Notes: (1) This will be my first time ever writing battles and action, I'm not very good or at least I don't think I'm very good at writing them. So I apologize beforehand if it's not up to your liking.
(2) As I previously did with the Training chapter I have decided to divide this chapter into two, as I deemed it a bit too long.
(3) Sorry for the delay. Trying to write while sick really sucks so I'm sorry about not posting.
The world of Harry Potter and its characters belong to JKR. I do not support JKR. Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Trans people are people.
*italicized/bolded text is straight from the books*
Chapter 12: The Demonstration Match I
Percy's office was filled with the intense sounds of snogging between him and his girlfriend, Audrey. She was perhaps everything that Percy was not. Brilliant in a way that didn't annoy her friends who Percy had the misfortune of meeting on a very off day of his where he had worn a ridiculously colourful outfit given to him by Dumbledore for Christmas. She was funny and made snarky remarks that had managed to make him snort milk through his nose.
She was perfect. And the fact that she was really bloody sexy also helped. Right now she had arrived at his office to his complete surprise, she was apparently there to not only visit him, but also for a surprise. He was on his way to the Great Hall early as today was the day of the Demonstration Match everyone was talking about, it was more anticipated than the last Quidditch Match which had ended terribly from what he'd seen.
The Keeper for the Ravenclaw team had nearly gotten his head knocked off after Duncan Inglebee from his same team had accidentally sent it his way when Cho Chang had screamed out orders at him. People say that she burst into tears after the match was over.
And now it was his duty to report to the Minister any suspicious activity coming from Dumbledore. The Minister suspected that Dumbledore would use the large amount of attention given to the school event to sneak from Hogwarts and plan something against the Minister. It was… an interesting idea, not really fitting to Dumbledore if Percy were to be honest, but he wasn't there to be honest, he was there to fulfil the job he had been given.
Which was pretty difficult seeing as Audrey had told him he looked incredibly adorable with the robes he'd decided to wear today, which happened to be some of his common clothes that he normally used. In a second she had pounced on him and locked her lips with his. He would have to leave in a couple of moments or a couple of minutes… yeah a couple of minutes never hurt anybody did they?
Her tongue seemed to dance with his as her thin fingers moved through his hair almost tearing at his scalp deliciously. How did a prat like him get a girl like her? He didn't know, he just knew that from the moment he had met that brilliant and incredible woman he had become putty in her hands. She was quite the opposite of what he would think would be his type –rebellious, mischievous and every other synonym of those words that ended with -ous.
After their first date where Percy had managed to make himself look like a stuttering, stammering mess of a wizard she had found him "adorably amusing" and kissed him goodnight.
It was on their third date that she had hinted for him to spend the night, and for all his Gryffindor bravery he had almost cowered under her predatory gaze. Yet, that night he might as well have fallen in love, her flat stomach that he covered with kisses, her breasts and collarbones that made him go crazy and even her arms with moving tattoos manage to absolutely bewitch him. It wasn't his first time, that had been with Penelope, but it certainly felt as magical.
Then there was the working part of her, and he was quite embarrassed when he got a stiffy from watching her fill out a bunch of paperwork in her flat the handful of times he had been there. The way she didn't miss a detail in her work, her eyebrows would furrow and she would take out some reading glasses. He had waited for her to finish just to take her again.
Blimey, his girlfriend really was amazing, so amazing in fact that he didn't hear the knock on the door until it swung open.
"Mr Weasley, have you seen– Oh my!"
Percy and Audrey separated as if the other burned like hot fire. Percy tucked his shirt back inside his trousers, while Audrey rearranged her messy hair. By the doorway there was a very annoyed and mildly embarrassed Madame Pomfrey, she had the decency of closing her eyes.
"M-Madame Pomfrey!" he sputtered. "W-what the blood- What are you doing here?!"
"I'm here, Mr Weasley," she explained as she opened her eyes. "Because a fellow healer by the name of Audrey Alysnes was supposed to come in by your office and then to me."
Percy turned around with a surprised expression on his face, a sort of nervous smile took over Audrey's features as she shook her hands and said.
"Surprise."
"WHAT?!" Percy almost bellowed.
"Yes Mr Weasley," said Pomfrey. "As you know the Demonstration Match is taking place today. As such I demanded the attendance of another healer in case there were any injuries during said Match. They were supposed to arrive at my office about ten minutes ago."
Both Audrey and Percy blushed as Audrey kissed his cheek and followed Pomfrey out of his office. Percy sat down, his face in his hands. He rubbed his eyes. This was going to be a long day, and not just because of what happened.
