2021 A/N: This chapter took me a while to write, simple because I couldn't decide what it was going to include. In the end, I decided the duelling tournament with elements of the quidditch tournament would be in it, with the start of second task of the tri-ward tournament taking place in the next chapter because I'm hoping that it is going to be quite long and will include multiple different prov's.
2021 A/N 2: Chapter 53, making this by far my longest running story and one that I intend to never give up on no matter how long it takes me to complete. I'm sure, once I move on from fourth year this story will start coming along quicker but I'm having a lot of issues with motivation for this year when all I want to do is write the next year and start including some more Percy Jackson AU.
2021 A/N 3: Please be reminded that there is a time skip from the Yule Ball to this chapter, nothing important happened during that time beyond family bonding.
Chapter 53: Year Four: Proving Herself
The winter holidays ended on the 3rd of January which was also the day that the three headmasters released the dates of the remaining activities that would be taking place for the rest of the school year. The notice, which was posted in the entrance hall and in every common room, read the following:
With the rare opportunity of competing against two other schools, of different training, skill and experience, it has been decided to add a Quidditch Tournament, a duelling Tournament and a chess tournament to the serious of events due to take place this year. Testing strategy, sports and magical prowess in these three mini-tournaments. Anyone can enter into the duelling and chess tournament, while the Quidditch tournament will be limited to tryl outs. The Hogwarts team will be led by Cedric Diggory, and anyone can try out for the team.
Further, due to the tri-wizard tournament several standard school events have been re-arranged so as to relieve the stress placed on the students and allow the Champions to take part in their end of year exams at the same time as their fellows, if they should so choose, instead of paying to complete their exams over the summer.
Please use the sign-up sheets posted on the notice board to sign up for either the Duelling tournament or the Chess tournament. If names are not listed by 6th January when these lists are taken down, then you will not be able to take part in these tournaments. Individual rules and procedures for the tournaments are listed on the sign-up sheets.
Hogwarts team try outs: Thursday 6th January 5:30pm
Day 1 of the Duelling tournament: Saturday 7th January
Day 1 of the chess tournament: Sunday 8th January
Day 2 of the Duelling tournament: Saturday 14th January
Round 1 quidditch, Durmstrang vs Gryffindor team: Sunday 15th January (am)
Day 2 of the chess tournament: Sunday 15th January (pm)
Round 1 quidditch, Beauxbatons vs Hogwarts: Sunday 29th January
Day 3 of the Duelling tournament: Saturday 5th February
Day 3 of the Chess tournament: Sunday 6th February
Finals of the Duelling tournament: Saturday 11th February
Finals of the Chess tournament: Sunday 12th February
Tri-ward Tournament Task 2: Fridayy 24th February
Round 2 Quidditch, Hogwarts vs. Gryffindor: Saturday 4th March
Round 2 Quidditch, Beauxbatons vs Durmstrang: Saturday 11th March
Round 3 Quidditch, Durmstrang vs. Hogwarts: Saturday 25th March
Round 3 Quidditch Beauxbatons vs. Gryffindor: Sunday 26th March
1st, 2nd & 3rd year exams: Monday 1st till Friday 13th May
5th & 7th year exams: Monday 15th till Friday 26th May
4th & 6th year exams: Monday 29th May till Friday 9th June
NEWT graduation exam – Tuesday, 20th June
Tri-wizard Tournament Task 3: Saturday 24th June
End of term/winner's feast: Sunday 25th June
Train home: 26th June
Aileen was not the only student to copy the dates listed since there was some important changes to their normal schedule for the year. The exams spacing this year was more efficient this year, but this time it was too far away from the end of term whereas the year before it had been too close. Aileen made a mental note to suggest to the headmaster that he should introduce additional lessons, like Culture and Traditions or Law, for once the exams had been completed since one lesson a day wouldn't keep them occupied.
