Chapter 3 – A Viennese Whirl

Once everyone had found a seat, Harry was disappointed to see that the arrangements weren't quite how he would have liked them. He'd got to sit next to Sirius, which was nice, but on his other side was Granger, and then her mother. Just past them were Petunia and Dudley, and then Granger's father. Tracey, her father, and brother all sat to the other side of Sirius. Soon enough the grand feast table filled up with all the other guests as they found their way from their rooms to the dining hall.

Floating candelabras meandered throughout the dining room lazily, their choreography no doubt handled by some charm or other as they rotated around a central crystal chandelier. An enchanted orchestra provided soothing dinnertime music from a spot midway along the grand hall. And over it all more than a dozen different languages coming from all parts of the room. Harry felt like he might have been overwhelmed if not for the practise he'd had with a similar situation over the Triwizard Tournament.

And there weren't nearly as many people at Hexenhochburg Prachtgarten. More languages, but fewer people, and that was manageable.

"Have you read the orientation papers, Harry?" asked Granger while they waited for the feast to officially begin.

Harry thought her use of his forename was a bit forward, especially since they weren't on those terms at school, but said nothing. He supposed they were on holiday, sort of, and it was a bit weird to keep to the formal tradition of surnames until you were friendlier. They were literally eating dinner together. And it was likely to make Harry appear rude if he insisted otherwise, so he let it go.

"Yes, I took a look when we went to the rooms," Harry said. "I'm glad we've got so many training days, to be honest. I'm feeling a bit rusty since we got back for the summer."

"It's a real shame students aren't allowed to practise spellwork during the summer," Granger said. "I understand why, of course, but in situations like this one it would have been very helpful for us to have been able to cast spells, wouldn't it?"

"Definitely," said Harry, glad the conversation was going somewhere he could keep it going. "Tracey's been able to do some proper spellwork already. Don't get me wrong, I understand why muggleborn and muggle raised wizards can't do magic at home, but it'd be nice if we could do it too, wouldn't it? I've been stuck doing movements without actual casting and it's a real pain."

Granger appeared surprised at that.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Tracey was casting spells? I thought we weren't allowed to cast spells at home! We all get the letters at the end of the year saying so."

"Oh, er…" Harry said. It seemed like Granger hadn't known wizard-raised students could cast magic at home. Enforcement of that particular law was down to parents, and some parents were rather lax with it. "Well… they only investigate when the Trace goes off for muggleborns and people like me," Harry said. "So if you live in a magical home, if your Trace goes off they don't bother to investigate." Harry hadn't enjoyed learning that piece of information either, since it seemed to put him at a disadvantage, but then again he had been able to get away with some summer spellwork at Ernie's summer house.

But Granger seemed even more put out by it. She sat there with a great big frown on her face.

"That isn't very fair at all," she complained. She turned to her mother. "Mum, did you hear that? Wizard-raised students are allowed to do magic at home in the summers. It's just another example of the unjust institutional structures I was telling you about. So that means they get to practise magic in the summers, but I have to sit at home doing nothing."

"Technically, no one is supposed to do magic at home," Harry said, trying to smooth over the situation. "It's just that, if your parents don't mind, you can cast spells. Er, but I'm sure not all parents will allow it. I know Tracey said hers only let her do it under supervision, you know, because it can be dangerous…"

"Yes, but do you really think families like the Malfoys follow those rules? Or the Parkinsons?" Granger continued. "I don't think so."

The Malfoys. Harry winced. He'd been doing so well in not thinking about the trial, too, but now he kept wondering how Lawmage Spellman was getting on with the case prep. Wondered what the Malfoys had said to their own lawmage, that Gavelwood woman.

Even wondered what was in the papers, which he'd steadfastly refused to read so that they didn't ruin his week at the Summer Tournament.

"But the two of us—and all the other muggleborns—we've got to wait until we get to school to do any magic at all! And that's not fair, is it?" continued Granger. "And that's on top of all of the other advantages wizard raised students have over us to begin with. It's just one thing after another."

On that, Granger wasn't wrong at all. Harry had thought much the same himself. Some countries solved that by removing muggleborns from their parents at the first signs of magic to be raised as wizards… but that didn't seem like a good solution to Harry. Not one he would have wanted, anyway. He'd lost one family already and didn't feel much like he'd have wanted to lose another one. Muggle or not, Petunia, Dudley, and Vernon were his family.

"You're not wrong," Harry agreed. "But really, what can we do? It's just the way things are. And there are ways around it—you know, you could go to Diagon Alley and places like that to practise. And even muggleborns can go there as much as they want, even in the summer. I heard that from—"

Harry stopped talking as a witch at the far end of the table stood and tapped out a series of notes from her wand. The grand dining hall quietened.

"Good evening, witches and wizards—and to our muggle guests, whoever you may be," she said in Latin. Harry's Latin was much improved from his earliest days at Hogwarts, but he made a special point to concentrate so that he didn't miss anything. Although he could reasonably be said to 'speak Latin', he didn't feel fluent in it. But he supposed it was the most sensible language for the Circuit to use to communicate with wizards from all over Europe.

"What's she saying, darling?" Harry heard Granger mother ask her.

"I'll explain after," Granger said.

"Tonight we convene the 1995 European Duelling Circuit's Under-21 Summer Tournament," continued the witch. "We are so very pleased that all of you could join us here. You are the very best young duellists that Europe has to offer and we are all looking forward to seeing just what you can all do! Before we enjoy the marvellous feast I would like to remind everyone that orientation for duellists will begin at eight o'clock tomorrow morning in the entrance hall. With that out of the way, please, everyone enjoy the feast!"

The witch sat back down, and as she did, mountains of food appeared on the table. Platters and dishes and tureens filled with all sorts of things, some of it familiar to Harry and some of it not. It seemed as if the organisers had created a menu which drew from the cuisines all over Europe. It was like the Triwizard Tournament's selection of foods only on a much grander scale. Harry stuck to the things he knew.

"My Latin's a bit rusty," Sirius said, "but I think she said about the orientation tomorrow? That's good, isn't it? So you can get started right away. You'll be wanting to work out a strategy, I bet."

"Definitely," Harry said. "I mean, we've only just finished from the Pariturium so we've got a good idea what we'll do, but…"

"I was planning on trying a different approach for the Summer Tournament," Granger said from beside Harry. "You might think about doing that, too."

Harry glanced over at Granger. That made sense for Granger – she'd been knocked out of the Pariturium and had only won the invitation to the Summer Tournament because Harry and Draco had forfeited the finals. Marching on with her strategy unaltered seemed like a recipe for failure once more. But Harry and Tracey had won the doubles competition. They'd come out of it undefeated, the unequivocal winners of the Novice Doubles. Changing too much risked ruining their synergy.

"We still need to talk about our tactics," Harry said politely, "but we wouldn't want to mess around too much with what let us win." He paused to eat some of the sausage-thingy in a weird sauce he'd put onto his plate, then looked over at Granger again. "But we will try to add some surprises, I suppose. Some of the people here will have seen us duel, or read about it, I bet."

