A/N: More combat scenes because I love writing them. Don't worry, there will be plenty of fluff too. Please comment if possible, I love engaging with my audience!
-The girl atop the clouds-
It had been a frustrating week. School work was beginning to pick up, a troll somehow found its way into the dungeons of Hogwarts and most importantly, Neville had led Gryffindor to victory over Slytherin in the first Quidditch match of the season despite almost falling off his broom and swallowing the snitch. He thought that Neville's flying technique was seriously unimpressive, he would no doubt best Neville as seeker when he got the chance next year.
Today's breakfast added to the annoyance bubbling within him. His father's reply to his letter about the Potter heiress had been vague and uninformative, with instructions for him to continue his observations. How was he meant to be the Malfoy heir if his father wouldn't even share with him the methods to deal with situations such as these? In addition to the response, his parents had mailed over a trunk full of winter clothing. Just in time too, today was the first snow of the year and judging by the fidgety behavior of Crabbe and Goyle, they were struggling to contain their desire to go out there and have a snowball fight. Unfortunately, he had the task of keeping an eye on his… minions and that meant he had to endure the cold too.
Someone else over at the Ravenclaw table seemed excited too, he had never seen her finish her breakfast that quickly, already dressed in a blue and gold winter coat and House scarf, alone at the end of the table, seemingly ready to take off the moment she was done with the food. He had expected as much, she did say that she's always loved snow. Just as well, now he had a worthwhile reason to be out there in the Hogwarts grounds.
"Draco, you promised me that you'll help me with my Potions essay today. Can we start after breakfast?" Great, how could he have forgotten, he had a study "date" with Daphne Greengrass this morning. Swearing to himself that he would never promise such things again, he turned to the Greengrass heiress, while catching a glimpse of Ivy Potter essentially sprinting out of the Great Hall, almost tripping herself on the way out.
"Of course Daphne, let's meet in the Common Room after breakfast, shouldn't take long."
"Great, see you there Draco."
"Crabbe, Goyle, you two can go play out there. Do not leave the castle though, god knows how angry your parents will be at all of us if you two get into any kind of trouble." Satisfied with the nods of agreement from his henchmen, he turned his attention to his barely touched plate of food. He had much to do today.
-The girl atop the clouds-
"And to complete the essay, I believe Professor Snape wants us to explain why the instructions he gave were to stir two times clockwise and one time counterclockwise instead of the three times clockwise before the counterclockwise stir indicated by the textbook. I trust that you were paying attention in class when he went through this portion?"
Daphne nodded.
"Good, oh, and don't forget to include a section on the dangers of using Salamander blood and the appropriate precautions that should be taken. You should be good if you structure the essay as we have discussed."
"Thank you so much Draco, I didn't think I would have so much trouble in Potions."
"You seem just fine at brewing. Essay writing is different, it will come with practice. If you have no more questions I'll be off."
Daphne smirked at him. "Sure, sure Draco, I'll ask you later if I have any more questions. Won't hold you back from spying on the Potter heiress anymore." She finished with a wink.
"Wha… I'm not spying on her. I'm under instructions to observe her actions. It's a family matter, you understand?" His cheeks burned, but why? He was telling the truth, he was just following his father's instructions.
"Yeah, right. Of course it is." This light teasing was somehow infuriating him, he was not spying on her. Storming off amidst the giggles of Daphne and Tracey, who had joined her friend on the couch, he headed for the viaduct courtyard. The snow had stopped, but for a first snow, it was impressive, covering the entire courtyard in a layer of white. Luckily for him, Crabbe and Goyle had not strayed far, they were engaged in a snowball fight with the other Slytherin year ones in the courtyard instead of the larger Hogwarts Grounds.
"Having fun?"
"Yeah Draco, want to join us?"
"You two enjoy, I have other matters to attend to for now."
