Memory-Harry dropped down on his knees. "It was all a lie... it was all a lie..."
"Let's go!" harry muttered, waving his hand as he and Daphne returned to the Room.
"She... she cheated on you, faked her death and married Weasley?" Daphne whispered, unable to believe what she had just seen. "Harry-"
No answer came. The Room was empty. Harry Potter...was gone.
Harry reappeared in the library of the Chamber of secrets—the memory of the event had had an effect on him worse than he had anticipated. Of course, that was not the full memory—there were many more revelations later in the conversation but as Salazar had told him-that particular timeline had been destroyed because of his actions, and had been assimilated in the time-dust of the endless time stream.
At least Daphne does not have a reason to doubt my feelings any longer.
He weighed his situation carefully. His actions ever since coming here had been quite... unpredictable and Gryffindorish. Much more than what he was used to. Demonstrating powerful spells and techniques, playing with his opponent- it was something plain Gryffindorish and not something the dark lord Potter would have done. It was almost like...
He was a little kid suddenly blessed with superpowers.
Damn! Is this an effect of the soul fusion?
Harry concentrated inwards...focusing on the Death realm. He was the Master of the Hallows, and the successor to the Salazar's mantle. Salazar would definitely have the answer to it all. He closed his eyes and focused.
"I see you have already begun abusing your position. Visiting my realm every now and then like a whiskey bar..."
Harry opened his eyes to find Salazar staring at him, a mocking expression plastered on his face.
"I wasn't abusing it. I had some questions and I-"
"Decided to hound me into giving you answers." Salazar sighed mockingly. "Very well, tell me... how may I waste my time on you?"
Harry narrowed his eyes at the pointed insult, but let it go. "Why has my behavior changed so much? I don't remember being so...Gryffindorish"—Salazar smirked at the words-"before. It is almost like I have become a kid again, living in the Gryffindor dormitory."
Harry paused. "Is this because of the fusion?"
Salazar smirked. "There is a famous proverb in the mortal realm, started by no other than the famed inventor and mage-Nicholas Flamel, which describes your condition excellently. I believe you are yourself quite... acquainted with the proverb itself. It deals with man's futile efforts to control time."
"Bad things happen to wizards who mess with time..." Harry whispered to himself. Salazar looked at him mockingly. "I did this to myself, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did. You did not take into account the fact that your past soul could be a problem. You did not take into account that the merger could influence your personality."
Harry stood silent. "But not everything has been bad. The rise in power has been good. Plus I can do the ancient spells much more easily."
"The ancient spells have got nothing to do with your power. Yes, your power does help matters, but the ancient spells are a part of the arsenal of the Master of Death-the guardian protector against the dark forces of the endless time stream."
"Dark forces?"
Salazar sighed. "You do understand that there are much more varied, powerful and destructive things out there... more than Death eaters, dementors, dragons and nasty dark lords right?"
Harry nodded blankly.
"Someday you will know all about them. Someday when you rise up to the mantle, I will teach you about them. There are entities that can snap your little world into two halves with nary a thought, there are legendary beings that pervade the dimensions spanning across the multiverse. Demons and all sorts of nightmarish creatures, which can make your worst dark lords look like puny entities and so much more. There are the realms of the gods and the devils and the innumerable different dimensions and dimensional beings."
"And you?"
"I am just a protector. The protector of the mortal realm against these powers."
"I cannot imagine."
"You are right. You cannot imagine the grandiose that is the multiverse, but someday you will. For now, you will have to learn how to dive into yourself-understand the certain links between your young and old soul, and learn how to effectively use both. That is your mantle at the moment—Harry Potter."
The world faded into inky blackness as Harry found himself standing back in the Chamber of Secrets. He sat down on a chair and considered his situation.
"For now, there is the second task to take care of. I have to figure out who put my name in the goblet. I need to formulate a plan about getting the Hufflepuff cup out from Gringotts and then- kill Voldemort, preferably with witnesses around. I will need that kind of popularity to ensure my win against Delacour."
A recent memory came to mind.