"Oh, yes," said Granger's mother, leaning slightly closer. "Hermione told me that you and Tracey won the paired competition. Not that she needed to, of course, because we do get that paper of yours delivered to the house. When Hermione said that we could do that we were honestly thrilled, because it's so hard for people like us to keep up with all the goings on in your world. Although I bet your aunt and uncle feel the same way!"

"My uncle—er, Vernon, the one back in England, not Dave—gets the paper as well," Harry decided to say, although the subscription was really Harry's that Harry tended not to read. Vernon enjoyed it, anyway. "But I see what you mean. It is hard for muggles to get involved—nothing in our world is really set up for it."

Which was a massive understatement, given that the Ministry considered muggles something akin to children.

"You know," said Sirius, "I've never really thought about it before, but that's true, isn't it? Even just getting to the Alley to buy school stuff—or toys, or something like that—is a nightmare for muggles. Can't even see The Leaky Cauldron until a wizard shows you."

"Well, we did have that day trip put on by the school," Prudence said, "when all of us parents of the muggleborns got to go down to London together to be shown in. I suppose they must have put on a few of those days, since I don't recall seeing you or your family there, Harry. But it was very helpful for us. I do think more could have been done along those lines, of course—I haven't even seen Hogwarts. Well, aside from pictures and books but that isn't quite the same."

"It's just the one day, actually, Mum," Granger said. "Harry wasn't there."

"Ah, because your parents are magical, I suppose? And your aunt already knew how…"

"Something like that," Harry muttered, keen not to get into the nitty-gritty of it.

"It was because in our first year Sirius Black escaped from prison, I think," Granger said. "You remember that man on television? The one who escaped from prison but the news never said where?" Granger said. "That was Black. He's a very dangerous wizard, and he was thought to be looking for Harry. I imagine that's why Professor Flitwick took you on your own, wasn't it, Harry?" asked Granger.

Quite how that little morsel had made its way to Granger Harry couldn't say, but it was more or less true. Not quite, as Harry probably would have attended with the muggleborns if his aunt hadn't got cold feet at the last minute and tried to stop him attending Hogwarts altogether, but that seemed like unnecessary detail. Not something he wanted to get into with Granger at any rate. Harry glanced over at Sirius, who was sat there eating calmly as if he wasn't being talked about. As if he had barely an idea of who Sirius Black even was.

Harry hadn't kept it a secret that he'd been taken to Diagon Alley by Flitwick. He'd mentioned it to people, friends, in the first few weeks of term. Since it wasn't a secret. It just felt strange that the information had found its way to Granger of all people.

"Er, yeah, that's part of it," Harry said. "And I was late answering my letter." He shrugged. Tried to think of some way to change the topic of conversation to one less predicated on Harry and his goings on. One a bit less close to Sirius, as even though there was no earthly reason for anyone to connect Sirius Black with 'Harry's uncle Dave', it felt stupid to be talking about Sirius in public at all. Much easier to just not mention it at all.

If only Tracey had been sat next to Granger instead. Harry knew she'd have been able to keep up any number of different topics of conversation as naturally as breathing. Next to her, Harry felt like a socially awkward troll. Granger liked school, so Harry picked that as a topic. A bland and safe conversation about her options. That should work.

"What optionals did you take for next year, Gr—Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to choose all of them!" Granger said. "Except Divination. But Professor McGonagall said there literally wasn't enough time in the timetable for that." Granger actually seemed disappointed she couldn't do five optional OWLs. She was frowning and everything, like the very idea still smarted.

Mad.

"So I had to choose. I had to do Arithmancy, of course," Granger said. "It was my favourite subject last year. And Ancient Runes, since it's so important for everything. I had to think about Alchemy because Professor Dee's lessons are all a bit… well, you know … but in the end I thought it was best to try. And I did think about doing Magizoology on top, but Professor McGonagall said that four on top of Triple-As might be a bad idea." She paused, glanced around as if checking anyone was listening. "And, to be honest, I'm not a big fan of Mr Hagrid's teaching style. Professor Grubbly-Plank is alright but the lessons weren't really my thing. So I put myself down for it but I might drop it by Hallowe'en. Depending."

That was a lot of words to say 'I chose Triple-As,' but Harry didn't mind too much. He'd wanted to find a topic Granger could talk about, after all. And with Granger doing all the same subjects as Harry, Harry assumed he'd be seeing a lot of her over the next year. Best to start amicably.

So Harry just nodded along as he helped himself to a second portion of whatever the stew he'd been eating was. It was delicious, even if the meat did taste like nothing he'd ever eaten before.

"Those are what I picked as well," Harry said. "Er, well, except Ancient Runes—Snape picked that for me. Wouldn't let me do two. So I'm doing Triple-As as well. I did think about doing Magizoology too, but… well, I didn't pick it. Triple As is enough for me I reckon."

"Oh, you enjoy Alchemy as well?" said Granger, brightening. "You know, I'm the only one in Gryffindor who liked it? Nobody else can stand the lessons. I know Professor Dee is a bit strange but honestly, the subject is just so interesting I don't think it matters!"

Harry nodded along. Now, that was a subject he could talk about. Even with Granger.

"Definitely. And you know, they do say that all alchemists are a bit eccentric, don't they? Look at Dumbledore. So really…"

The rest of the feast passed by like that, the ice broken. As Harry made his way back to his room with his family and Sirius he reflected on the sheer oddity of spending an evening with Granger and having enjoyed it, but he supposed stranger things had happened to people while on holiday.

Harry got up especially early the next day so he could have a read over the orientation packet before heading down to the entrance hall for the orientation proper. Sirius and Petunia came with him, although Dudley stayed in bed. The meeting saw everyone split off into their various categories and told the location of their personal training rooms.

That was particularly exciting for Harry, as he'd never had a dedicated, properly outfitted space for duelling practise. Group sessions of Duelling Club in the Great Hall were nice, and his and Tracey's little hideaway in the dungeons made for a passable locale, but neither was a special dedicated training room. But it had to wait until after breakfast, since nobody had eaten and Harry didn't want to spend all morning sparring on an empty stomach. For breakfast, Dudley joined them in the dining hall, directed there by Nieblitz. Unlike for the feast the previous night, Hexenhochburg's dining hall saw dozens upon dozens of small, intimate tables scattered throughout the cavernous room.

Harry found that he preferred it that way, as although he couldn't sit with Tracey or her family, he could at least sit with his own family without any distractions. And it was nice to have a morning chat with Sirius and his aunt… and even Dudley, who seemed quite excited by the idea of food magically appearing on his plate once it was requested. Finally, after a breakfast that had in Harry's opinion dragged on far too long, Harry was able to make his way to his training room with Tracey.

Along with everyone else in their entourage.