"Yeah, by that he means he's off to spy on the Potter heiress again." Gods, were his actions so obvious? It's been barely two months at Hogwarts and the whole of Slytherin seems to know about his attempts at observing her. Without replying, he walked off, pondering where he would most likely be able to find her. He would try the Hogwarts grounds first near the Bell Tower, then if she wasn't there, the Hogwarts South Exit area. Thankfully, flooing from one end of the school to the other was fairly convenient.
The grounds were beautiful, even more so after the snow. Small patches of green among the white fields, leafless trees covered by snow, framed by the endless white plains that stretched beyond the Hogwarts walls and the towering snow capped mountains to the north that rose into the clouds. It made for a postcard perfect picture. Tens of students frolicked about in the snow, some playing a game of tag, some building statues out of the snow, some flying about beyond the walls, near the Quidditch grounds. Climbing up the bell tower for a better vantage point, he scanned the area carefully. There she was, under one of the trees. She was playing with her friends it seemed, making snowmen. Mundane. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, even though she was doing something perfectly within expectations. It seemed that his past few encounters with her had caused him to expect only the extraordinary when it came to her. Sighing, he was about to climb down from his perch when he noticed something.
One of her "friends" had kicked a snowman's head off. Then the others followed suit, and soon despite the girl's best efforts to shield her creations with her arms, they all lay destroyed in the snow. His eyes narrowed, while he wouldn't describe himself as a bully nowadays, he had gone through such a phase when he was younger, picking on other children with his followers. With their "work" done, the others left the Potter heiress alone under the tree, laughing and conversing loudly along the way. He caught the words weirdo and freak along the way. Her magical feats must have been noticed by others too, and they were much less subtle about their reactions than he was.
He didn't know what compelled him to do so, but he soon found himself in the grounds walking towards the tree she was under. She looked dolefully at the trampled remains of the snowmen, before slowly gathering more snow to repair the damage done. Soon, she had finished recreating the smallest of the snowmen. Meanwhile, he had been standing there transfixed. Despite the initial will to approach her, once he had actually gotten closer, his throat went dry and he was rooted in place. He realized that he had no idea what to do nor what to say to her. Thankfully, he was spared these agonies as she turned around and spotted him. Due to her recent experiences though, she instinctively shielded her rebuilt snowman with a panicked look in her eyes. He knew it was justified, but he couldn't help but feel indignant. Did he really look unfriendly?
"Don't worry, I won't damage them." After some hesitation, he continued. "Do you want some help?"
She reminded him of an injured puppy, eyeing him distrustfully while periodically looking back at her snowman, as if to ensure that it wouldn't just disappear on her. There he stood, for an eternity it felt like, waiting for a response. Then she gave him a tentative nod and pointed at the next smallest snowman. He heaved a sigh of relief and walked over. And so they began rolling up balls of snow. She had been building a set of 7 snowmen in a circle before they had been destroyed, arranged clockwise by size. Based on what he had come to expect from her, a small part of his mind was convinced she was performing some kind of magical ritual. Except there were no rune marks on the ground to indicate such a thing, nor would any staff member at Hogwarts permit it.
And so they continued in silence. Soon, they were done. Turning to her, he asked absentmindedly.
"Why arrange them like that?"
As if to answer him, the ground beneath them glowed an eerie green. So it had to do with magic somehow! When his gaze returned to her and the snowmen, he had to do a double take. The snowmen were no longer in a circle, they had rearranged themselves into a row and were all… waving at him? Unbelievable, once again, magic that was beyond his knowledge.
"They are my friends, you know? I've made a promise a long time ago that they can visit me every first snow." She sounded soft and bashful. "Do you want to say hi to them Draco?"
"Yeah… sure…" Snapping out of his reverie, he waved back at them. Internally, he was grateful that most of the other students had returned back into the castle for lunch. Being caught talking to snowmen that had somehow come alive would be highly undesirable for someone of his standing. To his astonishment, the largest of the snowmen then began rolling on its base towards him, eyes and mouth glowing as it did so. It came to a stop a short distance away and with its twig-made arms, handed something towards him.
