Family is More Than Blood

by DeathRanger

Tonks and Harry had a close bond before their worlds changed and they were separated. Dora continued on with the life she was always meant to have while Harry went to his muggle relatives. When tragedy strikes, and old memories surface, what happens when a simple letter reveals to Harry the family he didn't even know he had? AU.

23. Chapter 23

AN: Thanks to everyone for your continued support and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Jet22345, Quill will 1981, Mewpagano - Thanks! Your continued reviews always make my week.

LadyKitai - I hope you'll like the direction I go with the goblins. I certainly don't intend for this to be like some fics where Harry's show of respect wins the entire nation's support, but I do have plans for their use. Also, I'm enjoying how a lot of people are quite concerned/interested with Mad-Eye's fate in Year 4. Nice to know I've helped endear the crotchety old Auror in all your hearts.

scrappy8 - Thanks! Seemed like an untapped source for help with smithing aid.

Chapter 23 (Year 4)

"Wow," Harry said, looking around the Appleby Arrows Quidditch Stadium which had been outfitted for the British National Dueling Tournament, with multiple stages placed on the grounds, so people could watch various events at the same time from up in the stands.

There were thousands of witches and wizards sitting in the stands, getting ready for the Under 16 and Under 18 bracket of events, with dozens of people on the field, either to compete or as support for those who were competing. Above the stands were several large screens which were focused on the various stages so those above could see more clearly what was happening.

"Pretty cool," Dora agreed excitedly from next to him. "This is going to be so much fun watching you compete!"

"I'm looking forward to watching you compete," Harry replied with a grin.

Dora was competing in the Under 21 Bracket as well as the Open Bracket in the Double's Wizard Duel category with her teammate, Lexie. Sirius wanted to compete, but he still wasn't cleared for that type of exertion yet. Needless to say, while he was very supportive and eager to watch Dora and Harry, he was a bit pouty, which Remus had been the first of them to mock.

"Yes, yes, it's amazing," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "Get your head on the task ahead. There's going to be some talented duelists you'll face today, and some of them have had their parents or people their parents hired teaching them longer than you've been taught. That goes for you as well, Tonks. You know most of whom you'll be facing, but not all of them."

Dora and Harry exchanged amused glances.

"Let's get you both checked in," Sirius said, biting back a laugh, and the four of them and Remus moved to the check in table where two wizards were sitting with a couple pages of parchment.

"Name?" The wizard asked, not really looking up.

"Harry Potter," Harry said, and the man glanced up a bit in surprise, his eyes immediately going to Harry's scar before he nodded and glanced back down at his parchment.

"Potter, Under 16 Bracket, Singles, Wizard's Duel. Potter, Under 16 Bracket, Singles, Sword Duel. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir," Harry confirmed, and the man nodded, marking him down before he handed him several sheets of paper, and Harry paid his entry fee for the two events he was competing in. There were payouts for those who finished top three in each event.

"The first sheet shows the current Under 16 bracket for the Singles Wizard's Duel, and shows when and where you'll report for your first duel. It will update automatically as the rounds progress and matches occur," the wizard explained. "The next piece of parchment is the same, but for the Singles Sword Dueling. The remaining ones are for the other brackets and events, should you wish to watch during your respites. Report to the scheduled stage no later than ten minutes before each duel to help keep things moving if matches finish early."

"Understood," Harry said with a nod. "Thank you."

"We look forward to seeing a good showing from you, Mr. Potter," the man said. "Alastor Moody has never sponsored someone outside of the Auror Corps."

Harry glanced at Mad-Eye who was already moving out of the way, and he nodded in understanding. Dora moved up to the table next.

"Name?"

"Nymphadora Tonks."

Harry, Sirius, and Remus all grinned as Dora grimaced.

"Tonks, Under 21 Bracket, Singles, Wizard's Duel. Tonks/Greene Team, Open Bracket, Doubles, Wizard's Duel. Here's your papers. It's always good to see a returning champion. Good luck."

"Thanks," Dora said brightly.

"Alright, who do you have as competition this year?" Sirius asked, and Harry glanced down, and his eyes widened recognizing many of the names.

"Ava, Aaron, Robert, and Kendra are competing," Harry said.

"Friends of yours?" Sirius asked.

"House and yearmates of his," Remus answered helpfullyl.

"Wow, Katie's competing!" Harry exclaimed with interest. "I didn't know she was doing this. Ernie Macmillan. Cho Chang. Bloody hell. Malfoy's going to be here," Harry finished with a groan.

"Which means you can show him up," Dora said, looking at the paper. "I definitely recognize some of these last names. Unsurprisingly, mostly purebloods and some halfbloods that come from older families are competing."

"Well, you can't compete in the Under 16 or Under 18 without a sponsor," Sirius pointed out. "Hogwarts doesn't have anyone who sponsors currently, so it's not easy for muggleborns to find someone willing to sponsor them in the Under 16 or Under 18 Brackets. It's why there are so many participants in the Under 21. Anyone can participate after the Under 18 bracket. Sponsors just add some interest or prestige to a duelist's resume."

"Filius does sponsor people occasionally," Remus pointed out, and Sirius conceded with a nod.

"I wonder who sponsored Katie," Harry murmured, though he suspected it was either Alicia's or Angelina's families who had done so . . . probably Alicia's.

"When's your first match?" Mad-Eye asked, interjecting. "If you've got time, we should be watching some matches to get a feel for your opponents."

"I'm the third match for swords, sixteenth - so last - for wizard's duel," Harry said, seeing that the list for blades was much, much smaller than the wizard's dueling one. "Huh, there's only eight people competing with a sword."

"Not all that surprising," Mad-Eye explained gruffly. "For your age it'll mostly be members of pureblood homes competing in the physical events be they archery, swords, or quarterstaff. That might change a bit when you get older, but not by much. The only real differences will be the team events once you get to the Open brackets. Then you'll start seeing a bit more variety since people will gather their friends and allies that don't quite stand up in a singles duel, but are good enough to help a group."

"You might notice there are one or two stages per event," Remus explained. "Under 16 and Under 18 bracket events are first, followed by Under 21 events, and then lastly Open bracket events. Part of that is because there is more interest in watching the Open brackets so they try to have them later so more people can get off work."

"Round One for every event is today," Harry said, more to himself, looking at the various sheets of paper. "I only do one round each day, assuming I pass each round, but for the Open and Under 21 categories, they do two rounds tomorrow."

"That's because there are a lot more that compete in both of those categories," Dora explained. "The Under 21 bracket is generally double the Under 16 and 18 brackets or roughly the amount of both combined, and the Open category fluctuates, but it still usually has no less than 128 participants. There's also a difference with the younger brackets in that your initial rounds have more sets in each round, whereas it's single elimination for Under 21 and Open."

