Hermione
The city streets of Paris were packed to the brim with witches and wizards from all over the world. Everywhere you turned there seemed to be a group of supporters walking down the street and each of the groups seemed to be having the same conversation. All attention and conversation today in the great city of Paris was on one thing, the European Magic Students Dueling Championship. Their group was no different.
"So Mr. Ose, do you think Marik is nervous?" she asked Marik's father as they waited for the rest of the group to get to them.
"I honestly couldn't tell you, Miss Hermione. Marik has never done anything like this before. Closest thing to a competition he ever did growing up was a book contest one time. I imagine if he is nervous though that he would be too hard headed to admit it to anyone, especially in front of you two," Marik's father answered. Hermione could imagine Marik being the type of student to enter a book contest; after all she had been that type of student too.
"You sure got that right," Harry chimed in from beside her.
"He is lucky that we even let him participate in this tournament after giving us such a short notice. Coming home after a year and saying by the way we have to go to Paris this summer like it was nothing! I swear that boy forgets there are other people besides himself in the world when he starts thinking about magic. I hope the both of you wrote more to your parents over the school year more than Marik did," Marik's mother said, looking down to her and Harry. Even though Marik's father was the big military man he was nowhere near as intimidating as Marik's mother was.
"Yes, Mrs. Ose we did," Harry answered quickly, obviously lying a little. She knew very well that Harry had also got in trouble for not writing his parents enough.
"I don't know if I call five letters, each of which only had a few sentences much better," Harry's mother joked.
"Guess my genes are to blame for that. That is probably more than I wrote to my parents my entire time at Hogwarts," Harry's dad said, laughing to the group.
"That's because you were using all your lettering paper and ink writing love letters to Lily," Remus chimed in with the joke.
"No I was not!" Harry's father said, getting defensive. Harry's mother smiled at the joke, seeming to have enjoyed her husband's embarrassment.
"Yeah you were James! Remus is right! You were always writing Lily and that other girl. . . What was that other girl's name James?" Sirius added, barely able to get his sentence out through his snickering. His remark earned a glare from Harry's mother. "I'm only joking Lily, everyone knows you were the only girl for James…" Sirius continued.
Wait for it… Hermione said to herself. In the two times she had spent with Sirius she already knew that he never ended a comment without a joke. She had learned that within five minutes of their first time meeting, the hard way unfortunately.
"After he broke up with those other ten girls," Sirius finished.
There we go. She said and laughed to herself as Sirius was playfully tackled by Harry's father.
Harry's parents, the Blacks, and Remus all seemed like family the way they treated each other. To an outsider like her it certainly appeared like they were all more than just old, school friends. It made her happy to watch them together.
They all seemed to know everything about the other and just what to say to push each other's buttons. The all fit well together too. Harry and Daphne's fathers came across as the big jokesters of the group but Harry's mother and Remus cracked just as many jokes as they did. She imagined this was what true lifelong friendships were like. She only hoped she, Harry, and Marik became that close one day.
"So where do we go from here?" her father asked the other parents there as they arrived at the end of the street.
"Well the stadium is just up ahead two streets that way. Normally muggles would be able to see it, but today it has been charmed to repel muggles and those without a ticket.," Harry's mother answered her father's question as they headed off in the direction Harry's mother was leading them in.
"We come to France every year and we have never actually been to the Stade de France. I can't believe it is used for magic events as well as muggle events," her mother replied, sounding very interested in the conversation.
It was true. They spent every summer in Paris and had never once been to any event in the stadium. Most of their time in France was spent exploring the cities or on the beach. No one in her family was very interested in sports or concerts, both of which would be the main reason to visit the stadium.
"It was actually built originally to be France's national quidditch team's stadium. A lot of the players preferred the Parc des Princes though because of its quidditch history though so now this stadium is mainly used for muggle events," Sirius answered. When he wasn't joking and was actually being serious, no pun intended, Sirius could actually sound pretty smart. . . sometimes.
"Hermione, which one is quidditch again? Is that the one with the brooms?" her father asked her the question again for the third time that week.
"Yes father. Quidditch is the one with the brooms," Hermione rolled her eyes as she answered. She had already explained this all to her parents too many times.
"I am sure most of what Hermione tells you is overwhelming and so mysterious," Harry's mother started saying to her parents. "The summer after my first year at Hogwarts my mother thought I was making drugs in my room when she walked in and saw all my potions supplies," Harry's mother said to her parents. Sirius seemed to have whispered something funny about his friend's story to Harry's father who was now laughing hard.
"That sounds a lot like Marik," Marik's mother chimed in. "He has turned our kitchen into a mad scientist's lab this summer. I almost lost it the other day when I saw a pound of frog heads in my sink!" Marik's mother added.
"MARIK IS BREWING POTIONS!" Hermione interrupted before her parents could respond. "Do you know what kind?" Hermione asked Marik's mother, dying to know what potion he was brewing. She couldn't help that it came out like she was shouting at them.
"Hermione dear, don't yell at people!" her mother scolded her.
"Sorry mother. I told you I was going to get behind this summer though! Marik is brewing potions and now gets to practice advanced magic all day. He is going to take all the 'M' marks this year while I'm just stuck reading!" Hermione crossed her arms and pouted. She knew the odds of Marik taking every 'M' mark were actually pretty slim, but she was still upset that Marik was getting to brew potions and all she was getting to do over the summer was read her books.
"Well you didn't hear this from me young lady but I believe his exact words when he said he had to practice his potions were my friend Hermione is amazing at brewing potions and she is already miles ahead of me, so I need to practice a lot if I want to even try and keep up," Marik's father paused after doing a spot on Marik impression. His comment made her smile whether it was true or not. "He also said that your daughter Mrs. Black embarrassed him with her potions quite a few times in class. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he said you brewed a really tough potion called the Mollyjuice potion right?" Marik's father asked Daphne.
Marik's father was so nice and funny when he tried to talk about anything magic. She could certainly understand where Marik got his people skills from but other than that it was quite apparent that Marik did not have his father's genes and was adopted, especially when it came to magic.
