Disclaimer: I do not, in anyway own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or Charmed

Disclaimer: I do not, in anyway own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, or Charmed. I am just dabbling in the world they left for us.

(((Note: this is a repost, and if you have read this then you can skip on by. This is just so those who did not get the confirmation email.)))

Chapter 32

Duels

LAST TIME:

When he withdrew his hand; just like before a small piece of parchment could be seen between his forefinger and thumb. As he looked at the name he smiled; a smile which he did not bother to hide.

"Harry Potter."

Harry Potter was surprised, but not because of his name being pulled out of the basin; he had expected that. What he hadn't expected were the booming cheers for him being selected as a Dueler in the Tournament. He smiled sheepishly as he looked at those beaming at him. "Yes, Yes, congratulations to all of those selected" Professor Bixby said as he began to put the invisibility cloak into his robes. "Now as it is still early, we will have the first; and if there is time, the second duel all in one night."

There were more cheers at this announcement, but those were silenced almost as soon as they had started by the Headmaster; who had stood up and raised his hands to get their attention. "If this duel or duels are going to take place then we are going to need some more room, so if you could please stand along the wall."

There was a rush of movement, and the benches for every house had scraped the ground as the students moved quickly to the walls surrounding them. With a wave of his hand, Albus Dumbledore had caused the house tables to vanish and be replaced with a raised, circular platform right in the center of the Hall. Bixby nodded to the Headmaster; who was making his way with the other staff members to a piece of wall that did not have any students in front of it.

"Now, if I can get the ten chosen to come forward and stand in front of me in a horizontal line please." The tournament head said. There was a round of applause as the ten made their way up to the platform. When they were all assembled Professor Bixby smiled and said "Okay, now the way I am going to choose who goes up against whom is just like the way you were chosen. I am going to draw two names out of the basin and those chosen will compete against each other right here on this platform", Bixby paused to collect his thoughts and to take a moment to gaze upon the ten duelers. "Also I think now is as a good a time as any to lay the rules down; which I will only do once, and if you choose to break said rules then you will forfeit and be given detention and house points will be lost. That being said here are the rules; one, you may not use the Unforgivable's; two, to win the duel you must incapacitate the other; three, once the duel begins a protective charm will rise up and create a dome structure over you so that there are no stray spells hitting the on lookers. The protective charm will only end when there is a victor and not a moment before."

The duelers all nodded at the tournament heads words; who yet again smiled and then continued "As we seem to understand one another lets get started." Professor Bixby then turned from the students and walked over to the now empty basin and dropped the ten pieces of parchment paper into it. He took a moment to mix the names around, once finished; he plunged his hand into the basin and withdrew the first piece. "For the first round we have, from Slytherin House, Blaise Zabini." Blaise stepped forward and took a place next to the Professor and faced the crowed. Just like before, Bixby put his hand into the basin and withdrew the last piece of parchment and the person chosen to go up against Blaise was "Susan Bones." At hearing her name she too went to stand next to the tournament head; just opposite Blaise.

"We know have our two duelers" Bixby said as he ushered the other eight of the platform along with himself "As soon as you hear the third chime you may begin." Susan and Blaise turned towards each other shook hands and bowed at the first chime; the protective charm rose soon after with the second chime, and as soon as the third chime rang throughout the Great Hall, the two duelers took their stances and began to send as many spells at the other as quick as they could. They moved around the platform dodging this way and that, barely missing some spells the other had shot off. Though as the duel went on, more and more spells could be found hitting their intended mark, causing that person to have to stop, counter the curse or jinx, and then have just enough time to duck out of the way of another one and get a spell past the others shields.

The Duel did not last much longer; as it seemed that the two students were getting tired very quickly. It ended with Susan being able to slip a stunning spell past Blaise's defenses, causing the Brown haired Slytherin to fall to the ground unconscious. There was round of applause when the duel had ended and the dome dropped, allowing a blushing Susan to leave the platform and return to her friends; who had surrounded her and congratulate her on her win. After Bixby had revived Blaise and helped him off the stage he turned to the students "While that was an amazing display of magic, I feet that it was a little short. So what do you all say to another duel?"

