AN: Hope everyone is doing well!
GreengrassRebel - Ice skating would be amusing because you are right, I cannot picture any of the other champions doing that.
scrappy8 - Thanks!
MandoVet - Thanks!
stars90 - I mean, kind of . . . Kind of hard to blame him for attempting to finish the task only to run into an illegal colony of acromantulas.
Chapter 41"Potter, stay behind after class," Mad-Eye said, and Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione in confusion before they shrugged.
"Want us to wait?" Ron asked, and Harry shook his head.
"Nah, I'll see you guys back in the common room before dinner," Harry told them, and they both nodded and waved goodbye, leaving with the rest of their classmates.
"What's up, Mad-Eye?" Harry asked, smiling as he approached his mentor. "I feel like we've been doing much better at finding down time."
"So you have," Mad-Eye agreed, "but I didn't ask you to stay back to talk about that. I'm throwing a curveball your way, but I'm sure you can handle it, and I believe it's needed."
Harry frowned.
"What sort of curveball?" Harry asked wearily, especially knowing his mentor and just how unpredictable the man could be.
"You were excused from your end of year exams for being in the tournament," Mad-Eye said. "However, you're going to take two exams."
Harry frowned.
"Um, alright, Mad-Eye, but why? What's the point?"
"Because you're not going to take your year's exams. You're going to take your Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL and Hagrid and I agree that you are also ready to take your Care of Magical Creatures OWL," Mad-Eye growled out.
Harry's eyes widened in shock.
"OWLs? Am I really ready for that? Maybe defense I understand, but Care of Magical Creatures?"
"Harry, I assure you that you're more than ready to pass your OWL in defense, and you'll be bored next year in the fifth year class if you don't do this, and I won't be the instructor giving you other stuff to work on. It's better for you to move to the sixth year class where you'll still learn new theory and magic. As for Magical Creatures? You know plenty, and we've talked about it this year enough for me to know that you have a few gaps, but nothing that couldn't be filled in the month and half you have left in this term. That OWL only uses Scamander's book, and he's spent his whole life trying to educate witches and wizards, and he's made great leaps, but still, the exam is based only on one book, and you will be fine."
"Um, if you say so," Harry said, not feeling nearly as confident. "Again, why though?"
"Because current events have me and everyone who's paying attention nervous," Mad-Eye responded gruffly. "Dark times are coming, whether we want them or not, and you shouldn't be wasting time in classes you could pass in your sleep when you could be learning. This will get you done with both courses a year early, and you can devote that time to other pursuits, whether that be your mageship, other magical disciplines, or even just R&R. That will be up to you. Besides, you're already training hard enough for the Tournament, and this might even help you a bit with that."
"Do I have a say in the matter?" Harry asked.
"Of course. You always have a choice," Mad-Eye said with a shrug, "but if you trust me, and you realistically look at your abilities, you know that I'm speaking the truth and that you're ready in those two subjects. Talk to Weasley and Granger and see if they feel they're ready or not as well. I don't think they are for defense . . . Well Granger would be, but she won't believe it of herself, and thus I wouldn't recommend it. Still, they might be or could be ready for Magical Creatures. Talk to Hagrid and mull it over."
Harry sighed, and mulled it over.
"Alright, Mad-Eye. I'll do it.
Mad-Eye smiled approvingly.
Harry walked out of the classroom and almost immediately ran into a friendly face.
"'Arry!" Fleur said, beaming and she swooped in and kissed him on both cheeks and hugged him tightly. "Et es good to see you."
"Always a pleasure, Fleur," Harry said, smiling. "What brings you this way?"
"Just getting done with Transfiguration," Fleur answered. "Are you ready for the next task?"
"You mean am I ready to beat you?" Harry asked, innocently. "Of course."
"Arrogant you have become, 'Arry," Fleur said haughtily. "Defeat you will only find, my friend."
Harry smirked at her and then they both laughed.