"You won't be able to see them anymore. That time stream has been obliterated and absorbed into temporal fields. What remains now is the future you create."
"Kill Voldemort." Harry emphasized.
"Yes, but not only. Many more powers endanger the world. Powers much greater and much more terrible than Voldemort. Powers that now know of you and your prowess, now that you have demonstrated so much in public." Salazar ended his statement with a scowl. "For a dark lord and a lord Slytherin, you definitely possess Godric's streak of showmanship. Really? Fiendfyre against Fiendfyre?"
Harry scowled back. "The village was warded against apparation. Too many people were there. I couldn't possibly-"
"But you could have ended Karkaroff quickly. No, you just had to play with him until the last moment. For a dark lord who has already been taken down more than once, you refuse to see the phenomenal powers of hubris."
Harry did not reply. He knew that he could have ended Karkaroff easily and within seconds, yet he had decided to give everyone a show. He had nearly gotten them killed in his desire to grant them a good show.
"You are right." He finally confessed.
Salazar smirked at him and answered. "What is done is done. See that you take care of the dangers threatening the world, and then when you are ready, you will have to take on my mantle. The mantle of the Master of Death."
"Lots of work than to sit around moping about Fleur."
He popped away.
The intra-House round of the dueling tournament had officially begun and today was the first round of elimination in Gryffindor House. As was expected, nearly almost everyone had signed up for the dueling round. Mcgonagall had given them a sharp tongue-lashing about their apparent 'treating the dueling event like child's play' and something more along those lines. Finally, she had consented to thirty-two students as formal participants. The selection process had raised a few voices and mutterings, but one piercing stare from the old cat animagus had silenced them all.
Among the thirty-two participants, the majority were from fifth year and above with only twelve from the third and fourth years. Harry had stayed silent (and mostly away) during the elimination. The others were considerably shocked when he had suddenly announced that as he was already the Triwizard Champion, it would not be fair of him to take up another spot in the dueling event as well. Mcgonagall had initially smiled at his decision though others could swear they had seen the old Transfiguration mistress frown in disappointment later on.
After three days of rapid elimination rounds amongst the four houses, the results had been laid out. From Slytherin-Draco Malfoy, Augustin Pince, and Daphne Greengrass had been selected. From Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory, Susan Bones and Martha Fleece were the contestants. Ravenclaw had Su Li, Roger Davies and Antony Goldstein as their champions and finally Gryffindor had Angelina Johnson, Fred Weasley and surprisingly, Ron Weasley.
Finally, it was time for the main declaration- the final schedule of the dueling matches between the three schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had already submitted their own names for the tournament and everyone was expecting the Triwizard Champions to be participating in it as well. There were floating rumors about the Bulgarian seeker being a professional dueler himself and Fleur Delacour was already a famous name in the under-19 dueling circuit.
The schedule was drawn and leaflets of the schedule had been distributed to all participants, not including the large banner that had been put up on the great Hall for everyone's ease. An elimination round in which the students had been randomly paired had been drawn up, with the three Triwizard Champions being a part of the contestants. The only question was-where was Harry Potter's name in the list?
The answer to that question came from different people and came with different twists as the different answerers tended to add their own personal opinion and imagination to the answer. The rumor about Harry Potter's dueling prowess, coupled with the deadly fight with the dragon and with Karkaroff had settled it within the minds of everyone that Harry Potter would be a very, if not the most dangerous opponent of all. Some of the more bigoted Hufflepuffs and Slytherins had spread the rumor about him being reduced to a squib after the fight with Karkaroff. Yet there were some who maintained the fact that Harry Potter was afraid to duel, since he would lose. They had gone up to even boldly proclaim about how the fight with Karkaroff was jinxed from the start and everything. A few conspiracy theories about Wrackspurts and Nargles was also heard among the circulating rumors.
One thing however was clear-Harry Potter was not participating in the dueling tournament.
"Fulminis."
A significantly thick fork of lightning shot out of Daphne's wand towards Harry who simply raised a powerful deflector against it. He dodged the second offensive spell chain and sent out a swarm of bats towards her who simply raised a full body shield to protect herself from it. Harry took this opportunity to fire a high powerful rupturing curse that broke her body shield, landing her down on the ground with a thud.
