Ascension: The Promise of Prometheus

by Define Anachronistic

(AU) Harry and his closest friends have resolved to enlist in the Auror Corps to gain the necessary authority to combat their enemies head-on. However, brutal training, a harsh Squad Captain and a plot that could destabilise the Muggle and the Wizarding Worlds need to be dealt with first. But where there is adversity there is also opportunity and that's where Harry thrives.

21. The Ultimate Rival

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Ultimate Rival

The worst part of being in the same House as a sore loser you had recently defeated was being forced to sit at the same table with them.

"I had him right where I wanted him," Rittenhouse was insisting to his small group of friends. Even over the hubbub in the Great Hall, his voice carried down the length of the table. "But he used an illegal charm. The rules clearly state that you can't use a spell that could kill your opponent."

If it weren't for the many eyes carefully watching him, Harry would've already thrown his fork at the sour git. The first four duels were over, and Harry, Eliza, Cedric and the Fifth Year, Regina Quinn, had each earned a spot in the Top 4. They were given a lengthy break to eat dinner before they reconvened at seven o'clock for the final four duels.

"If I hadn't been healed, I would have died," Rittenhouse continued. "If Hooch had only done her job properly-"

"You would've found something else to cry about?" Michael asked loudly. Clearly, Harry wasn't the only one sick of his whining.

The older boy turned to face them, offended. "Do you mind? This is a private conversation."

"Really?" Cedric asked as he and his friends walked past. "Because you've been moaning loudly enough for half the hall to hear. I thought you would've been embarrassed enough by your performance earlier, but…" he trailed off with a shrug before winking at Harry. "I hope you're ready. I still owe you a loss after that Quidditch match." He hurried after his mates before Harry could reply.

"That's awkward," Anthony muttered before scooping mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"What is?" Harry asked.

He swallowed thickly before answering. "The fact that Terry still sleeps with a Niffler plushie," he said dryly.

Terry spluttered. "Was that necessary?" From Harry's other side, Lisa and Padma had paused their conversation upon hearing "Niffler plushie" and were now giggling at Terry's expense. "I was just sitting here quietly, minding my own business…" he trailed off angrily and stabbed his pork chops.

Anthony ignored him. "I meant your duel with Cedric. What else would I be talking about?"

"Why would it be awkward? I fought Marcus last year, and we're fine."

"Are you? I thought he hated you now."

"What? No, he doesn't." The last thing he needed was Anthony getting in his head before the duel.

"Oh? When was the last time you even saw him?"

"December."

"You mean when we were still on duty, and it was part of his job to interact with us?"

"No, that's not-"

Terry joined in. "He was still going through his Sentry training back then, so you technically outranked him," he pointed out. "He was probably afraid you might make life difficult for him if he wasn't friendly."

"Alright, that's enough. You're taking it too far." Michael gestured at Harry's face. His expression must have mirrored the turmoil he felt within if Michael had chosen to stop their teasing instead of joining in like he usually would have. "Don't believe them, Harry. Marcus is still your friend. They're just messing with you."

"Yeah, I knew that." He must not have sounded very convincing, as Anthony and Terry were quick to apologise.

Terry bumped shoulders with him. "We wouldn't have said anything if we knew you'd be so sensitive about it."

"Yeah, you're normally too competitive to care about what other people think." Anthony put the large piece of Bakewell tart he'd been slicing for himself before Harry.

It was delicious, but that only made him feel marginally better. "It's different when my opponent is a friend who wants to win as much as I do."

"Oh, he wants to win, alright." Eddie squeezed into the small gap between Harry and Lisa and ignored the latter's squawk. He snatched the even larger piece of tart that Anthony had sliced for himself, skipping over dinner entirely. "We sat with Cedric during your duel. When you won, he was happy to declare that he'd reserved a spot for you in the Hospital Wing."

"Ignore him," Maria tutted as she sat across from him and began to fill her plate.

"Gladly," Anthony muttered. He glared at Eddie as he finally put the last bit of tart- too small to be called a slice- onto his plate. "Or I might just throttle him." Eddie grinned cheekily at him with crumbs all over his mouth.

Maria continued as though he hadn't said anything. "Cedric said no such thing. You can't trust a word this one says."

But Harry was smiling. Eddie's lie had been so obvious that it only made him feel better. Cedric wasn't one to hold grudges, so he didn't have to feel bad about ending his Triwizard aspirations.

So now all I have to worry about is actually fighting him. That thought made Harry pause. Easier said than done.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"You're not nervous, are you?" Cedric asked.

The night was dry and cool, and the stadium was illuminated by the light of a hundred enchanted lanterns. The two boys met at the centreline, and though Harry was already squinting due to the lanterns' bright white light, his eyes narrowed further when he heard that. "If you try and give me some tripe about taking it easy on me-"

"No, not at all." Cedric shook his head adamantly. "I was going to say that I want to fight you at your best."

Harry blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah. How many times do you get to fight someone who went toe to toe with an Acolyte?" Cedric said this without a trace of deceit.

"Oh." Harry had never considered the possibility of someone he looked up to also finding him impressive. It was a strange concept to wrap his head around.

Professor Hooch went through the rules with them as she always did before sending them back to their respective corners.

Harry took his starting stance, and his eyes followed Cedric's distant figure as he did the same. He knew Cedric preferred to fight defensively during his duels and- while Harry's first instinct was to compete with his opponents in every aspect- he knew it would be folly to test his typically impatient nature against his opponent's more tempered style.

So, the only avenue left to him was to utterly overwhelm his defence from the very outset of the duel.

"BEGIN!"

Silano! Baulectrium! A colossal wave, fifty feet high, appeared from thin air in full motion and crashed towards Cedric like a tsunami. As if that wasn't enough, once the wave had blocked him from sight, Harry added a second spell, an Electrifying Curse, onto the wave itself. If even a single drop touched Cedric, the duel would be his.

Casting "Invium Fulmen!" over himself so that he didn't fall victim to his own attack, Harry ran forward at full speed to follow up with another move if his opener failed to work. It was a good thing he did, as Cedric neatly split the wave around himself and allowed it to carry onwards, where it crashed into the Barrier behind him. But Harry pressed his advantage before he could counter.

