Wild cards
Chapter 21
…
It was early morning and Harry stood outside the dueling hall. He was nervous. Ridiculous given what he'd been through in the last two days and he was fully aware of this.
He took a deep breath, exhaled, "It's just a game Harry" he told himself.
He walked into the dueling hall and was greeted by a perky young woman with far too much energy for six in the morning.
"Hello!" she beamed.
"Uh, hi. I'm here for the tournament" he said.
"Of course you are. The stands are right through here."
"No, I'm here to compete" he said showing her his entry card.
"Oh! Course, silly me" she said with a giggle, "You're right through that door."
"Thank you" he said and passed through the indicated entrance.
Blinded by the change in light he shielded his eyes and surveyed the hall. It was greatly expanded since he was last there, with dozens of rings drawn on the floor and large glass panels along the walls. As his eyes adjusted he could see shadows moving behind the panels and deduced this was where the other door would have taken him.
"Harry!"
The young wizard turned at the excited exclamation to find a familiar face beaming at him. Realizing who it was he displayed slightly less enthusiasm.
"Why aren't you in jail?"
"Whaaaaaat, why would I be in jail, hehe, silly" she hedged looking very guilty.
"Here to burn this place down too."
"Noooooo" she replied, "I'm here to duel."
"Aren't we all."
The posh looking girl with the well-practiced sneer strutted up to them like the boss she thought she was, "Harry."
"Isolda" he replied coolly.
"You remembered" she said, pleased.
"Must have been an accident" he said.
She smirked at his cheek then noticed the other girl, "And who are you supposed to be?"
"Oh, ah, Kimberly" she said extending a hand.
"How lovely, another commoner" she said turning her attention back to Harry while Kimberly gaped, "You ought to be careful with the company you keep, you might wind up just as common as they are."
"I thought I already was" he countered.
"Oops, too late" she grinned a wicked little grin and sauntered off.
"What a total, I mean she was such a…"
"Brat" Harry offered.
"Yeah!"
"Maybe, at least she didn't burn down any streets."
"It was only three buildings" she insisted.
He opened his mouth to retort when he was tackled form behind and sent crashing to the floor. The weight on top of him then decided to add insult to injury and poke him as well.
"Feels familiar" she said, "have I run into you before?"
"Rhiannon?"
Recognition dawned, "Harry" she squealed.
"Can you get off me?"
She wiggled her butt along his back, "But you're so comfortable."
Harry sighed and groaned. What had he ever done to deserve this mistreatment.
"Friend of yours?" Kimberly inquired between giggles.
"Kimberly this is Rhiannon, Rhiannon, Kimberly."
Harry was freed when the two girls went to greet each other. He made it a point after that to keep an eye on Rhiannon.
"So, how did you two find out about this tournament?" Rhiannon asked.
"Daddy heard about it after, uh… we changed rooms the other day."
"After she burned down Tintern Alley" Harry clarified.
"Hush you" she glared.
The other two snickered, "What about you Harry?"
"I was here the other day, thought it sounded fun."
"Looks like it should be, lots of people" she observed.
There really were. The enlarged hall wasn't packed but it did feel crowded. Harry had never seen such a diverse group of people before. He wondered if they all spoke English
A chime sounded throughout the hall and drew everyone attention to a dais rising out of the floor.
"Looks like it's starting."
Everyone crowded around the dais and a moment later a man appeared, "Ladies and Gentleman. Welcome to our 'little' tournament."
The crowd chuckled.
"We are thrilled to have you all here and look forward to an exciting day of dueling."
The crowd gave a raucous cheer and he waited for it to die down.
"Now, since we have so many duelist and only one day for our tournament, the preliminary rounds will be 1000 point matches. The semi-finals will be upped to 2000 points. And the final match will be a 4000 point duel. Looking forward to that one."
So was the rest of the crowd by the sound of it.
"As you all know, the purse for this tournament is no small bit of change" and the crowd did chuckle, "what some of you may not know is we've recently sweetened it by adding this."
He held up a large golden coin and Harry nearly choked.
"What is it?" someone shouted.
"This is a D jack."
The crowd erupted in murmurs and Harry stood trying not to panic. Just what was Andrew thinking he wanted to scream.
"I take it I don't have to explain any further" the man said, "the winner of this tournament will not only walk away with the purse but this D jack as a prize."
The crowd roared enthusiastically.
"Now, a few ground rules before we start. Firstly, there will be no fighting. Anyone caught starting a fight will be thrown out. Likewise, anyone caught summoning will be disqualified and thrown out. We're here to duel, not brawl, got it?"
A few guilty looking faces proved his words were not wasted.
"Alright then. Listings will appear on this board, find your first matchup, go to your designated ring and let's get started."
The crowd cheered one last time before the board lit up and everyone scurried to find their place. Harry noted his and began wandering in that direction while his mind raced like a rabbit on speed.
What was Andrew thinking? This did not look 'safe' to him. As he looked around he felt like he saw all those violent men who'd attacked him. Why did they want it? Would they attack here to get it? One thing was for sure, the stakes in this game had just gone up.
Harry was so distracted he walked right into his first opponent. The old Indian man just laughed it off and adjusted his turban.
"Much on your mind young man?"
"Yeah, it's just, wasn't expecting 'that'."
The man chuckled, "Indeed, it certainly has added a new layer to this competition."
You have no idea, Harry thought, "I'm Harry."
"Jaspreet. A pleasure to meet you Harry."
"Everyone ready?' the announced declared, "Game, start!"