"Alright, so I have three wizard's duels today, and four sword duels," Harry muttered.

"And those with the best records move on," Sirius said. "If there are ties, they might do a tie breaker. Four of you will move on to Round Two for the sword. Sixteen will move on for Wizard's Duels."

"Let's move over to the blade platform," Mad-Eye said. "The first duel will start in fifteen minutes. You can start warming up a bit more, and then you can watch the first two duels, to get a feel for some of your opponents."

Harry nodded and they made their way over to the arena, while Harry continued to study the various sheets of paper. The eight competing in the Blades Tournament were himself, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Byron Miller, Cyrus Parks, Susan Bones, Marina Witcher, and Graham Duncan. He knew Malfoy of course. Nott was also a Slytherin in Harry's year. He recognized the name, Susan Bones, and knew she was in his year, but he couldn't picture what she looked like. He didn't know any of the other people.

"Of course you'd be foolish enough to come to this, Potter," a voice said sneeringly, as Harry turned to see the person he least wanted to run into today.

"Malfoy," Harry greeted tersely.

"You think you stand a chance in this arena?" Malfoy asked with a smirk. "You're going to learn that fame means nothing here."

"I would think that means that name means nothing as well," Harry responded dryly. "I guess that means that your father isn't going to bail you out, and you won't have Crabbe and Goyle here to back you up."

"I don't need them to curse you," Malfoy said back to his sneer. "No teachers to stop a proper fight."

"Lucky for me. You also can't cheat today," Harry responded, and Malfoy glared before he turned and made his way back towards his father, mother, and to Harry's shock, Professor Snape.

"Are you facing him today?" Dora asked, glancing after Malfoy with distaste, and Harry glanced down at his page.

"No," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I'll only possibly face him if we both move on to tomorrow."

"Pity," Dora said. "I was hoping you could stop him from moving on today."

"Don't get overconfident," Mad-Eye growled out. "You're good, lad, but the Malfoy family is well known for producing blademasters. Snape's no slouch either. Malfoy is one to watch."

"I'd say the one to watch is walking onto the stage right now," Sirius said, and Harry glanced towards the stage to see the first two duelists walking on stage. He glanced at the sheet seeing that the first two were Marina Witcher and Graham Duncan.

"Which one?" Harry asked.

"Witcher," Mad-Eye said, nodding at the blonde girl.

"Witcher . . ." Harry said musingly, before the last name clicked. "Is she related to Jason Witcher? The person who wrote the dueling book?"

"He's her ancestor," Dora said. "The Witcher Clan is legendary in the Wizarding World for producing skilled fighters who oppose Dark Arts with a passion. Almost every Witcher is a ranked dueling champion in multiple weapons. I bet she's competing in the archery and quarterstaff events as well."

Harry quickly glanced at those events' parchments and confirmed Dora's guess.

"I didn't realize that she was only a year older than you," Sirius said thoughtfully. "I knew her dad, and Dora and I work with her uncle. Great people. Assuming she stands up to the family name, she'll be a hard competitor."

"She was an excellent student," Remus offered, obviously having taught her.

"You went to school with her dad?" Harry asked, and Remus, Sirius, and Mad-Eye all grimaced.

"No, he was an Auror," Sirius said quietly. "He also was a member of a group that the three of us were in, which opposed Voldemort . . . Voldemort killed him personally."

"Oh . . ." Harry said, looking at the average height blonde girl. It seemed they had quite a bit in common.

She held her blade at her side, looking relaxed, an easy going smile on her face. Her entire bearing screamed "unconcerned." Her opponent, Duncan, however, looked tense. Perhaps Witcher's reputation spoke for itself, like Harry's guardians had said.

"Duelists, get ready," the announcer called out, and Witcher assumed a rather unconventional stance, her left foot forward, her left arm held out, and her right arm and blade back, her hand-and-a-half blade slightly towards the ground. Duncan assumed a more traditional stance, both hands grasping his greatsword, the blade pointed towards the sky. "BEGIN!"

Duncan moved forward quickly, charging at Witcher, who let him approach before she met his blade with her own, her sword coming from the rear with impressive speed forcing Duncan's blade away from her own, and pushing the boy off balance. Witcher spun with her blade's own rebound and landed a hit on Duncan's left shoulder, causing the boy to yelp in pain, his left hand letting go of his greatsword. Witcher ducked under the boy's panicked one armed counter and then moved closer to the boy, putting her blade right up against Duncan's chest while her left hand put pressure on the boy's right shoulder, making it so he couldn't turn back to counter her. It was over, in less than ten seconds.

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered, impressed. He knew he was good, but that was precise and strategic in a way he wasn't. She'd outmaneuvered her opponent from the very beginning. Duncan hadn't stood a chance.

"Yep, she's a Witcher," Sirius confirmed with a broad grin.

"And that's why you get here early," Mad-Eye said, "and that's why you should never be overconfident. There's always going to be someone better. She's the current champion. She won this last year."

Harry winced, knowing that Witcher probably was better than him, especially with Mad-Eye's words. He planned to give her a good match if they fought, but he suspected he was outmatched in this field.

The next match was more evenly matched, which made Harry a bit sad to see, since it was between Draco Malfoy and Susan Bones. Harry had definitely seen Bones around Hogwarts, and they had classes together, but he'd never spoken to her. He'd hoped she'd wipe the floor with Malfoy, but sadly, Malfoy wasn't all talk when it came to his ability with a blade. He was very good, and so was Bones. The fight dragged on for nearly two and a half minutes before Bones finally made a mistake, and Malfoy managed to disarm her, ending the match.

Finally, it was Harry's time. The matches were designed to last no longer than five minutes, and every time a match ended under that, the times on the sheets updated so that participants would know to shift their show up times. Still, Harry figured that his matches would feel almost back to back with how quickly the matches were going by. Probably a lot having to do with their age, but the wizard's duels seemed to be moving fairly quickly as well.

Still, he had another fourteen duels before he had his first wizard's duel. It was time to focus on these sword matches.

Harry walked out, reaching out with his senses to confirm that his borrowed sword was magically protected as it was supposed to be, which would ensure the chance of death was negligible. The boy across from him, Cyrus Parks, was bigger. Harry thought he recognized him as a soon to be fifth year Ravenclaw, but he really wasn't sure about that.

Parks nodded at him, before he assumed a ready stance. Harry assumed his own defensive stance as their stage announcer ordered them to prepare. Harry took a long, slow breath.

"Begin!"