"I will enjoy beating you my friend," Fleur said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, and hugging him close.
She treated him just like a sibling these days, and this year had long since shown him that more pseduo siblings was always a good thing.
"We'll see," Harry said, as they walked back in the direction of the Room of Requirement.
*HP**
"Yo-you are going to take your OWLs earlier?" Hermione asked in shock.
"Not all of them. Just Defense and Magical Creatures," Harry responded sheepishly.
"That's brilliant!" Katie said, grinning. "Then we'll take the OWL together and we'll be in the same class next year!"
"Harry, you're not ready . . . are you sure you're ready for those OWLs?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
Harry started to nod, when Angelina beat him to it.
"Oh, he's more than ready for Defense," Angelina said. "For Magical Creatures? I'm sure he's mostly there. A bit of hard studying this next month and a half and he'll be ready. Care of Magical Creatures is notoriously easy as an OWL."
"Harry's probably one of the most knowledgeable in defense in the entire school," Ginny said with a shrug.
"Professor Moody was right about COMC," Alicia said. "Both the OWL and NEWT are based on Newt Scamander's book. Sure, there are other books people can use, but the tests are mostly based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Everybody knows that."
"I'm just not sure I agree," Hermione said. "This is a big deal. OWLs are very important for our futures and -"
"Hermione, stop putting your fears and doubts onto Harry," Angelina said firmly. "You always doubt how well you will do on your exams, despite you always having perfect grades. It's well known about your grades, yet how much you stress. Everyone does not have the same fear of failure nor your perfectionist tendencies, and if he does do badly, he can always redo them next year or at any time. Any qualification exam can be redone, if he really needed to. It just costs money. Frankly speaking, Harry doesn't need perfect grades on these specific OWLs to get into the NEWTs, but these are both classes he is more than advanced enough in to get top scores. You fear that you couldn't pass the OWL in both subjects, and you know a lot more than Harry in a great many subjects which is why you're doubting him, but he is more knowledgeable and skilled than you in these two subjects. Leave it at that, and be supportive instead of pessimistic."
Hermione looked like Angelina had slapped her, but she finally nodded slowly and looked at Harry.
"I'm sorry, Harry," she said. "This is a great opportunity, and they're right. You are ready for your Defense OWL, and I'm sure you'll be ready for your Magical Creatures OWL. We'll just have to help you study."
Harry knew that she was probably feeling a bit jealous, and that it probably took a lot for her to get past her pride to say that, so he nodded gratefully.
"Well, Mad-Eye did say you and Ron could consider doing it yourselves, if you thought you were ready."
Hermione bit her lip pensively.
"I don't know, Harry," she said. "These exams are really important."
"Something to think about," Harry said.
"I . . . I think I want to do OWL prep next year," Hermione said hesitantly. "I just don't feel ready yet."
"I know I'm not ready," Ron said with a snort. "I'd have a shot for both, but I think I'll hold off another year before I start stressing OWLs."
"That's fine too," Harry said, supportively. "We'll all crush our OWLs next year together."
He figured she'd get over it when she somehow managed to get fourteen OWLs next year.
"Alright, we have our goals for the rest of the term," Ginny said brightly. "That's a good start."
Ginny was right, now they had a new path for the rest of the term. The Sixth Task was in a week, and Harry wasn't stressed about that at all. Hopefully after that they'd learn about the final Task and could start doing their prep, but that prep would now include studying for OWLs, something Katie had to do anyway, and something their group had already started incorporating somewhat to help her.
"So, I think it's time for more practice to get ready for the Sixth Task," Angelina said with a smile. "It's just around the corner after all."
"Yeah, I was messing with Fleur earlier," Harry said with a nod. "I've definitely got to make sure I deliver . . . plus my patrons said I need to win. So, let's get to it."
**HP**
"Sirius, welcome back!"
Sirius barely had a moment to collect himself from the dizzying effect of a portkey before his girlfriend nearly tackled him into a fierce hug. He chuckled and hugged her back happily.