Calor Vade! Igniotempus! The arena air seemed to ripple with heat, giving Harry enough time to see Cedric's eyes widen at how close he now was, before igniting into a furious firestorm. The wet ground around them was dried instantly and the mud was baked into fissured earth as the bright blue flames burned everything in their path. Harry was only protected by the Flame-Freezing Charm that he'd cast a moment before, and the sight of rising steam from his electrified water gave him hope that he'd acted quickly enough to catch Cedric off guard.

However, when Harry allowed the firestorm to die away, he was met with the sight of an enormous pillar of earth that his opponent had hidden behind, which had forced the flames to go around him where it reached the water. Before he could think of his next move, the ground beneath his feet began to rumble and Cedric's pillar was destroyed as four enormous figures broke free of the earth.

They were humanoid, thirty feet tall and made of packed earth. Cedric had summoned giant earth golems to fight for him.

Acting quickly, Harry cast "Nebulus!" which added dense fog to the already considerable steam, helping him hide momentarily from Cedric's sight. Knowing he only had a second before his cover was blown away, Harry ran to where he last spotted Cedric and summoned his own elemental warriors. "Silano! Efforiki Laspi!"

Three twenty-foot-tall golems formed themselves from the second wave of water he conjured and began to attack Cedric's defenders. It was one less than his opponent but one more than he'd ever been able to summon during training, so he counted it as an overall positive.

The elemental golems battled it out, but the earthen kind was at a disadvantage. They couldn't stop their water counterparts from wiggling their way inside them due to the cracks within their bodies. But Cedric didn't seem to care, as he used their distraction to get rid of the foggy cover, but not with the traditional Wind Spell as Harry would have expected. Instead, he conjured a tornado to simultaneously blow away the obscuring fog and attack Harry head-on.

Harry skidded to a stop the second he saw what he was running towards and not a moment too soon; he could already feel himself being lifted off his feet. Bending his knees to keep his centre of gravity low, Harry desperately jabbed his wand at the ground beneath his feet. Deprimo!

He fell into the newly formed hole, sighed in relief at the momentary cover from the howling tornado, and then moved to cover his tracks. Efosso! Filling in the hole he had just made, Harry used both the Tunnelling Spell and Mage Sight to reach Cedric's location. However, in doing so, he had forgotten the most critical thing Captain Solace had ever taught him.

Just because you know a high-level technique, don't assume your enemy doesn't know it too.

Harry knew something was wrong when he sensed Cedric fire a spell at the ground beneath his feet, but he only figured out he was in immediate danger when he felt the tunnel around him begin to rumble. One moment he was quickly making his way to his opponent's location, removing earth from his path as he went, and the next, the ceiling above him fell in, and the ground beneath his feet gave way.

Earthquake, Harry realised much too late. He summoned an earthquake while I'm in the earth.

Cedric must be adept at Mage Sight too. There was no other way he could have known Harry's exact location.

"Ebubilo!" Harry shouted desperately. It was all he could think of to keep him safe from the collapsing tunnel. While he was right, it also meant that he was bounced around through the shifting crust within his giant bubble until Cedric's spell ended. After dropping the bubble, he took a moment to catch his breath, but that turned out to be a mistake. The earth itself seemed to form hands that grabbed him before hauling him up to the surface.

Squinting as his head broke the surface, Harry knew he must look like a damned fool. He was buried in the ground with only his head sticking out while Cedric sprinted towards him with his wand raised, ready to finish the fight.

Fortunately, Harry had already seen how to get out of this predicament.

Evellere! Vorago! The earth around him softened into quicksand, and the Vortex Spell sent him spinning in an earthen whirlpool of his own making, just like he'd seen Ekon Adebayo do at the Duelling World Cup last summer. However, Ekon had made it look easy. Spinning at such high speeds was brutal on his body, and he could feel his brain bouncing around in his skull.

A flash of light made him snap out of it, as Cedric's Stunning Spell had missed him by inches. Glad that he'd kept such a tight grip on his wand, Harry frantically cast "Expulso!" to get himself out of his swirling predicament. Grunting as the spell exploded far too close to his right leg, Harry was sent flying out of the ground and high into the air.

Brackium Emendo! Spongify! Contorting his body this way and that as he fell through the air to avoid Cedric's spells, Harry managed to heal his leg and soften his landing spot before touching down on the ground. He would've liked to follow that borrowed move with the same finisher he'd seen Ekon do, but before he could conjure a bolt of lightning, the light from the lanterns was blotted out by an enormous fist above his head.

Aeris! The air bullet wasn't as carefully aimed as it usually was, but it managed to get him out of the way before the now armoured golem's fist flattened him into the ground. While Harry was underground, Cedric had enough time to fashion airtight armour for his last remaining defender and defeated the water golems too while he was at it.

"What an overachiever," Harry muttered as he used his momentum to roll onto his feet.

Still, that didn't matter. In fact, it was perfect as far as Harry was concerned because Cedric had unintentionally built a weapon that could be used against him. While Harry's air bullet hadn't thrown him in the direction he would've chosen, it did put the armoured golem between himself and Cedric.

The ruined earth cracked open once again as waves of hot magma rose to the surface, flowing directly to where Harry was standing. Not keen on being cooked by molten rock, Harry quickly moved so that the golem would have to turn to chase him, thereby putting its immense back towards Cedric.

You've given me both a shield and a weapon, Harry silently crowed.

He waited until it lifted one of its legs to begin walking before he attacked. He cast "Aqua Erecto!" and a bullet of water far larger and more densely compressed than any he'd conjured before was fired directly into the golem's chest. It was knocked backwards while it was still off balance, right onto Cedric.

Harry didn't wait to see if the attack had caught Cedric, he just assumed it wasn't enough to take him down. Instead, he ran forward at full speed, jumping as high into the air as his enhanced body would allow and cast "Glacius! Alarte Ascendare!" at the water that splashed back off the golem's armoured chest. Landing in a crouch on the now floating platform of ice, Harry flew it over the golem's fallen form and the lava moat, but he sensed Cedric already burrowing deep underground.