Harry moved forward quickly, which was matched by Parks. Parks lunged forward, his blade going for a quick stab to Harry's midsection. Harry parried the blade to his left and spun, swiping at Parks's now exposed left shoulder, getting a glancing hit, which caused the boy to groan at the blow before he quickly backed away from Harry, disengaging. He gave Harry a calculating look before he moved forward and reengaged, letting out a volley of brutal, power-filled strikes that Harry matched blow for blow.

Harry figured the older boy thought he could overpower Harry, but he was in for a nasty shock, especially when Harry decided to use the boy's powered strikes against him, letting the boy's blade smash against his own before Harry slid out of the way, letting the forward force of the boy propel him past Harry who spun and landed a hit on the boy's exposed back, ending the match.

"That's the match! Victory goes to Lord Potter!"

Harry grinned, a bit surprised at the title, getting a tight nod from the clearly frustrated boy as Harry made it back to his guardians and mentors who were all looking at him proudly.

"Nicely done, Harry!" Dora said, kissing his cheek and wrapping him in a hug.

"Brilliant!" Sirius said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Good strategy," Mad-Eye said approvingly, while Remus nodded, looking proud. "Now, let's watch the last two competitors for the first match of Round 1."

Harry nodded, quickly checking the Wizard's Duel list and seeing that there were still twelve duels to go before he was up. Unless the wizard's duels sped up, and these duels slowed down, he might finish here before he even made it over to the wizard's dueling stage.

The last duel, between Theodore Nott, and Byron Miller, who Harry thought was an older Slytherin, was fairly well matched. Both were quite skilled, which told Harry that he had his work cut out for him if he wanted to rank in his first tournament. After nearly three minutes, Nott managed to slip his blade past Miller's defenses and scored a hit to the chest, winning the match.

Still eleven matches until a wizard's duel. Harry only had to watch one more blade duel before he was up again. The next match was Susan Bones against Cyrus Parks. Parks performed better against Bones than he had against Harry, likely due to him being more cautious now that he'd lost a match, but it didn't matter as Bones took the win after disarming him.

Harry glanced at the other sheet. Nine matches until he was up. He handed the sheets to Remus and then made his way back onto the stage, eyeing Theodore Nott carefully. From what he'd seen, Nott was someone to watch out for. His remaining matches were Graham Duncan and Marina Witcher. He needed this win.

"Well, well, well," Nott said with a sneer. "The golden boy made his way into a real arena. No Dumbledore to save you here."

"I don't need him," Harry said back cooly, assuming a ready stance to match Notts as the announcer told them to get ready.

"BEGIN!"

Harry propelled himself forward, having noticed that Nott was more defensive and strategic in his style and methods, which meant that Harry needed to keep the boy off his guard before he planned out Harry's defeat.

Harry's blade met Nott's and Nott glared as he was forced to back off, doing his best to counter Harry's vicious assault. They traded back furious blows, but Harry could tell that he was a shade faster, and based on the sweat starting to appear on Nott's face, Harry was in better shape too. He could outlast him if needed . . . but that would expend too much energy.

Harry removed some of the power from his strikes and instead focused on precise, quick jabs and cuts, forcing Nott to back off further, his feet finally hitting the edge of the stage. Harry pushed forward and Nott's balance became precarious, so Harry knocked Nott's blade away and then kicked Nott in the stomach, forcing the boy out of the ring, where he landed in a huff on the ground.

"Lord Potter is the victor by ring out!"

Nott looked up from where he'd landed, and glared at Harry, who merely smirked back before he turned and walked off the stage.

"Nicely done," Mad-Eye growled out.

"Very well done, Harry," Sirius said proudly.

"Most impressive," Remus agreed with a smile.

"You're doing brilliantly!" Dora exclaimed.

Harry grinned at them as thanks before he glanced at the sheets: five matches until he had his first wizard's duel. He figured he'd have one more duel with his sword before his first magical duel. His predictions proved true as he watched Marina Witcher floor Byron Miller, beating the Slytherin easily, despite the boy's skill. Afterwards, Malfoy faced Graham Duncan, and while the match lasted longer than Duncan's first duel, he still didn't have the skill to stand up to Malfoy and quickly lost his second match.

Harry was first up for the third set of Round One matches and he found himself facing Graham Duncan, who was starting to look a mixture of desperate and defeated. He clearly wanted to perform well, but was disheartened by his first two matches, especially with his last defeat only being moments earlier. Unfortunately, he didn't fare any better against Harry and soon lost his third match, ensuring his cut from Round One at the end of the day. Back to back losses probably hadn't felt good either.

Harry glanced at his sheet, and knew he couldn't watch anymore so they quickly hurried over to the stage on the other side of the Archery Range, where he would be next up. He saw his fellow Gryffindor yearmate, Ava Connors, preparing to duel Wayne Hopkins, another yearmate who was in Hufflepuff. Harry had honestly never had a conversation with Hopkins in his life. He only knew who he was because he was rather loud and obnoxious. He was someone who believed he was destined to be the best on the Quidditch Pitch.

Ava started off on the attack firing a knockback jinx and a disarming charm, which Hopkins jumped out of the way of before he retaliated with a jelly legs jinx, which Ava spun out of the way of. They continued trading back hexes and jinxes, neither doing anything beyond third year, and while Harry did respect their mobility and skill, he hoped they had more to show . . . or at least he hoped some of the other competition did.

Finally, after two minutes, Ava managed to hit Wayne with a bat bogey hex, and while the boy was trying to bat away his bogeys which were clawing at his face, she disarmed him, ending the match.

Harry smiled at her as he approached to move onto the stage for his own match.

"Nice job, Ava," he complimented and she glanced at him in surprise.

"Thanks, Harry," she said back, beaming. "I didn't realize you would be here. Good luck out there!"

Harry nodded, making his way onto the stage, knowing he was facing Evelyn Yaxley, another yearmate, but a Slytherin, and one of Pansy Parkinson's group of rather vile and cruel witches.

"Potter," Yaxley sneered

"Yaxley," Harry responded curtly, deciding he was going to enjoy this.

"Duelists, get ready!" the announcer called out, and Harry got into a relaxed, ready position. "BEGIN!"

"Stupefy! Immobulus! Expelliarmus!" Harry called out, rapidly firing three spells which boxed in Yaxley who dropped to the ground to dodge his stunner. "Petrificus totalus!" Harry called out. "Stupefy!"

Yaxley rolled out of the way of his body bind, but was unable to dodge his stunner, and she was out cold.

"Lord Potter wins by stunner!" the announcer called out and Harry smiled, as the referee went to revive Yaxley and he made his way off the stage.

"Well done, Harry," Dora said, beaming, hugging him.

"Brilliant," Remus and Sirius said together.

"Good job, lad," Mad-Eye said. "Way to box her in."

