Here's the newest chapter for the "Harry Potter: the Serpent Lord", enjoy!

* Review response:
DarkPirateKing69, ElementalMaster16, nopparitari, Nanashi113, quintonhas, WritinGod05, The Sinful, jafr86, Lord Xantos A. Fowl, Zarosian Chaos, Wyrtha, Joe Lawyer, shugokage, Penny is wise, kaazmiz, twilightnemo, Womgi, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Peeves' best friend, Naginator, StefanSlavatore93, ManlyMonk, heh, they both are teens, and as such prone to making various mistakes, especially when interacting between themselves or with their peers.
Dericof Diname, JPElles, McGeezel, Shinku Ryuuga, hehe )
The Swordslinger, will the events of this chapter be alright for now?
magical fan18, more like she will be making up to him ) His only fault was not giving her a concrete 'I'm doing this' beforehand - he did say that he shall try after all.
Grimjowx, yes, just like I said in AN to that chapter, Howard L Bridget is a character I borrowed form "Freezing". Violet is as well, and here she too is his daughter. On the other hand, I think that after this chapter, I will not put Mr. L Bridget directly into the plot: Violet will be Harry's barrister again )
pandora vanity, I'm not sure there is a word to describe that patronus. ...think of a more reptilian version of naga/lamia with bird-like wings.

* Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" and its characters in any shape or form. Same with "Freezing" anime/manga series.

"human speech"
"wraith speech"
'human thoughts'
"powered speech / true prophecies by the seer"
"spells / parseltongue"
messages

chapter 57: A duel for the unconvinced

There was a short period of silence, during which the other adults, three real champions included, studied the newly arrived Mr. L Bridget. No one, even those who hadn't heard about him before, had no illusions that this man anything but a powerful figure, both in his knowledge and his magic. Alas, he wasn't really welcome there by the tournament officials: Crouch Sr., being under the Imperius curse, saw him as someone preventing him from successfully completing the task he was given; and Dumbledore just didn't favor anyone coming to his school without his invitation.

On the other hand, Harry... well, he couldn't say that he really happy with Mr. L Bridget being here instead of Violet – who would be either his daughter or his niece – but the man was definitely a professional, and a very powerful ally... But before they could even shake their hands, the Hogwarts headmaster decided to remind everyone that he was supposed to be the greatest authority here:

"Mr. L Bridget." The old warlock said. "I commend on your willfulness to help us resolve this conflict, but I assure you that this is just a minor problem that can easily be solved internally. You don't need to involve yourself here, and I'm sure you have more important things to spend your time on." He had his own reasons not to want any outsiders interfering with this: Voldemort.

The Dark Lord was somewhere out there, and he was getting active again, though, by the looks of it, he didn't know that the Potter boy was not the one whom the prophecy spoke about, and this suited the Hogwarts headmaster fine. He will not interfere with whatever scheme Tom had cooked up: once the Dark Lord defeats and kills Potter, he will grow arrogant, thinking that no one will be able to stop him now. And that was when Ron will strike, ending Voldemort once and for all... Of course, Dumbledore felt a little bad about sacrificing the young Potter like this, but for the Greater Good to prevail, sacrifices needed to be made...

"I'll involve myself in everything that my client thinks I should be involved in, Mr. Dumbledore." The blond barrister replied, sending a pointed glare at the older wizard. "And after what you've said just now, I'm not leaving anyway." The two men glared at each other for several seconds, before the Hogwarts headmaster lowered his eyes, sighing softly... This had earned Mr. L Bridget quite some respect from Harry – after all, only few could win a battle of wills with supposedly the most powerful wizard of the twentieth century.

