I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

A Taste of Magic

73rd Course – A Trapped Card

"Miss Brown, do you have a moment?"

Lavender blanched. "Oh no. How much trouble am I in?!"

Remus looked at Flitwick on one side and at McGonagall on the other, realizing Lavender's panic. "Oh! None at Miss Brown. Sorry, we did not mean to alarm you." The professors chuckled when Lavender breathed a very large sigh of relief. "No, we wanted to check with you on something. Did you put your name into the Dueling Event?"

"Oh yes, I did," she nodded.

"Of your own volition?" McGonagall asked sharply. She relaxed slightly when Lavender nodded. "I never knew you had any desire for formal dueling."

"I kind of don't," Lavender said weakly.

"Then why are you entering the event?" McGonagall asked, confused.

Lavender straightened. "Because Draco Malfoy said something disgusting to me and to Harry and I'm not taking it, not this time."

The professors looked at each other. "A fine reason," Flitwick said. "But perhaps one of us can handle this without the need for dueling? Especially if there are witnesses?"

"No thank you, Sir," Lavender said firmly. "We're going to handle it this way."

Flitwick nodded. "I applaud your conviction." He smiled warmly. "If I may be so bold, I am rather fond of you Miss Brown and would hate to see you do something you are not wanting to, or are unprepared for. As you know, I am the head of the Dueling club. I can find some time to assist you."

"As will I," Remus said.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Lavender said, touched. "But I have someone training me right now. Actually I was coming to find you, Professor McGonagall, to ask you if they could come to help me after class hours."

"Oh?" McGonagall frowned. "And who might this person be?"

"Miss Ariana Dumbledore."

Flitwick snorted and laughed and coughed all in one, patting his chest. "Oh! Well, that changes things."

McGonagall smiled. "She needs no permission from me but of course. In fact, you two may use one of the classrooms on the ground floor if you like."

"Is there one beside the Uncommon Room we can use?" Lavender asked.

"Any of them would be fine. Do let us know if you need further assistance."

"I will. Thank you for asking about me, I really appreciate it!" With a bubbly wave, Lavender left.

Remus looked at a snickering McGonagall and Flitwick. "Clearly, I am missing something. Is Miss Dumbledore a duelist?"

"Not professionally or officially," Flitwick said. "With that said, she is very intelligent and is a capable teacher. I have dueled her many times and I have always had to duel seriously when I do. She is clever and is dangerous in the circle."

"If Miss Brown learns from Ariana, then she will be fine," McGonagall said confidently. "I just hope she doesn't learn Ariana's ruthlessness or deviousness. I rather like Miss Brown's bubbly and kind demeanor."

"Is she really like that?" Remus asked, concerned.

"Have you ever wondered what Albus would be like without his sense of propriety?" McGonagall asked. "As well as a penchant for trouble that exceeds the Weasley twins?"

"Dear Merlin," Remus gasped, mind boggling at the concept.

"I've heard her joke that if her magic wasn't actively being used to help her breathe, then she could have conquered England," Flitwick said. "And knowing her as I do, I don't think it's a joke at all."

"I am fairly sure I heard Albus make the same comment and not in a joking fashion," McGonagall said seriously.

Flitwick rubbed his hands together. "Now I'm really looking forward to the tournament."

-0-

Lavender lay on the practice mat, panting and exhausted. She was regretting, a little, choosing to go into the dueling tournament. Then she remembered how she felt when Draco said those words to her, seeing Harry hurt like that, and felt another surge of anger and the regret faded once more. Until she tried to move and she felt her limbs ache.

It was the first training night and Ariana had put her through the wringer. She had tested Lavender on what offensive spells she did know and what defensive spells she knew, both being rather limited. Then she tested her reflexes and chased her about the room some before letting her rest. Which was how Lavender came to be in her current state.

Ariana smiled warmly down at her. She wore fitted robes with dueling padding on and had a thin red choker-style scarf around her neck. "That was pretty good," she said without any censure.

"Why do I feel terrible then?" Lavender asked.

