I do not own Harry Potter, only an OC that may or may not appear in my stories.

Hello guys, Badger here. So...it's been a short while. I am truly sorry. I did not intend to be away for so long without an update or two. Long story short. University was starting up, so I had to take some time preparing, gathering things I would need, as well as packing, which delayed my writing schedule massively and then Uni started delaying it even more. I didn't mean to go this long without updating, but I do plan to try and update my stories, somewhat consistently, as best I can, especially now that things at Uni seem to be mellowing somewhat. I just ask that you are patient with me. I only write whenever I have the time to do so.

Anyway, that is all for now. You probably don't care and just want to read the chapter, so read on. Enjoy and I will see you at the end.

...

Chapter 13

It was the Quarter Finals and Harry's shoulders felt stiff, as he stood beside Flitwick, waiting for his first duel to start. Despite his injuries from the Playoffs being healed almost instantly by the Duelling Ring's medical staff, Harry still felt slightly tense in his movements, he just hoped it wouldn't affect his duelling today, he had come so far already, he wasn't about to let himself be beaten now. If there is one small mercy, it would be that, today, he would only have to engage in two duels. If he wins both duels, he will move onto the Semi Finals, where he will go up against 1 opponent. If he wins that, he will move onto the Finals and go up against his last opponent.

Harry watched as Fleur Delacour sent her opponent flying out of the ring, winning her first duel. Harry had watched every one of her previous duels, noting her methods and techniques. So far, Harry had yet to duel her, though he believed it was only a matter of time. He had a feeling she would be his toughest opponent of all. The French blonde also intrigued Harry, somewhat. There were various moments throughout the tournament, he had felt her staring at him, with a gaze he couldn't quite place. He had a feeling she was analysing him, just like he's been doing, should they enter the ring together, however he felt like there was something else. He just didn't know what.

Inside Potter Manor, Nathaniel was grumbling to himself, as he crammed down his daily snacks before lunch. When the Christmas Holidays began, he had hoped to get away from all the annoying school work. He was the Boy-Who-Lived, why would he need to go to school! It was ridiculous! However, his hopes for a wonderful Christmas was ruined, when he was informed he will be receiving private tutoring from his parents, to learn, all the spells and potions he had failed to learn thus far, so he can catch up with the rest of the students, in his year. He was outraged. The Holidays are a time for him to enjoy himself, not do school work!

To make matters worse for Nathaniel, he had to watch his smug older brother constantly leave to go to that stupid Duelling event in Paris and, by doing so, taking the attention away from Nathaniel even more! It was unacceptable! Every time Harry went off to partake in his duels for the day, Nathaniel hoped that, when he returned, he returned injured after being beaten by his opponents, wiping that smug grin off of his face. However, at the end of the day, Harry would return, unscathed, looking even more smug, having beaten all his opponents and moving onto the next stage of the Tournament. It was unbearable. Hopefully someone will wipe that smug grin off of his brothers face soon, and Nathaniel will take great delight when that happened.

Back in Paris, Harry stepped up to the podium, to start his first of his two duels. His first duel of the day, was against a local French duellist, called Florian Calvet. As Harry got into his duelling stance, waiting for the referee to send the signal for the duel to begin, he knew he was going to have to be extra careful. Harry had seen a few of Florians duels in the Tournament. Florian was unpredictable, compared to other people in the Tournament. Whereas other duellists stuck to a certain style or rhythm with their duelling techniques, Florian liked to switch things up constantly, to outwit and confuse his opponents. If Harry hoped to make it through the Quarter Finals, he couldn't let his guard down. Not for a second. There was silence across the Duelling Ring, as both boys waited for the referee to start the duel, both of them staring at one another, with unblinking glares, as if they were silently daring one another to blink first.

After a few moments of silence, the referee signalled for the duel to begin where Harry immediately fired a Bone Breaker, at the same time as Florian, who fired a Blasting Hex. The two spells impacted against one another, causing a large blast in the center of the ring, causing the room to shake and rumble. Harry quickly recovered, before dodging a Bludgeoning Hex, Florian fired in his direction. As the Bludgeoning Hex whizzed passed his shoulder, Harry continue to keep moving, not standing in the same spot, for more then a second, as he fired two cutting curses at Florian. The French duellist dodged the first and blocked the second, before he kept on his feet, both boys circling each other around the ring, like they were doing some kind of strange dance, as they eyed one another with blank stares, waiting to see who was about to make the next move. Eye's narrowing slightly as he gripped his wand tighter, Harry fired a Knockback Jinx, in hopes of sending Florian flying out of the ring. However, the French duellist, easily spun out of the way of the spell, firing a powerful Cutting Curse, as he did so.