The response was unanimous and loud leading the man to smile and summon the basin to him. Reaching his hand into the bowl, he pulled out and read the parchment "Draco Malfoy." Bring up his sneer, Draco made his way up to the platform and waited for the name of his opponent to be announced. Harry was standing off to the side with Hermione, Ron and Ginny next to him. After Bixby had ushered them off the stage, the four friends found each other so that they could watch the battles together.

"Oh I hope that it's my name drawn out of that bowl next." Ron said quietly.

"There is a one and eight chance that your name will be picked and those are not good odds Ron." Hermione said matter of factly.

"I know that Hermione; well not the part about the odds. But ever since the announcement of the Tournament I have been looking up some pretty nice jinxes to use if given the chance", Ron began "Not to mention Malfoy thinks he owns the school, and I want to be the one to knock him down a few pegs."

Hermione just sighed and turned her attention to the Professor just in time to hear him shout the name "Ronald Weasley." Her eyes went wide and she turned to Ron only to find him gone from his previous spot and halfway to the platform. "Let's hope he found some really good jinx's." Harry said leaning over to his bushy haired friend; who could only nod.

Alright boys you know the drill, at the start of the third chime you may begin." Bixby said as he left the stage. Just as before, there were three chimes signaling the start to the duel.

"Stupefy." Draco yelled out springing into action.

Ron just smirked and sidestepped the red light as it sped towards him and fired off one of his own. "Corniferum" he shouted, and it was the second spell of the duel that was the first to find its mark successfully.

The Great Hall chorused with laughter as an impressive set of antlers formed atop Dracos' head. "You will pay for that Weasley." After he had countered the jinx began to send a volley of spells at Ron. Unlike the duel before, this one went on for a while. Each sending spells to the other, some found their mark while some just sailed on by.

Draco had been throwing spells that were border-line illegal. He had hit Ron with a localized pain curse; not unlike the Cruciatus Curse, several times. That particular curse did have a counter, and with a simple 'Finite' Ron canceled out the pain and started to stand up again.

Ron had stuck to sending charms, jinxes and a low-level curse or two. One of these was "Furnunculus"; which made painful boils appear on the skin of the person that had been unlucky enough to be hit with it. After countering the 'boil curse' for the second time, Draco sneered at Ron and asked "Do you really think that you are going to win Weasel?"

"Better than being a ferret; lookout Moody's behind you." Ron replied as he sent another jinx at the platinum haired Slytherin. He smiled even wider when he saw him pale at his 'ferret' comment.

"No fake Auror to protect you here" Malfoy challenged.

"I do not need protection." Ron exclaimed and with a flourish of his wand he shot a spell at Draco. The blonde snake was caught off guard and was not able to get a shield up in time. The spell hit dead on; causing his wand to be ripped from his hand and sail through the air and into the outstretched hand of his opponent. But Ron did not stop there. He switched his wand for Dracos and put his into the pocket of his robes.

"Not so cocky without your wand are you." Ron stated as he twirled the Hawthorn wand.

"The duel is over Weasley; you have my wand and I would very much like to have it back." Draco said as he stretched out his hand.

Ron smirked and said "If the duel was over, then the dome would be down." Draco dropped his arm and began to back as far away from the red head as he could.

Smirking again, Ron raised the wand and drew a quick, sideways figure eight and then made a slashing motion across it from left to right, sending the spell flying towards his opponent. Draco gave a squeal when the spell hit and he dropped to the ground, landing on his knees.