"Very well. I'm sure that Mr. Bagman will be more than happy to provide a copy of the tournament rules for your examination." Dumbledore said, gesturing towards the head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games... There was a short pause, before he continued: "This matter aside, we should not waste the champions' time anymore this fine night, so, without further ado, I shall give you all the instructions for the first task." The Hogwarts headmaster made another pause to make sure that he had the attention from all four selected contestants. "The first task is designed to test your daring, so you will not be told what it is." Ludo Bagman continued from there:

"Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard... very important. The first task will take place on November the twenty-seventh, in front of the other students and the panel of judges. The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from NEWTs or similar tests at the end of the year..." He paused there, and looked at Harry. No one ever though that someone not in his or her last year will be chosen to compete, so no one bothered with creating a possibility to exempt a student from the normal end-of-the-year tests. "As for Mr. Potter here, it's up for his professors to decide, whether he will have to sit his exams or not."

This caused the green-eyed teen to growl under his breath as he imagined what reaction a certain Potions master will have to such a request from him... Still, most other professors were likely to allow him a free pass for the exams at the end of the year. Of course, all of this will be important only if he was really forced to compete in this trice damned tournament – Harry was really hoping that his barrister will find a way to get him out of this mess...

Seeing that the briefing had come to its end, the heads of Beauxbaton and Durmstrang led their students away, Cedric and the two ministry officials left the room as well, though from what Harry could hear, Mr. Bagman will be spending this night at the castle. Dumbledore looked a bit torn between keeping his grandfatherly image and directly interfering with his students' legal business, but in the end he decided to let the green-eyed Potter speak with his barrister in private...

The discussion that Harry had had with Mr. L Bridget lasted almost till the curfew, and most of it was spent on what kinds of reparations the green-eyed teen wanted for being entered into this damn tournament without his consent, and about what their reaction to the press, should they choose to libel him, would be... In the end, once everything important was discussed, the young Potter headed back to the Gryffindor tower, while Mr. L Bridget went to find Ludo Bagman in order to get a copy of the tournament rules.

By the time Harry reached the seventh floor, where the Gryffindor common room was located, he started feeling very tired from everything that had happened to his today, so the only thing he was wishing for at the moment was to get to his bed and get some much needed rest... Alas, it looked like the Fate wasn't done with him yet: just as the portrait hole behind him closed, a certain red-haired chosen one decided to confront him.

"Potter, you thieving jealous cheating bastard!" Ron, red in his face with his worked up irritation, yelled, trying to make himself as intimidating as possible. Something that he failed at, and not just because Harry was too tired to care. "How... How could you go and take my rightful place in the tournament, you attention seeking shit?" The redhead was about to continue his irate tirade, but the young Potter interrupted him, his tired voice conveying very well how much he cared about what bugged the youngest of the Weasley sons:

"What do you want? An honor duel?" Harry didn't even feel like pointing out that he had sworn on his life that he hadn't entered himself into the Triwizard – if the red-haired boy couldn't understand this himself, then explaining it to him will be just a waste of time. "Let it be tomorrow. I'm too damn tired right now." The dark-haired could practically read what the redhead was thinking at the moment: putting Potter in his 'place' was good, but doing so publicly was even better.

"In the Great hall tomorrow, Potter, and don't even think about running away like some filthy slithering snake!" Harry mumbled 'whatever' in response, before continuing on his way to his bed up there in the fourth-years' dormitory...

~/ *** \~

Somehow, by the time the breakfast was served the next morning, entire school – all three schools, actually – knew about the duel that was to happen that day... And Hermione, of course, was trying to talk Harry out of it. Mostly because she didn't want to see him fight and get hurt. But once the green-eyed teen pointed in out to her that this seemed to be about the only way to get Ron off his back, she ceased those attempts and wished him victory instead... Neville, like a good deal of Hogwarts students, was supporting the young Potter, and was doing this without trying to affect his decision to fight in any way.

Of course, there also were those, who believed that Ron was right and Harry had indeed stolen his place in the tournament. Thankfully, it was a minority that was composed mostly by the younger students, but this didn't mean that they were all quiet. If anything, they made it their mission to annoy the young Potter with their catcalls into doing something stupid that will prevent him from fighting in the duel and thus lose by default...