Let's see how you like it, Harry thought before shouting, "Seisimos!"

Like a pebble tossed into a still pond, the earth rippled outward from the point of impact of Harry's spell. In a matter of seconds, Cedric was forced out of the ground. He quickly pointed his wand at the spot fifty feet below where Harry was floating, just as he'd predicted. When you were underground, it wasn't easy to tell how high up someone was by Mage Sight alone.

Before Cedric could reorient himself, Harry made his move. Muffliato! Depressi Tonituro!

With his eardrums safely muffled from the immense thunderclap, Harry calmly watched as Cedric silently cried out and clapped his hands over his bleeding ears. Before he could overcome the pain and defend himself, Harry cast three spells.

Expelliarmus! Prolourum! Stupefy!

He was immediately glad that he hadn't underestimated Cedric's determination to win. He had the strength to ignore the pain long enough to roll out of the Disarming Charm's path but directly into the ring of golden fire that Harry had conjured.

The Phoenix Flame Charm forced Cedric into a vision, one that put him in the shoes of all those he had ever hurt. While it was relatively simple enough to escape for a trained Occlumens (and Harry didn't doubt that Cedric had been taught the technique by his Auror Captain), Harry didn't give him enough time to do so.

This duel was one of the hardest of Harry's life, but it ended anti-climatically as his opponent was struck dead centre by his Stunning Spell.

Still floating fifty feet above the ground, Harry watched as Cedric fell unconscious and the crowd around them erupted into thunderous cheers. And why wouldn't they? The first Hogwarts Representative had been chosen.

Harry Potter was now one-third of the Triumvirate.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

To the surprise of no one, Eliza won her fight against Quinn rather handily, but the pitch was left in an even worse state than it had been after his duel. To give the duellists time to recuperate, they were allotted a brief break while it was fixed. Now Cedric was preparing to duel Quinn for the third and final spot, as it was their last chance to join the Triumvirate.

WOMBAT curfew had come and gone and the First and Second years had become rather excitable at being out so late. Eddie and Maria had only encouraged this by bringing bottles of butterbeer to the Ravenclaw stands and handing them out, and someone must've summoned a Wireless because music started playing over the blue and bronze section.

Ravenclaw was the only Hogwarts House to not be represented during the last Triwizard Tournament, and their elation at having that mistake corrected was obvious.

Normally, Harry would enjoy this festive atmosphere, but he still had one duel to go and he wanted to stay focused and in the right mindset. To avoid their rowdy Housemates, he and his friends left the stadium and relaxed on the soft, dry lawn that overlooked the lake. They didn't even need cloaks to do so, as the temperature was perfectly moderate. After a long, bitter winter, spring was finally here.

"What was that golden fire spell you cast?" Anthony asked. "Did Captain Solace teach it to you?"

"Nah, Marcus taught it to me," Harry said absently as he examined the starry night sky. He preferred being away from the harsh white light of the enchanted lanterns and counted all the constellations he could see. "He used it on me during our duel last June, remember?"

Michael scoffed. "And you thought the two of you weren't mates."

Harry shrugged. "My nerves were getting to me."

"But not now?"

He grinned. "No. Not now."

It wasn't just a break for Cedric and Quinn. Harry and Eliza were scheduled to fight at nine o'clock in the final duel of the evening. While they had both qualified for the Tournament, they still needed to duel one another for team rankings. After all, there could only be one Team Captain.

Harry had been thinking about this since the day he first saw Eliza duel. So, instead of nerves, it was excitement that threatened his chances. Which was why he was here, trying to stay calm and focused.

"Hey, Harry!" A familiar voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Harry lifted his head to see a smiling Cedric approaching. He crashed down beside them on the grass. "That was a great duel."

"Yeah, it was." Harry smiled back at him, glad there weren't any hard feelings.

"I went into it knowing not to underestimate you, to risk trying something new, but I still fell back into my usual style." Harry nodded. He had won by taking advantage of that. "I'm looking forward to seeing you and Eliza go head-to-head, though. You both have the same off-the-wall offensive style."

"We do?" Harry asked innocently, as though he hadn't noticed this long ago.

Cedric was about to reply but he was interrupted. "Are you asking our future Champion for tips, Diggory?" Rittenhouse asked as he strolled towards them with his crew. "You clearly need it. But what else should we expect from The Humdrum Hufflepuff?" He winked at Harry as though they were both in on the joke. Harry replied with a rude hand gesture.

Now that Harry was the "Hero of Ravenclaw" (Terry's words), Rittenhouse had conveniently forgotten that he'd been publicly insulting him just a couple of hours ago. This blatant sycophancy was just another reason they had left the stadium, but Rittenhouse had failed to take the hint.

Fortunately, Cedric wasn't one to let such pitiful insults get to him.

"Shut your mouth, Rittenhouse!" He barked.

Well, usually.

Rittenhouse smirked and made to reply, but Harry cut him off. "Get lost before I electrocute you again."

Rittenhouse narrowed his eyes but- clearly seeing the folly of having two duellists of their calibre pissed off at him simultaneously- he shrugged and led his friends to the lakeshore without another word.

"Someone needs to shut him up," Cedric said darkly. In his peripheral, Harry could see the others exchange looks. He couldn't blame them. Ever since they had joined The Marauders, they had known Cedric to be helpful, friendly and good-humoured. There was even a running joke about him being the mild-mannered dad of their friend group. So, seeing him get angry over a few nasty words from a sore loser like Samuel Rittenhouse was very off-putting.

Harry knew he had to nip this in the bud before it became a problem.

"You know, we still have a little time left before your duel."

Cedric raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

Harry turned to Terry. "That depends on what our potioneering prodigy has access to."

Terry blinked. "Err…what?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Samuel was still smarting at being snubbed by Potter when Cheryl handed him an open bottle of butterbeer.