"Because there's room for improvement, like most things," Ariana said genially. She laid down on the practice mat beside Lavender, surprising the younger girl. "Your reflexes aren't terrible, could use some work but aren't terrible. You have decent power behind your spells. Your incantations are a little slow but not as bad as some I've seen and heard. You don't know a lot of spells though."

"That doesn't sound pretty good," Lavender grumbled.

"I've seen plenty worse," Ariana said. "And like I said, there's room for improvement. You're in trouble when there's no room for improvement."

"Doesn't that mean you're perfect?" Lavender asked.

"Nope, it means you're stupid or you're dead or worse, dead and stupid. No one's perfect. The best of the best are always learning and always getting better." She flourished her wand and started writing with it, glowing letters of colored light left her wand and floated above them, much to Lavender's delight. "Besides, I didn't say all that to demoralize you. I listed out the things you can improve and now we'll get to work improving them."

"Can we in just a few weeks?" Lavender asked, feeling equal parts hopeful and hopeless.

"For sure! I can show you a few exercises you can do to improve reflexes. Some are as simple as tossing and catching something. Can you juggle?"

"Not really."

"Well even just one object is good to improve coordination. Incantations and spell knowledge go hand-in-hand and you can practice both at the same time."

"It takes me a while to learn those and do them well enough though," Lavender said.

"No problem. I'm not going to try and fill your head with spells you won't be familiar enough in time. You see there are two major ways to approach dueling. The first way is to have such a breadth of knowledge that your opponent won't know how to deal with and you beat them that way. The other way is to be very good at a few select spells and push your way to victory using them. There are a few general purpose ones that are very handy."

Ariana turned her head and smiled. "But, I'm going to teach you the Ariana way. That means pick something you're good at, use it in a way they won't expect, and be very good at it. And also fight dirty if you need to. And trust me, you will always need to."

Lavender smiled. "That sounds great!" Her smile faded. "I'm not good at a lot though."

"Bullshite," Ariana said frankly. "Everyone's good at something, even if they're only good at being a prick."

Lavender giggled. "My marks are pretty much in the middle though."

"Don't tell my brother I said this, but marks aren't everything," Ariana said. "Besides, I know you're good at a lot of things. I love the scarves and handkerchiefs and bandannas you've made for me."

Lavender flushed with pleasure. "But what am I supposed to do with that? Sew Draco's lips together?"

"I actually know a Curse that does that!" Ariana said excitedly. "But it's a bit gruesome and might be a bit much for a school tournament," she added hastily when Lavender's eyes opened wide from horror. "But remember what I said a bit ago? We'll do something in a way they won't expect."

"Imagination and creativity?" Lavender asked, growing hopeful.

"You got it! Don't you worry, Auntie Ari is going to make you a force to reckon with," Ariana said brightly. Her confidence was infectious and Lavender felt much better.

-0-

Dumbledore walked into his office and stopped, looking at the figure sitting behind his desk with their feet up on it. "What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"A fine way to say hello to your little sister," Ariana sniffed. "I came to visit my big brother and brought him Harry's food and he treats me like this? Can you believe it?"

Fawkes shook his head slowly, looking at Dumbledore with disapproval.

Dumbledore snorted and walked over, gently pushing Ariana's feet off his desk. "Uh huh. Those cannot be the only reasons you are here."

"Well no," Ariana admitted. "I'm training someone for the dueling tournament."

"Powers above and below," Dumbledore groaned.

"I'm not teaching them anything inappropriate! Just how to duel and how to get better at spellcasting and that sort of thing."

"Properly duel or how you duel?"

"Yes."

Dumbledore rubbed his closed eyes. "And who, pray tell, are you training so I can be careful when this combusts in disastrous fashion?"

"Miss Brown," Ariana sniffed.

He paused, looking thoughtful. "Dear me, I have no idea how this is going to go."

"She shows a lot of promise," Ariana said proudly.

"I feel bad for Harry all of a sudden," Dumbledore said, smiling at Ariana's scowl.

"That's what Abe said," she sniffed again, giving him the eye when he chuckled. "Also, she's dueling for his honor, and her own. That Draco prat's mouth is writing cheques he doesn't have the gold to back up."