"That hurt!" Daphne complained, rubbing her bottom as she stood up. "That was cheating, you know. Using conjuration suddenly in a curse-fight."
"Of course, after all your opponent will be the epitome of Hufflepuff, isn't it?" Harry countered. Daphne withheld countering it with another biting remark.
"I know, but", her face shifted into something innocent; "did you have to hit me so hard?" Harry smirked. "Do you need me to give you a rub?"
"No thanks." She countered, a tiny red sheen appearing on her cheek. "Why aren't you participating in the duel?"
Harry paused and then turned towards her. "What exactly would I gain by doing that?"
Daphne had her next question ready but his answer caught him off-guard. "What do you mean?"
With one flick of his wand, the entire dueling chamber vanished while a couple of couches materialized out inside the Room. "Those students out there—I know I can defeat them effortlessly. You know I can defeat them effortlessly. I know I am still a fourth year, but- the fact remains I have several years of experience under my belt. I was rather hoping that this event could be used to gauge your level of competence in dueling."
"Mine?"
"Yes. I need to see if the entire time I wasted on teaching you, was of any good or not." He mocked. Daphne scowled and sent off a pain curse, which Harry dodged, laughing.
"What will you do in the meanwhile then?"
"Well, my next event is due in February, so that leaves us a lot of time, considering it isn't Christmas yet. That reminds me", he walked close to her and held her in his arms—"will you grant me the pleasure to accompany you to the Yule Ball, as your partner?"
Daphne's eyes widened instantly, as she processed what he had just said. Nodding subtly, she tried to speak out, but her throat constricted. "Yes, I will", she replied in a throaty voice, the sudden surprise getting the better of her.
"Great." Harry stepped back. Daphne felt disappointed as she missed the feeling of being in his arms. "Now that that's done, there are a couple of things I need to take care of."
"Regarding Voldemort?"
Harry nodded.
"What?"
"I will tell you later. I will also be off for a few days, using my station as excuse for family business. There are some questions that I need answered, and staying in Hogwarts is not going to get those things done. I will be away for a week but will return before the semi-finals begin."
"You aren't going to be there to see me dueling?" Daphne could not but feel a bit disappointed.
"Of course, I will. I said I will be there before the semi-finals, didn't I?"
"But what if-?"
"Are you telling me that you are not confident that you will win the damn thing?" harry asked with a straight face. "Keep on winning the duels, and I will see you in the semi-finals." Daphne just bobbed her head silently.
"When are you leaving?"
"Right now." The words still reverberated in the Room as Harry Potter turned incorporeal, fading into the air in front of her.
Damn!
Harry reappeared on the grounds of Potter Manor. This method of travelling using the Hallows was quite tiring, and the more the obstacles on the way—the more it used energy to fuel the transport. Nevertheless, it was quite advantageous—since no wards could stop him.
"Sirius?" he yelled.
A sound of rushing could be heard on the first floor as he saw his old man rush towards the balcony. Sirius appeared over the edge of the balcony, his eyes filled with mirth and happiness at finding his godson down on the ground-he shifted into the grim which leaped down instantly, shifting back to his human form just as he reached the ground. The shifting was so perfectly synchronized that Harry wondered if even he had the same synchronization. After all, he could never have had a lot of time in his own forms due to his injuries.
"Showing off godfather?"
Sirius grinned as he walked up close and hugged his godson. "How are you, Prongslet?"
"I am good, Sirius. Yourself?"
Sirius gave a roguish grin. "Not bad. However, it does get lonely in here after some time. Except the elf, I have no one to talk to."
Harry gave an understanding nod. "So how are you passing your time?"
"Learning."
Harry gave him an interrogative look.
Sirius just smiled. "Your grandfather—Mr. Potter Senior, he had taken me in, and made me a son of House Potter. I have the permission to access the library."
"Right." He had lived for so many years, and yet, there was so much that he did not know about his own family—Harry pondered. "You look good, Sirius."