"…I'm quite looking forward to the excursions in the afternoons," Harry heard Petunia say to Sirius and Colin as they walked through the castle. "I've never been to Vienna before, and certainly I've never seen the magical part of Vienna!"

Excursions. His aunt was excited about the excursions. Well, that was typical for Petunia, but Harry didn't much feel like wasting any time with them. Not that he had much choice about it, as the training spaces were blocked off after lunch and everyone had to participate in the 'cultural activities' put on by the EDC. But at least everyone else would be in the same boat and he wouldn't be disadvantaged by his aunt's desire for cultural enrichment.

Small mercies.

Harry tuned out the adults' conversation and focused on his and Tracey's instead.

"I think we should get started on our combos," Tracey was saying. "We did really well with them in the Triwizard but I think we can make it smoother."

"Definitely," Harry said. "I read in the packet they gave us the rooms have even got, you know, training dummies and all that, so we can get really, properly into it." With training dummies and proper, professional duelling equipment, Harry thought they could take their training to the next level. They could practise proper levitation combos, battle transfigurations… anything! And with Sirius and Colin on hand, as well as the EDC's officials, even if they broke things it could all be fixed up in no time at all.

So to say Harry was excited about it all was an understatement.

Soon enough they found their way to the training room and Harry went inside. It was more or less how Harry had expected it to be.

Against the wall with the door was a seating area – a handful of chairs with a couple of small tables, all in a non-descript kind of wood without much in the way of ornamentation. Then, within the room itself, were a few target dummies in a few different sizes strewn throughout.

"It's so big," Tracey said. "I thought it'd be smaller than this!"

"I reckon it's about half the size of a duelling arena," Harry said, looking from one end of the room to the other. Definitely enough space for them to practise in, anyway. Especially all of the manoeuvres they'd need for their end of the arena.

"It's a bit like a boxing gym," Petunia said once inside. "Isn't it, Dudley?"

Dudley looked up from his GameBoy.

"Yeah, a bit," he said. "I suppose." He sat himself down in one of the chairs.

"Well, don't mind us," Petunia said as she put her bag down on one of the tables and took a seat herself. "We'll just be watching along here."

"Could have done with something like this when I was your age," Sirius said with a low whistle. "Nice set up."

"Did you duel yourself, Dave?" Harry heard Colin ask. "I don't remember you at Hogwarts, so maybe your school was a bit more adventurous with it."

"Er… not exactly," Sirius said.

Harry ignored them. Sirius could fend for himself, had surely crafted a proper false identity before they'd even stepped foot in Austria. He could handle a casual conversation with Colin.

"So, right," Harry said. "Shall we get started with a few basic openers, then see about the combos? I think we can improve our Levitation Combo if we practise a bit more."

"Let's do that," agreed Tracey. "Let's do that this morning, and tomorrow we can try out this hex combo I saw in Duellist's Friend…"

Harry and Tracey spent the rest of the morning at their practise, trading spells with one another and working on their Levitation Combos. By the end of the session the target dummies had spent more time in the air than they had on the wooden floor, and Harry felt quite glad at what they'd managed to achieve. If nothing else, it was a nice little session that got him back into the groove of spell casting. More than that, it got his mind off Lucius Malfoy and the horcruxes, and that was priceless.

As everyone walked away from the training room and towards the dining hall for lunch, Harry felt quite relaxed. He practically had a spring in his step. He even managed to think ahead towards the excursions.

"So, what's today's activity, then?" Harry asked as they made their way to the dining hall. "Something in Vienna, is it?"

And that was the shape of Harry's week. Dedicated and quite intense training for the Summer Tournament during the mornings, followed by excursions to see various bits and pieces of Austria in the afternoons. Trips to locations of historical importance to Austrian wizards, museums and galleries and that sort of thing mostly, although Harry did especially enjoy cloud surfing over the Austrian Alps. Even Petunia had had a go.

Then in the evenings, everyone decamped to one of Hexenhochburg Prachtgarten's many lounges for well-earned rest. Or, Harry thought the rest well-earned at least, given everything he'd been through to get to it. And it was a fortunate thing indeed that there were many lounges, as the sheer number of competitors at the prestigious Summer Tournament meant an even more considerable number of hangers on.

Harry's group had even managed to pick up another set of new 'friends' in the form of the Weasley family – or a small section of it, anyway. Fred Weasley had been accompanied to the Summer Tournament by his mother, younger brother Ron, and sister, Ginny. The Weasleys plus the Grangers meant that Harry and Tracey's group had doubled in size, but Harry didn't mind overly much. Ron and Ginny Weasley being there, but not competing, did at least give Dudley some others his own age to talk to when he wasn't playing his GameBoy.

So in the evenings, Harry found himself sat with quite the motley collection of companions in the lounge chosen by the various adults in the group. The lounge itself wasn't bad – an expansive yet somehow cosy room decked out in traditional Austrian browns, with splashes of red and white here and there. Most of the furniture was wooden and a roaring fire blazed along one wall, set back in an alabaster white fireplace that showed no signs of soot or char. A trio of enchanted instruments played soothing music from a corner, just loud enough to be heard over the buzz of conversation but not so loud as to overpower it.

Petunia and Sirius were sat some distance away with the other adults in the party – along with Tracey's youngest brother – while Harry and the others had found a comfortable place just far enough away that they didn't feel overlooked. While Harry didn't necessarily think he'd have chosen to keep such company outside of an event like the Summer Tournament, he did have to admit it wasn't half bad.

Even with Dudley sat there, too. But even that had turned out to be fine, since apparently Ron Weasley was fascinated by the GameBoy.

Wonders never ceased.

"It's so nice being able to do magic in the summer," Hermione said. "I know we're meant to be practising for the duelling, but in my off-time I've had a good look at next year's spell list. Of course, I suppose all you wizard-raised don't have to worry about that." She still seemed a little sour over the revelation that, practically speaking, wizard-raised students didn't quite have the same restrictions.

Which was fair enough, Harry supposed.

Ron grimaced.

"Mum doesn't let us do magic at all in the summers," he said. "Not a single spell. 'Course, Fred's been rubbing it in since we got back after summer—George, too."

"Ah, ickle Ron," said Fred. "You'll be a man too, some day, and you can cast all the spells you like!"

"You're seventeen already?" Harry asked.

It was Fred Weasley's turn to grimace.

"Eighteen, nearly," he said. "Not long after Hallowe'en."

"Mum made him and George resit their third year," Ginny said, smirking. "They failed too many OWLs."

A sideways glance from Fred. A touchy subject, no doubt. Especially embarrassing in light of Fred's duelling win.

"McGonagall said we were fine to go on to NEWTs," Fred explained, "but Mum disagreed. Said we wouldn't have enough NEWTs between us to… well, doesn't matter. So we did third year twice. That's why we're in the Novice category." He shrugged.

"Do you know, I always thought you were the year above us!" Tracey said. "Not that it matters! But I never realised you weren't."