"The professor in me feels like I should be concerned," Dumbledore sighed. He sat down at the desk and took a bowl of stew. "The gossip in me, however, is concerned in knowing what is going on for other reasons."

Ariana made a gesture with her spoon. "He said some frankly disgusting things to Harry and Miss Brown that are both distasteful for many different reasons. Miss Brown is standing up to him and aims to punish him in the dueling tournament."

"Hmm." Dumbledore ate some stew slowly. "I would be worried for Miss Brown, but with you helping her, I know I might be worried for Mister Malfoy but I surprisingly find myself not doing that." He looked at his bowl. "This is wonderful. What is it?"

"Something called gyuveche. It's Bulgarian," Ariana said as she ate hers. Fawkes had his own bowl to eat and he did so with noisy appreciation.

"Mmm, delicious." Dumbledore shook his head. "There is not a guarantee that they would even meet in the tournament."

"No, but if they do, she'll be ready," Ariana said confidently.

"That is good," Dumbledore said. He gave her a careful look. "You are not teaching her any of the more extreme spells, are you?"

"Relax, I'm not. I already decided not to teach her the Lip-Sewer Curse on my own judgement."

"The what?!"

-0-

"You want us to throw things at you?" Hermione asked, concerned and confused.

"Yeah, to help me with my reflexes," Lavender said. She scowled when the small ball bounced off her face.

"You didn't say when to start," Parvati smiled, diving out of the way when Lavender threw the ball back. "You're really taking this seriously."

"Yeah, Draco's been deserving this," Lavender said.

"No argument there," Parvati said and threw the ball.

"Protego!" A shimmer shield appeared before Lavender and the ball bounced off, the light as solid as a brick wall.

"Hey that was awesome!" Parvati cheered.

"Really well done!" Hermione praised when her ball bounced off the shield too. "Where did you learn that?"

"Auntie Ari! She's so good at teaching," Lavender said as she blocked some of the balls and dodged the others. "She's been teaching me how to get really good with certain spells and focus on them."

"That's really neat. Do you think she would teach us?" Hermione asked.

"I bet she would. She's so nice. Well, when you're not actively dueling her. She's kinda scary when she's dueling."

-0-

"Very well done," Remus praised. He enjoyed the look of pride on Lavender, Parvati, Hermione, Padma, and Sue's faces. "You got that Shield Charm down perfectly."

"To be fair, we did learn it elsewhere," Hermione said.

"Oh?"

"Auntie Ari taught us," Parvati said proudly. "She's been training us too. Said that the skills from dueling can be applied to pretty much any situation."

"Hmmm, not a bad approach to things," Remus mused. "Five points to all of you. I guess I had nothing to worry about then if she can teach you spells like this."

"I still wish she'd teach us the Lip-Sewer Curse," Parvati grumbled.

"The what?!"

-0-

Voldemort left the room, cradling the object in his hands. His eyes were bright red and wore a triumphant expression, feeling the object pulse and throb. He started walking down the hall, the door behind him closing with a final clunk of wood meeting stone. As he turned the corner, he started when he saw someone leaning against a pillar.

"Fancy seeing you here," Moody grunted. He had his staff propped under his arm and his hand rested on his wand. His natural eye focused on the person before him while his magical blue eye spun.

"Just revisiting old favored places," Quirrell said, his eyes that unsettling auburn color. "Reminiscing."

"Like to think on the past?" Moody asked.

"When it suits. Past victories." His lips curled. "And to learn from past mistakes." He made to walk past Moody.

"That's a bit gaudy for you," Moody remarked, seeing the object in Quirrell's hands. "A tiara?"

"A diadem," Quirrell corrected, slipping it into his cloak pocket securely. "It helps me think."

"Does it now? Does your thinking for you?" Moody chuckled.

"Just like you eye sees for you," Quirrell retorted.

"So it's useful too then? Interesting." Moody did not try to stop Quirrell from walking past. "Question for you, what's the point of this Academy of yours?"

"The point? What's the point of Hogwarts? Of education?" Quirrell snorted deeply. "To teach, to inspire. To lead deserving minds along the path of greatness and to watch them shine brightly, taking what they want in the world."