"That would be the polyjuice potion," Daphne answered coldly. Apparently parents also were not excluded from her iciness. "And Marik mentioned me?" Daphne asked Marik's father, suddenly looking interested in their conversation.
"Oh yeah! He hasn't stopped talking about y'alls first year at Hogwarts since he got home," Marik's father answered. She could not tell what Daphne felt about Marik mentioning her at home. Daphne's face just remained just as ice-queenish as ever.
"I taught her well, didn't I? Embarrassing a Slytherin a day keeps the Snape away," Sirius joked. She and Harry could not help but laugh at that, even if it was a lame joke. Harry's parents joined in on the laughter.
"Sirius I think you are forgetting that your home now has more snakes than lions in it. You might even be outnumbered three to one in a month," Daphne's mother responded to her husband. Daphne's mother outside of her eyes resembled Daphne hardly any at all. Daphne must have gotten the ice and the rest of her ice-queen genes from her father Hermione couldn't help but think.
"Ya ya don't remind me!" Sirius started.
"Do you know what house you think you will be in, Alina?" Harry's mother asked Daphne's little sister.
Harry had talked about Sirius and his family a bunch during their first year, and she had met all of them during the holidays last year. Even after seeing and talking to Alina for the second time now it was still difficult for Hermione to believe that she was related to Daphne. Alina looked as much like Daphne as Marik did his parents, and that was saying something since Marik is adopted.
While Daphne did not resemble her sister or parents that much Alina looked like a spitting image of her parents. Alina had Sirius's thick pretty black hair which she had grown out all the way down to her waist and wore loose. She also had the same pointed face shape as Sirius and her mother's bright blue eyes, which much to Hermione's jealousy, seemed to radiate against Alina's dark tan skin.
Alina was already just about as tall as Daphne was and Hermione could see that she certainly had her mother's long legs. Even though they had only been near each other for a few hours Hermione could tell from the fact that it seemed she had not inherited the same coldness Daphne had. Alina seemed to have the same bright, bubbly, positive attitude that her father had.
"No Mrs. Potter. But Dad says he will buy me double the birthday presents if I end up in Gryffindor," Alina answered Harry's mother, earning laughs all around. Sirius earned a slap on the back of his head from his wife.
"What? There is nothing wrong with wanting my daughter to be a Gryffindor like her daddy!" Sirius argued, rubbing his head where Hemera had hit him.
"There is something wrong with you bribing our little girl!" Hemera replied, shaking her head with a smile.
"Alright everyone, looks like we are here!" Remus said to the group and came to a halt. In front of them on the other side of the crosswalk suddenly a giant stadium emerged into view.
"Woah." she and Harry said in unison.
The stadium was huge to say the least, making the Hogwarts quidditch pitch look like a kid's toy. All around people were walking towards the stadium. Many of them holding or waiving German, French, and English country and school flags that matched the ones that were flying from hundreds of flag poles atop the stadium. The stadium was impressive enough on its own with all of its size, architecture, and designs. The stadium was even more impressive though with all of the magic flowing through it and around it.
"Wow it looks so beautiful," Marik's mother said, breaking the silence of the group.
"Let's hurry inside so we can get good seats! Marik will be pissed if we can't see him," Harry shouted out, and started off towards the entrance.
"Watch your mouth, Harry James Potter!" his mother said scolding him. Harry blushed in a cute way when she used his full name. Hermione would have to take note of that.
They all followed Harry's lead towards the stadium. Outside of maybe Daphne's family and Remus, if Harry had said half as much to his parents about their time at Hogwarts as Hermione had said to hers, everyone there knew how important this was for not only Marik, but also to herself and Harry.
"Harry look for G2. We will be sitting with the rest of the Hogwarts students and families," Harry's father announced to Harry, who was leading the group.
"Will there be a lot of people from Marik's school here?" Marik's mother asked.
"There should be a good amount. I know their Headmaster is coming and all of the professors are coming as well. Plus the friends and families for each year's participant will be here. So it should be a pretty packed house," Harry's father answered.
"The professors and Headmaster will be here?" Hermione said, suddenly freaked out.
"Well they have to support their students, Hermione. This is a big deal to them too," Harry's mother answered.
"They should be at Hogwarts sending our marks out though, not in France!" Hermione replied, angry that her professors were doing something other than getting her grades out to her.
"Oh Hermione, you know you did fine! Stop worrying about them so much," Harry told her. Even if he was right she still glared at him.
"Miss Granger, I am sure you will be happy to know that your owls will be sent out next weekend. They are currently being reviewed by the Ministry at this moment," A familiar voice said from behind their group causing her to jump.
"Ah Minerva! It is so good to see you!" Harry's mother said to their transfiguration professor and gave the witch a friendly hug.
If I called her Minerva I would be expelled. She thought to herself as she watched their transfiguration teacher hug Harry's parents. The professor greeted all of the parents there with warm friendly smiles and hugs that did not at all seem to fit the professor's normal demeanor.
"We already have a large section built up of Hogwarts' supporters. It looks like we will have more supporters here than even Beauxbatons. Follow me, I will show you to where we are sitting," Professor McGonagall said to their group as she started to lead them around the stadium to their section.
As they entered the gateway opening into the stands Hermione was left speechless. The place was absolutely packed! In the center of the stadium was an enormous soccer field sized dueling platform. Unlike the platform they had dueled on for their tournament, this platform was anything but a simple narrow flat stage.
The platform had four different biomes built into it. Each of the sides of the platform was split into two different biomes. On the left half's sides there were a few trees that made a miniature forest biome and the other half of the platform was a flat grassy area. On the right half's side there was a sandy desert biome with a few sand dunes as well as a hilly grass area filled with large boulders. It looked amazing and she was jealous that Marik was getting to duel on something that epic!
Outside of the dueling platform the stands were filled. Straight across from their section was a loud German section. Everyone was dressed in the colors of the German flag and Durmstrang Academy and many people were holding enchanted signs with the pictures of a participant on them.