Sirius just shook his head. "The healing helped." He cast an odd look. "Why did you bring me back here from France suddenly?"
"It's... it's a long story. One I will tell you later, but first, I need your help."
"Anything, Pup."
"I will be away for two days, and I need you to do something for me in the meantime."
Sirius nodded with a bright smile.
"I want you to go to Gringotts and claim the Black line."
Sirius' smile fell instantly. "Harry, I have never wanted to be a Black. You know it. Why do you insist on pushing me back to that wretched family?"
"Because it is your birthright. You should be the future lord of your family."
"My mum cast me out."
"Was it official?"
Sirius was ready to affirm it, but stopped short. "I... never got a formal missive about it."
"Well, I think it is time to check it all up."
"Why do you want me to be the Black lord so much?" Sirius asked, irritated at his godson's petulant behavior.
"Because I need your help as the Lord of Black."
"I can just give you my lordship, you know. Use it as you wish. I do not really care. I think of you as my son anyway."
Harry just smiled. "Thanks Sirius, but I already have more than enough on my mantle. You need to be the new Lord Black and fast. Then, I can work on getting you a fair trial."
Sirius' eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"No, you are." Harry deadpanned. Sirius jumped with glee and hugged his godson hard. "There is still hope for you, Prongslet. I will make a marauder out of you yet. This summer I am planning to teach you to become an animagus."
Harry smirked. "I am afraid you are a bit late, old man."
Sirius recognized the look on his face. It was the same one James had when executing a perfect prank. "Don't tell me, you are already an-"
"You have your tricks. I have mine." Harry teased, his eyes filled with mirth.
"So what is it? Some kind of deer? A dog?"
Harry raised his eyebrow. "It is a cat."
"A cat? Too bad, it is not a dog. I could teach you to play fetch." Sirius replied disappointedly.
"Well you can always improvise." He winked. "Fetch!" he shifted into the black lion and roared.
"YEAA-AAAAA!" Sirius yelled, falling on his buttocks as he landed on the ground with the thud. Had anyone seen Harry now, one would have claimed to see a lion laugh his arse off.
"WELCOME TO THE FIRST ELIMINATION ROUND OF THE DUELING TOURNAMENT!" Lee Jordan commented aloud, attracting the attention of the spectators of the dueling tournament. Everyone was sitting on the stands of the Quidditch Grounds as the main Quidditch ground had been converted into a makeshift stadium for the dueling tournament. The main stadium had been divided into separate dueling-rings for the elimination round to finish off quickly. The thirty-six contestants had been randomly divided into six groups, each of six contestants each. Group A would fight with the contestants of Group B, Group C with D, and finally Group E with F. This elimination would yield out eighteen participants who would once again be sorted into two teams, and would duel, producing a grand total of nine.
That would move to the next round of elimination. The contestants would have to hold up against an Auror dummy provided by the DMLE for the event. The contestants would have to stand their ground, one by one and keep on attacking and deflecting spells until either the dummy was down or they were incapacitated. Depending upon the time each contestant stood up against the dummy- eight participants would be chosen out of nine.
The remaining eight would move into the quarterfinals and duel each other-being divided into two group of four each. The winning four participants would move into the semi-finals with the winning duo facing each other in the final showdown. Everything was ready and set up, and it was time for the event to begin.
Daphne patiently waited in one of the six contestant tents set up for the contestants to wait until called. Her first match would be against Antony Goldstein of Ravenclaw, and she knew that the boy was quite good at defense. The bell rang, and she left the tent, patiently awaiting the first dueling round. It was no different from her dueling competitions, she whispered to herself.
"And now, the next match will be between Daphne Greengrass—Fourth year Slytherin versus Antony Goldstein, Fourth-year Ravenclaw. Let the duel begin." Lee cheered, followed by a similar eruption from the crowds.
Flitwick was refereeing the duel. He walked up midway between the two duelists. Daphne stood straight, her left leg slightly in front of her right, almost as if she was going to run; while Antony stood stiff—his wand thrust up forward like a sword.