"And who are these 'deserving' minds?" Moody asked.

"Ones who are worthy," Quirrell sniffed.

"And who might those be?" Moody asked innocently.

"If you must ask, you cannot decide," Voldemort said coldly.

Moody noticed the subtle shift in the other's demeanor. A slight change in how they stood, the tone of their voice. He blinked, seeing the eyes shift in color ever so slightly. Perhaps a trick of the light. "Right. Well, I've got my eye on you."

"Be careful with it," Voldemort said silkily. "It would be a shame to lose it when you are observing something so very closely."

Moody's insides turned cold and he grasped the end of his wand firmly. "What was that?" he asked gruffly.

"What was what?" Quirrell replied, looking a little confused.

Moody stared at him for a long moment. "Nothing. You're not a professor here anymore and you can't just wander about."

"I thought Hogwarts would always be open to those that wish to be here," Quirrell said scathingly.

"Yeah? I always thought it was those deserving to be here," Moody said. He enjoyed the flash of anger on Quirrell's face. He watched the other man leave, feeling a sense of disquiet deep within.

-0-

The Quidditch stands were full of people. Students from the schools as well as ICW visitors were there with the professors from the schools as well. A team of Aurors from the British Ministry stood at the ready on the field with counterparts from the ICW Dueling Cadre. A few Gringotts goblins were there as well to watch over the measures they helped install. The pitch had been transformed for the Dueling Event. A large raised platform was in the center with the boundaries marked out clearly and the additional protections glimmering a set distance away from the platform. The students participating in the Dueling Tournament milled about on the field.

The ones participating put themselves in as a team again with the members of the team being Lavender, Ron, Terry, Millicent, and Susan. They knew there was a good chance they might have to duel each other and they were fine with that. There were brackets for experience level based on schooling level. There was one for the middle years, third to fifth, and one for the sixth and seventh years. All the schools were mixed together and there would be a lot of matches to be seen.

"Hey little brother!"

Harry smiled as he was tackle-hugged by a grinning Dora. "Hey big sis!" He hugged her back. "You're part of the Auror team here?"

"Sure am! Surprisingly, I was one of the few people that volunteered for it. Most didn't want the duty but I did."

"I'm glad, it's so good to see you."

"Same!" Her hair turned short and black and messy and her eyes emerald green. "I'll patrol over to say hi and stuff." She waved merrily before her appearance returned to her usual short pink hair and blue eyes and she walked away with purpose. Harry waved and then joined his friends.

"Looking good Lav," Parvati said.

"Thanks!" Lavender wore dueling robes, a gift from Ariana. They were fitted with padding around the elbows and knees with gloves as well, and a thicker waistcoat around the chest for additional protection. She also had an overrobe on top. Susan had a set as well and Millicent had one that was almost as professional looking. Ron wore a set given to him from Bill and Terry had a family set as well.

"You look cool," Harry smiled. "And ready."

"I'm ready," Lavender said confidently. "Well, mostly," she added, smiling sheepishly when the others snickered and rolled their eyes. "I mean, I practiced a lot and I feel pretty good over all."

"That's good. I made plenty of snacks for you guys." Harry opened several boxes and laid them out on the bench. "Jerky for protein. Granola and dried fruit for quick energy."

"Thanks," Ron said happily with the others echoing.

"Oh it's about to start," Pansy said. She looked at Lavender soberly. "Do be careful," she said softly. "If you do go against him."

"Don't worry," Lavender said, hugging her. "I'm getting revenge for you too. I haven't forgotten all the stuff he said to you too."

Pansy hugged her back. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome." Lavender released a deep breath. "He'll get what's coming to him."

-0-

Ron was the first of them to be called up. He faced Nott and the other boy sneered and said something biting about Ron wearing hand-me-downs. Ron had knocked Nott clean off the platform with a succession of Bludgeoning Hexes coupled with a Trip Jinx and loudly said that he learned those from his older brothers as well. Everyone cheered and applauded for him with the Weasley twins whistling their approval.