She could see her and Marik's parents looking in awe as some of the pictures moved around in their frames or shouted out something. To the left of where they were sitting the French section was much the same. The French fans had planned their sitting arrangement out before the tournament apparently, as the organized colors of their fans clothing made the stands look like a perfect French flag. Every so often the colors would change to match the crest of Beauxbatons Academy.
As impressive as the both of their sections were the Hogwarts sections was even more impressive. Their section of the stands was completely filled up. She immediately recognized a number of people and professors from their school as they made their way up to their seats.
She could see Headmaster Dumbledore at the very front of the Hogwarts section, his beard hanging over the railing and blowing in the wind. Professor Kingsley was right next to him in a bright green set of robes looking like he and the Headmaster were having an intense conversation.
There was a student wearing a huge lion head that was roaring loudly in one part of the section, and another with snake head that seemed to hiss whenever it moved. There was even one student with a large raven's beak on that seemed to be chirping a song out into the stands.
Their group made their way towards their seats along with Professor McGonagall after they had taken a few moments to take in all the sights around them in.
"Wow. . . Marik is dueling in front of all these people? I thought there would be like a hundred people here at most," Hermione heard Marik's father say in disbelief as they made their way across their row.
"Oi Harry!" Hermione turned to see the Gryffindor boy, Neville, greeting Harry from the row in front of them as they found their seats.
"Hey Neville. What is that on your head?" Harry asked Neville.
"It's a longgggg bottom," the two boys next to Neville said in unison. She recognized them as the Weasley Twins. Sure enough Neville had a hat on his head that had been transfigured to resemble a long well… you get the point.
"Hey Fred and George. Why did the three of you guys come? Do you have friends in the tournament?" Harry asked them.
"I don't," Neville answered looking down. "I just figured after my performance for my end of year projects last year I could use the extra exposure to magic," Neville said. Besides his performance in herbology he was probably right about that.
"Yeah our good friend Alicia Spinnet is our year's participant," one of the twins started.
"Plus Ron and Mum have been driving us mad already. So we had to get out of the house," the other twin finished.
"You think Marik is going to win our year?" Neville turned to ask her.
"Well he dominated our tournament… Sorry Harry. . . So yeah I do," She felt bad as she saw Harry look a little upset at what she had said.
It was the truth though. She even hated admitting it since she had wanted to win Hogwarts's tournament so badly too. She and Harry could give Marik a good run for his money dueling; especially now after they had trained so much together, but no matter how much they had trained together Marik was much more of a natural at dueling then herself and Harry seemed to be. So she had to give credit where credit was due.
"So Miss Hermione, do you really think Marik can win? I never realized he would be dueling at a place this big and crowded. I didn't realize how impressive and big of deal this was you know? I still don't even really know what dueling is to be honest," Marik's father asked her, from the row behind her were all the parents were sitting, his eyes were roaming the stadium.
"Yes, Mr. Ose, I really do think he can win. You should be proud. Marik is the best at offensive spells and dueling in our year. And this is a big deal. Marik worked harder than anyone I know to get here," she answered Marik's father. He smiled like a proud dad watching his son catch a baseball for the first time at her words.
"It's hard to imagine our little Marik dueling, although I'm not sure I still even can imagine a duel either. Marik never really told us what dueling is," Marik's mother said and laughed a little.
"Well believe me Mr. and Mrs. Ose, when I say young Mr. Marik has the potential to take this trophy home," Professor Kingsley said as it seemed that he had made his way back to their section to greet Marik's parents. "My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt. I am one of your son's professors at Hogwarts," Professor Shacklebolt extended his hand out to Marik's parents.
"Ah nice to meet you, Mr. Shacklebolt. Marik told us that you were one of the good ones at Hogwarts…" Marik's father paused for a second as he realized he was still sitting next to McGonagall, who was sitting in between Marik's parents to explain what was happening to them during the duel. "I forgot to tell you that too Miss Minerva earlier too…" Marik's father said looking guilty. Hermione laughed at Marik's father's face.
"Oh, I am sure it just slipped your mind," Professor McGonagall said with her usual scorn.
"Your son is one of the good ones too, Mr. Ose. I was only at the school a few months last year but your son showed me a lot of good potential. Make sure you pay attention. His magic is very inspiring. It was very nice to meet you both, I hope we can meet again sometime. Please tell Marik that I wished him the best in the tournament and look forward to working with him again next year," Shacklebolt commented and left their group back to his seat at the front.
"Harry, how come you don't have any professors coming up to us to sing your praises," Harry's mother asked with her eyebrows raised from behind him. Harry's cheeks turned a Weasley red at her comment.
"Uhhh," was all Harry managed to get out.
"Lily Evans, don't you go breaking the boy. You know good and well I sung his praises to the both of you. I remember even saying that he showed more promise than a few other Gryffindor students I distinctly remember," McGonagall argued. At that comment this time Harry was smiling and both of his parent's cheeks had turned to a Weasley red.
"Well Hermione, do you have an excuse too?" her dad added to the questions.
"Shh! It's starting!" Hermione shushed her father, excited for the tournament to start and to avoid her father's questions. She doubted no matter how good her potions grade ended up being that Snape would ever sing anyone's praises.
All of the lights surrounding the stadium angled down to focus on the platform at its center. At the center of the large platform were four people, two of which she recognized.
"Welcome everyone to the first annual European Magic Students Dueling Championship! I am Jacques Marquette the French Minister of Magic and I welcome you all to France!" the French Minister of Magic announced in perfect English. "My fellow countrymen and women would like to thank you all for making the long trip here and wish all of your school's participants the best of luck! This year's tournament will be directed by the current European Dueling Master Elite Filius Flitwick. Please give him a round of applause!" the French minister announced. Sure enough standing down at the man's knees was their charm's professor.
"Thank you Jacques. I would first again like to thank you all for making the trip out here tonight to cheer on your friends, family, and classmates. Though I think we are all sure this will prove to be a great competition, I think that it will be even greater to witness the magic that the competition between these three schools will create.
"The representatives of each year for each school have already pushed the boundaries of their magic and shown their abilities to their own schools. Now let them push the boundaries further and show all of Europe their talents." Professor Flitwick paused and the stadium erupted. Hermione could not help but join. The speech was inspiring.