"HARRY POTTER!"

Harry jumped and turned only to find himself facing a beaming Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. Angelina reached him first, pulling him into a firm hug and kissing his cheek, before Alicia gave him a full bodied and tight hug and kiss on the cheek, and then lastly Katie gave him her usual warm hug and also customary kiss on the cheek.

"Why didn't you tell us you'd be here?" Angelina demanded. "That was a great win up there!"

"Great? It was brilliant!" Katie exclaimed excitedly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry retorted back with a smile before he glanced at Dora who tapped her watch. "Can we walk and talk? I need to get back to the sword arena?"

The three girls nodded and started making their way with him back to the other stage.

"Two events, huh, Potter?" Angelina said. "I didn't realize you had any skill with a blade."

"I have a little," Harry responded with a shrug, grinning. "Are you and Leash here for support or are you both competing as well?"

"Archery and Wizard's Duel," Angelina confirmed.

"Wizard's Duel," Alicia said with a smile. "Though, support is also important."

"Wizard's Duel, as you obviously know," Katie said, grinning. "Great win against Yaxley."

"Thanks," Harry said. "How have you all done?"

"We all won our first matches," Angelina said, grinning. "I got lucky and had my first match against Montague. It was sweet justice getting him back for all those times on the pitch."

Harry laughed.

"I beat one of your yearmates," Katie said. "Susan Bones. She was good, but I had a couple spells that could get past her hex deflection, and I'm more mobile."

"I faced off against a Hufflepuff yearmate," Alicia said. "He wasn't much of a challenge."

"She's competing with a blade as well," Harry said. "She's good. She's won one, lost one."

"She's won three," Sirius interjected. "She beat Byron Miller, and then she just beat Theodore Nott. She'll advance to tomorrow. Miller and Nott are both out."

"Good for her," Katie said. "How are you doing?"

"I've won three," Harry admitted, "but this last match will be a real test."

"Who are you facing," Alicia asked, as they reached the stage, seeing Draco finish off Graham Duncan, securing his third win, and marking the fourth loss for Duncan.

"Marina Witcher," Harry said, and Katie grimaced.

"Ooh, she's really nice, and really friendly, but she's incredible," Katie said, and Harry nodded. "She's really good with a wand too. I watched her destroy Carson Horn in a Wizard's Duel earlier."

"Well, she's destroyed all her competition with a sword today, so far," Harry said.

"If it makes you feel better, she beat Malfoy in the last set," Dora said.

"I'm sorry I missed that," Harry said with a sigh. "That would have been nice to see."

"When are you up next?" Alicia asked.

"Right after this," Harry said, nodding to where Byron Miller and Cyrus Parks were dueling to see which of them would take last with no victories for the day.

"Witcher beat Malfoy in the last set. Bones beat Miller, and Nott beat Parks. At the start of this last set, Bones beat Nott, securing her spot in the next round, and knocking him out, and Malfoy beat Duncan, securing his spot."

"Neither of these two are going on," Harry muttered as Miller and Parks exchanged blows. Miller was the better duelist, and Harry was sure he'd win, but it didn't matter. What mattered was the blonde witch standing on the other side of the ring, waiting for the last match.

Harry's prediction was proven a minute later when Miller knocked Parks down and placed his sword against the other boy's chest, taking the win. Harry sighed and made his way onto the stage, passing Miller, eyes locked on Witcher who tilted her head at him and smiled easily. Harry returned the smile and gave her a nod of respect, and he saw her chuckle lightly.

"For our final match, our current leaders!" the announcer said. "Both undefeated so far. Lord Harry Potter and Ms. Marina of Clan Witcher! Duelists, get ready!"

Harry heard his friends, Dora, Sirius, and Remus cheer loudly.

Harry assumed his normal position while Witcher took her unorthodox stance.

"Begin!"

Harry moved forward as Witcher did the same and their two blades crashed together, and then they both exchanged several light blows. Harry danced away from her blade before he struck back with three quick jabs which she deflected from and spun away. She grinned and moved forward, her feet almost seeming to fly over the floor as she started jabbing at him quickly and precisely. Harry did his best to hold off the blows from landing, but they were coming faster than he could securely handle. He was losing ground and he knew it.

Trying to break her offense, Harry moved forward into her striking distance and tried to push her, but she anticipated his move, spinning away and slashing him on his right shoulder. Grimacing at the muted pain that was delivered to simulate injury from the charmed blades. She moved forward and he desperately tried to fend her off with his injured arm, but it was only a matter of time, and he groaned as she knocked his blade out of his hand, and placed her blade against his chin, winning the match.

"Good match," he said honestly, breathing hard.

"You too!" she said brightly, removing her blade from his chin. "I had a lot of fun, Lord Potter. I look forward to a rematch, hopefully in the finals."

Harry chuckled.

"Call me Harry."

"Marina," she said, extending her hand and he shook it lightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person. Now, I've got to run back over to the Wizard's Duels. Hopefully I'll see you over there?"

"You will," Harry confirmed, and she smiled at him before making her way off the stage.

Harry returned to his friends and family who offered him sympathetic looks.

"You did really well, kiddo," Sirius said. "Still easily made it to the Second Round. Tomorrow you'll only have to survive one match with either Malfoy or Bones. After that, you're in the finals on Wednesday."

"Most impressive," Remus said.

"You did good, little brother," Dora said, giving him a quick hug

"You did great Harry," Alicia said, looking at him carefully, and he wanted to laugh, seeing that she was concerned he'd be taking the loss too hard. "You are really good with that sword. Marina's just incredible."

Harry nodded gratefully, and took a hug from Angelina, but it didn't mean he was happy. Marina was now the standard for how good he needed to get.

"How do you know I'm facing Bones or Malfoy?" Harry asked, turning to Sirius.

"Because you placed second place today," Dora said. "You won your first three matches. Only Witcher matched and then exceeded that, winning four. Bones and Malfoy both won three matches, but not their first three. It's just the luck of the draw sometimes in these types of competitions."

They made their way back to the Wizard's Dueling Rings, finding Ernie Macmillan just finishing off Cole Spenser, his fellow Hufflpuff, only a year older. As a group, they enjoyed watching the various duels while they waited for their turns. Harry happily cheered on Angelina when she battled a seventh year named Kernie Koser, watching his rather fierce friend batter down her opponent with a volley of hexes and jinxes, taking her next win. Then he cheered Alicia when she battled one of her fellow sixth years, Rory Alexander, but his cheers turned to calls of encouragement as Alicia's agility and her lower level hexes fell to Alexander's shield charm and more powerful hexes and jinxes, with a stunner ending the match in his favor.