The Beauxbaton and Durmstrang delegations didn't really care about who was right and who was wrong there. Their interest in duel was fueled by something else – they all wanted to see what kind of wizards Hogwarts produced nowadays so that they could better prepare their champions for the tournament...

The morning for Harry turned even worse when the 'Daily Prophet' arrived. Somehow, as no one saw any of their reporters in the Great hall yesterday, they gave a good description of what had happened during the champions' selection with just one missing detail: they conveniently made no mentions of Harry's oath. In other words, the newspaper made it look like he had truly entered himself into the tournament to get some attention or something like that... Thankfully, the young Potter knew that his barristers will deal with this libel swiftly, so he didn't let this bother him any.

It was about fifteen minutes before the end of the breakfast when Ron – who looked very worried that he'll miss some food – showed up. But, surprisingly, instead of going straight to stuffing his mouth with his breakfast, the redhead approached the professors' table and not-so-calmly explained something to Dumbledore. Alas, Harry was sitting too far to hear that dialogue clearly, but judging by the expressions on the headmaster's face, the chosen one was talking about the duel... Once Ron was done with this, he hurried back to the Gryffindor table, not wanting to spend any more time away from his meal. Of course, on his way there he did ogle the Beauxbaton witches and especially that school's champion... Meanwhile, Dumbledore rose from his throne-like armchair:

"Ladies and gentlemen." The old warlock said, gaining everyone's attention. "Due to the events that had happened yesterday evening, an honor duel has been issued by Mr. Ronald Billius Weasley against Mr. Potter. The duel will take place here in the Hogwarts' Great hall after the breakfast, and those who have a free period are welcome to stay and watch." For the next several seconds silence reigned over the Great hall, but then the excited chatter started all over the place. Until the Hogwarts Charms master cleared his throat.

"Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff second years." The miniature man said. "Your Charms lesson today will be held there. We will be observing the duel and you will then tell me your thought about how and why those charms were used." The group of students to whom professor Flitwick addressed immediately exploded with loud cheering as none of them wanted to miss something as exiting as a duel between the Boy Who Lived and the Chosen One.

"Same goes for my class of the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins." Moody said as he slowly stood up. "Your task will be to observe the duel, notice the duelists' mistakes and write a foot long essay on how those could have been avoided by being vigilant for our lesson next week." More cheers from the students who didn't want to miss such an event.

Once the breakfast was finished and those who had lessons elsewhere in the castle lest the Great hall, with a wave of his wand Dumbledore made the four tables of the Hogwarts houses to move to the walls, creating a large open space in the center of the hall. After that, the old warlock made a series of complicated wand movements, creating something that resembled a professional dueling arena seemingly out of the thin air. The next five minutes the Hogwarts headmaster spent by layering some wards around the arena to protect the spectators form stray jinxes or any other nasty spells that the duelists will exchange between themselves... As soon as he was done with the preparations, Dumbledore announced:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the duel that you've been waiting for is about to begin. So I ask Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter to enter the arena." Harry, who had been quite ready for this for some time already, proudly and gracefully walked onto the arena. Ron... Ron wasn't as prepared, and so he could be seen running up the short stairs that led up onto the arena with a half-eaten chicken leg in his left hand. Taking a last couple of bites from it, the redhead threw it away without caring where it landed, before wiping his mouth with a sleeve of his robe in a rather disgusting manner.

"Ready to lose, Potter?" The 'chosen one' asked, even if he hadn't swallowed all of the chicken he had been chewing yet... Harry did his best to remain impassive in the face of such an unsightly sight. And if that was not bad enough, one didn't need to be a legilimens in order to see what the redhead was thinking about – he was dreaming about defeating his enemy in some dramatic fashion to show how awesome he was, so that all pretty girls around, and especially the veela, will throw themselves to his feet, begging to be chosen as his girlfriend... Of course, all these girls in question could see this too, and they were far from impressed...