Harry hadn't, either. He'd assumed they were in the year above too. No wonder Fred was such a versatile duellist – he'd had an extra year of practise! Not that Harry thought it was cheating, exactly, since he'd been put in the Novice category by Flitwick and hadn't learned any more advanced material, but it did explain some things.

"Well, hopefully you didn't fail your OWLs twice," Hermione said.

"I was kind of hoping they stuck around a bit longer," Ginny said. "Maybe all four of us could leave together. Ron's definitely going to have to take his OWLs twice, so—"

"Oi!" said Ron, looking up from Dudley's GameBoy. "I've not failed anything. Not even Potions. And I can't rely on greasy Snape to cover for my mistakes like you can, so don't go—"

Ron was distracted by a loud pop as an elf materialised next to their seating area. Harry turned to see Nieblitz stood next to him holding a letter.

"Harry Potter, sir, there is a letter for you. Nieblitz brings it to you at once." The little elf gave up the letter Harry, bowed obsequiously, and strode towards Petunia with yet another letter. Harry looked over the letter and found the wax seal. It was an owl – so the letter was from Spellman and Spellman. News of the preliminary hearing, Harry assumed.

Or hoped, anyway. He opened it, heedless of the company, and read it over.

Mr Potter,

I shall be brief. I have just returned from the first of our hearings before the Wizengamot. It went well. Very well. Having heard what Gavelwood has put together for the Malfoys I think we're onto a winner here. The hearing went on all day, but we came out of it better. I'd like to speak with you in person when you get back from Austria if we can manage to arrange a meeting between your duelling and your flight school.

Regards,

Valerian Spellman

Spellman was a little light on the details, but from the little that he'd said, Harry was pleased. He leaned back in his armchair and read over the letter again. He was all too aware that the conversation had more or less stopped as Harry read over his letter, replaced by scattered comments as everyone was more interested in the letter. But that could wait.

Harry took a sip of his butterbeer and read the letter yet again. Then he folded it and put it in his pocket.

"Er, what were we talking about?" Harry said, keen to get back to it.

"You can't just pretend like nothing's happened," Fred said. "That letter. It was about the Malfoy thing, wasn't it? So you've got to tell us what's happening." He paused and cast his gaze around the group. "It's not like any of us are on Malfoy's side, is it?"

"Er…"

"It is Harry's private business," Tracey said gently. "He doesn't have to tell us if he doesn't want to."

Harry shot her a grateful look. Still, it was nice to know that there were people on his side who didn't have to be. People like the Macmillans and Tracey's family and even Blaise's mum would support him just because they had one foot in Harry's side anyway, but the Weasleys? Harry was no one to the Weasleys.

"The preliminary hearing went well," Harry decided to say. "Can't say more than that. But our lawmage was pleased."

"I hope Lucius Malfoy gets what he deserves," Fred continued. "It's about time something caught up with him."

Harry felt much the same way.

"Well, that's what we hope will happen," Harry said.

"I read in the paper that Mr Malfoy's chances of winning the trial are quite high," Hermione said. "But if your lawmage thinks the hearing went well, that's good, isn't it?"

"Er… well…" Harry said. He didn't want to come out and say that the Daily Prophet was nothing more than a propagandist's rag, but… well… that's what it was. And if Hermione had yet to notice that, well…

"Please," said Ginny. "The Prophet's bought and paid for. As if they'd say anything bad about Lucius bloody Malfoy."

Ron looked up from the GameBoy. Snorted.

"A right cynic, is our Gin," Fred said with a wide grin. "And this time she's not wrong."

"That can't be right," Hermione protested. "It's the only real newspaper, and you're saying it's—it's just…"

"There is the Quibbler," Ron said. "If that's your sort of thing. But… yeah. Everyone knows the Prophet is a bit…" He shrugged, waved a hand.

"Mum doesn't," Fred said. "Believes every word of what Rita Skeeter writes, you know, even when she knows better."

Hermione seemed to be processing that little bit of information still, so Harry moved on.

"God, I hope she doesn't believe all the shit Skeeter writes about me," Harry said, glancing over at where Molly Weasley sat with all the other parents and guardians. "Since it's all bollocks."

"I did tell her you're not a Dark wizard," Fred said. "And our dad's got his head glued on right—mostly—so he agreed. And with this Malfoy stuff no one will believe you're Dark, not against them. So…" Fred shrugged.

That sounded nice. Unlikely, given everything Harry knew of the wizarding world and its fickle attitudes, but it was a pleasant thought. With some luck the trial would go his way and he'd come out the other side one enemy neutralised and with a better reputation to boot.

"Thanks," Harry said. "We'll see how it goes. Anyway…"

Harry changed the subject. As nice it as was having a bit of support, he didn't want to dwell on it. Part of the reason he'd come to the Tournament in the first place was to get away from all that, so despite the Weasleys' and Hermione's sudden support, Harry was keen to get on. The rest of Harry's days and nights at the Summer Tournament passed like that, with training sessions in the morning, excursions in the afternoons, and evenings spent in the lounge. Fred joined them some nights and not others, spending them instead with Diggory and Flickey.

And then, before the week's end, it was time for the Summer Tournament itself.

The final two days of the week were given over the various Tournaments for which everyone had been assembled at Hexenhochburg Prachtgarten in the first place. Without quite as many individual bouts as the Pariturium, Harry wasn't worried about how long it would take. Instead, Harry was concerned with the standard of competition. It would be high, no doubt. Invitations to the prestigious Summer Tournament were rare indeed, handed out only to those who'd won a qualifying tournament or league – and a handful of others, the criteria of which were known only to the European Duelling Circuit's board itself. But whatever the particulars, Harry knew he and Tracey were set to face off against the very best Novice duellists Europe had to offer.

And it was as exciting as it was terrifying.

On the first morning of the competition Harry and Tracey were shown to the very centre of the magnificent mountain fortress, an ornate and verdant garden, massive in its scale and fabulous in its detail. At the very centre of that was a full-sized duelling stage, raised up over the hedges and flowers and topiary and ringed by stands for the spectators.

Aside from the garden locale, it was very much like the arenas Harry had fought in during the Pariturium. So he didn't think there was anything to worry about there. It being outdoor was a little different, Harry supposed, but given that there were charms to ward against rain and snow and the like, it didn't seem as if it would matter. The inner ring of seats around the arena had been reserved for the participants, so Harry and Tracey sat together with Fred, Hermione, Diggory, and Flickey to watch the bouts and offer each other support. Harry thought it only right, them being the sole participants from Hogwarts, and it was nice to have the support.

Especially since family and friends had been seated further back.

The bouts for the various events – Novice Singles, Novice Doubles; Junior Singles, Junior Doubles – were all mixed up so that there were a variety of events throughout the two days of the Tournament proper. While that was all very well and good for the spectators, it did mean Harry had to endure rather a lot of sitting and around watching. And waiting.

And worrying.

