thanks if you see him at the Ministry." Jupiter reached for the portkey alongside her mum, all ready to avoid the crowds for the day.
–
Her bedroom was a cosy one, painted dark green and lined with various muggle plants to give a forest feel. Although Jupiter was approaching mastery level in her spellwork, herbology was something that she hadn't fully gotten a grip on yet, and so magical plants that could scream, poison, burst into flames or do anything else damaging were off the table. Not that she minded, being able to fill the room with greenery and not have to do anything but occasionally water them was ideal, especially when she was away at Hogwarts most of the year and her parents had to be responsible for their upkeep.
She turned to the mirror, holding up her dress robes to her frame once more before taking them off the hanger to put them on. The Malfoy family had been very generous in letting her use the manor for her obligatory semi-retirement party, though at 15 she wasn't quite looking forward to pandering to old witches and wizards who wanted to use her as a future connection. She knew that was why the Malfoys were so open to her family; though she was a pureblood, neither of her parents was of enough importance to even be a blip on their radar. But if she kept dominating the duelling world as she had been, she would be a useful connection for Draco to have in the future, especially as they were both in the same year and house at school. Jupiter didn't particularly mind though. She got to stay friends with her housemate and honestly, Draco would be a powerful ally for her too in the future.
She shrugged the robes onto her shoulders, tying up the front. They were a stylised, formal version of duelling robes, obviously fitting for the occasion. Their moss green colour paired nicely with her cropped dark brown hair and pale skin, bringing out the more green tones in her hazel eyes. Of course, the green colour was also reflective of her house, as she was sure Narcissa Malfoy would cancel the event at a minute's notice if Jupiter turned up wearing yellow, blue or - god forbid - an obnoxious shade of red. Jupiter chucked at the thought before grabbing her clutch and wand and making her way towards her home's drawing room where she and her family would be flooing to the Manor.
–
A few days later marked the end of the Easter holidays and the return to Hogwarts for Jupiter and her friends. As she boarded the train, she was almost run over by a large crown pushing down the corridor. They all seemed to be whispering about Harry Potter and the third task. Of Course. The Triwizard Tournament had started that year and Potter had ended up as the fourth champion, earning a lot of hate from the students who believed Cedric Diggory was the rightful Hogwarts champion. Jupiter wasn't particularly interested in the outcome, rooting for no one. Though she held no animosity towards Potter and his friends, they had never been particularly pleasant to any Slytherins (and really only Draco deserved it sometimes). And Diggory was a people-pleasing good-looking Hufflepuff who she knew next to nothing about.
So Jupiter had been mostly ignoring the tournament, only attending the first and second tasks for potential duelling inspiration which had ended up being sorely lacking. Especially in the second task when everyone was left staring at the lake for over an hour. Still, the third task was far enough away that people shouldn't have been whispering so ferociously already unless there was a particularly juicy piece of gossip for them. Oh well. Jupiter just shrugged and waited for them to pass so she could stalk towards the compartment Draco usually intimidated any younger years out of so their group could have. If anything of note surrounding Potter had happened, he was bound to fill them in immediately.
Reaching the compartment, she could hear Pansy Parkinson's voice wafting down the corridor. What joy. She was never pleasant to be around, and Daphne, the only mediating force usually able to engage her in quieter conversation, was nowhere to be seen. Jupiter groaned under her breath as she pulled back the compartment door, her eyes assaulted by the site of Parkinson attempting to drape herself over Draco whilst Theo and Blaise were exchanging awkward glances. They looked up in relief as Jupiter walked in, no doubt feeling more comfortable with another person who can try and hold a conversation in Parkinson's presence.
"Hey Jupiter," Blaise said, standing up to help her with her trunk.
"Hi, guys." She returned. "Enjoy the end of your holidays?"
Everyone hummed in various tones of agreement before Theo turned to her.
"How do you feel now you've stepped away from all the competitions? Got more free time?"
Jupiter considered for a moment. "It's been good and bad." She made herself comfy on the cushioned seat closest to the window. "I mostly only compete during the holidays anyway so it doesn't feel different to have a break. It is slightly weird that nothing I work towards now is for a more specific purpose than 'in three years'. I can't wait to train up and develop a bunch of new spells with Snape's help though, and be someone my competition can't really prepare against in the adult division."
Pansy yawned. "I don't know why you spend so much time holed up with Snape in his classroom. It's kind of weird you know?"
"Oh shut up Parkinson." Jupiter knew what she was trying to do. It never works and it got old after the first few times a couple of years ago.
Draco then piped up. "You're just jealous she doesn't get a Troll in her DADA work." Blaise and Theo snickered. "Anyway, I would watch what you say. You'd be stupider than I thought if you tried to get on the bad side of the best duellist of our age."
Daphne walked in right as Draco said the last part, rolling her eyes in pure exasperation. Theo started cackling, setting Blaise and Jupiter off as Pansy crossed her arms and flounced out of the compartment in a huff. Jupiter was excited to start the last term of 4th year.