Last time:

...Then they demonstrated the most dangerous level, upon which Jo had stated the doubt of anyone getting to that level that year. It was one that was to use dangerous, and sometimes lethal methods to take out the opponent. Well, lethal if you didn't know how to deal with it.

That particular fight was between Filius and Juno, as per a challenge by Snape, and John was just childish enough to accept. After asking for Filius' input, of course; he agreed.

Chapter 5

Filius and Juno now stood opposite each other, Filius was in the position of the standard dueling pose. It allowed for a wide range of spells to be cast easily, with the area of which the area was able to be moved in. There was also the advantage of being in a very wide stance, so as it was both harder to be moved, and easier to dodge incoming spells.

For Filius, it also had the added benefit of not having the normal disadvantage of being stagnant, it is still easy for him to move about.

Juno, however, had taken a starting position not too dissimilar to that of the tp martial arts techniques. There was a slight discomfort shown by everyone present, and it was from the animal that Juno was trying to emulate; Juno looked like a snake about to strike from the way he was positioned. His 'wand' was in his striking hand.

Before they began, Jo had started off with announcing the rules of the engagement, "In this demonstration there are very few rules, unlike the previous five. The only banned spells are those the ministry considers illegal, but not including those you are permitted to use by the ministry. As for the rules on fighting itself, fight as if it is for your life. If you are knocked off the dueling platform and into the pretend 'lava', cannot fight any longer, or are unconscious, you lose."

Then, she had raised the shield that she had used for the last two matches, one that had covered the entire permitted dueling area and a simple illusion charm on the floor to make it look like lava. After that she had simply said, "Fight!" Upon which the duelers broke into action. Well, Filius did. Juno was patiently letting Filius have a 'turn'. The man in question had started off with a simple stunner, which Juno had let it reach him.

But Juno didn't go down. Instead, he had reflected the curse back against Filius. Filius was momentarily surprised, before he had dodged the incoming fire. Then, Juno had started in on his own assault. He started off with normal combat spells, and charms, to which Filius though was suspicious. It was easy at first for Filius to shield against or dodge the incoming fire, but within that ease come complacency.

Despite the diminutive professor's character, he had fallen to his own thoughts that he could overcome the boy in front of him. Little did he know that it was John's plan for this to happen.

When John felt that Filius was complacent enough, and had started to fire back very quickly as per his prerogative, Juno did something none - other than those made of Blacklight material - expected of him.

Juno had turned invisible under the constant barrage of various spells headed in his direction. Then, he jumped up with his enhanced strength, and caught ahold of the roof by digging some hastily-morphed claws into it. Since he was under the constant barrage of spells by the professor, no-one noticed the sound of the claws entering into the roof.

Sense the shield only consisted of four walls, floor to ceiling, what Juno did was possible. Because Juno did not want to kill the professor, he had kept to using magic so that the professor could defend himself properly, what with the way that the wasted energy in the spells cast gave off an identifiable light. But John also wanted to make a point.

The conclusion John had come to through his experiments was that magic and mundane tech were far more superior together than alone. Sure, either could accomplish a goal with their own means, but it was far easier if they were combined. It was why John used Em so much. It was very versatile, and very abundant considering that he could duplicate it. The only reason why there might be problems when using it with tech was that it wasn't in its purest form, and was tainted by the 'personality' of another being; in other words, it was in tune with a specific 'magical orientation'.

That brought up another interesting tidbit, in that unlike what the magical populace thought, there was not just a 'Dark' or 'Light' leaning. No, there was an entire kaleidoscope of colours, and sometimes literally. When John had learned how to see these magical 'auras', he had been puzzled to find that the purest form of magic - Element M - was not white when he had looked at it. Instead, it was an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colours. When he had looked at others, they had varying colours, all from the whitest of white, blackest of black, and a smattering of varying colours.

It had begged the question of how the chaotic and unorderly looking Em could possibly be compatible with the orderly and very logic-based tech. When John had observed the interaction, it appeared as though the Em had adapted to the very logical based tech, so that they complimented instead of destroy each other. When it had been 'tainted', it hadn't been able to adapt.

Those findings suggested that if magic in its purest form could adapt, then it was in some form or fashion alive.

Alas, an author digressed and readers had forgotten about a fight that was taking place, that normally would only last a minute at most.

Filius had casted a revealing charm, one meant to reveal life signes of those that were invisible, and it was then that Juno had made his next move. He had dropped down from the ceiling of the Great Hall, and then had landed - roughly - behind Filius while he had taken a step forward. The impact had disrupted Filius' balance, and the boy had taken advantage of this, by pushing the man forward.

Said man had landed roughly, and had then wasted no time in turning over and had thrown a cutting curse, a favourite in real combat; it was easy and quick to cast with devastating results if it struck. That particular curse was only allowed in official dueling because it was the same as if the target had been spliced, and thus fairly easy for a healer to take care of, with both the pieces present. There was no need for there to be a search and rescue of missing body parts.

Filius had thrown two of them, with deadly accuracy, and had hit both of Juno's arms. Despite the arms being made of very strong material, namely of Blacklight infected matter, and very dense, it still gave way to the powerful curses. Juno's arms had just fallen off of his frame at where the curses struck, as he had moved forward.

Juno had turned a frowning face to where his arms were, while Filius had been slightly disturbed that Juno hadn't been yelling in pain as what most professional duelist would have. He had gotten up, and was unaware of the green faces of the younger students, the gasps by many, and the slight alarm by those not in-the-know about what the particular curse was. The damage was repairable.

Poppy, in particular, only had disapproval upon her face in regards to what Filius did. The only reason she was not angry was that it was a good opportunity to get her apprentice to do her first splinch repair. That, and Juno - the poor dear - wasn't screaming his discontent with the situation. To be fair, it could be argued that for older women, disapproval and anger were one and the same.