"If both duelists are ready, I want them to bow to each other so that the duel can begin." The old warlock announced as if everything was like it should be... Unfortunately for him, not everyone shared this point of view:

"I raise an objection." Harry said in a determined voice.

"On what grounds, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore replied, barely keeping himself from speaking in anything but his usual 'grandfatherly' voice: how dare the brat question his authority?!

"A master is allowed to judge his apprentice's duel if and only if the other duelist is his apprentice as well. Since only Mr. Weasley here is or ever was your apprentice, by the official rules of dueling you are not allowed to be a judge here." Before the Hogwarts headmaster could say something, professor Flitwick was already speaking:

"Mr. Potter is absolutely right, Albus. Someone else should judge this duel." There was an uneasy pause, and, surprisingly, it was madam Maxime who broke it.

"I know enough about dueling to judge these two monsieur." She said, her tone making it clear that volunteered for the task just to make this whole thing end as soon as possible... After the Hogwarts Charms master asked the duelists, whether they agreed with this, and receiving positive answers, he nodded for the Beauxbaton headmistress to begin. "Duelists, state your conditions." She said. "Mr. Weasley, you first."

"I want this stealing bastard..." Ron shouted, while unceremoniously pointing at the dark-haired wizard across the arena from him. "...To admit that he cheated his way into the tournament and stole my place there!" If madam Maxime was angered by this proclamation, she didn't let it show on her face. "And I want... I want... I want him to surrender everything he owns to me!" Nodding, the Beauxbaton headmistress turned her attention to Harry.

"And your conditions, Mr. Potter?" She asked.

"Mr. Weasley is to cease his libel in my address, directly or not and he is not to attack me physically, magically, politically, or in any other fashion over this matter." Madam Maxime nodded: even though she wasn't supposed to pick favorites here, she definitely liked this teen more than the red-haired 'chosen one' of the Great Britain.

"Conditions are named and accepted." She said. "Duelists, stand!" Ron assumed a poor imitation of the basic dueling stance, while Harry remained standing in a relaxed way. "Bow!" Mr. Weasley made a small nod of acknowledgment, feeling that his opponent didn't deserve anything more than this. The green-eyed teen across the arena from him didn't do much more than that either, though for a completely different reason: the young Potter was quite aware than taking one's eyes off one's opponent was the first and often the last mistake to be made in a fight. "Fight!" Madam Maxime announced, before stepping outside the wards around the arena.

Ron opened the fight by throwing a stunner in Harry's direction, but the green-eyed teen was fast on his feet and the red beam missed him by several feet. The next thing everyone saw was a bright flash of light, coming from the tip of Harry's wand... It was several seconds before anyone could see again, and now there was an apparition of a huge and scary spider – black, furry, at least six feet tall and with huge pincers dripping with what could be deadly venom – standing between the young Potter and his opponent... The moment Ron saw the apparition, he shrieked like a girl, while a wet stain appeared at the front of his trousers. Then, with a loud thud he fainted onto the arena floor, choosing blissful unconsciousness to the harsh 'reality'... Dispelling the illusion, the green-eyed teen bowed deeply for the audience.

"The winner of the duel is Mr. Potter!" Madam Maxime announced, once it was clear that the 'chosen one' was out cold... There was a moment of silence, before various students coming from all three schools started clapping, and much to Harry's surprise, Draconica was among those who started applauding first...

Somewhere in the Great hall, Barty Crouch Jr., disguised as Alastor Moody was thinking about what he had witnessed just now. And it was quite clear that the Dark Lord was right in not believing that shit about Weasley brat being 'the chosen one' that Dumbledore was spurting. On the other had, while Potter didn't show much of his skill during this thirty seconds long 'duel', it was quite clear that the boy wasn't that simple and one day may even become something dangerous to the Dark Lord. So, Junior swore to himself, he will gather as much intelligence on the Potter brat, as he could to ensure the victory for his Lord...