The NEWT students taking their exam so early made sense as it meant that they would be able to get their results before they graduated (it took a month for the NEWT paper's to be marked), making it easier for them to find employment immediately upon graduation. And then, the OWL students would also have their results by the start of July at the latest (NEWTs were marked first, then OWLs), allowing Professor McGonagall to send out the supply lists earlier than she currently did. Overall, breaking up the exams as they had done would be far more efficient for everyone involved but only if the staff could keep the students occupied with something post exam; and it needed to be at least four lessons.
"Blimey," George whistled as he looked over the list.
"I hope you're only planning on entering the Duelling tournament and not the chest tournament." Fred frowned.
"You're busy enough as it is." George agreed with his brother.
"Don't worry, I'll leave the chess to Ron. He's much better at it anyway." Aileen reassured her boyfriends with a smile. "You two still willing to help me practise duelling?"
"Of course, little raven. You've got to be able to sweep the competition, just like you do…
"on the Quidditch pitch…,"
"…and in the tri-wizard tournament."
Aileen shook her head at the two of them. Although they were both very dangerously creative and initiative duellers, Aileen could typically out pace them and get through their guards – especially when they were duelling one on one, and not two on one. When they duelled together against her, Fred typically took the offense with George shielding and defending, which made them a very formidable team and one she was hard pressed to beat despite everything she knew and all the practise she got in. Of course, the more they fought against her, the harder it was since they practised new spells and strategies when they got bored. As long as they didn't face her in the duelling tournament, Aileen had faith that they would be able to place top 15 against all three schools, but if it had been just against Hogwarts, she would say top 5.
"When are you going to be able to do your homework?" Ron was the one to question when he saw Aileen's name on the Duelling list.
"During the week. As long as I put aside 30 or 40 minutes every weekday, I'll have plenty of time to do my homework." Ailene answered carelessly. "Besides, it's good practise for next year when we have our OWLS."
"You're as bad as Hermione, planning for OWLs already." Ron shook his head.
Day one of the duelling tournament came along quickly. The headmaster had opened up the amphitheatre and set up a duelling platform – using the expertise of the warders already on site to render it safe for people to watch without any stray spells hitting them. All the people who had signed up for the duelling tournament were sat in the front two rows, while the observers were all sat behind them. Aileen was sat in between Fred and George, while Hermione was sat between George and Victor. Ron had opted not to do the duelling tournament since he didn't want to have so many of his weekends completely taken up. Neville, however, had chosen to join and was sat on Fred's other side.
"Welcome to the first day of the interschool duelling tournament. The Round 1 duels will be until disarmed, knocked out, removed from the platform or two minutes have elapsed." Professor Flitwick stood as the referee. "Any attempt to main or seriously harm, will see you immediately disqualified. Will Mr Nikola Ivanov and Miss Jennifer Zander please step forward?"
Watching the duels, Aileen kept up a running commentary with her neighbours – commenting on skills and techniques. None of the duels they'd watched so far lasted more than a minute without any impressive displays of skill. There were a couple of Durmstrang students who might have skill, but the ones they faced were defeated so easily it didn't show. They were nearly four hours into the first round when Fred was called up, his opponent being a seventh year from Beauxbaton – Miss Sansa.
"Fred will totally whip the floor with her." George said confidently.
"Of course," Aileen agreed. "Sansa's duelling stance is floored with too many openings to allow her to move easily out of the way of any spells, and her grip is poor for getting a shield up fast."
Proving her right, Fred shot off three spells: Aguamenti, Glacius and expelliarmus, which had Sansa flat on her back and disarmed. The moment Flitwick called it, he returned to his seat where Aileen rewarded him with a kiss.
Not long later, George was called up to face his first opponent – a fourth year from Ravenclaw. George had slumped his way forward, clearly disappointed that he wasn't facing someone from his year or the year above. He knew very well that, with the practise he and his brother had been doing with Aileen, that no one under sixth year stood a chance against him. Especially when Fred and George could, when working together, hold their own against Aileen who was capable of beating Sirius in combat – an ex-hit wizard who was rapidly getting his skill and strength back. Proving his thought process, George was able to defeat his opponent with a simple 'expelliarmus' before returning to Aileen's side for a commiserating kiss and a promise that his opponents would be harder to defeat as they move through the competition.