"The standard's really high," Harry muttered to Tracey as they watched the first of the Novice Doubles bouts that day. Their own match wasn't until later, which was a blessing and a curse, since although they had a chance to see some of the competition fight, they had more time to worry themselves, too.

"It is," Tracey said, "but I don't think anyone we've seen so far is better than we are." She paused. "Really."

"Hmm, maybe," said Harry. "I reckon we've got a chance anyway."

"More than a chance," said Tracey. She gestured to the arena floor where one of the pairs was executing a combo. "See, look at that—that was a really sloppy Knockback Combo. We were managing better in the first round."

Tracey did have a point. And they were able to take notes while they waited for their turn, so it wasn't all bad. At least they'd come into the second round with a bit more information. Harry watched the rest of the duelling, taking notes on the Novice Doubles bouts. The other categories were for savouring the moments he got to simply enjoy the spectacle, sitting in the crowd and taking it all in. And he had to support Diggory and Flickey, Fred, and Hermione, too. They were Hogwarts's only entrants to the Summer Tournament in a very long time indeed, so Harry wanted them all to do well.

Fortunately, everyone else made it through to the second round. And then it was Harry and Tracey's turn to fight.

When they were called up Harry and Tracey made their way underneath the great arena at the centre of the garden to prepare for their bout. It was similar to the Pariturium in that there was a staging area set underneath the arena, although this one was amidst the gardens. The landscaping hadn't been skipped even though there was a duelling stage on top of it, although instead of the usual plants, Harry noted it was filled with exotic magical fungi. Glowing mushrooms and colourful ferns, and really all sorts of odd things Harry didn't recognise, lined the walkway to the staging area for the duels.

Striking, in its own way, but more than a little bit weird.

An official at the proper location under the arena moved Harry and Tracey into place, and then it was just a matter of waiting for their duel to begin. Harry glanced over at Tracey.

"Ready?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. We're going to smash it, I just know it," Tracey said. "As long as we make the semis we can be happy, I think." She paused. "I mean, we're going to win the whole thing, obviously. But… you know… just in case we don't."

Harry grinned.

"Definitely."

Soon after the platform on which they'd been stood rose up to the arena proper, and once more Harry was able to take in the unique atmosphere of a duelling arena pre-match. The buzz of the crowd as it slowly quietened. The rush of his heartbeat, the thud-thud-thud of anticipation.

In that moment, Harry could forget about everything else. About everything unpleasant. He was just Harry Potter, duellist. Internationally-acclaimed duellist. A champion.

Or at least, half of a pair of champions. Same thing, really.

Harry glanced over at Tracey, caught her eye.

"Ready?" she said.

"Ready," Harry confirmed.

He looked across the arena towards their competitors. It was nobody he knew. Not in a duelling sense, anyway, since he'd at the very least seen them around the castle and at the excursions over the past week. But he'd never seen them duel, and that was… well, not great. But manageable.

The announcer started the introductions. In Latin, as with everything else at the Summer Tournament, so Harry paid special attention.

"Next," said the announcer, "a Novice Doubles duel. Our duellists this afternoon are Harry Potter and Tracey Davis, winners of the Triwizard Tournament's Pariturium in the Novice Doubles (second year) category; and Alexandros Kyriakidis and Thalia Papadaki, semi-finalists in the Pýrinos Chorós."

Greek. Their opponents were Greek. That wasn't very helpful for Harry at all, since he knew nothing at all about the magical schools in Greece, and even less about the duelling tournaments in the region. The standard of the bouts could have been very high, or… not at all. But Harry had no way to know. That they'd rated an invitation for the Summer Tournament on the back of a semi-finals appearance suggested they would be decent opponents.

At least as good as anyone Harry and Tracey had fought in the Pariturium.

The wizard, Kyriakidis, was tall. Taller than Harry, who was growing quite tall himself, with broader shoulders. A more than suitable reach, which they'd have to watch out for. More than that, he didn't look intimidated by the crowd, or by Harry and Tracey. Papadaki held her wand tight in one hand, perhaps the only sign of nerves, but stared across the arena at Harry and Tracey like it was nothing at all.

"On my count," the announcer said, and Harry prepared to bow. To bow, and to jump into action. The culmination of days of practise – no, months, counting the Pariturium as a sort of prelude to the Summer Tournament. "Three, two, one… go!"

Harry bowed. Trusted Tracey to have done the same. Then pulled up his wand to start with his Pimple Jinx combo. It was a sequence Harry knew well and worked nicely enough as an opener.

"Furnunculus!" Harry said, wand pointed right across the arena at Papadaki.

The spell hit. Harry didn't wait around. He followed it up with a Stinging Jinx, which went wide, and then with a final Knockback Hex. Papadaki twirled out of the way of the hex and hit back with spells of her own. Harry caught the first with his Mirror Charm but ducked the second – it had the look and feel of a hex, though he didn't recognise the spell itself. Harry looked to his right where Tracey was getting off a sequence of her own.

She's fine, Harry decided. Whatever Kyriakidis was up to, Harry trusted Tracey to be able to deal with it.

Harry sidestepped a slow-moving spell and responded with a Levitation Spell.

"Levioso!" he said, stepping out and jabbing his wand just so.

Papadaki rolled to avoid it. The spell went wide, hit the shield charm around the edge of the arena.

But I can use that, Harry thought. While Papadaki rolled, Harry peppered her with a series of Stinging Jinxes. Then, as Papadaki lumbered to her feet, moved in for a Disarming Charm.

"Expellia—"

Harry lurched backwards. Thrown by a Knockback Hex from Kyriakidis, Harry was knocked to the arena floor.

No time to fuss. He had to recover. If Kyriakidis had been able to cast against Harry, that meant Tracey was dealt with in some way. Harry threw up a quick Mirror Charm to deflect a spell from Papadaki and then got to his feet. He glanced at Tracey, who was tied up – literally – and struggling her way out of a set of ropes. Fortunately, they'd practised for such an eventuality, and Harry now knew a nifty little charm that unbound bindings. He cast it in Tracey's general direction and then ducked to avoid a pair of spells from Papadaki and Kyriakidis.

Freed from he bindings Tracey crossed the arena and joined Harry once more, and together they formed up into their preferred defensive stance.

"Sorry," Tracey said. "He was too fast with those ropes. Got my wand trapped."

"Levitate him, Stickfast her?" Harry suggested. If he was whirling through the air Kyriakidis would be far less dangerous.

"Yes," said Tracey. "You get her, I'll do him."

Harry nodded and focused his attention on Papadaki, who was edging away from Kyriakidis slowly in a wide arc. There were a few different options for the third spell in Harry's Stickfast Combo, but he decided to make it a Disarming Charm. With some luck, he'd take an opponent out of the fight, and if not… well, it was always worth a try.

"Flipendo!" said Harry. The Knockback struck Papadaki as she tried to put some distance between her and her partner. She stumbled, and Harry followed it with his Stickfast Hex, sticking Papadaki to the arena floor. The spell was easy enough to dispel if one knew how, but it would take precious moments that in a duel could mean the difference between a win and a loss. "Expelliarmus!"