"Good to see you, love," he said, before pulling back slightly and giving her a flirtatious wink. "Probably been lonely in that cold, cold bed."
"Never mind, you can head back to whatever course you can get approved for," Alexis responded with a smirk.
"Ha, I think not," Sirius said with a snort. "I've learned a lot and developed some great skills, but it's time for me to focus back on my godson, my family, and of course my absolutely gorgeous girlfriend."
Alexis chuckled.
"You really are a randy sod."
"Perhaps," Sirius agreed with a salacious grin before it faded somewhat. "How's the Corp going? How's Harry? Dora? Remus?"
Alexis guided her arm through his and they started walking out of the Ministry to where they could apparate.
"Well, the latter are all easier to discuss. Harry's still doing very well in the Tournament and has that group of friends watching his back. We shouldn't have to worry about the Sixth Task at all, but you already knew that. Overall, he's doing quite well, but obviously the worry will remain until the end of the Seventh Task."
"That kid will impress me till the day he dies, and his friends have earned my eternal aid," Sirius muttered.
"Remus is carrying on as normal," Alexis continued. "I check in on him occasionally, as you asked, and he's as grumpy as ever about that, but I think he secretly enjoys our games of chess and the couple nights a week I come over or bring him to my place for dinner."
"That does sound like Rem," Sirius said with a chuckle.
"And no real change with Tonks," Alexis finished. "Still killing it in her courses and writing whenever she can in order to get news on Harry."
"She'll be happy to be home soon," Sirius said with a grin. "I'm sure she's pissed she'll miss the Sixth Task by only a couple days."
"Probably livid," Alexis agreed.
"So, what about the Corp?" Sirius asked, almost glumly, knowing it probably wasn't good.
"Fudge is still suppressing hard on anything that even implies that the Death Eaters are active again, and he's doing his best to push all scandals he can find under the rugs. He won't even let us complete a thorough search of Albania for Bertha Jorkins. They confirmed she made it, and confirmed which direction she went, but never arrived to, and Fudge closed it after that."
"Still isn't really investigating the Tournament, I assume," Sirius muttered bitterly.
"Correct," Alexis said, frustration filling her tone. "Though, thanks to all those articles, Harry's name is becoming less and less popular at the Ministry and to Fudge. It doesn't help that there have been many claiming he's cheating when Astra helps him. I think Fudge is desperately hoping that Harry loses the Tournament."
"Which isn't good because according to his patron and matron, he needs to win," Sirius said angrily. "So, if Harry does as he's supposed to do, which is also frankly incredible for being forced into the damn Tournament, he might actually receive backlash from his own Ministry and possibly even the country? Fucking fantastic."
"It's not great," Alexis agreed. "Fudge and Dumbledore have been arguing too. Nobody's really sure what about, but Fudge is going to Dumbledore less and less and seems to be really anti-Dumbledore if anything."
"That's not good," Sirius remarked, a bit worried. "I have problems with the old man, myself, but he's still someone we need on our side, and we need the Ministry to have a good relationship with Dumbledore . . . hopefully a better one than they had last time."
"I wouldn't count on it," Alexis said glumly. "Fudge loves the power he's gotten and I think he's gotten too comfortable with it. He clearly doesn't want to do anything to shake up how life is right now. He doesn't want any more issues."
"That comes with the job, the stupid prick," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.
"Indeed," Alexis said dryly.
Sirius shook his head.
"Well, we can save the worries for tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to celebrate coming home with my gorgeous and hopefully soon to be very naked girlfriend."
"Well, we might be able to arrange that . . ."
**HP**
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" Bagman exclaimed to the crowd. "Welcome to the Sixth Task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
They were gathered in the center of the Quidditch pitch with the stands full of everyone eager to watch the next Task. Harry was smiling at his fellow Champions, since they all figured today would be competitive, but mostly safe . . . or at least comparatively safe. Sports could still get out of hand, but it would be a lot harder to do anything too permanent.