"Nubis Fumosus" Ron said as he flicked his wand at the kneeling Slytherin. No spell came from the wand; but a thick, gray smoke started to surround Draco. After waiting for a moment Ron waved his wand and dispelled the smoke; and there in the place of the Draco was a stark white ferret, hovering just above the platform. With a laugh Ron began to bounce the ferret around in show. The crowd; bar the Slytherin's, were roaring with laughter. Taking mercy on the poor ferret Ron transfigured him back, only he did not look as he did before. In place of the robes Draco had been wearing was a bright pink tutu, tiara and all.

If the had thought that the battle could not have gotten any better, they had been so very wrong. Almost the entire Hall was doubled over holding their sides and bursting with laughter. Draco was seething, and staring at Ron with a look that could kill. Draco had just started for the red head when blackness overtook him. Ron had cast the Stunning spell that had stopped Draco in his tracks. Draco's body fell and landed with a thud on the hard platform.

"We have a victor!" Exclaimed Bixby as he ran up the steps of the platform.

Ron blushed slightly as he became the center of the attention. "Did you know that he could duel like that?" Hermione asked Harry with wide eyes.

"No" Harry said shaking his head in awe at his best mate; who was on his way over to them at that moment. "So what did you think?" Ron asked with a smile.

"Where did you learn to duel like that?" Harry countered.

"I just did what felt natural."

"Well you did an amazing job." Hermione said.

"Thanks" Ron replied "Oh hey did you like how I ended it?" Ron asked with glee.

"I have never laughed so hard in my life." Harry responded, giving another chuckle.

"I had researched that spell after the 'fake' Mad-Eye used it back in fourth year, I also added a time delay to it so that it would not activate until I had summoned the smoke. I had just been waiting for the right time to use it." Hermione was looking at Ron with a mix of awe and frustration; and it seemed she was about to say something, but did not get the chance as Professor Bixby had cast the 'Sonorous charm' and had begun to speak.

"Congratulations to our two winners this evening and to the others who battled and did not emerge victorious…better luck at the next time." He said in a jovial voice.

"Now I had decided against doing what I am about to as it will be unfair to those who just battled, but life is not fair." Bixby stopped suddenly as he turned and summoned the basin. "I myself would love to see another duel, but since the hour is late and there would be no time for one, I am going to draw the next four names so that you have something to look forward to." The tournament Head plunged his hand into the stone bowl and withdrew the first name piece of parchment his hand touched. He then repeated this movement and pulled out another name, looked at them both and said "We have the first two duelers for our next match and they are, Cho Chang; of Ravenclaw, and Ginny Weasley; of Gryffindor." The Hall rang with the cheers for the two duelists; both of whom turned to wave at those around them. "Yes, yes, and now it's time to draw the other names so that you may go to your rooms." Bixby said as he reached his hand into the basin; just as before he pulled out one piece of parchment closely followed by another. "Ernie McMillan; of Hufflepuff, is our next dueler and his opponent will be Harry Potter; also from Gryffindor house." They too turned to those around them and waved in recognition.

"Thank you Professor Bixby and thank you to those who gave us that amazing display of magic earlier" The Headmaster said as he took the stage with Bixby. "But as this good man just said, it is time for bed, Prefects if you could please escort your house back to the common room where no doubt a party will ensue for those that have won tonight."

When the Gryffindor's got back to their common room they found that it had been decorated with streamers, colorful balloons and a table with some food along with some bottles of butterbeer. Once everyone was standing in the common room there was a loud 'BANG' and there standing at the bottom of the winding staircases were Fred and George who had enormous smiles on their faces. "Welcome Gryffindor Champions!" Fred yelled out.

The entire common room was quiet, as every eye was on the two pranksters who had left school. "Fred, George, what are you two doing here?" Ginny asked breaking the silence.

"Well, once we heard about the Tournament,"

"We just had to come and,"

"Show our support to those chosen from"

"Our favorite House" The twins said as they split the sentence.

"How did you know that there were some chosen from Gryffindor, we did not see you down in the Great Hall?" Ron asked.