"Now for the rules of the tournament. There are three participants in each year's bracket. Each participant will duel the other two participants in their bracket. The first person in each bracket to accumulate two wins will be named the Dueling Champion of Europe for their year. If after three duels have taken place and no one has won two duels a second round will take place and the person who totals the most number of wins in that round will be crowned the winner.
"The names and order will be chosen at random. After each duel both participants will receive a five minute break, rejuvenation potions, energy potions, and any other medical treatment that they may need. If a duelist is deemed unable to progress to the next duel they will be disqualified.
"Each duel will have no time limit, and the participants have been given a list of illegal spells beforehand. We ask all fans to please remain seated and do not come onto the platform at any time. Families you will be able to visit your child after their round of the bracket has finished in the location designated on your tickets. Now!" Professor Flitwick announced, pausing briefly. "It's time to get this championship started! We will begin with the first year champions. From Durmstrang Academy your first year dueling champion is… Viktor Krum!" Flitwick announced the student's name.
At the announcement of the name the Durmstrang and Germany side of the stands erupted into chants. A large boy who definitely did not look like a first year, made his way out of the tunnel and towards Professor Flitwick.
"Oh wow," Hermione heard Harry's dad say behind them.
"What is it, father?" Harry asked him.
"Sirius, is that the same Viktor Krum who is the youngest seeker to play for Bulgaria's national quidditch team?" Harry's dad asked Sirius.
"Yeah, it is. He is playing on the practice team only, but still the fact that they signed someone his age to the practice team means he is no joke. I believe his is even being recruited by some professional Bulgarian teams too," Sirius answered.
Hermione did not know much about quidditch. But she knew enough about it to understand that Krum being a first year student who was already nationally recognized in quidditch meant that he probably had a lot of talent. If he was the champion of Durmstrang in dueling too that talent at quidditch had probably translated to his wand work as well.
"So should we be nervous?" Marik's mother asked already looking nervous.
"Not any more than before, just because he is good at quidditch doesn't mean he will be as good with his wand," Remus answered Marik's mother, obviously trying to make her feel better.
"Next from my very own school! Your Hogwarts first year dueling champion is… Marik Ose!" Flitwick announced.
Hermione wished for a brief second that she would have brought ear plugs. Her ears immediately started ringing as the Hogwarts stands erupted. She joined in with loud screams! Loud chants of Ose could be heard across their section and the large snake head that one of the Slytherin students was wearing was making loud snake hisses that echoed throughout the stadium.
Hermione turned behind her to see Marik's mother shedding tears with a huge smile on her face. Marik's father looked proud as he was stretching his neck to see his son on the platform.
Out of the tunnel Marik emerged. He had decided to wear his end of year projects robes that he had made and she could not blame him. He did in fact look kind of badass, not that she would ever actually tell him that though.
As he made his way out of the tunnel his robes flurried behind him like a trail of smoke and it appeared as if he was gliding towards Viktor Krum and Professor Flitwick as he walked to the center of the platform. The robe effect earned a lot more whistles and cheers from the crowd. She had no idea this many people cared about Marik winning. The cheering for him had been nowhere close to this loud during the school tournament. She guessed it was mainly just them rooting for Hogwarts though and not necessarily just him.
"And last but not least. Your very own! From Beauxbatons academy your first year dueling champion is. . . Fleur Delacour!" Flitwick announced the last duelists name and the French section erupted.
A blond girl made her way out of the tunnel and immediately Hermione did not like her. As soon as she made her way onto the platform almost every male student in the Hogwarts and Durmstrang section was craning their neck to look at her and whistling when they did.
She isn't that pretty. Hermione said to herself. Something was definitely up with girl, Hermione could tell. No one was naturally that pretty. The Fleur girl made her way to the platform where Marik and the Viktor boy were standing.
"Let's give one more round of applause for your three first year dueling champions!" Flitwick announced.
She again started clapping loudly and even stood up to yell "Go Marik!" Harry followed her lead and stood up to cheer his friend on.
"Now let's get ready to duel! The first duel of the tournament will be between…" Flitwick paused and the stands went quiet in suspense. "Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum!" At the announcement of the first two names a sigh of relief swept Hermione over as the French and German sides of the stands erupted.
"It's good that Marik doesn't have to duel first," she started saying to her and Marik's parents behind her. "Now he gets a chance to observe the other duelists and strategize."
During their dueling tournament at Hogwarts both she and Marik had communicated after every duel they watched. It had been through their strategizing that she was able to make it as far as she had. This time though Marik would be on his own with his strategizing.
The German duelist, Viktor, was given the left side of the arena with the small forest and flat plains area. The French duelist, Fleur, took the other side. The biomes and objects on the dueling platform added a whole realm of new possibilities that had not been there in their tournament at Hogwarts. Marik would have to watch out for not only spells directed at him, but also spells that used the settings around him throughout his duels.
Along with the biomes the size of the dueling platform added a whole other element. There were now places to use as cover, hide behind, and much more space to use to dodge. The massive size of the platform also meant that spells would require much more power to reach their opponent and more risks would have to be taken to get within range. Hopefully all of this information was not making Marik more nervous than she was.
"Duelists when the glowing light at the center of the stage turns from white to green you will begin the duel. If a spell is cast before the light turns green the round will be counted as a loss. Now…" The professor paused again. "Are the both of you ready?" Professor Flitwick asked the two duelers. Both of them nodded with determined faces. "Then get ready!"
The floating light in the middle of the stage was a bright white. The stadium was silent as everyone waiting on the edge of their seats for it to change colors.
It turned green, and the duelists were off. Neither one of them immediately went into spell casting but instead both ran forwards closer towards the center of the dueling platform. Fleur managed to make her way to a few large rocks on her side of the platform that offered good cover. Viktor chose to take a more aggressive path. On the side Viktor had chosen to run towards there was just open plains so he would not have the same advantage of cover as Fleur did, however he had a much better line of sight.
"Stupefy!" Viktor started the tournament off with a high powered stunning spell. He aimed the spell right at the rock Fleur was hiding behind.