Harry was also in a fairly good mood since he'd already seen his godfather, who was finally back, and had seen Remus, Alexis, Kingsley and Hestia who had all come today. Unfortunately Savage, Siobhan, and Aisling hadn't been able to make it, but Erika, Skye, and Oliver had also shown up to show their support. Of course, Harry also had his friends in his corner, and with it looking to be a fun day, Harry was finding it hard to be too glum or nervous about this one, even if he knew he needed to win the overall Tournament.
"Now for today's Task, the Champions have each chosen some sort of challenge, sport, or event that will take place here before your eyes and they will be graded on each event compared to their peers. None of the other champions know what each other has chosen and let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, we are in for a treat today!"
Cheers exploded from the crowd.
"Now, for today, we are going in reverse order," Bagman continued. "So, Mr. Krum's challenge will start us off! Viktor Krum has chosen a good old fashioned game of 'magic'!"
The crowd roared in approval, and Viktor, Harry, and Cedric all chuckled as Fleur groaned.
"Why can't you people keep your feet on the ground?" she asked with a pout. "Zis es not fair."
"Ah, come on Fleur, this is a classic," Cedric said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
"Besides, this vill help me get ideas for the X-Games coming up next fall," Viktor said.
Harry smiled at Fleur's rather cute pout. Magic was a simple game, but with someone like Viktor Krum around, and Harry and Cedric also both being quite talented flyers, it did stand to be an interesting event for the spectators. It was simple. Krum would perform some sort of aerial trick and everyone had to copy his trick exactly as he performed it. If everyone succeeded, then it would be Cedric's turn to come up with a trick for everyone to copy, and so on and so forth. If you failed the trick, you gained a letter, and once you'd failed as many times as it took to spell 'Magic' you lost.
It didn't take long for all four champions to have their brooms and take off into the sky, with Fleur grumbling the whole time. Viktor started it off easy with a simple double loop de loop which they all matched.
Cedric went next and did three corkscrews into a dive before a steep climb and two more cork screws. On and on they continued performing various tricks ranging from flips to broom surfing, and funnily enough it was Cedric who made the first mistake not managing to complete a tricky broom surfing that ended with a backflip onto the broom, which Fleur only barely managed to pull off, but which Cedric fumbled only barely managing to grab onto his broom before he fell.
Fleur made the next mistake not successfully completing a quadruple corkscrew into a double loop de loop into a wronski feint, but it didn't cost her much as Cedric failed to pull it off as well. Harry was in his heaven flying against Viktor. Sure, Harry could tell that Viktor was the better flyer, but Harry was having the time of his life doing his best to keep up.
Viktor and Harry kept up increasingly complicated maneuvers with dives, spins, jumping off their brooms, doing flips in air, loops, and high speed maneuvers around the goal posts. Harry could safely say the crowd was vocally enthused watching the four champions attempting more and more reckless but impressive maneuvers. Cedric was the first person to successfully give Viktor a letter when did an impressive trick that involved doing a body-up over his broomstick and flipping onto the broom and completing a dive, which really just messed them up by requiring a lot of upper body strength.
Fleur was the first to lose, unsurprisingly, but she did put up admirable job of keeping up with the three Quidditch players and she managed to survive up until everyone at least had two letters, with Cedric having three. They continued until Cedric finally fell out after Harry did a spinning acrobatic-ish maneuver that Cedric's large frame struggled to accomplish, leaving the oldest competitor and the youngest one alone on the field, with Harry on his last letter and Krum on his third.
Harry was trying to think of what he could do to try and defeat the Quidditch star when Viktor smirked at him.
"You fly very vell," Viktor said, "but I've had my fun for the day. Now it is time to end this."