"Magic" Both twins said with smiles. At his comment the entire room broke into smiles. "Now, everyone, go have some fun, eat, drink and be ever so merry."

The group that had been rooted to the spot now dispersed and made their way over to the table; which seemed to keep an endless amount of food and drinks.

"The Disillusion Charm?" Hermione asked them with a knowing look as she dragged them over to an empty corner, with Ron, Harry, and Ginny trailing in her wake.

"Awe our favorite, resident bookworm; you take the fun out of everything." One of the twins said.

"So did you two stay and watch either of the two duels?" Ginny asked.

"No we did not get to. Once we heard the list of those who got picked we headed back here to get ready." Fred said.

"Well you missed some good action." Harry said.

"Who dueled tonight?" George asked.

"Well Susan from Ravenclaw and Blaise from Slytherin were the first ones to battle and then there was Draco, and Ron." Hermione said.

"Yea, Ron mopped the floor with Malfoy; turned him into a ferret." Harry said as he pat his best friend on the back.

The twins looked at their youngest brother in awe. "Malfoy got turned into"

"A ferret again and we"

"Missed it…again!" The twins said as they split apart the comment again, though ending together.

They had a few more laughs with the twins and some of them had been directed towards the two brothers. Just as the party got into full swing Professor McGonagall came in and threatened to hand out detentions and dock house points if the noise did not stop. When faced with this the twins said that since they were out of school and of age that she could not do anything to them. The Professor smirked and turned them into toads and levitated them out the common room door walking briskly behind them. The entire house was rapt with attention as they watched their Head of House left the room. There was no movement until they heard two, girlish screams coming through one of the open windows and they ran to it hoping to get a view of what was happening.

There on the grounds of the school was McGonagall throwing spells left and right at the quickly retreating twins; who were sporting identical dresses and long hair pulled up into pig tails. Their Head of House did not stop sending spells their way until the two twins had made it to the apparition point and vanished with a loud and sloppy 'CRACK'. They were pulled from the windows by the voice of McGonagall who had made it back to her common room in record time. "Now, if there are any of you who are also opposed to me ending this party, please speak now."

There was a flurry of movement until the only ones left were the two youngest Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione. "Mr. Weasley, in the morning kindly owl your brothers and let them that the enchantments will end in two days time."

Ron nodded and just stared at his Transfiguration teacher who had begun to talk again. "Now off to bed the lot of you." And with a turn of heel she left the room.

"See you in the morning" Ron said in a rush as he ran up to his bedroom not wanting to give his Head of House any reason to come back.

"Have a good night Harry, Ginny." Hermione said as she too headed up the stairs.

Harry and Ginny were now the only ones left in the common room and they stood there in silence. "Well, that was fun don't you think? Goodnight Harry." Ginny said following Hermione's lead.

"Goodnight to you Ginny, sleep well." Harry replied.

The red head smiled and left Harry there staring after her. Harry shook his head started to head up but stopped as he remembered the mess that was the Common room. Leave it to the twins to get thrown out and leave a mess for someone else to deal with. Harry made to take out his wand and cast the cleaning spell but decided against it as that particular spell was not going to get rid of the mess all at once. With a smirk he walked over to the stairs and went up the first couple before turning around and said.

'Let the object of objection become but a dream

As I cause the scene to be unseen'

The mess then vanished in a swirl of magic and was back to the condition it had been before the Weasley twins had gotten a hold of it. 'It looks good' Harry thought to himself as he walked up the stairs and into the Sixth year boys' room. When he had changed, he lay down on his bed and went to sleep, thinking all about the coming duel between him and Ernie. He also thought about the announcement of the ball what it meant. He; Harry, was once again going to have to find someone to go with him to a dance and he just hoped that the person he was going to ask, was not going to get asked by someone else.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It is the continuation of the last chapter. As you now know from reading. It is not too long but it did what I needed to. I have now started the next chapter and I can assure you that it will be a good length. And with some good stuff I hope. As always please REVIEW!!

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