Terry and Ernie Macmillian dueled with Ernie barely winning by disarming Terry after a spirited back and forth duel. Millicent dueled a Durmstrang boy and it was an exciting match. Both dueled well until the boy closed the gap and thought he could push her out of the ring. She responded by punching him in the face and physically kicking him off the platform. After some debate between Karkaroff and the ICW judges, it was ruled a legitimate victory and Millicent was quite proud of her performance: magically and physically.

Susan dueled a Ravenclaw fifth year and ended it with spraying the boy with water and then freezing it with a charm. It had slowed him enough for him to be blasted off the platform and Susan was all smiles as they cheered for her.

"Next match: Lavender Brown of Hogwarts and Tomas Altois of Beauxbatons!" the announcer shouted.

"Oh, I guess it's my lucky day," Lavender said. Her smile faded and she climbed onto the platform, hands shaking a little from nerves but she looked at her opponent with a blank expression.

The tall French boy grinned at her. "No hard feelings, cherie?" he asked.

"I'm not your cherie," Lavender said coolly. At the announcer's hand motion, they bowed slightly to each other and stood at the ready. She held her wand the way Ariana taught her, arm bent slightly at the elbow but the wand held straight with the tip aimed at Tomas, her legs at shoulder-width and slightly bent at the knee as well. Tomas' eyes widened when he looked at her.

"DUELLUM!" the ring judge shouted.

Tomas shouted in French and a Stunning Jinx flew at Lavender. She blocked it with a Shield Charm, the stunner ricocheting off with a musical sound. She blocked several more stunners that he shot at her, moving to one side and keeping the shield between them. When he started to dodge to one side with his arm back, she flicked her wand. "Impedimenta!"

Tomas looked like he ran into a wall, stopping abruptly and stood frozen for a moment. Lavender fueled her next spell with all the emotion she still had on the night of the Yule Ball. She slashed her wand to one side as hard as she could. "Alapam!"

A hand appeared, glowing with violet magical light and it slapped Tomas hard across the face, the air ringing with the impact and Tomas' head twisted from the blow. He shook his head slowly, almost drunkenly, and stared at her with shock before he was slapped across the other cheek with the magical hand with the same amount of force. The Impediment Jinx wore off and he staggered from the second hit, turning on unsteady legs. A third ringing slap to the back of the head sent him flying off the platform to land on the ground.

"Winner! Lavender Brown!" the announcer shouted through a large smile.

"GO LAVENDER!" the friends of the Uncommon Room cheered, clapping wildly and laughing. Others in the crowd shared their amusement and applause rained down on Lavender who suddenly smiled wide and jumped up and down with glee.

"Poor Tomas," Fleur chuckled. "I would feel bad if he did not deserve that."

"What a slap," Colette gasped. "I need to learn that spell!"

Dumbledore hid a smile behind his hand, stifling laughter. "I am very familiar with that spell."

Ariana smiled proudly, clapping loudly for her protégé. "It's a good one!"

"That was awesome!" Parvati cheered, hugging Lavender. "And that had to feel good!"

"It felt great!" Lavender said, smiling from ear to ear.

"I'm glad you got him back," Harry said.

"Me too," she replied, hugging him back soundly.

"Please teach me that spell," Sophie said when she and her friends came over. "That was incredible!"

"You knocked the wits out of him," Aimee giggled. "Not that he had many to begin with. Well done!"

The duels continued. Ones dueling for Sanguis Verus were doing well but no school was actively shutting out another. Fleur outdueled Verona Selwyn, much to Sanguis' displeasure, and Viktor knocked out McClaggen in boisterous fashion. Cedric beat a Beauxbatons boy and the duels were mostly amicable though the judges had to intervene a few times to keep things from going too far. The Gringotts protections kept a few errantly shot spells from leaving the platform, the magic splashing against the wards and protections and dissipating.

"Next match: Draco Malfoy of Sanguis Verus Academy and Lavender Brown of Hogwarts!"

Draco's smug smile could be seen from across the pitch and he threw his overrobes off dramatically while his fellows hooted and whistled. He swaggered onto the platform, his arms up in victory.

"No way that just happened so easily," Millicent growled.