Harry's eyes widened and Krum took a sharp climb and started to corkscrew before at the apex he jumped off of his broom and started to flip through the air, two, three, four times, and then hopped back on his broom and continued with his plummet before his speed decreased greatly at the bottom, the nose of his broom closing in the ground as he almost began to stall and Viktor flipped over his broom and landed on the ground perfectly and he waved up at Harry as Harry groaned suspecting he'd just lost the game.
Harry climbed fast and corkscrewed, but he knew he had already screwed up when he jumped off his broom a bit clumsily and his first flip was more diagonal and he didn't tuck in quick enough to spin enough to get four flips in before he had to hop back on his broom and finish the dive with a stall and then jump off his broom, landing awkwardly and falling back on his butt.
The crowd roared as Viktor raised his hand in a show of victory, and Harry sighed. He suspected he wouldn't win against Viktor in a flying contest, but he now knew that he had a long way to go before he would match someone like Viktor in a game like this. Still, it might be fun to do a seeker challenge against him. That required a different set of skills.
"What a spectacle! Now that was some real fancy flying, dont' you agree?" Bagman asked and the crowd roared in approval. "Now, for our second event of the day! Mr. Diggory has chosen to revisit a version of the Fourth Task!"
Harry and Fleur both rounded on the Hufflepuff who was smiling pleasantly, looking a bit proud of himself.
"Shame on you, Cedric," Fleur said, crossing her arms.
"What? No magical traps, no flying, nothing dangerous," Cedric said with a shrug and a mischievous grin. "Just a good old fashioned race around the Quidditch pitch with some physical obstacles in the way. No reason to not use an advantage I have, especially since this is also an area I know I will win."
"Very Slytherin of you, mate," Harry said dryly, and Cedric chuckled.
"Looks like Viktor won round one, but I've got round two in the bag," Cedric said, walking towards where the starting point was now marked with Dumbledore having raised his wand causing markers to appear, creating a track, and obstacles to appear on that track.
"I didn't zhink zhat he had it in 'im," Fleur said in amusement.
Harry sighed following her over to the starting line where Krum already was and the two eldest boys were smirking at him and Fleur.
"Rude, really rude," Harry muttered as they chortled. "I'll get you both back soon."
"We'll see, Harry," Cedric said with a wide smile.
Harry glanced at Fleur who looked just as happy as he was to have to run a lap around the Quidditch pitch.
"Alright, the race is very straightforward," Bagman said. "It's one lap around the track. No magic, purely physical strength and endurance. All obstacles must be completed! Now, let's get ready to begin! Will this end up like the Fourth Task? Or will our other Champions redeem themselves from the previous Task?!"
Harry waited and when the cannon went off he took off running, but unsurprisingly, the boy favored by Heracles and the professional Quidditch star started pulling further and further ahead.
Things didn't improve as they started reaching obstacles, and Harry couldn't help but curse Cedric even more as he crawled under barbed wire, jumped over and ducked under wooden beams, swam through a mud pit, climbed rope ladders and moved across balance beams. The running as fast as he could in between obstacles didn't improve his mood.
**HP**
"We all guessed Krum would choose some sort of flying event, but I never would have thought Cedric would choose this," Alicia said.
"It's a cheap trick," Ron muttered darkly.
"It's smart," Hermione said, and Ron glared at her.
"She's not wrong," Ginny said. "It is smart. Something Cedric knows he can win. Why make it interesting when they're so close to the end? Everyone's picking something they in theory can win at. Harry's no different, so why should Cedric be?"
"He knows what he's good at," Erika said with a shrug.
"Nothing wrong with that," Skye agreed.
"Well, Cedric's won this round," Katie remarked as Cedric passed the finish line, and then not long after Krum finished second, and then finally Harry and Fleur, "but Harry will get him next round. Harry's going to get them all next round."
"What a spectacular round!" Bagman called out. "Once again, Cedric Diggory has shown himself to be the most physically fit of the group! Now, he and Mr. Krum have had their chances to take the advantage over their competitors, but it is now the youngest champion's turn, and Mr. Potter has decided to prove himself against his fellow champions with his wand. That's right! The next event is a dueling competition!"