It wasn't enough for the little prick to have taken his place in the Triumvirate. No, he had to humiliate him as well. When Samuel had tried to be the bigger man and support his Housemate, his genial gesture had been thrown back in his face. It would've been humiliating enough if he'd been alone, but he'd talked a big game in front of his girlfriend and mates, only to be embarrassed in front of them.

Still, it was a humiliation he would have to swallow for now. Potter was the darling of Hogwarts, and bad things tended to happen to those who crossed him. You just had to look at the broken fragments of Isaac Myrose and his gang to see it. They had terrorised the school for years, but when Potter showed up in his first year and knocked them down a peg- and proceeded to do so again and again- they became a joke. Now not even the wimpiest Hufflepuff First Year was afraid of them.

Samuel simply had to bind his time until the brat's star began its descent. It was an inevitable outcome in his opinion, as Potter would one day cross the wrong person. When he did, Samuel would be there waiting.

With that thought finally soothing his bruised ego, he relaxed against the tree trunk and let Cheryl cuddle into his side. As he took a sip of his butterbeer, she looked up at him and asked, "Feeling better?"

"Yes," Samuel sighed happily. "Thinking about Harry Potter's ruination relaxes me."

Cheryl blinked. "What?"

"You asked me if I was feeling better," Samuel explained, wondering which part of what he'd said confused her. "Thinking about my enemies' downfall soothes me."

Cheryl smiled carefully. "Are you joking?" She asked tentatively.

"No, I'm not." He sighed as he observed her. "You're not very smart, are you?"

"What?!" She sat up and moved her body to face him confrontationally. That drew the rest of their group's attention.

"See? Just like that." He shook his head. "I'm explaining the simplest of concepts to you, but you just can't seem to follow."

"Are you calling me stupid?" Cheryl demanded.

"Yes." Samuel couldn't understand how she wasn't getting it. "I've always thought you were thick, but you were the prettiest girl I could get to go out with me, so I'm stuck with you."

"You should stop talking," Craig advised. This was a mistake as it drew Samuel's attention to him.

"I don't like you, Craig," he said bluntly. "None of us do. We only tolerate you because you're open-handed with your family's Gringotts key."

"That's not true!" Kerry, Craig's girlfriend, said sharply. "Don't listen to him."

"It is true, and I resent you for it," Samuel admitted. For the first time, he began to realise something was wrong. Somehow, the filter between his brain and mouth had vanished, and he was speaking his mind without giving it one iota of thought. "The only reason Kerry never gave me a chance was because she was more interested in your gold than she was in me."

"Okay, that is definitely not true." Kerry scoffed.

"But the other part is?" Craig demanded to know. "You're only with me for money?" Kerry hurried to defend herself, and Samuel would have happily sat and watched their relationship implode if he hadn't been distracted by his own girlfriend.

"You and Kerry?" Cheryl shouted. "My best friend?"

"Why are you upset?" Samuel asked. "I asked her out a whole hour before I asked you." For some reason, this failed to appease her.

While the others in their group watched in muted horror as their circle of friends self-destructed, five boys hid beyond the bushes, muffling their laughter at the chaos they had caused.

"What was even in that potion?" Anthony asked, his eyes tearing up.

"My own blend of Veritaserum and Babbling Beverage," Terry snickered. "Poor Rittenhouse won't be able to shut up for at least a few more minutes."

"Which must feel like an eternity for him," Michael wheezed. He had to lean against a tree to hold himself upright.

"Oh, you lot are a riot," Cedric sighed happily as he wiped a tear from his eye. "I needed a good laugh."

Harry grinned, glad they could make him feel better. "You don't think we took things too far? I mean, getting back at Rittenhouse is one thing, but we dragged his mates into it as well."

Cedric waved his concerns aside. "You haven't shared classes with them for six years. I have. Trust me, they've had this coming for a long time." He clapped Harry on the shoulder, letting him know without words that things between them hadn't changed a bit.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Harry turned the corner that led to his usual changing room but paused when he spotted a familiar figure about to go into it.

"Oi! Hawthorn!" His voice startled her and she whipped around to face him. "What are you doing? That's my changing room."

Eliza narrowed her eyes as he approached. "I always use this room before an official duel. Go use the other one."

They glared at each other for a moment before Harry saw reason. "Whatever," he shrugged. "They're both the same anyway." He wasn't happy with this choice. While he knew there was no difference between the two rooms, he didn't like changing his pre-duel routine. It felt unlucky. But he decided to leave it alone as an argument might lead to an unofficial fight which would disqualify them.

However, he didn't refrain from a parting shot. "Unlike you, I'm not afraid of being at a disadvantage."

"What does that mean?" Eliza asked sharply.

Harry was glad he was facing away from her as he couldn't hide his smirk. "I've never fought from the other side of the arena before. The unfamiliar starting position will put me at a disadvantage compared to you."

Unfortunately, Eliza didn't take the bait. "Your chivalry is appreciated," she snorted. Harry clenched his jaw and began to stalk off, already telling himself to let his irritation go before the duel kicked off, but she called after him. "Hey, Potter!" He paused before turning to face her, only to find an unidentifiable expression on her face. "I didn't think you'd make it this far."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I used to be on the Quidditch team, Hawthorn. You'll have to come up with better insults than that."

"That's not what I-!" Eliza began hotly before pausing and collecting herself. "I knew you were good," she tried again, "but I just didn't know you were this good." She smiled awkwardly at him. "We're going to be teammates, so..." she glanced around as though hoping the proper words would materialise out of thin air. "I'm looking forward to our duel," she finished lamely.

Harry stared. Looking at her, it was clear how long it had been since their time in The Silver Spears. He was a little taller than her now and she had become even prettier over the last couple of years. But while Harry felt a nervous flutter in his stomach at being the target of her smile, it was her words that truly excited him. It no longer felt like Eliza was leagues above him. They now stood on the same level.

He suddenly wanted to tell her that he'd been looking forward to this day for years but was afraid that might sound a little creepy. So, he instead settled for a simple, "Yeah, me too." He checked the time. "I better get going or the duel will never happen."