Aileen herself was called up next and would be facing a fifth year Slytherin who had sneered at her mockingly but withheld any taunts since that would have him disqualified. Aileen started her duel, by not drawing her wand, and then dancing gracefully around each and every spell cast at her as she moved across the platform. Her opponent instinctively backing up when he noticed what she was doing, until he fell off the platform and therefore out of bounds. Aileen winning her first fight without even drawing her wand, let alone casting a spell – much to Fred and George's hilarity and everyone else's disbelief.
With the second day of the duelling tournament happening the day before the Gryffindor vs. Durmstrang quidditch match, a lot of the Slytherin students were cheering on the only two members of their house to make it into the final twenty-four (Demarcus Trent and Romulo Avery), hoping that they would face off against Aileen, Fred or George and cause them injury enough to stop them playing the next day. Krum and Alexander had managed to talk down their own kinsmen enough that the six of their number made it without being disqualified (Krum, Sonya, Alexey, Nikolai, Ilya and Alexander himself) were not intentionally aiming to harm her or her boys. The remaining fifteen students to make it too day two of the duelling tournament included three Gryffindors (Waldon Spinnet, Quintin Moon and Taylor Smith), four Hufflepuffs (Cedric Diggory, Arya Swan, Danial Amber and Lisa Bolton) and, surprisingly, six Ravenclaws (Zachery Cassel, Kendrick Condon, Andrew Forrester, Lisa Dustin, Xander Greenwood and Jade Magnar). Although Gryffindor did have the highest number, it was unexpected that more Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs managed to out dual the Slytherins. Aileen was the youngest, with all the other twenty-four being in their sixth and seventh years. None of the Beauxbatons students had made it into the twenty-four, but that wasn't because they weren't skilled, and rather was because they'd been unfortunate in their opponents with the four who made it to the final stage being taken out by Krum, Cedric, Fred and Xander respectively.
In the day 1 knock out rounds, Aileen hadn't cast a single spell. She had defeated her opponents by dodging anything they threw at her as she moved closer to them. This either resulted in her opponent backing off the platform or she would pluck their wand from their grip if they weren't holding it properly, or simple grab their wrist and disarm them. Physically disarming the opponent and rendering them unable to fight was not against the rules especially since, at no point, did she ever hit her opponent. Overall, Aileen had been mostly underwhelmed by the first day of fighting and was hopeful that the two opponents she would face today would put up a better fight and force her to actually draw her wand.
"Welcome to the second day of the interschool duelling tournament." Professor Flitwick greeted everyone once it seemed like people had begun to settle. The majority of all three schools and the teaching staff were present, along with several select members of the community – including Madam Bones and other high ranking Auror's, the international duelling circuit coordinator and a single reporter who was known for writing fact-based stories.
"Round 2 duels will be until disarmed, knocked out, removed from the platform, or five minutes have elapsed. Further, we are now comporting to junior duelling circuit rules, which means no physical contact is allowed." Several eyes drifted to Aileen with this addition to the rules, causing Fred and George to snicker at the implications.
Originally, the rules were based on the intermediate bracket of the duelling circuit, but the other schools, or even members of Hogwarts staff, likely decided that it was supposed to be a test of magical skill as opposed to flexibility and speed. By removing Aileen's 'normal' means of taking out an opponent they thought it would make the fights fairer, what they did not know and the twins did, was that they were opening themselves up to be severely embarrassed by a fourteen-year-old with four years of magical education behind them.
"I will remind you that any attempt to main or seriously harm, will see you immediately disqualified. Will Walden Spinnet and Jade Magnar please step forward?"
"Who do you think will win this one?" Alexander questioned.
"Well, Jade has demonstrated a greater diversity in the spells she can use; but Walden was the faster caster and could effectively use the small pool of spells he knows. So, if he can get passed Jade's defence, I would say Walden is most likely to win this round." Aileen hummed thoughtfully.
"Walden is also looking to join the Auror's when he graduates this year, and he came twelve in the under 17th international duelling tournament this summer." George tagged in.
"Best in defence of his year." Fred confirmed.
"So, we're thinking Walden progresses?" Krum confirmed.