"Ha, now Cedric is glaring at Harry," Angelina said with a smirk. "He and Viktor were all so happy with their first two events, but now Harry and Fleur stand to be the strongest."
"Champions will draw straws to determine the first round matches!" Bagman explained. "We'll watch four duels today. The winners of the first two duels will compete for who will be the winner, while the losers will compete for third place."
"Harry's got this one in the bag," Ginny said.
"Don't discount Fleur," Sirius said.
"Yeah, she showcased her abilities back during the Second Task," Alexis agreed.
"And for the first match, we have Harry Potter against Cedric Diggory!" Bagman called out.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," Angelina said, grinning evilly.
They watched as the two boys took a bow at each other and then waited for Flitwick to give them their sign to begin. Harry looked calm and collected. Cedric was looking resigned.
Flitwick signaled the start of the duel with a large bang from his wand. Harry deployed his wand quicker than Cedric and got off the first spell. Cedric wisely dodged the disarming charm and barely managed to raise a shield to stop the next stunner before he retaliated with his own stunner.
Harry and Cedric continued to exchange spell-fire with Cedric clearly struggling to keep up with Harry's speed, but doing an impressive job. Finally though, Harry fired off a volley of hexes which knocked Cedric off balance in his haste to avoid and shield himself from them, and Harry ended the duel with a stunner.
The next duel was a bit more evenly matched, but still there was a clear difference of skill. Viktor Krum might be one of the world's greatest seekers, and he was a pretty strong duelist, but Fleur was an extraordinary duelist and the only thing keeping Viktor in the duel was his extremely good reflexes and his elemental abilities.
They continued to strike at each other, showcasing more transfiguration and charms in their duel then Cedric and Harry had shown and with Fleur favoring more fire spells while Krum favored darker debilitating hexes and curses.
Finally though, Fleur ended the duel by using one of the oldest tricks in the book when she conjured ice under Krum's feet, causing the seeker to fall, and then she summoned his wand to her hands and stunned him.
The third duel gave Krum no reprieve as he immediately went up against Cedric who was looking eager to make up for his first match showing . . . and likely get a little payback for Krum's choice of event.
Krum tried to trick Cedric up by using more transfiguration and charms, but Cedric showed why he was a champion and demonstrated his own skill with both disciplines negating everything Krum did. Finally after a long five minutes, Cedric wore Krum down and disarmed and bound him, taking the win.
"This is going to be a good match," Hestia said, excitedly looking down on where Fleur and Harry were bowing respectfully to each other.
"Yeah, this is a possible sneak peak on how they might compete against each other in the intercontinental dueling circuit in a couple years," Sirius agreed.
It started off fast, with Fleur and Harry both firing off speedy blasting curses that rebounded off each other cracking parts of the ring, but neither waited for their spells to impact, already firing off other hexes and charms.
"Harry's showing that he was playing nice with Cedric right now," Katie said.
"Yeah, this is the Harry that beats all of us at the same time every freaking day," Ron said with a shake of his head. "Fleur's good, but my money is on Harry."
"She's really good too though," Alexis observed, watching as Fleur spell-chained several hexes to force Harry to rapidly spin and dance out of the way of her spells before she conjured vines to trip him up.
Harry destroyed the vines with a bolt of fire before his shadow jumped forward and wrapped around Fleur. Fleur surprised them all however when she managed to conjure some light which banished Harry's shadows away, and he smiled as they went back to firing spells at each other, forcing each other to shield, dodge, or deflect spells in between their attacks and counterattacks.
"This is where we need to get to," Katie murmured.
"Maybe you, Katie Kat," Alicia said with a snort. "I want to be good, and I'd like to get better, but I don't need to be the best duelist to be a good healer."
"No, but all adoptive sisters of Harry need to be incredible duelists," Angelina said with a haughty sniff with her arms crossed. "Dora said it's in the rulebook."