"Three, two, one-DUEL!"
"PROTEGO!" Antony roared. Just as the formal dueling format was, he set up a defensive shield first before moving to attack. Daphne had also been trained somewhat similar all her life until she had faced the most unconventional teacher to be her trainer. Harry had asked her to skip all such erroneous notions.
"Treat the duel like a fight to the death. Do not wait. Do not waste. Go quick and end it quick." Harry had taught her.
Daphne thrust her wand forwards and sent up a blasting charm towards Antony who focused on his shield. The blasting curse hit the shield with a Bang, pushing him backwards. Daphne took advantage of it and showered him with a blast of oil, followed by a quick bludgeoner, pushing him back as he slipped on the oil and fell down. One quick Expelliarmus later, Daphne secured her position for the next round.
"AND GREENGRASS WINS! That was bloody fast, ladies and gentle-wizards, and now time for the next match—Susan Bones versus Angelina Johnson." Lee commented from the stands.
Daphne entered back into her tent, and felt a single pair of blue eyes stare upon her. She tilted her head slowly towards the source to see the calm and calculating eyes of Fleur Delacour staring at her.
"Good duel. You should be glad." Fleur commented. Daphne plainly shrugged. "It wasn't difficult."
"Yes, I suppose. I do not see Harry anywhere, though. Considering how much time you too spend together, it is kind of odd...you know", Fleur commented offhandedly, looking at her well-manicured fingernails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. She glanced back at Daphne sharply and continued, "Or is it because he doesn't want to see you fall and lose before me? Of course, considering you make it all the way at first."
Daphne stared imperiously at her for a moment. "Harry is...away for some reason. As for my skills and abilities, I believe I will show them where it matters. Don't you think that a more Slytherin thing to do?"
Fleur scowled at the indirect insult upon her, considering that the Delacours were descendants of Slytherin himself. How dare this girl pretend that she was more Slytherin than she was?
"We will see. You know, I watched you, in the dueling match at France. You are good, for a little girl, I will give you that. Why don't you just... leave it and let the adults play the game?"
Daphne just stared at her. "I guess- we will need to find it out, don't we... Princess?" She observed the sudden scowl on Fleur's face at her comment.
I guess I am not the only one who doesn't like to be called Princess.
Daphne marched out of the tent, thinking to have another glass of butterbeer before the next round.
"Fleur?"
Fleur did not turn back, realizing the voice. Her friend Caroline walked up to her. "What's happening, fleur? I have never seen you be so... antagonistic towards anyone so much." Caro confessed.
"She... she just brings out the worst in me." Fleur grit her teeth.
"Is this about Harry Potter? Merlin Fleur, I don't know what is going on, but ever since Harry Potter has entered the scenario", Caroline gushed, "You—you've changed. You are acting so-odd, and I don't know why!"
Fleur turned back and raised an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Oh don't do that with me Fleur Delacour. You know exactly what I mean. Before this- you were you, struggling to survive and reach the top—become the top duelist and enchantress—but now- I saw you that day with Harry Potter in the Great Hall—you were-"
"I was what—Caroline?" Fleur hissed.
Caroline swallowed, not sure what to say.
"Say it." Fleur hissed. "I was-what?"
"You were pushing yourself at him. Anyone with eyes could see that Potter loves that Greengrass girl. You-you straightaway told him that he should forget her because now he has you."
"I said no such thing." Fleur stated imperiously.
"Well that's all semantics, but the underlying message was clear." Caroline looked at her sharply. "I know he called you a Veela. His voice was full of hatred as he said it."
Fleur stared sharply at her best friend. "I know very well what he said to me." She replied icily, all traces of her usual demeanor gone. Her blue eyes shone with a crimson sheen as she felt the inner creature try to rise out of her. She focused on her usual calmness and controlled herself.
"Do not think that you understand what I feel and what I think. Whatever I did, it was for a reason. A very important reason. Just stay out of this."
Caroline stared at her best friend. "I hope you know what you do." She turned back and went outside the tent, leaving Fleur alone to herself.