Once Flitwick gave the go ahead, the duel started with Walden aiming to do a swift and final take down. He sent a blasting curse at Jade's feet, following swiftly with a minor cutting curse, a disarming charm, the knockback jinx and a binding curse. Jade barely had time to put a shield up to block the disarming charm while trying to keep her feet following the disbalance of the ground in front of her breaking apart. But blocking the dis-charming curse did her no good when she was thrown back to the edge of the platform and then bound with ropes.
"Effective." Aileen complimented.
"Demarcus Trent and Danial Amber," Flitwick called the next pair forward.
"Danial got the short end of the stick there." Fred whistled.
"Yes, their skills are not well matched." Krum agreed as they watched Danial try and bring Demarcus down with his preferred transfiguration style but was barely able to conjure a snake before he found himself disarmed and stunned.
"I'm surprised so many Hogwarts student made it this far since we don't have a duelling club or lesson and our defence instructors had been rather useless." Aileen hummed thoughtfully as Lisa Dustin and Zachery Cassel faced off with a broad display of ineffective magic since they weren't directly trying to hit the opponent.
"Well, your numbers are greater than ours, so it isn't completely unsurprising." Alexander pointed out.
Krum ended up being the first Durmstrang student up, facing off against Taylor Smith. He was merciful. Testing his opponent to see how they responded to different speeds and levels of aggression, before he distracted Taylor with conjured birds and knocked them off the platform with the knock-back jinx.
The rounds continued. Lisa Bolton beat Sonya, Nikolai beat Kendrick, Xander lost his round to Alexander, Cedric took down Quintin and the twins beat their opponents of Alexey and Ilya. Arya Swam was overwhelmed by Andrew Forrester. Aileen was the last contestant up against Romulo Avery. The second Slytherin, Demarcus, had won his round which made Romulo more determined to succeed – despite being outnumbered they clearly wanted to make it as far as the finals. From what she had been able to make out from her spys (who she had only recently started implementing) they felt they wouldn't be considered for the Auror program unless they made it that far considering the fact that they were combating the negative stigma of their families and their house. They were both more than good enough to complete the training, she would keep an eye on them and, if she liked what she saw, she would sponsor them for the program. For now, she would test his skills on the platform.
For the first time, Aileen stepped onto the platform with her wand drawn. She would give him the respect of facing him as a capable soldier before she took him down. The moment they were given the go ahead, Romulo started casting fast and strong – aiming to take her down with just one hit. This was a standard practise used by combat squats in the Auror's because they were normally facing people who wouldn't hesitate to kill. But Romulo was sacrificing fineness and skill for this heavy hitting approach; he didn't have the experience necessary to make it work, especially since he was making a conscious effort to not seriously hurt Aileen and therefore reducing his effectiveness even more when facing against an experienced dueller.
At first, Aileen simple twisted and bent her body around the spells, deflecting those which would have had an area effect. Romulo had a good variety, she thought impressed, after nearly a minute of such tactics. He'd had a good amount of time to show off his skill, and to show her the gaps and wholes in his defences. Now, it was her time to act.
Deflecting a cutting curse aimed at her shoulder, Aileen dived through two stunning hexs while sending a binding hex. Landing on one hand, she went into a side cartwheel and cast a disarming charm on the way up. Landing on her feet, she followed it up with a petrification curse. Casting so quickly, especially after spending so long on the defensive, and throwing her body into such an unexpected manoeuvre took her opponent by surprise. He managed to dodge the binding hex and deflect the disarming hex, but the petrification curse had him topping over. Just encase he had learnt to cancel the curse, she disarmed him.
That afternoon, the twelve-duellist stood ready to fight for a place in the semi-finals that wouldn't take place until Saturday 5th, after the first two games of the inter-school quidditch tournament. Aileen was the first one called up, facing off against Alexander.
"Damn, I actually thought I could make it to the finals." Alexander moaned as he moved to take his place opposite Aileen on the stage.
"Luck of the draw." Aileen offered an apologetic smile.
"Well, I'm going to make you work for it." Alexander raised his wand into the ready position.