The day after the Quidditch Match on Sunday the Four Founders had announced that each Champion was supposed to engage in a challenge given by a different founder than their own and in a duel determined during the match.
They conjured the sorting hat and waved their wands at it while muttering an incantation that Percy didn't know.
"Luna Lovegood!" it had spat out. Gryffindor immediately raised his hand choosing her for a challenge he would be preparing. The red haired man looked at Rowena Ravenclaw and winked his eye, and Percy saw as she blushed before turning her head away. They repeated their process and aimed at the sorting hat again.
"Ron Weasley!" Hufflepuff seemed excited and was about to raise her hand when Salazar Slytherin raised his own. The Dark Wizard stared at Percy's younger brother with a sort of malicious smirk. His greyish green eyes seemed to shimmer in a way that reminded Percy of Dumbledore. It was a mischievous and almost terrifying look. Ron for his part didn't look too eager. Some Slytherins seemed incredibly smug and were smiling amongst each other, in particular Malfoy.
Cedric Diggory had ended up with Ravenclaw, while Daphne Greengrass had been put with Hufflepuff. Percy didn't particularly care for those three, he was more concerned with his baby brother at the claws of Salazar bloody Slytherin.
He put on his most neutral expression and walked outside ready for a quick breakfast. He saw as almost every student shook with excitement as they seemed too excited to even eat. Percy's eyes immediately sought out red hair like his, but he only saw Fred, George and Ginny who openly glared at him when he passed by. On his way to the staff table he also noticed the absence of the Champions of other houses.
After finishing his breakfast everyone made their way to the Quidditch Pitch. And Percy only hoped that his little brother would be safe.
Harry didn't know how to feel. For one part he was excited, and for the other he was worried. This would be the first demonstration of just how much the Champions had progressed in the time they had spent under the wing of the Founders. And that included Ron. Harry and Hermione hadn't seen their red-headed best friend since the last class of Friday. From what they knew he was maybe passed out on his bed from all Harry knew.
They sat down at the Gryffindor part of the Quidditch Stands waiting expectantly for the Match to begin. The Four Founders had sat each on the highest towers near their houses. Then Godric Gryffindor took out the sorting hat, he pointed at it with his wand and it levitated in the middle of the field, what looked to be the eyes, from the old hat's wrinkles, opened and he seemed to clear his throat before smacking what would be his lips had he not been a hat. He opened his mouth slightly and then.
"WELCOME! WELCOME! WELCOME!" The voice resonated across all of the Quidditch Pitch. People's eyes widened as they heard the sorting hat bellow in a way they had never heard before, it sounded like a football commentator. "TO THE FIRST TASTE OF THE HOGWARTS TOURNAMEEEEENT!"
Cheers resonated across the stands as people stood up excitedly waving banners, flags and using fireworks that Fred and George looked very happy with for some reason.
"IT'S A CLOUDY DAY TODAY," that was true, the normally sunny days that had been going on recently were suddenly gone. "WITH A HEAVY CHANCE OF WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY! TODAY WE WILL BE TESTING WHO IS TRULY THE BEST OF THE BEST! GRYFFINDOR!" A roar came from the Gryffindors in the crowd, Harry couldn't help himself when he roared along, "RAVENCLAW!" A roar came now from the Ravenclaws who happily clapped and cheered. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The same happened with the Hufflepuffs, and Harty saw Zacharias Smith wave a flag that said "Down with the King '' bringing a scowl to Harry's face. "OR SLYTHERIN!" and then came the Slytherins cheering just as loud as everyone waving banners and flags that either supported Daphne Greengrass or brought down other Champions, in particular Ron.
People were bouncing up and down in his seat and Harry even felt like he was ready to yell out "Go Gryffindor!" from all the excitement that coursed through Hogwarts students.
And Harry heard it, a choir of trumpets, flutes, clarinets and every other wind instrument that Harry could think resonated in a brilliant symphony that flew through the Quidditch Pitch. It sounded like a ballad of angels in heaven's gates that was filled with the melodious sounds of majestic music. Then, the impressive cry that sounded very familiar to Harry called from above, he looked upwards as did everyone else and saw Phawkes singing along. Dumbledore had a smile on his face at the scene.
"THE GRACE OF THE WIND ACCOMPANIES HER," said the hat, and Harry noticed that beside the flying phoenix there was another flying bird, and it seemed to grow bigger and bigger until Harry realised that it was coming down to the ground. Then he saw legs that looked like horses and Harry recognized the signs of a Hippogriff.