Harry, Angelina, and Katie were quick to make their way to over where Alicia was glumly making her way off the stage after being revived. She smiled wanly at them and then took their hugs as they guided her over to where Dora, Sirius, Remus, and Mad-Eye were.

"You did good up there, Alicia," Harry said.

"He was just better," Alicia said with a sigh. "I don't know enough dueling spells"

"We can work on that this next year," Harry offered up and she smiled at him.

"While you could always know more, I think you've got what you need," Dora interjected, and the three girls and Harry looked at her. "You're pretty good at Charms, right? That's what Harry says at least."

Alicia nodded and then smirked at a slightly blushing Harry.

"It is one of my best subjects," she admitted.

Dora grinned.

"Then use that," she said, and Alicia frowned thoughtfully. "Use charms to discombobulate your opponents. If you've got the technique, blind them with light. Douse them with water and freeze it. Silence them so that they can't speak and will have ot rely on nonverbal . . . which I'm sure many in your age bracket aren't great at yet."

Alicia nodded slowly, smiling. "I can try to do all that."

"Never underestimate the value of charms and trickery in a duel," Mad-Eye said, and they all glanced at the old Auror. "Some of the best duelists are masters of charms and transfiguration, not curses and hexes."

"Professor Flitwick is like that," Remus offered up helpfully. "He's certainly very knowledgeable about a wide variety of hexes, jinxes, and curses, but his speciality was charms and illusions. He won a lot of competitions by confusing his opponents which allowed him to sink in a simple charm."

"Thanks for the advice," Alicia said, looking at Dora, Mad-Eye, and Remus. "I'll keep that mind and give it a go in my next match."

"That advice goes to all of you," Sirius said. "At your ages, people often discount using transfiguration and charms, but if you can figure out how to utilize it, you'll give yourself a huge edge."

The four teens nodded, and then still providing some comfort to Alicia, they continued to watch both the Under 16 and Under 18 bracket rings, though they generally enjoyed the duels on the Under 18 stage more, since more interesting magic and far more style was involved, including greater use of transfiguration and charms, just as Sirius, Mad-Eye, Remus, and Dora had said. Finally, they cheered as Katie went up and managed to clench a win against Theodore Nott, who was just as good with a wand as he was a sword. She managed to overwhelm him with her agility and wand speed, even if she didn't use anything too complicated.

Finally, Harry was back up again, but while he'd been hoping for a challenge, he instead faced a rather lackluster duel against James Harder, a soon to be fifth year Hufflepuff. The boy used nothing more complicated than third year spells and was only semi-competent at hex deflection, meaning Harry didn't have to put much effort to disarm the boy.

Soon after, they watched Marina destroy Harry's fellow Gryffindor yearmate, Kendra Frost, who admittedly was not someone Harry pictured as a duelist. Still, it at least told him there was at least one person here who could challenge him with a wand.

The morning continued to go by as the third set of Round One duels began, and Harry watched as Malfoy secured his spot in Round 2 by winning his third straight match beating Ernie Macmillan. Ava Connors, Katie Bell, Marina Witcher were also secure with three wins each. Angelina won her third straight match against a sixth year Ravenclaw who belonged behind a chess board rather than in a dueling ring, and Alicia won her last match, narrowly clinching a win from a Slytherin seventh year by managing to hit her opponent with a levitation charm and then disarm him when she dropped the spell causing the boy to fall onto the stage disoriented. It was likely she'd go on, but she'd have to wait till the end of the Round to be sure, but regardless she was proud of the win, and enjoyed the praise that she was given from her friends and Harry's guardians/mentors.

Harry enjoyed a slight break from the duels when they watched Angelina compete in the Outdoor Archery competition, where all contestants (10 total) fired at their own targets at their own pace, but all simultaneously. They each fired six arrows, recording scores, before they repeated two more times. There were three targets, one about twenty meters away, another fifty meters away, and one eighty meters away. The top five would move on to Round Two. The top three would survive onto the final round.

Angelina was a good shot, and he, Katie, Alicia, and Dora all cheered her on as she managed fourth place after the first six arrows, fifth place after the second set of six, and then she managed to regain fourth place by the end of the last set, securing herself into Round Two.

After that, all they had left for the morning was Harry's final duel, something he felt he needed to prepare for. It was against . . . Cho Chang. Admittedly, he had a slight crush on her. Sure, it was mostly just physical attraction because he didn't really know anything about her, but it was still there.

She smiled at him brightly when he met her on the stage, and winked at him, which admittedly made him blush. He doubted she actually was interested. She didn't know anything about him either. She was just using her looks for an advantage. He couldn't blame her for that. She was very pretty, and he knew he'd been caught looking at her by several people . . . Hermione and Ron had happily teased him about it, as had the three girls that were cheering him on from the sidelines. Unfortunately for Cho though, it just made him want to win even more.

Harry started off with an impediment curse, which had her eyes widening as she barely managed to avoid his spell, or the disarming charm and stunner that came right after. She countered with an immobulus and a disarmer, but Harry simply raised a shield, reflecting both spells which got a number of murmurs from the crowd and Cho's eyes narrowed. Shield charms weren't common in the Under 16 Bracket since it was a fifth year spell.

Harry picked up the speed, firing a volley of low level curses, stunners, and disarming charms, forcing her to dodge or shield with hex deflection, but while Harry wasn't going all out, Cho clearly was, and eventually she misstepped and Harry's body-bind froze her, making it easy to disarm her, winning him the match.

He handed her wand back to her, and she smiled at him.

"Thanks Harry," she said, winking at him again. "That was fun. We'll have to do it again some time."

Harry blushed, but nodded once.

"Sounds good, Cho. I suspect I'll see you out here tomorrow."

Cho giggled and turned away, and he returned to his friends and family, all of whom, except Mad-Eye, had teasing grins on their faces.

"Oh, look at our wittle Hawwy, all grown up!" Dora sang.

"Takes after his father," Sirius said, looking mournful. "Terrible flirt. Always thought Lils was touched in the head falling for Prongs's moves. Don't worry, Harry, your godfather will teach you proper!"

"You'll only show him how to get cursed, Sirius," Remus said with a shake of his head. "Nobody will approach Harry with a ten foot pole if he starts acting like you."

Harry scowled at them.

"Does Katie have competition for your affections?" Angelina mock gasped. "Oh the horror!"

"How could you, Harry?!" Alicia mock gasped.

"What?! No!" Harry said, glancing at them.

"So you're saying you're all mine!" Katie said gleefully. "Oh, I knew you loved me, Harry!"

"Wait, what? No, I mean er -" Harry said, flustered, and then all four girls, Sirius and Remus started laughing and he pouted at them. Even Mad-Eye cracked a grin

"Wait, we can't just let you claim Harry," Dora said firmly, and Harry glanced warily at his sister, who was eyeing Katie up and down. "In order to win the fair maiden's favor, one must undertake a quest!"

