A/N- Hello my little lovelies. I am back with another action packed chapter. I hope that you all have a wonderful time reading it and if you dont want to read my little rant the feel free to skip ahead but I feel like there are a few things that I need to clear up. I never once thought that I would see someone defending Hermione's part in this story but life works in mysterious ways. Someone I only know as guest has given me two reviews telling me how annoying Harry is. While I respectively disagree I want to thank him so much as that is more than some of the he 200 sum followers this story has gain, have given me. And you are wrong about one point, Hermione cut ties with everyone not just Harry and that had nothing to do with him storming out. Ive stated in the story that she didn't want anyone to know where she was at. Neither of them were right in what they did but after everything that happened you should be glad he didn't end up going berserk. He just lost Everything and everyone he looked up to and she was leaving so she could do the same thing she always does, try and prove that she is better and doesn't need peoples help. Hell she had people at the Ministry who would have begged her to take a job when the war was over. Top of almost all of her classes, a walking tome of knowledge, and very powerful in her own right. But because she couldn't see past her need to prove everything she left not just Harry but EVERYONE. The way I see it Harry had every right to be that pissed off. He has had four years to dwell on everything and is much more mature than he was then. He is upset but it take a lot of energy to hold on the the emotions he was carrying for the first year, and when it became to much he almost died. After that he found out it was better to try and let it go. He is still very hurt and sad that she left but after four years he steeled himself up and the harsh, ass hole persona is a defense so he doesn't have to deal with losing people again. Sorry for the rant but I like to have things cleared up. You probably still wont agree with me but it my story and he isn't changing for a while. Ok, read on my minions, read on.
The second round of dueling was being highly anticipated as the competitors left the seclusion of their tent. The first round had stunned most of the people watching and now that only the best were left, they were expecting to see some amazing things. For the first fight many of the people in the crowd were conflicted on who to cheer for as Harry and Hermione's names came up on the parchment. For the most part Harry was quite disturbed by this fact even though he knew there was a change that they were going to end up facing each other. One he was hardly comfortable enough to talk to her let alone take her on in a full on duel. Stealing himself he knew that it would have to be done and if he was to back down from this then all of the year's giving most of the world a cold shoulder would have been for nothing.
Another reason that he didn't want to duel her is because he wanted another shot at Neville. This time he wanted Neville to be on his best game instead of surprised attacked. Neville had gotten lucky that today was the tournament because it would have been the first day of Harry's advanced training. Harry was going to test his skill and if he was up to par when they dueled then he would have taken back the forced training for the time being. He would have to watch Neville when he was dueling Minerva to make his decision. Neville would have a hard time trying to battle against someone that he used to look up to, and the fact that it was his head of house would make it even more difficult for the boy. One of the things the Harry instilled into Neville was the it didn't matter who the enemy was, it they were firing at you then you had better fire back. It would soon be time to see if he had taken the lesson to heart. Since it was the final rounds they wanted everyone to be able to see both duels so Harry and Hermione would go first with Neville and McGonagall going after them.
When he came to his place on the platform he could see that while Hermione was holding her head high with a determined look on her faced, her eyes were just as scared as the time that he had saved her from the troll. It was something that shocked him down to his very core when he realised it. Hermione was terrified of the notion of dueling him, and even through the anger and pain that he had bottled up inside, he was sad that she could ever be that afraid of him. He knew that the biggest part of it would have to be when he lost his temper with Neville. She held Neville at such a high regard and she had watched him tear her standards to shreds. Those eye's said everything that she wouldn't, he was no longer the person that she looked to for security and safety, the one that made sure everything was alright. No he was someone that was to be feared, to be weary of and cautious around. She no longer knew him as Harry and understanding that had him fighting the stinging in his eyes.
They both bowed bowed to each other and with a quick motion he brought up his wand and he noticed as she gave a small flinch that he was sure no one else saw. His second of hesitation forced to him to deflect the first wave of spells that she was sending at him, all were powerful, and each were meant to incapacitate him in some way shape or form. Two bone breakers were aimed for his legs, three blasting hexes, a very powerful sleeping charm, and a huge swarm of birds came from her wand as she tried everything that she could think of to distract him or take him out of the game. She knew that she wouldn't be able to overpower him so she planned on using very precise spellwork with a large variation of spells in quick order to throw him off, all in all it was a very Hermione like strategy. Blocking the bone breakers he sent the blasting hexes back at her at double the normal speed and with a wave of his wand he changed the birds into blades that he banished towards her. Pumping magic into her legs she jumped over both of the hexes and did something that Harry didn't expect. She summoned the blades out of the path that they were on and she caught all of them with amazing reflexes. Harry started firing curses as she ducked and weaved while every so often throwing one of the blades into and incoming spell.