"His father probably rigged the card," Daphne said sourly, glaring at Draco.

"I got this," Lavender said. "I trained for this. I can do this."

"You got this," Pansy said sincerely. "Get him."

"Consider him got," Lavender said. She climbed onto the platform and a hush fell over the crowd.

"Any last words before you end on your knees before me?" Draco asked, his smile cold and self-assured. "If you beg me for mercy, I might give it to you."

"Not for all the gold in your daddy's vault," Lavender said, making his nostrils flare.

"At the ready," the judge prompted. "DUELLUM!"

"Diffindo!" Draco flicked his wand and the Severing Charm shot out, gouging a long line into the platform beside Lavender, cutting into the wood. He sneered savagely as he shot another at her, carving another line into the platform.

"Go Lav!" Parvati shouted. "Kick his arse!"

"Protego! Stupefy!" Lavender summoned her shield once more to block more incoming spells and shot a Stunning Jinx at Draco.

Draco slapped the spell aside with his wand, his sneer even broader and deeper. "Is that the best you can do?! Pathetic! You are all pathetic!" He flourished his wand and threw a ball of fire at Lavender. Her eyes popped open as it somehow weaved around her shield, directed by Draco's wand movements, and struck her in the shoulder.

"Lavender!" Her friends cried in fear.

Lavender shucked off her overrobes and threw them down hurriedly. "Aguamenti!" Water shot from her wand put the flames out.

"So eager to disrobe?" Draco shouted loudly and his compatriots hooted and laughed.

Lavender gritted her teeth and tapped her overrobes in a few places with her wand and the robes fell apart into squares of fabric. "Ventus! Agglutino!" The Wind Charm blew the many squares of fabric up and at her direction, flew straight to Draco. He tried to cut them apart but there were too many and the Sticking Charm stuck the fabric to wherever they struck him. He tried to peel them off, stomping and slapping.

"Accio!" Lavender yelled, focusing on the fabric squares. Draco yelped as he was dragged across the dueling circle, pulled by the Summoning Charm focused on the fabric stuck to him, stumbling and losing balance.

"DEPULSO!" Lavender shrieked and banished the fabric away from her as hard as she could. Draco screamed as he was suddenly flung away from her instead of being pulled to her and he went flying out of the ring and landed on his knees, out-of-bounds.

The crowd roared with approval at the sudden upset, the loudest being Lavender's friends. Her chest heaved as she blinked a few times, before she realized she did win. She shrieked happily, jumping up and down and waving her arms. "I told you I wouldn't be the one on my knees!" she yelled as loud as she could.

"Winner! Lavender Brown!" the announcer shouted, clapping at the spellwork. A bright flash and a yelp cut through the cheering and heads turned.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Quirrell shouted, his voice loud and foreboding.

"He was raising his wand and aiming at her back," the ICW judge said severely, his own wand pointing at Draco who clutched his hand, his wand on the ground. "Clear disregard for rules and unsportsmanlike conduct. I could do worse than a simple shock."

Quirrell seethed. "Surely it was a momentary lapse in judgement due to adrenaline."

"Perhaps," the judge sniffed. "Isn't he your Champion? Do you not teach proper dueling behavior at your school?"

"We will," Quirrell hissed.

"See that you do," the judge sniffed again. "Any more outbursts like that and he'll be censured and his earlier wins will be expunged. Am I clear?" She walked away, not even waiting for Quirrell's reply.

Lavender missed the exchange, having jumped off the platform and into her friends who hugged and cheered, dancing around her and celebrating her victory.

"That was brilliant!" Padma shouted excitedly.

"I never would have thought of something like that," Blaise said admiringly. "Excellent!"

"Told you I'd get our revenge!" Lavender said happily.

Pansy's smile was just as wide. "You did! Thank you!"

"That was so cool!" Harry praised.

Lavender hugged him like she normally did, with exuberant strength and she felt her smile would never go away.

"That had your mark all over it," Dumbledore said, smiling and clapping enthusiastically.

"I told you! She's a great witch. You go Lavender!" Ariana cheered, her voice raspy but sincere and utterly happy. "Way to show that little ponce!"