"For me?" The snowman nodded. Taking a closer look, it was an enlarged snowflake the size of his palm that pulsed with golden light.
"Ooh! That's a never-melting snowflake! I received one too when I first met them. They're your friends now too!" The Potter heiress excitedly explained to him. A never-melting snowflake?
As if reading his mind, she continued. "It doesn't melt no matter where you put it. Mine once ended up in the house fireplace and survived!" She took out a snow globe from her coat pocket, within it was a similar glowing snowflake, slightly smaller than his. Upon closer inspection, there was snow falling in the globe seemingly from nowhere. He passed it off as another of her inexplicable pieces of magic. Taking the "never-melting snowflake" from the snowman, he muttered his thanks, earning him a bow from the snowman as it rolled back to its companions.
"They can dance too, look!" The Potter heiress seemed incredibly eager to share with him the abilities of her friends, as she twirled in the snow, with the snowmen following suit. They were soon moving along with her in the snow. It wasn't anything refined, and he would moreso describe it as spinning around in the snow than any kind of dance. "Do you want to try?" She looked at him, expectation lighting up her eyes.
"I'm afraid that the only dances I know are beyond the capabilities of the snowmen." He didn't think that the clumsy forms of the snowmen knew how to waltz.
"Give it a try, they might surprise you." He must have ate something wrong at breakfast today, he mused to himself as he imagined himself in the countless social balls he had attended prior. Adopting a well practiced stance, he decided on the Standard Waltz, one that he was most familiar with. Holding out his arms while pretending he was dancing with a partner, he began slowly, to the beat of Shostakovitch's 2nd Waltz, as it was used in the most recent ball he attended. To his amazement, the snowmen were mimicking him, pieces of snow disassociating and reforming to give an impression of "flexibility" to them. While the twigs that formed their arms could never imitate his completely, they were nevertheless doing a fairly good job. Mesmerized by their movement, he instinctively continued from memory, wanting to see just how far he could push them.
As he twirled gracefully in the snow, the snowmen followed suit, some even pairing up despite their differences in height. How did they know the complementary dance steps of his imaginary partner? There wasn't much time for such thoughts as he had to focus on getting his feet in order for a particularly challenging section, completely oblivious to the set of eyes that were fixated on him, similar transfixed as he was just now on the snowmen.
The snowmen continued to follow, and so lost was he in the dance that it felt like only an instance had passed when he reached the end. Only her applause managed to remind him of her presence.
"That was amazing! I want to learn to dance like that someday."
"No one in your household ever taught you? Aren't the Potters also an old magical family." The words left his mouth before his mind could catch up. He cursed internally as he remembered her predicament.
"No… there wasn't anyone around." She looked down.
"Sorry, I… didn't mean to." They stood there quietly as her mind seemed to drift off elsewhere.
"Oh no, I didn't even notice it's already past lunchtime. I have remedial classes in the afternoon to attend." She suddenly said.
"Oh… I'll leave you to it then." He was about to turn and head off when he felt a pair of small but warm hands on his.
"Let's say goodbye to our friends and make some snow angels before we leave." Her eyes were pleading now, he didn't think he could say no.
"Hmph, you're the one who has something on anyway." She turned to the snowmen and waved goodbye to them, before the ground lit up with the same green light as before, causing the snowmen to scatter into a whirlwind of snowflakes. Her messy black hair fluttered about in the wind, catching some of the snow as she lowered her hand, the wind dying down as she did so.
Then, lying down on the ground, she began making her snow angel.
"Come, the snow is thickest here!" He lay down beside her and began making his own.
There they lay, not a word spoken until she stood up.
"I have to go now. Thank you Draco, today was fun." She flashed him a brilliant smile that sent his heart racing before running off. She must have cast a spell on him, for it was awfully warm for a day in winter.