It seemed that she had became skilled with the blade in her time in America, though the thought really shouldn't surprise him. Hermione had a winning streak that she hated to break and adding a muggle skill to her armory was something that she would more than likely do. He wondered what other skills she had and he planned to find out. Doing the same as Hermione, he let his magic enter his appendages and made a dash towards her. She started throwing the last of the knives that she had but he quickly pulled the shuriken out and countered each knife that she had thrown. He ran in a half arch and came at her from the side with amazing speed aiming a wild but accurate kick to her side that he was happy to see that she blocked, and there began their graceful dance.
This was a type of dueling in its own form, using magic to augment your body in ways that it made it work far past what it's normal maximum was. Each pulsed with magic as they punched, kicked, dodged, and deflected each others punches. Hermione was using what Harry could guess was her own form of Tiger style kung fu which could be painful effective. Harry unsurprisingly was using his own drunken style which consisted of wild and unpredictable movements meant to confuse his opponent. Usually no one would have lasted as long as they had against him while he was fighting hand to hand like he was but it gave him even more insight to why Croaker wanted her in the first place. Hermione was smart, she didn't stick to casting spells very long knowing that he was clearly the superior in that field. Instead she was using a variety of different attacks to even the playing field a bit. She aimed a blow towards his head and that is where he got his advantage. Moving slightly to the left he grabbed her arm and used her own power to bring her into a knee that knocked the wind out of her. As she gasped for breath he quickly used the palm of his hand to strike her in the side of the neck just below the ear. He saw her eyes close and as she started to fall he caught her and set her down on the ground. Once he had the go ahead head woke her up and when she saw him he felt her jump slightly in his hands. Before anything could be said he let her go and walked off of the platform disappearing into the cheering crowd.
She saw the pained look on his face when he had felt her jump and she knew that he saw right past the facade that she was putting on. When she had seen his and her name on the parchment it had taken all of her training no to let her legs give out from underneath her. There was no way that she was going to be able to take him head on and she knew that. He was dominating Neville with little problem, and even with her doing her best to hold him off he batted her spells away like she was a first year. The only thing that came to her mind at the time was trying to mix up her attack plan to use more than just casting spells at each other. Now she saw that even that wasn't enough to overcome him. His casting was just as fast as hers was, he reflexes were sharper, his aim with a blade even more accurate, and his fighting style was too hard for her to counter. All in all it was over from the start, from the looks of it Harry knew that she was afraid of him and if she was correct that meant that he probably toned down the battle a bit to not give her a reason to be more scared of him. By the time that she finally made to ground level he was too far away for her to see him through all of the people who were moving about. After a while she had to give up her look and find a spot to watch Neville and Mcgonagall's duel. This would definitely be something to watch, Neville was a powerhouse with a skill level to wield it as he pleased, but his pure lack of experience left him at a huge disadvantage. Even keeping check on the worlds dark lord population hardly put a dent in the years of teaching and the two wars that McGonagall had been in. She wasn't the second in command when Dumbledore was around for nothing and her power was just as powerful if not a just a tad bit less than Neville's was.
The two gave each other the formal bows of a dueling before they both nodded and started the duel. Neville started right off the bat with a few nasty looking hexes that shot towards her like a rocket. Harry was never so proud of his old transfiguration teach as when she transfigured a medium sized stone into a metallic shield that she caught when she stomped on the edge sending it up into the air. It wasn't a normal looking shield though, and that is what made him so proud of her. A few years back he decided to introduce her to some of the muggle world so he got her a couple of comic books as a gag gift. Much to his surprise the next time that he had seen her she asked where she could get some more. Her favorite was none other than Captain America which he found very ironic since his name was the name of a totally different country.
The silver, red and, blue shield deflected every spell that was sent at it. Ducking under a very clever vanishing curse she threw the shield at Neville and transfigured it into a wolf that charged him. Pointing his wand at the ground he cast a spell and the crowd watched as a large vine came out of the ground and grabbed the wolf. He had little time to react as two ten foot golems flanked him from each side. Both of them swing their giant swords trying to cleave him into three pieces but he jumped into the air and they passed by while he was suspended horizontal to the ground for just a split second. Landing in a crouch he jumped up the large stone creatures while always finding a place to put his foot on next. He jumped off the knee of one and cast a demolishing hex at it sending it flying backwards while he continuously shot over powered blasting hexes at the torso and head of the other. I darker severing spell cut the golems arm clean off and he instantly banished the sword that it was holding towards McGonagall. She jumped out of the way as the sword flew towards her but she summoned it back with and over amount of force and watched it sail over her head as it continued towards Neville. Only a quick bit of magic stopped the stone sword from hitting him full force. Again aiming to the ground a two foot think wall of ground raised up to block the sword but while it did stop it from impaling Neville the wall exploded in a loud bam and Neville who was unfortunately on the other side of the blast, was thrown back. Iron chain wove themselves around him while his own clothes turned into straitjacket making it impossible for him to move. A stunner ended his thrashing about trying to get out and once she gave the judge a bow and was given the ok she undid the bindings and woke him up.