Aileen mirrored Alexander, for the first time taking the traditional duelling stance and having her wand ready for a fight for the second time.
"Well, at least I know you're taking me serious." Alexander smiled.
"Of course, you've proven yourself to be a decent dueller." Aileen complimented.
"Duellers, are we ready?" Flitwick asked.
"Ready." They confirmed together.
"Then, let the match begin." Flitwick gave them the go ahead as he stepped back into his protected box.
Unlike Romulo, Alexander knew better than to immediately start casting spells. He needed to fight smart, not hard in order to have a chance at beating her – or at least, making her work for the win.
Aileen was the one to start the duel. With an upward flick of her wrist, she conjured a large group of crows, which she then sent at Alexander with a point of her wand. Her opponent countered with a fire-whip, burning the birds before they could reach him, but she simply used the cover in order to conjure some snakes to send at Alexander.
Once his field of view was cleared of crows and smoke, Alexander sent an ice charm followed by the blasting hex Aileen's way, not noticing the snakes sneaking his way. Aileen deflected the ice to her left while dodging the blasting curse. She retaliated with a pair of conjured panthers.
"I hate transfiguration." Alexander growled, turning his wand on the panthers instead of trying to hit his nimble opponent. Just as he took down the second panther, he found himself caught in the grip of several snakes. Aileen immediately took advantage and summoned her opponent's wand to herself.
"Well, you made me look like a beginner." Alexander sighed, moving back to his seat. Aileen just laughed and went to join the twins.
"I thought you didn't like relying on one branch when you duel?" George asked.
"I was showing off." Aileen admitted. "Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore are both in the audience today."
"George Weasley and Cedric Diggory." Flitwick called upon the next pair.
"Good luck." Aileen wished. Cedric was a good dueller, but he was very strict and followed the rules of engagement, which made him predictable. George was the complete opposite; he was a very unpredictable and flexible dueller.
The fight was quick, with Cedric ending up orange with floor length dreadlocks and his wand in George's hand. George hadn't wanted to draw the fight out and give Cedric the opportunity to land a hit on him, so he had cast spells hard and fast – throwing in the prank spells for a distraction.
"Hay Weasley, you going to undo this?" Cedric question, motioning to the hair. "I don't care about being orange, but I can't walk with this dragging me down."
"Sure." George smirked mischievously, casting a spell at Cedric which caused his hair to shorten but remain as dreadlock's.
"I should have expected that." Cedric sighed as the students laughed.
"Waldon Spinnet and Nikolai." Flitwick called up the next pair. Both of these combatants were basic duellers and so the fight drew out until Nikolai managed to get a stunning curse under Waldon's guard.
"Demarcus Trent and Lisa Bolton" were the next ones up but Lisa forfeited, unwilling to face Demarcus who was a more vicious dueller.
"Zachery Cassel and Andrew Forrester," the last two Ravenclaws were paired against each other. The skills and spells they demonstrated were wide and varied and the fighting went on for so long that quite a few of the student's had stopped paying attention. In the end, Andrew won the duel while blowing his opponent off the stage.
"Victor Krum and Fred Weasley" were the last pair, and Fred rather grudgingly stepped onto the platform. He knew that he wasn't good enough on his own to win a fight against Krum who had been learning duelling for more years than he had. Fred did his best and put up a fight, but in the end, he was taken down by a powerful spell chain.
Moving onto the third day of the duelling tournament was Demarcus Trent of Slytherin, Krum and Nikolai of Durmstrang, Andrew Forrester of Ravenclaw and George and Aileen of Gryffindor.
"For the first time in the history of our three schools, we will be witnessing a quidditch tournament between our school teams. First up, the highly anticipated match between Durmstrang and Gryffindor – more importantly the highly respected seekers of Victor Krum and Aileen Potter, arguable the best seekers under sixteen." Lee Jordon was the announcer for the games, watched over by not just McGonagall, but also Deputy head Ivan and Madam Leanna to make sure that the commentary wasn't biased based on school.