"Expelliarmus!" Fleur cast the disarming spell and immediately ran to another rock right as Viktor's spell hit the one she had just previously been at. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Fleur fired her next spell off as soon as she made it to the next rock. Her expelliarmus went wide right of Viktor, missing him by a lot. Fleur chose to make a nearby medium sized boulder fly towards Krum at high speeds with her second spell. Krum pointed his wand at the oncoming boulder.
"Expulso, deprimo!" Viktor cast the spell chain quickly. He started with a spell that Hermione did not know.
Whatever the spell was it resulted in the boulder headed towards him exploding into a hundred smaller rocks in midair. Viktor's second spell was a strong wind spell which sent the exploded rock pieces right back at Fleur. Viktor started to charge in towards Fleur's direction, following the flurry of rocks. Fleur emerged from behind her rock looking confident in the face of Viktor's action.
"Avifors!" Her spell split and collided with all the rocks coming towards her and immediately all of the rock pieces were turned into a flock of birds. The birds switched their direction and headed towards Viktor at high speeds. Viktor's face was one of shock at Fleur's spell. As the birds got closer to Viktor Fleur raised her wand again.
"Expulso, obscuro, stupefy!" Fleur continued with a barrage of spells while Viktor retreated from the oncoming birds towards the small forest. What happened next was unexpected and slightly cruel.
Fleur had aimed her expulso spell to hit a few of the birds. This resulted in a few huge miniature explosions of feathers that provided quite the distraction. The distraction payed off though because just as Viktor made it to the forest her obscuro spell that he did not see coming collided with him. Although her expelliarmus spell went wide right, Viktor was blinded now until he could disarm Fleur. Blinded but not defeated, Viktor emerged from behind a tree guns blazing.
"Stupefy, expelliarmus, confundus!" Viktor fired off three high powered spells that exploded three rocks a few feet in front of him. However none of which were anywhere near Fleur who had quietly made her way closer to Viktor.
"Stupefy!" Fleur cast the spell as she snuck up from behind Viktor. The spell collided with Viktor's back and his unconscious body was thrown forward about twenty feet before it landed on the ground. The French side of the stands erupted into a flurry of cheers and chants.
The first duel had been an impressive display of magic. Both duelists certainly had proven they were both capable of being tough competition for Marik.
Fleur had shown that she had good imagination and quick thinking, both of which were two of the most important tools for a duelist to have. While her spells did not have as much power as Viktor's did, Fleur utilized good use of spell combos. Her strategy with creating birds from stones not only as an offensive attack but also as a distraction to set up a barrage of spells was incredible.
Hermione was very impressed. And she would not say it out loud but she was getting nervous for Marik's duel now. He was definitely good, but the first duel proved the other two that they were certainly good as well.
"Wow… What the hell just happened?" she heard Marik's father say from behind her. She looked back to see all four of the muggle parent's jaws wide open.
"Why did the German boy not know the French girl was behind him?" Marik's father continued.
"Fleur hit Viktor with an obscuro spell. It is a spell that blindfolds the target until the caster releases it," Professor McGonagall answered. "You may have noticed that Viktor used a lot of large powerful spells at Fleur yes?" McGonagall asked Marik's parents.
"I take it you mean all the ones that blew up the area near Fleur?" Marik's mother answered.
"You would be correct. Those types of spells are what your son has proven to be very good at. While Marik's spells may not be as powerful as Viktor's spells were, Marik makes up for it with his intelligence and accuracy during duels. During his duel you should keep an eye out for the creative techniques he uses," McGonagall told Marik's parents.
"Marik can do all of that?" Marik's father said with a shocked face.
"And more," was all McGonagall responded with, a grin on her face.
On the dueling platform Viktor had been rejuvenated and was now getting medical treatment. There was a brief intermission as the two duelists were given magic potions to replenish their energy before the next duel was announced. Marik would be dueling no matter what in the next duel but she was anxious to know who he would be up against.
Fleur seemed to duel a lot similarly to how Marik dueled in their training sessions. They both seemed to think three steps ahead and cast lots of combo spells. If the next duel was against Fleur it would be just as much of a duel of the mind as it would be of the wand.
Viktor on the other hand could very easily over power you quickly. His aggressive style definitely kept you on your toes. If you made one mistake and were clipped by one of his spells, odds are you would not be able to recover quickly enough. No matter who Marik had to duel first it was going to be tough either way.
"Nervous?" Harry asked her.
"Yeah I am. . . Do you still think he can win?" Hermione asked Harry, her voice full of nervousness.
"Of course he can. He knows probably every spell outside of maybe one that was just cast and plenty more. Plus he has his secret weapon," Harry answered, sounding confident.
Harry was right. She had seen Marik perform pretty much every spell outside of the exploding one that Viktor had used before. Plus no one here would be prepared for Marik's shadow magic. So far even in their Hogwarts section only she and Harry had seen his offensive shadow spell. Hopefully that would be enough for him to win.
Right on the dime as soon as the break timer went off Professor Flitwick made his way back to the center of the dueling platform to announce the next duel. She couldn't help but lean forward in anticipation.
"Our second duel of the European Magic Students Dueling Championship will be between…" Flitwick paused for effect.
"Ugghhh hurry up!" she shouted. Oops. She had meant to say that in her head.
"Marik Ose and Viktor Krum!" Flitwick announced the two names. If the German side of the stands had cheered she had been unable to hear them. As soon as Marik's name was mentioned the Hogwarts side of the stands erupted. Every seat was empty as the entire section had rose to their feet in cheers. Already loud chants of Ose were echoing across the stadium. The large Gryffindor head one of the students was wearing was roaring loudly and the Slytherin head had started hissing again to cheer there schoolmate on.
Right on cue Marik and Krum made their way to the center of the dueling platform. Krum was marching with an angered look on his face. It seemed that he was upset at the loss in his first duel and would be taking it out on Marik in this one.
Marik's face on the other hand did not look anywhere near as determined as Viktor's did. Marik was smiling with his usual conceited smirk as he glided to the center. His robes were fluttering around him like smoke.