- The girl atop the clouds -
Attending the dueling club had become routine. The pecking order amongst the first years was quickly established, and he was proud to say that he was at the very top of it. In fact, the seniors had considered him too advanced to spar with other first years and welcomed him to spar with them instead. While competing with more experienced duelists was difficult, Draco could feel himself improving with every session. Nowadays, he was more than able to hold his own against the second years, and could even best some of the weaker third years. Today, he had managed to secure a sparring session against Edwin Cole, an equal of Sophia Bridget as one of the best third year duelists. Or so he thought.
The commotion within the hall was greater than usual, with a crowd already formed around the central platform. He caught wind of the words, Neville, Boy-Who-Lived. Moving towards the front of the crowd, he saw what had caused the congregation. Noah was exchanging spells with Neville Longbottom, who had for some reason, decided to show up today. Show-off. Everyone within the Pureblood circles knew that Neville was tutored by Dumbledore and several other notable aurors in combat magic. Coming here to "test" his skills against complete amateurs was a laughable notion. As the time came for today's club session, Noah signaled to Neville and the two of them stopped, shaking hands before turning to the crowd.
"I have a very special treat for everyone! The Headmaster and Professor McGonagoll have finally approved my request for the Boy-Who-Lived to join us in a session."
Waiting for the cheers to subside, he continued. "For anyone who does not already know yet, Neville here is an expert combat magician at the tender age of 11. Trained by the Headmaster himself it is said. And today, you will get a chance to spar with him, and his partner Hermione Granger, who is, from what I understand, another talented first year witch." Great, the Muggleborn he might have insulted on the train.
"To give as many of you an opportunity to spar, today's theme is paired combat. Feel free to pair up with anyone you wish to take on the Boy-Who-Lived. You all have 10 minutes to form your pairs, after which return here should you wish to participate. Of course, should you wish to spar amongst yourselves, feel free to use the remaining platforms. Off you all go then."
A partner? He glanced around. None of his Slytherin friends were around, they've all joined other clubs, most the philosophy club, which at this point was just a Pureblood networking center masquerading as a student society. He would have to approach some of the older students here.
"Sophia, want to pair up for the event?"
"Oh Draco, I would like to but I've a partner already, been dueling together with Millie here since we were young." She pointed at a blond haired Hufflepuff who gave him an apologetic smile.
Dammit, he didn't want to miss this opportunity.
"Edwin, you got a partner already?"
"I think I'm going to sit this event out, I don't see much benefit in dueling someone too much stronger than myself. We can still spar together if you wish."
He nodded. Then, he saw her, playing with the hem of her robes in the corner of the hall, staring absentmindedly at the center platform. Her hair was messier than usual, with leaves and a dittany flower caught in there. She must have attended a herbology lesson prior to this.
"Want to pair up for this event?"
"Hm…? Hello Draco." She didn't seem to be paying attention.
"Ivy, want to pair up for the dueling event today? We get to spar against the Boy-Who-Lived."
"Boy-Who… what's that?" He looked incredulously at her.
"We get to spar against Neville and his partner, they're really strong and I want someone who's also good to partner with."
"Oh. I'm not very good at dueling though…" He rolled his eyes, this girl was exasperating sometimes. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her along.
"Trust me, you are good enough. Let's sign up at the table there." Without waiting for her answer, he dragged a confused Ivy Potter to the center platform.
As the only first years participating in the event, they were going to be the fourth and final pair to take on the challenge. It seemed that most shared Edwin's sentiment about dueling the Boy-Who-Lived. Neville's reputation preceded him amongst the students. Most just wanted to watch the spectacle.
The first pair up was James Miller, a fifth year Ravenclaw and Charles Oakes, a third year Hufflepuff. They were clearly a duo that came together only for the event, and it showed by the third round of spells exchanged. Charles was almost clipped by a stunning spell thrown out by James, who had forgotten to communicate to his partner in the heat of the moment. Reflexively, Charles turned around to berate his partner for the reckless casting, a fatal mistake. Immediately, the Boy-Who-Lived pounced on the mistake, first hitting Charles with a stunning spell while his back was turned, then in conjunction with a well-timed shield breaking charm from Hermione, sent James flying with a Banishing charm. The entire duel had taken less than a minute. Applause erupted, commending the Boy-Who-Lived and Hermione's prowess as the next pair prepared themselves.