Harry sidestepped the oncoming curse, firing a quick Binding Curse, as well as a Bludgeoning Hex. Florian easily vanished the binds, before they could reach him, however, he was unable to avoid the Bludgeoning Hex and the oncoming spell, impacted his chest, breaking a couple of bones, as he stumbled back slightly, but managed to stay inside the ring, as he coughed slightly, the impact of the spell, knocking the wind out of him, momentarily. With a clear opportunity, to end the fight, as quickly as it started, Harry went to fire another Knockback Jinx, to send Florian out of the ring. However, the impact of the Bludgeoning Hex must have set of a spark inside the French duellist as, before Harry could blink, Florian had fired a Bone Breaker, which impacted Harry's right shoulder, breaking multiple bones and almost made Harry drop his wand, as he screamed in pain. His vision blurring slightly, from the pain, Harry quickly moved out of the way, wincing, when he lifted his wand arm, to fire spells and counter attack against the French duellist who had slowed down somewhat, from the Bludgeoning Hex, keeping one arm around his abdomen to try and alleviate the pain and keep himself steady.

Harry and Florian continued to circle the ring, firing spell after spell at one another, both of them, trying not to make any sudden movements to make their injuries worse and, potentially, slow them down even more. For Harry, his right shoulder was in agony. Every time he lifted his arm to attack or defend, he felt his shoulder flare up in pain, from the broken bones. This pain had affected his accuracy a little, but he still powered through the pain and kept standing. As Florian fired a Blasting Hex, Harry quickly set up a Protego Charm, which took the hit, shattering completely from the impact. Immediately after the shield shattered, Harry ducked under a Stunner the French duellist had fired. As he ducked, Harry fired a Blasting Hex of his own, however, due to the pain in his shoulder, his aim was off and the spell hit the ground in front of Florian, the force of the blast sending the French duellist flying backwards, and out of the ring, where Harry was declared the winner of the duel.

Holding his broken shoulder, Harry winced as he made his way out of the ring, where Flitwick immediately started leading him towards the infirmary to get himself fixed up.

"Lets get that shoulder of yours sorted out, Harry" He said "We can't have you going into the ring for your second and final duel of the day, with a broken shoulder can we?"

Fleur Delacour sat in the stands, watching as Harry was led to the infirmary. She had watched the boy in all of his duels and, he continuously impressed her, in how he seemed to analyse his opponents strengths and weaknesses, before and during the duel. However, she had noticed a change in his demeanour since the Playoffs. Beforehand, when watching his duels, during the Qualifiers and Playoffs, she saw the eyes of someone who simply wanted to try their best as this was, seemingly, his first time in a Duelling Ring Tournament. However, today, when he stood in the ring against Florian Calvet, she saw the change in his eyes. It was clear making it through the Qualifiers and Playoffs gave him a confidence boost and, now, he was in it to win it. What was interesting is that, unlike other duellists competing, there was no cockiness or arrogance behind that confidence.

She had yet to go up against Harry in the ring, though she imagined, if he won his second and final duel, of the day, she will cross wands with him soon enough.

Meanwhile, inside Hogwarts, Quirrell was pacing back and forth in his office. Something he did more often, ever since his failed distraction, with the troll attack. It would be too soon to start another distraction, his Master had a feeling Dumbledore was, starting, to get suspicious of Quirrell, but had done nothing about it yet. Though it was only a matter of time until that changed.

Besides, his Master didn't want Quirrell to do anything major, until Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts after the Christmas Holidays. Once Quirrell has found the Stone, before his Master returns, he wants to lure Harry to him and tell the boy the truth and give the boy a chance to join his side and experience power, he could only dream of. His Master had no doubt that Harry would join him and stand by his side. The boy was, allegedly, the smartest child in Hogwarts, or at least, one of the smartest, Harry would easily see that siding with him was the right choice to make.

All in good time.

Harry rolled his shoulder a few times to relieve the stiffness he felt, as he re-entered the ring, soon after being released from the infirmary, where he greeted his final opponent of the Quarter Finals. A small Italian girl, called Alcina De Michele. She was an unfamiliar opponent to Harry, as he could only recall seeing one of her duels previously and, whilst he got, somewhat, of an understanding of her duelling methods and technique, he didn't know enough to properly counter whatever she may throw his way. What he did gather though, from the duel he had seen previously, was to not underestimate her, by her small stature. Alcina may be small, but she was quick and agile, meaning she could run rings around him, if he underestimates her and lets his guard down.

As they stood, ready in their duelling stances, on opposite sides of the duelling ring, Harry noticed a small smile on her face. It wasn't a patronising smile. Nor was it a cocky, or arrogant smile. It was one of confidence, as well as respect. Respect for Harry, her opponent. Harry couldn't help but admire that, as he stood ready. Respect for ones opponent is something, many in the Duelling Ring, seemed to lack.