"GO MARIKKKK!" she shouted as loud as she could. She doubted he could actually hear her over the rest of the crowd but just in case.
"Three knuts says Krum gets out less than five spells," Hermione heard one of the Weasley twins bet in front of her.
"You will NOT bet on Marik's duel! Do I make myself clear?" she shouted down at the twins.
"Yes your Grangerness!" one of the twins said as he sarcastically bowed to her. She probably should not have yelled at them. She was just nervous, and apparently a lot more nervous than even Marik was from his appearance.
Marik and Viktor arrived at the center of the dueling platform, bowed, and made their way to their sides. Viktor this time would be starting on the opposite side he did in the last duel. That meant that Marik would have the small forest as the only cover on his side.
"Are our or two duelists ready to begin?" Flitwick asked Marik and Viktor. She reached over and grabbed Harry's hand. She couldn't help it, she was freaking out with nervousness. "Alright then, just as before your duel will begin when the light turns green. Good luck to the both of you!" Flitwick announced and the stadium went silent as all eyes were glued to the white light at the center of the stage. She could hear her heart beating in her nervousness. After a few more seconds the light changed.
As soon as the light changed Marik glided over quickly to the small forest. Unlike in his first duel, Viktor started this duel off by remaining in his starting spot.
"Immobulus!" Viktor cast the large spell towards the forest were Marik was currently hiding. The spell collided with two of the trees in the front and sent pieces of wood flying in all directions. She was unable to see where Marik was in the forest but it seemed that thankfully he had not been hit by the spell. Viktor slowly started to walk forward to get in better range. "Stupefy, stupefy, expelliarmus!" Viktor continued with a powerful barrage of spells.
The first two stupefy spells collided with the new front line of trees and sent more pieces of wood flying into the air. The second spell even uprooted one of the larger trees when it collided. The third expelliarmus spell flew through the open gap deeper into the forest. It did not seem to hit Marik though.
What was he doing? Hermione thought nervously to herself. If he kept just sitting there he was going to lose all of his cover or get hit by an exploding tree. Viktor's anger at losing the last duel was definitely being put into his spells this duel. As all the wood pieces and saw dust fell from the sky she could see that over a fourth of the forest had been destroyed from just three of Viktor's spells.
"Wingardium leviosa!" Viktor aimed his next spell at a nearby boulder next to him. Taking a page from Fleur's book he launched the boulder towards the forest again.
"Stupefy, petrificus totalus!" Viktor continued with an onslaught of high powered spells. First the large boulder crashed its way into the new front line of trees. Again the row of trees it collided with exploded on contact and sent wood scraps and sawdust into the air. Viktor's next two spells sliced through all of the dust and two loud booms could be heard from their impact on the remaining trees. She squeezed Harry's hand tighter.
"Incendio, deprimo, protego!" Finally Marik could be heard casting spells. However his choice of spells given his current location only made her more nervous. As soon as Marik's voice died down the entire forest and all of the sawdust and wood scraps Viktor had sent flying were engulfed in an enormous towering flame. As soon as Marik cast the deprimo spell the large forest fire was set hurling at Viktor like a flame thrower.
"Protego!" Viktor threw up the shield spell as quickly as he could. Unfortunately for Viktor it seemed as if he had used a good amount of his energy already and as a result his shield did not cover his entire body. She could see parts of the flames as they flew in a flurry around Viktor's shield licking at his ankles. By the time the flames died down Viktor's ankles were black and Marik had made a charge out of the forest.
"Incarcerous!, umbrosio, stupefy" As Marik charged towards Viktor he sent off the chain of spells.
"Protego!" Viktor responded.
There it is! Hermione thought excitedly to herself. Marik had finally used his shadow magic spell. With Marik's first spell somewhere around twenty ropes shot out from his wand searching for Viktor to wrap around. Viktor was able to summon a shield quick enough to block them though. However the spell provided all the time Marik needed for his shadow offensive spell.
As soon as he cast the spell the area around the dueling platform got blindingly bright. All of the darkness and shadows in the stadium made their way to a singularity at the tip of Marik's wand. From there Marik slung the shadow ball towards Viktor. The result was stunning. As Viktor's shield finished blocking the last few ropes the shadow ball passed right through the shield and nailed Viktor square in the chest.
As soon as it made contact it exploded with a massive release of energy. Dark energy shot in all directions from the point of impact and Viktor's body was sent flying at high speeds back towards the spot he had started from. From the limpness in his body as he flew through the air it seemed Marik's shadow spell had knocked him out.
If having your ankles pretty much burned off and getting knocked out by a massive shadow spell was not bad enough. Marik had ended his spell chain with a powerful stunner. Just as Viktor's limp body was about to land it was hit again by the stunner. This resulted in his body being sent another fifty feet back and impacting with the wall of the stadium with a loud crack and thud. Hundreds of oohs and ouches could be heard throughout the stadium.
Those sounds were quickly replaced though. After the Hogwarts' section of the stands had a chance to take in what had just happened they erupted into applause.
"He won! He did it!" Hermione stood up and shouted. She turned to Harry and quickly pulled him into a bear hug.
"Mmmmpff," was all Harry managed to get out in the process. She released Harry from their hug after a few seconds and looked back down at the dueling platform. Marik had his usual grin back on and was making his way over to the medical station. Marik sure seemed to be loving all of this.
The stands were going crazy. In front of them one of the twins was interviewing the other twin who was pretending to be Marik and was giving his victory speech. All of the other students around them were conversing about what they had just seen. She heard at least five did you see that and another ten what was that spell. Behind her Marik's parents were hugging each other, obviously overjoyed. Marik's mother was crying a little and his father looked about as proud as a parent could.
"He did a good job don't you think? Of course he would put us on the edge of our seats like that by just sitting in the forest for as long as he did. Typical Marik trying to mess with people's heads," Harry said to her.
"Yeah, he did a great job! It was actually smart of him to stay in the forest like he did. Viktor had come out aggressive in both duels. By the looks of Viktor's shield when Marik sent those flames at him he had used up a lot of his energy firing off those spells before Marik even cast a spell. And his umbrosio was even better than all the times we saw him practice it too," Hermione responded to Harry.