The second pair was Sophia and Millie, a pair who had practiced together for many years. He was looking forward to seeing just how far they could push the Boy-Who-Lived. The duel began with both sides sizing each other up, a few stunning spells, disarming charms and banishing charms to test the waters, waiting for the other side to make a move. Both pairs were like coiled snakes, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. The first to go on the offense was Neville, conjuring a wall of flame that slowly advanced on the other pair, constricting the space they had and forcing a response, which came into the form of a summoning charm directed at the fountain present in the hall, putting out the flames.
The duel then exploded in intensity. Neville taking advantage of the momentary smokescreen created by the extinguishing of flames to fire a series of stunning spells at Sophia, who only barely managed to conjure a shield before they impacted her. Millie in the meantime executed the strategy she had agreed upon with Sophia, to target the weaker Hermione first. Banishing charms, disarming charms and even cutting curses flew across the platform towards the brown-haired girl, who parried them expertly. His eyes widened, this was certainly more than he had expected from her, let alone the fact that she was a Muggleborn. Neville then surged forward, darting and twisting to avoid the spells which came his way, boosted by a haste charm cast by Hermione. The pace at which he closed the distance was frightening, and within moments, he was within melee distance of the other pair. Sophia somersaulted in the air whilst Millie fired off a blasting curse at the ground in order to gain distance frantically.
It seemed however, the Boy-Who-Lived had accomplished his objective, introducing chaos into the battlefield, from where his experience over his opponents could take over. In their new positions, he swiftly signaled for Hermione to direct all her spells Millie, who was now pinned between them, while raising a flaming shield that burned a bright blue in the direction of Sophia. Draco recognized this instantly, this was one of the Longbottom family magics, a shield made of Holyfyre, capable of withstanding most spells. The only downside of it was the immense amount of magic that the caster needed to keep it in place for an extended period of time. Yet it did not seem to trouble the Longbottom heir at all, as he held the shield in place while simultaneously casting mage armor on himself and forcing Millie towards the edge of the platform along with Hermione.
Sophia, in danger of being taken out of the duel entirely, immediately responded by conjuring a steel platform beneath her, allowing her a vantage point past the flaming shield. Metallic tendrils once against sprouted from the floor of the platform, aiming for the legs of Neville and Hermione in order to immobilize them. Yet the Boy-Who-Lived seemed prepared for this, and with a wave of his wand, imbued his partner's and his own boots with Holyfyre, melting away the tendrils of steel as they approached. Sophia then conjured shards of steel in the air, sending them flying towards her opponents, yet with a wave of his hand, Neville raised the shield high into the air, intercepting the deadly missiles and causing them to melt as they passed through the shield, splashing harmlessly down on the platform.
In the meantime, Millie was trying her best to break through the defenses of Hermione, who was proving to be extremely frustrating to break down. Even though she did not know as many spells as the rest of the combatants, her defensive work was meticulous and impregnable. She seemed to be particularly adept at conjuring walls of magical energy, which would not only absorb the spells that came her way, but also reflect them with even greater power. While Draco did not think that this was the final form of her signature magic, it was going to quite the annoyance to deal with later.
It looked as if the duel was entering its closing stages, Millie was awfully close to being pushed off the platform by Neville, who continued pressing forward and constricting her movement. Sophia was forced to watch from afar, her path blocked by the flaming shield she had no way of dispelling. Desperate, Sophia focused all her energy to conjure the largest piece of steel she had thus far between Neville and Millie, who then began chanting a ritual. Neville's advance was temporarily halted by the sharp edges of the steel block and was forced to leap backwards to avoid being injured. Before him, the steel block twisted and deformed, glowing a cerulean blue as it was shaped into a golem. This was Sophia and Millie's final ploy, an arcane golem, a combination of their unique magics.