Papadaki threw herself to the floor. Or most of herself, anyway, since her feet were still stuck, and she couldn't lie flat. But that didn't matter, as Harry's Disarming Charm went wide and flew into the shield charm around the arena. In a fit of pique, Harry changed the colour of her robes to a bright pink and glanced over at Kyriakidis.

Kyriakidis who was floating through the air above the arena.

"Nice one, Trace," Harry muttered. He cast a quick Banishing Charm at Kyriakidis. "Depulso!"

Kyriakidis whirled and twisted through the air. That would be a nice few points there.

"Go for the Disarmament," Harry said to Tracey. "Might as well try. I'll see about Papadaki."

By then, Papadaki had unstuck herself from the arena floor. She spared only a brief look at her partner, still careening through the air. Harry didn't give her a chance to cast. With the summer sun beating down on him, Harry stepped forward.

With a flick of his wand he cast the Disarming Charm.

"Expelliarmus!"

The spell hit. Papadaki dropped her wand. She swore, just loud enough for Harry to hear, although since it was in Greek, he wasn't sure quite which word she'd used. But her expression left Harry under no illusions that she was anything other than furious at her disarmament.

But she wasn't the problem anymore. Harry looked over at Kyriakidis, who despite being levitated every which way, still held onto his wand.

"I got a bit too clever with the Banishing Charms," Tracey admitted when she saw Harry's looks of concern. "He's spinning too fast to hit. But he'll fall in a second."

Harry shrugged. As long as they got Kyriakidis out, he didn't mind.

Kyriakidis fell to the ground with a big thud. Tracey didn't wait a moment. As soon as Kyriakidis was stationary once more she pounced.

"Expelliarmus!" she said as Kyriakidis tried to stand, dazed.

His wand went sailing away through the air in an echo of his own trajectory across the arena. Then it clattered to the floor.

Harry grinned.

A win! They'd won.

"We did it!" Harry said. "Nice."

"Well, of course we did!" Tracey said with a great big smile. "We're unstoppable!"

Harry didn't know if he'd go quite that far, but it was a good first bout. And Tracey's enthusiasm was infectious.

The commentator announced their win and Harry and Tracey crossed the arena floor to offer their opponents a handshake each. That all sorted, they returned to their position in the stands to watch the rest of the day's duels – including those of their friends and fellow Hogwarts students. Hermione saw her way through to the quarter finals of the Novice Singles, whilst Fred made it to the semis before getting knocked out. Harry and Tracey won both their quarter and semi final bouts which sent them to the finals of the Novice Doubles tournament – as did Diggory and Flickey for the Junior Doubles. With the day's duelling done, Harry was free to retire for one last evening in the lounges at Hexenhochburg Prachtgarten.

One last evening of relaxation before the final bouts of the prestigious Summer Tournament the next day.

The next morning after breakfast Harry was met by Lawmage Spellman just ahead of the climax to the Summer Tournament. The lawmage had found Harry just after he'd split from his aunt and the other spectators to go and sit with the combatants in the finals.

"No offence," Harry said after the lawmage had arrived, "but you being here doesn't seem like it's good news."

Spellman took Harry's comment with a smile.

"Do you know, Mr Potter, I get told variants of that very often indeed! No, I am here simply because it has come to my attention that certain representatives of the British press will be here today, and I wish to be present myself to advise you on any comments you make." Spellman paused. "And the Summer Tournament is quite an exciting event—not to mention the opportunities for networking. Did you know that the Czech—well, I'm sure you have your own things to worry about today so no sense me filling your head with my nonsense. In any case, I shall see you after your bout. Good luck, by the way," Spellman said, and disappeared into the spectators' section of the stands with Harry's aunt, Dudley, and Sirius.

"My lawmage," Harry explained to Tracey – and Diggory and Flickey – when he rejoined them. "Said he wanted to be here just in case the press gets, er, funny with me after the bouts." The whole situation was awkward enough as it was, what with the situation being dragged through the papers and it having even been mentioned in the foreign news, and now with Spellman there…

But fortunately, Diggory and Flickey were too polite to comment, and Tracey knew everything anyway. So that wasn't so bad.

Harry followed the others to the competitors' section of the stands to wait for the day's activities to begin. Unlike the previous day, the tournament that day consisted of only four bouts – one for each of the four categories. It was a morning of duelling before a final closing ceremony, and then everyone would be sent home. That, Harry could deal with. Win or lose, he had to admit that he'd had fun, and the outing had done exactly what he'd wanted it to – kept his mind off Voldemort and the Malfoys. Mostly, anyway. Spellman had thrown a gobstone into proceedings with his sudden presence, but that was tolerable.

Expected, really, even though Harry really hadn't expected it.

Harry shook the thought away. Instead, he sat amongst the finalists and enjoyed the morning. The sun was shining, and there was a breeze so pleasant and perfect that Harry assumed it had to have been commissioned by the Austrian Ministry for the day's festivities. An anticipatory buzz filled the arena as the spectators – from knocked out participants to their guests and even the assembled press – waited for the duels to begin.

"We've got this," Tracey said quietly to Harry as the Tournament's organiser said a few words before the commencement. "We won the Pariturium, and we can win this too. It's just another duel."

Harry nodded.

"Right. Definitely." For all that it wasn't 'just another duel' – being the culmination of the EDC's Summer Tournament, a world-renowned and very prestigious tournament – it was 'just another duel'. So what if the standard was high? They'd secured an invitation and bested their competition. Made it to the finals.

And they'd watched their opponents duel, too, so they even had some idea of what they were up against. Not like when they'd started the day before. So Harry felt quite good about their chances, especially since he and Tracey had spent a good few hours the previous night going over every last bit of information they had on who they'd fight that day.

Utku Şahin and Kaan Demir had won some Turkish competition whose name Harry couldn't pronounce, and not only that, they'd totally trounced their opposition in the Summer Tournament, too. The two boys were quick and powerful, favouring a strong offensive onslaught over any kind of defence. And with Turkish wizards favouring a form of Classical Arabic for their spells instead of Latin, that meant a slightly different basis for their spells. It was a good strategy, especially in the EDC Summer Tournament, and one which could cause Harry and Tracey to become unstuck if they let it.

Which, of course, Harry was not intending to do. But…

Harry shook himself out of his thoughts. No point dwelling – they'd chosen a strategy and now was the time to follow it. Harry sat through the whole introductory spiel as the tournament organisers and various EDC bigwigs droned on and on about unity and togetherness and all that sort of stuff. Harry tuned it out, mostly, keeping an ear out for the start of the tournament. Just so it didn't sneak up on him.

After the organisers had finished congratulating themselves the sun had risen in the sky and it was getting quite warm indeed. It was approaching lunch time, although there wouldn't actually be a lunch time given the tournament. But at the very least the first of the day's four duels was held – the Junior Singles bout. It was exciting enough, the duellists both very skilled and definitely deserving of their places… and yet Harry couldn't concentrate because his and Tracey's duel was next. He clapped politely along with everyone else once the duel ended, then left the stands to go back to the staging area.