The first round of elimination had selected eighteen participants who were now subdivided into two groups of nine. As unfortunate as it was, Daphne and Fleur were once again casted into the same group, making sure that they had zero chances of facing each other.
"Your luck will drain out soon, little girl." Fleur hissed, as Daphne simply smirked. "Believe me; you have no idea how much I look forward to that." She turned away as she looked towards the other group. Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley (as surprising as it was) were in the other group, she observed. As incompetent as Weasley appeared to be, he had performed surprisingly well in the last round, defeating a Beauxbatons' boy named Eric McGill.
He has his lucky days too, I guess.
The new schedules were drawn and up for everyone to see. Daphne was going to be facing Susan Bones—the petite redhead of Hufflepuff and importantly, the niece of the DMLE Director. It was a given that the petite redhead was not just all red-hair and big-bosoms. Daphne figured that the other girl must surely have had private lessons in Defense and dueling. Her eye traced through the crowds and fixed on the figure of the DMLE Director Amelia Bones herself, seated in the crowd.
Interesting.
"Three, two, one... DUEL!"
Susan went forward and sent off a quick succession of stunners and pain curses at Daphne, who expertly weaved through the incoming barge of spells. Never defend with a shield when you can just weave through it- another lesson from her tutor and boyfriend. She moved gracefully but steadily as she drew nearer and nearer to the redhead.
Susan seemed to realize that her technique was not working and focused on the way Greengrass was moving towards her. It was almost predatory, considering how the other girl had yet to cast a single spell. She changed her track and began casting wide-area stunners and blasting curses, knowing well that Daphne would have to change her tactics now.
Daphne saw the wide-area stunner and the blasting curse draw close and did the one thing that came to her mind- her lithe body fully charged with the adrenaline rush; she gracefully bent her legs in a crouched manner only that her body seemed to almost touch the floor. The spells flew over her head, as she took aim and used the opportunity, sending off a bludgeoner towards Susan who toppled down, not expecting an attack from Daphne like that.
Another quick Expelliarmus and Daphne rose higher into the tournament.
'The girl is nice; you have to give her that." Caroline whispered. Fleur just narrowed her eyes as she peered at the girl who held the chords in Harry's heart. "Yes, she is."
"I have heard that Harry Potter personally trains a lot with her, and considering Potter's fight with Karkaroff- you should be wary." Fleur shot a look at Caroline that promised pain, as the other girl rambled. "I mean, she can have some hidden skills up in her sleeve."
"She is good." Fleur replied- her lips tightly shut against each other.
"Where is Potter, by the way?"
"I don't know." Fleur hissed, "Now let me concentrate."
The third round of elimination was about to begin as the finalists centered themselves on the stage. Nine contestants- Victor Krum, Fleur Delacour, Caroline Beaufort, Draco Malfoy, Roger Davies, Alexander Rostov, Devin Prince, Ronald Weasley and Daphne Greengrass. Ronald had surprised all of Hogwarts by his excellent performance so far, considering how he had defeated Martha Fleece in the second round of elimination. Perhaps the youngest Weasley boy wasn't so useless after all.
Daphne looked up at the organizers making changes to the stadium, and placing the Auror Dummy on one end. The contestants were made to sit in one tent, and each person would come up one by one as their names were called, and hold up against the dummy. After every single attempt, the dummy would be reset and the next participant would be called out.
"Draco Malfoy!"
The Malfoy scion walked up straight and proud-the Slytherins yelling and cheering for him as he stood in front of the Auror Dummy. It was no different from the ones the Room of Requirement usually procured for Harry—just that this was from the Ministry and had its own quirks.
"Begin!"
The Auror Dummy rose to action as its metallic hands, each holding two wand-like objects, thrust out and began hurling spells right and left. Malfoy dodged when possible, tried to weave through but mostly he held out low-powered shields when blasting curses were hurled towards him. The dummy seemed to get faster and faster with each passing second as the influx of spells became more and more random, and then at one minute and eleven seconds, Draco Malfoy found himself incapacitated and wandless on the stadium floor.