"Yeah, it was incredible. After getting hit with that and a stupefy from Marik I think Viktor will be sore for quite a while," Harry added.
"So Minerva, Marik learned to do all that in one year? That is incredible! I don't even know what I just witnessed, it looked like something out of a movie!" Marik's father said excitedly.
"Well your son, outside of Harry and Hermione here, probably spent more time practicing than anyone else in the first year. As to what you witnessed, Marik first cast a flame spell to ignite the trees and debris on fire. From there he cast a wind spell that sent the flames in the direction of his choice while at the same time shielding himself from the flames and any spell Viktor might have cast. I'm afraid after that I am not sure what spell he used to knock Viktor out with though. I have never seen or heard of it before," Professor McGonagall answered.
"How does Marik know a spell that his professor doesn't?" Marik's mother asked, looking confused.
"Because I believe Marik invented it," Professor McGonagall answered looking proud of one of her students, even if he was a Slytherin.
"Marik invented that magic? That is incredible!" Hermione's mother added to the conversation.
"Yes, it is quite the feat. I was aware that Marik had come up with a few spells of his own, however this was not one that I have had the honor to witness yet," The professor made eye contact with her and Harry with her eyebrows raised.
"Don't look at us! We don't know what spell it was either!" Harry responded to McGonagall. He was not very good at lying.
"Mhmm," was all McGonagall said in responses to Harry's lie.
The break bell went off signaling that it was time for the last duel for the first year's tournament. Whoever won the next duel would be crowned the champion.
Let's hope it's Marik. Hermione thought to herself. Fleur and Marik made their ways to the middle of the platform where Professor Flitwick was already standing.
"It is time for the final duel of the first year's tournament!" The crowd erupted again as Flitwick said this. "The last duel will be between Fleur Delacour and Marik Ose!" The two opponents in the center of the dueling platform bowed to each other and made their ways to their sides.
Fleur looked fierce as she walked back. She had a look of determination all over her face.
Marik of course was again just casually strolling back and seemed to be whistling a tune as he walked. He was a little too arrogant sometimes!
Marik would be starting from the opposite side of where he did started last round which meant that Fleur would be starting from the same side she started from during her first duel. That meant that Marik would only have a few rocks for cover along with a few of the larger sand dunes while Fleur had the newly regrown forest. Guess that meant Marik could not use the same strategy as last time.
"Good luck to the both of you! Remember the duel will begin as soon as the light turns green!" Flitwick announced to the two duelists and made his way to the side of the platform. Unlike the first two duels this time everyone in the stadium remained standing. All eyes were focused on the duel that was about to take place. Before she even realized what she had done her hand ended up grabbing Harry's again in all of her anxiety.
"Don't worry, Hermione, he can do this!" Harry whispered beside her. All she could do was nod back. Her eyes were glued on the light at the center of the platform. Green!
"Stupefy!" both Fleur and Marik said in unison. As soon as she cast the spell Fleur was already sprinting towards the forest. Marik had surprisingly started sprinting away from his side's cover and towards the top of a nearby sand dune. Their stupefy spells collided in the center of the platform and sent a shockwave of magic through the stadium.
"Expelliarmus!" Fleur cast the spell at Marik from behind a tree and continued moving through the forest.
"Transmorgo!" Marik countered Fleur using the spell Harry had used on her and Marik in the Hogwarts tournament. The spell collided with Fleur's expelliarmus as it closed in on Marik and evaporated into a cloud of smoke. "Incendio!" Marik cast the fire spell through the smoke cloud in the direction of the forest and Fleur.
Unfortunately for Fleur the fire spell was too spread out for her to block it. Just as it had been in Marik's previous duel the forest was engulfed in a fury of flames. Fleur bolted from the forest firing spells as she made her way towards the rocks on Marik's side of the dueling platform.
"Stupefy, confundus, deprimo!" Fleur was shouting spells out in a flurry as she ran.
"Protego, umbrosio!" Marik responded from the top of his sand dune.
Fleur's spells had been dead on. Her stupefy and Confundus spell had been a direct hit on the center of Marik's summoned shield. Marik however reflected the two spells back at Fleur and was also quickly able to get his shadow manipulation spell off as well. That meant he had the potential to start using shadows to his advantage now. Hopefully that would be enough.
Fleur's deprimo spell was aimed in front of Marik instead of at him. It landed around ten feet in front of him in the sand. The result was the startup of a miniature sand storm that made Marik's side of the platform impossible to see into and most likely out of. Marik deflected Fleur's first spell right over her head, how original, and the other one to a nearby rock. Luckily for Marik Fleur had to dodge the exploding pieces of rock near here so that kept her from firing another immediate spell off into the sand storm. It was now impossible to see Marik in all the sand though.
"Aguamenti, fulminous!" After dodging the rocks Fleur was back on her feet with her wand raised and sending another spell combo at the sand storm and Marik. A huge jet of water shot from the tip of her wand and started drenching all of the sand in the dust storm and turning all of the sand on the ground into mud. Immediately following that spell she had launched a spell Hermione had never heard of. It looked to be a bad spell for Marik though.
Sparks of lightning shot towards the now flooded sand area and into the sand storm. With all of the water in that area around Marik the lightning spell was that much more dangerous. The puddles and falling water were surging with electricity and no signs of Marik could be seen or heard through all of the sand still flying around. This looked bad.
"Stupefy, petrificus totalus!" Fleur cast another two spells into the dying sand storm to make sure she hit her target with at least something. After a few seconds of silence the sand storm started to die down. Hermione stood on her tippy-toes to get a good look. She was fearing the worst. Marik had not returned a spell in a while…
When the sand storm died down she and the rest of the stands were shocked at what they saw. Instead of seeing either a shielded Marik who had somehow survived Fleur's onslaught of spells or an unconscious Marik who had been hit by a spell, there was nothing but sand there. Marik was nowhere to be seen.
Fleur had apparently had the same thought as Hermione had at the absence of Marik and started firing spells at the sand dunes. Marik must have been covered in the sand storm. He was probably just sitting under one right now waiting to strike. However one by one Fleur's spells found nothing but sand as they exploded.