The walk through the strange fungal gardens under the stage was oddly calming. Something about the combination of simulated dusk and gently glowing mycelium, Harry supposed. Soon enough the platform rose up to the arena, and Harry was once again stood before an excited crowd. Unlike the previous day, various representatives from the press outfits all over Europe – along with some from the rest of the world – were there, too.

Harry let the buzz wash over him while he waited for the duel to start.

"And now for the final bout in our Under 21 Novice Doubles tournament!" the commentator said, her voice booming with the tell-tale volume and timbre of magical augmentation. "Our competitors today are Utku Şahin and Kaan Demir, winners of the Konstantinopolis Büyüçüler Meydanı this spring; and Harry Potter and Tracey Davis, winners of the Triwizard Tournament's Pariturium. Both pairs have made it through the Summer Tournament without a single loss to their name, and today's match is set to be an interesting one indeed."

Introductions out of the way, the commentator moved to start the countdown to the duel.

Harry braced for it. Got his wand ready and stared out across the arena at the two Turkish wizards who stood in the way of his and Tracey's tournament win. Neither seemed particularly impressive, both being of only middling height and weight, nor were they especially ugly or especially handsome. They seemed perfectly average in every way… except they'd won that Turkish tournament and they'd made their way to the finals of the EDC Summer Tournament too. So looks were deceiving.

At the count, Harry bowed. Then, before he'd even stepped out of the bow, slid to his left. Şahin always started with a Knockback aimed right at his opponent opposite, so Harry wanted to avoid that from the off.

It worked.

Demir stepped forward and, with a sweep of his wand, conjured a torrent of water from the end of his wand. The water soaked the stage and gave Harry – and Tracey – a reason to pause.

What's he playing at? Harry wondered. Whatever it was, Harry wasn't keen to find out.

"Evanesco!" Harry called out. If he could vanish the water, whatever Demir was up to would be delayed. The water disappeared. Next to Harry, Tracey was already casting. Harry didn't have to look to know she would be working on one of her Stinging Jinx combos, since that was what they'd practised. So instead, Harry conjured bees right around Şahin. Before the other wizard had the chance to register the bees, Harry followed up with a Knockback.

Harry chained them in a pair to sandwich a Stinging Jinx of his own.

They missed. Şahin leaned away from them with fluid, easy motions. Then, almost as if the bees were no problem at all, flung a nasty-looking purple spell Harry's way.

Unsure whether he was facing a jinx or something more serious, Harry didn't risk a Mirror Charm. Instead he moved, stepped closer to Tracey, and responded with a Scalping Hex. Then another Knockback.

The Scalping Hex went wide, but the Knockback – cast sloppily, and quickly just for something to send over – hit. Şahin stumbled. Harry sent over another three, peppered the Turkish wizard with Knockbacks while Tracey defended against Demir.

But it didn't last. Şahin struck out with his wand in a wide arc, sending a fierce and powerful wind across the arena. Then, with only the barest of movements, conjured … something. Something small and shiny which came flying towards Harry and Tracey.

No time to move. No time to duck. Instead, Harry conjured a solid barrier – a great big lump of ice – to soak up the flying shards. He didn't quite think it through, as the strong wind knocked the ice back at Harry, but he did at least avoid what looked like metal shards.

"He's fast," Tracey said to Harry in a brief lull. "They both are. We've got to get more aggressive with it."

"Right," Harry said. "Let's form up closer. See if we can get off an Incarcerous…"

Harry stepped closer to Tracey so that she was stood under his arm. Easier to defend them both that way.

Şahin and Demir kept a decent distance from each other.

"Let's do a Disarmament Feint on Demir," Harry said to Tracey. "You go for the charm, I'll do a Pimple Jinx combo."

Tracey dropped her Mirror Charm and pushed forward with a Disarming Charm. Then another. As Demir dodged the spells, Harry made his own move. First the Pimple Jinx, which struck Demir over the arm. Then…

"Locomotor wibbly!"

The spell struck Demir on the chest. The tell-tale signs of a successful Jelly-Legs took hold, and more than that, the tentacles that were the hallmark of that particular combo's spell synergy broke out all across Demir's face. With some luck the writhing mass would make it difficult for Demir to see. Take off some of the pressure.

But while Harry and Tracey worked on Demir, Şahin was up to his own tricks. Just as Harry was finishing up with his Jelly-Legs, a spell hit him right on the foot.

And Harry's foot grew. It expanded within his trainers until it fit snugly, and then was far too large. It didn't stop there. Harry's left foot kept growing, swelling and expanding until it burst out of his shoe, tore up his sock.

An Engorgement Charm. Or the nearest equivalent, anyway. Not an easy fix at all, since Harry would have to apply a Shrinking Charm until he got to the desired size… not something he could really afford to do during the duel. So he'd simply have to deal with having an oversized foot until the healers could fix it up at the end.

Harry conjured more bees, this time right around Şahin's head. Then conjured a great big ball of ice and hurled it at Şahin with a swift Banishing Charm. Şahin had to jump to avoid the ice.

"Let's swap," Harry said, and turned his attention to Demir instead. Tracey had managed to keep him at bay with her precise charmwork, and Harry had managed with Şahin, but they needed to end the duel decisively. Perhaps a change of focus was needed.

Harry thought back to earlier in the duel when Demir had conjured all the water. Harry did the same, sweeping his wand across the arena and sending a torrent of water splashing out. Then, before Demir could respond, turned it all to ice – right underneath Demir's feet.

"Depulso!" Harry cast. "Flipendo!" And then, on a whim, "Ventus!"

The Banishing Charm caught Demir's robe and sent him flying across the ice, whilst the Knockback hit him square on the leg. He went spinning across the icy floor. The wind… well, the wind did nothing much at all. But Harry thought it was a nice bit of flair, at least. Sets of three were nice. Auspicious, even. Dimly, Harry was aware of the roar of the crowd, but it was a faraway thing.

Something to worry about later.

"Incarcerous!" Harry said, weaving his wand through the movements. Thick robes wrapped themselves around Demir, tying him up even as he skidded off the edge of the ice.

There, thought Harry. That should be enough to—

CRACK!

Harry staggered backwards, the sudden pain in his head almost too much. He felt like he'd been hit by a bludger. If he could just—

CRACK!

CRACK!

CRACK!

Three times Harry was hit by a thick, heavy force, although by the time he recovered well enough to look, he couldn't see the culprits anywhere. Some sort of spell from Şahin, Harry supposed. He glanced around for Tracey, and found her standing next to him, just as dazed as Harry was.

By the time they recovered, Şahin had helped his partner out of his predicament and the pair formed up into a defensive position opposite Harry and Tracey.

Harry groaned.