" You did extremely well Mr. Longbottom, that was one of the funnest times that ive had for a while. I look forward to the next time that we cross wands, I dare say that I might not be so lucky the second time." She said giving him a smile.
Smiling proudly at his used to be professor he answered. " No need to be so modest. You are an excellent duelist and thats just the way that it is. It was a close fight but dont sell yourself short on my behalf. Just give Harry hell for me, god knows that if he didn't like what he saw when I was dueling you he is going to be giving it to me."
"Yes, I am very much looking forward the last duel. I dont think that the outcome will be the same of me and your battle. From what ive seen of Harry he is in a league all by himself." She laughed
Neville could only agree with her. In pure power alone Harry stood out above the rest as this generations Albus Dumbledore. By the time that Harry reached the age that Albus did there would be no one able to stand up to him. His power would continue to grow until his full maturity around the age of forty or even fifty and by then his skill and knowledge would have only grown until he could make Albus look mediocre. He could only think of the thing that the man that he had come to know so well would be able to do with all of that time and power. It was a known fact that the more powerful your magical core was the longer that you would live. Harry's was already slightly larger than Dumbledore's and on the same level of Voldemort's at the height of his power. Harry could single handedly change the face of the entire wizarding world with that type of power and influence. The-boy-who-lived and the Savior of the wizarding world were only two of his titles but those alone were enough to sway about anything he wanted his way.
Harry had been watching and he had been very pleased by his students dueling and nimble movements, and that stunt about jumping horizontal to the ground to avoid the swords was just as reckless as anything Harry would have done. He made the mental note to save that move to memory just incase something similar came up at a later date. Mentally preparing himself for the upcoming battle he walked up the platform with an emotionless expression on his face. Pulling out his wand he gave his old teacher a bow.
" Do not go easy on me now professor, for I will not give you the same courtesy." He said.
" You will not have to worry about that from me Mr. Potter. How could I not go harder for one of my greatest students?" She said unleashing a large wave of spells without waiting for the judge to give the go ahead.
Harry threw up a shield just in time as the spells hit it with the force of rocket. He grit his teeth and pushed more power into his shield but cracks were started to form and branch out from the center. Dropping the shield before it crashed down on him he started doing what he did where Hermione was trying to defend Neville. Using the spells on momentum instead of blocking them he just sent them flying in a different direction. A few of them made their ways back towards the person who had cast them but even as she dodged the assault never ended. He blasted a volley of spells out of his wand but instead of them being at his old professor it was at the ground in between them causing a large cloud of dirt to shoot into the air. Breaking her line of sight he transformed into a bloodhound using his nose to find his target since his eyes were useless for the moment. He could smell her but something was off, he could make out the smell of her tabby cat form but there was something else something a lot more predatory. All of a sudden a beastly roar echoed from the other side of the dust cloud and Harry's much smaller bloodhound body had to dodge out of the way as a Siberian tiger pounced where he used to be. Focusing his smaller body started to shift into a larger one and soon a large shadow wolf was standing face to face with the tiger.
He wasn't too surprised that McGonagall and made the same breakthrough with her Animagus form as had the transfiguration master that works as an Unspeakable. She figured out that if you had an animagus from then if you were skilled enough it was possible to have a second form that was in the same family as your first. Then in an almost impossible case you could have a third like Harry did, but even for him it was painful and it was not an instantaneous transformation like his other ones. Of course the pain was probably because it was so much larger than he normally was. It was his failsafe with dealing with other large creatures that would take too much time and magic to deal with. As the dust settled the crowd watched to two alfa-predators sizing each other up. The tiger was the longer and thicker of the two but the wolf was taller and it figure was built for pure speed and power. They both ran each other with amazing speed and when they collided a loud pounding sound rang out. In a mess of teeth, claws, and pure animalistic power the two fought on equal ground with Harry being able to use his more powerful strength to counter balance McGonagall's much heavier weight. After a few minutes they both reverted into their human forms both heaving in large breaths and dripping small amounts of blood from various wounds that they had acquired when they fought.