"There's no rulebook," Hermione said with a frown.
"I would not rule out my cousin making a rulebook with a bunch of stupid things once she learned that these two adopted Harry," Sirius said, glancing at Angelina and Alicia. "That is 100% something she would do."
"And one of the rules is being an incredible duelist," Angelina said firmly.
"Fine, I'll keep working on it," Alicia said with an exaggerated sigh.
"What else is in the rulebook?" Ginny asked, amused.
"Being drop dead gorgeous, of course," Angelina said primly.
"Which we're already killing, of course," Alicia said with a nod.
"Of course," Angelina agreed.
"Anything else?" Katie asked.
"Yep, we have to continuously tease Harry while providing him the exact advice he so desperately needs and won't get from his mangy godfather," Alicia said, and Sirius coughed as Alexis, Hestia, and Kingsley laughed.
"How long ago did Nymphie tell you to say that?" Sirius demanded.
"I will never give out information on the incredibly beautiful and wise Dora Tonks," Alicia responded primly.
"Another one of the rules," Angelina added to roars of laughter while Sirius muttered about plotting his revenge.
"Oh, Harry's got this!" Katie cheered as Harry slapped away two of Fleur's spells before he managed to land an incarcerous on Fleur followed by a stunner while she was cutting the ropes.
"That's my boy!" Sirius called out while Ginny wolf-whistled and everyone else cheered and clapped.
"And Harry Potter has shown that he is someone to watch out for in a duel," Bagman exclaimed. "Now, for our final event! Ms. Delacour decided that she hadn't enough combat for the day and has chosen the sword for her event! The same pairings as Mr. Potter's event will stand and the same rules apply!"
"Oh, Fleur probably thinks she has this one in the bag, but Harry's going to show her," Ginny said.
"Hmm, Fleur's pretty smart, and I'm sure she knows that Harry's good with a blade," Alicia said. "I bet she just prefers to know she only has one real opponent rather than three."
"Yeah, guaranteed second place with a solid chance at first is much better odds than possibly taking fourth," Ron agreed.
"We don't know how good she is either," Neville said. "Besides, I've never seen Harry use a sword. Has he used one since last year's Tournament?"
"Occasionally, but not often," Angelina said. "Katie, Alicia, and I have gone through the forms with him a couple times, but in the past months, we haven't really at all since his focus has been the Tasks."
"With how much you all duel, I wouldn't expect his skills to have deteriorated much if at all," Sirius remarked, "but he may be in trouble against someone like Fleur who might duel more regularly. I know she's a wizard's dueling champion, but I didn't check to see if she knew the sword."
"Well, we'll find out soon to all of our queries," Kingsley said, and they looked down to where Cedric was grimacing at the sword in his hands while Harry handled his own shadow blade with familiarity, a grin on his face.
"I wonder if Cedric has ever even held a sword?" Alicia wondered.
"Beyond grabbing a stick and pretending? Probably not," Ron said with a snort.
"Harry looks comfortable," Katie said. "I wonder if maybe he gets some practice with a blade during some of his shadow training? We all only go occasionally with him."
"That would make sense," Angelina agreed.
"Yeah, or maybe he just knows or suspects that Cedric has no skill with a blade," Ginny said.
"That could be it too," Oliver agreed. "It would be hard not to feel comfortable or confident going up against a novice in something you're good at. I certainly wouldn't worry about an amateur chaser trying to score on me."
Harry moved forward at Cedric quickly, showing him the courtesy of taking him seriously and Cedric clumsily swung at Harry. Harry parried his blade, and then rather easily knocked Cedric's blade from his hand and then raised his blade to Cedric's chin. They could see Cedric sigh as he raised his hand in surrender.
"This event is rough," Sirius said with a whistle. "It's been fun to watch, but then you have an event like this where Cedric and maybe Krum are at a clear disadvantage."