"SHE HOLDS WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE LIKE HER FOUNDER," the hippogriff flew at a rapid speed, making circles around the Quidditch Pitch, although Harry noticed something weird on the magical beast. "AND SHE SHALL REPRESENT THE CALLS OF THE EAGLE LIKE HER HOUSE OF RAVENCLAW!"
Someone was riding it.
"Luna," and the hippogriff landed with a resounding step that ended the sound of the flutes, trumpets and the other invisible wind instruments perfectly. "Lovegood!"
Luna got off the hippogriff as she waved around her smiling, still with that dreamy look that Harry had come to associate with her. She wore her dirty-blonde hair in a long braid with a look that made her already wide eyes seem wider. She wore dark blue robes with bronze highlights along with leather fingerless gloves and dragon-hide boots, the latter were under a long skirt of the same blue colour that had a bronze eagle. She had a hood as well that she did not wear.
People cheered for her, most from the DA seemed to be screaming loudly words of support for Luna as Ginny kept whistling from Harry's side.
"You can do it, Luna!" she yelled. "Beat that pretty boy! And that slimy Slytherin too!"
Next, there were drums, impressive and almost commanding like a battle march. They sounded incredibly powerful and felt like they could make the ground tremble. Suddenly roots and vine began to grow out of the ground at a rapid pace, the most amazing colours Harry had ever seen on any plant seemed to appear out of the ground as if a dirt had spit out a rainbow. "THE STRENGTH OF THE EARTH IS WITH HIM," bellowed the hat.
"HE BELIEVES IN HONESTY AND LOYALTY LIKE HIS FOUNDER," the vines coiled themselves around each other creating a big sort of flower that had the look of a marble castle. "HE WILL PROTECT THOSE VALUES WITH THE CREST OF HIS HOUSE OF HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Cedric," the walls and marble like petals unravelled revealing a smiling and excited Cedric. "Diggory!"
The Head Boy stepped down and started to walk to the centre of the field alongside Luna as people clapped all around. He wore the same outfit as Luna, except for the colour of his robes, which were a dark tinged gold with a black badger on the front of a tabard covering the trousers that replaced Luna's skirt. The music ended and as soon as it did the next came.
The sound of a cello being played was what most people heard. It played slowly, but empowered somehow as if the person that was playing it was drunk in power or pride. A set of violins started to accompany the low playing sound that sounded like a loud humming noise. Then, mist started to slip into the field surrounding the grass and hiding the green from anyone's vision.
"THE FLOW OF WATER SHALL BRING HER GLORY," the mist started to form the shape of a woman. She danced alongside the music, it was like seeing a woman slowly melting away as she elegantly pranced around spinning and turning into the notes of the song themselves. "WHO ELSE TO WIN THIS TOURNAMENT, BUT SHE WHO IS MORE CUNNING THAN ALL," the woman made of mist continued to dance before she started to spin in circles in one place. "SHOWING THE DETERMINATION OF SLYTHERIN HOUSE!"
"Daphne," the mist seemed to implode revealing Daphne Greengrass standing almost vainly, like those around her were nothing, with her hands behind her back. "Greengrass!"
Out of nowhere Harry's scar seemed to burn in pain, his hand shot upwards as his palm pressed against the gnawing pain of his scar. He looked around, quick to notice Hermione and Ginny looking at him. Seeing nothing around made him more paranoid and he would've sworn he heard the laugh of Riddle before it all seemed to dissipate. The burn of his scar disappeared and he nodded to his friends before focusing once more on the match.
As she walked down with her nose in the air Harry was able to notice that her robes were similar to Luna's except for the fact that Daphne's were the colour green and had a silver snake on her skirt. Harry knew who came next, who looked to his side seeing the excited faces of his friends as they awaited Ron's entrance.
The bass tones of a piano resounded and Harry had to say he was a little bit… disappointed. He looked to his side and saw most of Gryffindor had a similar expression… That was before he had to eat his words as the riff of an electric guitar completely deafened any other sound in the Quidditch Pitch. It followed by beating drums and what Harry could only describe as a rock concert in Hogwarts.
"THE POWER OF FIRE IS HIS," flames raised from the entrance of the Quidditch teams. A banner fell with a moving golden lion that was roaring in tone with the music. One of the banners burst and a sort of flying flaming speeding star flew across the Quidditch Pitch. Harry saw as Slytherin looked at Gryffindor dead in the eye before rolling his eyes and palming his face. "BRAVERY LIKE NO OTHER AND CHIVALRY IN HIS VICTORY," Harry already knew who it was as the flying flaming star made tricks in the air and its trail made the symbol of a flaming "W" inside a circle of fire. The twins sitting right beside Harry along with Ginny were screaming and chanting Weasley. "AND HE WILL EMBODY THIS VALUES WITH THE LION OF GRYFFINDOR!"