In the end, Lavender was eliminated by Susan in a very spirted duel between them. Lavender was perfectly content with the outcome however, having attained her goal and was happy to join her friends and cheer for the remaining team members. Susan, Ron, and Millicent ended up in the top five for their bracket with a Durmstrang student winning first place and a Beauxbatons student with fifth.

The upper years bracket was intense to watch and Fleur ended up winning it all, defeating Viktor for the Dueling Championship title. The two had battled back and forth, neither taking a step back. In a stroke of brilliance, Fleur copied Lavender's earlier tactic. She managed to stop Viktor's movements by turning his side of the circle into a sticky morass. Then she conjured a whip made of smoke and yanked Viktor into the air before flinging him towards the edge of the ring. He had barely managed to keep his footing but a blast of wind toppled him over, sending him out. Viktor accepted his loss gracefully and congratulated Fleur.

"Just because you defeat me here, does not mean you will win the Tournament proper," he smiled.

"I will have the advantage mentally," Fleur smiled back.

"And thus the Dueling Event is concluded," Dumbledore said at the end, after the awards ceremony. "Everyone did an excellent job and we saw some truly wonderful spellwork and thinking this day. A round of applause for the entrants and the victors!" He led the applause and held his arms wide. "Now! The House Elves will serve snacks and drinks for you all to enjoy and mingle to your heart's content."

-0-

"Thanks Auntie Ari," Harry said, hugging the older woman.

She squeezed him back. "You're welcome! I'm glad to have trained her and it worked out wonderfully."

They were having a victory party in the Uncommon Room, celebrating everyone's wins. The Beauxbatons Quartet were there as well as Viktor and his closest. They ate pizza and drank milkshakes, talking about the duels they had and saw and exchanging tips and bits of knowledge.

Everyone asked how to cast the Slapping Jinx and Lavender had happily obliged. Which then led to everyone slapping each other, much more gently and with a lot more hilarity, and with people admiring each other's magically constructed hands.

A missed slap cast by Blaise had knocked Hedwig's bed over, with her in it, and she chased him about the Uncommon Room screeching angrily and beating him about the head with her wings. That put an end to the slapping to prevent further accidents. She only stopped when Harry caught her in midair again and fed her owl treats and bacon until she was mollified.

"The slap spell is great," Harry said.

"Isn't it? And it's very versatile. Changing the shape of the hand in your mind and the speed of the slap can give you all sorts of options. I'll teach you a variant of it where you can do fun stuff like this." She twirled her wand and a crimson hand came into being and made a rude gesture.

Harry guffawed at the glowing magical hand giving the salute. "You're the best."

"Don't you forget it," Ariana said smugly, hugging him comfortably.

-0-0-0-

Arnie1701 - Hope you liked today's chapter.

AshokaTheGreat - Just showing that Harry is still a strong magical despite not doing what he did in canon, but who knows, might be relevant later.

odonenellzoo99 - The house elves probably send up thicker rashers to Harry knowing that Hedwig likes them that way. I'm honestly surprised how fun Durga is. She's what I imagine a grandmum would be like. Hope you liked today's chapter.

Hands Off MY Wolfie - A little bit of both really, with Ariana training Lavender some. Malfoy probably waits when there aren't any teachers about for that reason. I liked the mental image of Hedwig and Harry play fighting with bacon like that. Thanks for reading.

Kaya - Hope you like today's chapter then.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Thank you. Hope you like today's duels. The goblins have been fun tow rite with and for, a genuine surprise. I'm glad I went that route into them.

poka - True. I think I hit a better balance of that in my more recently finished chapters. We will see. Hope you like today's conclusion then. I think it hit the feeling I wanted and the believability of it.

DarkRavie - Thank you.

alix33 - I like that mental image too. It's fun and fluffy.

lazyonarainyday - Thank you so much, I'm glad I can write something that fits that niche for you. Thank you for reading/listening.

Astrakahn - I'm glad I can helpp you smile. Thank you.

1529 - Thank you. I'll be traveling out of state to see family. Thank you for reading and your kind words.