The Boy-Who-Lived sized up the golem and immediately retreated, dropping the flaming shield. He noticed that Sophia had exhausted all her magic through the previous conjuration and no longer posed a threat. He began systematically firing spells at the golem, cycling through the ones he knew and placing increasing amounts of power into them to find the appropriate combination to take down the construct. The arcane golem advanced, a thin blue shield around it deflecting spell after spell, until he launched a blast of Holyfyre at it. The golem stopped in place and shielded itself with its arms. That was what he was looking for. Sprinting behind Hermione and avoiding a blast of magical energy emanating out of the golem's core, he instructed the brown-haired girl to conjure a magical amplifying lens, and with all his might, yelled out.
Ignis. A jet of Holyfyre burst forth, a blazing inferno that promised to erase anything in its path, boosted by the amplifying lens until it became an almighty beam of heat, impacting the golem directly. The golem growled and halted in its path, then began screaming as the heat liquefied first its hands, then its arms and finally, its chest. As the heat reached its core, there was a massive explosion that threw both Sophia and Millie off the platform. The golem was no more, the only remnants of it being rapidly cooling pools of molten steel left on the platform.
- The girl atop the clouds -
It had taken quite a while for the audience, Draco included, to process the spectacle. While the others cheered, he couldn't help but feel nervous, cold sweat forming in his palms as he recalled the intensity of the flames. The titanic arcane golem was impressive enough, and if that wasn't sufficient to defeat the Boy-Who-Lived, he wondered what would. Turning to his partner, he found her looking in wonder at the platform.
"What is it?"
"The threads of magic, they are beautiful." Never mind, now was not the time to decipher whatever went on in her head.
The third pair was also a pair of duelists that had only come together for the event, and were swiftly dispatched by the Longbottom heir. Finally, it was their turn.
Stepping onto the platform, he repeated his ideas to her. They would come out swinging instead of letting Neville take the initiative and try to catch Hermione by surprise, then attempt to win a two on one. That earned a nod from her, even though he wasn't sure if she was actually listening to him. After the customary bow to each other, the duelists all took on their stances.
Upon the countdown finishing, he immediately sent a wave of lightning at his opponents. In the corner of his eye, he recognized the mist that appeared around her feet as she disappeared and reappeared instantaneously with a silvery flash behind the Boy-Who-Lived. However, it was clear that he had taken the whispers around the castle seriously and had been expecting something similar. While Hermione blocked his spells with yet another energy shield that reflected them back at him. Neville launched a blasting curse at the Potter heiress, who was caught momentarily off guard before a silvery sphere appeared around her, deflecting the spell away. She vanished again, this time reappearing beside him, stumbling as she landed on the platform.
While his instincts told him to query about her status, his rational mind reacted in time to stop a series of spells thrown his way, designed to take advantage of the momentary distraction. Their opponents were not going to allow them any respite. The Boy Who Lived once again cast a circle of flames on the floor. He cursed, the fountain's water had already been used up just now, they needed something else to counteract this. As he wracked his brain for an answer while continuously dodging the barrage of spells coming from Hermione, a behemoth orb of water suddenly splashed onto the platform, washing over it in a wave towards their opponents and extinguishing the flames. His partner must have conjured the water somehow. Immediately, he aimed his wand at the wave, electrifying the water. Now as long as the water connected with their opponents, they would be incapacitated, ending the duel.
But it wasn't to be. Yet again, the blue flaming shield appeared before the Boy-Who-Lived, this time as a wall of flames that covered the entirety of the platform. The charged wave evaporated instantly as it touched the wall. Once again, the Longbottom heir instructed his partner to cast on him the haste and mage armor charms before pressing forward relentlessly, firing jets of flame at them. It was clear that he was going for a similar strategy as before, to isolate and defeat them in detail. Draco was trying his best to alternate his spellcasting targets between Neville and Hermione in an attempt to throw them off balance. But his opponents held steadfast, their shields unwavering and ever-present. Perhaps it was too soon to have dragged the Potter heiress into this, she was completely reactive, and did not seem to know how to take the initiative at all. Though he had to admit, Ivy's vast repertoire of magic, some of which he could only dream of, was the only thing keeping them from defeat thus far.