Eliza's smile widened and she waved him away. "You go do that."

Later, Harry stepped into the arena and made his way to the centreline where Professor Hooch was waiting. As she went over the rules before sending them back to their starting positions, Harry went over his strategy for the duel in his mind.

He had taken Cedric's advice to heart and decided to switch up his fighting style just a bit to keep Eliza on her toes. While he wasn't going to abandon his offence completely, he had already decided to lean more on defence and evasion than he typically would. Eliza had all but told him she'd watched his previous duels, so she likely thought she knew what to expect. He needed to catch her off-guard.

As he and his opponent raised their wands and got into their beginning stances, Harry resolved to pull out tricks that no one had ever seen from him before.

"BEGIN!"

Harry and Eliza fired identical jets of orange light at each other in the same exact instant, shouting, "CONFRINGO!" The two martial spells met dead centre of the arena before expanding outward in all directions in a colossal cloud of dirt and dust.

Knowing he had to act fast, Harry disillusioned himself before casting, "Avis!" Dozens upon dozens of crows were conjured from thin air, but before he could order them to fly into the cloud of dirt, he sensed a malicious spell heading his way. Protego Horribilis! His shield blocked the sickly grey spell before it could touch his body. He silently berated himself for forgetting that Eliza was as adept with Mage Sight as he was.

Or at least he assumed she was at the same level as him.

Expanding his senses outward, Harry was momentarily confused, and then afraid, when he couldn't locate her at all. Somehow, she was completely hidden from his Mage Sight. Her sensory skill wasn't as adept as his, it was better.

Not knowing that such a thing was even possible, Harry didn't have any idea how to counteract it. Trying not to panic, he quickly recalled the crows to his location and commanded them to surround him in a tornado of beaks, talons and black feathers. For a few long moments, nothing seemed to happen, and Harry started to believe that he had been mistaken. Perhaps she hadn't rendered herself invisible to his Mage Sight. Perhaps she had simply left the arena.

That's what he thought until the spells started to fly.

Harry sensed them incoming, and- trusting the crows to block any of her spells with their bodies- he opened his Mage Sight again in the hope of locating her. It didn't take him long to do so, as her Mana flared every time she cast a spell before being ruthlessly suppressed again. While he would have happily fired back, she kept moving the moment she cast a spell, leaving him guessing where the next attack would be coming from.

It was like he was lost at sea, and she kept turning the lighthouse off and on, leaving him to guess how close the shore was. No, it was worse than that. It was as if the lighthouse kept moving while it was dark and only lit up again when it was in a new location.

However, it was just enough for him to work with, but he had to act fast. Eliza had created a game of cat and mouse that he could only lose as the number of crows he had left was quickly dwindling.

Lamina! Depulso! Formae! Harry turned the remaining crows into daggers before banishing them outward in every direction. Then, he ripped out a circular chunk of earth from the ground to serve as his platform. Talpa! Wingardium Leviosa! Locomotor! Jumping aboard his now invisible platform, Harry flew it into the air and around the arena to avoid whatever reprisals Eliza sent his way and set up his next attack.

Wishing he was on a broom instead of a clumsy pile of dried mud, Harry evaded Eliza's firestorm as deftly as he could before first pointing his wand at it, then to the sky and then at the arena itself. Aqua Erecto! Tempestas Mutato! Seisimos! Ventus! The massive projectile of water managed to do away with the fire that had been chasing him, but before Eliza could counterattack, Harry's Earthquake Spell hit the ground and rippled out across the arena.

Sweeping away the steam with an immense gust of wind, he immediately spotted Eliza's location from his vantage point. She had been forced to use an Imperturbable Charm to protect herself from the worst of the earthquake's effects. However, she had still been knocked off her feet. For the first time, he could be certain of her location.

Before she could stand, Harry jabbed his wand right down at her. Fulminata!

For the briefest moment, Harry was certain victory was his. However, when his eyes readjusted after the flash of light, he saw that Eliza had managed to freeze the lightning bolt in mid-air. He was so stunned that he failed to dodge when she sent it hurtling right back at him as binding cords of electricity. A spell he had only seen Lord Dumbledore and Elissa Corner use.

The pain of it was excruciating. He collapsed onto his platform, which in turn began to fall back to earth as he could no longer concentrate on levitating it. Harry blinked back tears, distantly noting that his Disillusionment Charm had failed as Eliza swiftly approached to claim her victory. Harry's wand had fallen out of his grip when he hit the ground, and the crackling electricity that bound him only tightened its hold when he tried to tap into his Mana.

This was it. After almost three years of anticipating this duel against Eliza, he would lose without even making her break a sweat.

That idea frustrated him so much that he began to reach for his well of power despite the pain. He ignored the bindings that clenched him so tightly he couldn't breathe, hoping for something, anything that would help him escape so he could keep fighting.

Not yet, Harry thought desperately as he strained to escape. I can still win!

Then, just as he watched Eliza's Stunning Spell fly towards him, Harry felt his magic react to his desperation. The carefully constructed dam he had built to manage his output was forcibly opened, and a rush of power exploded out of his body.

Harry's entire world turned purple as a cloak of energy burst forth from every pore in his body, shielding him from threat.

The Combat Avatar was only tangible for an instant, but it was there long enough to block the Stunning Spell and catch Eliza by surprise. A massive, amethyst wing lashed out and smacked her high into the air. Not having the strength to stand but not wanting to waste this miraculous chance, Harry rolled onto one knee and sent a tiny pulse of magic to his Ouroboros. It burned against his clammy skin as it recalled his wand to his hand.

Eliza staggered to her feet once again, but by then, Harry's blackthorn wand had already slapped into his palm. Knowing that the next spell would be his last, he didn't waste his opportunity by firing directly at his opponent. Instead, he pointed it at the sky for the second time this duel.

A sky that had filled with dark clouds since the Atmospheric Charm he'd cast on it earlier. It had only gone unnoticed as the sun had set hours ago.

"THUEALLI!"

Harry saw Eliza's eyes widen at the incantation and had he the strength for it, he would have smiled. Her head snapped up to look at the stormy sky above, but it was already too late.

