To settle a few ruffled feathers. I made Harry and Hermione fail because even though their powers seriously outmatch most of the people in the Avengers, they're also their friends. Sub/consciously, they were checking themselves and limiting their arsenal- partly because they were afraid of hurting them, and also because it gave them an opportunity to observe the Avengers in action against a medium/low level threat.
Hope that clears things up for a few of you who were unhappy with who won! :)
Part Three: In Which
Chapter Eight: Steve Observes
Despite Harry and Hermione's initial dramatics, they quickly get up to play another game- this time not so hideously outnumbered. Though, Steve suspects they had been holding back, despite their encouragements not to. Hermione may be primarily a researcher, but Harry had been a law enforcer- one of the best, according to Hermione and Malfoy. There was no way he could have been such a little challenge, and Steve's certain there could have been several spells the man could have used to detain Steve and Clint for long enough to take the flag and leave.
His suspicions are confirmed when the pair are split into two different teams, and their third battle quickly devolves into the pair of them battling it out viciously, going at each other with a ferocity Steve would have thought only enemies capable of, had he not watched Natasha and Clint do the same on countless occasions.
The pair are a sight to behold; Hermione is savagely ruthless, but she relies on more on stealth and trickery than straight out attacks, apparating in and out of existence almost too quickly to catch anything more than the crack of sound she leaves behind, or turning herself invisible and attacking out of nowhere. Her magic is subtle and hard to catch unless looking for it, though the destruction she wreaks is nothing to laugh at. Harry on the other hand- while just as brutal- is far flashier, and the power he wields is leagues above his friend's.
Watching them fight each other, Steve is almost- almost- grateful they didn't play like this against him or his team mates the first time. He watches as a young tree explodes into so many splinters from an unspoken spell of Harry's that Hermione had deflected, and almost misses the curse she sends back that turns a fallen tree to stone. She doesn't act with the same grace of movement that the wizard did, but there's an efficiency to her moments that is still remarkably formidable (it almost reminds him of Peggy, angry and willing to punch a man out at the drop of a hat).
Her spells are slyer, too- a curse that leaves Harry laughing too hard to catch his breath; another that seems to make his legs unable to support his weight; ones that blind him and make him deaf: almost like she's toying with him, happy to distract him while her teammates (Natasha, Bruce and Tony) retrieve the flag. Harry meanwhile seems mainly intent on trying to incapacitate her, with limited degrees of success- they're both so frenetic; slippery and moving too quickly for either to get the upper hand.
It goes on like that for what seems like hours; Steve catches only short glimpses as he fights (but he watches the footage Tony had been recording later, in the safety of the Tower), but it's enough. The dual display of power, the control over what feels like reality itself, is enough for him to know that they would be a valuable addition to the team (and God, but their power. How could they ever hope to counter some of those spells?). Is enough to know that both had undoubtedly held back the first round (and perhaps also, the second). Is enough to know that were they to fight them as enemies, there would be casualties.
And then she slips- a misjudgement of movement that has her tripping up, and Harry pounces, paralysing and tying her up quicker than Steve can say 'dead meat'. And the whole, fantastical thing is over. He flashes a victorious grin Steve's way before running off to help out Clint.
Needless to say, their team wins that round.
Thank-you to everyone who left a review!