"Ronald," the flames of the star started to die down revealing Ron's set of red ginger hair. He fisted the air and Harry could tell he seemed quite nervous. He landed alongside the Champions and played an air guitar as his own song ended. "Weasley!"
The Gryffindors started to chant the Weasley is our King song as Ron waved albeit still a bit nervous, but looking far better than he did before. His robes were just like Cedric's with a dark and deep red replacing the gold tinge, and a golden lion on his tabard.
Harry clapped along with all of them. When Gryffindor stood up suddenly, he cleared his throat and clapped his hands making use of the same technique as Hufflepuff did months ago once. People stopped their noises as they watched Gryffindor point his wand at his throat.
"Thank you, all of you for being here today," his voice echoed all across the field with a Sonorus Charm. "Now I'll go over the ground rules for each challenge and what you'll face today. You shall beat a Magical Beast, do not worry in harming them as they have been charmed with several spells to counter any lethal injuries, as such you are free to use any spells you know of as long as you beat them. As the Champions know, all four of you have been given a muggle weapon that you are free to use as well."
A muggle weapon? That was a surprise and clearly not only to Harry as whispers sounded among the students who were clearly curious to see what type of weapon they would be using. As people murmured Luna took something from the hippogriff who'd remained beside her, she took out a longbow with a thin string that seemed to shine; Cedric from the inside of his robes grabbed a hammer that looked more like a mallet with a black head; Daphne Greengrass rolled her sleeves revealing silver rings that looked incredibly sharp on her wrists; and Ron from underneath his robes took a sword, silver like the one Harry had once used against the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets but instead of red gemstones they were blue.
"These weapons are similar to ours. They are a mirror of the past lives of us, the Founders and are a sign of the respect that Hogwarts shows to every being, including beings such as muggles," some Slytherins were looking dirtily at Gryffindor for that. "These weapons will be permitted during today's demonstration and during the Tournament."
"Your task for now is to beat your Magical Creature. If you fail to do so, raise your hand and say I give up or are thrown out of the circle that we drew last night around the Quidditch Field," Harry looked and indeed there was a line that left space for some benches by each side of the pitch. "You will be disqualified from this task and shall wait for duels to take place. Understood?"
All four Champions nodded.
"Now, if you happen to defeat your beast faster than the rest, you shall earn fifty points for your house," said Gryffindor. "And even if you are not the fastest, you can still win points during the duelling."
He smiled and took his wand away from his throat. The hat floated down slightly.
"All Champions please proceed to the benches near your houses," the four did as told. Luna skipping to her own while the rest only walked to sit down on the bench. The hippogriff followed Luna, while it seemed to glare at any of the people in Ravenclaw that were not supporting her. About a full minute after they sat the hat began to murmur.
"Cedric Diggory!" it shouted. Cedric took a deep breath and stood up. People clapped as he made his way inside the large circle and then Rowena stood up.
"Mr Diggory," said the Founder of Ravenclaw. "As you know, you were part of the Triwizard Tournament last year," Cedric nodded, his expression serious. "And for your first task during said Tournament you needed to successfully retrieve an egg from a dragon." As she said this from inside the sorting hat a mist began to form, it turned into Cedric and his Swedish Short-Snout during the first task last year. It was the exact same moves he had used as well as the way the dragon moved and defended the egg.
"Well, I thought it adequate for a repeat performance," she waved her wand revealing four large cages all moving and covered by different coloured veils, all from different houses. "Thanks to the help of our very charming Housekeeper and professor of Caring of Magical Creatures," Hagrid blushed just a few seats besides Harry. "This time, you shall battle with the mother of all dragons. Like the wolf is the ancestor of the crup, a dragon is the ancestor of…"
The cage with the yellow veil opened, it was the smallest one of all and a small snake, not bigger than a Quaffle slithered out from it. Harry felt a little underwhelmed when the snake suddenly started growing in size to one bigger than he had ever seen, it had bright green feathers that replaced scales, and gave a sort of roar mixed with the call of a bird. It circled around itself and seemed to be awaiting orders.
"The Occamy!" There were gasps and cheers across the stands. Harry looked at Hermione who had an expression of awestruck on her face.
"What is it?" asked Harry.
"It's an XXXX class beast," said Hermione. "It's a level below a Dementor or a Basilisk." Harry gulped and just wished for Cedric to defeat it without getting too hurt.
The ground in the pitch began to form holes on the ground and Cedric brandished his wand as he put himself in a defensive stance.
"Begin!" yelled the sorting hat.