"Back to square one…"

"No," said Tracey. "We aren't. We know Demir doesn't want to be hit with a Disarming Charm now—he dodged, remember? So…"

"So we go in for the kill," finished Harry. He could do that. The Disarming Charm was easy, one of the spells Harry felt like he could do in his sleep if he needed to. As long as Tracey could defend him, Harry would cast it as many times as he needed to get Demir out of the duel.

"And let's do it soon," Tracey said, "since if it goes to time I'm worried we've not got enough points to win."

"Right," said Harry. He massaged his jaw briefly, ignored the weird sensation in his foot, and reached out with his wand for the first attempt at Disarmament. He missed. But Harry didn't give up. While Tracey traded spell after spell with Şahin – a jinx here, a hex there, a bit of levitation – Harry sent Disarming Charm after Disarming Charm at Demir.

They all missed, largely because Demir jumped this way and that to avoid them, but even that was good. He'd be dropping points for style all over the place, and Harry would take that in lieu of an outright win. But even that couldn't last forever.

"Impedimenta!"

The jinx hit Demir and stopped him mid-dodge. While the other wizard was stilled, Harry cast. He threw every last bit of willpower into the spell, keen to get at least one of their opponents out of the duel. "Expelliarmus!"

With no way to jump, dodge, or roll, the charm hit Demir square in the chest. His wand went flying out of his hand.

One down, Harry thought. That left Şahin, who'd proven to be the tricker of the pair anyway.

With Demir out of the duel Harry and Tracey focused all their attention on Şahin. They sent forth a barrage of different spells – jinxes, hexes, even a few charms – to tire him out.

And it worked. Without his partner to keep up their own onslaught, Şahin was forced to defend, and it was clear to Harry he wasn't very good at that.

As Şahin stumbled from one of Tracey's Knockbacks, Harry saw his chance.

"Levioso!" he said. Şahin rose into the air. Taking a steady and careful aim, Harry cast a Disarming Charm.

The charm caught Şahin as he whirled through the air, and he dropped his wand.

As Şahin's wand dropped to the arena floor, Harry was struck by the sudden and all-consuming desire to cheer. They'd won. Their second tournament win, and this time at the European level. The only higher accolade available at the Under 21 level was the World Championship, and to even be invited one had to have won a qualifying regional tournament such as the EDC Summer Tournament. Harry turned to look at Tracey, who appeared just as shocked as Harry was.

"We won!" she screamed, grasping Harry and drawing him into a surprisingly strong hug. "We did it! We won the Summer Tournament! Oh, I'm so happy!"

"Me, too!" said Harry as he returned the hug. "Listen to the crowd—this is amazing!"

And it really was. The crowd at the Pariturium hadn't been quite so invested in the duelling, as many of the spectators had never watched a bout before. But the EDC's Summer Tournament attracted a particular kind of fan, drawing as it did from the most accomplished duellists in the continent, and even the Under 21 tournament was well-attended. After a few moments the commentator spoke, her magically-enhanced voice ringing out across the whole of the arena.

"And we have found our winners!" she said, forming the words in crisp, precise Latin. "Harry Potter and Tracey Davis are the winners of the Under 21 Novice Doubles Summer Tournament! Congratulations to our conquering champions! That was a fast-paced duel with some interesting techniques on display; well-fought by both of our pairs, in the end, the better duellists won."

+2077

All of that was very nice, of course, but Harry felt sure he had a massive bruise all across his head and face, and his foot was still several sizes larger than it had ever been before. But they'd won. Şahin and Demir were worthy opponents, and the duel had nearly gone to time… but in the end they'd won. Another feather in their cap.

Harry basked in the glow of success as he waited for the healers to finish up with him and Tracey, and then crossed the arena to shake their opponents' hands. When they were done the press approached them for a short interview.

Before Harry could answer any questions, though, Spellman came pushing his way through the gathered throng.

"Out of the way! Excuse me! Lawmage coming through! Yes, yes—I'm Mr Potter's advocate," he said as he barged his way into the space next to Harry and Tracey. "No questions until I've had a chance to get sorted, thank you!"

Harry felt his face redden.

God, how embarrassing. He sounded like the sort of person who went around with a bloody lawmage on retainer. No doubt some people would assume this the normal state of affairs for him, and not that it was because of… because of… well, the unpleasantness with the Malfoys. Ugh.

"Monsieur Potter!" called out one reporter. "A question please? You have won two tournaments now. Do you think you will fight at the World Championships?"

The question struck Harry as a very good one, although probably not for the reasons the reporter had in mind. With everything that was going on – Malfoy, Voldemort – Harry didn't think the World Championships were really something he could pursue. Perhaps in another life… but he couldn't say that.

"Er, well, I think for now," Harry said, "I'm going to be happy with just these two wins. The Summer Tournament is a big enough deal as it is, and we've got to go home now to sit our OWLs. Maybe after we're done with NEWTs?" Harry looked to Tracey for some back up.

"I've got to agree," Tracey said. "It would be really nice to take the World Championship, but we've got a lot going on otherwise. Honestly I'm just so thrilled we've won this tournament!"

That seemed to be an acceptable enough answer. What followed was a series of rapid-fire interview questions from various different journalists from all over Europe and the world. Harry felt like he'd answered the questions properly, with nothing that could be twisted in any way. It was, on the whole, quite a pleasant experience – almost wholly unlike his other experiences with the press.

Until, that is, the representative from the Daily Prophet asked his question.

"Mr Potter," asked the journalist, a man Harry didn't recognise, "would you say that the impending legal action back home has affected your duelling in any way? Indeed, one might even think that you were unaffected by everything that's going on—and is that really the manner of a boy in recovery from the Imperius Curse, as you've alleged?"

"I, er, I don't—"

"That's it!" said Spellman. "That's an entirely inappropriate line of questioning!" he said, pushing in front of Harry. "We'll be giving no comments on what is—what should be—a matter for the Wizengamot. The interview is over!"

Spellman led Harry and Tracey away from the reporters and back to the stands where Harry and Tracey's families were waiting.

"Oh, congratulations!" said Petunia. "You did so well—I can see how much you've improved from the tournament at school. Well done. We're all so proud!" She seemed happy, which Harry took to mean she hadn't overheard the line of questioning from the British journalist. Well, no sense ruining her day as well.

"That was actually pretty cool," Dudley said, clearly grudgingly. "I liked when you made him float in the air. That was cool."

"Er, thanks," Harry said. "I mean it."

"You did really well!" Sirius said. "Your parents would have been proud. James would have—well—you were great." He paused. "Both of you," he added, nodding towards Tracey.

After that, Harry and Tracey joined the spectators to watch the end of the tournament. When it was all done, and the prizes given out, it was time for a swift and early dinner before the portkeys home. When Harry, Petunia, Dudley, and Sirius got spat out back in Privet Drive – much to the consternation of Vernon, who clearly hadn't been expecting everyone to materialise suddenly in the living room – Harry was glad to be home.