"Why am I the fair maiden?"

"Well, I always wanted a sister," Dora said with a shrug and an impish grin.

"Don't worry, Harry," Angelina said, putting her arm around his shoulders. "We'll make sure Katie has to do something spectacular. I mean, she's getting quite the prize! Youngest Hogwarts seeker in a century! Slayer of trolls, basilisks, and dementors!"

"I never slew a troll," Harry protested weakly. "Techincally Ron knocked it out."

"And humble to boot!" Alicia said, with an exaggerated fan of her face. "Dear Katie Kat sure is attempting to court quite the catch which means we'll also make sure she treats you well," Alicia said seriously. "You know, she needs to take you out for dinner, perhaps some dancing."

"Well, then she also needs to teach me how to dance," Harry said, finally just resigning himself to their teasing. "Throw that into the negotiation. I certainly don't want to look the fool. I deserve to be treated right. Dancing and refreshment of course."

"Of course," Dora said with a nod.

"Ah, he knows his worth," Remus said approvingly. "Good, very good."

"He gets that from me, you know," Sirius said, and Remus shook his head in disagreement.

"Ah, so I must teach him to dance and then regularly take him out for dinner and dancing," Katie said seriously. "Hmm, seems quite reasonable. I feel like I'm taking advantage of this deal though! I mean, I'm getting Harry Potter! Rescuer of fair maidens, troll slayer, seeker of small gold balls, (Harry, Dora, Sirius, Remus, Angelina, and Alicia all snorted in amusement), and godfather capturer (Sirius pouted while Remus and Dora cackled and even Mad-Eye smirked at that)!

"Ah, she truly values our hero!" Dora exclaimed. "Thus, she is truly worthy!"

"Brilliant!" Katie said, wrapping her arm around Harry's waist and kissing him on the cheek, and he couldn't help but smile at her fondly with red cheeks.

"Ah, they grow up so fast," Sirius said mock sadly. "Before you know it they're being courted off to the mightiest maiden!"

Katie beamed at that.

"Lily would be so proud," Remus said. "James would just be glad that his son had better luck than him and his mangy godfather."

Everyone laughed as Remus quickly deflected a stinging jinx from Sirius, grinning triumphantly.

"Now that we've courted off Harry, who is ready for some lunch?" Dora said, still smiling. "Girls? We'd love for you to join."

Angelina, Katie, and Alicia exchanged glances and smiled.

"Sounds good," Katie said, speaking for the three of them, and she winked at Harry. "We really had no plans to stick around, but no plans for anything else either, so that sounds fun. I'm certainly not going to protest spending a bit more time with some eye candy."

Harry blushed, and Katie laughed, already moving on. She loved getting people riled up, and flirted with most people, though he'd never really seen her date much. It didn't help that she was quite pretty, and just so fun to be around.

"Are your families around?" Harry asked, realizing he hadn't seen any of the three Chasers families.

"No, dad had to work, but he's competing in the Open Bracket, so he'll be back later," Angelina said, and Harry nodded, knowing that it was just her and her dad.

Her mother died while she was young from a blood curse that thankfully wasn't a bloodline curse, but still tragic. Of the three chasers, she was the only one whose home he hadn't visited. She was also the only one that rarely if ever talked about home, merely commenting that her dad worked a lot and it was generally boring. Coming from his background, that would normally set off warning bells, but she was physically affectionate, unlike he had been before Dora. She certainly had new, nice things, and was confident and passionate, so he figured her father might be distant, but no other major issues. He knew they weren't close at all, but he wasn't sure how good or bad their relationship actually was. Still, he always watched his friend for any other signs of an abusive home.

"Mum got called into St. Mungos," Alicia said. "Jamie couldn't get out of work either."

Harry nodded, knowing that Alicia's dad had been a hitwizard and died in the last war. Alicia's mum was a healer at St. Mungos and worked a fair bit to afford their home, food, and schooling. Alicia's older sister, Jamie, was a reporter for the Daily Prophet, in the fashion section.

"My mum and brother are muggle," Katie said sadly, "so they can't watch."

Harry frowned at that, often disappointed with how the Magical World treated those of muggle descent. He also knew that Katie's dad had been killed in a car accident when she was young. It was one of the things that made the three chasers so close. They all knew what it was like to grow up without a parent. It was another thing that helped them bond with him.

Dora, Sirius, and Remus led the four teenagers over to the convenience stands, while Mad-Eye made his escape, telling Harry that he'd see him the next day.

As they all took seats after grabbing meals, which Sirius covered, which the three girls were grateful for, Harry couldn't help but feel like this tournament was going to be hard to beat for summer memories, what with him spending time with his family, getting to let his competitive out, and spending time with three of his favorite people. He hoped Ron and Hermione would come tomorrow, both unable to attend the first day, but promising to show the second day, if he was still in the tournament.

"I should have known I'd find you all here," a familiar voice said sarcastically, and Harry turned around to see three familiar and welcome faces.

"Hey, Lexie," Harry greeted with a smile. "Kingsley, Savage."

"Don't I see you all enough at work?" Dora asked with a playful pout, and Sirius barked a laugh.

"Hey, I'm here to see Harry," Lexie said primly, moving forward and taking a hug from Harry, who was chuckling. "Besides, when have I ever needed an excuse to see you?" Lexie asked with a wink, and Dora smirked at her.

"Considering you two teamed up for a Double's match, I'd say you rarely if ever need an excuse," Harry said dryly, and Lexie and Dora both laughed.

"That's not till after the Under 21 Bracket though," Dora said. "She's here to scout the talent and then prepare for her Single's Wizard's Duel matches."

"You're competing in a Singles match too?" Harry asked with interest, and Lexie nodded.

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p'. "Pretty much every Auror, Hitwizard, Hitwich, and even quite a few Law Enforcement Patrols are competing. It's considered professional development, and since it's single elimination, it's not like we have to spend our day or week here if we have things going on. Besides, I can't just let King and Savage keep dominating afterall."

Harry glanced at the two men in question.

"You two usually dominate?" he asked.

"Harry, it's partially why Kingsley and Savage both have their higher positions in the Corps," Dora said with a laugh. "You're looking at two of the best duelists in all of Europe. Kingsley's won the European Open several times, and Savage is among the top twenty duelists in Europe."

"It depends on the year," Kingsley said humbly. "Besides, there are a lot of duelists that I think are better than me that don't compete much. If Albus Dumbledore were to start competing again, even at his age, I suspect he'd still be winning."

"True," Savage muttered with a chuckle.