The occamy immediately jumped and slithered into one of the many holes while Cedric could only send a small stunner his way, barely making a dent on the bright feathers of the occamy. Cedric looked around waiting for it to come out, when it suddenly burst out of a different hole and hit Cedric with its forehead, sending him flying a few feet in the air. He used his wand and managed to land upright, but groaned in pain.
He looked around again and this time he managed to dodge out of the way and hit the occamy with a stunner right in his eyes, the giant bird-snake seemed to barely register it as it slithered once more into another hole.
"Confringo," casted Cedric on the ground. The occamy appeared once more and used its tail to grab Cedric by the ankle and swirled him around and tossed him like a Quaffle. Cedric hit the ground, failing to catch himself in the air like he'd done previously. The occamy took the opportunity and slithered on the ground as it threatened to hit Cedric once more on the chest. Cedric's eyes widened as he rolled on the ground avoiding the occamy's attack.
Responding to his dodge the occamy went into hiding once more. Cedric stood upright from behind his back and pulled out the mallet he had been given. He looked around and managed to avoid another one of the occamy's attacks before hitting the ground with his hammer.
The hammer broke the ground, creating a crater making the giant beast come out before Cedric swung his hammer in the air and the pieces of rock and earth went speeding towards the occamy hitting him square in the face. Cedric's attack managed to distract him as it missed the Head Boy by several metres and went into hiding again. Cedric didn't waste time and started to swing the mallet again and again creating more and more craters and making himself more projectiles, however surprising everyone he swung the hammer again and covered three of the holes leaving seven open and uncovered.
The occamy made an appearance again, but Harry noticed that it seemed a bit smaller than before Cedric launched more of his earth projectiles and the occamy opened his mouth and bit down, breaking almost all of them in the clutches of his jaw.
"Reducto," casted Cedric almost immediately after he had launched the last stone turning it into dust and covering the occamy's face in rock-dust. It coughed and sneezed letting Cedric repeat his process, however the occamy swailed his tail in front of him easily destroying the rocks and stones before slamming down on the ground nearly squashing Cedric.
It swirled around itself and hit its face as he suddenly grew bigger and bigger. Cedric for his part backed up letting the giant dragon snake grow bigger and bigger, he ran to the almost edge of the line and pointed with his wand at the ground.
"Terra Motio," Cedric said, casting a spell Harry had never heard of before. A golden line appeared on the ground, similar to an Age Line, but instead of a large circle it was crooked and looked similar to a vein on an arm. Then behind the shining light he pointed his wand once more at the ground.
"Terra Castrum," a rectangular wall made out of stone, appeared in front of Cedric. He went to the side of the stone wall and began to create more and more walls made out of stone, some taller, but all looking sturdy and surrounding the occamy like a jail made out of the earth. Then, Cedric pointed at the line he had made previously with the spell Harry had never heard of.
"Movio!" The line Cedric had made began to crack the ground and it began to follow a trail like the vines that had revealed Cedric, the ground shook intensely like an earthquake had occurred in the Quidditch field. The occamy shrieked and went into hiding into one of the holes, but the pillars and stone walls fell down covering most of the holes and completely sealing them shut. Leaving only one of the holes intact and clear, hearing rumble from that single hole Cedric rushed to the uncovered hole and held his mallet high in the air as well as his wand.
The occamy gave his cry as it threatened to jump out, but Cedric hit the ground one final time and with his hand levitated the big pieces of rock above the only exit for the beast, the moment it came out, now only a bit bigger than a bear, Cedric let go of the rock. It fell down on top of the occamy's head knocking it unconscious.
"Cedric Diggory has beaten the occamy!" The sorting hat announced. Cheers resonated across the stands as people celebrated the first victory of the day. The Hufflepuffs looked especially proud. "With a time of two minutes and forty-five seconds!"
Cedric walked back to his bench panting and completely tired understandably. He put his forearms on his legs and let his head fall as he breathed heavily while Madame Pomfrey was checking on him. Ron looked at his fellow competitor and gulped a bit worriedly. The Four Founders pointed their wands at the Quidditch Field and the rubble and remains of Cedric's challenge. The occamy was levitated by Ravenclaw and put back in his cage. The sorting hat cleared his throat so loudly it sounded like the motor of an old car running on a rocky road.
"For the next challenge," the sorting hat murmured again and everyone looked to be on the edge of their seats. "Luna Lovegood!"
Luna looked at the sorting hat with her usual dreamy expression and began to skip her way to the centre of the circle. Godric Gryffindor stood up with an excited expression on his face.