Soon Ronald Weasley took the stage. The boy had been performing unexpectedly well and people were now interested in what new trick Weasley would pull out of his sleeve. The dummy activated and began hurling spells but Weasley had apparently decided that it would simply dodge to the best he could. As the dummy became faster and faster, the dodging technique failed to work as Weasley was put down at one minute and nine seconds, extracting a quick smug look on Malfoy's face. Ron looked flustered, but he shook his head remarkably in a dog-like fashion as he left the stage.
"VICTOR KRUM!"
Krum walked up to the stage, wand in hand as he placed himself ready for the show. The dummy activated as he carefully weaved through the spell chains, often intercepting them with his own. With an excellent combination of offensive spells and shields, he managed to hold back the oncoming attack for two minutes and eight seconds before the incoming barrage overwhelmed him.
Dumbledore, Moody and the rest of the professors from the 3 schools sat on the judges' table- the term 'judges' was actually a misnomer, since they weren't really handing out points or anything- the game was simple and completely mechanical. An elegant timer was set up which measured the time duration for every contestant and registered them on a big screen. Magic was indeed a fantastic thing.
"I have to say, Potter surprised me. I did not think he would skip out of the tournament. I was rather expecting to see him duel." Moody exclaimed in his usual monotone. Dumbledore chuckled. "Young Harry is indeed the most unconventional young man you would happen to meet, Alastor. He is not even here at Hogwarts."
"Where is he?" Alastor asked plainly.
"Away." Dumbledore replied. "He had put forward a request to be away on House Business. I certainly could not say anything to that. Besides, as Triwizard Champion, he is entitled to do as he deems best for his next event, and that includes getting out of school if required."
"That boy is an enigma."
"That he is Alastor. That he is."
Fleur Delacour had just finished with her round, having lasted for a new record of three minutes and twenty-one seconds sharp-an enviable goal for anyone planning to beat her. She walked gracefully across the stage, her lips twisting into a sneer as she passed Daphne. "Your move." She whispered, as she went past her.
"Our next contestant and the final one for this round is Miss Daphne GREENGRASS!" A multitude of cheers rose up as the notorious Ice-Queen walked up to the stage.
This should be fun!
The dummy activated and began firing with full power, increasing in its frequency with every ten seconds into the fight. Daphne used her wand like a baton, using one simple technique that her tutor and boyfriend had taught her.
FLASHBACK
"The art of deflection is quite undermined by duelists and fighters, because of the availability of a variety of shields available." Harry began as he walked in circles around her, just as he resumed his 'tutor' mode, or as Daphne thought it to be.
"But I do parry the spells", Daphne complained, a slight amount of trepidation in her voice.
Harry looked at her. "Parry this."
He whipped his wand out and in one single continuous arc, he threw out a quick succession of stunners and banishers, all pointed towards her person. Daphne tried to parry the first stunner that came her way but had to resort to shielding herself.
"I give up. Move on."
Harry smirked. "The art of deflection is different from parrying. When you parry a spell, you use a miniature shield to somehow bounce the oncoming spell to shift to some other random direction. However, that has its own drawbacks."
Daphne put down her wand as she listened to him. "Since parrying is technically using a miniature shield, it is not possible to parry a large number of spells at short notice, as you demonstrated so efficiently." Daphne looked down embarrassed at his indirect pointed remark, but stayed silent. "Another drawback of parrying is that it is completely useless against wide-area spells."
It was true. Daphne had never been able to use parrying against wide-area spells like slashing hexes. She assumed that it was because the miniature size of the parry shield was not enough to deflect the wide-scale attack."
"Hence, Deflection." Harry continued. "A technique which when honed the right way, can not only parry away incoming spells, but also do it with a minimal loss of power. Observe."
He whipped out his wand again and looked at her. "You have full permission to use any spell, curse or hex that you might feel like, as many as you like, with the obvious exception of the Unforgivables. I am going to defend only using deflection."