"Dumbledore used to compete?" Harry asked in shock.

The adults all laughed, and even Alicia, Angelina, and Katie chuckled.

"Yes, Harry," Alicia explained, amused. "Dumbledore competed quite a bit before his duel with Grindelwald. It, combined with his many qualifications was one of the reasons why people believed he was capable of beating Grindelwald before he did . . . and why many who worship the Dark Arts fear him."

"Dumbledore competed professionally on and off for almost forty years," Angelina said, "and he never lost a match."

"Never?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Never. Not at the National level, European Open, or on the International Circuit," Lexie confirmed. "Dumbledore is the only person to have a completely perfect record after competing in over five hundred duels at all levels. He's accounted as one of the greatest duelists of all time, which is another reason he's considered to be the greatest wizard of the age. Some think he's one of the greatest wizards, period."

"Wow," Harry muttered. "I mean, I know he's considered one of the most powerful wizards in the world, and I know he's a Grand Sorcerer, but with how he is at Hogwarts, it's just hard to picture him like that."

"Never judge a person's abilities based on their personality," Savage warned. "Some of the most pleasant and unassuming people I know are the ones who could most easily gut me without breaking a sweat."

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"He's talking about his wife," Kingsley stage whispered, "and she'll be out here tomorrow to support."

Harry snorted in amusement, especially when Savage nodded in serious agreement, which got giggles from Katie and Alicia, and a snort from Angelina, Dora, and Lexie.

"If Dumbledore's never lost a duel, and he's the only one to ever do so, how is he not considered the greatest duelist of all time?"

"Well, most of Dumbledore's success is in a dueling ring, in a tournament," Kingsley explained. "Going back in history, there have been others who have dueled or defeated as many people as Dumbledore has or close to at least . . . but for them it was all real life. It's hard to compare how they might have fared in a dueling ring against Dumbledore, just as it's hard to judge how Dumbledore would do facing some of the odds that some of those men and women have faced. Dumbledore has proven himself against a Dark Lord and quite a few other dark witches and wizards, but not in the same way some others have. It's just hard to compare different duelists and situations throughout history."

Harry nodded in understanding, and the conversation changed to various strategies or styles that people used, bigger names in the Dueling Circuit World that might be competing, and talk about the Quidditch World Cup, which was only a month away.

Finally, it was time for the Under 21 Bracket. Tonks was set to go ninth on the second stage, so their now quite large group of friends and family set up shop near the second stage, but still close enough to see what was going on on the first stage.

"We're in for a treat," Dora said, and Harry turned to her as she nodded up on the stage where the first duelists were making their way to the center. "My rival is the first up on this stage."

"Your rival?"

Dora smirked. "Sofia Witcher-Cortez."

"Witcher-Cortez? Is she related to Marina?" Harry asked.

"I think they're technically cousins, but the Witcher Clan is a bit different," Dora said. "I know they call their cousins their brothers or sisters."

"Interesting," Harry said, thoughtfully, and then frowned. "You called them a Clan again. Is that different from a family or an Ancient House or Noble House? I noticed they introduced Marina as Clan Witcher."

"Technically, the Witchers are an Ancient House," Sirius explained, "but they're different because biologically, not many, if any of them are actually related to the original Witchers, at least not in the traditional sense. A Clan includes all the extended family under an Ancient or Noble House, though the Witcher Clan is famous for adopting orphans, and eventually blood adopting them, making the one adopted into blood family, bringing the magical talents or traits of the family into the adopted child. Most families just know they fall under their relatives, like Tonks family falling under the Blacks, but the Witchers are a bit different. Clan members keep their heritage alive by hyphenating the Witcher name into their last name. It also lets the world know who they are."

"The Witcher Clan is famous for producing Aurors, Hitwizards and Hitwiches, curse breakers, and mages, though they have known scholars in almost every field," Kingsley said.

"They are a fairly large family, not Weasley large but similar, but unlike the Weasleys, they are spread out throughout the entire world, which is why you will probably never meet a Witcher that isn't very well traveled, since they often visit their other family worldwide," Savage added.

"They're all a pain," Lexie said with a snort, and they all glanced at her. "They're all generally powerful and skilled witches and wizards and usually very nice people to boot. Generally confident, but not arrogant. It's really unfair since it's hard to dislike the bastards."

Alicia, Angelina, Katie, and Dora laughed at that.

"I can agree," Dora said. "Sofia is a really nice person, though she and I never ran in the same circles."

"Wow," Harry said, intrigued. It was different than anything he'd heard about, but at the same time, it sounded really nice. They had forged their own family, regardless of birth, and clearly cared for those who had hard starts to life. "Wait . . . if they take magical orphans . . . then would they have possibly tried to take me?"

The adults all exchanged glances and shrugged.

"Technically you had family," Dora said, before grumbling, "even if they were vile pieces of trash."

"Regardless," Remus said, looking at Dora with approval, "they might have tried to obtain your guardianship, but none of us know."

"I doubt the Ministry would have allowed it anyway," Sirius said. "Your status would have made sure the Ministry wanted to prevent you from becoming a member of the Witcher Clan."

"What? Why?" Harry asked. "My status as the Boy-Who-Lived?" he asked scornfully.

"No, your status as the Heir of a Noble House," Sirius responded. "If you joined the Witchers, it would be adding another Noble House to the Witcher Clan, giving them further power, something that people don't like, even if the Witchers have only ever been helpful to our world. They're too unconventional to the snooty old purebloods."

"Hmm," Harry said, as Dora chuckled.

"Oh, we are in for a treat, but I feel really sorry for Merula, even if she can be a right cow sometimes."

Harry glanced at her and she smirked, nodding to the other witch prepared to duel.

"Merula Snyde, Sofia, and I all were at Hogwarts together. Merula always claimed to be the most powerful witch or frankly most powerful person at the school. She was and is powerful, but certainly not that powerful, and she wasn't able to back up that claim several times. She did mellow as the years went on, but Sofia won the Under 16 bracket twice, the Under 18 bracket twice, and she's won one of the two Under 21 brackets she could compete in. She didn't compete last year, which is why she hasn't won both."

"Oh," Harry said, figuring out what Dora was getting at. Unless Merula had improved vastly, she was about to get knocked out in the first match of the first round, simply due to bad luck.

"Merula was my Draco Malfoy," Dora added, and Harry grinned at that, now having an even better understanding of why Dora was smirking.

"Duelists, are you ready?!" the announcer called, and Harry couldn't help but notice that the announcer seemed far more invested in this duel. It probably was a lot more interesting watching more than simple school level spells. He hadn't seen anything all that incredible in the Under 18 bracket. Sure, there had been some physically skilled and impressive duelists, but still, they mostly stuck to hexes, jinxes, curses, shields, and their strategy mostly involved wand speed and knowledge of specific counters.