"Ms Lovegood," said the red-haired wizard. "You are known throughout Hogwarts for your attachment to the possibilities and slight impossibilities," the sorting hat spat out once more the mist and a scene of Luna reading the Quibbler upside down on the branch of a tree showed to everyone. A few Slytherins chuckled under their breaths before Professor Snape smacked the back of their heads with one of his gloves. "As such, my challenge for you is to find and defeat that which is normally not seen. My challenge for you is to defeat a Tebo!"
The cage covered by the blue veil burst opened just like Cedric's. A large boar the size of a bear huffed, it scratched the ground with its tusks and let out a call that sounded like a train.
"That doesn't seem so bad," he said to Hermione. She looked at him before her eyesight returned to the challenge, her expression that of slight worry.
"Begin!" The hat yelled.
Out of nowhere the boar disappeared. There wasn't anything on the field except for Luna who only had her bow out and not her wand. Suddenly she was knocked to the ground and the boar reappeared and huffed before disappearing once more. Harry looked at who had her eyebrow arched.
"Tebo," she said. "Magical boar from Africa. Has the ability to become invisible. Class XXXX."
Of course.
Luna stood up once more and began to aim her bow which had no arrow. There wasn't a single sound, as if she was fighting the air itself. Suddenly she looked to her right and jumped out of the way, the Tebo made itself seen letting out a roar of anger before disappearing once more. Few noticed this though as Luna had jumped almost seven feet in the air and seemed to be floating.
When she landed she was immediately hit once more by the boar, however she managed to land very softly on the ground and aimed her bow to the still visible boar, she pulled the string.
"STUPEFY," she let go of the string and a red light in the form of an arrow nearly hit the boar, however it had already disappeared. Luna stood and remained completely still as she suddenly shot a stunner to her side and the sound of a boar whining came from seemingly nowhere. She shot another stunner, but the boar had disappeared again. She began to run back to the centre of the circle, when she jumped once more, before jumping in the air as if she was climbing a set of stairs made of air.
She dodged as the boar appeared huffing in anger and disappearing once more. She shot just to where the boar would've been had it not disappeared and another whine from the magical beast was heard.
"Levicorpus!" she said and the whines of the boar seem to come from the middle of the air, before the sound of something like a tonne of flesh hit the ground. Luna landed on the ground and a smile overtook her face before suddenly she was hit once more to the ground, it wasn't long before she was hitting again, and again, and again. The boar had seemingly grown tired and was now treating Luna like a ragdoll.
She was hurled in the air flying almost twenty-five feet, the boar reappearing; it looked angrier than ever as his left eye bled just like Luna's lip and the side of her head. Before she could fall she pulled on the arrow's string once more.
"Sagitta," a group of arrows shot at the boar, however they only managed to slightly sting it from the sounds of the animal and the fact they seemed to bounce off it not piercing its skin. Still, it seemed to be enough for it to go and disappear once more. Luna landed as if a pillow made of air had pushed her before she could properly fall. She was panting clearly tired and hurt, yet her own founder didn't seem the least bothered.
From her robes she brandished her wand and pointed it at her head as if trying to scratch her scalp with the end of her wand. She closed her eyes and controlled her heavy breathing.
"Vision Posterio," she opened her eyes and her normally grey irises seemed to be twinkling, similar to Dumbledore's eyes whenever he seemed to know something someone else didn't. She looked around herself and put her wand away, she picked up her bow and seemed to be more dazed than she normally was. She then aimed to a seemingly random place without looking, about five seconds passed before she pulled the string and shot.
"Incendio," she said, in an extremely calm tone. The ball of fire that slightly resembled the arrow shot and hit the invisible boar. His fur burned and there was no hiding anymore. Luna closed her eyes and they went back to normal.
"Stupefy! Stupefy! Fulgari!" she shot with her bow in quick succession.
However, the boar was too quick, Luna had only managed to hit a single stunner that did little to nothing, but thanks to the fire that followed the boar she had plenty of chances. The boar charged towards her again, she easily jumped over him and shot another stunner at the boar. Luna was good, but no way near as good as Cedric had been, it took her a few more tries with her bow before she finally landed a spectacular move.
"Incarcerous," a rope shot out from her bow landing on the ground and sticking to the ground. However, the rest of the rope remained in the tip of her fingers with the hand she had used to pull the string, Luna waited for all but two seconds before she shot out the rest of the rope hitting the tusk of the boar.
The rope wrapped itself around the beast's tusk and made him fall as he didn't notice Luna's rope. It was on his back with its legs in the air, Luna pulled the string one more time and let go.
"Everte Statum," the boar was knocked unconscious leaving Luna as another winner.