AN: As you might have noticed, I decided to re-do the duel - one of the reviews (correctly) pointed it out that Harry acted too Gryffindor-ish and not like Lord Slytherin should. Hopefully, this new version isn't even worse because of Ron losing way to quickly... Anyway, I'm keeping the old version of the duel for you, just below this AN.

Ron opened the fight by throwing a stunner in Harry's direction, but the green-eyed teen was fast on his feet and the red beam missed him by several feet. The next thing everyone saw was a bright flash of light, coming from the tip of Harry's wand... It was several seconds before anyone could see again, and now there were two Harry Potters standing on the arena: an almost solid apparition was where the green-eyed teen was seen last before the flash, and the real one was standing just out of the Ron's field of vision. And as no sounds from outside the barrier could enter the arena...

"Is that all what you got, Potter?" The redhead asked, not even thinking about looking around for anything out of place. "You're just a cheating slimy bastard! Why don't you gust give up before I humiliate you further?" Receiving no response from the illusion, Ron started sending a spell after spell at it, but Harry kept making his doppelganger dodge everything. It was a couple of minutes, before the 'chosen one' began tiring out. "Stop dodging and fight like a wizard! Or is it too much for a cheating low-life like you?"

"No, but it is much more entertaining like this." A voice to his side replied. Turning around sharply, Ron saw another Harry. Looking back at the opponent he had been fighting for the last couple of minutes, he saw that it was no longer there. Roaring angrily, the redhead brandished his wand at the green-eyed teen, but before he could even think of any incantation... "Corporis amoveo!" A bright-blue beam from Harry's wand hit him straight on his chest, but seemed to have no visible effect. "Offendo!" A simple shock-wave that threw Ron off his feet and also made it clear, what the previous spell did: it completely destroyed the young Weasley's coordination – all of his movements suddenly became so wrong, and instead of regaining his balance like he should have had done, the redhead ended on the floor in a shapeless heap. "Incanceros! I win, Weasley!" Tightly bound and gagged by ropes, Ron could raise no objection to this.

"The winner of the duel is Mr. Potter!" Madam Maxime announced, once she was sure that the 'chosen one' could do nothing to free himself from the ropes... There was a moment of silence, before various students coming from all three schools started clapping, and much to Harry's surprise, Draconica was among those who started applauding first... Just as soon as the green-eyed teen passed through the ward surrounding the arena, he was greeted by very excited Hogwarts Charms master.

"Excellent duel, Mr. Potter!" The short professor squeaked. "Most excellent! And your spellwork was fantastic..." Professor Flitwick made a short pause. "And much to my shame, I don't think I know the spell you've opened you last attack with." The edges of Harry's mouth involuntary went upwards at this.

"Corporis amoveo?" He asked, and receiving a nod from his Charms mater, continued. "This is a translated into Latin and weaponized version of Shinkei osai, a charm used by Eastern medi-wizards to heal motor nerve damage or to prevent atrophy of muscles of someone who must be kept asleep for medical reasons. The Corporis amoveo the I used, instead of simulating a signal from brain to a muscle, for example, to raise your right arm, randomly mixes up such signals, causing your left knee to bend instead, for example."

"Fascinating!" Professor Flitwick replied: despite everything, he wasn't really familiar with the spells used half across the globe, and he really wanted to remedy this gap in his knowledge. But for some reason, at the moment he couldn't think of a polite way to ask Harry to show those to him... So he let Mr. Potter return to his friends – he will have other opportunities to learn from the teen later...

Meanwhile, Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise of Alastor Moody was thinking that his Dark Lord was right in not believing Dumbledore's mad talk about Weasley kid being the one destined to be Dark Lord's equal: the brat was pathetic, and this duel was a fine proof of it... On the other hand, Potter's unorthodox fighting strategy was something that he needed to report to his master. Yes, Junior thought, he will show his loyalty to the Dark Lord by giving him as much information about Harry Potter as he could gather!

That's all, folks!
Leave me a review.