Merula and Sofia both nodded tersely, and if Harry looked closely, he could see the tenseness in Merula's posture, while Sofia seemed to carry the same "unconcerned" bearing that her cousin or "sister" carried. They both assumed ready stances, their wands still in their waist holsters, as the Under 21 and Open brackets' rules dictated. The "adult" brackets were fought from the draw. Both witches had their hands down, ready to draw.

"Begin!"

Both witches drew with incredible speed, with Sofia only a hare faster, but it hardly mattered as Merula conjured up a strong shield, one that Harry didn't recognize, intercepting whatever spell Sofia cast.

The two witches continued to trade back a fast volley of curses, jinxes, and hexes, shielding from some spells, dodging others with impressive shows of agility, flexibility, and stamina. Finally though, after nearly a minute of testing each other's defenses, they started changing it up.

Merula conjured water and doused Sofia, quickly transfiguring the water into ice, freezing Sofia in place, but the witch waved her wand and the ice turned into a dense fog, obscuring her position, and then it grew, obscuring nearly all of Sofia's part of the stage. Merula was forced to dodge as several spells came flying out of the fog, and she threw back a gust of wind, but as the fog blew away it formed into almost a mini twister and returned back at Merula who was thrown to the ground by the gust of wind before it dissipated.

Merula barely managed to avoid a stunner as she rolled away, and with an impressive display of athleticism, she rolled forward and flipped back onto her feet, firing back three conjured knives at Sofia's legs, and beside him, he heard some of his friends gasp.

However, it was completely legal. Only the Unforgivables, and immediately fatal spells were banned, i.e. piercing or cutting curses aimed at the neck or heart. Deaths had happened in the Circuit, though healers on site did their best to prevent that from happening.

Sofia deflected the three knives around her and then redirected them back at Merula who vanished them. They continued to try and use a mixture of charms, transfiguration, and curses to defeat each other when Sofia did something that Harry had read about in her ancestor's book. She conjured several pieces of stone, which started floating around her, seemingly animated. They acted as shields as she started firing, a volley of spells at Merula, who tried to return to the offense, but couldn't break Sofia's rhythm, since the stones acted as shields without her having to do anything.

The vicious, protected assault finally proved too much and Merula was blasted off the stage as her hastily thrown shield only minorly blocked some sort of blasting curse.

"Winner, Witcher-Cortez by ring out!" the announcer called out as people cheered at the end result of an incredible duel.

"Wow," Harry said, in awe, which was echoed by Katie. So that was what a duel between two very skilled magical practitioners looked like.

"That was incredible," Angelina exclaimed, and Harry could see Alicia nodding in agreement.

"They are very good," Dora agreed with a smile. "Sofia hasn't lost a thing since the last time I dueled her, and has only gotten better, and Merula's gotten a lot better. I'd say there should be some very relieved people since Merula's now out of the competition.

"It's nice to see that there will definitely be some good competition coming to the Open bracket in the next year or two," Lexie agreed, looking at both Merula and Sofia admiringly.

"It'll be good for the Aurors, for sure," Kingsley agreed. "Too many years where it's our people ending up in the top sixteen. Makes us too self-assured."

"Plus, it makes things bloody boring," Savage added with a grin. "It's no fun dueling the same bloody bastards I can duel any day."

"Well, let's see if anyone else is going to show themselves as being very competitive this year," Dora said.

Over the course of the next eight duels, they did see some pretty good duelists, but none that showed the level of skill that Merula and Sofia displayed, however that didn't mean others weren't capable, so it remained to be seen who might still have a shot at winning.

Dora provided information, naming bigger names throughout the duels, or mentioning people she went to school with and background information on them. Barnaby Lee, one of Dora's old friends and schoolmates, showed pure strength and simply overpowered his opponent. Jae Kim, a shiftier classmate of Dora's, used distraction and charms to befuddle his opponent. Levi Rosier showcased a rather brutal approach, battering down his opponent with darker spells, while Andre Egwu, another of Dora's former classmates took an elegant approach, almost dancing about his opponent.

Eventually Dora went up, and Harry cheered as his sister demolished her opponent who really didn't stand a chance against her, and was stunned within four spells. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were just as vocal about her performance, all three girls already talking about how cool it was going to be to see Dora in the finals against Sofia Witcher-Cortez.

They watched the remainder of the Under 21 bracket, with Dora's continued commentary before they moved to the Open bracket. As they watched the Open bracket, Harry came to the conclusion that the possibility for far more impressive and complicated magic was prevalent in the Open category, however there were just as many who were simply enjoying a spot of competition or trying to make a name for themselves, not counting the Aurors, many of whom gave good showings, but did not give everything they had, not wanting to risk injuries that could affect their jobs.

Still, he did see some amazing magic, noting some of the names that were either friends or friendly coworkers to Dora, Kingsley, Lexie, and Savage, like Alexis Montgomery, Dora's friends Nicole and Stacey, Hestia Jones, and Brian Proudfoot. He also noted the names of those who were family to some of the meaner Slytherins at Hogwarts or those that he remembered Mad-Eye mentioning in his stories as Death Eaters like Garrett Goyle, Stanley Crabbe, Felix Avery, Thaddeus Nott, and to his slight surprise, Lucius Malfoy.

Concurrently with the Open Single's Duels were the Open Doubles, Triples, and Group Duels, which Dora and Lexie were competing as a team in, and Kingsley and Savage apparently were as well. Watching Lexie and Dora work together had been interesting, and had given Harry some ideas of things to maybe work on with some of his friends so that they could possibly do some of these group events in the future.

Lexie and Dora were both brilliant duelists, and the pair they fought hadn't seemed to be anywhere close to in the league of the two gifted Aurors, but in the rather short pitched battle, Harry and his three friends had enjoyed watching how Dora would shield or conjure or transfigure defenses for both her and Dora while Lexie went on the offensive with rapid fire spells, only for the two girls, without seemingly discussing a thing switch roles, which had befuddled one of their opponents, knocking him out. From there, both Dora and Lexie had gone on the offensive against the remaining poor soul who did admirably, but was no match for the two relentless witches.

Kingsley and Savage had been equally as devastating as a pair, but considering what Harry had learned about both men, it made sense. Not only were they incredible duelists individually, but they were good friends and had worked together for years.

Overall, it ended up being a fantastic day with Harry getting a good idea of just how good some people were and giving him ideas of what he should do to improve himself . . . or at least giving him visual demonstrations of what he'd read about. All of his friends and family made it to the Second Round of their events, meaning he was guaranteed to see them all the next day.