"Luna Lovegood has beaten the tebo!" yelled the sorting hat. "With a time of three minutes and four seconds!"
People clapped and while some of the Ravenclaws seemed disappointed with the outcome most were all around supportive. Luna walked back walking instead of skipping as she usually did, she was received by a healer with black hair that had purple ends on the tips. The tebo was taken back to his cage by Gryffindor who looked quite impressed with Luna. The field was once more cleaned by all founders, cleaning and getting rid of the scorch marks and the marks on the grass made by the tebo's tusks and hooves.
The crowd was brought to excitement again as they heard the sorting hat begin to murmur once more.
"Daphne Greengrass!" The Slytherin Champion looked nonplussed as she stood up and made her way to the centre of the circle. Harry's scar hurt once more before the feeling faded away almost immediately. Harry didn't have too much time to think about it as Helga Hufflepuff stood up.
"Ms Greengrass," said the brunette old witch. "It's quite astounding the amount of things you have achieved." The sorting hat's mist began to spurt out, becoming Daphne in the library studying as well as achieving top marks, Harry knew that they were impressive when even Hermione seemed to be a bit awestruck by them. "You are a fierce student, and as such I've tried to bring to the table a fierce beast."
The cage with the green veil had been rattling for a while now, when it had finally opened a beast larger than the tebo, but smaller than an elephant roared. It had two large golden horns and its mouth was made of tentacle-like appendages. It had a humped back and seemed incredibly aggressive.
"A Graphorn!" exclaimed Hufflepuff.
"It's another–" said Hermione.
"Class XXXX beast, I know, Hermione," interjected Harry to Hermione's annoyance.
"Begin!" The match started and the graphorn circled Daphne before it charged towards her similar to the boar, it bowed its head and showed its golden horns. Daphne for her part only seemed mildly interested in the magical beast that threatened to possibly impale her. Just as the graphorn was a few feet away from her, she seemed to float and the ground as she easily dodged the giant beast.
The graphorn stilled on its heels, breaking and leaving a trail of dust behind it. It looked behind him clearly angered at Daphne, it pawed on the ground before once again charging, bowing down and showing its horns.
Daphne dodged once more, but this time she brandished her wand so fast Harry almost didn't catch it, she made a slashing motion and small spurts of blood out of its tendon. It roared in pain before Daphne waved her wand in front of it.
"Incarcerous," she said, almost lazily trapping the beast in shiny steel magical cords. It kept growling in anger as the cords began to tie around its mouth gagging it.
There was an astounding silence that followed what had just happened. Harry looked up, and although Helga Hufflepuff made a good job of hiding it, he could see it, under her now neutral expression there was a sort of mix between stupefaction and horror. Her eyes remained only on the bleeding animal, she occasionally glanced at the Slytherin Champion who looked as if nothing happened.
"Daphne Greengrass has defeated the graphorn," spouted the sorting hat, his tone equally flat as well as loud. "With a time of twenty-eight seconds!"
The Slytherins suddenly roared and cheered, Draco Malfoy looked incredibly satisfied as well as smug. The rest of the houses clapped cordially, however most of them seemed like it was out of politeness, while some were looking at the twins who looked annoyed at how fast Greengrass had managed to defeat her own beast. Daphne Greengrass walked as if nothing happened, as if she hadn't just won at a shorter time than anyone else against the giant beast that Hufflepuff was now tenderly levitating towards the inside of its cage.
"Ronald Weasley!" The hat shouted, Ron stood up, Harry saw his best friend's head turned in the direction of Daphne Greengrass as he walked to the centre of the field just like the others. Harry gulped as everyone including him turned to look at Salazar Slytherin who looked incredibly smug and very familiar to Harry at that moment.
"Mr Weasley," said the silky voice of Slytherin. "You have been part of many adventures in this castle along with your fellow Gryffindors I believe." Harry almost didn't catch it, but Ron's eyes slightly and very quickly went to him and Hermione. Harry's other best friend who sat beside him looked at Ron in worry. "But of course, all adventures must have a start, and yours started at a very young age didn't it?"
The hat's mist started to spat out the mist from inside and soon it formed a young-looking boy who had second-hand robes as well as ginger hair, a long nose, freckles and big ears. Harry recognized him as Ron in their first-year, beside Harry, Hermione had the expression as if she were looking at a cute puppy and the twins and Ginny seemed to be snickering to themselves.
The first-year Ron waved his wand at a feather, and the real Ron's eyes seemed to bulge, Harry's did too when he recognized what was happening. A girl with large front teeth and bushy brown hair was correcting him before she proceeded to successfully levitate the feather.