Hermione looked at the scoreboard and saw that it was still showing Marik as conscious and in the duel. Something strange was going on. . .
"Come out you cowar… AHHHH!" Fleur started to yell at Marik but it turned into a scream. Out of Fleur's shadow two long shadow arms and hands emerged in a smoky cloud of blackness and grabbed her wrists. Fleur immediately dropped her wand in the panic as she continued to scream. However arms were not the only thing that emerged from Fleur's shadow.
Out of the remainder of Fleur's shadow on the ground, which was now emitting a black fog, an entire black shadowy figure, at least seven feet tall, was emerging. First a shadowy head emerged and a body followed. Still holding on to Fleur's wrists, an entire figure formed itself from Fleur's now absent shadow. It towered a few feet taller than Fleur and resembled something out of a scary story or nightmare.
"Umbrosio!" an unfamiliar deep hollow hoarse voice shouted. All of the smoke, shadows, and darkness that were making up the figure holding onto Fleur shot forward like Marik's offensive shadow spell and impacted with Fleur's body at point blank range. Fleur went flying back across the platform and landed on the other side of it limp, and unconscious. More shocking than the twist of events that had just occurred was what Hermione and the rest of the stadium were beginning to realize.
When the shadow figure had shot forward at Fleur it had left something in its place. Standing where the figure had been seconds before was Marik. However his smug arrogant grin was replaced with one that she had not seen before. Marik looked confused, and scared.
The stands were still completely silent. Everyone was still in shock at what they were seeing. After a full two minutes of silence a few claps started from the Hogwarts' section and slowly started to build up throughout the stands. Eventually after a few more seconds the loudest round of applause so far that day could be heard throughout the stands.
"Hermione, he won!" Harry said to her and wrapped her in a hug.
Marik won the tournament! He did it!… But how? Hermione wondered to herself.
"Harry?" Hermione started to ask Harry if he knew how Marik had done what he did.
"I don't know either, Hermione. We will ask him later. For now let's just celebrate," Harry whispered in her ear as he hugged her. Hermione released Harry and started cheering for Marik as loud as she could. She could put off having to know everything for a few hours. For now she had to cheer on and congratulate her friend. He had won the tournament!
"And the winner for the first year class in the first annual European Magic Students Dueling Championship is Marik Ose from Hogwarts!" Flitwick announced to the stands. This made the Hogwarts' section go crazy.
Looking in the stands around her she could see everyone was celebrating the win for Hogwarts. The twins had switched roles and this time the other one was pretending to interview Marik, who apparently had lost his American accent for a French one. McGonagall was releasing Marik's mother from a hug.
Even if Marik was a Slytherin McGonagall treated all of her students like they were her children. Both of Marik's parents looked beyond proud at their son's performance. For a second it even looked like Marik's father had been crying.
She could not blame him. It took all she had in her to not shed a few tears. Her best friend Marik had won! It was still so unbelievable.
"What do you all say we go congratulate him?" Professor McGonagall said to their group.
"Can WE?" Hermione asked loudly in excitement.
"Yes Miss Granger, we can. Marik only has to stay for his round of the tournament he is free to go whenever he wants. Follow me everyone. I will lead the way to the duelist's section," the professor announced to their party in her teacher's voice.
Just like a line of first years their now smaller group followed the professor to see Marik. The Blacks, Remus, and Harry's parents stayed behind to watch the next round and to not overwhelm the boy they had never really met. Plus Daphne looked pissed that Marik had won. Alina on the other hand had a huge smile on her face and seemed to be pestering Daphne with questions.
The duelist's section was down a flight of stairs on the first floor that led to a section of rooms under the stadium. Their group waited in the lobby for Marik to emerge. After a few minutes of anxious waiting Marik made his way into the room they were waiting in and was immediately swarmed.
"Marik! Congratulations!" She was the first to see Marik round the corner and ran to give him a hug before he even realized they were there.
"Ouch Hermione! Thanks haha!" Marik said. She noted his facial expression had returned to normal.
"Great job, Marik, that was incredible!" Harry had made his way over and given Harry a congratulatory hug too.
"Thanks Harry. It was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. That Fleur girl can sure duel," Marik said to them. "So mom and dad what did you think?" Marik made his way over to his parents and asked their opinion.
"It was incredible son. We are very proud of you," Marik's father said.
"You put on quite the show Marik. We can see that you weren't lying when you said you were too busy studying to write us. Although it's still a bad excuse!" Marik's mom told him smiling. Marik blushed at her last remark.
"I'm very proud of you for your performance Mr. Ose. You did a great job today," Professor McGonagall said to Marik.
"Thank you professor, it really means a lot. I'm happy it's over now though. I am so tired I just want to sleep until school starts," Marik said to the group.
"Well don't do that. Then I will have to wait even longer to find out your grades! You already stressed me out enough today! I won't have any more stress this summer!" she scolded him.
"And didn't you tell me you would have to stay up late brewing that potion again tonight?" Marik's mother added.
"Mom, the potion! We have to get home now before it is time to add the next ingredients!" Marik said looking worried. Their entire group started laughing at that.
"You are truly one of a kind, Marik. You win a huge tournament in front of thousands of people and all you can think about is practicing more magic," Harry joked.
"Well Hermione is going to find out she flunked out when she gets her grades so one of us is going to have to pick up the potions slack Harry," Marik joked. Before anyone could laugh she had already tackled him to the ground.
"MARIK OSE, you take that back this instance before I…" she was shouting at him from on top of him on the ground. After each word she followed it with a light punch on each one of his arms.
"Ow ow ow Hermione Hahaha ow!" Marik and everyone else in the group were laughing as Marik suffered his worst defeat of the day at the hands of her.
She couldn't help the smile that came over her face too as she started laughing with them. She was proud of her friend. He had done amazing magic, and he was truly an amazing wizard, and truly a great friend. She was excited to hear all about what he thought of the tournament when it was just the three of them. For now though she was content with being with friends and family. For now she was happy just laughing.
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