"For the away team, we have Keeper Giotto, Chasers Luis, Adelmo and Captain Marcello. Beaters Benito and Oliver, and finally seekers Victor Krum." Lee introduced each member of the Bulgarian team, to cheering from the crowd. They'd managed to sell tickets to the public, with half the stands being taken up by the students of all three schools, and the other half being taken up by the public from all three nations due to careful application of expansion magic.
"For the home team, we have our very own Gryffindors under the command of Captain and Chaser Angelina Jonson, with her fellow chasers Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. Our newly tested and proved, keeper Ronald Weasley. Beaters, Fred and George Weasley. With Aileen Potter standing as our undefeated seeker – let's see if she will hold that title by the end of this." Lee's introduction for the Gryffindor team was more lavish, but that could simple be because he actually knew information about the team.
Against such a skilled seeker as Krum, Aileen had decided she would dedicate her entire time to searching for the snitch instead of playing the interfering or fourth seeker. So, the moment the whistle blew, she took to the skies and circled high above the team.
"The second inter-school quidditch team is between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts. As a reminder, Gryffindor team won their match by fifty points, which means if Hogwarts or Beauxbatons can win this game with a greater gape they will take the lead." Lee started the game with a brief recap on the previous game. Unlike the Durmstrang or Gryffindor game, there wasn't as many people who had come to the school to watch, but the stands were still packed with people.
"For Beauxbatons, we have Fleur Delacour, Stacy and Tracy as Chasers, Darcy as Keeper, Wanda and Kala as beaters. As all of these students are seventh years, they have experience that not all members of Hogwarts have." Lee introduced as the girls in blue flew out.
"For Hogwarts we have a cross house team of some of our best: Ravenclaw captain Roger Davies standing as chaser besides Randolph Burrow of Ravenclaw and Slytherin captain Marcus Flint, Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke as Beater from Hufflepuff and keeper Miles Bletchly of Slytherin. For seeker, we have Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff." Lee managed to keep any hint of dislike from his tone as he introduced the two Slytherin's who had managed to prove themselves being the best at their particular role.
Despite not being big into quidditch at Beauxbatons, their team had been training very hard since it had been announced there would be an inter-school game. But, against the best of the best of Hogwarts who had been training hard to ensure their teamwork was up to scratch despite the typical inter-school rivalry that existed. Dumbledore was the proudest he'd ever been while he watched his team win by a landslide against the Beauxbatons – putting them well into the lead.
Day three of the duelling club was opened to more than just the schools and a limited number of people. Parents and family members there to see who would made it to the finals were invited, along with the news reporter (from all three countries), Aurors and international duelling circuit coordinators were all welcome to watch. The news had been raving about the diverse and ingenious skills that the students had been demonstrating, and the anticipation of greater skills being shown in the coming matches since these were the best of the best.
The order of the matches had been announced right at the start instead of having to wait for each person to be called up. There was no true advantage of knowing your opponent early anymore, since they had all had time to think of strategies against each and every one of their opponents having seen their skills already in use.
The first match was between Demarcus Trent and Nikolai. The lone Slytherin to make it this fair was quite happy with his opponent, more than confident he could defeat the student of Durmstrang who used basic spells. This match up gave him an easy pass through into the finals, where he would have the opportunity to face off against the only person in the tournament who had breezed through without being hit by a single spell or struggling to combat anything her opponents did to them. He had already been approached by a representative of Law Enforcement following his previous duel, alongside Romulo, and he was set to enter the Academy upon graduation, but coming third or second in the first inter school duelling tournament would make up for the fact that he wasn't selected as a champion. If he managed to defeat the annoying fourth year, even better.
Second match had George facing Krum. Like his brother, George knew well that he couldn't win against Krum but he could do his damn best to make Krum work for it – and he did. For the first time, Krum was put to the test as he was forced to shield and deflect a series of prank spells which would make it difficult for him to cast spells of his own. In the end, he managed to get his revenge, transfiguring George's wand arm into an elephant's trunk.