Juno had then looked up to the Charms Professor when the man had gotten to his feet, by jumping back up, no less. Still frowning, Juno had only said one word for what the Charms Professor had done, "Ow."

Filius had turned to the referee, assuming that the match was over. Surely, the boy could not continue fighting, having literally been disarmed. He had only the time to see the victorious smirk of the resident Potions Mater turn to a look of horror. He had whipped back around, and was met with a foot in the face.

Filius had come to one conclusion in that instance, before he had a broken nose and was thrown back, off of the platform. That conclusion was that he did not like kissing feet. He was ever-so glad that he had not joined the Dark Side of the previous war, as he would have had come to that conclusion a lot earlier than he would like. True, he would like to have never like to have ever had to come to that conclusion, and take it as a given. Fate, it seemed, did not want him to live through the bliss of that ignorance.

He had made his way up to the platform again, and when he faced his partner, it was to the curious sight of the boy regrowing his arms.

Juno had, when he had kicked his opponent off of the platform, started in on regrowing his own arms. It was a difficult process, but only because he couldn't let his instincts repair them, and instead had to have John override them so that it looked like a metamorphmagus was regrowing them; it wouldn't do for it to look more abnormal than necessary.

Filius had gotten atop of the platform again by the time he had gotten about a third of the way through, and when he was done he had formed bone-like extrusions, to which he had snapped off. He held the weapons like knives, as that was what they were: bone knives.

But it was then that Juno's 'Auntie' had stepped up again on the platform, and said, "Professor Filius Flitwick loses, Mr. Juno Mercer wins as per the stated rules. As the good professor had not had the appropriate magics protecting himself against lava, he is disqualified. Had he cast the rather complicated charm before the match began, this would not be so."

The two had approached the middle of middle of the platform, and had bowed again, as was customary of finishing an official duel. It was the polite thing to do, and showed that the two duelers respected each other. The only exception to this was if one was physically unable to do so, but that was only until they were able to at a later date. In fact, in polite society, it was considered quite rude if they had not done this a day after recovering even if it was some ten years later.

After Juno had banished his disregarded arms and bone knives, he had stepped off of the platform and to were the healers' station was set up, as was customary even if the duler did not have any injuries they knew of. Much could be missed by someone in regards to their own body, especially just after a combat situation.

Besides, John knew better than to piss off any type of medical professional, even if he was who he was.

John had taken the opportunity to instill a little more knowledge into the students before him. He did this through Jo, still standing upon the platform with the attention of all the students present, "Sense I am a teacher, I can't help but to turn this into an educational opportunity.

"I believe that all of the students here were given a lecture on the most dangerous duelists, the importance of not underestimating your opponent, and much more for the last few classes, yes?

"Well that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I had said a metamorph is so dangerous. Never piss one off, because if they know how, they are never unarmed. Depending on their level of knowledge, they can't be rendered unconscious by any normal means either, such as a stunner. It was one of the main reasons why Professor Flitwick didn't stand much of a chance against Mr. Mercer, not that that says much of the Professor's skill. He is one of the most skilled duelers in all of Magical Europe.

"But everyone makes mistakes. Juno had made the mistake of giving away the fact that he could withstand a stunner, and he had hesitated at the start of the match to name a few. Then again, he is experienced, and much of the mistakes he has made are understandable. That doesn't mean they won't be corrected.

"On the other hand, Professor Flitwick had made the mistake of underestimating his enemy, on multiple occasions. To be fair, it wasn't much his fault. After-all, how rare is it to be facing a metamorph? We are approximately four hundred in this hall at the moment, and there are only about - as far as I know - four metamorphs in the room, including Juno and myself. That's a one in a hundred chance, but still possible.

"The only clue he had that showed Mr. Mercer as one, was that Mr. Mercer was not affected by the stunner that hit him.

"Then, there was the assumption that Mr. Mercer could not fight without his arms. He should have bound him before turning his back on his opponent, instead of letting him get close enough to use mundane fighting methods to get him off of the platform and into the 'lava'.

Jo had finished with, "That being said, let us all give a round of applause to Professor Flitwick and Mr. Mercer for their wonderful demonstration!" The hall had erupted into applause for the amazing display.

Harry had gotten his wish, and had been able to duel that night. It appeared as though only the first round of testing would go on in determining which level they belonged to. It was fun watching the other duels take place, and it wasn't long - to him - before he had gotten to duel. He had been paired up against Draco Malfoy, a slytherin that he did not particularly like on general principal of the boy's reputation, but would be civil to if just not to make an enemy. It wasn't like the other boy had done anything against Harry.

The boy had started off with a spell to summon a snake to him, and Harry had grinned before he had said one word. "Anubis," he stated calmly, and then Harry's constant shadow had jumped up onto the platform, growling. Seeing the look on the boy's face, and hearing what the snake was saying, Harry took pity on them, "Do you really want to bring familiars and animals into this duel, Mr. Malfoy?" It was stated formally, and plainly, just like how he had heard Professor McGonagall speak to some students.

Without a word, Malfoy had removed the snake of his own accord, and Harry had replied with, "Good choice," before he had ordered Anubis off the platform. Professor Sinistra - the one overlooking their duel - had looked faintly amused by the entire ordeal, and had said nothing. The duel continued in a rather normal way after that, and Harry had stayed back to watch the rest of the duels, unintentionally soaking up extra bits of knowledge about dueling from doing so.

A/N: So, I'll leave it there. Hope you all enjoyed it, even more than I did making it! Please leave a review, as the best part of writing is looking forward to and reading the feedback I get from you all.