A second later the spells started flying again, and Harry was forced to draw his second wand in order to keep up with the woman on the other side of the platform. She was using a technique that they taught the more advanced Unspeakables but he had never seen it used at such a pace or with such ease. Multicasting was a very hard and very precise type of casting that infused multiple types of casting into a very deadly skill. Mixing silent casting, point casting, and double casting you were able to cast spells faster than any other type. You first had to learn how to cast silently since you couldn't cast two spells if you were only saying the name of one of them. Secondly you had to learn how to double cast which was chaining usually two spells together through wand movements that could be woven together, if you were extremely skilled in Double casting you might be able to get three spells chained together. Lastly you learn how to point cast which was by far the hardest to learn to do. Since most spells are based on their runic properties at least some of rune is almost always required as part of the wand movement to make the spell effective. Learning how to overcome this and cast based purely on will and intent was something that most wizards found impossible, but if you could get it down then you had and unimaginable advantage. Add all of those together and you had multicasting. Harry himself could cast four spells at the same time with multicasting and never saw a reason to try to add more since there were so few people who could do it but McGonagall was casting six with her wand to Harry's eight with two wands and he was extremely impressed. Croaker could only do four at a time like Harry so for her to one up them both she deserved her props. She cast a spell that caused the dust to rise and form a humanoid shape. It quickly gain a more defined shape as it solidified and Harry watched the seven foot tall soldier draw a large battle axe and rush at him. This was something that Harry really didn't want anyone not to know about but he had promised not to hold back and it was obvious that she wasn't, so he used his secret weapon. A bolt of lightning dropped to the ground and people gasped as the bolt took a similar shape to the sand soldier that was running full force towards Harry.
The electrical being brought out a Kanana and deflected the axe swing, Harry watched as the sand that made up the axe turned to glass. Another slash of the katana and the axe shattered into tiny shards. It wasn't long before all that was left of the sand soldier was a pile of glass. The lighting creature started to make its way towards the professor and no matter what spells she shot towards it they all seemed to just be absorbed by the thing. Making a risky move she conjured a steel pipe and banished it at the the monster. It let out a horrible screech as the pip shot through it and embedded into the ground at its feet. The electricity was conducted into the pipe and released into the ground below. Once it was gone she noticed that Harry had disappeared. She cursed herself as she realized that it was only a distraction to keep her busy and she spun in time to catch a powerful stunner to the chest. He summoned her wand and bound her arms to her sides. It would not surprise him if she also knew a bit wandless magic as well and he would rather be safe than sorry. After he got the nod from the obviously shocked judge he woke up his professor and helped her to her feet.
" An lighting elemental Harry? Out of all of the power that I would have thought you to have, and elemental was not one of them." She smiled as they watched all of the other contenders coming up to the stage.
He replied, " Well I really had been saving it as an ace in the hole if I ever had to use it but we agreed no holding back so I figured there was no better time to show the world what I could do. And you're one to talk about unexpected, ive never seen someone multicasting like that. Six spells at one time is the most that ive ever even heard of."
" At least you know how to do it Harry. That alone is a testament to how powerful and skilled you really are. I have no doubt that you could cast far more than six at a time with the right practice, you just never pushed yourself passed four. After living through two wars I pushed all of my abilities to the farthest i could get them." He just nodded as he let her words kick in. In pure power he could overpower her with moderate problems but she had just proved something to him that he had forgotten. No matter how much you learn, someone out there is better than you. Determination ran cold through his veins, he had thought that he had learned all that he needed to be best but he had some serious training to do.
He was only broken out of his thoughts when someone came up to him and placed a first place medal around his head. He was congratulated and after a few pictured for the newspapers he was well ready to be able to sit down. Harry lead the group back into the tent and let out a long breath as the cooling charms had left the inside at a nice temperature for those coming from the dueling platform. They sat around talking about how wonderful that last duels had been and a few people were giving him crap about being an elemental and not telling them about it. Ron, the twins, and Neville were the worst about this as most of the girls laughed, or in Hermione's case tried to make herself become one with the chair she was sitting in. Not seeing any reason to leave the comfort of the tent they all star around as slowly one by one they all seemed to have one reason or another to leave. A few hours later only Harry, Ron, McGonagall, and Griphon were left.
" Alright gentlemen I think that I t is about time for me to head back up to the school. It is about time for dinner and I think that I could use a double helping after all of the energy that I used today." she said and everyone agreed. They all got up and headed toward the exit when McGonagall remembered that she had left her spectacles on the arm of one of the chairs. Turning back to get it she noticed the Gryphon who had take up the back had his wand out and pointed towards Harry. In a flash she pulled out her wand and a banisher shot past Harry's head and seen him flying into one of the post holding up the enlarged tent. Spinning on his heals Harry shot two stunners and a body bind at the man.
"Thank you for that one professor. I cant believe that I almost let that bastard get me." Reaching into his robes he pulled a vial of clear substance out and waved it around. " Lets see who this bastard really is."