The sky cracked open, and four consecutive lightning bolts hit the spot she was standing on.

Eliza might have been able to block a single bolt of lightning, but could she do the same with four? Harry doubted it.

He slumped onto his side as the first raindrops fell upon his face. The pitter-patter of rain hitting the stadium was music to his ears. The Storm Creation Technique had never worked this well for him before. He was about to fall unconscious, satisfied, when he saw movement in the cloud of dust his lightning had created.

When the dust cleared, it revealed Eliza, brought down onto one knee but encased in a golden Combat Avatar in the shape of a sparrowhawk.

Harry let out a slow breath at the sight of her, exhausted and injured but still in fighting shape. Unlike him.

Eliza pointed her wand at him, her arm shaking in pain. Harry tried to cast a shield, but with his vision rapidly darkening around the edges and his reserves severely depleted, he knew it was hopeless.

His ears, ruined by his proximity to booming thunder, could only hear the beat of his heart as he watched her lips move.

The Stunning Spell struck him dead centre.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"And her undefeated streak continues!"

That was what Cedric had said when he came to pick Eliza up from the Hospital Wing (according to Madam Pomfrey, attacking each other with electricity was a stupid thing to do. Who could have guessed?) Before she left, Eliza glanced back at Harry. "Don't be too hard on yourself," she said. "We're just on different levels."

"What did you say?" Michael demanded. Eliza was already walking out the door and Cedric was palming his face as he followed.

"Don't," Harry said quietly. "That's her trying to be nice." His friends looked stunned.

"Wow," Terry muttered before shaking his head. "Come on, let's get to the tower. The others are bound to throw a party for you."

He was right, but it wasn't enough to distract Harry for long. Even now, Eliza's words were ringing in his ears as Ravenclaw House partied into the early hours of Saturday morning.

Sat in the place of honour before the fireplace, Harry was joined by the rest of his year mates and was waited on hand and foot. It did little to shake him out of the state he was in and he mindlessly sipped from his glass without taking in what was being said around him.

Earlier, when he returned from the Hospital Wing, Lisa had surprised him by sitting in his lap and kissing him thoroughly right in front of their Housemates. Ignoring the chorus of wolf whistles, Harry had kissed her back. He'd danced with her when she asked him to, laughed with her when Penelope caught Michael and Padma sneaking up to his dorm and shared a more discreet time with her in a shadowy corner of the common room.

But now, a few hours later, not even she was enough to distract him anymore. The snacks, drinks and presence of friends combined weren't enough to stop him from thinking.

There will be more people like her in the Triwizard, he kept thinking. Probably even stronger. In just five months, I'll be competing against the best-

He felt a nudge at his side. Glancing at Lisa, who had squished herself into the same armchair as him, Harry realised that she was trying to tell him something. However, perhaps due to the music's volume, he could only watch as her lips moved soundlessly. Not a word of what she was saying reached his newly healed ears.

Harry quickly stood up before his restlessness could overwhelm him. "I need some air," he said before leaving the common room. With no concern for the hour, he went downstairs and walked right out of the tower.

After a few minutes, he sensed someone following him from a distance. Recognising them by the feel of their magic, Harry paused at the nearest window alcove and took a seat. A minute later, a familiar voice addressed him.

"Are you alright?" Anthony asked.

"Yeah," Harry said softly. He had cracked the window open and was enjoying the cool breeze that wafted over him.

Anthony paused before quickly saying, "It was an incredible fight. Plenty of professional duellists have never fought even half as well as you did today." He clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You'll be going into our fourth year as the second-strongest student in school. You would have swept the whole thing any other year, so be proud and come back to the party."

"I wouldn't want to compete any other year," Harry said abruptly. "Not now that I've gone up against, Eliza, Cedric and even Rittenhouse. They pushed me further today than I've ever gone before."

Anthony blinked. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry turned to face him with a wide smile. "I'm not upset in the slightest, but that last fight left me restless. Being cooped up in there was starting to drive me a little crazy."

"Okay, that sounds more like you." Anthony chuckled. "Want to go for a run?"

Harry nodded quickly. "Front gate and back?"

Anthony scoffed. "What, just the once? The qualifiers must have exhausted you."

As they began to run through the corridors (taking care to avoid used classrooms and teachers' offices) Harry said, "That was the best duel of my life."

"Really?

"Yeah. It showed me how far I have left to go, and-" Harry's smile widened further as he thought about Ekon Adebayo- "there'll be even more fighters like Eliza at the Triwizard. People I've heard of and people I haven't. I'm excited!"

"You are so weird." Anthony shook his head fondly as they jumped down the last steps of the Grand Staircase and tore through the Entrance Hall. "But don't ever change, okay?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Harry stood before his easel in the only corner of his dormitory that was away from the sun's glare.

As a reward for qualifying for the Triwizard Tournament, Nicolas had surprised him with a new paintbrush set: a dozen enchanted paintbrushes of varying sizes that were able to change colours upon voice command, no paint necessary. He had presented it as though expecting to be commended for the effort and looked put out when Harry said he needed to test it first.

Harry wasn't going to admit that his mentor's thoughtfulness was enough to make him happy.

"What do you think?" He leaned to one side so Argos could see his painting from where he was perched atop his headboard. It was of a crow and sparrowhawk clashing in the sky. "The purple one is me. The one in gold is Eliza. Did you see our duel from the owlery?" Argos opened one yellow eye and stared at the canvas before closing it again with an uninterested hoot. Harry tutted. "My fault for asking, I suppose. Can owls even see in colour?"

This time Argos squawked loudly and flapped his wings threateningly. "Alright, I'm sorry!" Apparently, his apology wasn't enough. He moved backwards to get away from the temperamental bird but stumbled over his discarded trainers and collided with the wall. He rubbed the back of his head, thinking that must have made for an amusing sight. Maria confirmed as much when she pushed his ajar door fully open.

"You know, if people saw that little display, they wouldn't be so intimidated by you." Maria pointed out once she had finally stopped laughing.