Now, as Neville advanced on them, gale-force winds began building in the middle of the platform, impeding his movement and even blowing the bolts of Holyfyre back at him. This wasn't just any kind of wind, it must have been filled with magic, being able to affect magical fire. The Boy Who Lived must have realized this, for he stopped and instructed his partner to cast an unknown protective barrier on him. Draco had never seen such a barrier before, though from the troubled expression on his partner's face, he knew it did not mean anything good. With the fresh barrier in place, the Boy Who Lived resumed his charge, this time unaffected by the winds. He once again summoned his lightning whip, attempting to strike at range and injure the Longbottom heir. Yet for some reason the whip did not do as he commanded, shying away from the shield as if it were afraid.
"No, Draco! That's a null magic barrier, any magic we cast at it will only strengthen it." A Null Magic barrier? These words were straight from the fantasy novels he read when he was young. Supposedly a barrier that eats all magic it encounters, the perfect magic shield. The only downside was that whatever it was protecting would also be unable to cast magic until it was removed. His eyes widened. So that was Neville's plan. In the face of the unknown that was Ivy's magical repertoire, he wanted to take magic out of the equation completely. He was going to handle them in hand to hand combat.
Even with the realization, he was out of ideas, and before long, his opponent was upon him. A swift blow to his stomach knocked the air out of him, and a second to his face completely disoriented him. He was barely able to roll out of the way of a kick that would most certainly have rendered him unconscious and incapacitated. His partner was also unable to do anything due to the nature of the barrier, and Neville was most certainly more well trained in the martial arts compared to them. So that was why he had picked Hermione as his partner, in the case where he was outmatched in magic, he could always fall back on non-magical means. How disgraceful for a wizard!
He gritted his teeth as he continued dodging away from the Boy Who Lived's fists. His mind raced as he saw her looking at him, helpless. But why wasn't Hermione keeping her busy? Taking a momentary glance at the other side of the platform, he recognized the only weakness this combination had.
"She's channeling the spell, if you can break her concentration we have a chance!"
Upon reflection, shouting that out was definitely a mistake. The Boy Who Lived immediately realized his miscalculation and dashed towards the Potter heiress instead. After all, Draco hadn't proved capable of breaking through Hermione's shields yet, while Ivy had the potential to do it. Neville was almost upon Ivy when she vanished again in the silvery mist, appearing in the middle of the platform. And then, from Draco's perspective, it was over in an instant.
Neville and Hermione both lay face down below the platform, slightly winded but otherwise unhurt. His partner stood near where Neville was prior. They had… won?
In his confusion, he could only manage a question. "What happened?" She shook her head frantically, her face red and put a finger to her lips as the crowd roared in approval. It had been a fantastic day of magical displays.
- The girl atop the clouds -
Ivy had ran off immediately after the duel, robbing him of the chance to question her about the events that had transpired. Thus, he had to find out what happened in the final few moments from Noah. Even Noah wasn't quite sure about what he saw, but according to him, the Potter heiress must have somehow stopped time atop the platform. The audience all saw a faint purple sphere appear above the platform. As it did, the other 3 combatants aside from her froze in place. Noah was sure it wasn't just a spell that froze movement, for such spells did not dispel magic such as the Null Magic Barrier, but it must have been a spell that must have removed the concept of the continuous from within the sphere, thus preventing anyone else from "doing" anything or "casting" magic, such as Hermione channeling the Null Magic Barrier.
She had cast a perfect chronosphere, one that stopped time for everyone else within it except for herself. And with that, all the barriers that Hermione had erected vanished. All Ivy had to do was gently push them off of the platform to win the duel.
Draco held a hand to his forehead. Reanimating snowmen, now stopping time itself. What exactly had he gotten himself into?
- The girl atop the clouds -