The final match was between Andrew and Aileen. Andrew clearly wanted to forfeit the match, but didn't want to be seen as week, so he was going to give it a go. Demarcus and Krum had been the only ones who thought they might have a chance against her having done well in the international duelling tournament. He had his pride as a Ravenclaw, and he wouldn't back down unless he gave it his best shot to showcase what he knew. Aileen didn't give him that chance, these duels were cutting into her time with her brother, and she was starting to miss him, so she didn't hesitate to overpower her opponent with spells she'd adapted to sneak through basic shield charms.
The basic protego, and even it's more powerful variant protego maximum, were designed to shield against a variety of spells which all had a standard Arithmancy base. The shield worked by having a counter sequence number to that base, so by adapting her own spell so that the base did not have that same sequence, it was able to get through the protego spell. It wouldn't work against other shield spells, which were designed to reflect back a spell or to physically stop the passage of magic or an object, but fortunately those advanced spells were not commonly used by anyone – not even Aurors unless they were in a situation that they recognised that the protego wouldn't work.
"The finals of the duelling tournament will be a three-way duel between Aileen Potter of Gryffindor, Demarcus Trent of Slytherin and Victor Krum of Durmstrang." Flitwick announced happily on the conclusion of the last match. "Please return next weekend to see the conclusion of these exciting matches. And don't forget, the chess tournament continues tomorrow, with the finals the day after the duelling final."
"That was unusually vicious of you Aileen." Fred commented. That'd retreated to the rooms that the twins had claimed as their own and were lying sprawled on the bed.
"I miss having weekends to myself." Aileen admitted. "This entire year has just been terrible."
"It's February." George pointed out.
"I know," Aileen sighed. "Between the wards, my training, class work and the tournament, I'm tired. I've resorted to doing homework in all but potions lessons, and not paying attention."
"Perhaps we can help you relax." Fred smiled wickedly.
"Welcome to the finals of the inter-school duelling tournament." Dumbledore smiled serenely from the stage.
Aileen was stood to his left with McGonagall behind her, Demarcus stood to his right with Severus behind him, and Krum next to Demarcus with Ivan at his back.
"Each of these three contestants have proven that they are very skilled with their magic, but now it's time to see who will come out on top. This will be a three-on-three match until knock out, yielding or out of bounds, holding to the junior international rules of engagement." Dumbledore smiled on at the three students. A flick of his wand and the stage turned from a rectangle to a large circle.
"Contestants, take your positions." Flitwick instructed as the other teachers left the stage. The three of them moved so that they were stood equally apart from each other, about a metre from the edge so that they had the chance to move out of the way, if necessary, without the chance of falling off the stage.
"Ready? Begin." Flitwick shot a green spark from the end of his wand.
Aileen acted first; she sent a bunch of snakes and conjured big cats at Demarcus to keep him occupied, while she turned to Krum. Both of the boys had initially sent spells her way, but she'd simple twirled out of the way while retaliating. Krum realised that she'd decided to take him out first and conjure a physical shield behind which he could fight. Aileen simple turned the shield into water which she then froze, capturing Krum's foot. With him off balance, she turned the floor beneath him into vines to hold him in place while sending the expelliarmus charm to disarm him.
She'd barely just immobilize and disarmed Krum when she was forced to dive out of the way of a spell from Demarcus. Hoping to keep her from casting spells back, Demarcus continued rapidly casting at her. Allowing him to think he had her on the run, Aileen continued ducking and dodging the spells cast at her. Demarcus was a fast caster, able to get of fourteen spells a minute, but that wasn't good enough to beat her. Sirius was able to get off thirty-three spells a minute, and the twins together could get forty when fighting together.
Once Demarcus started slowing down, Aileen acted and cast the knock-back jinx followed by the rope binding charm, immobilising him and allowing her to walk over and remove his wand.
The duelling tournament was at an end, and now she could focus on preparing for the second task and ensuring that her skills were up to scratch. Her physical training, particularly that of the sword, had started falling behind with everything that had been going on. Along with her connection and conversations with her brother.
Edited: 12/01/2024
2021 A/N 4: I hope that you liked this story, and a demonstrating of just how advanced Aileen is in the area of fighting in comparison with other people. Please, leave a review letting me know what you think.