Harry rolled his shoulder once more, to alleviate the stiffness, before the duel began, where he immediately had to jump out the way of a Stunner, Alcina had fired at lightning speed. The Stunner whizzed past Harry, before he moved quickly, as Alcina fired more spells in his direction, in quick succession, leaving Harry unable to do anything. Gripping his wand tightly, as he ducked under another Stunner, he fired a Bludgeoning Hex, causing Alcina to jump out of the way, breaking her train of thought, for a moment. After firing the Bludgeoning Hex, Harry jumped to his feet where, both he and Alcina fired a Cutting Curse, at the same time. The two Cutting Curses collided against one another, causing them to ricochet. Harry's eyes widened, as he tried jumping out of the way, as one rebounded towards him, however it cut into his waist, leaving a deep gash, causing him to fall to his knees, as he intense pain shot through his body once again, his the side of his waist beginning to get warmer and warmer from his wound.

Seeing that Alcina had stood back up, after ducking to avoid the other Cutting Curse and immediately pointed her wand back at him. Harry quickly set up a powerful Protego Charm, covering his entire body in a, semi-transparent, blue shield. As Alcina proceeded to fire spell after spell, to shatter his shield, Harry applied pressure to his wound, to try and alleviate the pain, for the time being, as he didn't know any Healing spells powerful enough for deep wounds like the one on his waist. As his shield charm began to falter from the constant barrage of spells, Harry gripped his wand tighter, and got ready to run.

Dropping the shield around him, Harry immediately fired a Blasting Hex, as he began to run, his waist getting hotter and more painful, as he moved. Alcina easily dodged his Blasting Hex, before firing three Cutting Curses in quick succession. With his movement slowed and restricted due to his wound, Harry had to stick to shields, and only moving quickly, when absolutely necessary. Sudden movement, caused his wound to heat up and send shockwaves of pain up and down his body, whilst also leaving behind a small trail of blood with every step he took. As the pain continued to worsen, Harry felt a pounding in his skull, he could feel his anger flaring, and he was almost certain he could see a red mist starting to descend in front of his eyes. Harry shook his head, trying to keep his temper in check, recalling his previous fight in the Playoffs against Xavier Gardet.

Knowing he was going to have to end the fight, quickly, before his wound got worse, allowing Alcina to take the win, quickly sidestepping another Cutting Curse from Alcina, Harry fired his own Cutting Curse, which impacted the Italian duellists knee, causing her to fall down, in pain. Immediately, Harry fired a Stunner, which Alcina was unable to dodge, or block in time, causing her to fall to the ground, unconscious.

"The duel is over, Harry Potter is the winner!" The Announcers voice rang out "As Harry Potter has fought and won both of his Quarter Final Duels, he will be one of our four Semi Finalists!"

Harry fell to one knee, ignoring the applause and cheers, as the pain from his wound got worse. He took a few calming breaths, before he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking beside him, he saw Flitwick giving him a concerned gaze, whilst two Healers from the Infirmary stood beside the Charms Professor, just in case Harry needed assistance, in getting to the Infirmary. Harry smiled weakly, before he stood up slowly and allowed himself to be escorted, for treatment.

It was a tired, and rather sore, Harry Potter who arrived at Potter Manor around an hour later. After a healer closed up and fixed his wound on his waist and gave him a couple of Blood Replenishing Potion, just in case, Harry was relatively good as new. He just had to stay away from any excessive exercise or activities for a day or two, according to the Healers. He was just thankful that the Semi Finals weren't for another three days and that he had the Malfoy Christmas Party to look forward to beforehand.

As soon as he entered Potter Manor, Athena, his Pegasi familiar flew into the room and perched herself on his shoulder, being mindful of her talons, as she rubbed her head against his, comfortingly. Harry couldn't help but smile, as he ruffled her feathers in appreciation.

"I could feel your pain and anger, young one" Athena's voice echoed in his head "How are you feeling?"

"Much better now, Athena" Harry replied, mentally, as he stroked her feathers "Just had a couple accidents during the Quarter Finals, but I powered through and now I'm one of the Semi Finalists"

"Congratulations, young one" Athena replied, her voice in his head sounding chipper and proud "I can feel your, ever growing strength, young one…if anyone has a chance to win the Tournament, it would be you"

Harry smiled, appreciatively, stroking her feathers gently, as he made his way upstairs. He was in desperate need of a shower, and some well needed rest.

New chapter, done.

Again, I apologise for the long wait for a new chapter. I honestly didn't mean to keep you guys waiting for so long. I didn't realise how long it had been until I checked when it was last updated.

Anyway, before writing this chapter, I took some time, rereading what I have already done in the previous 12 chapters, to refresh my memory of where I am at in the story. I will say though, I'm glad the next chapter will be different to the constant duels. It does get a little bit repetitive, after a while. Thankfully, just a couple more chapters and we'll reach the end of this, mini duelling ring arc. For those of you, who are curious, however, the next chapter will be the Malfoy Christmas party. Remember that? If not, reread chapter 12 for a quick refresher.

That is all for now though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you have a story request you would like me to write, do feel free to let me know. I hope you all enjoyed and I will see you next time, in whatever story I see you in.

Badger Out