People staring at the scene were confused, what did this have to do with anything regarding adventure, when the scene changed and the first-year ginger boy called the girl who only tried to help a nightmare leaving her to cry alone in the bathroom. Accusing glares were sent towards Ron who was now glaring hatefully at Slytherin. Hermione for her part was blushing, her cheeks were reddening so much Harry thought she might end up looking like a tomato permanently.
"Troll!"yelled Quirrell like he did during the Halloween Feast. " – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."
Some people started to catch on while others didn't, but they certainly did when the twelve-foot troll entered the Girls' Bathroom and made the young-Hermione look like an ant beside it. There were gasps of horror and surprise which were then changed into something entirely else as they saw Harry Potter riding the troll's neck as if it were a wild bull. And it almost left all of the stands silenced when they saw Ron Weasley use the Levitation Charm, shown just seconds ago, perfectly on the troll's club before it fell on its tiny head knocking it out.
"As you've all seen," said Slytherin. "A mere twelve-foot troll was nothing to Ronald Weasley in his first year. So I hope you enjoy this… blast from the past with a slight change."
The last cage covered by a red veil opened and the ground shook as a thunderous sound came from inside the massive box. Then it came out. A troll, but not as big as the last Harry had ever seen. No, this troll was easily eighteen feet tall and looked far more fierce than the one Ron, and he had faced in their first year. Its grey skin seemed even more prominent near its face as its lips were covered in blood. The club that it held had the skulls of some magical beast that Harry had a hard time identifying. Its lower teeth had large tusks that resembled sharp fangs-
Ron immediately took out his wand and gripped his sword as he held it behind his back.
"Begin!"
The troll looked around stupidly for a few seconds before its tiny eyes settled on Ron. It grunted for a few seconds before it roared and began to stomp its way rapidly at Ron making the ground tremble with each of its steps. It lifted its club in the air as it threatened to squash Ron with it, but he simply stood in his place, in the same stance. The troll stopped right in front of Ron and just as it swung its club Ron pulled out the sword and neatly cut the club into two.
The troll seemed confused, but the beast didn't have time to think as Ron pointed his wand at the part of the now useless club that had fallen to the ground and pointed at it.
"Oppugno!" Ron casted as his aim went from the heavy wood to the troll's small face. It hit the troll and a spit of blood came from his nose, it stumbled back as it held its small face in its giant hand. Ron didn't relent as he repeated the process again, but this time just as the troll was opening its eyes and before the wood hit its face, Ron casted another spell. "Reducto!"
The wood exploded in a thousand pieces of dust and hit the troll right in the face, covering him from the top to his fat neck. It swiped at its eyes and let out a roar of pain throwing away its destroyed weapon. It put both its hands in the air and threatened to squash Ron once more, but he was too fast, he had rolled out of the way and used his sword to slash at the back of one of the troll's knees. It kneeled on one leg and slapped at where Ron was hitting him with its full force.
Hermione gasped beside Harry as Ron landed hard on the ground. He quickly stood up, spitting on the side a small glob of blood. He ran full on against the troll with his wand and sword.
"Accio troll!" he casted with his sword aimed at the troll, he was suddenly pulled off the ground and flew rapidly at the troll, he held his sword at his front. When they connected Ron's sword pierced through the left upper side of the troll's chest making it roar in anger. The troll raged as it tried to hit Ron as if trying to squash a spider that had climbed up its chest. Ron, however, flipped around the beast's neck and hanged off him, like Harry had done many years ago.
He brandished his wand and sort of put the troll on a chokehold, his legs and arms around the troll's thick neck. "Incarcerous!" A rope conjured from the end of his wand and wrapped around his other hand, then Ron pulled his body backwards yanking with what seemed to be all of his might. The troll let out a gasp that sounded like a car engine dying, it tried to pry Ron off with his arms, but his left arm had been made completely useless as it simply flayed limply. The troll little by little stopped struggling as its eyes rolled behind his skull and he started to fall backwards.
It was so slow, Ron simply climbed up his fathead, pulled his sword and leapt landing on the grass as the troll fell unconscious on the grass.
"Ron Weasley has defeated the giant troll!" Cheers so loud, Harry was sure he would go deaf from, seemed to resonate across all the Quidditch Pitch mostly from Gryffindors. "With a time of one minute and twelve seconds."
Ron waved around as he panted, he was clearly tired and he put his hand on his back as he walked back to his bench, Madame Pomfrey waited for him. He held the side of his chest and hissed when she pointed with her wand at it. Once Ron was fully alright all Four Founders stood in the Quidditch towers they had placed themselves in.