"I guess we'll find out about Krum right now," Skye said, looking down. "He looks a bit more familiar with a blade compared to Cedric, but he definitely doesn't look happy with this round."
"And that would be why," Ron said, a hint of glee in his voice as Krum managed to parry Fleur's blade twice before she knocked the blade from his hand taking the win.
"Poor Viktor," Hermione said, and Ron scowled slightly.
The next duel was actually almost entertaining with Cedric and Krum both being not good with a blade and having to rely more on their athletic abilities to fight each other, but Krum's slightly greater skill allowed him to take the win.
"Now, let's see how Harry and Fleur stack up to each other," Alexis said as the two friends squared up against each other.
**HP**
Harry smiled at his friend who was giving him a predatory smile. He moved forward and she matched him. Their blades met and they continued to exchange strikes, Harry quickly finding himself on the defense.
Fleur was good, perhaps as good as Marina, and Harry admittedly was a bit out of practice. He trained with his sword occasionally, but clearly not enough to have improved enough to take someone like Fleur on. Still, Harry intended to give a good fight and hoped that Fleur made a mistake. As long as he didn't end up judo flipped like Marina did to him, he would feel pretty content with the duel.
Harry spun away, blocking a swing at his back and then swung at her left side, which she parried easily. She thrusted at him quickly once, twice, and then a third time, and he barely managed to hold her at bay.
"You are good, my friend," Fleur said, "but I am zhe better duelist."
"Perhaps," Harry conceded with a grunt as he blocked one of her strikes at his right shoulder, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to make it easy on you!"
"I wouldn't want it any other way!" Fleur said with a laugh and she started pushing him back, relentlessly pushing him, trying to get him to trip up.
"You know, I think in the end you were meaner than Viktor or Cedric," Harry said, still being pushed back. "At least you had a chance at the other two!"
"Did I?" Fleur asked with a raised eyebrow as she parried Harry's blade to the right and stepped in close and placed her blade at Harry's side completing the mock kill.
"Well, perhaps not," Harry agreed with a smile and Fleur beamed and kissed him on the cheek.
"Smart boy," she said, patting his cheek mockingly as the crowd cheered.
"What a show, what a show!" Bagman said. "It seems Mr. Potter has taken second place in a sword dueling circuit once again. Ms. Delacour has won this round! Now, we will wait a moment for the judges to decide the scores!"
Harry and Fleur gathered near Cedric and Krum.
"Well, safe to say we all screwed each other equally," Cedric said with a chuckle. "No life threatening injuries or events, but we definitely didn't make it a very fair fight, which did admittedly help to even the fight overall."
"Harry won this one," Viktor said with a scowl. "You did the best overall."
"Yeah, you're definitely the most versatile of us," Cedric agreed.
"Perhaps, but zis is a close one," Fleur said.
**HP**
"Harry definitely took first for this Task, but was it enough to take the lead?" Sirius asked.
"I guess we'll see," Hermione said. "This is going to be close."
"Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you the scores were close on this one!" Bagman said. "Now, in fourth place, with a score of 37 points, Ms. Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons Academy! In third place, with a score of 39 points, Mr. Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts School! In second place, with a score of 42 points, Mr. Viktor Krum of Durmstrang Institute! And in first place with a score of 44 points, Mr. Harry Potter of Hogwarts School!"
Everyone clapped and cheered for their various champions.
"Close scores, very close scores!" Hestia said.
"Now, the points stand, in fourth place with a score of 242 points, Mr. Viktor Krum!"
Durmstrang cheered, knowing the scores were very close.
"In third place with a score of 243 points, Mr. Cedric Diggoy!"
The Hufflepuffs were deafening in their applause.
"In second place with a score of 245 points, Ms. Fleur Delacour! And in first place with a score of 250 points, Mr. Harry Potter!"
Gryffindor and a large portion of the Hogwarts school cheered loudly.
"Our last Task is at the end of June and let me tell you folks, it will be quite the show stopper! For now, I'm Ludo Bagman, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!"