"Display?" Harry led the way downstairs and out of Ravenclaw Tower. "What display? I don't remember a display."

"If you think I'm going to forget about what I just saw-"

"You will, otherwise I might just turn around and leave you to find someone else to be your bodyguard."

Maria narrowed her eyes at him. "You probably would, wouldn't you?" She sighed. "Fine then. Keep your dignity."

"You're damn right I will." While he didn't truly believe she would keep her mouth shut, he was surprised at how quick she was to spill the beans. Maria told Lee immediately when they met him outside the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.

Lee laughed at her impression, which included a lot more flailing limbs than Harry remembered. "I didn't know you were afraid of owls, Harry."

"Not owls," Harry grumbled. "Just Argos. He's a grouch."

"Don't you know pets take after their owners?" Maria asked. She leaned in to kiss Lee and that was when Harry struck.

"Astrictus!" He started to laugh when they made to pull apart, only to find their lips stuck together. "You know, I always forget, is Astrictus the incantation for the Sticking Charm, or the Permanent Sticking Charm?" Lee clearly didn't know as he let out a muffled shout, but Maria remained calm. "Alright, now I'll let you two go, but keep the teasing to a minimum. Otherwise, I might forget which incantation is which. Is that ok with you, lovebirds?" They tried to nod but only managed to bang their foreheads together. Harry almost fell over laughing.

"You little-!" When he finally released them, Maria punched him on the arm and almost put him in a headlock, but he wiggled free. "Anthony's right. You really can't take a joke."

Harry shrugged unashamedly. "I have a carefully maintained reputation to uphold."

"Yeah, and losing a fight to an owl isn't part of it," Lee muttered. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He cried when Harry made to draw his wand again.

Maria rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's lack of valour. "Alright, come on. We're going to be late." She led the way to the giant mirrors on the fourth floor and through the secret passageway that led to The Howling Tavern. Pam paused in the middle of giving customer orders to her Automaton when they emerged from the basement and stepped into the kitchen. When she saw it was only them, she rolled her eyes and continued.

Students were allowed to go to Hogsmeade on the weekend, but it was only Friday afternoon, and they were meant to be secured within school grounds. As such, the Fifth Years made sure to disguise themselves a little.

"How do I look?" Maria asked Pam. She had changed her hair from black to blonde before putting on a pair of glasses.

"You look lovely, dear," Pam said distractedly as she prepared for the end-of-workweek rush. Maria turned to Harry, and he almost rolled his eyes. A couple of years ago, he would have been astounded by that bit of magic, but having gone through advanced disguise training as a Cadet, he now wondered how anyone could be fooled by such a minor change.

Still, they didn't have time for an argument, so he lied. "If I passed you on the street, I would never have recognised you."

Maria grinned. "Brilliant. Get your Cloak on and let's get going. We're already running behind-" Her eyes widened with incredulity when she turned to face Lee. "Tell me you're joking."

"What?" Lee asked innocently. His disguise was even simpler than Maria's: an enchanted hat that had enough space for him to tuck his long dreadlocks into.

"I-" Maria stopped. "I can't even with you. Come on." She led the way out the backdoor and into the alley outside. When Harry was under his Invisibility Cloak, he took both Lee and Maria's arms and Side-Along Apparated them to Diagon Alley's West Apparition Point which was closest to Knockturn Alley. From there, they headed directly for Madam Enger's Apothecary.

Normally, Eddie would handle purchasing their less-than-legal items, and Cedric would be the one who apparated him around, but they both couldn't make it today. Eddie was held back by Professor McGonagall as she'd overheard him telling a dirty joke in her class and Cedric was supposedly getting help on his Care of Magical Creatures project from Penelope.

Even though they knew minimal work would be done, they let him have this one.

Harry didn't mind carting his friends to London or acting as unseen security. His only concern was feeling bored while they haggled over potion ingredients. While Lee went to the counter to pick up their pre-ordered items, Maria began to peruse the dingy store. Harry went with her.

"Buy these for me," he whispered. He handed her a vial of dried bursting mushrooms.

"Why?" Maria asked, but she took them anyway.

"End-of-year prank." Harry smiled. "For after exam week."

"Obviously." Maria might be a troublemaker, but she was a Ravenclaw too.

Harry spotted movement in his peripheral and drew his wand. He relaxed when he saw it was only people lining up in front of a building down the alley. "What's that? That line," he added when he remembered she couldn't see the direction he was pointing in.

"Hmm?" Maria was distracted by a ready-made bottle of Amortentia. Harry poked her in the arm. "What? I wasn't going to buy it! Just smell it."

"Because that makes so much more sense."

"It's meant to smell like the person you love the most," she sighed. "I wondered…" she trailed off. Harry was glad he was invisible because his mouth had fallen open. Maria and Lee were great together, but he never would've thought things were that serious between them. They haven't even been going out half as long as he and-

He suddenly thought about Lisa and took a step away from the potion. That wasn't a question that needed answering.

"So? The line?" He prompted, wanting to distract them both.

"That's for Nix."

"Which is...?"

"It's a nightclub," she said as though he were meant to know.

"Have you ever been?"

She huffed a laugh. "I wish. Me, Lee, Eddie and the twins tried last summer but the bouncer laughed at us. Didn't even let us join the queue."

"It was rather embarrassing," Lee said as he sidled up to them, arms laden with ingredients. "Give me a hand with this?"

"Of course!" Maria hurried forward to help him stuff the ingredients into the bag he'd brought along. Harry suspected this was to hide what potion she was standing in front of. She showed Lee the vial of dried bursting mushrooms. "I need to get this for the kid," Maria tutted as she brushed past him. "We can't take him anywhere without buying him a treat."

Harry rolled his eyes. "You're hilarious."

They returned to The Marauders' Clubhouse to find everyone else already waiting for them. The other Marauders had decided to throw a celebration as two of their own were now part of the Hogwarts Triumvirate. However, as there were only eleven of them in the school, the party was a lot more lowkey than the one Ravenclaw threw for him last week.