There were moments like this when Daphne had a slight suspicion that her tutor overestimated himself or underestimated her abilities. She nodded with a jerk of her head and slashed out with her wand, sending out a veritable flood of curses-banishers, slashers, severing hexes and bludgeoners. She even shot out a number of wide-area severing hexes into the lot.
Harry seemed to stand in a trance as the spells raced towards him. Then suddenly with lightning fast reflex, he whipped his wand close to the closest banisher to him and traced an arc in the anti-clockwise direction-his wand emanating out tiny bristles of energy as he traced the arc. Then it happened.
Daphne watched with shock as her significant array of spells suddenly shifted midway, the banisher suddenly deviating from its path towards the rest of the incoming horde, causing what was effectively a spell collision. Smoke filled the arena between them, but Daphne could clearly see Harry standing there, his wand downwards hanging down his palm—free and casual as always.
Damn!
END OF FLASHBACK
The spells hurled from the dummy raced towards her as Daphne held her wand tight. She narrowed her eyes to locate the purple strain of the reductor racing towards her from one end of the incoming flood of spells. She focused some of her energy on her wand tip as she traced the reductor's path skillfully, in perfect imitation of the way her tutor had demonstrated, curving it into a clockwise arc. The reductor deviated its way colliding with the rest of the spells, keeping her safe from harm.
"Did you see that?" Alastor urged. "That girl just demonstrated a perfect deflection, Albus."
"Yes. Splendid performance. Flawless. Won't you say Alastor?"
"I bet." The old Auror remarked gruffly. "Who do you reckon taught her that?"
Dumbledore looked at his old friend and smiled.
The audience were astounded at Daphne's performance. Not only had she managed to stay unharmed, she had used the dummy's technique against itself. The dummy, being the mechanical artifact as it was-kept on going ahead with the same technique, though it got more and more faster and more erratic as time progressed-though it did not really matter to Daphne. Erraticism was not something that had any effect on deflection; if anything—any erratic array of spells were more susceptible to be used against itself and hence, deflected even more smoothly.
After two minutes and forty-three seconds, Daphne decided that she was done for the day as she suddenly cast a powerful 'impedimenta' towards the dummy, which hit perfectly, slowing down the dummy to inaction. Her head held high in response to the cheers all around, she walked down the steps towards the tent.
Daphne walked down the dais as she neared Fleur who was sitting on one of the chairs. She slowed down almost in reflex, enough to pass a comment without being too distinct. She got closer to the buxom Veela and whispered-a mocking smile on her lips as she said—"I made my move. Your turn." She did not even wait to see the dangerous look that flitted across the Veela's face.
The scheduling for the new Quarterfinals had been drawn, and were put in for all to see. Devin prince from Durmstrang had been the one to be eliminated. The remaining eight had moved up for the next round. Daphne found herself facing Malfoy in her match, while Victor Krum would face Caroline Beaufort. Fleur would fight against Alexander Rostov while Ron Weasley would fight against Roger Davies. Whether by the strange machinations of Fate or not, it seemed that she would not be fighting against Delacour even in the coming match.
I am in the Quarterfinals. Where are you, Harry?
Harry apparated in the midst of a desert town in Cairo. The Shatanuf market here was the biggest magical marketplace in the entire world-both in size and variety. To some, it was the place for thieves and mercenaries; to some it was the place to collect inestimably powerful artifacts; to some it was the trader's dream while to some it was a source of the world's largest collection of necromancy and other dark arts. Harry however, had come here to search for something different-or rather someone.
He stepped in front of a rather dilapidated looking shop with an old Phoenician rune edged on the surface of the door. He pressed it open-the door moved forwards with a creak as the dark indoors revealed themselves to him.
"What do you want?" A rather monotonous voice reached his ears. Sitting opposite the closed window on the right, was a disheveled looking man—an Arab by the looks of it.
"Am I speaking to Morganstien?"
### AAAAAnd finally I am done. SHEESH! I was way too busy being embedded...in various activities lately, causing a deficit of my writing time. Anyway, I got myself a free day and decided to wok on it. This is my longest chapter in the story and I ended it before it got eve more longer. Hope you like it. And as always... review, review, review...