"It's the only bad part of being in a secret society," George told him as they set up. "We don't get to invite people for all the cool stuff we do."

Fred frowned. "I thought the only bad part was not getting to rub it in other people's faces?"

George paused. "That too."

"You can't have two only bad parts-!"

Harry walked away to organise the drinks table. After two years of being a Marauder, he knew when to tune out the Weasley twins' arguments.

Going into it, Harry had guessed he would enjoy this simple hangout a lot more than last week's party and was pleased with how right he was. They ate snacks and sweets, sipped smuggled drinks and even watched The Painting Behind the Door on the Odeon, a Wizard-produced horror movie from the seventies that had them shedding tears of laughter instead of fear because it was so bad.

"Wait-" Harry choked on his mead as the girl on screen was dragged into the cursed painting. "Why is she just screaming? Go for your wand!" He called as if she could hear him. "Your wand!"

Eddie sighed. "That's the problem with Wizarding movies. Magic only creates problems and plot holes."

Harry had never gotten tipsy before and it led to some questionable decision-making. The first was a midnight broom race against Michael, Cedric, and the twins through the school's many dark corridors, where hissed admonitions from portraits whipped past them instead of wind. The second was wet-start fireworks hidden in the Slytherin Quidditch team's showers, ready and waiting for their practice tomorrow morning. Enough oak-matured mead could make any idea seem like the best idea, but Harry would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy every minute of it.

By three in the morning, things began to wind down. No one could be bothered to return to their dorms, so they crashed in the Clubhouse instead. The Room of Requirement provided them with beds that were scattered around the room.

"Oh, yeah," Maria said loudly when Lee asked her something. "Harry?" She called from all the way across the room. "Harry!"

"What?" It was almost four in the morning and his head was already on his pillow. He couldn't find it in him to be polite.

"Why'd you buy those dried mushrooms?"

That woke him up a bit. "Because they're resistant to spells. Terry?"

Terry was even ruder than him. "What do you want?!"

"Dried bursting mushrooms are resistant to spells, right?"

"Yeah." Terry lifted his head to peer at Harry curiously. "Why?"

"If we dilute it into a liquid- maybe a varnish?- could we coat it on something and make it resistant to spells?"

Terry thought about it for a minute. "Yes, I think. But only minor spells, so it wouldn't be worth the effort."

Harry grinned. "What if we coat something delicate? Something the teachers wouldn't want to damage with a Scouring Charm?" Terry wasn't the only one interested now.

"What are you thinking?" Cedric asked. Harry told them.

When he was done, Fred got out of bed. "Well, now I can't go to sleep without trying it." He asked the Room to provide him with an innocuous item. A half-empty ink pot popped out of thin air, and he caught it. The others were up now as well and they followed Terry to the potions lab to see if it worked.

They worked on it until the sun was up and curfew was lifted. Before they used paintbrushes to coat the ink pot in the newly-concocted varnish, George had charmed it to glow a luminous red. No matter what counter-spell they tried, the ink pot stubbornly kept putting out its red light.

"Alright, this was worth skipping sleep for," Anthony finally admitted. He was always a grouch when he was tired. "What do you have planned for this?"

"Imagine every suit of armour, every bust and every statue this school has, uttering the wildest, foulest insults anyone has ever heard," Harry began. "But no matter what spell the teachers try, they can't stop it. They can't even silence it. It'll drive them around the bend."

Cedric tutted. "That is so juvenile."

Harry frowned. "You don't think we should it?"

"Oh, no, we're definitely doing it," Cedric reassured him. "I'm just saying it's childish."

"But that's half the fun." Harry turned to ask the others what they thought but found them sitting around the coffee table, scribbling on parchment. "What are you doing?"

"We've only got a month until exam week's over," Michael said. "That should be enough time to come up with some rememberable insults, right?"

"It should be enough time to figure out how to personalise it, too," Lee added thoughtfully. "At least for some people."

"Don't you think that's a little mean?" Luna asked unsurely.

"What about those girls in your year that call you Loony?" Anthony asked. "Don't you think they have it coming?"

Luna paused. "I overheard Jennifer Atkins complain that her parents favour her brother over her. Can we write a joke about that?"

Fred pointed at her. "That's dark and twisted. I like it."

That comment started a list of people they hated and how badly they wanted to tear them down. It was a fun time.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The following Saturday, Harry, Anthony, Terry and Michael were called to the London Citadel.

Thanks to their camping trip with Felicia, they had an idea of what this meeting could be about. However, they all agreed to keep their hopes in check in case it turned out to be something else.

Entering the Commander's office after being told to enter, the boys stood at attention before his desk as stoically as they could. However, the sight of Felicia in her full Auror uniform made that rather difficult.

"At ease," the Commander said lowly. "We all know why we are here." Harry forced himself to not glance at Terry and Anthony; their dad didn't seem very happy to have them here. "The four of you are hereby reinstated into active duty as of today."

"However," he added sharply as the boys began to glance excitedly at each other. "I want you all to be aware of the consequences of any more independent investigations. Not one of you will ever touch an Auror badge ever again. Is that clear? Because I will personally see to it."

"Yes, sir." They chorused.

"Good. Now-" he moved from behind his desk, holding a small box in his hands that opened to reveal four Auror badges. Once they had each reclaimed theirs, the Commander gestured to the door. "I'll leave you in Captain Solace's capable hands."

"This way, Cadets," Felicia said as authoritatively as her sister would have done. She led them out of the office and towards the bullpen. When they reached their cubicle, Felicia waved her wand and summoned a thin file from their almost barren mission file cabinet. "Now then, let's get started on our debrief."

"We have a mission already?" Michael gaped.

Felicia smiled. "Don't let the Commander's act fool you. He's proud of what you lot did. What we did," she corrected. "He's just not happy with the way we went about it. He's not going to hold us back from missions any longer than he has to."

The others began quietly celebrating so as not to disturb their neighbours, but Harry's gaze remained fixed on the file in Felicia's hands. "Well? Don't keep us in suspense, Captain. What's the mission?"

Felicia handed them each a copy of the file, and they got to work.